The red team has not seen the same consistency year-over-year. Tedd E Bear was the first commander for the Red team back in 2021, and he was dethroned in the second chapter. Since then, the Red team has seen four consecutive defeats.
While dedicated players continually return from teams like the Soup Can Cocks, Angelic Rage, and the High Rollers, the leadership has had to overcome its fair share of blunders. After the“ Arc of the Covenant” incident and the e-Bike incident of lore, several core teams departed. That was then followed by backto-back commander drop-outs- Collapse 4 with Wu Rodriguez of the Nomadz, who had to step aside for personal reasons, and this year with Chase“ Traffic” Morris. These ripples have had a harsh effect on recruitment and the ability of the Red team to develop a culture the way that Blue has.
Last year, Zach Riley stepped in to replace Wu. The defeat didn’ t sit well with him, and he asked for a chance to return to try again on a more even playing field. Unfortunately, that was disrupted with the departure of Traffic, and Riley again found himself in a leadership and recruiting vacuum. Although he made a great selection in Scenario Paintball’ s Role Player of the Year, Tedd E. Bear, the Red team was so far behind the ball in recruiting that even the heavy-hitting Bear was only able to help so much. So Riley and the Red team were definitely the underdogs going into this year’ s event.
The Game
The environment and the weather are always elements of the challenge within The Collapse. Because it is so late in the year, daylight is limited. Players began arriving before dawn with ice clinging to their windshields and handwarmers in their pockets in preparation for the early 9 a. m. game briefing.
Vendors awaited them, including Gatormaille amongst others, standing by ready to stock any missing gear items or tech any guns that might need servicing. And many did. The cold temperatures at game start pressed the limits of electronic markers and magfed kits, exposing the experience levels of some players, and giving commanders another unforeseen challenge in force management.
The Red team was slow to field, which created a tidal flow of back-and-forth battle that persisted throughout the day. The offset rotations continuously gave field advantage to one team over the other. One team would find themselves shorthanded and spawn-pinned, but then battle the attrition, win back space, and push the other team back to their insertion point. And the game flowed this way all day.
In the meantime, Cypher’ s game played out.
“ This year’ s game definitely gave more challenges than last year,” Riley said.“ Having two hazard zones made the flow of the game change compared to any other [ before it ].”
The hazard zones were two areas of the field that were roped off and dubbed as“ The Great Lakes”, making them impassable to players without“ safety equipment.” Stepping foot into the Lakes without the proper equipment meant immediate elimination.
0144 paintball. media magazine