TOP CORNER MAGAZINE

TCM/01/09052010

MATCH REVIEWUFC vs. FOOTSTARS

FSCL INFORMATIONwith Attic Interview

TOURNAMENTREVIEWSynergy FC

Anniversary Tournament

PMC SPOTLIGHTTeam Fortress FC

& MUCH MORE!

The SCG hosted competition “FSCL” always promised to be an amazing

spectacle. With tight battles on the pitch throughout the event, it never disappointed, right up to the last game. Despite being strong favorites at the beginning of the competition, UFC found themselves challenged for the championship spot right at the last hurdle, with the league hosts SCG hot on their heels.

With two teams as big as these, it would be no exaggeration to call it a battle of epic proportions. After previous games between the clubs the community branded UFC as the heavy favorites, despite Footstars grabbing a valuable draw the first time these teams met. With the number one spot up for grabs, however, there was no knowing how UFC would perform under such pressure.

Footstars went into the game as the underdogs and without hope of reaching the top three. Pride was all they had to play for and they played with plenty of it. After their 1-1 draw with UFC earlier in the competition, the

players were eager to prove a point to their fans and UFC.

Both teams met record breaking crowd numbers as they walked out the tunnel. The home crowd making sure their numbers were known. With everything to prove and nothing to lose, Footstars took the first kick of the day. Zior wasted no time in finding a hole in the UFC back four, with a great bit of foot work and a well placed shot he had the first chance of the game. The goalkeeper was caught off guard but was able to palm it clear for a corner.

It became clear within the first minute that Footstars were not going to give UFC an easy ride. Not at all phased by the early scare, UFC replied almost instantly with a lovely 3 pass move down the left side to set up a pin point counter attack, but Dcfctommy was outpaced at the back and the Footstars defense cleaned up the mess. The first few minutes were a constant midfield battle, with both teams having their fair share of chances. Footstars came close with a lovely deep cross from

Andreapol. Zigic managed to get his head on it and with a scoring record like his, there’s nobody else you would rather take that shot.The keeper was up to the challenge but palmed the ball out straight to the feet of Kubam. With a totally open goal this looked liked the early lead Footstars were looking for. That was until Vasquez came surging across to the box to make a goal saving block.

The next couple of minutes consisted of UFC keeping constant pressure on the Footstars 18 yard box. The Footstars defense held strong and UFC were denied time and time again. It wasn’t until Infernus got involved that UFC got a real opportunity. Micro made a defense splitting run down the middle and was met with an amazing 40 yard pass by Infernus. Micro received the ball, and with no defenders in front of him, he darted towards the box. The pace of the Footstars defense proved strong yet again as 4 defenders managed to close Micro down before a shooting opportunity, but it wasn’t enough. With a great bit of foot work and an amazing turn, Micro took all 4 defenders out of the picture and laid off a lovely pass to a poised Nefczi, watching him knock these in game after game you would bet your money on a goal, but the keeper proved solid and pulled out a great save.

UFC kept constant pressure on the defense and it seemed to be working

UNIVERSAL FC FOOTSTARS

YLITZY

LURWIN

PRINCHOZ

VASQUEZ

INFERNUS

ROONALDO

LOPUSS

NEFCZI

DCFCTOMMY

MICRO ZIGIC

ZIOR

KUBAM

YARO

ROSI

ANDREAPOL

STASZEK

GALAZKA

WHIEEE

ORGINAL

FSCL Season 1UFC vs. FOOTSTARSlast game of the league

MATCH REVIEWby Smith.

MATCH REVIEW

as the Footstars back line seemed to lose it’s composure. Giving a player like Nefczi even a few yards of space is a big mistake and they paid for it with another close shave. Nefczi and Micro linked up well before setting up a sitter for Dcfctommy, but pressure from the Footstars defenders seemed to throw Dcfctommy off as the ball flew right past him. Nefczi got another chance just moments later with a great dribble towards the middle of the box, however a stern Galazka was waiting and made a great tackle inside the 18 yard box.

Just as it seemed UFC started to gain the upper hand, Footstars had a chance at the other end with Yaro making an amazing pass giving Zigic a great opportunity, but the keeper palmed the header wide. The pressure from this attack seemed a little to much for UFC as the corner caused some problems. Another header from Zigic was denied by the goalkeeper, only to leave Kubam with another open goal opportunity. He managed to squeeze a great shot between the defenders to give Footstars a 1-0 lead. It was clear from the response of the crowd that nobody expected Footstars to take the lead this early and, with the UFC fans drowned out by the screaming of the Footstars followers, nobody was sure how UFC would react. They did not disappoint, within 15 seconds of the kick off the UFC front line was pushing deep into the Footstars half. With a

scuffle outside the box Dcfctommy was bought down and given a free kick in a very dangerous situation. Footstars seemed to take a little to long to organize the wall and Dcfctommy capitalized on the opportunity with a great back post cross to Lopuss, not marked, he leaped for the ball and made a great top corner header only to be denied by the keeper.

Footstars responded well to the pressure and launched several counter attacks. Most of their chances were

canceled out by the great positioning of the UFC back 4. Attack after attack was denied, as the Footstars final pass just wasn’t meeting the mark, that was until Andreapol flicked a lovely cross in from the left side and gave Zior a shooting chance. From the tightest of angles he managed to get his head on it only to see it drift past the post. It wasn’t long before Footstars were under pressure at the other end, Lopuss making a skillful turn and surging cross right into the heart of the Footstars defense. Micro was on the end of it but his header was saved by the seemingly unbeatable Footstars goalkeeper.

