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June's Dragon Lord Spotlight - Team EquiIibrium

Chances are, if you've been playing War Dragons for a while, you may have heard of Team EquiIibrium! This team has been around since the early days of War Dragons and have been aggressive in their War declarations — so much so that they are the first team to make it to 1000 War Wins! A brand new Team Honor will be added to the game next week, "Knows No Equal." We're looking forward to seeing which team gets there next!

Read on for our chat with co-team leaders, WhompingWillow and Bulldog where they talk about what it took to make it this far. Some of what they share may even help you on your own journey up the leagues in War Dragons!

Congratulations on being the first team to attain 1000 War Wins!

What do you think were the primary factors that secured this epic achievement for your team?

[A]: EQ has always been a team who thrived on wars. While we were in Diamond, we would war 4-8 teams almost nightly and that was just to earn 1 point per war. We’ve slowed down a bit in Sapphire and mini-Diamond recently. All teams become more cohesive when battling in wars — they can make or break a team. As most who are currently fighting near the top of Sapphire or at the top of Diamond know, it’s all about activity and skill. You can have all the spenders in your roster that you like but if they can’t fly, or are not on for wars, they are pointless to you.

Additionally, we are also competitive! When we realized we were only 150 wars away from 1000, we made a commitment to be the first to hit the goal. There was no one close to us at that time and we weren’t going to allow anyone to catch us. Look around War Dragons and you will see former EQ members everywhere. They have and always will be dedicated players.

Tell us a little about the history of EquiIibrium! How did your team initially form?

[A]: The team was created June 29, 2015 by the almighty flyers Jen and Hyp (FarmsYouALot). EQ would never have made the top team without those two. Jen and Hyp were part of Teufeldrachen and wanted to start a new team, rather than kicking a ton of people they started EQ with Cookie, Ron and Chels who were the early officers. Honestly, I think Hyp did his recruiting by farming people. He was well known for hitting people straight for hours at a time. EQ picked up players from GeniusGaming and other strong teams at the time. During late 2015 EQ started making a push towards top 5 and were sitting 2nd for a few months.

At what point did your team realize you were going to gun for being among the top teams in the game?

[A]: After beating our heads against the wall trying to beat EQ as members of an opposing team, current co leaders Willow and Bulldog joined along with a few other former Ancients Ascent members. To this day, it’s safe to say that during the period where EQ was going towards the top spot their defense was unrivaled in the game. For us watching such intense activity and defense ability was something that we wanted to be a part of as it was the only way anyone was ever going to take down Dread.

Has leadership of EquiIibrium exchanged hands at all? If so, how did your team handle transfers of power?

[A]: As many will tell you, the constant battle to stay on top is never easy, and our first major hurdle was the loss of some of our stalwarts Jen, Hyp, Ron, Chels and Trin who decided to call it quits after just playing the game FAR too much. Together we managed to take EQ to No. 1 globally and hold Dread out for 3 months. Speak to anyone and these guys and gals were some of the most loved/hated Diamond players for a long time. So losing them was really tough on everyone. They ran the team for roughly 12 months and were there during its time at the top. Bulldog became an officer in the early days of joining and learnt the ropes from Jen and Hyp and after they decided to quit took over the reigns. After roping in Willow, they both lead EQ for a few months before also deciding that the dedication of diamond life was too much for them as well. Rather than watching the typical Diamond implosion or merger, both announced to members it was time to go and helped them find homes before booting all remaining members and taking the team down to Sapphire and recruiting the entire roster from scratch. Again…

Team Honor: Knows No Equal - Granted for 1000 War Wins

In the nearly two years that Eq has been declaring wars, how have you all managed to keep up the fight and keep the EquiIibrium banner flying?

[A]: I cannot help but think about all of the melt-downs witnessed during wars. People have their moments and mostly come back to reality but watching people lose their minds through text are memorable. BUT war meltdowns are pretty standard when trying to compete at the top. Bulldog has been known to lose his mind. When we decided to drop out of Diamond we couldn’t see the EQ banner die off as there was just too much history there to just hit the disband button. Long live EQ became part of our team profile that day!

It’s actually relatively easy (lately) to keep the team centered and focused as we are really trying to choose teammates that enjoy playing together.

The current team and former teammates of EQ have made the team what it is and we hope that continues for the foreseeable future.

