Return to European Counterstrike

By | Counter-Strike | No Comments

Today, we are excited to announce our return to Counterstrike and our return with a European team. It has been a while since Wolves Esports fielded a non-German CS:GO team but that changes right now!

We have been on the lookout for a new team for some time now and concentrated on teams with potential outside of Germany and found a team shooting their way through ESEA Open. Unfortunately, a very strong opponent, who reached the playoff finals, was in their way to directly qualify for ESEA Main. Going forward, the team will play in ESEA Intermediate, in domestic competitions as well as other tournaments and qualifiers. The goals are set and we can’t wait for their first official match.

Without further ado, please welcome our new #WolvesCSGO team!

Lineup Wolves Esports CSGO:
Zsombor “Sc0rchzz” Kocsis
Dominik ”bee-” Fodor
Viktor “cruly” Pávai
Gábor “gbk^” Huszti
Tamás “Zancu” Kiss

Our goal is to support our new Counterstrike team and players on their grind through the ranks of European and domestic competition in the best way possible.

Statement #WolvesCSGO:
“We would like to thank Wolves Esports for the opportunity and for having us. Our goal for the next ESEA season is to get into ESEA Main from Intermediate. In the future, we want to be one of the best teams in Hungary and participate in national tournaments as well as other tournaments. We hope that we can grow together as a team. So stay tuned for our progress!”

#KeepHowling

New Rainbow Six Team

By | Rainbow Six | No Comments

Today we officially announce our new Rainbow Six Siege team!

This obviously means Rainbow Six is back at Wolves Esports and we are looking forward to what we can achieve with the team in the future. The team will be representing Wolves in various leagues and tournaments from now on and will most likely take over any spots in leagues we currently own.

The team is also attending the ebattle Circus PC LAN in November!

Please say hello to our new #WolvesR6 team:
Jamil “J4mil” Heide
Liam “grvty” Stark
Jakob “JL” Laatz
Leon “Gazo” Zengerling
Max “Stax” van Steenis
Marius “snoosz” Dargel (Coach)

#KeepHowling

The Howl 2021 – Pokemon

By | Pokemon | No Comments

A new Howl is here! With the new Pokemon season starting in September we decided to ask some question to Christian Fontenot, one of our Pokemon Trading Card Game players, as well as Benjamin Wood, our Pokemon Video Game Championship player. Here’s what they have to say about Pokemon and some other stuff!

1) Hello! To kick this interview off, please tell us a little bit about yourself!
Christian: Hi, my name in Christian Fontenot. I am 17 years old, and have been playing the Pokemon TCG since 2016. I am from Denmark.

Ben: Hello! My name is Benjamin Wood. I’m 16 years old and I am a Pokemon VGC Player for Wolves Esports. I have been playing Pokémon since 2014 and competitively since 2016. I live in Manchester, United Kingdom

2) Since you are part of our #WolvesPokemon section we need to talk about Pokemon. Let’s start simple: What is your favorite Pokemon and why? 
Christian: My favorite Pokemon is Torchic. No real reason, it’s just the one I liked as a kid, but it has stuck with me. Whenever I would go to events in America, I’d always buy any Torchic merch I didn’t already have.

Ben: One of my favourite pokemon is Regeleki. This is because of its typing which is electric and is the fastest Pokemon in the game as it hits 277 at Max Speed . For example, it can outspeed the likes of Dragapult which hits 194 Speed at Max Speed and Calyrex- Shadow which hits 187.

3) The Pokemon franchise has been around for a very long time and a lot of games and cards have been released. There is a huge audience for them so we want to know what your favorite card and game is.
Christian: My favorite Pokemon game is Pokemon Alpha Sapphire. I got into the series in 2013, with Pokemon X and Y, but I think ORAS (Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire) is what really made me love the franchise. As for the card, it’s probably “Max Elixir” from the set “Break Point”. It’s an Item card that lets you look at the top 6 cards of your deck, and pick any basic energy you find, and put it straight onto one of your benched basic pokemon. This was fun for me as it lets the player using it speed up the pacing of the game by a lot. 

