My favorite is playing with the people I enjoy playing with.

One of my least favorite things is not being able to ignore the people that I don’t want to. =[

2.) How do you feel about the difference in skill between the Pro and Amateur leagues? Did it effect your team’s decision when choosing which league to register and play in?

I think my team was never considering anything but Pro, although I doubt we would be allowed in Ammy anyway. As far as the skill difference goes, I think that the difference between the normal pro teams and normal amateur teams is quite large, but once you compare the best Ammy and worst Pro, I think they are very similar. Obviously the best Pro teams are going to be better than the rest.

3.) Which do you think is the most difficult position in Grifball to play? Tank, Defense, Hybrid or Runner? Why do you believe so?

I think that it is hardest to be a REAL Hybrid, not someone who calls themselves a hybrid because they are bad at everything equally. A REAL Hybrid needs to be able to make a difference in the game according to what their teammates are doing. If the runner is tanking well, the Hybrid should be able to take over the running duties. A Hybrid cannot be a liability when it comes to tanking, and personally I think that Hybrids should be one of the better defenders on the team.

4.) Do you feel like you could still improve upon your skill as a Grifball player? What part of your game do you feel still needs improvement?

Off-host, I personally think that I am playing the best I ever have, however there is always room for improvement. My number of betrayals per game have skyrocketed, which I hate because I have always had a fairly low betrayal rate compared to other tanks. Obviously I would like to run better. I would say that I am the last option on the team when it comes to running, but I may need to as in the Green Army game this season where I was tanking poorly for the first half while Pie and Scet were tanking well.

5.) Which has been the most epic game your team has played in? What made it so special?

SYLaL SML08 against PO was epic because we were off-host(against a dominating host) in the playoffs and won the game 5-4. I would say that the 1 hour 16 minute game was the most epic just because of the length, but my team lost in an especially devastating fashion after all that time.

6.) What is your opinion regarding neutral host? Do you believe it makes the game more fair?

I don't think there is any denying that it is more fair than a regular game, and I don't get the people who argue that it isn't. Personally though, I could care less if it is neutral or not though because I have faith in my team to win in any situation.

7.) How do you feel about switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map on Sandbox for the Fall league? Have you spent much time playing on it?

I'll keep this short. I am very upset and I have only played about 6 games (no league) on it.

8.) Are you happy with the way the Grifball league is currently run? If not, what specifically do you not like?

No complaints here. Some times I feel like MooCow is doing his best Roger Goodell impersonation, but most of the time I get where he is coming from.

9.) What would you like to see in the future for Grifball? Would you like for it to become more professional, similar in style to how MLG works or would you like for things to stay mostly the same?

I enjoy the league format. I do think a ladder system similar to Gamebattles strictly for grifball would be cool and would help find more serious games easily, but I understand the numbers would be low. I highly doubt there will ever be a MLG Grifball event, nor do I think that would work.

10.) What’s your opinion regarding an occasional ranked grifball playlist in double XP matchmaking? Do you think it’s necessary?

I personally think that it is alright so long as it is occasional. I would care less either way as to whether or not it is ranked, but now I get to get my 50. =]

My favorite thing about Grifball would be the game itself. I love playing grifball and always try to get into pick up games and such. League games are even more fun because I like the challenge of actually playing against good people.

What I do hate about grifball is my terrible connection. I have to dance so much as a tank because I have about two thirds the range of everyone else.

2.) How do you feel about the difference in skill between the Pro and Amateur leagues? Did it effect your team’s decision when choosing which league to register and play in?

I think there is a big difference between the Pro and Amateur leagues. That is why the Pro league was invented, to make a league separate for the best teams. I know TheOneHawk wanted to go Pro this season and I definitely wanted to go Pro this season. I got tired of owning up on ammys until playoffs started, plus I wanted to get better and going to the pro league was the only way to do that.

3.) Which do you think is the most difficult position in Grifball to play? Tank, Defense, Hybrid or Runner? Why do you believe so?

I would have to say being a tank is the hardest and most important position in grifball. Without good tanks then the ball runner can’t do anything even if he is really good.

4.) Do you feel like you could still improve upon your skill as a Grifball player? What part of your game do you feel still needs improvement?

I always feel like I can improve my skills in grifball. The part that needs the most improvement for me as a hybrid would be tanking, but my connection is the biggest problem with that. I need to learn my hammer range a bit better. Other than that I could get better at stiff arming I think.

5.) Which has been the most epic game your team has played in? What made it so special?

I think the most epic game i’ve played so far was my first pro league game against Galloping Seagulls. It was an intense game and we ended up taking a win. I don’t think they were taking the game too seriously at first because I noticed a drastic change whenever we scored around three or four goals.

6.) What is your opinion regarding neutral host? Do you believe it makes the game more fair?

