Our D2 debut in MPOC 2012 Leg 1

To those whom have been following we had a roll last year in division 3. So by merit we were promoted to D2 this year. Which by now we are in a format that we so much dream of playing... the race to. Division 2 specifically plays for race to 3 with Milennium centric rules. Not to forget Nemesis Paintball Club were co-organizers for the opening leg of MPOC which is also the Pre-Malaysia Open event. A larger chunk of cash prize for the top 5 teams in each division was offered. That resulted in a record turnout ( can't remember the exact numbers of participating teams).

There were teams that did a self promotion into D2 such as Lost Boys and Pandamonium and from the looks of it they had fun playing. Not forgetting we formally introduced to the league 2 new players to our roster, Abun and Aliff. This we hope to further broaden the depth of the team and make our 2012 campaign a glorious one.

We certainly did have fun, well almost... we fell short of gold in the finals against D2 veterans Republic CMX and that did not taste too good or roll off our tongues too easy. Adapting from a race to 1 to a race to 3 format wasn't too hard since our training for the past year was already intense to suit the format. So it must be good old lady luck?

There were questionable calls and decisions but hey that is tournament paintball. Anyway, the level of play is definitely higher and more challenging. Be rest assured we are not taking this year at a leisure pace and we do want to maintain our podium streak which is of course greatly assisted by our sponsors Dye, Energy Paintball, RPS and Napshot. Special thanks to Alphabunker too for if not for them some of our eccentric needs could not be satisfied (I'll leave you to run wild with imagination on that one).

Xtion Paintball was a perfect venue as always and we surely are looking forward for the next leg. Full list of winners of the round are as per below for reference;

Division 1 
Champions - Raskal
2nd - Nemesis Legion
3rd - Xtioneers
4th - Demonz
5th - Beez Waxers


Division 2
Champions - Republic CMX
2nd - Grammaton Clerics
3rd - Zoo
4th - KSK Flash
5th - Tune Talk Lost Boyz MSN


Division 3
Champions - Joker Unit 
2nd - Sabil 
3rd - East Coast Legion 
4th - Yin Yang 
5th - Top Passion


Division 4
Champions - Xcavatos 
2nd - Mad Bunnies
3rd - Outlaws
4th - Rabaq
5th - Hornet Waxers

My-NPL 2011 Leg 4: “Impossible is Nothing” – The Tale Of The Grand Finale Miracle

Venue: Dataran Pahlawan, Melaka

Date: 18^th – 19^th November 2011

This was the final event 4 months in the making. After a disappointing 4^th place finish in Leg 3, the team was made to ask the one question they never had to ask themselves; ‘what are we made of & do you have what it takes to be a Grammaton Cleric?’

With the 5^th and final leg of MPOC looming in 2 weeks, World Cup Asia in 15 weeks & My-NPL 4^th leg the week after, there was much work to be done to rebuild the team’s confidence (and form) to face these back-to-back events, something the team had not endured before during the past year.

The team meeting resolved that despite the mountainous 23-point deficit against perhaps one of the most experienced and seasoned Div 2 team in the country, we believed that if there are still points to be won, the battle is definitely not over. Of course winning the MPOC Div 3 Overall Title with a leg in hand is a bonus but the pressure of winning 5 legs in-a-row is still a feat unachieved by any team in the country and very much in the agenda of everyone in the team. Over and above that, the coaching staff felt that the 15 week gap between MPOC leg 5 & WCA will be a good time to start the pre-season training for next season!

The mathematics of the system is simple enough, to win the overall title Pirates must go out either in the QF stage or the SF stage. With their impressive record leading to the final leg (2 wins & a 3^rd place finish), we couldn’t count on any other team to dispatch them out. After all, the team believed in the age old adage; ‘if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself’. So it was important that we watch what they did & at the same time keep our focus. Sounds like a simple enough task.

