Your 15-minute Friday report in 3633 words.

the war, army corruption, and possible solutions

Segment from an interview with legal expert Joanna Alexanyan, the head of Journalists for Human Rights.
Aleksanyan: many soldiers didn't have basic items such as helmets and bulletproof vests. The army wasn't ready. It wasn't the enemy strikes that lead to this outcome. The situation was exposed at the worst moment. We've always criticized the shortcomings and crime in the army. Why was the army command responding to criticism so harshly? Their behavior didn't change even after the 2018 revolution.
Reporter: how did the criminal element affect the war? When you look at the heroes from this war, they aren't criminals, they are ordinary conscripts whom rights are defended by people like you.
Aleksanyan: when comedian Vardan Petrosyan went to Artsakh to meet his soldier son, he returned and described that love is what defined things in the front lines. Conscripts faced death regularly and it was the love towards the homeland and their lives that made them strong. I don't accuse conscripts of being responsible for the criminal atmosphere in the army.
The crime existed for years, and commanders are responsible for that. A street kid with a criminal mentality could join the army, but it's a closed structure and should filter these elements out, but the corruption in the system didn't let that happen.
Reporter: civil society has spoken about corruption in the army for years, before and after the 2016 war. Why didn't the commanders offer a solution? Did they want the army to be weak?
Aleksanyan: no one seems to think about it today. I look around and I see funerals, news about bodies being discovered, then I see some opposition forces who make threats and ultimatums in the public square, we see inadequate actions by the government post-war.
Everyone brings the Israeli army as an example. When you ask them why their army is good, they answer "we have the family model." (also maybe all the billions of dollars in investment from the US possibly???). What is the family model in the Israeli army? It's love towards the army and soldiers.
We don't have love in our army. Do commanders know where their subordinates died? Where they went missing? Did they take steps to make their squads like a family? Today they are busy hitting one place, and they all blame one person. That's strange. Those who accuse are the ones who share the blame for the corruption and plunder in the army, and they continue to blame one person.
For years you could either praise or stay silent about the army. That didn't change after the revolution. Young (ex-MOD) Davit Tonoyan sugarcoated and praised the army, but it was exposed.
Reporter: why are both political camps busy with hateful rhetoric instead of working on these issues?
Aleksanyan: it's the hatred that they have towards each other. How can a person, full of hatred inside, think rationally about something good? Words, words, and only words. When I hear those public square speeches and threats, it terrifies me.
How can Vazgen Manukyan claim today that he plans to organize rebellion and capture buildings? They don't love their country, their army, their Armenia. Why do you make such claims? So Nikol will leave? So you will come to power?
Reporter: ... to save the country, as Manukyan says...
Aleksanyan: ...to come to power. To do what then? And at what cost? Are you inciting civil war? There is nothing good in this.
Reporter: how do families who lost sons respond to this political struggle?
Aleksanyan: with indifference. Not many participated in these rallies. families who have POW relatives are active, but the rest are indifferent. They don't believe anyone, especially [opposition parties] in the public square.
Reporter: do you agree with Robert Kocharyan that this government intentionally came to weaken the army?
Aleksanyan: I'm surprised that Robert Kocharyan still expresses opinions. Inexperience? Maybe, but not intentional weakening. Didn't the state weaken on March 1st? If Kocharyan rejects responsibility for March 1st that doesn't mean it didn't happen.
Reporter: Kocharyan said he plans to participate in elections and "win". Does he have a chance?
Aleksanyan: I can't predict his chance, but I know that he is widely rejected in the country. Good luck to him.
Reporter: Serj released a statement saying the army was stabbed in the back. Why are both former presidents claiming that there was intentional treason?
Aleksanyan: Pashinyan inherited a corrupt army from Serj and Kocharyan. How could he completely reform it in 2 years? What treason? The word "treason" is very trendy today. Everyone is a "traitor". I reject that word. It's divisive. It would be better if Serj and Kocharyan accepted their guilt, for what they failed to do for the state and the army, for the degradation of the army.
Wasn't it Serj Sargsyan who stood in Ejmiatsin and praised Generals Manvel Grigoryan and Seyran Saroyan, people who were securing his election victory in their respective regions, and where considered the face of corruption?
Full: https://factor.am/332879.html

flyers are distributed encouraging murder

Non-ex-regime opposition LHK MP: Flyers with the words "eliminate the traitor" are being spread in public places. This can lead to physical aggression. We are a civilized country where violence and terrorism cannot be means for resolving issues, especially if they are directed against high-ranking officials and legitimate authorities.
Thoughts of "physical elimination" have recently been voiced by public and political figures, which is exacerbating the situation. Remember October 27, which bent the backbone of our statehood, and do not encourage crimes.
https://www.facebook.com/samsonyan.ani/posts/2924886244458329
https://factor.am/333304.html

update: five arrested after trying to break into government building

The incident took place yesterday after a group of nationalist opposition figures held a protest in Republic Square and attempted to break into the govt building.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041777.html

update: Vahan Badasryan arrested after threats

Nationalist opposition figure Vahan Badasyan was arrested yesterday after threatening to use weapons to forcefully "remove Pashinyan." Today the court decided that he should remain arrested until his trial. He is charged with Code 301.
Ruling QP MP Hakobyan criticized Badasyan's words and accused him of behaving as a head of a criminal band. "If you are so confident in your abilities, let's hold snap elections," said the MP in response to other opposition parties' demands for PM's resignation.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041794.html , https://factor.am/333211.html , https://factor.am/333217.html , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/205515

update: group tasked with Constitutional reform discussion will wrap-up soon

A group consisted of civil society members, NGOs, and various parties has been discussing reforms in the Constitution. They will finalize and provide the results in a week.
It includes the possible merger of Supreme Court and Constitutional Court, reforms in investigative committees, topics about the church, election process, age restrictions in judicial, vetting, etc.
https://factor.am/333134.html

volunteer soldier recalls Artsakh war episodes / Manuel Manukyan and Edward Manukyan:

We learned about the war on September 27th and drove to Artsakh with 6 friends. The next day we were at Hadrut military base. We felt obligated to be there because our 18-year-old brothers were there.
The fighting spirit of the boys was very high, they were very strong and confident in their actions. They were eagerly waiting for the next tank. They fought with great enthusiasm. It doubled my spirit.
I will never forget our friend Mush who shot 4 tanks without missing one. Unfortunately, 3 of my friends and Mush died next to me while stopping an enemy tank attack.
My parents initially panicked and didn't want to allow my brother and me to volunteer. These were the heaviest days of the war. On the 3rd day, we were with a squad with 5 others. They were experienced although under the age of 30. We referred to one of them as "Crazy". He was very brave. We heard the sound of a drone while in the trenches. We were instructed to take cover in those situations. We suddenly noticed that Crazy got out of the shelter and tried to shoot the drone. He returned very unhappily because he couldn't see the drone up-close.
The fighting spirit of our boys was really high. Everyone knew where they came to, why, that it was likely they would never return. They stood their ground to the end. I hope that people will take the enemy seriously and not betray their homeland.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041857.html
Tags #ArtsakhWar #44daywar #war

daily life in Artsakh's Shosh village

It's close to Shushi, on the new borders:
https://youtu.be/6p8mqVwZPU0?t=13

search operations continue

The crews discovered 8 bodies on Artsakh battlefields. Medical tests will be needed for identification. The work continues in Martuni, Hadrut, and Jabrayil regions.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041776.html

POWs

5 POWs who were returned yesterday were part of the volunteer group that was captured during the Khtsaberd incident in the narrow strip of land west of the Hadrut-Shushi corridor. Additionally, there were other POWs who were captured during the 44-day war. Russian outlet RBK says the total number of POW is 140.
It was confirmed by MFA official the Armenian ambassador to the Netherlands Tigran Balayan, who said "There are still over 120 POWs. Azerbaijan still commits war crimes. One of the POWs mentioned the physical abuse he went through."
https://factor.am/333228.html , https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/289839/
The EU welcomed return of 5 Armenian POWs and called for immediate return of others, said the EU foreign affairs spokesman.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041817.html
Rumors and rebuttals: army denies media rumors about 15 soldiers being captured on their way to Artsakh's Askeran region. They also denied rumors surrounding a Colonel named Gor Ishkhanyan: "His unit did not retreat during the war. After the war, his unit pulled back from its positions as part of the November 9th statement. Spreading false news does not contribute to strengthening the defense capacity of the homeland."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041823.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041834.html

Qashatagh residents need compensation

Some of the villagers in Artsakh's Qashatagh region, which went under Azeri control after the war, weren't aware until the last moment that they had to leave, so they didn't have time to take the household items with them. A group of residents gathered in front of the government building today and asked for housing. "Aid was provided multiple times but that's not enough to make ends meet," said a resident.
Prime Minister's office invited the residents to discuss the issues on February 3rd.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041812.html

displaced Shurnukh and Vorotan villagers will have new homes

Deputy PM Avinyan visited Syunik province to meet residents of bordering villages Shurnukh and Vorotan. Around 20 houses in these villages went under Azeri control because they were built on the internationally-recognized Azeri side of the borders.
Avinyan: during discussions with the residents, we agreed that new houses would be built for them. Each member of every family will receive ֏300K, plus ֏68K/mo for 6 months.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/205478

anti-corruption: NSS busts Economy Ministry official with bribery

NSS report says: a company imported a diamond from UAE and paid ֏72M in customs taxes. However, subsequent investigation revealed that the diamond was worth 6x more than it was declared.
NSS found that the director of the Economy Ministry's Licensing and Permits Department received a bribe from the company to intentionally undervalue the item on paper. The director instructed a subordinate to falsify paperwork; the latter confessed and testified.
The department director has been arrested. The bribe-giver company owners and dozens of others have been brought in for questioning. A felony case is launched.
https://youtu.be/Rgntt6JqHVk
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041780.html

update: some large businesses abused micro-business laws to evade taxes

Micro-businesses laws were recently reformed to reduce taxes for many self-employed and small businesses. Some dishonest large businesses decided to game the system and split into smaller parts to provide themselves services as contractors and pay fewer taxes individually.
The IRS is aware and decided to increase the monitoring. They caught 258 such instances in 2020, up from 116 in 2019.
There are over 40,000 micro-businesses in Armenia.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041809.html

anti-corruption: +70% felony cases by IRS / ֏21 billion in damages uncovered

IRS exposed ֏21 billion in damages to the state during 622 felony cases (+70% compared to 2019). 244 were about tax evasion, 62 falsifying docs, 23 illegal operations of a business, 265 narcotics transfers via border.
֏7 billion was recovered, which is +14% compared to 2019.
Please do not ship narcotics via the post office. Thank you.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041824.html

Do not ship narcotics wrapped inside tolma. Thank you.

Armavir prison guards discovered drugs wrapped inside tolma. Երևի միսը քչությունա արել․
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041875.html

draft bill to prohibit legalization of illegal buildings on public lands

There is a law that allows illegal property owners to go through a process and legalize their structures. QP MPs drafted a bill to prohibit this for any illegal structure built after the approval of the bill if the structure is on public land.
Bill authors: //practice was developed in previous years when businesses and individuals carried out construction without a permit, then asked the mayor to legalize the structures. This is because obtaining a license for an illegal structure was cheaper and faster than obtaining a permit and building a legal structure (huh?).
The bill will take into account the owners' rights while allowing municipalities to dismantle illegal structures without administrative proceedings. The dismantling will be paid fully by the builder.
The bill will reduce beurocracy in the property registration and permit process. //
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/205473

COVID stats

1190 tested. 59 infected. 265 tested. 2 deaths. 5984 active.
https://factor.am/333046.html
The highest infection rates were observed in Tavush, Syunik, Lori, Yerevan. Ministry reminded to wear a mask and avoid crowded places. "Keep a 1.5m distance from household members suspected/confirmed with COVID. Keep a social distance in grocery shops. Use 70% alcohol sanitizer after touching public surfaces. Teach the rules to your kids. Call your doctor if you have symptoms."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041804.html

COVID vaccines for Russian peacekeepers

Over 1,900 Russian men and women serving as peacekeepers in Artsakh have received the Sputnik V vaccine. The boxes with vaccines were driven around the country in coolers and administered only to those who agreed to take it. The second shot is scheduled before February 28th.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041792.html , https://youtu.be/cLbTwMsFgKQ