Ben: In terms of the game, my favourite game has always been Pokemon Omega Ruby as that is what got me into Pokemon and its competitive scene and it has my favourite legendary Groudon. In terms of my favourite TCG Card, it would have to be Marshadow from Shining Legends due to its Let Loose ability which caused havoc for my opponents as the ability forced them to shuffle their hand into the deck and draw 4, potentially downsizing their hand and ruining their game plan.

4) You’ve both been around some time competing. What is your biggest achievement so far? Also, what has been your most fun event you attended?
Christian: I think I would have to say Worlds 2018 for both. It was my first ever World Championship, and also the first ever event I made day 2 at. 

Ben: My biggest achievement so far would have to be getting Top 16 in Europe in 2019 because it was only my second season of competitive play I have participated in. In terms of the most fun event i have ever been to, that would have to be the Pokemon World Championships 2019 where I made day 2 as it was my first ever out of europe event and I was seeing my friends from all over the world.

5) With the new season approaching in September, what are you looking forward to the most?
Christian: Seeing friends and meeting new ones. This has always been the best part of Pokemon for me, and something that has been lacking, while being locked at home for events. 

Ben: With the new season approaching, I am looking forward to seeing friends I have not seen for ages. I am also looking forward to getting back into high level competition especially now as I have just transitioned from being a senior to a master.
 

6) What can we expect from you and the team in the upcoming season?
Christian: For TCG, I would expect consistency. This is something the TFG (Team Freezing Gaze) roster has been good at since its founding back in 2019. Expect at least one, but often a lot of the players on this team to be at the top end of the standings by the end of every event. 

Ben: Hopefully, in the upcoming season, we will have picked up some more VGC Players. Another thing you can expect to see is to see us travel to high level events such as Regionals and Internationals around Europe and hopefully see us perform consistently and highly.

7) What do you think about our idea to bring Pokemon closer to esports through picking up TCG and VGC players?
Christian: I have said this before, and I will say it again. I love the idea, and am happy to be working with Wolves to make it more common in the future. I truly do think Pokemon has a lot of potential as an Esport. 

Ben: It is a very good idea especially in the VGC where over the last few years Pokemon has started to become more like an esport through becoming more accessible to newer players and making this team brings us that step closer to Pokemon becoming a popular esport.

8) How did you learn about your respective games and competitions? Was there any outside influence that pointed you in the direction you have taken?
Christian: I used to be more interested in the video games, but after I learnt to play the TCG back in 2015 I started being more interested in the TCG. Half a year later, I learnt that there were Pokemon TCG tournaments in Denmark and never looked back.

Ben: I first started playing Pokemon when I was 10 in 2014 with the Omega Ruby game. However, my interest in competitive Pokemon started when I attended a league session near me playing TCG. Then i learned about the VGC on Omega Ruby and it stuck with me from there on.

9) How do you prepare for upcoming events and how long does it take? I imagine it takes quite some time to create a new deck or team. Do you have a routine for this or something you do before the match?
Christian: Going into a major, I like to get together with a group of friends, both online and offline (often teammates), to deck build and meta game for the tournament. It’s not a process that always needs to take long, but most of the time, putting in the work to prepare for every match up is worth your time. 

Ben: It would depend on the type of the tournament. For example if it was a Premier Challenge or MidSeason Showdown, then I would start making the team about 5 days in advance as that gives me enough time to think of a team, calculate stats and damage and test it. However, for Regionals, Internationals and Worlds I would prepare for about a month in advance as I need to think of the team, theory test it, work out matchups, calculate stats and damage and then create it in game.

10) What’s your opinion on the new Pokemon game releases “New Pokemon Snap”, “Pokemon Legends: Arceus”, and the recently released “Pokemon Unite”?
Christian: I haven’t yet gotten the chance to play Pokemon Unite but from looking at it I am pretty sure we can expect it to be joining Pokemon TCG, VGC, and Pokken Tournament as a staple game of the Play! Pokemon line up. Don’t have major opinions on the other two games, but I’ll probably end up getting Pokemon Legends: Arceus at some point.

