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We had the chance to chat with TheViper about how he prepares for one of the biggest Age of Empires II tournaments of the year – Red Bull Wololo III.
Just weeks after the official announcement of Red Bull Wololo III, the official qualifiers have begun. Players from all over the world will compete for a chance to play in the final stage of the tournament, which will start on 16 January. The eight players that come out victorious in the qualifiers will battle in the finals against the eight invited players. Among those invited players is Ørjan 'TheViper' Larsen, regarded as one of, if not the best Age of Empires II players in the world.
We had a chance to sit down with him and ask him about his preparation and expectations going into one of the biggest Age of Empires tournaments of the year.
The best thing about Age of Empires II is that the game has been played on a high level for more than a decade. However, Red Bull Wololo is a little different to normal professional Age of Empires. Empire Wars, a mode added to the definitive version of the game, accelerates players into the mid-game and mostly skips the standard early game where players primarily focus on their economy. The game mode is designed to speed up games, and even works with a point system and a time limit.
In the regular Age of Empires II, TheViper has always been the king. However, the star player has yet to win an edition of Red Bull Wololo – he’s looking to make this one his first. TheViper tells us that he even switched up his preparation for Wololo III. “In previous editions, it's been mostly practising with my team-mates behind closed doors. Usually, we'd just think of good civilizations for each map and try them out against each other, but this time I think I'll take a different approach where we simply play the settings/format for each round over and over again.”
TheViper also tells us that he likes the format. For him, the game feels different and faster-paced. He says that the early set-up phase is thrown out of the window, so players lose control of what they want to do. “I don't think the format suits me better than the normal game, but I also don't think I necessarily suffer from it being different either.” The way TheViper prepares for opponents is different too, with so many other tournaments played with different settings – opponents play differently. TheViper says: “I think I just have to prepare for the way that Empire Wars play out instead of individuals, and make sure I'm as prepared as I can be, and then I can make small tweaks on my approach depending on the opponent.”
The professional Age of Empire II scene is still growing, but some of the players like TheViper have been at the top for a long time. They will play each other in almost every tournament, so styles and even matchups evolve between two rivals. For Wololo III, TheViper has two opponents that he would love to beat. “I previously lost in the first edition to Yo, and in the second edition to Liereyy. Those two would be on my list to get some revenge, and hopefully, I can beat both.” Revenge is on the menu!
With the game being out for more than two decades, the competitive community is still going strong. Every edition of Red Bull Wololo introduces more new players to the beauty of high-level Age of Empires. TheViper tells us that the game is so popular because it has endless replayability. The 35 different civilizations and frequent balance patches keep things fresh, even for the very best players “and on top of that multiple different game modes are popular, from two to eight players, and all these things contribute to it being easy to want to play another game and come up with a different way of playing,” TheViper adds.
If you’re one of the players that will enter Wololo for the first time, then TheViper has a few pointers for you to help you get that qualification (or win some other awesome prizes). TheViper says: ”Play a lot, enjoy yourself, and watch the pros in order to try and learn why they're doing what they're doing instead of simply watching and copying. There’s so much depth to the game, and every game is an opportunity to learn, win or lose!”
If you’re intrigued and want to sign up – check out the official Red Bull Wololo III registration page.
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