The end of the first half was drawing near and it was clear UFC really wanted to equalize before going down the

UNIVERSAL FC FOOTSTARS

YLITZY

LURWIN

PRINCHOZ

VASQUEZ

INFERNUS

ROONALDO

LOPUSS

NEFCZI

DCFCTOMMY

MICRO ZIGIC

ZIOR

KUBAM

YARO

ROSI

ANDREAPOL

STASZEK

GALAZKA

WHIEEE

ORGINAL

“...nobody expected Footstars to take the lead

this early...”

MATCH REVIEW

Kubam comfortably slotted home an opening goal for Footstars.

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tunnel. Constant pressure from the UFC wingers made the Footstars center backs really work hard. It wasn’t until the last 30 seconds that UFC got what they were looking for. The attack started from a throw deep inside the Footstars half. Infernus was on the receiving end and with an amazing display of ball control he managed to lob the ball over 2 Footstars defenders to find himself clear to cross in the 18 yard box, however he failed to deliver and the ball was cleared for a corner. The first corner, taken by Dcfctommy, gave Micro a great heading opportunity, but again it was pushed wide. With the constant pressure of the UFC attack, the goalkeeper was still standing strong and clearly a large factor in keeping Footstars in front. UFC were not discouraged and kept the pressure on with the next corner. A pinpoint cross from Nefczi gave

Lopuss and great opportunity on the edge of the 6 yard box. He had caused trouble for the Footstars defense as he constantly made runs that broke past the defenders and this time it paid off. With a towering jump he got to the ball first and placed it into the top

corner, despite the amazing form of the Footstars goalkeeper, he wasn’t able to get a touch on it and UFC bought the game to a 1-1 scoreline with 15 seconds left in the first half.

Despite UFC coming into the game the strong favorites, the critics could not help but applaud the composure of the Footstars players. With most of the game being end to end action, nobody was certain how the final result would play out. Would the prize of pride be enough to overcome the drive for the championship? Only the second half would tell.

Within moments of the whistle Footstars made it clear they were not discouraged by the late equaliser. They launched an attack from a great 5 pass move down the right side ending with Zior making a tight angle run into

the box. Unable to get the finish he wanted, the keeper palmed the ball out to a sitting Andreapol, who took advantage of an easy opportunity and scored for Footstars making it 2-1 at the start of the second half. The UFC fans were all but silent as the Footstars

crowd exploded to life..

It was a clear morale boost for Footstars as they kept up more pressure but sadly it wouldn’t last. After some pressure down the right side UFC found themselves in a 4v3 situation in the Footstars box. Dcfctommy made an early pass towards Lopuss in the box, again he managed to beat the Footstars defense to the aerial ball and made a header towards goal. The keeper made an amazing quick reaction save and punched it away from the goal mouth, but Nefczi was waiting and blasted a shot towards an open net. With a courageous block Whieee launched himself towards the shot and diverted it from goal only to watch Micro smash in a half volley into the open net. With that move UFC equalize yet again bringing the score to 2-2.

With the dream of League Champions being so close UFC kept on pushing towards the Footstars half, taking every chance they could at goal. This resulted in another great counter attack opportunity for Footstars. With a great clearance over the UFC back 4,

“UFC needed a hero, someone to step forward and get that goal to keep them top of the League.”

MATCH REVIEW

Image taken by Moleman

Andreapol bought the ball down with some amazing chest control and laid a ground pass across the box to a brilliantly positioned Zigic. Less than 10 yards away from goal and with no defenders close enough to challenge, there is no way a player of Zigic’s quality would miss a chance like that and Footstars took the lead, 3-2. You could feel the tension of the UFC fans, with only 10 minutes left of the game they saw their team go behind for the 3rd time, having only scored 2 goals in 20 minutes they now knew they needed 2 goals in 10 minutes.

It wasn’t until the 23rd minute that the UFC fans saw a ray of light. After a midfield battle Micro played a brilliant defense splitting pass through to Dcfctommy who found himself through on goal with nobody but the goalkeeper to beat. Would this be the golden chance that meant UFC still had a shot at the championship? The crowd thought so as they screamed his name as Dcfctommy ran towards the goal. With plenty of time to line up the shot he chose to smash it into the lower corner only to be denied by an amazing save from the Footstars keeper. Dcfctommy had wasted a great chance to keep UFC in the game, you could see the disappointment on his face.The time was ticking, UFC could see the League Championship slowly slipping away from them until Vasquez made an amazing pass from nothing. Giving

a great through ball to Nefczi giving her a perfect opportunity for a cross near the 6yrd box. A small chip over to the back post left the majority of the Footstars defense back pedaling. Dcfctommy came running to meet the ball, despite a confidence knock from his earlier miss he managed to smash a perfect header into the far top corner, there was no way the keeper could reach it. UFC being the game level for the 3rd time with only 6 minutes left of the game.

Both sets of fans were on their feet, the entire stadium was roaring. The condition of the UFC players really stood out in the dieing minutes as they kept constant pressure on the Footstars defense. With chances coming from

Micro, Dcfctommy, and Lopuss, UFC were definitely pushing for that championship winning goal. Footstars’ composure seemed to fall apart a bit towards the end, as the nerves started to become more influential, and the Footstars fans seemed to quiet down after each UFC attack. The Footstars defense proved an unstoppable force in the last 5 minutes as they denied everything UFC could come up with. Each cross was cleared, dribbles denied, shots blocked and it seemed as if UFC could do nothing to get that final

goal. UFC needed a hero, someone to step forward and get that goal to keep them top of the League. With only 30 seconds left, the chances seemed slim. A free kick was given deep inside the UFC half and with so little time left some of the fans even started to leave the stadium. Little did they know, a hero was in the making.

