THE NEWBIE CHALLENGE

by Han & Rinie 23 June 2009



Ahh how i miss the pure innocent newbie feeling. I still remember when i 1st joined a tournament, i dont know anything at all. The only thing on my mind was winning the competition. And thats all.

But being a newbie is quite challenging. Nowadays, there are a lot of establish gamers/clans in each respective field. So how does a newbie get through all of this? Here we interview 2 gamers who started out not long ago and is now one of the gamers who manage to make the big boys a run of their money.



Interview with COD 4 team XIII leader, Beng


Clan XIII, a Call of Duty clan based in Subang, is now relatively huge with 3 teams and 20 members. They are formed 6 months ago and are ready to challenge the big boys in the tournaments. Here is an interview with their leader.


1. As a newbie, what firstly got you interested in joining tournaments?

At first my clan consisted of casual players from the cc in subang, and played casually for fun till one day I decided to test out playing competitively with another nearby clan after being introduced into the search and destroy,domination and hq style of playing. As expected we lost badly and from there the determinaton to learn the ways to play more competitively, the adrenaline rush and the hunger to beat most of the teams out there is what got me interested to join tournaments.

2. How do you think the clan has helped you?

Well besides gaming as a clan we do a lot of other activities other than just training and playing Cod4.We have outdoor activities such as going out on trips, playing futsal,etc. Because of that the clan now is like an extended family and being the clan leader and eldest in the clan I guess it has helped me to manage different kinds of characters amongst my clanmates and, like a family they do help when you're in need of help =)

3. Do you feel intimidated when you join tournaments?

Honestly i can say there is always the sense of intimidation at first when facing the much larger and stronger teams out there knowing that they are much more organised and experienced. However, the determination to beat them and to show our best usually overshadows the intimidation part and we would then give our best to take down the opposition. Never say die =)

4. How do you intend to improve yourself?

Well, so far I've been having practice sessions with the more established teams such as Onova and Flakes. Furthermore I've been playing friendly matches with the best teams in the whole of Malaysia, ESP and SWL. I guess playing with the best and learning from the more experienced players will help improve my game. Other than that I guess its all down to training, training and more training!

Interview with Winds youngster, Bigboss!


A rising star in the Malaysian FIFA scene, Bigboss has achieved numerous successes as a young player at an age of only 16. He is not intimidated to take on senior players, and has the ability to pull of one or two shocks. His best years in gaming are still ahead of him, so look out for him in the future. He might be a ‘Bigboss’ in the Malaysian FIFA scene and start dominating tournaments. Watch this space.


1. As a newbie, what firstly got you interested in joining tournaments?

I think one of the reasons is the dream of becoming a champion in something that I really like, which is gaming. Another thing is that the feeling of being in a tourney. It is difficult to describe it, so you must feel it for yourself.

2. How do you think the clan has helped you?

They have helped me a lot in terms of sharpening my skills in FIFA. Before joining the clan, my skills were limited to just a few buttons which is basically just A,S,D. After joining the clan, they have helped me by not just by giving tips on FIFA, but also on giving me mental support during tourneys. They are one of the reasons of making me the person I am now. ^^

3. Do you feel intimidated when you join tournaments?

Yeah, of course. I think everyone feels intimidated in tourneys .I still remember my 1st tourney that after every game my hands were sweaty and shaky lol. But with time I get used to it and try to use that as my advantage instead.

4. How do you intend to improve yourself?

This is a hard one to answer. I think I need more experience in order to improve myself. Besides that, I need to sharpen my mental state, as sometimes against top players I felt I am at a disadvantage before the match starts.

This is another prove why newbie shouldnt run away when ever they meet with bigger challenge. Hey even i myself started out as newbie. And so does all the great pro gamers out there as well. Never stop learning and never give up! ^^