More MU's

Former «|SoH|» manager Hitman will become a {KL} recruit in two days, while Namibian player Bulldog has joined God Help Them clan after {SuR} closed for the second time. It is unknown yet which clan the other ex-SuR members will target next - Beware.

CWU 25-30 July

RUS1 beat {EPIC}> 2-0 [BS]

|DWMT| beat RUS1 7-5 [ViP]

These were the only full 1.0 wars recorded on clan websites for this week.

S4 Trolling site opens

A new website has been designed by {EPIC} members taking a light-hearted view of SWAT, joking about the game and players through images inspired by 9gag. Visit swat4troll.webs.com - there are new entries put on every day, and you can have your own ones posted!

«|SoH|»

Clan Name & Tag: Shadow of Heroes, «|SoH|»
Primary SWAT Game Mode: ViP Escort
Date Clan was founded: 25th October 2010

Past + Current Leader(s): Windu & Raptor (Founders), Aragorn & Daisy (Leaders)
Reason why Leadership changed (if it did change): No reason, the founders and the leaders work together
Major Tournament(s) participated in: n/a
Best general out-clan war performance: n/a

Clan video(s): Clan Video

Clan motto:  Shadows can’t die
Clan website: shadowofheroes.clan.su

Personal interview with |WM|KrazyFire

Tell us about yourself, which clan you reside in, and your history in SWAT (other clans [if any], amount of time spent in clan, roles and responsibilities in clan etc)

Having started with World Mafia as an eager secondary school kid with a fair amount of spare time the ensuing transition to sleepless university "student" has seen my attention span for and devotion to the clan take a complete nosedive. In this Q and A I thought I might muse on what I have seen of the last 7 years of SWAT 4. 

SWAT History: Tournaments

As we approach the final week of the deadline to register for the upcoming BS 2v2 tourney, let's look at the past tournaments that have been successfully hosted on the Tournament Forum, and their winners:

ViP Tournament 2008 - {SoE}, {KL}, <|USSR|>
RD Tournament 2010 - |»Delta«|, |(MrPB)|, ND
ViP Tournament 2011 - |WM|, {SoE}, |Fs|
RD Tournament 2012 - FoX|, eLe|, HaX|
ViP Tournament 2012 - 3A|», hfbc||, |DWMT| 

CWU 18-23 July

RUS1 beat {|GA|} 253-156 [BS] 

oFF| beat FoX| 209-150 [BS]

|DWMT| beat «|US|» 7-5 [ViP]

RUS1 beat {WRS} 7-1 [ViP]
|WM| beat RUS1 8-0 [ViP]

Yet another MU

hfbc|| member Hermes/Starsky is a |WM|Trial, and ex-UFS leader Just!ce is close to becoming a 3A|» recruit.  Meanwhile, Special United Rangers "unmerged" from United Fusion of Skills just 3 days after the initial process, meaning members have switched back to using the {SuR} tag, with other members joining the recently re-opened {|GA|} clan.

OPINION: Certain unassailable skill level?

First opinion article in some time; I decided to raise the topic of SWAT 4 "skill" levels. I hear many times there are skill "groups" in SWAT, from the "noobish" to the good to the top one, "pro". Within "pro" itself, there are apparently even more divisions. I will use Delta team as an example, since it seems most people see them as the highest level one can aspire to reach in this game (NOT as an attack at them).   Some of their members are regarded as the best SWAT players in the community. This makes me wonder, what is the difference between these individual players and other quality players in the game?

There comes a point when you know pretty much everything there is to know whilst playing - when to use cams, at which specific points in maps your opponent is likely to arrive, footsteps, changing spawn points, where exactly nades are and aren't effective and much more. So it makes me question, what puts these individual players in a supposedly higher class than others? What do they have that is extra than in other players? 

It could be totally wrong, but in my opinion there are at least 30-50 equally talented players in this game, all of the highest level. You cannot single out one or two as "the greatest ever", because I just fail to see what more you can learn and achieve after you have reached a high level. The only difference I can point out is people having better PCs, or faster internet connections to reduce lag and have a steady FPS, which may give them a slight bigger advantage to others. However, regarding "skills" alone, I see very little difference between all the top players in the game. Remember, this is not an aim to attack Delta team or their achievements, it's about  these assumed "skill divisions" within the highest level out there, which I don't agree with, even if it's a pointless article.

{UFS} merges with {SuR}, while member CJ is exposed

Special United Rangers ViP clan have reportedly merged with United Fusion of Skills {UFS}, with an insider claiming it to be in the 'wake of the shock defeat to SoH'. The news comes on the same day that old {UFS} member CJ was exposed to have had an incredible 4 different cheater accounts on UAC.

