So what will happen after ToD leaving the clan?
ToD always seemed as steady as the foundation of the earth. A core member of four kings; I don’t think anyone could predict what will happen to 4K without Sky’s human rival. Where will ToD go?
I'm open to propositions but I don't think I would settle for a bad or average deal so maybe I’ll be playing for myself for a while :) - ToD
At first many thought the reason ToD left Four Kings may have been financial reasons. After speaking to Trimble, he informed us that this was not the official reason. To this day, we still do not know what ToD's reason for leaving was.Four Kings’ future is admittedly less secure now. Everyone had high expectations when Creo announced he was, once more, thinking of giving the gaming scene another chance. The general hope was sliced rapidly, however, with another difficult loss for Four Kings. To save their roster, 4K added the Swedish Night Elf player LiiLD.C as a replacement for Creo. The question now is if Demuslim will be enough to replace one of the best human players in the Warcraft 3 world. Overall Four Kings is undoubtedly a clan with lots of big changes in the past weeks. And now - maybe because they missed the WC3L playoffs - ToD decided to put his name back on the market. It has been a bad season for the team. This is the first time since season six of WC3L that Four Kings has missed the playoffs.
Demuslim - The new ToD?
Every team needs at least one player of each race. Now that 4K lost their main human player, will Demuslim assume that role? In an interview, we discussed this with him - and found him claiming "[y]es, I will have a more important role in the future." Everyone in the team will have to perform even more, but without the stable players ToD and Creo, who will the team fall back against in rough times?It is now up to the remainder of the team to improve their performance. For reference, look at the last NGL-One match. Was that a coincidence, or has something changed within the team?
Zeus - Will he stay the same?
Zeus has always been stable at his level with a few peaks here and there. The question now is: will he be forced to improve with this new pressure placed on the team? We have noticed a lot of improvement among the rivaling Night Elf players as of late; will Zeus be able to keep up the pace?
Being a stable player, he has been active within the scene for a long time. Recently we haven't seen enough improvement
to bring him to the top levels.
LiiLD.C - New Creo?
That may have been the intention when 4K recruited him, at least - a replacement for one of the best Night Elf players. We've seen a lot of improvement from his side, and many were happy when he joined up with the clan. Like a lot of the things that have to do with Four Kings, we will just have to wait and see.
FuRy - Will he be able to turn back time?
I think we all miss the old FuRy. He often states himself that he is not in the shape he used to be. Each time he also says he is playing more and more to be able to perform like he once did. Maybe he is required to improve in this harsh time before Trimble loses faith in him. We know one thing for certain - the fans and the clan may be in dire need of this.
Grubby - Will he regain his former strength?
Rumors seem to flow freely around Grubby lately. I remember recently reading a forum post with the topic "Grubby, thinking about switching race?" Of course nothing official has been said, but I believe many would be devastated if the Orc race lost this prominent player. People often predict his return - some time. Look at the NGL-ONE game a few days ago: beating the major part of Mouz after being wild card resurrected. After a quick look at our Gosubet register, one can clearly see what people thought would happen in this game. Only 29% put their gold on Grubby’s team.
Lets go back in time to when Creo and ToD were still active within the team and Grubby at his peak. Not many would have placed their bet on Mouz then. I think not qualifying for playoffs in WC3L was a tough failure to handle for such a well respected clan. Their status may be slightly compromised at the moment. The players now have a new chance to show their team’s strength.
To sum it up
We all know Four Kings is not the team it used to be. This may be the time for everyone - and for the team itself - to start looking ahead. Not concentrating on how great the clan was, but instead starting a new era, bringing up the players they already have to an absolute top level. We know FuRy and Grubby have been there. Will they rise again and take the younger ones under their wings? There are a lot of questions around this topic. All we can do is try to guess.
I do not think anyone would ever predict this. The whole thing even caused me to turn a package of noodels on my stove.
One thing is for sure, however. Something needs to change within the clan to bring the team back among the very best.
