Just a mere three weeks ago, we saw one of the most exciting local matches here in Asiafortress - the derby between secret.tf2 and the AllStars. Come 21 days later, the two teams are due to face each other again in the following week. The maps are Snakewater and Warmfront with Gullywash as the tiebreaker. I had a chat (more like me asking questions and them answering) with the leaders from both teams, and I hope you're pleased with the results.

First up is brandon/giovannie/yuko/?!?!?!?!? from secret.tf2!

How do you feel coming all the way here in merc cup 4?

Well, it's been a great journey so far. Had a couple of nice intense games, most notably the one against AllStars in the upper bracket. Went into this tournament with a few big roster changes, most notably picking up abel on roam, and myself moving to demoman. Right now we're at lower bracket finals? semis? I dunno but the team has improved significantly since the start of the tournament and I'm proud of us.

How did you feel about the previous derby between you guys and allstars?

It was one of the most entertaining games I've played in recent years. The last actual fun matches I played were the TF2 Masters LAN semis against 5th Company and finals against nefarious.tf2. I'm not exactly a fan of 5-0 rolls but rather I like playing those games which go to-and-fro and make everyone in STV bite their nails off and shizz. I went into the match relatively confident about badlands but not so much about process, turns out we lost badlands over the most nerve-wracking 30 minutes ever and dominated process, which was a huge surprise. Made a couple of bad calls, made a couple of bad decisions which cost us a few rounds but they're all stuff to learn from. Warmfront was painful to play, mainly because I believe both teams have not practised it before, and it showed. Compared to the first two maps, warmfront was slow and stalematish. A huge contributing factor was the map design as well - it should not be allowed in future competitions for the sake of the community not spiralling into inevitable retardation should warmfront continue to be in the map pool. Losing the match overall through a golden cap after a dominant 2nd map was... well, not the best feeling in the world. However I think it set us up for easier games against whoever we played in the lower bracket, and it allowed us to practise strats and get our shit back together. Not digressing too much, the previous local derby just showed the community that hey, singaporean teams can put up good fights as well. I'm sure it was an entertaining watch for those who were listening to the cast/watching in STV as it was for us playing the match itself.

Are you looking forward to the next derby?

Hmmm... yeah to a certain extent. It'll be a fun match to play for sure although there's gonna be more at stake here considering it's a lower bracket game. Both teams want a go at the grand finals for sure, and it'll all come down to who want it more.

How do you feel beating Lust Lust Lust in the lower bracket?

I think they've improved dramatically since the last time we scrimmed them. What started out as 5-0 rolls ended in a narrow win in the tournament. We were expecting that though, looking at their results against paranoid Andriod. They have great teamwork, and they just need to improve on their DM a tad more. Kinda similar to us actually, our DM is trash. I believe Lust Lust Lust will go far if they stick together after the tournament. It was an exciting match too although ping was an issue.

Do you think you guys have a chance to be the champions of Merc Cup 4?

Oh gee. Honestly? Yeah, why not? We want to win, who doesn't? Muk Eun Ji are really strong though, and I believe they want to regain their title as the Asian champions after dizziness' win in AFL2. The only team close to beating them was Cataclysmic, but back then pings were a bitch, not gonna continue ranting about that. But while I think the AllStars stand a better chance against MEJ because of how they play, they'd have to get past us first, and we will put up a great show.

Anyone you wanna give shoutouts to?

Shoutouts to the cataclysmic family, the boys over at jediknightz, candice & company, lexxy, all my mentees, facecake, everyone who has supported us/still supporting us and joe for the interview.

Next, we turn to the puzzling Agent C/Carmichael/Morgan/?!?!!? of the AllStars to peek at his thoughts.

How do you feel coming all the way here in Merc Cup 4?

Cheated.

Care to explain why?

With all credit to Muk En Ji, but we strongly believe we should be in the winners bracket.

How did you feel about the previous derby between you guys and secret.tf2?

I felt as usual it was a very close affair. We feel a strong sense of pride as just a short while ago we were way behind them in terms of quality.

Are you looking forward to the next derby?

We are not looking forward to playing secret.tf2 again as we just dont have the time to play regularly anymore. 5 out of our 6 core players are working full time now and it makes practise very difficult. Secret.tf2 on the other hand have had a lot of time to study us and improve. I'm sure they are looking to reclaim the top SG spot.

How do you feel about coming into contact with the highest seeding team, Muk Eun Ji?

We are looking forward to playing them again as we do feel a bit robbed by the ping issues that blighted the last match. Since this will be the second meet up between the teams I feel that there are going to be a lot of shocks in store after both sides have adjusted their tactics.

