Post: #1

WCO 2017-2018 Player Interview: Losermaker
 
Today we are here with Losermaker from Australia. Your reporter was curious to the origins of the name “Losermaker” and thus asked about it. Losermaker, previously known as “Whistler” at Metaforge, eventually made the transition to Stratego.com and wanted a funnier, but also more intimidating name. After a few days of brainstorming with his dad (who was losing quite often to Losermaker), his dad came up with the name “Losermaker”.
 
When asked about his history with Stratego, how it all began, Losermaker stated he saw the board game for the first time when he was three years old. After long a period of time, he remembered a game with, as he names it “scouts, bombs and a spy”. Pieces were ordered, but came without a board (would be delivered later), believe it or not, Losermaker’s first Stratego board was one made by his dad, as Losermaker says “It was quite a thin cardboard thing without any extra details, just the squares and maybe some badly drawn lakes  ” not many players can say their first Stratego board was a handmade one. When asked if the board still is around, Losermaker answered negative. Too bad! We would have liked to see a glimpse of the Losermaker museum of Stratego.
 
Everyone has to got start somewhere, when asked if he made some players lose in his first games, he had to embarrassingly admit defeat to his family members for the first week. Common newcomer’s mistake that the Marshal does not beat the Spy when attacking was made and the rulebook had to be used to come to a ruling. When asked if he’s gotten revenge on them, he answered “maybe a few times....  ”.
 
Being curious to what Losermaker considers to be his greatest Stratego achievement so far (only one answer allowed, you’ll see why soon…) he responded by saying “Wow, hard one”. He recalled a game where he beat your reporter quite badly and had to bring that up, but limited to only one answer, he chose his victory in the Winter tournament 15/16 over Playa1, who he beat coming from the loser(maker)bracket in a thrilling final with games over one hour of length.  


 
Asking Losermaker about which opponent he is looking forward to play the most during the WCO 2017/18, he answered he’s looking forward to play your reporter and hopes to win. We all have that one player we would rather not face, being asked about it, he answered he hopes not to face Karaiskakis because he loses to him more often than he likes, despite still having a positive record against Karaiskakis.
 
Being asked whether he has filled in the Wizard’s quiz ) yet, he gave the only right answer “yes”. He was surprised about (quote) “How badly I did last time”, which makes him want to try again. He’s ready to make some people lose in WCO knowledge quizzes. That’s the spirit!
 
For the second round, Losermaker is scheduled to play against Moghedien. When asked whether the game has been scheduled yet, the only right answer was given, that being “yes”. Being asked about his history against Moghedien he stated “we have played for another tournament I think and also for the King of the Battlefield (our most recent game) which he won. I think he has a good defensive Dutch style. He is a good guy and easy going so I hope it will be a good game win or lose. -- I think they are our only 2 games played, making this a tiebreaker  ” We’re all looking forward to the result of this game (something tells your reporter it might just end in a draw).
 
When asked about some of Losermaker’s preferences:
Favorite Stratego piece? General (considering  is his avatar, we shouldn’t be too surprised)
First or second move in Stratego? Second, Losermaker answered
1st place in WCO or 1st place on ranking? Again, Losermaker making the right choice, 1st place in WCO
Losermaker or Moghedien? Losermaker(perhaps there won’t be a draw after all..)
 
Many thanks to Losermaker for cooperation!

Post: #2

WCO 2017-2018 Player Interview: Great Manos
Today we are interviewing player Great Manos (33) from Greece, who played Stratego for the first time at the age of 10. His brother and he played a lot of board games at younger age and eventually got their hands on Stratego game which they played for a while (about 2 years). After a long time, Manos accidently found Stratego online on google play store and decided to give it a try. He still is trying to persuade his brother to give it a try aswell.
 
When asked which player he hoped to meet during the WCO, not one, but two answers were given: Hielco and your WCO reporter. Should Manos beat Morx in the second round, we might see him get matched up against one of the two players named.
 
Since Manos participated in the most recent live WC in Greece, this topic had to be brought up. When asked about his experiences he stated “Games on top level” and that he enjoyed meeting the players in real life. “It was a celebration for the people who love stratego”. Considering this was Manos’s first live WC, your reporter asked if he experienced any nerves, Manos said that he experienced a little bit of nerves for the first game of the WC, but after that, they were gone.
 