Neutral host is a great idea and I love playing on neutral host because that means I dont have to go against a team that has host. The teams i’ve been on never pull host. I actually don’t really care that much if we play neutral host or not because i’ve been used to playing against it a lot. It’s fine if the other team doesn’t want to play neutral host, i’m not going to throw a fit. Plus my connection is terrible anyways so I connect bad to everyone. I never pull host, not even in one on one.

7.) How do you feel about switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map on Sandbox for the Fall league? Have you spent much time playing on it?

Honestly I don’t like the GrifCave at all. It looks and feels completely different. I don’t like the wall jump that much either. Just not a big fan.

8.) Are you happy with the way the Grifball league is currently run? If not, what specifically do you not like?

Yea, I like the way everything is running right now. I do think MooCow is doing a good job. It’s a hard job and he’s doing a good job, so I don’t complain.

9.) What would you like to see in the future for Grifball? Would you like for it to become more professional, similar in style to how MLG works or would you like for things to stay mostly the same?

I use to play MLG and loved it, apart from the countless hours practicing, and would love to see something like MLG grifball. I like the way the league is set up right now so I wouldn’t change it to a ladder system like gamebattles. I wouldn’t mind getting paid to play grifball, I mean i’m like broke right now and since i do spend most of my time playing video games, i’d love to get paid to play grifball.

10.) What’s your opinion regarding an occasional ranked grifball playlist in double XP matchmaking? Do you think it’s necessary?

I would rather have a set social playlist for grifball that you could play all the time instead of having double experience grifball and a ranked grifball playlist. I do think ranked grifball is cool but it doesn’t change my opinion.

1.) What’s your most favorite and least favorite things about the game of Grifball?

My favorite thing would have to be playing with friends, we have alot of fun but still win.

My least favorite thing, I’ll say people that want to complain about everything. Like if someone loses, some people are cool about it, but others will ty to make all kinds of excuses. Its just annoying to me.

2.) How do you feel about the difference in skill between the Pro and Amateur leagues? Did it effect your team’s decision when choosing which league to register and play in?

For the most part, its a pretty big skill difference, but I do believe there are some Pro teams that should be in Amatuer, and some Amatuer that should be Pro. As for my team, when we signed up we had mostly rookies on our team. Then things happened, they left and we were stuck in ammy with probably the most experienced line up.

3.) Which do you think is the most difficult position in Grifball to play? Tank, Defense, Hybrid or Runner? Why do you believe so?

That depends on alot of things, but for the most part I think Tank is the hardest. Because you’re the one that has to get the runner in. Without a slolid tank, it’s going to be a lot harder for everybody else to do their jobs.

4.) Do you feel like you could still improve upon your skill as a Grifball player? What part of your game do you feel still needs improvement?

Of course, everyone can get better, I would like to get better at tanking, I would like to eventually be known as one of the best tanks in the league.

5.) Which has been the most epic game your team has played in? What made it so special?

In GBWL09, my team played Fizzlewinkie, they had host. It was very overpowering, and since they all live so close together they all connected to it really well. But Even with our second string we managed to fight it and pull a 5-4.

6.) What is your opinion regarding neutral host? Do you believe it makes the game more fair?

I think it makes it a lot more fair. Sure it’s not perfect, due to some people connecting better, but its as close as we can get. Also, I feel it would have made big differences in past seasons. I cant wait to play neutral for myself in playoffs.

7.) How do you feel about switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map on Sandbox for the Fall league? Have you spent much time playing on it?

I personally don’t like it. The general look and feel seem a bit to different for me. Plus it costs money to get, and I know a lot of people that wouldn’t pay to get the maps. I really like foundry and hope we dont have to switch. At least anytime soon.

8.) Are you happy with the way the Grifball league is currently run? If not, what specifically do you not like?

Overall, its run good. There are a few things that I might disagree with, but th league runs smoothly. There hasn’t been any big issues yet, so they must be doing a it right. :)

9.) What would you like to see in the future for Grifball? Would you like for it to become more professional, similar in style to how MLG works or would you like for things to stay mostly the same?

Yes, the league seems so small now. I would love it to be big like MLG. Then we would get legit prizes. As for how it would work, Im not a big fan of how MLG works. But, as long as we have a lot of people playng I wouldn’t mind an MLG setup.

10.) What’s your opinion regarding an occasional ranked grifball playlist in double XP matchmaking? Do you think it’s necessary?

I think it’s a good idea. It gets everybody playing it more, getting more serious and then when they meet up with people in the league, they want to join. And it all just leads to having a bigger grifball league.

1.) What’s your most favorite and least favorite things about the game of Grifball?

The teamwork and teammates are my favorite. I enjoy being able to play with the same people and create chemistry. The least favorite is Lag.

2.) How do you feel about the difference in skill between the Pro and Amateur leagues? Did it effect your team’s decision when choosing which league to register and play in?