Are there any tactics your team uses to keep up the participation in Wars that you think others could learn from?

[A]: To keep war activity up there is a fine line between “too many wars that it becomes work” to “too little wars that players become bored” and move on. And every team will differ on this scale. At our peak 4-8 wars a night was completely ok. These days 1 war every day or so is probably where we are at since reforming. So you need to find the right balance that works for your team to keep them interested. Also, set expectations of all members on what is expected and stick to it. Examples: mid war slackers lists, using the war reminder emails, communicating in Line app, always backing the lower level teammates, encouraging war buddies based on flying skills and choosing all types of war targets to keep players interested. In the end, an inconsistent leadership team will cause the same attitude in their team.

What do your teammates all have in common, keeping your group solidified?

[A]: They like being here! Believe it or not our roster is actually far more stable than it ever was in the Diamond days. And as officers we totally love this as we don’t need to recruit. Our current mob loves to get together and just have fun, hang out, with no pressure. We are made up of such a vast array of players too: little level 100 that have never spent a dime, hardcore spenders who strive to win, old x diamond retirees who just want to hang out and have fun etc. These days we go with the flow and take things as they come. The officers don’t put massive pressure on the playing group which I think makes a lot of people want to stay. We value people regardless of their level and I think the group appreciates that.

What are some standout fun facts about either members of your team or the team itself?

[A]:

Our description, we may have had some fun with it. A certain team loves to claim they did a lot of things, there is about just as much in our team description too.
There are former EQ members are on at least 15 of the top teams in the game.
Equilibrium as we spell it does NOT have an L in it. It’s an i.
EQ women are the most fun in game. Fact.
EZ learned English from playing WarDragons!
Higgy has got to have the worst dragons in the game for the amount of cash and time he puts in (he also has a third nipple).
MtnManRob is arguably the best RSS hunter in the game. No matter what event it is, he’ll find what you need. And no he won’t apologize for taking your precious RSS.
EQ was ranked No. 1 globally for 3 months.
We adore British spies but we don’t talk about it.
We hosted a boat burning party in the original round of the World Map otherwise known as BOATS/beta.

How extensive is your application process, or is it on the more relaxed side?

[A]: It depends on the candidate and which teammate is doing the recruiting. All members of EQ are encouraged to suggest new teammates. Referrals from players go through less hoops so they tend to be fast adds and as mentioned we have a low turnover rate and personal references are the players who usually make it in. But in general, we don’t have spots open often so if the person is in a rush they usually fall out of consideration fast. You must be willing to wait and stay in touch.

What characteristics do you look for in a team applicant?

[A]: The ability to write and read an email. If you can’t string two words together don’t bother. We of course look for a lot of the things mentioned above; activity, ability to fly etc. We always take activity over spending. You must have a personality, it’s a game, you must be fun or we don’t want you. Don’t call Willow babe or dude, no better way to be rejected.

If you make it on to EQ, Do No Piss Off Bulldog, he loves kicking people for not listening, they do not usually last long. That is universal for all the officers and longtime members.

Are there any other sister teams to EquiIibrium that would be a good place to learn the ropes if they're newer to the game?

[A]: Buzzed420 is run by a couple of our alts, they are a great gateway into EQ.

What non-game related topics seem to pop up over and over again in team chat?

[A]: Standard hugs versus Willow hugs, Cake Pops, booze, music, Bulldog naked, hunting, 420 friendly, Aussies, cops (we have two) and horses. For the love of god do we need to see horses ALL day Kimmy and Stryk??

Have you ever have a team viewing of the movie Equilibrium?

[A]: We haven’t but I know a few people have wondered if that’s where the name came from. Chances are if we had a group viewing the movie itself wouldn’t last long before we were all drunk talking about the above^

Now that you've reached the big 1K, do you think you'll be taking it easy on your war activity anytime soon?

[A]: We hope not. Without wars the game gets boring. We don’t know anyone who gets joy from running only XP runs, that’s not a game we want to play.

Each month we feature a stand out player (or in this case, a team!) in War Dragons to celebrate their accomplishments and contributions to our community. If you would like to nominate a fellow player for this honor, please let us know by sending us a message on Twitter @wardragonsgame and briefly tell us why you think they would make a great person to feature!

View our previous Dragon Lord Spotlights:

2017
May: Red | April: Psarus | March: xOdinsNemesisx | February: ImanGHR | January: A dored

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