The thing Manos enjoyed the most about the WC was playing for the national Greek team, also beating multiple time world champion Vincent de Boer.
 

Greek national Stratego team 2017
 
The biggest differences between live and online play for Manos were the atmosphere (being able to physically see and speak to players) aswell as time control, playing with a clock. However, Manos did also state that he does prefer to play in real life, instead of online. (Hopefully we’ll see him at more WC’s and other tournaments  ). During his Stratego carreer he has only played about 5 live tournaments so far, we are sure many will follow.
 
His greatest achievement so far is finishing on #9 during the live WC, which also led to qualification for the Greek national team.
 
During the second round, Manos will face an opponent who also participated in the live WC in Greece 2017 and won the first WCO, Morx (finished #6). When asked about this game, Manos said he considers Morx to be an amazing player. When asked if he had a special strategy to beat Morx, he said yes, “started to pray a lot”
 
When asked if he would rather win the WCO or live Greek national championships, Manos said he prefers to win the live Greek national championships, because it would be live, not behind the computer screen. He does consider the WCO to have a stronger playerfield though.
 
As final words for this interview Manos shared “Stratego is a hobby and we should enjoy it” with us.
 
Many thanks to Great Manos for cooperation!

Post: #3

WCO 2017-2018 Player Interview: Major Nelson

Today we are here with Major Nelson, 18, from Greece. Major Nelson was rather surprised, but enthusiastic when asked if the WCO team could interview him.

During the interview we got to know how Major Nelson got to play Stratego for the first time, and making the mistakes we’ve all made as beginners, such as thinking scouts can move diagonally and that the spy always beats the marshal. About a year ago, he made an account here on Stratego.com and started playing a lot. Believe it or not, two of his school classmates (Henry Domerkant and Roeczak) persuaded him into playing online, as they also happened to play online.

When asked whether he prefers online or live playing, he mentioned that during his first live games he did not experience any trouble with the clock, however it does add a new dimension to the game. At first, Major Nelson still preferred online play, but after a few more live experiences, his preferences shifted towards live play. Being able to see the opponent and actually moving the physical pieces makes the difference for him.

The top three differences between live and online play for Major Nelson are: "
1)The clock. But I understand that since at live tournaments you have to play many matches at the same day, each match cannot last forever ?.

2)When you are behind a screen you are sometimes not honest with your opponent. You cannot be sure whom you are playing against, also many use abusive behavior online but I don t think they would do so live.

3)It has often been stated that when there are problems with the site the results may not be just. Personally, I ve not won 2 matches for online tourneys because the site malfunctioned. But when playing live you cannot complain about such problems. “

Having participated in the live WC in Greece, 2017, we wanted to ask him how he experienced the tournament and if he had any “big moments”. Unfortunately, no big moments for Major Nelson, however the entire experience of meeting foreign players and uniting the community were good enough to consider it a good experience.

During some pre-interview research, your reporter noticed that Major Nelson had won the “Open Athens 2017” live tournament. When asked to comment on that, he shared the following with us:
“It was my first live tournament, I didn t expect to perform that well. I liked the experience of playing live, having the opponent right in front of you. The idea that after an hour the game was automatically draw if it had not finished was new to me cause at online tournaments there is no such rule. However, fortunately, I didn t encounter any problem with the clock at Open Athens ?.”


When asked whether he’d rather win the live Greek national championships or the WCO, Major Nelson too gave the only acceptable answer, he would prefer to win the WCO, as he sees it, there are stronger players, thus a more difficult achievement.

So far Major Nelson has played against: Nortrom(L), Fighter68(W), Morx(W) and KingTubby(L) resulting in 2 victories and 2 defeats for the current WCO. When asked which match he enjoyed the most (so far) he stated the game against Morx was the most enjoyable as it lasted about 55 minutes and took a lot of patience, but the victory boosted his confidence.

As part of the pre-interview research, your reporter found out that Major Nelson, from Greece, is currently studying in the UK. When asked to tell us a bit more, he told us he is studying physics and does miss playing live tournaments in Greece.