I think Pro should be for players who have played for 2-3 seasons and have had a chance to grow as a player. With that said Amateur should be a place for new teams and players to learn the game and not for legacy or pro caliber players.

Bleep Bloop, when playing their best grifball, can be hard to beat. The only issue that I know we had was scheduling issues with the SL09 Pro. Other than that you can’t mantain or grow as a team or a player if you’re not challenged and Amateur did not have the competition we desired as a team.

3.) Which do you think is the most difficult position in Grifball to play? Tank, Defense, Hybrid or Runner? Why do you believe so?

I think all positions equal in difficulty depending on the situation. Personally for me it’s ball carrier because I have to really focus on everything and read the game more than I like (I’m Lazy). And it’s the hardest because of the mental toughness of the position. Unless you pussyfoot, then yea.

4.) Do you feel like you could still improve upon your skill as a Grifball player? What part of your game do you feel still needs improvement?

Always room for improvement. Always new strats to make and overcome, always new player’s connections and hosts to learn. I’ve been working on my tanking more and I think I would be a much better player if I followed my first instinct than play with a “let it fly” attitude.

5.) Which has been the most epic game your team has played in? What made it so special?

The most recent was the 50 minute game against SI. It was epic and it really could have been anyone’s game.

6.) What is your opinion regarding neutral host? Do you believe it makes the game more fair?

I really have no issues with it one way or another. I suppose it could be viewed as fair but I would think the more players in the game the better chance of lag, and I don’t see that as fair.

7.) How do you feel about switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map on Sandbox for the Fall league? Have you spent much time playing on it?

Once again I have no reservations either way. I have played on the GrifCave in random pickups and I like it a lot.

8.) Are you happy with the way the Grifball league is currently run? If not, what specifically do you not like?

I like the league but Grifball.com stats suck big fat donkey balls. Other than that I like how it is run and how the league admins attempt to get a consensus from the community.

9.) What would you like to see in the future for Grifball? Would you like for it to become more professional, similar in style to how MLG works or would you like for things to stay mostly the same?

It would be cool if Grifball would evolve into something like MLG but that will be far off and take tons of work by everyone. I don’t mind how Grifball is now. If it were a little more streamlined and slick than that would be cool too.

10.) If it were to ever occur, what’s your opinion regarding an occasional ranked grifball playlist in double XP matchmaking? Do you think it’s necessary?

If there were ranked Grifball that would probably be the only way I would ever be a General. I wouldn’t mind it being ranked once quarterly or twice a year. Necessary? No Cool to be a ranked Grifball General? Yes

My favorite thing about the game itself is how faced paced it is. It requires a great amount of quick thinking and good decision making. I love the way that each round of the game is similar to game of chess. Each round will have either team using the opening they are most familiar with. They may even try to counter their opponents’ opening. If teams aren’t prepared it is easy for them to get Flowers’d on, a fool’s mate if you will. One team will come out of the opening a man or two down, perhaps losing the ball. The mid-game involves both teams vying for possession and trying to get a good set-up for that check-mate. Some teams will try to draw you in and make you think you are in control and then all of a sudden they mix it up on you with a launch. One has to be ready for anything and expect everything. Sooner or later one team is going to slip up and allow the other team to score. You can only score if the other team makes a mistake.

What I dislike about the game most is the presence of host and any other connection issues for that matter. It is like starting the game with an extra queen, it makes it really hard to lose. Neutral host has reduced this advantage to a pawn or two but it is still apparent.

2.) How do you feel about the difference in skill between the Pro and Amateur leagues? Did it effect your team’s decision when choosing which league to register and play in?

The skill difference is an extreme one. There a probable 3 or 4 Amateur teams that have the capability to even compete with the Pro teams. We must realize that other factors than skill go into a teams decision to be in one league or another. Some of the better Amateur teams chose that league simply due to availability. I was not with my current team when they made the decision to play in the Pro league so I cannot speak for them. I can say that I was originally going to play in the Amateur league due to my own availability but eventually chose to play in the Pro League because I wanted the challenge.

3.) Which do you think is the most difficult position in Grifball to play? Tank, Defense, Hybrid or Runner? Why do you believe so?

There should be no positions in Grifball. Other than Running, you need to be able to do everything well. Which brings me to my next point, Runner is the most difficult because they need to be able to do all of that and run the ball. Running the ball is extremely stressful. Players need to be extremely aware and able to react with split-second decisions.

4.) Do you feel like you could still improve upon your skill as a Grifball player? What part of your game do you feel still needs improvement?

There is a lot that I could improve upon. I tend to get a little nervous at times and will screw up when isolated with the ball carrier, although I am not as bad as I used to be. I really need to improve upon my hammer skills. More specifically my actual swing timing, not so much with my footwork. At times I can get a little aggressive with the ball, not necessarily going for extra kills but trying to make plays out of nothing.