Ylitzy took the free kick and launched a long searching ball deep into the Footstars half and Micro managed to bring it under control. Making a great dribble towards the sideline Micro took 4 Footstars defenders with him leaving the UFC attackers with plenty of options. With next to no time left even the UFC defense started to get involved, with Lurwin picking up a

great pass from Micro and putting Micro back through with a brilliant 1-2. As

Micro received the ball there was 13 seconds left on the clock. He delivered a quick chip into the box where UFC outnumbered the Footstars defenders 5 to 3. The pass seemed to float forever as the crowd went silent. The clock kept ticking, but Roonaldo managed to beat the Footstars defense to the cross and chip in a lovely back post header to give UFC the game winning goal in what proved to be one of the most exciting games ever seen on Football Superstars.

MATCH REVIEW

“...one of the most exciting games ever seen on Football Superstars.”

A Roonaldo header in the dying seconds secures victory for Universal FC.

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Eurostars United FCCreated by Casandra, 28th April 2010

TEAM COLOURSHome kit: Yellow/BlueAway kit: Black/Dark blue

Playerbase: International

Coach: Casandra, Theodinho, Xanadu

Club Website: http://www.eu.mmoguildsites.com

The original EU was created way back in August of ‘09 by Wiggle and Theodinho. Despite an active core group of players and a history of strong performances, coming runners up in the second division 442 league as well as strong finishes in their hosted EU730 tournament, the team disbanded in January of 2010 after losing a large amount of players to a rival team.

This was not the end of Eurostars’ legacy, Wiggle returned to FS and the new EU was formed by himself, Casandra, Theodinho, Xanadu and Moleman. With a lot of the original EU players wanting to return, the team has already managed to get a core group of players ready for the FSCL Season 2 730 league.

With their current focus on gathering players they have yet to decide on any tactics/formations and their Academy team has yet to be made. With a target of 20-25 active players, they hope to continue recruitment until they reach enough to establish a strong 11s squad. “We want only mature players with high activity and positive attitude. Our idea is to build the team around friendship and enjoyment - just as it was in old Eurostars United.” - a quote from Casandra.

It’s clear that this group of close friends means business, having created the team only a short while ago but already having enough players to enter the FSCL, they may have gained more enemies than friends in the form of other PMCs, but they’ve made it quite clear that they will do their talking with their feet.

Nataya/Smith

“We want only mature players with high activity and positive

attitude. Our idea is to build the team around friendship and

enjoyment - just as it was in old Eurostars United.”Casandra, EU

PMC REVIEW & INTERVIEW

ShinraCreated by Chowdown, Febuary 2010

TEAM COLOURSHome kit: Red/BlackAway kit: Red/Black

Playerbase: Mostly European

Coach: McDan, Jillardinho, Walker, Jonk, Bees

Club Website: http://snra.co.uk

Probably, one of the most promising PMCs in recent times, The team was formed by a small group of long term friends. Formerly, WLP several of the players felt it was time for a new start and broke away to form their own PMC, Shinra was born. With a number of the management staff knowing each other for several years the foundations of Shinra are solid, built and led by an experienced group of people and with some of them playing since the start of closed beta, there is no shortage of game experience.

Having such an experienced management staff has proven useful as Shinra Academy was launched very early on in Shinra’ history, with Jonk taking main responsibility of training new recruits. When asked about the purpose of the Academy McDan replied with “At the moment we recruit very low level players and try to teach them our methods and mould them into players that will eventually fit into the main team.” He also mentioned his faith in Jonks coaching ability “Jonk does a very good job of nurturing the guys there, and we have promoted a number of players to the first team.” With such a dedicated coaching staff it is inevitable that the Shinra academy will continue to improve the Shinra starting line up.

Shinra has already made an impact in FS, dominating the second division of the VFC 730 league claiming the top spot by a large margin and beating big guns Alliance in a surprise cup victory late last month. With a building reputation and clearly strong management it is no surprise that players would want to join Shinra however when asked, Mcdan said “Our first team is made up of players who came up through the leagues together, and it will be very hard for anyone to break into that structure.” Showing it will clearly take a special type of player to get a roster spot. He also added “We are all genuinely friends and there is no level 80+ with 200 hardiness that can replace that.”

Shinra obviously has the spirit and management to go all the way in the coming competitions, definitely a team to look out for in FSCL Season 2.

Nataya/Smith

PMC REVIEW & INTERVIEW

Synergy FCCreated by Dog, 2nd May 2009

TEAM COLOURSHome kit: Blue/YellowAway kit: Blue/Yellow

Playerbase: International

Coach: Rotten, Bekker, Kiuri

Club Website: http://synergyfc.yolasite.com/

The whole idea behind Synergy FC comes back from 2008 during closed beta stages, Doghouse had the idea of creating a PMC team which would try to simulate real life football in FS - the best it could with the game mechanics. A team which would play a passing game and use tactics and football to its advantage without exploiting game mechanics. A team which would be greater than the sum of its parts.

Synergy FC is a unique type of PMC that has very little in common with the majority of FS PMCs. With the main focus of Synergy to replicate real football in the game, they’ve struggled to make any big impact on the competitive scene, but they continue to play the football they want to play, for this alone they have earned the respect of many of the long standing players and PMCs.

Recently celebrating their 1 year anniversary in FS, Synergy hosted a birthday tournament including teams like Total Football, Nemean Lions, Red White United, AFC Monarchs and TS Wiselka. Sadly, they didn’t quite make the impact they hoped for (full tournament review can be found inside this issue).

