Judgement day: Reading Entity - September 23rd

Reading Entity

If you asked me 8 short weeks ago how these players would fare if we threw them together into the open division of the race-4 at CPPS. I would have looked down at the ground and guessed - 'Somewhere around the middle'.

If anyone did ask me that question then right now I would have those words in front of me on a plate; lightly salted with a slice of humble pie.

For me this was my first race-4 game this year; for others this was their first tournament in years; but for all of us this was the first time we played a tournament together as a team. But that was exactly what we did. Individually we're all very different players with varying levels of experience, but together we played as one aggressive and unforgiving team; a dominant force that dictated the games our fucking way; we were not so much 5 players as 1 living entity (see what I did there?).

We also do a lot for the game in the form of sex appeal.

The points were played hard and fast (yeah baby) and.. well the proof is in the pudding.

Entity 4 - 1 Volatile
Entity 4 - 0 Celtic Banshees
Entity 4 - 0 Kinetic
Entity 4 - 1 Laysick VIP

1st. Fucking. Place.
  
We had problems with a bit of paint chopping, probably down to the cold weather. Also a couple penalties were made against us which does need addressing, but all in all we couldn't argue with the result.

On a personal level I felt strangely empowered. This was the first time I had played a tournament with a team I have trained with relatively often (I've rarely trained with a team more than once every few months in the past). I played the Teabag side all day and innately knew that it didn't matter who on my team was with me, I had faith in them and their ability to keep me alive so I could get to work.

It was this empowerment which just inflated my game and my ability to play aggressive and intimidate other teams and my god is it a good feeling. Yeah I wasn't perfect, I have a long way to go, but I was playing better than I ever have and I owe that to this new concept of teamplay.  

I made the decision last training that I am definitely going to see things through with Entity and their fight into the elite division with the big dogs next year. I've had the vision for 2 seasons now and pictured myself joining a feeder/sister team and working my way up, but to be a part of a newly rebuilt team and earn that place as a team is going to be so much more rewarding.

This winter we train hard; we have a lot of work to do... because today we made a statement and told everyone around that we are coming and that we are hungry. Today Reading Entity showed that it can bark, next year we need to bring the bite.

September

September 1st - Portishead:

Just a day on my own trying to get a better snapshot mainly when I'm snapping out left. For some reason although I've always been fine shooting left, my whole technique for snapping that side sucks! Just as well really that I used a whole box just shooting at some targets! It was a lot of paint and I tried a whole load of different things out trying to make it feel right but in the end I didn't feel miles better for it.

Sunday 2nd - Bricketwood, London Tigers:

I spoke to Twizz during the week and he was happy for me to come down and join in with the tigers program, as it was their first real training session since Campaign they just wanted to have a bit of a fun day playing points and doing some off the break shooting / running and gunning drills - with the twist that we weren't using a back centre and just standing in the open (on the MAO 2012 layout) it made it a lot more fun as everyone was getting shot whatever they were doing.

In the points I felt like I was holding my own but I just wasn't quite aggressive enough. To be fair they were very good at containing me on the teabag side and there was almost always a lane stopping me from getting out wide. This is something I still am not comfortable putting in place myself. I get bored of sitting behind the lane pretty quickly but I know that if I want to take this up to the next level I have to be doing it.

Thursday 6th - Cribbs

Just a couple of us went up, we played on the cube field as opposed to the air ball as it wasnt worth blowing it up and taking it down again. We did a lot of snapshooting drills and first shot stuff and didn't really play any points.

Sunday 9th - NTT Academy 491387234523

We went all out and got a couple boxes each which today which was good. I prefer it when I don't have to worry too much about paint consumption. We did some half field 3v3's and some full field 4v4's broken up by some snapshooting / running &gunning drills to keep our skills sharp. We also got some off the break shooting going but with just a single target at the other end of the field who also happened to be doing the same back to you. Not only did this work on first shot but it started to help us sink in the fact that if we're getting shot at, there's always going to be a chance we get shot and instead of panicking and trying to dodge, we should just concentrate on getting that kill without being a pansy about it.

After this weekend I was feeling good. People were developing and getting more enthusiastic about the team and hopes are high for our debut at CPPS on the 23rd.

Thursday 13th - Cribbs

Another day on the cubes, a bit of snapping and a few mini games just to make sure I don't rust over too much as I don't intend to play again until the 23rd.

August: Part Two

Cribbs 16th August: 

Small crowd again. Just 4 of us up here. We played a few 2 on 2s but mainly did some off the break / run&gun and snap shooting. Nothing to see here!

Friday 17th: DODGEBALL!

Completely irrelevant but I started playing dodgeball on Friday evenings as part of a new league in Weston. It was very fun and an amazing workout. There's muscles in my arms and back I found which I didn't know existed!

We lost our first friendly but the ranked games haven't started yet so it's all good practice for a warm-up!

18th & 19th August: Academy 213140582676373945021349234572456

Another weekend of practice up at Bristol. My head wasn't really in the game and I feel like I hit a wall this weekend. I just didn't feel like I was up to scratch when we were doing half field games of 3v3 and my hesitation and lack of aggression became quite apparent to me as I was very slow to move up the dorito side of the field. On reflection I think I need to start making my own windows instead of waiting for them to appear. I should be dominating the people keeping me locked down and buying myself the time to bump instead of just waiting until they eventually look infield. 

The NTT squad seems to be shaping up a bit now. Shayne's shaking off his rust well, Harry's remaining a solid player and everyone who turned up today actually seemed to have some enthusiasm! I was pretty moody and felt a bit defeated just because I didn't feel as strong a player as I knew I could be. Some of the guys suggested maybe I take a weekend off and I remember thinking at the time that it's probably just what I need to sit back and compose myself before coming back out to hit it hard. Next weekend I think I'll take it easy and do what normal people do and stuff. Whatever that is.

26th August: My weekend off (UKSM with UWE paintball society) 

Well I went to spend the weekend at the old man's and see a bit of London. But you know, as I was in the area It would have been rude not to nip over to bricketwood wouldn't it?

I started the day in the snakeside back centre-left  (MAO field makes everything awkward doesn't it!) but I sorta got there and felt a bit bored and couldn't see much of the field. Everyone else on the team went out and killed people in the first game which we won. In the second game we lost and I got shot by playing a bit sloppy behind a pin and leaving my knee out.

After that I got bored of watching the games pan out and trying to play damage control so I thought I'd start diving into the doritos and was back in my element, patiently gunfighting people out one by one and winning games until the end of the day. We came first overall by a long shot winning 7/8 games. 

Yeah okay I was probably sandbagging a bit being in Div2; after a month or so of seeing how far I had left to walk on this intimidating path on the way to that elusive pro level spot, I needed to remind myself how far I had come after a lot of work. A couple guys from London Impact watched me play and took me to one side, we chatted about Paris, they're not sure if they have a spot for me but I'm hoping they do so I can go play my first millenium in October!

That's all for August. Next month I will be training hard at Bricketwood and Bristol as well as fighting to defend 1st place with Snatch at the last round of the CPPS!