COVID vs economy in December

The economic activity declined by -7.5% in December YoY. It increased by +27% in December vs November of 2020.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041811.html

Armenian scientists sequence 12 coronavirus genomes / Mutation details revealed

National Academy of Sciences of Armenia: Almost a year has passed since the first COVID infection in Armenia, but it has not been revealed yet which COVID mutations are common among patients in our country. Knowledge of this information is important for analyzing the situation. //
The scientists conducted 12 whole genome sequencing and found that D614G mutation in T gene - whatever that means - is responsible for the virus's interaction with human cells.
This type was first revealed in February 2020 and is the most common in the world. No Brith or South African mutations have been observed. The examination continues.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041841.html

Soccer Federation will renovate a stadium in Abovyan city

The project was finalized. The construction begins soon. New grass, renovated stands, facilities, small playground, nicer surroundings.
It will meet the UEFA Category-2 standard and be able to host UEFA Champions League qualification games, up to second stage matches.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041814.html

you've got to clean that snow from sidewalks

... reminded Yerevan municipality to businesses that have the entrance facing the sidewalks. Right now it's mainly done by the city's sanitation department. The city says there is a law that requires businesses to keep their surroundings tidy. "It will also increase your economic activity."
The municipality has been distributing reminders to businesses. A few of them received ֏20K citations for ignoring it.
The law also requires these businesses to plant vegetation and pave the sidewalks. "If the 4000 businesses in Center or 2150 in Arabkir do their part, the capital will be cleaner and well-maintained," said Mayor Marutyan.
https://youtu.be/DKtTuNejSnQ?t=9 , https://youtu.be/BunvWmggdrg , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041801.html

farmers to use drones and robots

The National Agrarian University of Armenia has programs for 2021, in cooperation with the government and private sector. Sos Avetisyan:
"We consult leading professionals in the field so that the curricula meet the requirements of today's market. This year, we will have a Master's Degree in Precision Agriculture. We want to keep up with the world and train specialists to become leaders in this field tomorrow."
"Precision agriculture is a new emerging industry based on high tech. We will obtain agricultural drones to inject and cure crops. There is a pilot program in Voskehat and Akunq villages. The donors are purchased as part of the "Green Agriculture" program by the EU and Austrian Development Bank."
"The Water and Soil Resources Research Center was also put into operation very recently, which has a very serious perspective. Economy Minister Qerobyan visited recently and offered to work together to expand the irrigated lands in Syunik province. We need this to substitute the lost lands."
"We will continue the FRUITENIA program launched in 2020. It creates intensive orchards with an efficient drip irrigation system. Farmers and scientists will be invited to teach students. The orchards will also be used commercially because begin the process of commercializing our scientific output."
Full: https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/205373
Tags #Agriculture

Nature Ministry busts illegal fishing in Lake Sevan

Every year, there is a period when fishing is prohibited to allow whitefish to lay eggs. Nature Ministry confiscated 5100 illegally-caught whitefish and removed 22 large fishing nets. The loot was donated to Artsakh refugees and facilities that help people with special needs.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/205450

forest guards will receive another salary raise

ArmForest (Hayantar) workers will receive a $40-135 raise, depending on their position, beginning on March 1st.
"The decision was made possible by cost optimization, increased savings, the fight against shadow economy and illegal logging, and increase in revenues," said the Nature Ministry.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041810.html , https://hetq.am/en/article/107840

2020 average monthly nominal salaries

Throughout the year, it was ֏186K ($383), or +4.2% from last year. Public sector at ֏165K (+5.9%), while the private sector ֏196K (+3.2%).
It increased in December, from ֏224K to ֏228K year-over-year.
The highest 11.3% growth was observed in the culture/entertainment/recreation field: at ֏182K/mo.
The second highest 11.2% growth was in the high-tech field: ֏476K
The third highest 9.7% growth was in construction: ֏201K
Watesewage/waste management salaries +9.2% at ֏175K.
Education +6.5% at ֏126K.
Finance/insurance +5.1% at ֏411K.
Full: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041771.html , https://factor.am/333350.html

paid paternity leave goes into effect in Armenia

Fathers are allowed to take a paid 5-day vacation after the birth. It's paid by the employer.
Video: https://www.1lurer.am/hy/2021/01/29/Հայրության-արձակուրդ՝-նորածնին-խնամելու-համար-նոր-կարգը-գործում-է-հունվարի-1-ից/404603

Made in Kurtan

Astghik Charity Foundation is tasked with developing provincial communities. They built a fabric factory "Made in Kurtan" to produce winter jackets. "They are very warm and sewed with love." They are looking for young designers with ideas to produce custom-designed clothing with the designer's name on it.
https://youtu.be/Ga1rA-Y5aak
https://factor.am/333198.html

female + male = ?

"Let's install cameras and find out," said scientists. The FPWC cameras spotted another rare leopard in Armenian forests. They believe this one is a female. Scientists are excited. This is the sighting of a 4th leopard since 2013 and a first female. They still need to verify it's a female.
The male leopard "Neo" was spotted approximately in the same just a month ago. Scientists do not believe the two would stay so close to each other if both were male. (they better not be we don't need another George Soros scandal)
https://youtu.be/mjm0SgYUVHI
Full: https://armtimes.com/hy/article/205494

Museum of Russian Arts

Marine Mkhtchyan, the director of the Museum of Russian Arts, says the museum will organize a number of educational programs and exhibitions in Yerevan. There will be a collab with Armenian museums.
Negotiations are currently underway with the Tretyakov Gallery to display Mikhail Vrubel's "Demon and Angel with Tamara's Soul" painting. Sketches by different artists will be presented. A collab with Sardarapat Museum will present Russian tea drinking and tea culture.
The "Armenian Ally" exhibition will be held in September, dedicated to Moscow Day. This exhibition will be continuous. Every year, it will touch upon a specific historical period. This year the museum will present art about the 19th century, the Lazaryan family, the formation of the Armenian community.
The year will end with an exhibition about Russian Christmas Tree decorations. 19th and 20th-century pieces will be presented.
Classes for engraving will be taught in Armenia's provinces.
Visitors will use VR headsets to walk inside a painting of a famous artist. This practice is common in the world; the Musem of Russian Arts made the debate in Armenia.
Full: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041787.html