Despite being one of the longer standing PMCs, Synergy have yet to form a successful academy team. They did attempt this with Emulous FC, managed by Kryllion and Nataya, but sadly the club closed down after management decided a fresh approach was needed. Unlike other squads, Synergy do not feel lower level players should be separated from the main team, so they recruit directly to the main squad. When asked about this, Kiuri replied with, “We don’t have a youth academy team, what we do is consider players we think have the potential and guide them through during their development”. Showing that Synergy really do go that extra mile when it comes to working with new recruits.

Having an active squad and dedicated management staff, Synergy has signed up for the FSCL Season 2 730 League. With such a unique approach to FS, it is no surprise that players will want to join a team focusing on real football instead of in game mechanics, when asked about the type of players they’re looking for, Kiuri said “We are looking for players with a good attitude towards the game and its community. Preferably level 50+ although if we think he is a hot prospect for the future we might consider lower levels. Any position is fine for us and preferably older than 17.”

With many saying there is no place for real football in FS, Synergy set out to prove them all wrong in the hopes of showing the community that proper tactics and real team play are able to compete along side any other style of play. With the FSCL Season 2 approaching, we wish Synergy the best of luck and Happy Birthday!

PMC REVIEW & INTERVIEW

Nataya/Smith

RedWhite UnitedCreated by Sharkswat, March 15, 2010

TEAM COLOURS: Red and white funnily enough.

Player base: International

Coach: AzarkanCaptain: Mikeyman

Club Website: http://www.redwhiteunited.com

RedWhite United were founded in mid March by Sharkswat, who has been playing FS since September ‘09. With the teams playing

style based on a balance of defensive formations to stop attacks and attacking wing play. “We change tactics based on the opponents” Says

manager Sharkswat. “There is no certain formation, we vary from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 to 5-3-2. We don’t like to play 3-3 in 7-a-side matches, I find it ridiculous and nothing like real football”.

The size of the squad is kept under 25 players with a level range from 45-62 with the average player at 55. But the level core at RWU seems to change fast - “One player, Aranwe, was level 25 ten days ago, he is now level 52!” says Sharkswat.

Despite being a new PMC RWU already have their sights set on the up and coming competitions, entering the 7s and 11s FSCL Season 2. Their goals are to play a unique brand of style that differs from the other PMCs. “With our formations and style of play, we don’t score for victories, we play football. So there will be long shots, artistic moves and even some shots for fun to try and score beautiful goals,” added Sharkswat.

Expansion seems to be the next step for RWU with a B-team already setup and looking to help promising new players in to the PMC world. “It will help new players learn the game and the best of them will have a chance to play at Redwhite united, so the squad will be rotated.”

With a strong core of players already, and a B-team in progress, Redwhite United seem to be making fast progress in the PMC world. It’s sure to be a difficult and long road ahead, but the dedication of their Manager and the vision he has for the team will give it a leg up and a real chance to enjoy long-term success.

Nataya/Smith

PMC REVIEW & INTERVIEW

“With our formations and style of play, we don’t score for victories, we play football. So there will be long shots, artistic moves and even some shots for fun to try and score beautiful goals.”Sharkswat, RWU

The Football Superstars Champions League (FSCL) is a community

hosted event ran by the manager of SCG, Attic. There was a time in FS where PMCs had nothing to do but play FSC games all day, thanks to the dedication and imagination of Attic and the players at SCG the FSCL was born and a new era of PMC competitions began. When asked about the reasons behind starting such a huge task, Attic responded with, “After CS decided not to hold any competitions anymore until their new Competition Management System is in place, the community began to stagnate, especially in the PMC area. PMCs had serious problems motivating their members, as there wasn't anything to do besides playing friendly matches.

“As the SC Germania manager, I also experienced these problems myself and decided to do something about it. I wanted to give the PMC community a good tournament, something to light up their excitement about the game again and bring back the motivation for FS through its strengths, which clearly lies in the PMC part.”

Attic wasn't sure how interested the community would be in such an event, so he began with limited PMC spots (8). Within 24 hours of the thread being

posted every spot had been taken. With some of the biggest PMC names in FS taking part it was clear that it was going to be a huge success. “As you've probably read in our final game review the whole season hinged on 1 game.” When asked about the results Attic said, “The season itself was unbelievably close and exciting, the top teams were never more than 1 point apart from each other, and in the end UFC won the season in the last match through a goal 10 seconds before the final whistle. What more could you possibly want from your league!” CS offered support for this tournament in the form of Bond's prizes, a total of 410 bonds was awarded, despite such a huge reward, Attic stated, “Most teams are eager to show their true potential, want to have great, thrilling matches and pit themselves against the other teams. FSCL is the perfect place to experience FS the way it is meant to be and find out how good your team really is.”

The first season wasn't without setbacks, however, and several issues arose. RFCL dropped out of the competition, ruining a lot of fixtures and planning, after this incident it was bought to Attic’s attention that Arti (Ex RFCL Player) had played for Storm in a FSCL fixture. Despite most people being

FSCL

FSCL information

Attic interviewby Smith

Attic SCG Manager FSCL founder

Image taken by Attic

FSCL

aware of the rules, Storm claimed they didn't know and decided to play Arti in a game versus Stonewill resulting in a 3-0 forfeit for breaking competition rules. Enforcing such things proved that Attic was not going to sit idly by and let anyone abuse his tournament. When asked about the incident, Attic added, “I learned a lot from this first season and with this experience, I will be able to make Season 2 even better.”