Trying to get some inside information, we asked Major Nelson (Greek tournament manager) whether there is any secret Greek online tournament planned, unfortunately he is either very good at hiding, or only the Greek Online Tournament (EPOS 2018) will be organized next year.

Many thanks to Major Nelson for cooperation!




Major Nelson being crowned champion at the Athens Open 2017.

Post: #4

WCO 2017-2018 Player Interview: texaspete09
Today we are here with texaspete09, 17 in age, from USA.

Texaspete’s first encounter with Stratego was during an afterschool program, while still a young texaspete , he particularly enjoyed the bluffing element of the game. After a while he typed in “Stratego” onto google, not knowing what to expect, and found http://www.stratego.com , made an account and ever since then “got hooked” as he said.

This all happened approximately 3 years ago, which also gives close to an answer to the question “how long have you been playing ”. Texaspete is currently a highschool student, looking to pursue a career in the field of maths (yours truly’s absolute favorite subject..).

When asked about his greatest Stratego achievement, Texaspete shared with us that he was very proud of finishing 6th during the second WCO, beating players like Sohal, Leppie and Karaiskakis in the process. After this achievement, Texaspete realized he too could climb the ladder, eventually making it to the magical treshhol of 1000 ELO. After the WCO Texaspete intends on climbing even further on the ladder.

Texaspete has some advice for newer players;

“well, it is hard to generalize, but my best advice to players is to not be reckless and not let your emotions control your game. If you think logically about your situations throughout the game you will make much smarter plays. Another piece of advice is to watch games on youtube of high ranked players like napoleon1er, and the ones posted by karaiskakis, and try to understand the logic behind all their moves.”

When asked who he’d like to face during the remainder of the WCO, Texaspete did have some early requests for the WCO santa claus, asking for Hielco, Gkaros or Nortrom. (Note that this interview was conducted before the 5th round pairings were announced).

To keep the community, in this case especially the USA community updated, the WCO team was interested in any NASF activity, unfortunately not much could be shared, except for the fact that not much was going on due to lack of organizers

Texaspete had something to share about the WCO. The WCO motivates him the most because there is always a huge pool of top notch players in many regards. The tournament is the most interactive due to interviews, news, after-tourney surveys and the wizard quiz. The Swiss system is, according to Texaspete one of the best things of the WCO, no complicated divisions, you get an opponent and at the end your results determine your next opponent.

Other games Texaspete enjoys playing are Poker and Chess, which led to the question “Ace, Queen or Marshal?” (You can see the answer at the very end)



When asked if Texaspete had one last thing to share with you guys, he stated “I hope everyone is enjoying the tournament as much as I am and I will see you on the battlefield”

Many thanks to Texaspete09 for cooperation!













Who are we kiddin, of course he chose

Post: #5

This week, as we think to ourselves 'Who exactly is Geo_Tsarpista?' and 'Is he good value in Fantasy WCO Stratego at 4.2m?', we get to hear from the man himself.

Locals aside, you'd need extreme geography skills to know that Tsarpista is in fact the nickname of George's village - Terpni Serron. (The cleverest among you now should be able to piece together the meaning of his name).

We often see families getting each other into our favourite game - at many a live tournament have young offspring been dragged along so that their parent can play - but in Geo_Tsarpista's case it is the other way round:

' My son "IOLAUS1926" started this game... and a few months later... i started it too'

Surprisingly, considering his route to the game, George prefers the online version to live:

'I prefer online because its easily to recognize the pieces on the board'

But it isn't just due to memory - there is another, less obvious reason...:

'my problem in the table is that i knocked down 3-4 pieces because iam very aggresive player, as a result i am the best scout'

So there you have it - according to the best researcher in all of Terpni Serron - if you really want to know a piece, knock it over.

So what does 'Geo_Scoutpieceta' hope to achieve from the WCO this year and in the future?

'My stratego goal for the WCO is to get a good place as last year and for future of this game is to have fun always when iam playing because i really enjoy it when i am with my teamates (members of Serres Stratego team) and playing stratego'

I have to say, I'm extremely jealous of these Stratego clubs. Has there ever been a better reason to migrate to Greece?