Ben: Like Christian said, I believe that Unite will join the Play! Pokémon line up. However I don’t see it becoming as major as the TCG and VGC. I don’t have any opinions on the other two games as at the moment I’m more focused on Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl as they will probably become the game that VGC tournaments will play on.

11) Real talk now: What do you think about the other competition? TCG vs VGC, what’s the real deal?
Christian: I mean I’m sure we could go back and forth on what is better but I’ll just let the money do the talking. In the 2019 World Championship, the winner in the Pokemon TCG earned $25,000 whereas the winner in VGC only got $10,000. Now, you tell me which one is better. 

Ben: Now I have experience with both VGC and TCG. Even coming first at a league challenge once. I concede that TCG has a bigger prize pool but at least we don’t have to shell out hundreds of pounds every time a set comes out and we only have to invest £60 every two years. And we also don’t have to deal with scalpers, though that problem has been getting less and less.

12) Apart from playing and competing in Pokemon, what are some of the things you do in your free time?
Christian: I have a lot of different hobbies. I like doing outdoors stuff like climbing, parkour, and camping. I also like playing sports like basketball, I just kinda suck at it. I of course also play a lot of video games, and enjoy hanging out with friends, again, both online and offline.

Ben: Some of the things I like to do in my spare time include: Going to the Gym, going Boxing and to Karate practice, grinding Rainbow Six: Siege and going out with friends. Another thing I also like doing is collecting sneakers and sometimes selling them.

13) Last but not least: Is there anything else you want to say? Where can people follow you and learn more about Pokemon TCG/VGC?
Christian: Hope you guys will support TFG/Wolves Pokemon in the upcoming Play! Pokemon season. If you ever want to know what I’m up to, you can follow me @prosticks64 on Twitter, as this is the platform I use the most. 

Ben: Hopefully you guys follow us along as well as our TCG counterparts TFG/Wolves Pokémon in the next Play! Pokémon Season. My Twitter is @ben_wood836 if you want to follow. Thank you for reading and remember to stay safe!

#KeepHowling

The Howl – Foxy

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We are back with another Howl! This time, we are not talking to one of our teams or player, but to our streamer Emily “Foxy” A.!

Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions. For those who don’t know you, please tell us a few things about you!
Hey, I’m Emily but most people know me as Foxy. I am 18 years old, stream for Wolves Esports and live in Hesse, Germany

For how long have you been streaming and what made you get into streaming?
I wanted to entertain people with my gameplay ever since I got my laptop. I started streaming in October 2019 as my PC wasn’t powerful enough to actually stream before. Since then, i’m actively streaming on Twitch.

Do you have a schedule? What kind of content can people see on your stream?
I try to be consistent with my schedule of Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at around 18:30 CET. At the moment, this isn’t always the case but I hope this changes soon! I usually stream Apex Legends, Osu!, Dead by Daylight, Rainbow Six: Siege, Minecraft and some story or horror games for variety.

When you are not streaming, what are you doing in your free time?
I’m still at my PC, I draw or talk to friends. In case I’m not at my PC, I’m usually outside doing things.

Some streamers have games they don’t play on stream or they only play when they are streaming. What about you? Do you have games you play off stream?
The games I mentioned before I also play off stream. There are some games such as Pathologic 2 or VR games in general that I don’t stream. Apart from that I also play games on PS4 or Nintendo Switch. Monster Hunter: World on PS4 for example, or some story games that are easier to play with controller. Talking about the Switch it’s mostly Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

What is the first game you ever played?
The first games I ever played were hidden object games on my mother’s laptop. The first game on my own laptop was Minecraft as it was the only game my laptop could handle.

What are some of the goals or wishes for your stream or your viewers?
I wish to become a bigger stream. Yes I know, everyone wants that but I’m looking at doing good things such as charity streams. The most important thing however is that my viewers and I continue to have good time, have a lot of fun and experience the cringe together UwU. I also hope that my stream will become higher quality in the future. I’d also like to become a Twitch partner one day to add more cute, little emotes.

Once the COVID-19 pandemic is over: What’s the first thing you do?
I’d like to go on a first real date with my boyfriend as we didn’t have the chance to do that so far. Another thing I really want to do for a couple of years now is to visit the Gamescom in Cologne despite my fear of huge crowds.

