Top 4 Tribes by Nest

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DeletedUser117534

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It has been almost 2 weeks since I have posted the review of top 10 tribes and a lot of things have changed since then. Our top ranked tribe TEA(1) has launched an operation against ANTZ(5) while BiP(2) and 2HARD(3) have continued their battles.

There is a clear distinction on the ladder between the top 4 tribes and the rest of the pack. It is very likely that one of those 4 tribes will be the victor of W90. So I thought it is a good moment to write a detailed analysis of the main contenders.

I would like to start my analysis from stats comparison of the top 4 tribes but also showing the change in stats since my last post on 25.11.2016



25.11.2016
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06.12.2016
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We can notice one major difference in here. BiP has gained significantly more points than the other 3 tribes during the last 12 days. They have recruited 6 new members and outperformed TEA in points per village rating. With 203,000 points per player average the tribe would be close to 9,000,000 points if they had equal number of members to TEA. The bottom two tribes have been adding and removing much more members than the top 2 tribes. It can indicate lack of stability and quality in WET and 2HARD or simply not caring that much about dismissing people.

25.11.2016
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06.12.2016
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Looking at the gains and losses comparison TEA has continued to have most internals while BiP is gaining a lot of points through barb nobling. TEA must have a stricter policy on barbs as it continues to show the lowest number of barbs captured in comparison to the rest. When looking at the villages lost, TEA leads the pack with only 10 while 2HARD seams to be loosing quite a bit (49). We can clearly see that after the successful TEA operation against ANTZ, BiP and 2HARD have joined in attacking ANTZ. They have also gained points recruiting from ANTZ.

Interesting facts from the last 5 days:
WET has lost 8 villages to Dread Doctors.
ANTZ has managed to gain only 5 caps vs TEA(24)
2HARD is being molested by Dist. loosing 12 villages while BiP has done even more damage capturing 20. In return 2HARD gained 9 villages from BiP.
TEA is tearing through the rim tribes making 11 caps from FARM and 11 from ~HC~

For the first time on the new forum I have experienced exceeding 10,000 characters in a post. The settings have restricted me from having my general comments about the top 4 tribes and the review of TEA posted together. Maybe that could be changed by forum moderators? I think I would be fine with 30,000 characters.
 
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DeletedUser117534

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THE REVIEW - TEA

TEA_MAP.gif

POINTS: 9/10


Normally a top tribe should be receiving 10/10 however when comparing BiP to TEA we could definitely see there is a place for improvement in TEA's point per player averae as well as the growth rate of some players. There are still 20 players under 150,000 points (BiP has 15) while only 6 players over 250,000 (BiP has 12)

MEMBERS/RECRUITMENT: 8.5/10

TEA has started with a very solid list of members. I could't believe the number of players I've known from previous worlds that I saw on Al's roster. By saying that some of those players had to be internalled and TEA has never waited for very long to replace them with new recruits. Usually recruitment was done for strategic purposes around current conflicts so quality of some of those new recruits could be questionable but from strategic perspective this type of recruitment was vital for TEA's success.

LOCATION: 10/10

I have given TEA 10/10 from two simple reasons. TEA has managed to position themselves in a way to have a wide front with access to the core villages along the 44K and 55K border. No other tribe has so many options in regards to movement within the core. Secondly TEA has recently made some large gains from FARM and ~HC~. It indicates they will soon completely dominate the rim being the first tribe that can have control over the whole quarter.


LEADERSHIP: 9/10


I don't know Trex or THE MURPH AL CAPS personally but from what I've seen and heard they are handing the tribe quite well. It requires a lot of skill and dedication to lead a top 1 tribe so hats off to them. So far they didn't have any major internal issues while their growth strategy and diplomacy is done really well. I have heard some not favourable opinions about Trex and how he treats members but it is hard for me to judge not knowing two sides of the story. I know from experience that managers are usually not the nicest people. Knowing that Al is the nice guy I am sure he needs someone like Trex to crack the whip.

As to TEA's strategy there have been some accusations that they don't play clean, they do sneaky things, etc.
To be honest most tribes use recruitment, secretive deals, spying to get an edge over the competition. So we can't criticise TEA as the only tribe to use it. They have mastered diplomacy and merge/recruit element of conquering an enemy to perfection so for those who use it please learn from the best. But for those who say it's unethical you have my full respect for playing the game the hard way.


REPUTATION/EXTERNALS: 7/10

TEA is the most recognisable brand on W90. They have a lot of well known players on board but somehow they are not the most likeable of the tribes. I understand they will always be flamed and envied for being ranked 1 but I have seen top tribes being very likeable or admired, but TEA seams to lack that. Sometime I feel they are overconfident which has lead to some arrogant remarks on externals. The merge/recruit strategy they use so effectively also contributes to that fact. Then we had attack on PSSST! and even though they have gained a lot of villages attacking very likeable Atmos has made them almost the 'evil' ones in eyes of others. They have been accused about a lot of things on externals and I believe there is some truth in every accusation and people know it to, so it dragged TEA's reputation down.

As much as Al's Vlogs are great for his tribe, every time one leaked to the externals it showed the world how confident they are about tearing everyone apart. I am sure people close to TEA border looked at those vlogs with a grim face. I hope for Al that the technique he used in his recent vlog will block it from being released on externals. I have seen it and I loved it.


COMMENTS:


Generally there is not many bad things I can tell about TEA. The tribe looks rock solid and on the target to winning the world. By saying this they have not yet been tested against a worthy opponent on a battlefield. Only the time will tell if Al's and Trex vision for a tribe was right.

BiP has recruited some players forming a very dense cluster on the border with TEA. It looks on the map as a thorn in TEA's side. Is that going to be the major battleground in the future?
Also Dread Doctor is lurking east of their border. How are they going to handle The Doctor, if at all?



TOTAL SCORE: 8.7/10


As part of my review I decided to approach TEA's duke Al asking him few questions. Al was very approachable and kind and I hope you will enjoy the interview as much as I did.
 
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DeletedUser117534

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Thank you for accepting my invitation to do this interview. May I ask you how world 90 has been treating you so far? What were your expectations when you started TEA and how would they relate to what you have seen so far?

The goal set from day one was to win W90. It’s a joint vision that our tribe share together. Everyone so far has had a part to play. This includes those who have caused us issues. We’ve been able to revaluate tribe policy to cater to the tribes desires. We’ve had our up and downs, but that can be said for any tribe on this world. W90 has been good to us so far for the most part. Our spread at start-up was favourable even though council were worried that we had another premade in close proximity to us. Thankfully we had plenty of experience dealing with a similar situation from our last world we were able to quickly overcome that barrier. After a smooth start people went a bit lackadaisical though. For example, people’s off/def ratios ran us into a little bit of trouble when we had to fight on multiple fronts. This problem was quickly rectified.

Things are going well and are on track with our vision. We are currently rank 1 with a kind spread and in control of our future. There have been very little surprises for us so far but I’m sure that will change in the coming weeks.

I’m enjoying the competition on W90. It’s a competitive world with some great tribes and people. I used to be a strict no-hauler. It’s nice meeting new people that typically play haul worlds.

What do you think were the most important factors contributing to your success?

Avoiding internal issues and securing a core continent faster than the other tribes on this world and having limited threats on the rim. This is something all tribes should strive for at start up in my opinion and it’s a simple effective strategy. There are many other ways but this is the most straight forward, our foundations were set to execute this from the start.

I know from experience being a Duke can be exhausting and very time consuming. You are Duking the largest tribe on W90, how do you manage to find time to do all that is needed from you? Do you have any tips for future dukes on how to cope with this never ending stream of messages, skype chats and player demands?

I don’t, unfortunately. Since starting W90 there have been two Dukes. The TreX account and myself. They are doing a lot of the tribal organisation and are most definitely the heart of the tribe at the moment. They are doing a great job leading by example, coordinating OP’s, high caps against our enemies and all the rest. I’d advise anyone that’s thinking of being a leader in the future to have someone around that they completely trust to pick up the slack when they aren’t around. It is difficult but also vitally important. You should also have enough time to lead before committing to such responsibility. Last world I played I worked in retail. That was less than satisfactory. Varying hours and changing schedules isn’t a good mix. I currently work in an office which gives me ample internet time to run an account and help lead a tribe sufficiently.

This is the first time I’ve lead a (so far) rank one tribe. It’s a major step up in terms of time commitment. It makes things easier in one perspective because people want to speak to you. I rarely have to run around asking people for favours like I’m very used to. My preferred method of communication is IGM and then I can migrate to Skype if necessary. I have Skype on my phone which I utilise on the way to/from work to catch up on anything I may have missed overnight or during the day. It’s great time killer on journeys. With that being said, you’re always on call although I will rarely drop everything unless extremely necessary.

People say internal drama is the biggest enemy of any large tribe. TEA is a mixture of some great individuals, people with different personalities, values and experience. What is your recipe for holding them all together so well? How do you avoid or deal with internal drama?

Those people are right! Rank 1 tribes tend to have this mix of personalities due to their nature of having the best and. This in turn obviously attracts some egos. I wouldn’t say we’ve done too well thus far in containing these. Many have been good and left us voluntarily. Others decided to try and destroy us from the inside. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t resolve our issue with II account but that ship has sailed.

I think it helps a lot that the tribe see the effort we are putting in and are only trying our best. It certainly helps confidence when our decisions so far have gone our way and as planned. The only exception was II.

Jake from the TreX account looks after internal affairs for the most part so I’d advise people to have someone tribe members like and respect. Delegating work is important. TEA has a set of well written, fair rules. We try our best to stick these and apply them to disputes. The tribe like eachother, we want to what’s best for eachother and it’s as simple as that. Checking in with members and keeping them interested and moving them to frontlines and treating them with respect goes a long way. Leadership expect the same in return making it a mutual relationship.

Moving on to the area of war, congratulation on very successful assault against ANTZ. TEA has made 64 gains this week with only 4 losses. Those stats make it look so easy. Was it really that easy?

Yes. The Ants war has been easy and we don’t expect them to do much more. BiP jumped in on the feeding frenzy to push them over the edge, others just left. Athe dust settles it will be interesting to see how we stand. BiP recruited a condensed cluster and that makes things more difficult, especially since this world favours the defender and they have a larger pool to sit frontline accounts if needed. I mentioned steamrolling Ants in my latest Vlog so it comes at no surprise. Ants had the potential to be a significant tribe but they blew it. I expect future wars on this world to be much more of a grind.

Do you think ANTZ still have ability to get back on feet and stop your push or is it all over?

No, I believe the tribe is well and truely done for. As you've see, this was predicted in my video and has since become a reality. Those who managed to escape will provide much more of a fight I think.

BiP and 2HARD have recently gained a lot of points through recruitment and they are now just behind TEA on the ladder. Are you concerned about that at all?

The ladder is irrelevant. I’m concerned about any tribe that possess a threat and both tribes have demonstrated some excellent attacking and defending. Underestimating them would be foolish. I’m surprised BiP allowed them to be in such a position in the first place but hindsight is a wonderful things.
 

DeletedUser117534

Guest
TEA is without a doubt the strongest candidate to win world 90. What would you say to all the critics that try to undermine your tribe achievements on the externals?

I wouldn’t say that. There are some excellent tribes on this world and it’s still all to play for. We’re looking forward to the wars to come. We have had offers to merge in tribes such as PSSST! for example. We opted for selective recruitment instead. We’re not looking to merge to win so I believe our achievements will be more significant the further this world progresses. There will always be critics and so far there have been some questionable decisions but over all we’ve demonstrated our ability which should be acknowledged.

We had a few of your Vlogs that leaked to the externals. I enjoyed them a lot and I like the idea of you interacting with your players that way. What is the chance of you making a video war declaration one day?

Thank you. It’s unlikely. A Vlog war declaration in my opinion would be boring. I’m not tech savvy enough to put any special effects together. I tried working on the end of things with display but it came to nothing considering our fall out. I don’t mind releasing my previous Vlogs once they can no longer influence diplomacy or world opinion. I will also be doing a Vlog at the end of the world, win or lose which will but published publically for all to view. Hopefully that works out.
 

DeletedUser119839

Guest
Loving it again! :D Are u going to have a review on each of those tribes or?
 

DeletedUser119946

Guest
This is our first world coming over from tribalwars.nl and I have loved all your posts so far :) Keep up the good work!
 

DeletedUser119950

Guest
Now that Dread Doctors are part of TEA i guess we can expect rise in villages lost from WET, I hope they dont spoil their stats TOO much before new review of top 4 is up lel.
 

DeletedUser117534

Guest
THE REVIEW - BIP

bip_map.jpg

POINTS: 9/10


BiP is currently ranked 2nd having 7,775,497 points and 36 accounts. They have the highest average points per player (215,986 points) among the top 5 tribes. Having 7 less members than TEA explains the 1.2 million points gap between the two tribes. If we added the points of 7 additional accounts at BIP’s average the tribe would lead TEA by 300,000 points. But that is an assumption; they don’t have those members so I can’t give them 10/10

MEMBERS/RECRUITMENT: 8.5/10


Before the world started BIP was formed around a group of solid players that came over to .net from few European servers (mostly.no.com and .nl) They have used a lot PP boosting their growth in the first few weeks. On top of the PP spending they have also farmed very well outgrowing most of players at the start. BIP has now 8 players in the top 20 and 14 players above 200,000 points.


The recruitment has been very selective and limited. I really like that approach, it leaves room for strategic recruitment around larger conflicts. BIP used available room recently to recruit several ANTZ members which must have infuriated TEA. They still have room for 9 members that can be easily picked up around 2HARD and ANTZ wars.

LOCATION: 7/10

BIP are in rather difficult position. They have started well with a good spread across NE continent but the conflict with 2HARD changed it significantly. Instead of focusing on growth and securing the rim BiP had to focus on defending against 2HARD, FaL and FnB. That gave enough time for DisP to consolidate the north cutting off most of BiP from access to the rim.

At present BiP is made up of three separate clusters. The main central cluster has a border with DisP in the North while East and South East are surrounded by 2HARD then ANTZ in the south. There is also a newly created southern cluster made up ex ANTZ members wedged between TEA, ANTZ and WET. It is not the easiest position to be in but there is a simple solution, if BiP defeated 2HARD all clusters would be connected at once. So I guess that is what BiP should be focusing on.

LEADERSHIP: 8.5/10

King Banana (Fredrik) is the sole Duke of BiP taking upon his shoulders most of the leadership functions. I have spoken to Fredrik on couple of occasions and he is a very likeable person, both respectful and charismatic. I have spoken to few members of BiP about their Duke and they could not give him enough praises. He genuinely cares about every member of his tribe. I don’t know how he finds time for all this.

He has been managing the tribe very well considering being under heavy pressure from 2HARD and having to deal with all the drama that came with it. The downside to having leadership centralised so much around one person is freezing decision making for the periods that the Duke is absent.

REPUTATION/EXTERNALS: 8.5/10

As I mentioned before a lot of BiP players are new to .net so it’s hard to judge their reputation. They have only few members posting occasionally on externals but I think that served them well so far. TEA was getting most of the unwanted attention while BiP could play under the radar for most of the time.

King Banana is handling most of the external posts regarding 2HARD war and they are well presented and informative without the unnecessary flaming or arrogance.

TOTAL SCORE: 8.4/10


ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

We can slowly notice polarisation that is happening between the top 4 tribes. The falling of ANTZ was a catalyst to form two clear divisions. BiP and WET on one side in opposition to TEA and 2HARD.

Let’s assume for a moment that TEA, BiP, PSSS! and 2HARD have nobled out all of ANTZ.

BiP is fighting 2HARD in the south and is facing a likely conflict with TEA over the ex ANTZ members. I have heard HardNUTZ is working for TEA and will join them if 2HARD collapses. I think TEA will attack BiP rather soon. The longer they wait the more likely it is that BiP will defeat 2HARD in the south linking both of their clusters.

So a lot depends on what WET will do next. I think they will not side with TEA as WET doesn’t stand any chance against TEA on its own. Also TEA has no need for WET (other than noble them out). So the most reasonable thing for WET to do is making an alliance with BiP.

TEA has just confirmed their intentions towards WET by recruiting Dread Doctors. If they have chosen to noble Dread with WET’s help it would have been a different matter but now having Dread in TEA means they are looking to move east fast.

Therefore we will have TEA 2HARD vs WET BiP war.

I can’t wait to see developments between those 4 in the coming weeks especially that BiP is not scared of TEA. I had a pleasure interviewing Fredrik and here is what he had to say:
 
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DeletedUser117534

Guest
Thank you for accepting my invitation for the interview. You must be a busy man leading one of the largest tribes on W90, do you share Duke’s role with other players or is it council that helps you running the tribe?

Thank you for the kind words Nest, they warm me here in the cold.

This is the first time I have duked a world on .net. I have played on .net before, and my first server was at world 4 .net.
Since that I have been all around different servers, like, .no, .dk, .pr, .uk, but I don't remember all the nicks I played with over the time.
My favourite server, is the Norwegian one, but it is dying out like most of the national servers.
Well I am the only duke, and I do most things myself. I don't belive in councils.
I got a couple barons I ask for some thoughts from now and then, and a diplomat. Other than that most of the tribe movement and decisions is by my hand, so if we make some horrible choices I am the one to blame. I have had my fair share of being duke/baron over the years, as I always end up in the leadership.

I understand it is your first time leading/playing on .net after coming from Norwegian server. Could you tell me a little bit about yourself, major successes in TW, have you won any worlds?

I have won several worlds, but I have not won a .net world yet. Not that I have put any effort in to try it before now. Back at world 4 I was just a little boy, that knew nothing about the game. I managed to stay around for quite some time, but I quit and moved to a national server. I played this game since 2007, but I had a break from TW from 2010 to 2015. Then I got pulled back into the most addictive game there is! Right now I stand with 3 world wins, but the number could have been higher if I didn't jump from world to world in my first 3 years of tribal wars. Before I quit in 2010 I was quiet good in speed, and was qualified to Scandinavian finals in speed, but sadly it got cancelled.