At this stage of this epic interview, we wondered what George considered his best achievement to date.

' I think that i went until Losers Round 6 of winter Tournament 2018 was the best achievement that ever made in Stratego'

George please - there are no losers in this game. I think you mean the Rehabilitation Bracket...

This week George met playa1. For those of you waiting for the highlights programme I won't spoil the result. Instead I'll reveal which player GT is most looking forward to meeting (or avoid):

'I would love to play against high level players because i can improve my stratego skills and i really hate playing against lotto players who take marshal and starting capture all of your units, movable and non.'

His cards are being kept close to his chest. Perhaps I would have more Iuck finding out his heroes - in Stratego (of course) and in real life?

'My stratego hero is IOLAUS1926 and real life hero is my one and only son'

The interviewer at this stage was intrigued if these two had ever played against each other at Stratego.com, shortly before realising that they are in the same Pyramid division. The result? A win for IOLAUS1926. I can only imagine the bragging that followed in the family.

Suddenly, things got serious, as GT was asked what are the biggest issues that Online Stratego faces today:

'I think that the biggest issue that online Stratego faces today is that are many players use stratego only to wrangle each other, rather than to play'

Well said. Such is the reality of virtual war.



So as we move Afrom the virtual to the real, GT was asked how else he spends his free time (aside from Stratego obviously - which should take up at least 5 hours a day of any sensible persons time):

'I am iron welding in an iron Factory, i also in my free time go for fishing and of course playing Stratego'

Fishing and iron welding - a classic combination - much like this WCO Interview classic question: What would you rather win - WCO or Greek National Live Championships?

'First i must win the local Serres Stratego Team's tournament. But i prefer to win WCO if i must choose between Gr national championship and WCO '

Geo_Tsarpista - It's been a pleasure, thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

Post: #6

This time we are talking with the one that put South-Africa in the list of countries on every WCO so far: josephwhite

As many players Josephwhite learned the game at a young age:

"When I was a kid in California it was just a board game we used to play with family or friends. I stopped playing around the age of 10-12. "

In about 2014 he was checking out strategy games and joined Metaforge for a few months, but got busy and moved on.

Early 2015 he was in the US again and saw the new site http://www.stratego.com and started playing here.

Regarding live games:

"In the US I have a board game there at my parents house. We played a few casual games, people are not so competitive. Sometimes we play with the kids."

If there was another tournament in the USA would you play?

"If it matched my schedule, I would."

Did you see the Chicago one?
"Yes I thought they did a good job. Same with Europe, I used to go there sometimes but now more of my flights go via Dubai."

Thats a pity for the European organizers I guess

On the WCO and memorable games

You played in all the WCOs so far.

- Do you see changes between the first edition and this one?

"It seems a larger now. The WCO has always been pretty well organized. Disadvantages of more new people coming in: more losses due to missing games. I havent been involved myself in those luckily"

I saw you had some impressive wins in the 2016 and 2017 version: In 2016 MasterMind, Spion... and KARAISKAKIS. In 2017 you beat young talents Henry Domerkant and Fks

This year you got 6 points against WCO winner Gkaros and 2 times medal winner Hielco.

What is your most memorable online game and why? It does not have to be any of those by the way?

"Im not sure what the most memorable game online was, I played one recently (goes looking for screenshot)

It was a highlight to beat Hielco though. I have beaten Nortrom and Overlord earlier, but Hielco was my first time. "I think Hielco was my first match in the first WCO. I think we used Skype. He did not fit the stereotype of what I expected of a Chess or Stratego player. Not saying that is good or bad."

Going through his pc he found the screenshot. It was a game against too bad loser

It looked like it was to become a draw. too bad loser had the high piece: Major and sergeant. Josephwhite had a lieutenant, 2 sergeants.

too bad loser could have had a closed flag. He was chasing josepwhite (with the major) and then he trapped himself.

The game ended with the josephwhite winning with the message "You have captured all movable units."

Note: this could only happen if the last sergeant was bombed in and the major went over the same number of fields few times and had no other field to move to. A really exceptional situation.

Josephite: "I might have been able to win, because he probably had an open flag."