Although setting up FSCL S1 was a huge undertaking, it is tiny in comparison to FSCL S2. A total of 23 teams has signed up for the 730 divisions alone, this is not including the 11-a-side league. With such a large amount of teams signed up Attic was able to create a multi divisional setup with promotion and relegation showing that he has already considered the possibility of a third season. Just organizing the tournament alone is a huge amount of work but Attic and the folks at SCG haven't stopped there. When asked about other features of FSCL S2, Attic responded with, "There are the weekly reviews, interviews, news articles, advertising the league and organizing the live streams, etc. If you take each

for its own, it's not that much work, but if you sum it all up, its a full time job."

As if all that wasn't enough, Cellz also invented "SCG BetOn" which was a huge success with the community. “SCG BetOn is an FSCL result prediction game, similar to betting on real-life results, only without any money involved. Before each season week, you bet on the outcome of the matches (win/draw/loss) and gain points for correct bets. The winner is rewarded with a small prize at the end of the season,” commented Attic on the subject.

FSCL S2 is set to be another huge success. With new automated results confirmation, full PMC profiles at the click of a button, 730 and 1130 divisional leagues, real time league tables updated instantly and the opportunity for up and coming PMCs to start at the bottom and have a real shot to reach the top, there is no limit as to what Attic and his team can accomplish. Everyone here at TCM wishes to give a huge thank you to all the participating teams for making

the first season such pleasure to be involved in and special thanks to Attic for keeping the PMC scene alive and putting so much effort and dedication into hosting something as important as the FSCL competition. Stay tuned as we track FSCL S2 with match reviews and results in future Top Corner issues.

I leave you with a final say from Attic.

“FSCL is the biggest event FS has ever seen, and we are planning to make it even better with each season. For now I am completely focusing on making Season 2 an exciting event both for the participating teams and the community, and from what I can tell by now, it will be one hell of a show.”

FSCL brings back competitiveness in FS Community

Image taken by Attic

Neutralist considers TFFC a doorway for new players to gain access and learn about PMC's, offering them insight into the structure and management required, before they step outside and, as he says, “move on to the elites.”

The North American region is where Neutralist resides and although players are welcome to join on an international scale, TFFC predicts they will have 1 in 3 North American players within their organization. One of the reasons Neutralist decided to start this PMC is because, North American activity has always been low, during the earlier days of the Beta period it was nearly impossible for games to take place. It was impossible for North American players to join a PMC, especially considering their prime time was always underpopulated and waiting periods for games were strenuously

long. TFFC offers not only PMC knowledge but also player networking and as the N.A. player rate has grown and is expected to grow further, they will be of much benefit to players from that region.

Although he has never been in a PMC previously he has done a great deal of work in managing TFFC who has reached an enormous listing of 108 players, as of March 3rd, 2010. He believes PMCs are a core part of FS and each players individual identities.

PMC SPOTLIGHT

A PMC for noobsTeam Fortress FC

The popularity of FS increases as does the number of Player Managed Clubs

and players involved in them. This issue features one of the newest and

upcoming PMCs: Team Fortress FC. Their manager, a former Beta

player who was asked by the FS Administration to change his former,

more prominent name (due to its content), is now known as Neutralist.

Image taken by Smurfy

PMC SPOTLIGHT

Neutralist took the time to answer a few questions for us about his PMC:

How do you manage so many people and is it as difficult as it would seem?

It is not that difficult, actually it is easier to create friendlies because you always have enough people around the clock. The crucial thing is you need at least a handful of coaches. I bet sooner or later CS will start relaxing requirements so that a captain no longer needs to be subscribed. Then you will see this club really bloom.

What are some of the plans/goals you have for your club?

We should be the first destination on any new players, to learn what is the proper way to play FS. Think of it as an academy PMC, but much larger. I am still looking for subscribers from different regions of the world to help handle the massive membership count.

Based on our projection, 1 out of 3 players active during the North American prime time hours (1800 - 0100 hours GMT -5) will be in TFFC.

Based on review of matches I will set up different teams to enter different tournaments.

What are your clubs strengths and weaknesses?

We are relatively new, so all those problems that come with new players also got brought over to TFFC. Speaking of strength, we believe in diversity of populations. We are an international PMC, not a culture or language-specific one. Racial or xenophobic tones are absolutely not tolerated in TFFC.

Do you have a website or forum?

No, Maintaining one such is pain. Many MMO have feature exclusive forum space for each clan or guild. It doesn't cost that much for CS to build one private forum section per PMC. Maybe I should put that on the suggestion section of the forum soon.

What does your club use for communication?

Right now I am relying on the PM system on the FS forums.

Have you participated in any tournaments or leagues?

Not yet, not until it is at least a month old or have coaches cover around the clock.

Do you plan on enlisting your PMC into any tournaments or leagues?

Once I see that I can constantly set up a friendly throughout the day then that will be about time to enter TFFC into any sort of tournaments. I am looking forward to the open league system, obviously.

With such a huge roster there are no doubts that some great talent will emerge from TTFC, but the bigger question here is whether they share the same thoughts as their manager or will they move on to other clubs?

AccidentzNeutralist, the leader of TFFC.

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My personal opinion: It is bad if you’re on the receiving end of a PMC stack if your against or playing with a stacked team but it is good if you are playing with your own set of player because FSC is as boring as hell.

Kuzmar: Bad thing, the reason that stacks are bad is because some people, even from most famous PMCs, cant play without stacking. They play bad or don’t try to do their best, if CS do their work properly then stacking FSC matches’ won’t be as bad as they are now.