5.) Which has been the most epic game your team has played in? What made it so special?

Hard Liquor Chasers vs. Crayola Magic (5-4). I went -27, my team combined for a -69. I joined the team about 45 mins before the start of this game. I started playing with the team the night before. I had been looking for a Pro team to join and realized that my former team-mate, II Chupa II, was on the team and started talking to them about the roster. Next thing I know, we are up 4-2 trying to close out the win. I had gone two long rounds with maybe 5 kills or so. I was getting absolutely pummeled by Prospect’s host. Crayola Magic was starting to mount a comeback. Thankfully, when it came time to be clutch I was. I had eleven bomb stops that game, stopping the majority of their pushes on the goal line. We finally ended up winning the game and pulling off the upset.

6.) What is your opinion regarding neutral host? Do you believe it makes the game more fair?

I have not been involved much with Neutral Host. I believe it makes the game a lot fairer, but not totally perfect. I think that neutral host should be required in all Pro League games. This is not going to happen as it makes scheduling even more difficult. I think that a little more effort could be put into this though. I am sure that there are people that will pull host more than 90% of the time. We should figure out what nights those people will be most available and schedule around them.

7.) How do you feel about switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map on Sandbox for the Fall league? Have you spent much time playing on it?

The only part of me that wants to stay on foundry is the one or two wall hops a game that I use. I haven’t played on it too much but I have played enough to realize that the ledge is ineffective and difficult to use. Other than that I think that there is no reason to stay with Foundry.

8.) Are you happy with the way the Grifball league is currently run? If not, what specifically do you not like?

Yes. Although I think that there should be more games in the season and all the playoff games should be series’ of three games.

9.) What would you like to see in the future for Grifball? Would you like for it to become more professional, similar in style to how MLG works or would you like for things to stay mostly the same?

Grifball will never become more like MLG. In MLG individual skill is more important whereas in Grifball team skill is more important.

10.) If it were to ever occur, what’s your opinion regarding an occasional ranked grifball playlist in double XP matchmaking? Do you think it’s necessary?

I do not think it will happen. I think it would be worth it if it made DXP Grifball less… um… easy. It really does get really repetitive though.

1.) What’s your most favorite and least favorite things about the game of Grifball?

My favorite thing would probably be the game itself and the fun competition it breeds. I don’t really know much about Grifball I don’t like however, except maybe the people who take the game way too seriously.

2.) How do you feel about the difference in skill between the Pro and Amateur leagues? Did it effect your team’s decision when choosing which league to register and play in?

It didn’t really effect my team’s decision. We were a brand new team culled from a bunch of free agents, but all of these free agents were a bunch of great players who had gone far in past leagues, so signing up for Pro was an obvious choice.

3.) Which do you think is the most difficult position in Grifball to play? Tank, Defense, Hybrid or Runner? Why do you believe so?

Tanking is probably the hardest. Your connection to the host and the other players in the game usually changes with each match, so you have to constantly adjust in order to be a consistent tank for your team. If you or some other players fail at this consistency, the team can suffer.

4.) Do you feel like you could still improve upon your skill as a Grifball player? What part of your game do you feel still needs improvement?

I always find little things I can do better after every league game I’ve played in. I usually go back after a game and watch my gameplay (I guess this is a captain thing since I haven’t really done this since I was a captain in SL08) and watch how myself and the team works, noticing anything that needs changed. Once you get to a certain point in terms of skill, it’s just small things you’ll notice you should work on in certain situations. Watching film has helped me enormously.

5.) Which has been the most epic game your team has played in? What made it so special?

The most epic game my current team has played in was probably also one of our most recent games, which was against That’s What She Said. Going against Penguin and Jen on their dual host, against a team of great individual and team players who also have a sword fetish isn’t an easy task. They cleaned up every kill when one of them died, and the sword thing also hindered getting any really good pushes going because of all the sword-hammer trades that happened. A great, epically long game that came down to 5-4 in a 50 minute nail biter.

Another couple memorable games that come to mind would be the SL09 championship since I played some of the best I’ve played during those games, as well as the games during FL08 H3P on Easy as Pie, particularly against the original +1 Zing!.

6.) What is your opinion regarding neutral host? Do you believe it makes the game more fair?

Neutral host is probably the best thing to happen to Grifball outside of changing the carrier’s settings way back when. Neutral host isn’t completely even by any means, but it helps separate the good teams, from the great teams, from the host teams. Neutral host gives a unique opportunity to see how well matched two teams truly are when you take host (on the field at least) out of the equation.

7.) How do you feel about switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map on Sandbox for the Fall league? Have you spent much time playing on it?