Artsakh refugee children entertain fellow refugee children

Refugee kids in Gyumri organized a Պոչատ աղվես-based performance in Gyumri's Մտորումների թատրոն. They were allowed to decorate the scene besides performing in it. The event for hundreds of children across multiple cities is organized by Jinishyan and Galust Gyulbenkyan Foundations.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041789.html

All Armenia Fund donates warm bedding to Artsakh refugees

The www.HimnaDram.org purchased and sent the items to 200 families. They were sewed by Artsakh refugees living in Tsakhkadzor who found jobs at a small fabric facility as part of the Project Hope initiative.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041855.html

top-10 bestseller children's books in December

10) Cat and Dog, by Hovhannes Tumanyan.
9) Frozen heart, Disney classic.
8) Harry Potter and the Political Prisoner of Azkaban, by JK Rowling.
7) tele-trip, by Lilith Hakobyan
6) the 3 little pigs (0% YoY)
5) Չարի վերջը, by Hovhannes Tumanyan.
4) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Commerce, by JK Rowling.
3) kolobok
2) Harry Potter and the Smart Stone, by JK Rowing.
1) Հայկական հեքիաթներ, collection from various authors.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1041490.html

donations to Artsakh & recovering soldiers

www.1000plus.am (recovering soldiers & their families)
www.HimnaDram.org (for Artsakh & Armenia)
www.ArmeniaFund.org (U.S. tax-deductible)

archive of older news

http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/Daily_Anti-Corruption_Reports

disclaimer

All the accused are considered innocent unless proven guilty in the court of law, even if they "sound" or "appear" guilty.

Offensive 4-2-3-1 *Long analysis*

Ernest Vukalić

Welcome back soccer readers, thanks for the nice words and debating in the comments of my first anylsis on here, hope you'll enjoy this one too. This will be a long read.

Disclaimer: The numbers I use (if used) are in relation to the line-up shown

Introduction
Ah yes, the 4-2-3-1. But I will not be talking about the traditional 4-2-3-1 that has been set up by Big Sam, ready to play the ball long and over the top and retreat after a possession loss. In this write up, I will be talking about a more possession and pressing oriented version of the 4-2-3-1. Unlike the cliché use of the 4-2-3-1 nowadays, it was created in the early 90’s to press the opponent and was a respond to the 4-4-2.” My intent was to pressure and steal the ball high up the pitch” -Juanma Lillo. Which makes sense, a direct player against the opposition’s fullback, man marking of the DM and pressure on the centrebacks, and most important two players behind to cover and man mark players.
History
In the 1986, a trend during the World cup appeared. The trend was to use the playmaker as a second striker, pushed further up than the rest of the midfield. Naturally, a few years later, the youngest man to have coaching badges in Spain (at that time), Juanma Lillo (Manchester City’s assistant manager today) created what we know as today, the 4-2-3-1. Managers took note of this and started to replicate it. But along somewhere, managers realized the amount of stability of using two holding midfielders in the centre. During these times, there was an abundance of quality playmakers and old school wingers, so still being able to use your best and most creative players and have security at the back was attractive. This why every World Cup we see the 4-2-3-1 as the standard formation for smaller nations.
Like any other formation, the 4-2-3-1 has had its up and downs. But unlike the others, since the 00’s, there is usually always a few top clubs that play the 4-2-3-1. Such as Rafa Benitez’s Valencia and Javier Irureta’s Deportivo la Coruna title winning sides. Soon enough, the 4-2-3-1 became the most popular formation the game. It was easy to see why, it can both be defensive and offensive, zonal-marking and counter-pressing oriented. Also, in England, the small man big man partnership was popular and the 4-2-3-1 fitted perfectly for the job. The 4-2-3-1 had it’s lowest down time during the early 10’s as teams shifted to a 4-3-3 or to counter the 4-3-3.

Variations of the 4-2-3-1
To easy into this, we can set two clear opposite sides up as the first divider; defensive or offensive. Managers such as Mauricio Pochettino, Roberto De Zerbi, Hansi Flick, Ten Haag and as of late Jürgen Klopp, after Diogo Jota has shown to be undroppable, use an offensive and counter-pressing version of the 4-2-3-1. Whilst the 4-2-3-1 has two centre midfielders, the more progressive version of the 4-2-3-1 do not actually use both as a double pivot, rather they task one to drop deeper in build-up sometimes. Simply put, it’s easier to progress the ball via triangles, unless the team is instructed to build up from wide areas, like De Zerbi gets his Sassuolo side to do, having two centre midfielders higher up generally. On the other hand, the more defensive 4-2-3-1 do use both the midfielders as holding midfielders, to have more stability at the back, usually used by weaker teams.

https://preview.redd.it/t8xwpqn6ul361.png?width=295&format=png&auto=webp&s=23969d043d092c7e504aa922bb7a893361030f50
Build-up & offense
Building-up from a goalkick in a 4-2-3-1 can be difficult, but stronger and well drilled teams will not have a problem when building-up. Teams often when building-up will move the ball from the centre, then out wide to the fullback and then centrally again to the centre midfielder. The fullback must release the ball quickly as a lot of team use one of the fullbacks receiving a pass as a pressing trigger, as the sideline is another man for the defending team in this case. Likewise, sometimes a direct pass up to the wide man, from the fullback, who has pushed up and wide to pin the opposition’s fullback back and to create space in front of himself, to his teammates or himself, to get around the first line of press and into dangerous areas of the pitch. The two wide men can either go inside or stay outside and stretch the play. They have a lot of freedom.
The whole front four usually have a lot of freedom, the striker dropping into midfield to create either an overload, or if a defender follows him, space in behind for the wide men to run onto a through pass. Having one of the centre midfielders drop into space is also common, to carry the ball from the back up the pitch, as switching methods of build-up is desired as predictability is a problem in the 4-2-3-1 when building-up. The main difference between playing out of pressure versus dribbling out of pressure is that dribbling out of pressure nullifies the oppositions press, turning non-threatening passing in your own third, to a quick and direct attack. Of course, it is not impossible to play out of a press, but one smooth quick turn is exceptionally faster and more successful than 7 or 8 perfect passes in your own third. This change of pace and dictation of the game is something Pep Guardiola praised Andrés Iniesta of being a master of. Think of Mousa Dembele at Spurs, Mateo Kovačić at Chelsea and Frenkie de Jong at both Ajax and Barcelona. Especially de Jong at Ajax, as the semi-finalists of the Champions League played an offensive 4-2-3-1 with a lot of freedom in attack. But when a centremidfielder is not dropping deep, it invites pressure from the opponent to play around, usually that would involve the goalkeeper to use him as the on who switches play from side to side.