Scopian: Bad thing, because a lot of the time the PMC forces you to play in a position that you didn’t start in and if you ever play against a stack team there is a chance you will always lose. The worst part is joining a queue only to have the whole queue leave and move because they couldn’t fit all their PMC friends in, meaning I have to wait 30 minutes for another chance to play.

Rey: Good thing, why? Because it lets up and coming players learn the style of playing required in a PMC.

Esien: Very bad thing, It ruins the game, it stops players from developing, you can’t level up anymore especially if your PMC doesn’t have enough div 1 players. Stacks should be banned in my opinion.

Devo: Both. Good because you get to play with your pmc mates while you get rewards. Bad because when you vs them you always have a disorganized random team versus an organized PMC team.

Dazed: Good thing, at the end of the day the tools are there for players to play together, and unless something game wise stops it, then why bother trying to stop it?

Carleetos: Good thing because it saves you a lot of frustration because you’re not playing with less skill, random players that don’t understand how you play. When I play against a stack, I get annoyed. So yeah good and bad.

Kiuri: It’s one of those things that can be explained with game theory, basically if 1 group cheats and the other doesn’t, that group gets advantage over the others, if no one cheats it gives more balance. If everyone cheats, than cheating doesn’t help much. Since not everyone can cheat I think it’s bad for the community.

Theodinho: Bad thing, they can play with each other in PMC games, not in FSC. Unfair on the random players who get battered because they don’t have the chemistry the opposition does.

Fergy: I think it’s a bad thing because it’s unfair on other team to get stuck verse a team who know the teammates and probably better than them but it’s also a good thing if you playing in the stacks.

Vihay: PMC stacks are definitely bad, and there is no doubt about it, this is why there are such things as PMC matches. Secondly, it is unfair on the other team, for example if a 65 plus level team stacked division 2 the chance of the enemy team have similar levels is unlikely.

WORD ON THE STREET

PMC STACKINGin FSC games

Every issue, I hope to speak with the FS community about issues that are

important to them.

In the first issue of TCM I thought it would be fitting to tackle one of the biggest concerns in the game today,

PMC stacking in FSC games.

I asked 20 players about their opinions on the problem and here is what they

have to say:

Casandra: Well.. it’s a desperate act of FS players which are wanting and waiting for the promised Open League. Stacks are a bad thing, because they destroy the chances of having a fair game, but it is not the communities fault. Stacking will end as soon as players will have chance to earn experience and money in PMC matches, but when will that happen? Who knows?

Vitinhu: It’s good to ones who stack and very bad to the opponents. Playing with your PMC friends is very great and after that you win XP, fame and money. To me that’s the reason why a lot of guys stack the FSC matches, because they could normally play PMC matches instead of FSC (depending on the time and if they don’t have opponents) but they want to earn all the rewards.

Kamchak: It is a bad thing, because FSC matches are planned to have people from the same FSC, not the same PMC. While they are stacking, people often show their un-loyal relationship with their FSCs, because they change it here and there just to get into the so-called ‘stack’ with their PMC.

Attic: In general I don’t mind playing against stacks, as long as I have a decent team on my side that knows how to play this game (random or friends). The problem of FSC is not that stacking is possible, but that playing with random players mostly doesn’t work well. Stacks are a problem because the random teams are unorganized and therefore have no chance against them. I just hope PMC rewards will reduce the problem and people who want to play organized can

WORD ON THE STREET

good or bad?do it in open league.

Zielina: PMC stacks is a very good idea, you can observe new play, you can see it’s perfectly harmonious.

Chowdown: MMos and sports games are based around team play, most of the community will play for this very reason, if stacks are in someway nerfed FS games will become unviable. Having said that Div1/2/3 players creating and stacking alts in Div 4 is lame.

McC: I think they are good, but only versus another stack or for PMC training purposes, to familiarize players with each other, when PMC games aren’t available.

Moleman: Hmmmm, tough one really. I wouldn’t say they are a great thing, but they aren’t bad. its fun to play with your friends and you get no rewards for PMC matches...still. Being on the wrong end of a PMC stack isn’t always so fun if they tank or something but since div1 has been brought in there isn’t the same amount of uber stat monkeys killing it off in div2 with stacks. I’m not sure about div1, but surely all those players are decent enough to play against PMC sides and have stats of their own.

Dblue: PMC matches (with friends, sophisticated tactics) are probably the main source of enjoyment in this game. The mistake done by CS (not giving proper rewards for PMC matches) is the reason of stacking; hopefully the Open League which is just around the corner and whole problem with stacks will be solved.

It seems the community is split on such a large problem within the game. Is it fair to PMC stack against random players? Are the players to blame or is the game at fault for not offering more opportunities to play with friends?

Judging from the comments, nobody is sure. One thing most people will agree on, hoping the Open League will save FSC games from PMC stacks and open a whole new scene for PMC competition.

Halsey

by Nataya.

May 2nd 2010 marked the first anniversary of Synergy FC.

The club was founded by Doghouse, with a mission statement on playing nice passing football that can be used effectively within the game. Synergy’s club motto tells you everything about the ideals of the club, ‘The sum is greater than its parts’.

These days Synergy is under the guidance and experience of Kiuri and Bekker, who are very much keeping that ethos alive.

And so, the joint managers decided to celebrate a year of existence with a battle on the football field. The Synergy Anniversary Tournament invited clubs who share similar footballing philosophies to compete in a friendly competition. TS Wiselka (TSW), AFC Monarchs (AFCM), Total Football Club (TFC), FC Nemean Lions (FCNL),

RedWhite United (RWU) and of course the hosts themselves Synergy (SYN) all took part in this one day, 730 event.