I don’t really care for the idea of switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map for Fall League. I’ve played more than a few games on it, and it honestly doesn’t feel right. Too much about it is different to warrant a ton of comparison with the current (and completely fine) Foundry map. I don’t really see the need to change anyway.

8.) Are you happy with the way the Grifball league is currently run? If not, what specifically do you not like?

So far things have been pretty smooth. Not a fan of the whole thing from MooCow (“hey guys I’m leaving, lolwaitnvm”), and I still believe at least the commissioner if not the entire administration should be rotated every few seasons or so to give more people a chance at bringing new ideas and setups to the league, but the actual league has been run pretty well the past few seasons. Only a few hiccups here and there.

9.) What would you like to see in the future for Grifball? Would you like for it to become more professional, similar in style to how MLG works or would you like for things to stay mostly the same?

I’d like things to stay the same. I don’t think Grifball as a game (one gametype, one map – unless you include the Sandbox variants which are more or less the same thing) has the girth to be considered a “competitive sport” like MLG is considered to some. It’s too narrow in terms of gameplay and strategy.

That being said Grifball is getting bigger and bigger lately with stuff like the action figure, the panel at PAX, etc, but none of us know where it’ll go from here. Supposedly there’s some huge announcements at PAX though, so we’ll see.

10.) If it were to ever occur, what’s your opinion regarding an occasional ranked grifball playlist in double XP matchmaking? Do you think it’s necessary?

I don’t think you could call it necessary, but it would definitely be a cool change and a nice leap forward for Grifball.

This season his team Shut Your Lips and Learn looks to make their way into the playoffs as a wild card, but don’t let that fool you. They will be heavy favorites once again to win it all.

1.) What’s your most favorite and least favorite things about the game of Grifball?

My favorite thing about the game is the competition in the pro league. When we were 9-0ing every team we played, the lack of competition made the regular season very boring. My least favorite thing about the game is host and how it affects the league. I’m glad we are moving towards neutral host playoffs, but host is a good thing to stray from.

2.) How do you feel about the difference in skill between the Pro and Amateur leagues? Did it effect your team’s decision when choosing which league to register and play in?

I don’t think we would be allowed in ammy to be honest, nor did anyone on my team ever consider it. The skill gap is enormous. It would probably hurt the chances of ammys wanting to stay in the league.

3.) Which do you think is the most difficult position in Grifball to play? Tank, Defense, Hybrid or Runner? Why do you believe so?

It depends on how your team plays. If your team pussyfoots and hides behind host, the runner doesn’t really need to be decent. So on average, through every game, I would say a tank. If you’re not getting kills as a tank, you’re not really doing your job, unless your launching. The timing people have with their hammers at this moment makes every kill hard.

4.) Do you feel like you could still improve upon your skill as a Grifball player? What part of your game do you feel still needs improvement?
Oh ya I could still improve on my skills. My sword slashes but kills less people than anyone in the league, as most people know. Every time I practice sword, my hammer timing gets worse. So I just work on hammer lunges, bonks and whatnot.

5.) Which has been the most epic game your team has played in? What made it so special?

I have been in some pretty great comebacks. But just because last season was the first ever pro league, I’m going to have to say the comeback win against SI in the first game of the championship. It was 4-3 and we scored the last 2. Giving us momentum into the 2nd game.

6.) What is your opinion regarding neutral host? Do you believe it makes the game more fair?
I’d rather play on neutral host and connect bad than play against the actual host and connect bad. So yes, I believe it’s the fairest our games can get.

7.) How do you feel about switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map on Sandbox for the Fall league? Have you spent much time playing on it?

I’m against switching to be honest. But MooCow brought up a great point that it may just refresh the game for people and bring more people into the league. If that’s the case I’m all for it. If not I’m more than happy with foundry.

8.) Are you happy with the way the Grifball league is currently run? If not, what specifically do you not like?

The league is run great. People don’t always realize it but the admins are doing a fairly flawless job.

9.) What would you like to see in the future for Grifball? Would you like for it to become more professional, similar in style to how MLG works or would you like for things to stay mostly the same?

I would love for it to become very popular. I would love to go to a big event and play for a bunch of money and end up seeing the final 4 teams as pretty much everyone I know.

10.) If it were to ever occur, what’s your opinion regarding an occasional ranked grifball playlist in double XP matchmaking? Do you think it’s necessary?

I think ranked grifball is the next step towards the above question. I think it will bring people into our league. Sooner or later maybe there will be some tourneys going.

Pup also participated in and provided answers to the original ten questions which you can read here.

1.) What’s your most favorite and least favorite things about the game of Grifball?

For me the most favorite is definitely playing and competing with a group of guys whom I truly consider close friends. The chemistry we have on the court together is fantastic and it’s a big part of what makes this game still enjoyable for me after nearly sixteen months. If I were on a team where everyone was constantly bickering with each other, I think I would have quit long ago.

