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CoH Tourney XII Winner - Sepha

By AmiPolizeiFunk - 22nd September 2009 - 23:05 PM

We caught up with the two-time CoH 1v1 Tournament Champion, two days after his Monday night 3-1 Finals victory over DrHorse. We talked about poultry, Klaus, and Aliens. Here's an interview with the myth, the legend, the inimitable... Sepha.

GameReplays: Besides CoH, what have you been up to this summer?

Sepha:
I've been working hard on my job mostly, and helping the rest of my family get organized as some of them move out of London.

GameReplays: What do you do?

Sepha: I work in retail, I guess some people know already that I do night time hours, around 40 a week.

GameReplays: Retail at night?

Sepha: Going to be tough coming up to the Christmas period, so I expect my back to be aching by the end of it.

GameReplays: London's All Night Stereo Outfitters?

Sepha: You'd be surprised, there's a ton of stuff to do at night, we have a team of 25-30 staff members most days, more than in the day time!

GameReplays: What's the merch?

Sepha: Merch?

GameReplays: Merchandise.

Sepha: What do you mean?

GameReplays: The stuff, the goods.

Sepha: It's in the store.

GameReplays: What's in the store?

Sepha: The merchandise is in the store.
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GameReplays: But what is the merchandise exactly? Clothes, records, books, miniature Big Ben statues?

Sepha: It's a superstore so everything from groceries, electrical goods, poultry, frozen, fresh, etc.

GameReplays: The works. I see. Maybe it's best if we move on to CoH... Did you do anything special to prepare for Tourney XII?

Sepha: Yeah, I actually did for this one. Right from the start, this was a tournament that I really wanted to win and I decided I was going to give it my all. The first thing was deciding which armies to pick, what strategy to use, then to practice the same thing over and over, if it failed, adapt a new strat and practice, make it flawless. I went around asking most of the top 15 or so players for a game anytime I was online, trying to practice as much as I could versus the best really.

GameReplays: Is that when you developed this Volks Volks Sniper build? I don't remember it from your recent mega-replay pack.

Sepha: Actually I think I used it every game in the replay pack. I used to do the same kind of build but with a bike instead, but since units don't auto-fire on the bike anymore, and only one volks squad is not good enough to protect a sniper, I changed to making 2 first and then the sniper.

GameReplays: It's a great strat. In my opinion, high risk, but high reward, and thoroughly entertaining to watch. There's something pure about 2 Volks and the Sniper. I think it would be very different with a bike. Will we be seeing some kind of Strat write-up on it soon?

Sepha: Not something extensive on this strat specifically, however I have written a summary of some of the top strategy options Wehrmacht has to play with in our internal strategy forums already. I stopped writing so I could prepare for the tourney and if I have time I'll finish that, and write some for other armies too.

Recently I started playing DoW 2 again and I realized on GameReplays it has a lot of unit descriptions, but no build orders and nothing solid to work from, so I had to create my own. I was thinking if new players are coming to CoH, they might want something to work with that has been tested and certified to work, if they take a look at some easy to follow build orders combined with strategy, it should prove helpful.

But with regards to the Wehr strategy, I could use a bike early on, but I don't for the same reason I don't use a jeep. Because it has no staying power throughout the entire game and it's only good if you're trying to get a quick win, by mid-game, it's 180 manpower down the drain because it's useless; I could make an HMG instead, but 3 rifles and a flamer can just as easily flank an HMG and hold you in your base, the difference is you're going to have a hard time busting out with an HMG, as opposed to a sniper that can keep shooting all the time. Basically, the sniper takes away more manpower than an MG42, and at the end of the day, you're playing to take away the opponent's manpower.
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GameReplays: I've been calling it the "2VS". Do you have your own name for it?

Sepha: Well for me, it's the best Wehrmacht strat I can play with, until I come up with something better. I don't really profile strats the same way I used to, just play with them the best that I can, and if it fails, find out its flaws, and fix them, in which case it'll become a new strat in some way or another.

GameReplays: I can only wonder how many of your minions have been trying it in 1v1 automatch lately! But let's move on to the games. What were you thinking when you first saw your bracket?

Sepha: I was thinking it's a tough looking bracket, but it looked tough for most people that were seeded in the top 8 anyway, because there were so many good players taking part. My main focus was to win the first game and round, after that I'd take it one round at a time.