A single league format, with the top two battling it out in a grand finale, it proved to be a very exciting day for those involved. Each team had realistic chances of lifting the trophy.

-

The first round got underway, with TFC and RWU sharing the points with a close 2-2 draw. Both teams enjoyed their first taste of competitive PMC action and saw this tournament as an ideal warm-up for the fast approaching FSCL season 2. The hosts SYN, also had a tough test versus new boys AFCM and they needed their year of experience to win the match 4-2. FCNL welcomed back ex-Evolution FC and FS veteran, Devean, and had a goal filled first match that eventually went down 6-2 to TSW.

ROUND 1 results

TFC 2 - 2 RWU

AFCM 2 - 4 SYN

FCNL 2 - 6 TSW

So, with SYN and TSW taking command in the first round of matches with wins, the second round was eagerly poised and proved to be the round of close matches.

RWU, who have entered the 11s FSCL Season 2, were to face AFCM, a team led by ex-WLF manager, Halsey. It couldn’t have been a tighter game, with RWU edging it by a solitary goal, 5 to 4. SYN carried on their fine form from round one, with a 4-3 thriller over FCNL. TSW also secured their second

TOURNAMENT REVIEW

Synergy FCAnniversary Tournament

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win in two games when they overcame TFC in a 3-1 win.

ROUND 2 results

RWU 5 - 4 AFCM

SYN 4 - 3 FCNL

TFC 1 - 3 TSW

TSW and SYN maintained the top two spots going into round three, with RWU and TFC with the one point and AFCM and FCNL yet to get off the board. But still there was time and much to play for in this tournament. The tourney was close, with tense matches being fought out, and that would continue in round three, bar one fixture.

AFCM, who were desperately unlucky not to pick up any points in the first two rounds, let their frustrations out on TFC and won comfortably 6-1. FCNL found themselves in yet another 4-3 thriller, but this time coming out on top against RWU. But the match of the round was undoubtedly between the top two teams, SYN and TSW. It didn’t disappoint, with TSW victorious winning by 4-3.

TOURNAMENT REVIEW

SYN FCNL AFCM TSW RWU TFC

“Each team had realistic chances of lifting the trophy.”

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Synergy FC and TS Wiselka got the tournament underway with an opening match.

ROUND 3 results

AFCM 6 - 1 TFC

SYN 3 - 4 TSW

FCNL 4 - 3 RWU

Polish-based TSW stood clear at the top of the table at this stage. With SYN dropping points, it renewed hope for AFCM and FCNL who gained important victories. RWU still were within sight of the top two, but for TFC it was looking a little bleak with only 1 point to show from three games.

TFC may have had issues in the lead up to this tournament with many players missing, but showed a spirited performance vs FCNL. However the match ended in a 2-0 win for FCNL but could have gone either way with TFC squandering many chances. SYN, looking to get back to winning ways after a third round defeat entered the game against RWU as favorites. But again, were unable to secure any points with RWU triumphant, winning 4-2. Wherever there were goals in a game, there was AFCM. And the upsets were on the cards again when they defeated heavy favorites TSW, by 5-3.

ROUND 4 results

SYN 2 - 4 RWU

TFC 0 - 2 FCNL

AFCM 5 - 3 TSW

TOURNAMENT REVIEW

Five of the six teams went into the final round of fixtures with a chance of reaching the Grand Final. The excitement, anticipation, adrenaline was at full volume as the teams dared not slip up. Each goal scored vital, each goal conceded could potentially end

dreams of success. This was to be a extremely decisive round of football.

Outsiders, AFCM and FCNL both needed a victory to have any chance of reaching the final. Of course only one of the teams could, but something had to give, and FCNL, who started the tournament so slowly, ended the match with a 5-4 win. Now it was up to other teams to decide their fate. SYN needed to win against bottom team TFC, and TSW needed victory over RWU to cement their place in the Grand Final. TSW brushed aside RWU in a convincing 8-2 victory and SYN made light work of TFC winning 6-2.

ROUND 5 results

SYN 6 - 2 TFC

AFCM 4 - 5 FCNL

TSW 8 - 2 RWU

“...if anything was proven in this tournament it was that anyone could beat anyone.”

Niko scoring FCNL’s second goal against AFCM in a deciding match for final spot.

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SYN’s victory put them level on points with FCNL, but with a superior goal difference. The hosts had set up a Grand Final date with TSW.

The final was, in the true spirit of this tournament, closely fought out and very tight. TSW, who had already beaten SYN in the earlier rounds entered as favorites. However, this was a Grand Final, and if anything was proven in this tournament it was that anyone could beat anyone. The match ended in a 2-2 draw and will go down as a classic. Synergy officials decided to award TSW the title as an act of fair play, considering that TSW had won the initial league table.

GRAND FINALSynergy FC 2-2 TS Wiselka*

(Tournament win awarded to TSW)

A fantastic day of football came to an end, with many of the players involved wanting more of the same in the future. Synergy Co-manager Kiuri said ‘ We are thinking about making it more often. Just have to get things planned first and with more features, such as a league tables and results. There seems to be a lack on tournaments now for mid range PMC’s, so it would be good if we had more of those with teams that don’t abuse game mechanics and are keen on fair play.’

Popeg, the winning TSW manager, said, ‘It’s a surprise for me and for my team. It is fantastic! This team is very young, we have only played together for around two months. 50% of the team are under level 50.’

The future of all the clubs that took part looks bright, but confidence is a powerful friend. ‘This was our first official tournament and win. Now we are waiting to start FSCL and we want to win our division’ Popeg added.

TOURNAMENT REVIEW

Congratulations to TSW on their tournament win, and a big well done to those at Synergy who made this day not only possible, but extremely enjoyable.