What’s your favorite movie and game?
My favorite game at the moment is Apex Legends. It’s a lot of fun to get up to nonsense or to simply be a bit more competitive in ranked. I don’t have a favorite movie right now.

What would you say it is that separates your stream from the majority of other streams?
Like many other streamers I try to involve my community as much as possible. Not only by playing with viewers when I stream but also whenever I unlock a new emote slot, my community gets to decide what it will be in the end. I always try my best and spend a lot of time and effort on my stream and emotes. Maybe I’m also a little bit childish, giddy and sometimes cringe which can be kind of entertaining. I want my stream to be as varied as possible and try to support smaller streamers to become a little bit bigger UwU.

People can collect “UwU points” in your streams. Some collect more and more of these and redeem them all at once to get a specific reaction again and again. Isn’t that at least a little bit annoying?
It can be very annoying, especially whe they redeem the “give me a UwU” option as it can be kind of distracting.

Sometimes you also stream on the Wolves Esports channel. Is your streaming experience different compared to streaming on your own channel?
It’s the same “show” as on my channel but a different experience as the community is different and that creates a different atmosphere. I don’t know when my next stream on the Wolves channel will be yet.

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. Anything you want to say as the closing words of this interview?
Stay healthy, stay at home, UwU and #KeepHowling.

We agree – #KeepHowling!

New Partner: Esport Factory

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Today, we are happy to announce a new partnership going forward – The Esport Factory becomes a partner of Wolves Esports!

A possibility for bootcamps and meet-ups is always appreciated and with Esport Factory we have found a partner that is able to meet our requirements that go a bit beyond the normal bootcamps. While we are still in a pandemic, we are already looking forward to our first visit at the Esport Factory.

About Esport Factory:
The Esport Factory is a place of no limits and a place where dreams come true. This is true not only for gaming and esports enthusiasts: Preparing for an esports tournament, a relaxed LAN party with your friends or live tournaments on our big stage – we offer you all that and plenty more. Our location can be used for much more than just bootcamping and preparing. It is also suitable for corporate celebrations, schoolings, and congresses with corresponding catering and equipment. The modern bathrooms, the big kitchen and the comfy outdoor BBQ area leave nothing to be desired.

The Esport Factory also features sound and film production capabilities that enable customers to create whatever they want. Furthermore, our high-end equipment, our production area, as well as a 1 Gigabit fiber optic cable create the perfect conditions for a variety of livestreams – for gaming and other purposes. We are more than gaming. We are the Esport Factory.

Visit Esport Factory:
Website: EsportFactory.de (English)
Esport Factory @ Facebook
Esport Factory @ Instagram
Esport Factory @ Twitter

#KeepHowling

Pokemon TCG Decks – Malamar & Necrozma

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More Pokemon content is here despite the lack of tournaments at the moment. This is our second introduction of our players favorite Pokemon decks to date. Today, we’re looking at a Malamar & Necrozma deck by Leon K.

“Hello Everyone! Today I will tell you more about one of my favourite decks of all time, the legendary Malamar/Ultra Necrozma.”

“This deck will always have a special place in my heart, not only because I performed really well with it, but also because this version was a recommendation of a friend and it turned out incredibly well! It also showed me my love towards Malamar which I ended up also playing during several other events throughout the 2018/2019 season.

This deck is all about hitting the opponent hard in the beginning and not giving him any chance to come back which was pretty hard at that time since you had strong contenders like Zoroak/Golisopod or Zoroark/Garbador. The goal is to get one or two Malamars on the board and using them as energy pumps for your heavy attackers. Ultra Necrozma GX but also Dawn Wings Necrozma GX and, oddly enough, Lunala prism which ended up winning me a couple of games!

So why was this deck more special to me than other variants? It had the usual consistency at that time – eight draw supports. But what made it really special for me was that I tried playing four Max Elixir, which surprisingly was one of the best and most fun decision I had ever made. Max Elixir lets you look at the top six cards of your deck and choose one basic energy from there and attach it to one of your benched pokemons. Max Elixir was able to temporarily help me out as a emergency energy pump so to say. It allowed me to kill a big enemy Pokemon in turn one even though I hadn’t built up my Malamar, my energy pumps for my heavy attackers.