That is a memorable game for sure.

On Strategy

Any tips for starting players?

"I think one is to read a lot of the Strategy tips either on the forum or on the Wiki.
Read Losermakers tutorials.

I think watching videos on Youtube can help, although I don't like them much. I find them boring.

Video of yourself in important games. I recently started making videos when in interesting endgames in games to learn from this, as its an area where I need improvement."

Post: #7

This week we welcome KnightOfPepsi, a newcomer to the WCO who has performed quite impressively. He kindly agreed to take part in this interview. Enjoy! (Italics are me and other text is KOP)

First of all, we’d like to thank you for allowing us to interview you. Starting with some basic information to get to know you, what is your age, date of birth, ID number, and mother’s maiden name? Only kidding of course, but if you would like you can share your age and if you are studying in school currently?

Hi Pete! Thank you for considering me for an interview. I live in the USA and just recently turned 30. My dad first introduced me to the board game when I was a kid.

How did you discover Stratego and this site?

After high school I didn't play Stratego for nearly 10 years until I searched for the game online and found this site. I first discovered this site in late 2017 and played an occasional, casual game, but I started to study the game more and to play in online tournaments in late 2019. This WCO is my first online tournament and I've had a lot of fun participating in it.

Have you ever played in a live tournament and do you plan to in the future?

I have never played in a live tournament but would love the opportunity to play in one. It doesn't seem like there are live tournaments in North America very often, so participating in one might be a challenge unless I could travel to Europe.

You have played quite well this tournament, beating Major Nelson, panther65, leppie, mirmidonas.gr, and Hercules1926, losing to only josephwhite and TheO, and drawing Dutchkillers. Talk to me a little about your experience so far in your first WCO.

This WCO has been a lot of fun. I joined with the goals of gaining experience versus platinum players, making some new friends, and perhaps even winning a few games. All three of those goals have been achieved. As a gold player, the games against platinum players have definitely increased my overall skill level and my understanding of the game. Some of these players were even kind enough to give me tips and have good discussions after the game, which I really appreciated. Although I definitely felt like an underdog against the platinum players, I have went into these games with confidence and played every game to win. If you allow yourself to be intimidated by the skill of your opponent, then you will almost certainly lose. I plan and strategize to the best of my ability, play with confidence, and try to trust my gut. It can be nerve-wracking to take a risk against a highly-skilled opponent, but that's part of the game and something I've been working on with success. I definitely recommend the WCO to players of any skill level who are looking to improve their skills and to have fun.

Do you have a favorite moment from this event so far?

My favorite moment so far was from one of my games where I bluffed a miner as a marshal/general and chased a colonel deep into my opponent's setup. I then hit a middle third-row piece, suspecting a bomb. It was a bomb. My miner was captured, but the way my opponent defended that area made me suspect that I had uncovered a flag tripod. I remembered this through the game, although for a long time I couldn't attack that area because I was behind in material and my opponent was defending it well. In the endgame after my opponent had lost some pieces to my bombs, I had a chance to "lotto" the piece I suspected was the flag with my colonel (this was my only chance for a win, and if it was a bomb, then game over for me), and it was the flag! And I believe it was my experience in some of the earlier games that helped me to make these reads correctly that ultimately led to victory.

We finished off our interview with a few quick questions:

Do you have any long-term Stratego goals? Ex: tournament performances, ranking?

My long-term Stratego goals are to continue to learn and develop my skills, to reach platinum and then platinum marshal, to compete and do well in additional interesting tournaments, and most of all to keep having fun and enjoying the game. Also, I'd like to post more Youtube content after I play interesting games.

Do you play any other games?

I've always enjoyed gaming and have played a wide variety of computer and video games over the years. Currently I play Call of Duty and Battlefield V on Xbox One, and occasionally chess at chess.com (I'm not very good). I also enjoy playing a wide variety of board games with family and friends.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thank you to the WCO team, I appreciate the time that you put into organizing and running the tournament. I look forward to playing in it again in 2020. See you on the battlefield!

There you have it folks! We appreciate KnightofPepsi taking the time for this interview and hopefully you enjoyed getting to know a little bit about him! As he says, see you on the battlefield!