Past Legends and 25th anniversary

Red Alert 1 was released on November 22nd 1996 for PC. It is scary to think that the game we love will be 25 years old next year. I feel like we as a community should do something major to celebrate the 25 year date next year. Let's brain storm and get something huge planned. Perhaps we can set up a crowd funding page and have a massive tournament with a huge prize fund? A series of 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 tournaments perhaps? A LAN meetup in somewhere central like London or Berlin would also have been an idea if not for Covid-19.

I myself first played the game as a little kid on my dad's pc. I remember liking aftermath the most because of the cool units like the mechanic and tesla tanks, which is ironic because I now think aftermath is shit.

I didn't play online till the 2010s on CnCNet. It was the old style lobby and there were very few active players 10 or so years ago. Robskate, yuzgen, danco, grenadier and ifuc seemed to be on the most. NastyNate and Kickn were there. Players like Lauta and Hezb started around then too and it was mostly P4 and Ribbon Isle 2v2 games. Smash was an opponent who improved me the most as I used to play him lots of 1v1 and this is how I learned Q, bookmarks and shifting. I think the best way to learn is finding a sparring partner. Play lots of games 1v1 on all different map types, experiment with different strategies and see what works and doesn't work. 

Anyway, everyone knows about CnCNet legends such as Ehy and At0m1, however I've often heard tales of superpros of old. We were very lucky that Blank aka Milo234 came out of retirement during covid-19 lockdown and played for 3 months. He proved he was still an incredible player and was one of the best players on Qmax and mastered the GQ side of the game . He had lots of interesting matches with Katsh, Ford and Hezb among others and even won the ladder one month. He was happy to play anyone anytime. You can find his youtube videos here https://m.youtube.com/user/432olim/videos. Milo showed that players of the past were just as capable of high level play as modern players. So who are some other legends who we would love to see return for the 25th anniversary? 

Niklas   This Scandinavian legend is best known in the current era for being the namesake of the extremely popular map 4c Niklas, however 90s players would remember him as one of the absolute best players online. Robskate accentuates Niklas' greatness by describing him as the only player in Ehy's league 1v1. Robskate has played literally 100s of players in the past 24 years, everyone and anyone who was good and he considers Niklas and Ehy to be the dominant forces and better than everyone else. This respect highlights Niklas' legacy and he is the number 1 player we would like to see return for the 25 year anniversary.

Jjfjr A name often mentioned in discussions of the greatest player of all time. Active from the 90s until 2006, Milo described him as his toughest ever opponent, humbly losing 8-1 in a 1v1 match. Other 90s players who have returned to online play on CnCNet such as Diaz and K0bra remember JJ's greatness. 

ORA-Ssanai and ORA-Galgu 2 legends of ORA-clan remembered fondly by 90s players such as Cousintank, Katsh and ORA-Boy. Ssanai was so good he supposedly GQed his tanks with 2 separate groups. These Asian legends of the game disappeared after the early 2000s and folklore has it they ventured into starcraft and other more lucrative rts online play. 

Neutralman This player's grenadier use is the stuff of legend. Many current players attest to the wizardry this player could pull off with his infantry micro. If you thought you could just happily mind your own business and execute your build orders against this player you were wrong. A behemoth of 90s and early 2000s play. His return would be very welcome.  

Other honourable mentions of names I've often heard: Nike1, Wegandi, Aloli, FallenAngels, MrPinky, Porker. 

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The Legend Killers of Red Alert

Legend Slayers are  a phenomenon in CnCNet Red Alert play. When an underestimated player slays a seemingly much more experienced and powerful opponent. Sometimes the scale of the everest climb is so great that the conquering hero adopts the title of "Slayer". Here are some of the best known Slayers in all of CnCNet.

 

EthiaVerna    - The Lordy Slayer 

 

 

 

After a hard gruelling month training and losing to such titans of the game as Katsh, TheBigBoy (Darko) and Doc, Ethia finally got his first and most famous win on the October 2020 ladder. This victory was widely celebrated and Ethia was anointed with Slayer status. His name on discord has now been appropriately updated to "The Lordy Slayer". Wherever he goes or whatever he does from now on, Lordy will always be looking over his shoulder, haunted by this defeat, terrified of Ethia returning to feast on his points once again.