Even late game when the opponent killed some of my Malamars, there were so many times where I got the Max Elixir and the needed energy to win the game! This sounds a bit risky but the fact that I played many draw supporters and four of those Max Elixirs almost always guaranteed me a turn one attack which allowed me to exert a lot of pressure onto the opponent early on in the game.

Even though the deck rarely had very good matchups against most decks, the really strong thing about it was that it also had almost no bad matchups. Most were 50-50 and I usually ended up winning them. This deck didn’t beat anything really well but was able to beat almost every deck across the board with a bit of luck and good plays. Especially the Mew and Lunala, which often came out as a little surprise and ended up letting me win the game because the opponents simply didn’t expect it! Those Pokemon, that only gave one price card in contrary to my Gx-Attackers that usually gave my opponents two prices allowed me to play more flexible. If I was ever in trouble in early game, because I didn’t have the time to set up my Heavy Attackers yet, I sometimes was able to send in a Mew instead that only costed me one price card, but later on enabled me to take over the lead because of the damage it did.

Sometimes also towards the endgame, when I knew the opponent can only attack my active Pokemon since he doesn’t have any Gust effect (this effect lets you change the active Pokemon of the opponent, which is the Pokemon you will end up attacking). He can’t win the game since they will only take one price card and I have an additional turn for charging my Ultra Necrozma to finish him off.

This was one of the most fun and consistent decks to play in that format and I gladly will play it again. It introduced me to Malamar and also gave me one of the greatest tournaments experiences I ever had. It will stay one of my most loved decks for a good reason!”


The Howl 2021 – Rainbow Six

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Yep Yep, time for another Howl! This time with Sven “Sven” Mucha from our Rainbow Six: Siege team!

Q: Hello, Sven! Would you please introduce yourself so that the readers get to know you?
Hi, I am Sven, the IGL and Team Captain for Wolves Esports R6. I live in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany and I’m a very competitive person who likes to compete with others. That’s also my motivation to play competitive Rainbow Six.

Q: Since when do you play R6 and how did you get into the game?
My friends started playing Siege in February 2018 and recommended the game to me. We played “just for fun” in the beginning but it was clear to me that Siege is different compared to other FPS games.

Q: Why did you pick R6 as your game to compete in?
Siege is a great mix between strategy and gunplay, resulting in a variety of rounds and new challenges. For me, the strategic aspect of the game was the most interesting to me, especially in the beginning as my aim was not good at all. Rainbow Six Siege offered me the option to outplay my opponents instead of just having better aim.

Q: What makes R6 special to you compared to CSGO and other games? 
You can destroy and alter most of the map as you wish. Maps in are divided in inside and outside areas which creates the unique aspect of spawnpeeking. Another difference compared to Counterstrike is that not every character, or Operator, has access to the same guns and gadgets. This forces you and your team to keep an eye on what combination of Operators you play.

Q: Do you play any other games than R6?

I play other shooters like CSGO, PUBG, or Apex However, I enjoy racing games such as Formula 1 or Forza Horizon the most.

Q: R6 has its competitive community split between teams that are under and over the age of 18. Underage teams rarely get a chance to shine. Do you think there are underage teams that are better than the ones currently in Ubisoft sanctioned leagues?
I don’t want to name drop but there are some underage teams that are better than teams over the age of 18 competing in leagues such as the GSA or OPL.

Q: What do you think about Year 6 and the upcoming changes?
In general I’m pretty content with the changes and can’t wait for the replay system that will make it easier to analyse your matches and correct your mistakes.

Q: If you weren’t allowed to compete in R6, what other game would you like to try?
I’d try in a racing game as I am really interested in cars.

Q: Let’s get away from gaming a little bit. What is your favourite movie and why?
Star Wars. I grew up with “The Clones Wars” series and looked up to the main characters as a kid. Now that I’m nearly an adult I still enjoy the movies and series and find them entertaining. There’s a bit of nostalgia, too.

