Gaming
Limit pushed Method all the way, but the EU guild secured a 12th World First. What gave them the edge and what do the opposition need to do to catch them? Expert caster Rich Campbell explains.
After an incredibly intense couple of weeks, most of which was spent locked in a brutal battle against the final boss Queen Azshara, Method beat Limit to claim another WoW World First.
Broadcaster Rich Campbell was there all the way, keeping viewers up to date on the raid progress of both Limit and Pieces – who were battling at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere – and the guilds around the rest of the world.
This isn’t the first World First race that Campbell has worked on, but with more guilds streaming their progress than ever before, it was the best for the viewers. The evening after Limit finally downed Queen Azshara, the caster gave us his verdict on the raid, explained what it was that Method did to give them the edge over their rivals, and how Limit can bounce back next time.
You’ve broadcasted raids from the Red Bull Gaming Sphere before – how did this one compare?
With this race, the actual show itself is starting to get to the place a lot of us envisioned the show going for a long time. Comparing it to the first race I worked on with Red Bull, the execution this time around is a huge improvement.
Giving spotlight to other guilds who haven’t streamed in the past is huge. Having two guilds in house was fantastic in itself, but including the other guilds off-stream gave people on Twitch, for the first time, a real taste of what the race was. The last race with Method felt like they were beating the raid – not so much racing against other guilds, whereas now it must have felt like the best win anyone has ever had so far in any race.
Limit were at the Gaming Sphere – did you feel for them when Method won while they were sleeping?
This was probably the most heartbreaking loss for Limit, but I think they’ll come out next time and be able to take it down. They’ve proved that there are multiple horses in the race and I’m excited to see what the next one will look like.
You’ll see Method pull much slower than other guilds
Why do you think Method are so successful? What do other guilds have to do to beat them?
One of the things that Method do very well is that every single one of their pulls is valuable. You’ll see them pull much slower than other guilds and it tends to make it look like they’re behind sometimes when they’re actually kind of ahead. They’re playing 4D chess when other people are playing checkers.
They have some of the best strategists in their guild, they’re smart and there was a point in the race where I thought Method were behind, but when they reached P4 you knew they were going to win.
When you look at Limit and you look at Method, they both did something right to be able to defeat the boss, and the most commendable thing is that they stuck to their own strategies – it just happened that Method’s one was the one that succeeded first.
Method also have the experience advantage – they remained composed when they were getting close to beating the boss and exhibited qualities which only a guild that has successfully won multiple world firsts possess.
I think over time, Limit will get more used to that and the pressures of streaming – they’ll learn to have cleaner executions.
What did you think of Pieces’ performance?
Although they fell off in this race, I think they will also become more accustomed to streaming and the pressures. I fully expect them to be better next time.
As a caster, I try to remain impartial of course, but in the beginning of the race, I was rooting for Pieces. Something that angered me before the race started was that some members of the community tried to delegitimise Pieces’ win in the mini-raid and said that it didn’t count. They deserved the credit, so I really want them to do well, come out with another win and silence those haters.
It’s not an easy thing for the WoW community to take you seriously, because you have to win, especially with Method looking scarier in the future.