Pos	Team	Legs
		1	2	3	Total
1	Pirates	100	74	100	274
2	Grammaton Clerics	90	100	61	251
3	Hammer Zero	80	87	49	216
4	Votolocos	30	61	87	178
5	Dark Knights	70	49	10	129
6	Mat Malaya	60	10	36	106
7	The Simpons	40	36	43	99
8	Nitamago			74	74
9	Shootin’ Rage	50			50
10	Waxers Legion	10	23		33
11	CMX Buccaneers	20			20

Source: My-NPL

With the announcement by the organizer that only 8 teams will be competing in the final leg with an addition of a newly formed team playing in Div 2 for the first time, it was clear that what started out as a straight forward assignment had begun to look like a long walk down an endless tunnel.  Perhaps the only good piece of news we received was that only 8 preliminary matches will be played, which meant that we will have to meet one team twice and that allowed for some degree of breathing space to plan our games.

The day could not have started in a more disastrous manner. Meeting team Nitamago from Japan with a pound of flesh to settle from the last leg was never going to be easy especially when we never play well on our opening game. A slight misunderstanding between the captain & the manager (the last 2 man alive on the field) at the end of the game led to a one-for-one being called against the captain for a hit on the back of the head that was uncalled for during the game. As it turned out, the captain had asked his manager to check if there was any hit on him & the manager thought if it was ok that he took the flag. It was beginning to look like its going to be that sort of a day….

The team went on winning 5 out of the next 7 games dropping points against Johore State rivals Pirates & Shootin’ Rage and finishing the preliminary rounds 4^th place with 512 points setting up a date with fellow mid-table finisher Deadstar Syndrome PPS in the Quarter Finals. The preliminary round finished as follows:-

Draw	Team Name	Pts	Pos
C2	Pirates	599	1
C4	Waxers Legion	580	2
C6	Nitamago	526	3
C5	Grammaton Clerics	512	4
C7	Deadstar Syndrome PPS	398	5
C3	Shootin’ Rage	334	6
C8	The Simpsons	256	7
C1	Foxtrotters	44	8

Source: My-NPL

By the end of Day One, the Quarter Final draw are as follows:-

Pirates v Foxtrotters

Waxers Legion v The Simpsons

Nitamago v Shootin’ Rage

TGC v Deadstar Syndrome PPS

With Pirates meeting bottom-of-the-table Foxtrotters in the Quarter Finals stage, the key game is between Waxers Legion & The Simpsons, where a victory by The Simpsons will definitely mean that they will meet Pirates in the Semi Finals stage & our quest for the overall title will be as good as over.

Dead set to rule on Day Two, TGC were determined not to repeat the shaky start they had experienced the day before. 2 quick victorious games against Deadstar Syndrome PPS from Sarawak was exactly what the doctor had ordered. However, the quest for a Semi Final berth against Pirates can only be assured by a victory for Waxers Legion also from Sarawak against Klang Valley team The Simpsons.

It was indeed a nerve wrecking experience as it took a one-on-one to decide the winner of that match when they drew the first game & the remaining 2 games were shared with a victory each.

With predictable results in the other games, which included a walk-over for Pirates when fellow Johorian Foxtrotters decided they have had enough of the competition. The Quarter Final results were as follows:

QF Game One
Pos	Team	Games Played
		1	2	3	4
1	Pirates	W	W
8	Foxtrotters	L	L
QF Game Two
Pos	Team	Games Played
		1	2	3	4
2	Waxers Legion	D	W	L	W
7	The Simpsons	D	L	W	L
QF Game Three
Pos	Team	Games Played
		1	2	3	4
3	Nitamago	W	W
6	Shootin’ Rage	L	L
QF Game Four
Pos	Team	Games Played
		1	2	3	4
4	Grammaton Clerics	W	W
5	Deadstar Syndrome PPS	L	L

Source: My-NPL

The results mean that TGC will meet Pirates in the Semi Final stage and when the draw was announced, it was the only time from the moment this competition started on Saturday that the team felt destiny is finally in our hands and that this tournament is only ours to lose.

A victory at this stage and one more in the finals and nothing that Pirates do in the Bronze Medal finals will deny TGC the one thing we aimed for for the last 4 months. The overall My-NPL D2 title.