Q: What kind of music do you listen to? 
I have a very broad taste in music, however I listen to techno and rap the most.

Q: Once this pandemic is over – What are some of the things you will do first?
I would continue to travel in Europe. Maybe I even go visit Brandy.

Q: Any last words to conclude this Howl?
Stay home, wear your masks! #KeepHowling

The Howl 2021 – Super Smash Bros

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Yep, time for another Howl! This time with Adrian “FriskyCissin” Carpenter from our Super Smash Bros team as we talk about Smash, why Norway is better than Denmark and Finland, and what he wishes Nintendo would do for Smash. Let’s get into it!

Q: Hey, would you mind introducing yourself to the readers?
Hello! My name is Adrian Carpenter or as some people may know me as FriskyCissin! I am a Norwegian Super Smash Bros. player for Wolves Esports!

Q: Since when do you play Smash and how did you get into the game?
Well, I have played Smash Bros. almost all my life from when I was a tiny child. 
As how I got into competitive Smash, was by a very good friend of mine (Aura), who told me about these local tournaments here in my hometown about 10 minutes away from my house. I went there and I have been hooked ever since.

Q: Wolves recently picked up a Pokemon Trading Card Game team. What’s your take on it as it is not really a game usually considered to be esports?
It’s a game in my eyes and for other people as well! Just because it’s not on a screen with a mouse and keyboard doesn’t mean it’s not a game!

Q: With 6 players, #WolvesSmash is one of the bigger esports organisations in Smash. Would you say that other organisations should pick up 1-2 more players to further facilitate growth in European Smash? 
I think most Orgs should go out and recruit other smash members to their teams here in Europe. It can be very hard for some super talented smash players here to travel as the scene isn’t as big as the US or Japan. There are a lot of hidden talents here and they deserve to be picked up and be recognized as great talents.

Q: Do you play any other games than Smash?
I love to play Mario Kart and Fortnite with friends as of the moment. But as of single player games I am enjoying Xenoblade Chronicles a lot. I recommend it to everyone!

Q: When a tournament is approaching, do you have a special routine to prepare?
I just usually take 15 minutes by myself to mentally get ready. Sometimes I’ll study players before a tournament set. And I will always warm up.

Q: If you were granted one wish aimed at Nintendo in regards to the Smash scene – what would that be?
That they would care about the scene. If it was possible for them to just make a big circuit with a massive prize pot with a lot of money and tournaments all around the world. It would be such a dream come true for me and others. Nintendo has treated the game in such a bad way and no one likes it.

Q: That does not sound like you appreciate the way Nintendo handles the esports community in particular. Do you think this will ever change?
Depends really who’s in charge of it in the future. The people in charge right now don’t seem to be interested in making competitive Smash a big thing. But if we ever get new people in charge, or just new people at Nintendo, that can change competitive smash forever.

Q: Counterstrike players see Valorant as a direct competitor for their game and vice versa. Do you think other fighting games such as Brawlhalla, Tekken, and Street Fighter are a direct competitor for Smash or can these happily co-exist?
Yes, I think so. Smash Bros has had a bigger impact this last few years and has gained the respect from other fighters.

Q: What’s your favorite movie?
Zootopia. Why? I don’t really know… It’s just fun!

Q: What kind of music do you listen to? 

Anything that has put effort into their music is good to me.

Q: Once this pandemic is over – What are some of the things you will do first?
PLAY SMASH BROS. OFFLINE LOCALLY WITH PEOPLE!

Q: Since all of your teammates are from Nordic countries – Why is Norway better than Denmark and Finland?

Well, my country is a lot prettier, more sightseeing stuff to go look at. During the winter we get the lovely snow so people can go out and ski. The food over here is a lot better and isn’t a slump like you’d get over in Denmark and Finland. We are better in any type of way compared to the other countries. Even in Smash! 

Q: Any last words to conclude this Howl?
Please stay home and be safe! #KeepHowling

Pokemon TCG Decks – Vikavolt & Shedinja

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As promised, we are back with more Pokemon Trading Card Game content! Today, we take a look at a Vikavolt & Shedinja deck by Christian F.