Clan Wars 11-17 July

Interview with {WRS}Kampfhamster

Although not technically a clan leader, Kampfhamster is arguably the most active current WRS ViP clan member. Click play below for his recorded audio interview! If for some strange reason you would prefer not to listen but to read a text-version, click here.

Another VMU

{|GA|} clan closed and some members have since joined the recently re-born {SuR}, including kinder-gardener Officer. Egyptian player Splinty has become a part of the elite double-clan group, as he joins the emerging RUS1 clan while still being listed as a HoG ViP clan member. Finally, veteran Turkish player Senny, once a part of US and UF, has joined GHT. It is a clan with many old players using fake country locations and names, such as Sud, Juice and Mephisto (hillbilly, ligatur, legendary).

1p0 CWU 3-10 July

Barricaded Suspects

oFF| beat FoX| 134-35

{SWT} beat RUS1 x2

ViP Escort
{KL} beat RUS1 5-3

{KL} beat {SWT} 5-3

RUS1 beat |DWMT| 8-4

RUS1 beat {SWT} x1
RUS1 beat «|US|» 9-7

HoP-type but better, server planned

Development of a 'better' House of Pa1n type modded server is under way, with a team comprising MrElie and others behind it. It could have additional features such as multi-map support and in-game VoiP,  along with the kill-streaks, auto admin and custom costumes. The project is predicted to take 3 months to complete although beta versions could be made public before then. The server will likely be a dedicated server, most probably from g-portal, hosted in Germany for quality performance.

Interview with {KL}James_Bond

1 KL was born around 2006-07, but was restarted last year. Why did it initially die and what was the inspiration to bring it back?

To be honest with you KL never “died” it was just inactive. The reason it went inactive was because we had an older generation of KL - some got married, others started working; some had children and so forth. It was therefore quite hard to keep the clan together. However, it was brought back to life because we realised there were still KL members who were relatively active, who were still using the tag and were still playing SWAT 4. From the day it “died” many members tried their hardest to make things work again - and now we’re back! I also forgot to mention, the older generation members are starting to make a return too.

ViP Member Update 7/7

UPDATE: JoJo remains in the SWAT community, however GioGio steps into his leadership shoes in {|4U|} clan. Crotales, who is fast becoming a joke in the community, has setup a new clan entitled The Hated, with another infamous player joining him as leader. It represents the 4th clan the young Belgian has either been leader or vice-leader of in the past 5 months (we are told he is not a power-seeker or jumper). Finally, a Polish player called Kate, who «|SoH|» clan believed was acting as a spy for S4N (she was kicked before), has re-joined them today.

Old {|UF|} leader returns with new clan

Old Ultimate Force ViP clan leader Andy has returned with a new clan entitled God Help Them << GHT >>. {|UF|} was originally closed by the UK player in January but the ex-US clan member has returned with this new project, with members from the old UF, such as UAC cheater KinG, also leading.

Duo removed from BS tourney

A team by the name of e11eveN were removed from the BS tournament registration area yesterday after it was found they broke a tournament rule whereby a player with an earlier cheat-detected UAC account is not eligible to play. umBra was the nickname of the player who was found to have two linked accounts, one of which was caught for cheating over a year ago. It is a clear statement by the organizers that all couples looking to play must fully read and abide by the rules before confirming registration.

1.0 CWU

All serious and fun war results are collected from respective European clan websites.  Feel free to add missed 1.0 friendly and serious war results during the last week in the comments.

Week 26 June-2 July

Barricaded Suspects

{|GA|} beat «|SoH|» 

hfbc|| beat oFF| 233-220

oFF| beat {SWT} 233-229

oFF| beat |WM| 218-170

oFF| beat «ß29» 436-40

ViP Escort

{|GA|} beat «|SoH|» 5-3

UAC Watch

The latest UAC 1.0 cheaters are Assassin (who has since been kicked from SuR), and SoH clan member Wolf, who currently remains in the clan. The youngster had a clean match ID last week and was then caught during a war yesterday. 

Interview with {SWT}LoveMonkey

1 SWT clan have been running for over six years. What do you think has been the key to this longevity?

In my opinion it is keeping a fun and friendly enviroment, making a member feel that he's part of a family and not just a gaming clan and that you will be kicked if you are a bad player. Ofc we have our "Pro" players too in Elite team, you can also be there if you are "pro" and love wars and stuff but it's not the main focus.  People can come and meet new people and make friendships that can last for long and not really focus only in game; like recently I started a Pool league in SWT, it has nothing to do with SWAT but who cares as long we have fun together, that's SWT in my eyes.