The Semi Final draws are as follows:

Pirates v Grammaton Clerics

Waxers Legion v Nitamago

They key to the Finals at this point is quite simple. Pirates have been strong in defense but rather slow in attack. However, with their star player Abun have been spotted playing out of position throughout the preliminary matches, it was difficult to say if Pirates will play him back at Dorito for the Elimination Rounds. The walk-over they received during the Quarter Final stage didn’t help matters much either but at least the team is warmed up for the day and they haven’t. As it turned out it was the pivotal point of the match.

Anyone who has played against Pirates will attest to the fact that they’re such an industrious side overall and they are capable of creating opportunities out of the most unlikeliest of situations. Therefore it was important that the team played a game whereby Pirates are not allowed to do what they do best moving up in attack, sending their best man forward to do the most amount of damage & leave everyone else to do the mopping up job.

It was very little doubt since Saturday who that player was and much to our surprise it wasn’t Abun that we had to cover, it was a guest player Ben from Div 1 team Raz Legion who was also coincidentally playing Dorito front with Abun relegated to the up-field position to control the Snake or Dorito via the Big ‘A’.

Moving forward would be difficult as but with just one marker in hand we know Abun can’t be looking after 2 sides of the field at the same time. And against a team that has not played a single match all Sunday until now, we were in the perfect position to play the kind of game that has tormented other teams in the past. Lightning quick moves up both sides of the flanks with 3 traditional backs providing cover fire & closing down front players from moving to their kill bunkers.

As it turned out, Pirates never really got going with their game plan & they were slow off the blocks in both games that gave us the confidence boost the team needed to face firm favourites Nitamago in the Finals. The game plan worked wonders & with both Dorito & Snake fronts doing all the damage moving forward taking all the kills in concert. Pirates were dispatched in 3 minutes & were booked our spot in the Finals against the team that denied us 3^rd place in the last leg.

The Semi Final results were as follows:-

SF Game One
Pos	Team	Games Played
		1	2	3	4
1	Pirates	L	L
4	Grammaton Clerics	W	W
SF Game Two
Pos	Team	Games Played
		1	2	3	4
2	Waxers Legion	L	L
3	Nitamago	W	W

Source: My-NPL

As expected, Nitamago was to make light work of Waxers Legion and unless by way of a divine intervention, Pirates was going to win 3^rd place against Waxer Legion and that means rewards for finishing 2^nd in the Final is a long drive back home to the nations capital.

As expected, Pirates were victorious against Waxers Legion in straight games. Pirates take 3^rd place for the 2^nd time this season while 4^th place is the highest finish in the league for Waxers Legion after finishing 10^th & 7^th in the first 2 rounds while they missed the 3^rd round in MAPAAC, PJ.

The build-up to the Final cannot come in a more dramatic fashion for both teams as rain during the monsoon season in Malaysia is almost always a dramatic affair. Tournament was halted for 30 minutes due to heavy downpour but such quality of the playing surface and the drainage underneath it, stagnant water was cleared within minutes after the rain ended.

The Final match began right after the rain stopped and both teams played under slight drizzle. Most Malaysian paintballers will agree that facemasks are not made with Malaysian climate in mind. Fogged lenses & jammed Rotors caused havoc for both teams as movement up the field was slow as both teams took time to adjust both poor vision & failing equipment.

TGC’s Snake side was completely wiped out from the get-go as the Snake front was taken out as he went past the Bumper to enter the Snake whilst the Snake corner was taken off guard when sluggishly moving to the corner bunker. Nitamago took forever to move up the unguarded Snake side probably due to poor vision & also equipment failure.

Eventually when they did move up, the Snake took out the remaining 3 players as we struggled to keep our eyes focused on the field of play as well as lack of communication. It was to be our first loss in the Elimination Rounds and history would tell you that TGC do not respond well to defeat. As a matter of fact, out of the 7 previous finals that TGC have been involved in, we have lost just one. It was pretty clear in the team paddock that losing the Final today was not in the agenda for all the players and crews alike.

Judging by the manner in which Nitamago focused on Snake side attack during the Elimination Rounds, it was clear that it was the game plan they expect to play throughout the Final. It was decided we played a game plan never before tried during training and had had to have the utmost commitment & faith by the players. We were going to play a single Snake player with 3 guns closing down their Snake side with 2 from Dorito & 1 Back Centre.