I’d say I least enjoy all the drama in Grifball. I play this game to unwind and have a little fun. While I do enjoy winning, I don’t think it needs to be taken so seriously.

2.) How do you feel about the difference in skill between the Pro and Amateur leagues? Did it effect your team’s decision when choosing which league to register and play in?

There’s definitely quite a big gap in skill between most amateur and pro level players. While occasionally I’ll run across an amateur player who is quite impressive, for the most part I see many who still have a lot to learn.

As for the decision process, the biggest thing that effected my team’s decision was scheduling. Having a set night for games this season has made a big difference in things running more smoothly. We’ve had a few annoyances with scheduling, but nothing like last season.

3.) Which do you think is the most difficult position in Grifball to play? Tank, Defense, Hybrid or Runner? Why do you believe so?

Personally for me it’s runner. It’s something I’ve been working on to improve but I still wouldn’t ask my teammates to trust me to be the primary ball carrier. It requires you to be completely aware of not only where your teammates are but your opponents as well. When your opponents start hopping around and flying all over the place, running the ball can often times become pretty unnerving.

On a less personal level though, I would say that each position is just as important as another. They all have a level of difficulty which will increase especially if you face off against tougher opponents. One critical error by a defender can cost your team the game, just as a missed stiff-arm by a runner or an ugly betrayal at the worst possible time by a tank can be disastrous.

4.) Do you feel like you could still improve upon your skill as a Grifball player? What part of your game do you feel still needs improvement?

Certainly. Aside from running, as I mentioned, I believe I could still use some improvement in my defense around the goal. Often times I’ll get an ugly and unecessary betrayal that could have been avoided had I been more aware of the position of my teammates.

5.) Which has been the most epic game your team has played in? What made it so special?

Definitely the game with Separate Intelligence this season. Though Tortoise (my teammate) had host, it was a 50 minute war. While SI was for the most part being out-tanked, they were still doing a remarkable job of getting themselves into position and pulling off the clutch kills when they needed to. The fact that the game was decided on the very last goal made it all the more epic. Every single person in that game had over 100 kills. You don’t see that very often.

6.) What is your opinion regarding neutral host? Do you believe it makes the game more fair?

I believe it’s about as fair as you’re going to get without being able to play the game in a LAN setting. Obviously there are still going to be players that will connect better to the neutral host than others, but it at least removes the one player from the court who has the advantage of a host hammer.

7.) How do you feel about switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map on Sandbox for the Fall league? Have you spent much time playing on it?

Honestly I’m not all that concerned with it. I love playing grifball regardless of what map I’m on. Does it have an entirely different feel to it? Yes, obviously, but I can get used to it in time. I do think there should be some bum rush tournaments organized with the purpose of playing exclusively on the Grif Cave. That is perhaps something the GrifballHub staff and I will put together soon.

8.) Are you happy with the way the Grifball league is currently run? If not, what specifically do you not like?

For the most part, yes. Despite the fact that more of the community has been included to help in different aspects of the league, I still feel there’s plenty of opportunity to get even more people involved.

I will say however that I believe league admins should be held to the same #1 rule of not being a douche just like the rest of the community. Too many times I see admins making comments on the Rooster Teeth forums that are out of line and quite unprofessional. While they’ll often make the argument that sometimes they’re posting as their non-admin self, I think they have to realize that the majority of people in the community know them too well as admins, and will associate everything they say as coming from an admin, not just a “regular” individual of the community.

9.) What would you like to see in the future for Grifball? Would you like for it to become more professional, similar in style to how MLG works or would you like for things to stay mostly the same?

I think it would certainly be nice if we could eventually find sponsors for the league that would be willing to either donate products as prizes, or cash to acquire prizes instead in exchange for promotional advertisements. If people outside of the community see involvement of corporate sponsors, perhaps that will change their perception of the league.

I don’t know that the league could ever reach the level of MLG with events taking place in large convention centers and arenas on LANs, but perhaps with the presence of more valuable prizes, league registration as well as competition would increase.

10.) If it were to ever occur, what’s your opinion regarding an occasional ranked grifball playlist in double XP matchmaking? Do you think it’s necessary?

I think it would certainly help to make the playlist more enjoyable for everyone. Finally you would hopefully be able to do away with a lot of the games where parties of grifball league players get matched up against people who hardly know how to spell the word grifball.

tHuMeEe also took part in the original ten questions which can read here.

1.) What’s your most favorite and least favorite things about the game of Grifball?

My favorite part of grifball is the competition. I’m naturally a very competitive person, and I hate to lose at anything. Competing at the highest level is always fun, and winning is even better. But I started grifball because I love the game, which I still do, but competition keeps me striving for better.

My least favorite part…I can’t really say. I like everything about grifball (yes, even the drama), but of course I like some things more than others. What I like the least is probably the skill factor. There isn’t enough good teams yet, which really surprises me.