GameReplays: Speaking of which, you had an abominable start! IdontLikeStormTroops surprised you with a killer grenade that wiped out both of your volk squads!

Sepha: Yeah that was a funny one, I kinda thought to myself "crap, did that just happen?" Then when my HMG was set up I thought it can't possibly take out all 3 guys, so I just left it there, and then, when it took out all 3 guys, and I had only my sniper left, I thought to myself, "crap!". So I made another volk to re-man the HMG and got going again, I was still confident in easily coming back because he had bought BARs first, thus crippling himself in teching power.


GameReplays: I thought the 'nade was disastrous, then his first off-map howitzer barrage stopped your bunker being built and killed your sniper!

Sepha: Yeah it did, but like I've already said in previous statements, people that play offensively like that with US will depend on the early rush, then fail after, it's inconsistent.

GameReplays: How did you turn it around so quick? It seemed like 10 minutes later you had the whole map.

Sepha: If it was a top seeded person it'd be a different story, but then again, I probably wouldn't have let them 'nade me like that. In actuality I hadn't lost much, after re-manning the HMG, in effect I'd only lost one volk squad. Grenadiers are the main fighting force behind the strat, plus he'd lost a lot of manpower from dying rifles, and didn't followup with a good strategy. Depending on 4 rifles and an engineer squad for 20-25 minutes is not good to do.

GameReplays: I like following the early sniper in each of your Wehr games. Against Inverse in Round 2, he got 24 kills, then got counter-sniped, but by that time you were already dominating the second phase of the game with grenadiers. It seemed like c0rec0re, in Round3, modified his tactics specifically to try to kill your sniper. Two jeeps, then WSC. How was it, fending off such an aggressive anti-sniper strat?


Sepha: I don't try to be careful with my sniper unless I see a counter or a WSC up already, I always keep my sniper close to a mine so that if a jeep comes forward it'll just die to the mine. If they make 1 or 2 snipers, it's over a 600 manpower investment so naturally I will have the infantry advantage and I'll determine the pace of the game. If I want to up the pace a bit so that snipers aren't able to get so many kills, I'll upgrade both volks with vet and mp40's and start rushing in, make things quick.

GameReplays: It was ironic that c0re wound up with 2 highly vetted snipers of his own, that lived long enough to watch their base get annihilated by tanks.

Sepha: Yeah, exactly. Instead of depending on grenadiers from that point on, I'll charge with quick volks, and tech to t4 for tanks. You can also see this in my Langres game vs DrHorse, his snipers were practically useless because I wasn't depending on grenadiers anymore. If they don't get snipers however, it's vet3 and no t4 teching, just wait for the King Tiger. But that is also dependent on how the game is going, if it's a slow game then you're not going to have enough command points for the KT early on, so go t4 instead. If it's a fast paced game, get vet3 and go for the early KT, you have to judge it well.

GameReplays: I'm gonna try your strat in some 1v1s. Call me a minion! It looks like alot of fun. In Round 4, you were up against top 20 USA player Hamilt0n on Semois. Your sniper had a field day. It got 24 kills, lived through the entire game, and annihilated two retreating squads, a bar riflemen, and a flamer engineer, moments before the end. At that point, Hamilt0n said "oh dear" and quit soon after.

Sepha: Yeah, it's an opportunity early in the game for you to play well, and it's annoying for the US (and especially the Brits) to counter, as they'll have to go out of their way to kill the sniper, so it drains manpower in more ways than one, as you're forcing someone to either get a jeep or a sniper early on, or they'll be punished for it.

GameReplays: Things got much tougher after that. Cann0nball, who had put you out of the last tournament, on Langres in Round 5. Does the Sepha get nervous?

Sepha: Actually the person I was nervous about playing was SiberianPlatoon, who Cann0nball had just knocked out, so for me it was a relief to be playing Cann0nball instead.

GameReplays: That's funny!

Sepha: Playing in the previous tourney was harder overall, as I hadn't practiced nearly as much or played much at all beforehand. Cann0nball's a good player no doubt, but playing in this one was not so tough, he played a very good Wehrmacht and I had to pull out some magic to beat him in the game on Langres, which was one of the toughest games I'd played.


After getting the advantage early, I was failing and getting countersniped, so I got frustrated and just spammed snipers in the end since I knew the manpower advantage I had was good enough anyway.

