Left 4 Dead winner speaks on GGL tournament
GGL recently got a chance to quiz Frank “Crazy Dutch Bastard” Verhage about his L4D experience while leading Church of Solo to victory in the 13 Fear is Real / Left 4 Dead competition. Frank shared some of his tactics and knowledge about the game with us, so let’s get to the interview!
GGL: How was your experience in the competition? Did you have a good time, or were there any hiccups?
Frank Verhage: Let me start off by thanking GGL for a fun competition! That’s pretty much the answer for your question as well. We really enjoyed getting to see the tactics employed by other teams.
GGL: How is Left 4 Dead in a competitive match?
Verhage: For us Left 4 Dead is never all that serious. Playing in a competitive match was a pretty big change from how we normally play. We usually only save each other if it doesn’t cost us a lot of time! It’s just letting off a bit of steam, and having a laugh. And it’s a pretty effective tactic against hunters, especially before the patch that made blocking hunters more difficult. Matches are more fun by definition. Playing an actual team, with actual tactics is a lot of fun!
GGL: Do you think it has a future as a “true” competitive game, or is it too casual?
Verhage: I can imagine Left 4 Dead sticking around as a competitive game for quite some time. Especially when you consider the fun you could have when you’re in the same room as your teammates. Knowing Valve (the creator of L4D) there are sure to be a lot of pretty heavy patches underway. Dead Air and Death Toll should be here soon! Fingers crossed! And when they arrive Left 4 Dead should become more interesting as a competitive game. For now though, the game can be imbalanced at times. Playing as a smoker can be a blessing and a curse, with the new (and disrupted) aiming system. I have faith in Valve to balance this game out enough to make it the perfect game for competitions.
GGL: Did recent balance changes/patches affect the outcome of the tournament in your opinion? If so, how?
Verhage: I mentioned a patch changing our ability to block hunters by meleeing them at the right time, earlier. That very same patch also introduced a certain amount of equal challenge into the mix. Every survivor team had to face the same witch at the same spot, and the same tank at the same spot since that patch. It made a lot of the matches depend quite a bit less on luck than it did. A tank can make you win or lose if it depends on luck if you’ll get one. The patch solved that problem.
GGL: What’s your favorite weapon in the game (to use as a Survivor)?
Verhage: My favorite weapon is an absolute essential: the shotgun. I obviously prefer the second tier shotgun, the auto-shottie, but you have to start with something. How else do you intend to deal with those pesky witches? Crown em! Every single one of em!
GGL: What’s your favorite Infected class to play and why?
Verhage: I’m not alone in saying I love the hunter and the boomer, I’m sure. But it honestly depends on the situation. When dealing with the lift in No Mercy 3 I like a good hunter like every other guy, but I sure as hell wouldn’t mind a smoker!
GGL: And who is your favorite human character to play (and why)?
Verhage: I guess my favorite character is either Bill or Francis. Francis can be pretty funny: ‘If only your beard turns, can I shoot that too?’, but so can Bill, when Francis makes a stupid comment on getting eaten by vampires. There is no tactical difference though. Of course nobody wants Louis. It IS a horror movie-game…
GGL: What kind of team hunting tactics did you use while playing the Infected side?
Verhage: Our hunting tactics huh. Well I suppose a Delay and Destroy tactic. Always make sure you can attack as they reach the witch, always support the tank, and have the boomer as quickly and as often as possible. And if the possibility arises, a 4 infected attack. If planned right (and if you’re just a little bit lucky) this can instantly destroy the survivors.
GGL: Have you ever sacrificed a teammate to escape? Be honest.
Verhage: Hehe. Our team is called Church of Solo. It’s called that for a reason… Not just because it sound so very very lame, but also because we turn eachother into bait for the infected!
GGL: Would you play in another Left 4 Dead tournament?
Verhage: We are definitely going to play in another L4D tournament, without a doubt. I just hope the limit on challenges gets removed :P
28. January 2009 at 3:57 pm :
casual? of course he’s going to say that with only 4 wins for 1st place it was casual… check out some players from the 360 side of the comp… 4 wins would barely into the top 10 in that ladder
28. January 2009 at 4:00 pm :
just take it easy. they won, right?
fwiw we’ve sent an interview request to the winners of the 360 competition as well, but guess who got back to me first?
28. January 2009 at 6:56 pm :
fair enough
28. January 2009 at 7:48 pm :
Well of course if you have nothing better to do than to check your e-mail all day you would repsond first. But, for those of us who don’t check it at work or all day everyday I guess a response by oh, I don’t know, after dinner would be acceptable.
28. January 2009 at 8:32 pm :
Fox our ladder wasn’t active we challeneged the maximum people constantly with no reply so we cant be blamed or critised for that but L4D is a casual game, not hard at all. So no point in complaining we only won 4 games as we tried to play many mny more so we would appreciate you not to complain as if it was up to us we would of been playing atleast a couple matches a night.
28. January 2009 at 8:33 pm :
In the grand scheme of things if ours was as active as yours im certain the outcome would have been the same anyway…
28. January 2009 at 8:38 pm :
Err that’s a rather large assumption isn’t it blue? Quite unfair. However trust me when I say, our 4 wins (5 actually, we beat gauntlet twice but for some reason it didn’t count) was not our choice; we challenged everyone we could and hardly anyone responded. Not our fault. We’d of happily played as many games as you guys but the people on our side obviously didn’t have the free time to play as much as you guys… Maybe they had work, or studies? Irony is a beautiful thing..
28. January 2009 at 10:14 pm :
Err thats a rather large assumtion isn’t it Are? Quite Unfair. All our games were played between the hours of 8pm-Midnight Eastern time. So you see it isn’t irony, it’s just the time people with jobs and responsibilities can play.
29. January 2009 at 5:34 am :
Hmmm university wow sounds like a responsibilty to me maybe cause i’m there, dunno why but you Xbox players seem a lil to competitive remember it is just a game of L4D in the end. How about this we let you two worry about your Xbox side of things while us PC gamers deal with our side of things, unless you have nothing better to do than complain about it. Bad day at your ‘work’ take it somewhere else thanks!
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