https://preview.redd.it/6g825o78ul361.png?width=1152&format=png&auto=webp&s=289677aeee6c7d179670bad841550ea7291267cd

https://preview.redd.it/lqmkeyf9ul361.png?width=1152&format=png&auto=webp&s=b61da594f4edda52a78be79da568d8bdc8105a41

https://preview.redd.it/cuy477naul361.png?width=1152&format=png&auto=webp&s=cf2261e5af3f8dcf9fab1de7f33fa8f3c19f94ed

https://preview.redd.it/vteslarbul361.png?width=1152&format=png&auto=webp&s=a4ffdf72e271df5af9633c8e20cf7d037176b5ce
On the ball, the front 4 have a lot of freedom to move into space and drag players around with them, especially with overlapping fullbacks this is great for the wide men who like to cut inside or run in behind. With 4 roaming players, and the threat of overlapping fullbacks, presses the opposition way down their own half. Unlike the Guardiola 4-3-3 from his Barcelona days, the fullbacks are not generally pushed that far up, as that would leave teams way too open at the back, usually one of the fullbacks will push a little higher up than the other, and they will change during the game who goes up and who stays down. Having good ball playing defenders is always a good asset, but without a deep pivot, the centrebacks needs to be able to play the ball with confidence, short and long. Here are some examples of how a good centreback with passing can distribute during the game. The aim with this is to change the pace of the game. In the pictures I showed the possibilities of chance creation if the striker (9) drops deeper. Using the 4-2-3-1 you can also go the Roger Schmidt route and swamp around the number 9 and play the long ball to him and win the second ball or immediately counter-press the opposition to get a turn over. This would ideally work best with an arial threat up top, to take the focus away from the defenders, while just being a decoy for the long ball. Counter attacking is also viable using the 4-2-3-1 setup.
The downside of 4-2-3-1 is obviously the need for good centrebacks and press-resistant midfielders, but luckily in world of football now-a-days these players can be found in mid to lower-table clubs around the world.

Defence & the press
In defence, the 4-2-3-1 is already very stable, so to make it into a counter-pressing system should not be too hard, yet it will be difficult to balance correctly. As the formation only has two midfielders these midfielders need especially good awareness to know when to join a press or drop back to sweep up overhit passes. Liverpool are exceptional at this, their wingers (Sadio Mané and Diogo Jota) sit inside and block the pass to the centre midfielders with their cover shadow, and when the fullbacks get the ball, that is a trigger for the press to begin. With the wingers already tucked in, the opposition is forced out wide to the fullback were the press can begin. Because the 4-2-3-1 is a wide formation, and when pressing you need players in the central areas as it is easier to start a press from the central areas and then move out wide, rather than vice-versa. The tucking in of the wingers also help mitigate the amount of line-breaking vertical passes from defenders or from deep. Vertical passes/line-breaking passes are hard to defend against, as before such a pass can be made a lot of mistakes has already been made by the defending team. Whilst I call them mistakes, credit must be given to the attacking team as they must pull around the midfield and stretch the play at the same time to make space for the vertical pass/line-breaking pass. But here is where the mistakes from the defending team comes in, as the centre midfielder has taken the bait, either has been pulled far too out wide, or too centrally for even being able to stop the pass. Diego Simione’s Atletico Madrid were phenomenal at creating these passes with the now Arsenal player Thomas Partey often playing the ball to the dropping Griezmann or last season when used centrally Joao Felix
The Liverpool press

What we see here is what I talked about earlier, the wingers tucked in, and the fullback receiving a pass as a pressing-trigger. But what other pressing-triggers are there? Well, firstly, there are a few different kinds of presses in general. Either the defending team puts pressure on the player on the ball or the ball receiving player. Also pressing can be man-oriented, ball oriented, space oriented and a mix of all three. While it may not look like the whole team is pressing, if the midfield and defence is not positioned well enough a press by 2-3 or even 4 players will be easily passed by, even Biggie Big Sam’s sides will play out of a disjointed press. Team have become better at playing through, around or over the press so pressing the full 90’ mins would be useless, and unnecessarily tiring for the players. Pressing is very mentally exhausting, and not winning the ball back during the press can be demotivation, not wanting to give that 5% extra the next press and afterwards.
So, the defending team must be switched on, ready for one of the pressing-triggers to be displayed. Those pressing triggers could be about how the pass was made, with the weak foot of the player, is it over or under hit? Especially if a defender has been played an over or under hit ball, that is usually a very common pressing trigger. These are ball-oriented pressing triggers, dictated of how the ball has or will behave. Also, if the receiver has mis controlled the ball, or is having to control the ball with their weak foot. On a game-by-game basis, teams will also leave a player unmarked, if the player is bad under pressure, not match fit or just bad in general. These are receiver-oriented pressing triggers, but the last could also be called a pressing trap in the sense that a trap has been formed and successfully performed. Marcelo Bielsa loves to use a man-oriented press where his team would go man for man, then inevitably when the ball is played to the goalkeeper, the players who pressed the player who played the ball to the goalkeeper who then leaves him and presses the goalkeeper, and still blocking the pass back to the original player with his cover shadow, forcing the team to play long. High risk-high reward. Or with Bielsa coaching; low risk-extremely high reward. Bielsa has toned that down though in the Premier League with Leeds.
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Summary
The creating of the 4-2-3-1 came about as a reaction on the 4-4-2 in Spain, to have more men forward and to press the opposition. So, the cliché usage of the 4-2-3-1 as a defensive formation is quite a paradox of the modern game.
There are a lot of ways to build up and create chances in the 4-2-3-1. As this type of 4-2-3-1 is often deployed by well drilled and good teams, so the lack of pivot is not an issue for these teams, but predictability is. That is why sometimes a press-resistant dribbler will drop into the single pivot role and turn and dribble out of the oppositions press. Chance creation can come from either out wide and central, and it can also come from deep. This is because the front for is given a lot of freedom to move around and create overloads in dangerous zones.
Defending on the front foot in the 4-2-3-1 is quite optimal as it offers 4 players to either be active in a press, wait for a pressing trigger to be activated or pressing trap to have been successfully created. The two midfielders must have good awareness and reading of the game as if they are not focused and ready the team may as well not press. Some problems can occur if the two midfielders are stretched or moved around, as there are no number 6 to pick up dropping forwards.