“Hello again everyone! Today I am here to talk a bit about one of my all time favorite decks, Vikavolt/Shedinja.

This deck is a bit odd, as it was only legal for play in the Ultra Prism to Darkness Ablaze format. This effectively means that this deck was only legal for POG 2020 (Pokemon Online Global), aka, Worlds 2020.


The deck is all about messing up your opponents set up with Vikavolt-V’s “Paralyzing Bolt” attack, that prohibits your opponent from playing Item Cards during their next turn (This effect is often referred to as “Item lock”). Combine this with cards like Crushing Hammer, that discards your opponent’s energy, and Marnie, that can reset your opponents hand, your opponent won’t exactly be having a good time as you spam all these effects to stop your opponent from playing the game altogether.

Most of what I have said so far is pretty standard Vikavolt stuff, however what makes this deck special is the 2-2 line of Nincida and Shedinja. For those who don’t know, Shedinja’s Ability “Vessel of Life” lets you attach Shedinja as a tool card to one of your Pokemon. The tool’s effect is that when you are knocked out, your opponent takes one less prize card. This basically means your opponent has to get 4 knockouts throughout the game, instead of 3. This is often referred to as forcing a “7 prize game”. In short, Shedinja effectively gives you an extra turn to win the game. This is often enough to completely change a match up, and is the core reason the ever hated “ADPZ” deck is so good. No matter how you do it, changing the way prize cards are taken is one of the most powerful effects in the game, and it works wonders with Vikavolt-V’s Item lock effect.

My story with this deck is kinda funny looking back, as I built it during a time where I wasn’t really playing that much and didn’t really care about the game. I remember wanting to play in POG just for the fun of it and decided that I might as well bring my meme deck, as it was the only thing I had been playing, when I was even playing at all that is.

To everyone’s surprise, I ended up dominating with the deck going 7-1 in Day 1 of the event. I had no idea what the meta was going into the event, but the more rounds I played, the more I started to understand that this deck was a lot more than just a meme. You see, the core problem with Vikavolt-V in this format was that it often couldn’t keep up with decks like Eternatus-VMAX and Centiscorh-VMAX (VMAX are evolutions of Pokemon-V cards), as their big one-shot attacks didn’t really care all that much about Item lock and therefore, would simply overpower you.

However with the added Shedinja, you can easily outlast a VMAX Pokemon, as they now have to spend more turns to win the game. Turns out that just one extra turn and a bit of disruption (Crushing Hammers, Marnie, and Item lock) can turn the whole game upside down. As you are often the faster deck, you can simply out speed them, and set up situations where they are forced to play more defensive. While I didn’t do as well in Day 2 of the event, 6-3 is still a respectable score. I think if I had tested the deck a bit more going into that event I might have been able to make a deeper run, but oh well.

I have said it before, and I will say it again, if we ever get a chance to play this format again, I highly recommend giving the deck a try, as it is not only powerful, but also extremely fun.”

#KeepHowling

The Howl 2021 – Counterstrike

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With a bit of a delay, the second installment of our 2021 Howl is here and this time we talked to Niklas “sIKK.” Welk from our Wolves Esports CSGO team!

We’ve talked about the current situation with the team, Counterstrike and a little bit about CS competitor Valorant as well as non-gaming related questions!

Here we go:

Q: Hello Niklas! While we certainly know you, would you please tell the readers a bit about yourself and your role within the team?
Niklas: My name is Niklas, I am 24 years old from Hesse, Germany. Talking about Counterstrike, I’ve made a small name for myself in the German community where I’m known as “sIKK.”

Within the team I’m the IGL (Ingame Leader) and act as the head of the team so to say. Although this might chance in the near future.

Q: Unfortunately, we just experienced some changes regarding the roster of the team and parted ways with three players at once. Would you mind to explain why this happened and how things will continue for #WolvesCSGO?
The problem was not that we didn’t get along well enough on a personal level but rather differences in the way of thinking and how we wanted to play. We knew that we all are individually strong players but in the end it just didn’t work out and we mutually agreed to part ways. It’s sad of course, but it’s a good indicator that things need to change once you have the feeling that you turn up to practice because you have to and not because you want to. That’s the point where you have to ask yourself if you want to continue like this or if you split up.