2.) How do you feel about the difference in skill between the Pro and Amateur leagues? Did it effect your team’s decision when choosing which league to register and play in?

The difference of skill is great, but there are some teams in Amateur that I’m sure could win a few games or more in Pro. There are also teams in Pro that should be in Amateur as well. But the best teams from Pro would demolish any team in Amateur, so the skill difference is enormous. Amateur is a great league for starters, but if you’ve been playing a long time, you should definitely try your skill out in the Pro league.

The difference didn’t really effect my team’s decision, because we knew we were going pro from the start.

3.) Which do you think is the most difficult position in Grifball to play? Tank, Defense, Hybrid or Runner? Why do you believe so?

I don’t believe Hybrid should be in this category, because it’s obviously harder to do two jobs at once. I believe Tank is probably the hardest. Runner is definitely the most pressure and stressful, but for skill, you don’t need much to be a good runner. You shouldn’t have to stiffarm often if you play right.. Defense is more of a team thing to me as well. One person can’t stop the carrier every time, and most of the time it takes a team effort to get to the ball carrier. Tank is probably the hardest because you have be aware of your radar and the person you are 1 v 1′ing at the same time. You also have to win most of your battles to lead your runner to the goal, so I’d say this is the hardest and most skillful, yet it’s not the most stressful. Nothing against the other positions, I respect everyone’s job on the court.

4.) Do you feel like you could still improve upon your skill as a Grifball player? What part of your game do you feel still needs improvement?

Of course, everyone can improve their game. I believe running is where I struggle most. When I make a good stop on defense, I tend to let emotion and energy get the best of me, so I try to force things with the ball. So, yeah, I’d say if I became a better ball runner/decision maker, I would become a much better player.

5.) Which has been the most epic game your team has played in? What made it so special?

Any 4-4 game is epic. The intensity and the pressure is so high, but there are a lot of 4-4 games so I won’t pick one. I’d pick the WL09 championship game. That was personally epic for me because it gave my team the championship victory, and the pressure was on because the series was tied at 1-1. I also performed pretty well in it, so that’s why it’s special to me personally.

6.) What is your opinion regarding neutral host? Do you believe it makes the game more fair?

Why wouldn’t it make the game more fair? Anybody who sees neutral host as more unfair than host has no common sense or logic. Obviously host gives a huge advantage in grifball, so taking that away from one team neutralizes the game to make it more fair and makes it the best possible circumstances. Connection issues happen anyways in grifball, so by taking away a major advantage makes the game more fair.

7.) How do you feel about switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map on Sandbox for the Fall league? Have you spent much time playing on it?

I don’t like the feel of it, and I don’t see the need for change as well. The map is different if you’ve played on it, and it has a completely different feel. I love the foundry version, because everything we’ve seen the game evolved to has happened at foundry, and it feels natural to play there. I definitely don’t think that it should be forced to play on Sandbox, let alone at all.

8.) Are you happy with the way the Grifball league is currently run? If not, what specifically do you not like?

Overall, yes. Almost every season runs clean and there are never any major issues. There are some questionable decisions, but as for running the league smoothly, they do a great job. That being said, I don’t believe all the leaders of the league are pulling their own weight. I appreciate the effort and time they put into the league, but I believe they could all do the same amount of work instead of dumping it on a few members.

9.) What would you like to see in the future for Grifball? Would you like for it to become more professional, similar in style to how MLG works or would you like for things to stay mostly the same?

I don’t really care to be honest. I’m done with grifball for good (most likely) next fall, so I don’t think we can get to an MLG level by then. I would like to see a Game Battles ladder for grifball, and I’m working on that right now as well.

10.) If it were to ever occur, what’s your opinion regarding an occasional ranked grifball playlist in double XP matchmaking? Do you think it’s necessary?

I wouldn’t mind of course, but I don’t really try to push for it, because I don’t really care that much. It would definitely make grifball more competitive, but it’s definitely not necessary.

1. What’s your most favorite and least favorite things about the game of Grifball?

Probably the most exciting thing for me in Grifball is the excitement that comes from the most improbable situations. Insane launches, stiffarms, sword lunges, hammer lunges, and other things pertaining to these situations amaze me. Moreover, the most improbable situation that ranks as my most favorite thing in Grifball is coming back down 4-0 to win 5-4. Even if it’s just in pick-up games or scrimmages, I’m so amazed by such comebacks, even if I’m the one that ends up losing. Other than lag (which will most likely happen) and stat-padding (punishable), I can’t find anything in Grifball that I truly like least about it because it’s such a great and exciting game in my opinion.

2. How do you feel about the difference in skill between the Pro and Amateur leagues? Did it effect your team’s decision when choosing which league to register and play in?