Cloudtemplar on Damwon vs Sunning + Reflection

translated from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_KnXHycF2s&t=689s

Damwon 3:1 Victory!

As of now because of Damwon's victory in World LCK are now the number 1 region this year. Of course next year we still have to see MSI and Worlds but for now LCK have reclaimed their number 1 region spot.

This was a very emotional moment for me. This took longer than I thought. When LCK first fell I thought they would do better next year but they kept faltering on the international stage. I even thought this day would never come. When I watched LPL to be really honest they were really good. Even at the finals they gave us a hard time. Damwon really won our confidence back.

General Ideas

To start I think Suning did better than I expected. Both side have something they regret/fell short and there are many points going for them both but in the end I thought Suning did better than I expected. I predicted a 3:1 but I predicted a much easier 3:1. The won games were all loseable and to be honest I am not sure what would happen if they went to game 5.

Looking at Suning it reminds me of the old(young?) Damwon. Overall Damwon are a better team but Suning was really able to play out their style. Just like the name 'Style of Me" Suning was able to play according to their strength and displayed a monstrous performance. To be honest it was really fun seeing them play. Of course it was fun because we won it probably won't be that funny if we lost(IG flashback).

This is going to be a short overview of the series. Let's not go too deep on the games itself since we have something else to talk about.

Game 1

SofM Shen Jungle

Last time I talked about Shen and how not everyone can play the champion. There are just some player unable to play the champioin. I don't think SofM was good with Shen but instead, he is just really good with jungling. When you see the game you don't really get the feeling that SofM or even Suning is good with Shen. I don't think Shen is a champion that mesh well with Suning. But SofM is really good with Jungling so in terms of farming and macro he is really good but I don't he played to Shen's strength.

Pick/Ban

Damwon picked a pretty traditional comp: Orianna, Ornn, and Graves reminiscent of the group stage and then Ashe/Pantheon. The analyst desk talked about this already but this comp is great even in blind pick(OGN B05 prepared us for this). This comp doesn't really have much weakness and it's a great game 1 comp.

Suning on the other hand chooses a very stylish(flavourful) comp which they will continue to do so the entire series. The comp is all about combos with Azir, Wukong, Leona going in while Ezreal deal damage in the back. Azir is good on paper(original: 'concept pick') but it was really hard to use him effectively in-game.

Suning's comp was really scary but to put it simply BeryL played out of his mind this game. He was good overall but specifically his positioning before teamfight/objective was really amazing. Because they have Ornn against Shen/Wukong they really can't break sidelines so they have to group around mid. What Suning want to do is catch them offguard with Leona/Azir but BeryL was able to stop them and even catch them before they catch Damwon.

You hear this and might think Damwon is unstoppable this game but in reality, it was a really close one. Biin played out of his mind this game. Specifically when Biin who was able to outplay Nuguri and Canyon who came to pick him off. But Biin was able to dodge their skill and survive till Angel and SofM came and clean them up. Wukong wasn't even that ahead. Overall however Damwon did have the advantage but Damwon made some mistakes and we realized that this isn't going to come easy.

Sunny Side Up

What is interesting about Suning is that they play around top which is rare and no other team do this. But because Biin is so good they were able to put out a great performance. SofM too was good on enabling Biin while making sure bot doesn't collapse.

So Nuguri was really important here. If there was ten ganks then he evaded nine of them. Since top side was Suning's win condition Nuguri did a really good job absorbing the pressure. Sometimes he doesn't even get help and was just expected to survive on his own.

Suning Roster on Paper vs Reality

I don't think Azir is a good pick overall and he is only okay in niche comp like this. But Angel isn't their star player and aside from that Syndra game he didn't really surprise anyone.

What is kind of funny is that if you look at Suning on paper they aren't really a scary team. Because one: they play around top side and who the heck play around topside today? Their mid and bot isn't that strong and they are not even that great at Macro. Don't they sound like a weak team? The problem is that you lose even if you know all that. Suning has a particular style and they perfected that style to a tee. (It's like that quote that the best swordman isn't afraid of man with hundred move but man who perfected one single move).

Shen pt. 2

So a lot of people was asking why Shen didn't fall behind like many other Shens. Shen is a level 6 champion and like many other level 6 champions he couldn't keep up the tempo in early game. Suning however played around it and let him grew in the jungle. It was a team effort to keep Shen in the game. Canyon however didn't just slack off. He was able to get many objectives and was really busy. On the other hand Shen was focusing on leveling. This is why Shen didn't fall behind.

Game 2

This is a world record game where we have the first pentakill in Worlds Final. This was a really good game from Suning who played almost perfectly. They gave Lucian and picked Syndra who is good against Lucian in exchange. Because Damwon picked Lucian Damwon picked an AP Jungler(Eve) which then they picked Rengar to counter. From a pick/ban point of view it was a work of beauty.

Looking at this comp you might have thought Damwon inted in pick/ban. They gave Angel Syndra who is almost a Syndra one trick, they gave Rengar who counters Eve, and they gave Suning Jhin/Leona two of the most contested pick in bot. But in reality, Damwon had the advantage. It was a winnable game for Damwon and there were many reasons why they lost but I think the biggest reason is their failure to adapt.

It seems Damwon struggled against Suning surprised picks. You have to play a little differently against Rengar and Showmaker especially seems to panic a bit. And Biin Fiora played flawlessly this game. Canyon and Showmaker to be hoenst made a lot of mistakes this game. There were times where Canyon died with summs and Showmaker didn't do well with Lucian. I wonder what would happen if they played with a bit more caution.

To be honest this game might have been a frustrating game for Nuguri. Because to be honest as long as Nuguri was able to hold Biin Damwon should've won. Ornn is really hard to break and they wasn't able to break Ornn but other lane collapsed. Nuguri said in interview that he was angry for playing weakside this game and other games. And to be honest this is a game he deserves to be angry because he was able to hold on his own against Fiora. He did his job but as a tank he can't really do anything when his team collapse. He is really good on Ornn but you can't win against Fiora as Ornn.

Lucian

This and Damwon giving G2 Lucian makes me think they are not ready with the pick. It is hard to get practice time with Lucian since he is so contested and if you picked Lucian you need an AP jungler which is also contested and hard to match with other champions. Lucian is a good pick I think everyone agrees with that. But sometime there is picks like that where because it is so contested not everyone are able play them(Like Kalista at her prime).

Why Eve Why Not Lillia?

Eve is really good at pressuring enemy team and are great in shutting down Fiora. I don't think the picks are the problem but the in game plays. But you can say that the comp they picked might not been bad but what they gave to enemy team is wrong. Syndra who is Angel best champion, Jhin and Leona the teir 1 bot lane champions. If you look at the game from this perspective then yeah the pick/ban isn't good from Damwon.

Millionaire Binn and Vietnam Rengar

But for people who watched the game Biin was insane this game and SofM showed us the peak of Rengar. The analyst desk talked about this but there is some freedom to Rengar. You can go lethality Rengar or Tank Rengar. Usually, for solo alne Lethality Rengar is perferred but SofM was insane with the ping pongs and stack management. Out of the three mustakteer champions: Camille, Fiora, Jax Fiora has the weakest team fighting but with that items, nothing really matter. No matter who you are if Fiora has that many items she has no equal.

Even I with that many items could've won.

"??????????????????" -Chat

Cloudtemplar is currently Plat 3 with a 42%(33 games) winrate on Fiora.

Game 3

If I have to describe this one game with one word it would be: Nuguri. If I have to do it in two then it would Nuguri and BeryL. I am oversimplifing a bit and of course other players did their part too and BeryL was really good but Nuguri was a whole another level. He was able to evade ganks, win lane, and win team fights. Usually it is almost impossible to evade ganks and win lane he really did everything he can do. BeryL also did really good job with Braum.

However this was also a close game. Biin picked Jax(one of the three sword champion), Angel on his Akali, and SofM on Nidalee. It was a close game and it could've been a frustrating game for Nuguri because he really everything he can. Especially that time when four of his team mates made bad judgment and died. It almost became the like second game where Nuguri lost because of his team mates when he was doing really well.

All Right, Then. Keep Your Secret

So... people have been asking about the Omnistone runes Biin and SofM used. The thing about Omnistone is that it could be unexpected to the enemy and surprise them of course sometime it also surprise you. It is a gamble and it is really fun to play around that randomness but at the end it is really just for fun. I am really unsure about this. If Wunder told us why then we could have known but Wunder said he is keeping as a secret for next year so... Use it with caution to your LP.

Damwon's Biggest Strength

One of the biggest strength Damwon have and also the most important thing in this meta is lane prioirity/dominace. Damwon's bot doesn't falter against HuanFeng/SwordArt and Nuguri is Nuguri so Mid is very important here. But Showmaker is on Syndra so he is able to get lane priority which creates a scenario where all three lane are winning which gives Canyon a lot of space. Because of this it wasn't huge to give Sunnin Nidalee.

RED vs BLUE

When you are Red Side you have to give them one pick so what Red usually does is they give the enemy one good pick and take two afterward. Usually Blue take Lucian and there are still many good picks leftover like Jhin, Leona, Syndra.

Let's make this simpler. If you are red side you are able to take 2 OP pick against their 1 OP pick. AND you have last pick so you can counter one of their pick. This is why everyone picks Red side. So why does people prefer blue side the early stage of Worlds? This is because not everything was solved. At that time Nidalee, Lillia, Graves was super contested and getting just one of them at the start gave you such big advantage in Jungle. But over time people started to figure out how to play around them so the OPness got smaller. BTW this is normal. Players always find counterpick/style against OP picks and find a way to counter the current meta.

Game 4

There isn't much to talk about this game. Suning seems a bit fatigued and mental seems... a bit down. Suning Pick/ban wasn't that good, their secret picks was already shown, and went into this game a bit worried and exited the game the same way. One important thing is that Showmaker is once again on Syndra and through many adc bans they picked Cait gaining lane priority, Pantheon and Leona has the same role but Pantheon was able to move faster than Leona, and once again they seek to play around top but Nuguri was able hold once again.

I think SofM regretted picking Graves this game. I think SofM didn't expect them to lose so much lane priority. Graves is a good pick when you have lane priority and when you don't have lane prioirity you want to pick a ganking jungler. Whether it is Lee sin, Jarvan, or any ganking jungler they would have worked better. As for Kindered wolf was basically in heaven with 3 lane priority giving them free reign. Graves can't gank can't make plays. Other picks would've been better.

As for Gankplank he doesn't have as much as outplay potential than Jax, Fiora, Camille so I think Damwon had an easier time dealing with him then the last three games. Of course Damwon did well in pick/ban but you don't win just off of pick/ban they also did well in-game. This is game that I expected to happen. But aside from game 4 all three games was really close and clutch.

Series MVP

So Canyon received the series MVP which continues the feeling that Junglers are dominating the mvp spot after Ning, Tian. Some fan asked me if I can choose who would I choose for MVP. I think I would've chosen Nuguri because to put it simply Nuguri didn't have a single bad game this series. Canyon was a bit... bad in that Evelynn game but Nuguri did well all four games. Even the game they lost he still did well. I think Nuguri was the most consistent player and Canyon did really good but he didn't do good that Evelynn game.

BeryL did well too, Ghost did good too and Showmaker. Guys to be honest MVP is really just for show, for celebration. This is a team game everyone did their part to win the trophy. Who held the trophy highter doesn't really matter.

Best Players in Each Role in Worlds

I have always believed that whoever win Worlds are the best in their role ^{If you know my history you would know that to be true} and this is especially true this year. Think of any player that is better than Damwon's roster. There is none. Damwon roster is the best this Worlds.

However, who is the second/third is a bit more complicated. I think it is much more interesting to pick 2nd/3rd than to pick first since it is just Damwon.

2nd Best Players

Biin
SofM
Caps
Guys Guys Guys. This isn't World top 20 this is my own list. This is my subjective opinion and you can pick whoever you want. This isn't a poll rank. I will explain why I pick Caps later.

Marksman is a bit tricky but my pick contenders are: HuanFeng, Ruler, Rekkles

Huanfeng

Guys come on aside from that final series what other games did Huangfeng did bad on? Yes, there was some adc gap between him and Ghost but- people who play marksman will know this. They played top side games what can you do when you are playing weakside marksman? Suning always play around top side so how can you expect a weak side marksman to super carry? I am getting frustrating saying this so I am going to pick Huanfeng(lol).
Huanfeng
SwordArt

Why Caps?

Caps isn't as lane dominant as let's say Knight who is the second contender but he is a great playmaker. He made a lot of plays and are crucial to G2 and even in games they struggled Caps still made the best possible choice to win. I picked him because of his game changing playmaking potential.

I was going to put Sword as a joke but as you guys are rioting down there I am going to stop here.

Q&A

1. Was there a party?

a. No

b. Yes, but I just stayed for a while

c. Yes, but I didn't know

d. Yes, but I was banned

It's one of those

2. Cake?

I don't knw what taste it is since I didn't get get to eat it. I was going to throw the cake to fellow caster's face but then it had Damwon on it so I didn't want to ruin it.

3. Seed Change?

A lot of people have been asking that since we won Worlds would that give us 4 seed? I am not the one in charge but I don't think winning one Worlds automatically gives us 4 seeds. I think it is more about past achievements so this is only the start.

4. Next year?

So people have been asking what LCK will look like next year with the Franchising change and such. I don't know much but I think the region will be more competitive with the influx of money and slot security.

Come on guys its only been a couple hours since Damwon won please don't ask where I think the players are going...

5. Cloudtemplar's Schedule

I am not sure how they are going to do All-Star if at all but if they do it I will probably be there.

Starting soon I am going on a college tour and will meet many college students interested in League. I have already done this a few times but I am going to do more starting on Monday. If you wanted to meet tell your student council because they are the one giving out invites.

To be hoenst student council are such Chads. Like even when I was in High school I would see my seniors playing basketball or soccer and I think they are so cool. I usually just sit in a corner and talked about video game with my friends. I remember we would talked about last night game and break the game down. We would do our own draft and compare it. I think this is something our fellow gamers could relate like we would gather around during Lunch and talked about draft, pick/ban, and where/what we should play tonight.

I enjoyed it. It was my childhood and to be honest it was fun. I remember before video game we would make our story and people role play(it's kind of like DnD). Like we would have one DM and one artist and we will play out our story. One would be mage one would be barabainians and then DM would be like "Ah a monster appeared what would you do?" and we will be "attack", "run", "poke his butt hole". The story would go on for weeks and every time we had break we would gather around and play. It was really fun. Some people are laughing but I know some here could relates to it.

6. Stage, Opening

So to give my honest opinion I was quite dissapointed at first but then I was like "it's okay" at the end. The Galio wasn't too bad and I think at the end it got better. I don't think it's not that bad. It picked up at the end.

7. Oberservor

To be really honest the Obseror was really meh. It was kind of frustrating because I am seeing so many things but they are not showing them. I am good at casting from watching minimap and it is something I am proud of but... At one point we just stopped talking about things because we know that the oberservor won't show them. It is not like they can hear us so we can't really do anything about it...

But it's okay cause Damwon won. These things happens time to time let's just move on. When we host it we will do better.

8. Crowd

A lot of people was complaining about the crowd and how it was a library. Let's be the better man here and let it slide. And to be honest LPL crowd didn't have obligation to cheer for us. Just like how LCK fan doesn't have to cheer for them they don't also have to cheer for us. These things sometime happens in Sport like people would go completely silent after a homerun from other team.

And someone pointed this out but at least they didn't boo'ed us. When I was playing against TPA the whole crowd was cheering for TPA. Like when they killed a ward they would chant "TPA, TPA, TPA"(because of screen sneak peak/cheating incident everyone hated Azu Frost at that time). As long as they don't cheer against or boo us I am okay with it. You guys are asking too much.

10. Hope for LCS?

I think they either have to grow their player domestically or they have to be more open to spending money. I said this before but I think having more S tier player in a region elvate the region as a whole. So they might want to get more S tier player to NA. They don't want to come? Slap them with so much money they are having a second thought, second house, and second wife.

To be honest though they are already spending way too much money. What they have to do is spend money on the right player and cut those who does not deserve it. They have to paint the region as a region that pay you a lot if you perform and not just give money for free. Right now they are just spending money they have to spend money more realistically and smartly.

I am not saying they should get more Korean but just imports in general.

11. Championship Skin

I wanted to see Nuguri pick Ornn but tank champion in general doesn't get much love. And Nuguri Kennen have always came out when they needed him the most so I think it is okay for him to pick Kennen.

Canyon said it is either Graves or Nidalee and I think those two are fine. Probably going to sell a lot once it come out. Oh he said he picked graves? That's pretty cool.

As for mid he said he is picking TF which is fine. Akali would have been good too since he got famous for the pick but I don't think he picked her this World. I am not sure about Syndra since she already have a skin. Picking TF is actually kind of huge since he was one of the oldest champion and was in and out of the meta quite often. He is quite popular too.

Hmm I wonder who Ghost is going to pick. Oh he is picking Jhin? Hmm I don't think Jhin fit quite well... Draven? I don't think that sell well so I am not sure... Ashe? Ashe is good too Ashe is also a beta champion like TF. She is also many people's first champion because of tutorial... Wait they changed it? It's no longer Ashe? I guess time changes but wow I can't beleive they changed it... I feel old now.

BeryL should just pick Pantheon. It is going to sell well too. What? He is picking Leona? