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Watching Red Bull Wololo II is a totally acceptable weekend plan, trust us
We catch up with incredible Age of Empires II player TheViper ahead of Red Bull Wololo II to see how he’s preparing to finally take the title at this weekend's tournament.
Ørjan 'TheViper' Larsen just missed out on becoming the first Red Bull Wololo champion a few months ago after falling to Mr_Yo in the grand final. The 4-0 loss in the final was certainly disappointing for TheViper, who's considered by many to be the best Age of Empires II player in the world, but now he has a chance to finally take the Wololo crown and will stop at nothing to make it his.
The second iteration of Red Bull Wololo takes place this weekend, with 16 of the best Age of Empires II players set to compete in the unique Wololo game mode for a share of the US$30,000 prize pool. After the success of the first event, there'll no doubt be some incredible action this weekend, and TheViper is hoping he will be able to deliver even more crazy matches, just like he did the first time around.
“I really enjoyed playing [Red Bull Wololo],” says TheViper. “Empire Wars is something different to what we normally play, and it felt refreshing and fun to play, so I'm excited for the second one. I was obviously disappointed by not winning, but I was still satisfied with my performance until the final.”
For those that didn’t manage to catch the first event, Red Bull Wololo introduces a new game mode to the Age of Empires II world. With a modification on the Empire Wars mode, the dark age is completely skipped, with players starting with a well-formed base. This means that the slow start to most games is removed and it's not uncommon to see fights break out from minute one. For TheViper, this plays into his hands, but even so, the community is still figuring out the best way to play the Wololo game mode.
“I think [the game mode] suits me,” says TheViper. “The action kicks off faste, and it becomes very intense and you need to adapt really well on the spot in such a short timeframe, and I think I do that fairly well. I think on certain maps you can be unlucky, just as with the regular game mode, with certain spawns, but overall I don't think it has the biggest impact on how the game plays out. You might have to make small changes or make a tower in order to protect an exposed area, but besides that, the spawn shouldn't have the biggest impact on most maps. Skipping the dark age makes it harder to play, but I think it's because we're still not fully used to this game mode. I would love to see it included in ranked games and then have it become more than the one-off event.”
With the unique game mode that’s played at Red Bull Wololo, all aspects of the game change, including the civilisations that are picked. Heading into the first Wololo event, people thought they had a pretty good idea of which civs would be selected. For the most part, they were right, but then TheViper decided to bring out Teutons, a civ rarely seen at the top level. He even managed to win a game with them.
“Usually civilisations with a good economy boost that makes the feudal age gameplay very smooth, transitioning to mid-game with a great economy and military balance [are good for Wololo],” says TheViper. “Civilisations like Vikings, Aztecs and Khmer come to mind. I realised that the approach on the map Land Madness was very spearmen and cavalry-focused, and Teutons do have a bonus hitting Castle Age where they get extra armour on their melee units. On top of that, the opening has a big lack of natural resources, and Teutons also have cheaper farms, so the economy got kicked into a high gear really quickly.”
TheViper wouldn’t let on if he had any other crazy civ picks up his sleeve for this weekend’s event, but knowing how he likes to play and his incredible knowledge of the game, it wouldn't be a surprise at all if he makes an unpredictable civ choice and sees it work.
With Red Bull Wololo about to get under way, all eyes will be turning to TheViper, and the player he lost against in the final, Mr_Yo, to see if they can repeat their success. As two of the best players in the world, they certainly have a very good chance, but with the 16-player single-elimination bracket, just one mistake will see them crash out of the tournament.
“I'm expecting to do well, but at the same time I realise that if someone is really well prepared, anything can happen,” says TheViper. “There are 16 great players participating and anyone can beat anyone in this game mode. I'm aiming to win it, though. I haven't practised too much so far, pretty much just started. I didn't want to start training two to three weeks before the event begins and then lose the energy of playing Empire Wars, but I will play a fair bit now before the tournament begins. I think the main thing to figure out in this game mode is which civilisations and which approach are the best on the different maps, so that's where the main focus is at.”
When we spoke to TheViper earlier this week he was only just starting his preparation for Red Bull Wololo II, but for any competitors reading this don’t be fooled – since then he's been on the Empire Wars grind and will be fully ready for his opening match against Brazilian player Miguel 'miguel' Dornelles. Anyone who's drawn against TheViper will need to be on their game to advance at his expense.
Regardless of whether TheViper manages to finally claim the Red Bull Wololo crown, if Mr_Yo triumphs again or if a new challenger takes the victory, you don't want to miss the action this weekend.
Red Bull Wololo II takes place from Thursday 20 - Sunday 23 August 2020 and you can watch every moment on the official Red Bull Twitch and YouTube channels.