I think the skill level between the Pro and Amateur Leagues ultimately was distributed evenly. Personally, I think Kingo Experience should be up there (I think AJ, Kingo, and Pedro Phazz would do fine up there), but in the end great teams are playing against one another to be the best in the Pro League. Meanwhile, the rest of teams that didn’t qualify in Pro are battling it out in the Ammy, where most of the teams that are new, barely known, or considered unequal to the caliber of great teams have a chance to shine without suffering from a pro team’s ass-kicking.

The two leagues had no effect on the Golden Soldiers’s choice since I knew from the start we would be in Ammy. All of my teammates (RL friends) are new to the League while I’m the only one with experience, so it would make no sense to try to be in Pro (not to mention we would have no shot in hell of making it). However, if Crayola Concept stuck together (the team I committed to for SML09 until it broke up), I would’ve voted to play in the Pro League.

3.Which do you think is the most difficult position in Grifball to play? Tank, defense, hybrid, or runner? Why do you believe so?

I’d have to say the most difficult position is the Tank. I know people think being a runner is the hardest job because of the pressure to handle the ball, when to stiffarm, risky jumps, etc. But personally, tanking is the hardest job because if you can’t protect your runner but instead keep getting killed by the other team’s tanks, this forces the runner into a very bad situation (ex: cornered) which is where pressure on a runner comes from and builds up in my opinion. Moreover, with tanking you must watch spacing between your fellow tanks and runner or risk betraying your frontline, hurting your attack or defense while further exposing your runner to danger.

4. Do you feel like you could still improve upon your skill as a Grifball player? What part of your game do you feel still needs improvement?

I definitely think I can improve my skill as a Grifball player. To me, as a tank I need to learn to be more consistent in killing the other team since there are times where I just can’t get a kill to save my life. I’d also love to improve my running abilities as I always wanted to be a runner in Grifball, but that’s just some side project I’m working on.

5. What has been the most epic game your team has played in so far? What made it so special?

My most epic game in my career was in SL09 when Team Frozen Omen aka Collateral Damage (my team at the time) faced The Kingdom. The Kingdom beat us earlier that season so I felt this was time for vengeance. I must’ve really took that game seriously because I ended up with 187 kills and 82 deaths (+105 K/D Spread, off-host by the way) in a 7-2 victory.

6. What is your opinion regarding Neutral Host? Do you believe it makes the game more fair?

I’ve never played on neutral host before, but I do think there are more pluses than negatives. I feel even though you may not connect best to the host puller, it’s better than actually facing the host in-game, especially if that host is a beastly tank. My only problem with neutral host is scheduling, as now you have to take into consideration the host puller’s schedule besides your team’s and your opponent’s.

I think overall the game becomes more fair for the reason of not facing host in-game. There are a few exceptions, such as a person connects so bad to the host puller it’s unbearable, but in the end it’s definitely a great step forward for the League.

7. How do you feel about switching to Nokyard’s GrifCave map on Sandbox for the upcoming Fall league? Have you spent much time playing on it?

I never played on Nokyard’s map other than just running on it alone to appreciate it’s beauty. I wouldn’t mind switching to Nokyard’s map. I know there will be some getting used to, but I’ve always been okay at adapting to new places (I’m sure most players in the league are capable of adapting as well). I want it to be mandatory IF everyone playing has the mythic map pack. Otherwise, I hope the GrifCave remains optional so that people who plan on not buying ODST or the mythic map pack will still be able to play Grifball on Foundry.

8. Are you happy with the way Grifball is currently run? If not, what specifically do you not like?

I’ve never experienced another commissioner besides Moocow in the League so I have no one to compare him to. With that being said, I feel Moocow runs the league fine as I have nothing against it at all. Furthermore, whenever I have questions, Moocow is always quick to answer them for me or assist me in any of my endeavors.

9. What would you like to see in the future for Grifball? Would you like for it to become more professional, similar in style to how MLG works or would you like for things to stay mostly the same?

Personally, I’d like more and more projects from the community to arise out of Grifball like Blade’s Free Agent Tracking Program. Some may end up as failures, but sometimes it takes massive fails to make one success. I’d like Grifball to mirror MLG in terms of competitiveness and popularity, having official tournaments throughout the U.S. and Canada, but not in the form of a $240 team pass (though it’s inevitable to avoid it).

Overall, I hope Grifball just becomes more popular in the future where many players come join in on the fun, playing competitively in the league than for kicks in Double EXP. Oh, if more games are possible, I’d like that too, especially since I think there’s not enough time for 4 leagues in a year (maybe 3 games a week?)

Oh highlights on ESPN or any of the MLG circuits would be nice too =)

10. If it were to ever occur, what’s your opinion regarding an occasional ranked grifball playlist in double XP matchmaking? Do you think it’s necessary?

I really have no opinion on this topic. To me, as long as Grifball stays in Double EXP, I’m happy.