The game plan took them by surprise when they lost both the Snake front & corner in quick succession with the Dorito side mopping up the rest of the field with covering fire from the Back Centre to limit their Dorito movement to just their transit bunkers.

The 3^rd and final game was a carbon copy of the game plan we had for the 2^nd but we got caught by surprise when Nitamago did not play 2 but 3 in Snake instead! After having taken out their Snake Front off the break & the Snake Corner as he was making his way into the Snake, the 3^rd Snake sprung a surprise by making a nosedive into our side of the Bumper from the Big ‘A’ taking our Snake Front in the process.

From that position he could have easily taken out the Dorito Front & Corner as well as our Back Centre & the game could’ve finished either way. A combination of non-stop panic shooting followed by gradual movement up to the larger bunkers, finally took out the threat from Snake when our Captain pulled off a split second counter that got him but most importantly the threat out of the game.

The last 2 players having missed the action up-field was confined to covering the back bunkers & was quickly dispatched off concluding a miraculous comeback and an unlikely victory under difficult circumstances. Just as we finished, it rained again, heavier this time. Soaked in rain didn’t dampen the celebratory spirits though as the pandemonium & elation of victory is shared with all including the birthday girl & boy!

Final
Pos	Team	Games Played
		1	2	3	4
3	Nitamago	W	L	L
4	Grammaton Clerics	L	W	W
3rd & 4th Placing
Pos	Team	Games Played
		1	2	3	4
1	Pirates	W	W
2	Waxers Legion	L	L

Source: My-NPL

Reflecting back on the team talk we had 4 months before when all seemed lost, it was indeed an interesting journey coming to a close. A historic one some might say, others called it legendary; I just call it Immortality… A feat not achieved by no one else before and most likely not repeated in the near future.

We couldn’t achieve all this without the help from the good people from DYE Precision Inc. who trusted their brand, name & reputation on an untested Div 3 team that dared to dream. We hope that our achievements this year gives credence to the good equipment they produce. We also like to give a word of thanks to Steven Chuang, DYE Precision’s representative from Taiwan who extended his working trip from Langkawi Island (venue of WCA 2011) to see the D2 finals between DYE & Proto teams.

A note of appreciation is also extended to the good people of Napshot Paintball, Alphabunker Supplies & Services, Energy Paintball & RPS paintball. Their assistance in our logistical needs have been instrumental to our success on the field this year. Although the organizers didn’t have any RPS paintballs for sale during the event, but over the course of the years tournament, RPS Paintball has been a better part of our success on field and a word of appreciation to them is justly overdue.

We would also like to thank our family members and friends who have sacrificed a lot to allow us to be in the field slugging it out weekend after weekend doing what we love most. You are the real believers!

Finally, to our coach Cik Mat, sometimes a voice of reason, often a voice of patience when most of the time both seemed missing during the most challenging of times this season.

Pos	Team	Round				Total
		1	2	3	4
1	Grammaton Clerics	90	100	61	100	351
2	Pirates	100	74	100	74	348
3	Hammer Zero	80	87	49		216
4	Votolocos	30	61	87		178
5	Nitamago			74	87	169
6	Dark Knights	70	49	10		129
7	The Simpsons	40	36	23	23	122
8	Mat Malaya	60	10	36		106
9	Waxers Legion	10	23		61	94
10	Shootin’ Rage	50			36	86
11	Deadstar Syndrome PPS				49	49
12	CMX Buccaneers	20				20
13	Foxtrotters				10	10

Source: My-NPL

This has been a great season indeed and one will be forgiven to think that it’s impossible to replicate. It all started as a dream for all of us; to be the most dominant paintball team in the country. With 7 gold medals, a silver medal & 2 bronze medals with one 4^th place finish in 13 tournaments this year resulting to 2 overall titles in 2 different league formats and in 2 different divisions. I think we did just that….

To say we look forward to the challenge next year is an understatement.

‘Ardua Deturbans Vis Animosa Quatit’

Chief

Petaling Jaya

December 2011