GameReplays: Cann0nball was going great as Allies in the first game until one fateful attack. He lost his jeep to a mine, and then a full rifle squad to another mine. He was in Reborn vent at the time and it must have been that moment when he let out a yelping "No!"
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Sepha: Yeah like I said, play fast and hard as US, lose fast and hard as US, it works hand in hand. That's one thing I wanted to stay away from in this tourney while playing as US, if I can accept beforehand that the best players aren't going to allow me to win fast and easily, I can play more consistently and play for a longer amount of time while still being effective. I think that is one big mistake he made in that game.

GameReplays: You've got to respect your opponents, particularly in the Quarter Finals and beyond! As US, you like the right side of Infantry Company. Not just for the call-in Arty, but for the mines. Mines win games, right?

Sepha: Mines everywhere allow US to use that precious resource advantage early in the game, without having to charge in and throw a grenade which will in most cases cost you manpower from losing men. In a lot of games, mines have been a turn-around for me, and are a massive piece of unpredictability in CoH. That said, you can easily prepare for mines by getting a minesweeper, which is what I usually do and use to cap with when I'm playing as US.

Going right side infantry company is just a no-brainer vs Wehr in these times, you have the mines to deny them map control, howitzer artillery to destroy bunkers and use your munitions advantage, the on-map howitzer to destroy a camping Wehrmact player, there aren't really any other options, it's just great.

GameReplays: Agreed. Now we come to the Semis, your last games on Sunday night. Your opponent was Sweix, a perennial 1v1 tournament finalist. May I say, after he beat you in the first game, that you had your back severely stuck up against the wall?


Sepha: Well in the first game I felt I played badly and got some really bad luck, but the way I judged the first game, I thought Sweix didn't play a very good strategy at all, and if he was going to play similarly in the next games then it wouldn't be too hard. Then, when I saw him pick PE for the second game I kinda laughed and thought "ok, this is going to be easy", so on to the third game and I knew 100% that I was going to play much better than the first game, because the first game was unlucky for me. It was just about doing things correctly for the third game, which I did, so it wasn't too difficult.

GameReplays: It seemed to me that Sweix "tilted." That's the poker term for letting your emotions get the best of you. He claims he was tired. What do you think?

Sepha: Well Sweix is a good player and can win tournaments even when he's not playing at his absolute best, but like he said he was tired at that stage and was up until something like 3am? I was lucky in that I wake up 1-2 hours before the tournament games begin, so I'm completely refreshed by the time I start playing.

GameReplays: But I think Sweix was just making an excuse. Your T-17s ripped him to pieces and it was like he blew a gasket. His game from there went completely downhill. Do you ever get emotional over a CoH game? I'd be shocked if you said you didn't. I don't usually get too worked up, but one time, in the last couple of months, I pounded my mouse down so hard into the table that it broke one of the buttons.

Sepha: Yeah sometimes, but I learn to separate the times where I get really unlucky, or where I'm losing because of really bad map balance or somesuch, and the times that I'm losing simply because I'm playing badly, and I know I can improve. So instead of getting frustrated, I think of a way to work out the flaws and fix them.

I think it takes character to accept that you're playing badly or using a bad strategy, or could be playing better on a certain kind of map. Not everything is so cookie cutter and different situations call for a different kind of strategy and tactic. If I haven't spent the time or commitment to use that strategy and work those tactics effectively, then I'm not going to get the reward, and if I still know that there's improvement to be made, and there's a better way of doing something, it doesn't frustrate me at all. I guess it's big self criticism, and a lot of people don't like being criticized by other people, let alone themselves.



GameReplays: I think we can let the excellent Finals games vs DrHorse speak for themselves. But, we have to end with a little Quickfire. Ready?

Sepha: Yeah, sure.

GameReplays: Favorite Movie this Year?

Sepha: I liked Inglorious Basterds, but District 9 is probably my favorite so far, it's not often you get a sci-fi movie that focuses on story first and effects/etc after, so it worked very well.

GameReplays: Favorite Tourney Sniper moment?

Sepha: Using my sniper to lure a jeep straight into a mine, everyone falls for it and I love doing that. It gets 12azor every time.

GameReplays: Last one... What do you like on your ketchup?

Sepha: I like ketchup on any food that doesn't come with flavoring already. So basically it adds flavor when there previously wasn't any.

GameReplays: ANSWER THE QUESTION!

Sepha: Chips or pork I guess.

GameReplays: OK. Congrats one more time and thanks for the interview.
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Sepha: Anytime, it was a pleasure.
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