How would you compare the quality of players and tribes on .net and .no.com? Do you feel .net is more challenging of the two servers? Have you brought any friends with you from Norwegian server?

When I came back to .net I really expected a higher level off skilled players. Don't take me wrong, I believe the best players at .net is extremely good. But, the average level of quality is not as good as I expected.
At the Norwegian server you don't have so big servers, and I believe that the Norwegian server might be the server with the best average start up there is. I believe the .net players are much better at late game stages (such as accounts with 10 million + points),
as you have had your fair share of big worlds. At late game I think there is few servers that can compete with you (at player average). This is just my personal opinion, and this is a hard question to answer. .net/the German server is the ones that is the hardest ones to win, and I am here to go all the way to the top. I have brought some highly skilled players from the Norwegian server that is settling in quiet good! But we are an international tribe with players with a worldwide spectre.
I know there have been some players from .no that has done quite well at .net servers.
Fun fact: There are a couple members in TEA that is Norwegian.

W90 seems to be an interesting world so far, would you agree with that and why?

Yes I agree that world 90 is very interesting. There has been a lot of drama in every corner off the world. For me personally this has been a rollercoaster of drama.
Especially in the east/north-east corner of this world. I am really excited to see what will happen over the course of the next month, as I believe that will shape how the game will look in endgame.
I must give a shout out to King Ragnar as he might be one of the dukes I meet in this game that lies the most and has the lowest moral. But you got to compensate skills with something right.

Since I remember BiP has been considered as one of the two strongest contenders to win the world. Your tribe had a very strong start. You struggled a little bit after 2HARD attacked but it seems that you have now fully recovered and BiP are on the rise again. How would you describe the current condition of your tribe?

The current condition of BiP is very strong. We sadly lost some players because of a backstab I did not see coming. Except for that we have destroyed almost everything that has been in our way.
Only place we have had a struggle to get momentum against our enemy is in the east. I believe we will beat 2hard with flying numbers soon. They reached out to me trying to get a nap last week.
I am looking forward to see TEA's response to our recruitments in core. Will they engage at us, or will they grow more before they start to hit? I guess that is the two options TEA leadership has. As I understand they really did not like the BiP move there.

We have seen in the stats that BiP is outclassing TEA in points per player. How would you explain that? Is it because of better recruitment? Do you feel in general your group of players is more consistent?

As we are a premade with a very good environment inside the tribe, recruiting is one of the things I had the least focus on. I believe we are close too 1000 applications from the start now, and the present of applications I have accepted is quiet low. I focus on the players that is already in the tribe, and how to make all my guys get the extra mile.
We take care of every single individual, and listen to what everyone has to say. We would even have 15K higher average point per player if we did not keep our two smallest players that got OP'ed and surrounded when 2hard flipped at us. But it seems like we are the top tribe that values our players the highest of the top 5 tribes in this world. I believe TEA has a great group of players, and I know we have one as well. It will be a fun fight if we end up brawling. I am looking forward too see how TEA does it in a war, without pulling some TEA-moves" on their enemies.
 
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DeletedUser117534

Guest
We have all seen how easily TEA has tore through ANTZ. Some ANTZ players decided to join BiP forming a very dense cluster on the border with TEA. It looks like a brilliant opportunistic move by your tribe. Are you not feared it would anger TEA and after ANTZ are defeated they might turn their attention to BiP?

Yes, I expect TEA will hit us. Most of the players we recruited from Antz were already "BiP" players before they joined Antz. We had to take down Antz as they we're unstable, and allied our enemy 2hard.

HardNUTZ has caused some issues for your tribe recently. I know he can be a bit sneaky and I have heard he tried to join BiP first, is it true and if yes why you e was rejected? I wonder why he has chosen 2HARD, was it because that was the only tribe that would take him?

Hardnutz was supposed to join BiP, but he suddenly changed his mind and tried to dig for information. I think (and this is just conspiracy) that Hardnutz has been placed in 2hard by TEA, and is there to try to stop BiP growth until TEA dig their way through Antz and link up with him.

And finally could you tell us what can we expect from BiP in coming weeks or months, would there be a breakthrough in fight against 2HARD?

You should expect to see us keep growing, and still be a world winner challenger. In 2-3 weeks I believe 2hard will start to fall.

Thank you, once again, for contributing to the externals in great manners!
 
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