After we decided to split up, we quickly found some “new” players to play with going forward. Marc “aerax-” Wilkening and Marcel “FleX” Fischer are two players I have previously played with here at Wolves. You could say this is a bit of a reunion.

As our fifth, we added Tobias “viciouswolf” U.

Q: What were the most important qualities you looked out for in the limited amount of time that was available to assemble a new roster?
A motivated mindset and great harmony between players on and off the server. It’s important to define your goals clearly and work as a team on achieving them. To make that possible, all players need to have a similiar philosophy when it comes to playing Counterstrike.

Q: Now that we have the heavy stuff behind us, let’s talk about you and Counterstrike. When did you start and why are you still playing the game?
I started playing Counterstrike in 2011. Back then I played Counterstrike: Source on jail and mini-game servers with my friends. Once Global Offensive released I was intrigued by the competitive aspect and that developed more and more over time. Why do I still play this game? That’s what I ask myself from time to time *laughs*.

Even when you are playing default most of the time and you are locked into a certain pattern, it’s fascinating how different individual rounds can be. You also can’t really “finish” the game and find new things again and again. All of these aspects captivate me and even if you don’t always get the success you want, it’s incredibly fun to play this game as a team.

Q: Which moments or experiences you had as a player have been stuck with you ever since? Anything particular you enjoyed?
We’ve had good and bad experience with this team and these stuck with me. We were able to beat very good teams, which made me happy. It also showed me that we could have achieved so much. I also have games in mind in which we’ve been slaughtered and I wasn’t able to change anything about it. I’ve been extremely frustrated after these games but in the end losses like this are part of the game and experience as a team.

A special moment for me personally was when I attended the ESL Meisterschaft 2018 in Düsseldorf, watching “faveN” demolish ALTERNATE aTTaX and DIVIZON. I was extremely happy for him as he was still a very young player at the time. It’s not my dream anymore to play on that level but I still think it would be an awesome experience.

Q: If you could change one thing about CSGO, what would it be?
The anti cheat!

Q: If there would be no Counterstrike, what game would you most likely play?
Most likely VALORANT once it released. If a game like this would not be around, I would have stayed loyal to my World of Warcraft Mage.

Q: What is your opinion on VALORANT as a CS competitor?
VALORANT is something different compared to Counterstrike. I really like the approach with the different skills as they are pretty diverse. It’s competition for CSGO but I don’t think it will de-throne Counterstrike anytime soon. At least not without a fight.

Q: What game would you like to see here at Wolves Esports?
A Yu-Gi-Oh team would be a cool idea! Maybe even something like Mario Kart would be possible?

Q: Do you have a special routine before official matches?
I start on aim_botz with a routine of ~800 kills, followed by 30-40 minutes of deathmatch. After that, I take a 30 minute break and watch a series, like “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. This happens to be the best routine I’ve had so far.

Q: Apart from Counterstrike, do you play anything else at the moment?
Currently, I enjoy playing Dead by Daylight or Raft with my girlfriend. I need a more relaxed game to chill with next to Counterstrike. Something to take my mind of competitive matches and a game where I don’t need to watch out for timings and don’t need to have on-point reflexes.

Q: Marvel or DC?
None of them! I actually had a small fight with my girlfriend because of that. If I had to choose, I’d pick DC. Mainly because Joker is a DC character *laughs*.

Q: Whats your favorite movie?
That’s difficult to say, I have may favorites. I’d say Fast and the Furious. Although the new Joker movie is extremely good, too!

Q: After the pandemic: What is the first thing you do?
I already whine about not being able to go swimming or go to the thermal bath. I love swimming and relaxing in the water. So definitely one of these. Also, I want to go play billiards again and go out with my friends.

Q: That’s it! We are done. Any last words to conclude this Howl?
Thank you to those who have taken the time to read through all of this. Let’s hope the new team works out better than the old one!

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Stay tuned for the upcoming Howls as well as more information about our Counterstrike team going forward!

#KeepHowling