FINAL STANDING TABLETEAM P W D L G C GD P

TSW 5 4 0 1 24 13 +11 12

SYN 5 3 0 2 19 15 +4 9

FCNL 5 3 0 2 16 17 -1 9

RWU 5 2 1 0 16 20 -4 7

AFCM 5 2 0 3 21 18 +3 6

TFC 5 0 1 4 6 19 -13 1

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TSW’s second goal, slotted comfortably by Vandit.

MINI ARTICLES

Be heard! Voice your opinion!Football Superstars has an unofficial Community Teamspeak hosted by a member of the community. The Teamspeak server is open to any player that plays Football Superstars. It is a great place to kick back, relax, meet new people and ask for advice. It is totally free to any player or PMC team and has rules in place that make it suitable for all ages.

Not familiar with TS (Teamspeak)? It is a VoIP (Voice over IP) program that allows you to instantly communicate with other players in your channel at the push of a button. Ever wanted to shout for the ball but couldn’t take your fingers off the shoot button to type? VoIP programs are for you!

With a current server capacity of 50 players the server is unused for the most part. However, if the popularity increases I have been told the capacity will be increased.

As well as individuals being on the server, PMCs are also allowed to request a private channel to help them improve organization and communication. Check the forums for a full step by step guide on getting yourself involved with Teamspeak or contact Smith on the forums/IRC.

Smith

COMMUNITY TEAMSPEAK

FS is on the rise!Most of you are familiar with logging in to Football Superstars to see a rather depressing “Low” highlighted in green taunting you. Occasionally in the past this has changed, mostly attributed to bugs at the time but this time it’s for real! At 18:52 on April 5th 2010, the Football Superstars server reached medium population! Most wont see this as a big thing but for the long term players this is clearly something worth getting excited over, the population is growing and with the lower divisions almost reaching a 24/7 community, it is looking bright for the future of the game. Even more so because of a recent review in PC Gamer UK Magazine that left the reader with a very positive opinion of the game. Many will know that the previous PC Gamer review on FS was rather depressing and didn’t help advertise the game much at all however it is clear from the new article that the new changes have made an impact. Keep your eye on this space!

Smith

MEDIUM POPULATION!

MINI ARTICLES

Lifetime Subscription – What’s it all about?Football Superstars has always had subscriptions. Supplying characters with the ability to make their own clubs, money off gym fees and free “bonds” that can be converted into Football Superstars money.

With 2010 being a World Cup year, Cyber Sports seized the initiative to enroll a lifetime subscription promotion for the Football Superstars’ faithful. In which people can pay a one lump sum of £39.99 for a lifetime’s worth of subscription.

But, the key question is, is it worth it?

With three months of subscription being £13.99, £39.99 seems to be ridiculously cheap. In essence, you are paying for nine months, and the rest is free. Now, if you are going to play for more than nine months, you may as well buy it, considering the extra “goodies” that get added in.

Included in your subscription is one hundred free “bonds”. Normally, to get this you would have to buy 12 months subscription. This may seem like a bit of a con out, only being given 100 bonds, when it is really worth 12 months, not a lifetime, but really, by the time you’ve been playing for a year, 1000 dollars in game isn’t really much, just half an hour’s worth of game time. These 100 “bonds” are almost worth the £39.99 themselves. If you wanted to buy 100 “bonds” on their own it would cost you £30.99. What you are getting is well under priced - getting the 100 “bonds” doesn’t seem so bad anymore.

An extra “goodie” in the lifetime subscription pack is the pair of Reebok Valde boots. These boots are well worth getting. They give a kicking power boost of 22, and an accuracy boost of 18. These boots are worth around 13,000 FSD in game, and are well worth buying. If you were to buy these boots with “bonds” it would cost you around 13 of them, which if you bought separately would cost you £6.99.

So far, if you were to have bought all of these items separately, it would have cost you in excess of £70.

The final bonus is the fact that you will always have access to the latest subscription bonuses. Current and future items. All at your finger tips.

It is hard to see how this life time subscription is not worth paying for. Saving over £40 the life time subscription is worth the money.

Remember - the offer is only available before the kick off of the World Cup in South Africa. So if you want to get your hands on this amazing offer, head over to the Football Superstars website!

Smurfy

MINI ARTICLES

TOP CORNER CUP!Not in the GMT Timezone? Look no further!Top Corner Magazine is proud to announce the TCC (Top Corner Cup). The TCC is a 1 day, late night tournament event to encourage players outside the GMT timezone to get active in competitions. The TCC will be hosted by several members of the TCM staff on random days and varying times between 1-4am.

It will be a simple knockout format. 4 teams will participate in each event with the winners from each game playing for the top spot. Bonds will be awarded to the winning team a few days after the event.

The 4 teams will be created and owned by TCM staff, there will be an announcement in the help channel a short while before the tournament will begin, if you want to join all you have to do is follow the instructions given. To make sure it is as fair as possible, players will be invited randomly to 1 of the 4 PMCs, this is to avoid friends stacking the competition and making it unfair for others. We ask all players that play during normal GMT times to refrain from signing up as this is to help players that don’t get to play during the most active time. The tournament is for players under level 50, if there is enough demand we may extend the competition to cater to higher level players but at the moment, we’re going to stick with lower level players.

There is no better place to prove your ability. Whether you just want the reward, want to make some friends or hopefully get noticed for a PMC invite, the TCC will give you the opportunities you need that usually wouldn’t be available during your timezone.

Smith

TCM IS KEWL

GREETINGS FROM REG \o/

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