Do you think you guys have a chance to emerge overall champion for Merc Cup 4?

If we navigate past tomorrow yes i do feel we have a very strong chance and as an afterthought the new schedule of how the matches are being played are just too intensive with less then 5 days sometimes for matches.

Both interviews have been edited for clarity.

Don't forget to catch the next meeting of secret.tf2 and the AllStars tomorrow at 10PM! More details will be announced soon.[/size]Don't forget to catch the next meeting of secret.tf2 and the AllStars tomorrow at 10PM! More details will be announced soon.[/size]

DAY 19.

12 teams left. The past few days have been filled with so much intensity it burns brighter than the ego of a certain spy after dropping a certain medic that was sadly not captured on camera and might only be a fable till the STV comes out.

On Monday, the 18th of February, we saw three different matches played, with one match causing all AsiaFortress servers to mysteriously go down except the match server. secret.tf2 versus AllStars, Xtremezone Gaming versus Color Gaming and #hashtagz versus THE SYSTEMATIC PEOPLE. Let's recap the days news shall we?

The secret.tf2 versus AllStars match is one of the most high profile Singaporean matches, with the two teams being the most well known in the South East Asian region. Being cast by Greaver and NoMercy, this game isn't even a semi final match! This game was no doubt one of the most exciting ones I've seen in AsiaFortress, with crazy plays made by both teams. The three maps played were Badlands, Process and the tie-breaker was Warmfront.

AllStars took Badlands 6-5, with both teams bringing intense plays and derpkips sneaking in a last rocket just before the shutters closed and dropped zee. Another highlight from secret.tf2 during the Badlands game was russkan übering the two scouts and the demo past the shutters while AllStars was holding forward lobby, capping the point with no obstacles. The last push from AllStars however, sealed the deal. Puzzled went spy, and although secret.tf2 was expecting that, they didn't hear the decloak and the rest was history. Sadly though, that last push was cut out from SourceTV and I fondly remember hearing Agent K screaming, "I SAT HERE FOR SO LONG AND NOW THIS?".

On the next map, however, secret.tf2 showed their experience with Process by rolling AllStars 6-1. It was a back-and-forth map that had both teams taking the mid point and losing it soon after, only to get it back again. Pre-game, Arcadia from the AllStars was having trouble doing the first jump from spawn, but when the match started he had no problems rolling out to mid at all. I was spectating ricolee one round and saw a crit sticky from secret.tf2 flying into his face, only to have it detonate just a few pixels away from causing any damage. He was still 300 health, but running away.

The third map, Warmfront, was even more draggy. The first round took an estimated of 14 minutes, with both teams pushing the last point but failing to capture, only after awhile did AllStars manage the first cap. The next 5 rounds, however, were quite solid, with the game ending in a 3-3 tie between the two teams. During those 5 rounds, we saw excellent surfing from russkan (surfing onto a health pack only to be killed by a rocket that was aimed there at the same time), extreme dodging from zee (dodging pipes and rockets only to be killed by a rocket while she was running away) and so many airshots by tharnos. The game resulted in a golden cap on Warmfront which went to the AllStars. It was a great defense by secret.tf2 on the last point, but alas the knockback from the rockets of secret.tf2 lost the cap.

AllStars will proceed to rumble with Muk Eun Ji, a team with a perfect record so far, and the predicted winner of this year's Merc Cup 4. secret.tf2 on the other hand will battle it out with THE SYSTEMATIC PEOPLE this following week.

Moving on to other news, solstice forfeited their match against For Freak's Sake as they lacked players for their rescheduled match. For Freak's Sake will go on to Game Z with Team Dignity from Taikongpore (Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore lah!).

Xtremezone Gaming from Vietnam forfeited their third map (Warmfront) against Color Gaming, lacking players. Color Gaming will head on to face paranoid Andriod from the Republic of Korea. The winner of the game will head to the semi finals against either For Freak's Sake or Team Dignity.

In the last match on the 18th of February, THE SYSTEMATIC PEOPLE from Japan rolled #hashtagz 5-0 5-0 for both Badlands and Process. TSP will then go on to Game Y against secret.tf2. The winner of Game Y will head on to the semi finals against either 420 or Project J.

Muk Eun Ji, Green Leaves, Lust Lust Lust and AllStars have fought hard to stay in the winners bracket, with Muk Eun Ji having a 5-point difference in every map they have played in MC4. Will they continue rolling onwards to victory even against AllStars or Green Leaves/Lust Lust Lust? You'll see in a month.