                                                                                                                                             

 CousinGyu - The At0m1 Slayer

 When At0m1 asked Gyu for some practice games of 1v1 Qmaster Max he did not know what he was getting himself into. He thought he could harvest wins like he did vs Lordy and inject some ego testosterone in the process, but oh boy was he wrong! The mighty Gyu had been training for this moment like Goku in the Hyperbolic time chamber, this was his moment to write himself into Red Alert folklore forever. Recording software and camera at the ready, Gyu took the head of At0m1, demolishing him in a Qmax game that has been rejoiced the world over. Gyu established himself as The At0m1 Slayer and people knew not to f**k with this bad motha f***a from now on.

< Extra Pr0 Q xD

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4 LETTER WORD -           THE OLDPRO SLAYER

If Ehy is affectionately known as "3 letter word" in the community then Bart deserves that status with 4 letters. The American legend has taken the scalp of all the greats of the game and indexes his victories on YouTube. He is, however, best known for being the reason that Old Pro can't sleep at night anymore and takes anti-anxiety medication. The amount of beatings 4 letter word has put on this poor soul is terrifying. OldPro even took a hiatus and changed his name back to [420]Ryan in an effort to evade his assassin but 4 letter word was awaiting his prey, stalking his every move.

 

From henceforth, 4 letter word deserves his alter ego of the "Old Pro Slayer" as he is the one opponent the OldPro cannot comprehend and 4LW truly lives inside his head.

Who will be the next Slayer to arise and cement themselves as a behemoth of the game?

Could it be you?

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Official Best of 9 Map List for 1v1

The Quest for a fair Best of 9 Map List 

The concept of a Best of 9 (Bo9) has become very popular in modern Red Alert online multiplayer play. Here is the description on UrbanDictionary so casual players can understand its importance:

 

These can be very enjoyable events, especially for spectators. Often the community will come together and stream these matches and there will be great interest and banter. Until now however, there has never been a consensus on an official map list. The rule has usually been "I pick, you pick" and we gamble for which player gets the first map selection. The result that there have been many series which have ended either 5-4 because each player wins on their home map, or 5-0 because player 2 already gets demoralised after losing badly on the first map.

 As far as I'm aware, no-one has attempted to suggest an official list of 9 maps which players can choose from. We have had ridiculous maps played in Best of 9 over the years such as Equal Opportunity, Bay of Pigs, Ribbon Ore, Rasta etc. Below follows my suggestion for what would be a fair best of 9 list the players can choose from going forward. I've also only selected 9 maps because I feel that it would have the added benefit of encouraging players to learn in-depth these maps. Also they are fair and balanced and I have been objective in my selections. If you can play these 9 maps to a good standard you will be a strong all-rounder. Here is the official CrushyBoo selection which could be used going forward:

• P4 Rashowdown
• A Path Beyond
• 4c Niklas
• Ribbon Isle
• Keep off the Grass
• Shallow Grave
• X-gems
• HJK6
• Arena Valley Extreme

These 9 maps are all ladder maps. I've also been fair in choosing 3 money maps (P4, HJK6 and Xgems) which gives building style a fair crack of the whip. The 3 money maps are also all unique to each other, P4 = deploy, Xgems = speed, HJK6 = map control. There are also 3 standard maps which test different skills, Path = Q-tanking and money management, Keep off the Grass = infantry micro and scouting, Shallow Grave = tactics and timing. I've excluded maps like V3 Rashowdown because we already have HJK6 and Ribbon, and NXNW didn't make the cut because we already have enough standards. 4c and Ribbon are 2 extremely pro maps that everyone knows and I'm sure no-one could begrudge their inclusion. Finally, Arena Valley is a very popular map which deserves its inclusion on the list as it is unique compared to the other 8 maps and requires good map control and awareness. 

 

In essence, I think this is a very fair 9 maps and well balanced, I've put some good thought into it. Hopefully other players agree. I suggest that in future instead of "my pick, your pick", we use the !gamble feature for each game, ticking off maps 1 by 1. As I touched on previous, only having 9 maps will allow players to improve their standard on all the maps on the list. For example, someone might not be very good on Arena Valley but knowing that it will be a Bo9 map will encourage them to learn it.

I look forward to seeing some Bo9s in this new format going forward. Comment below if you have any suggestions.

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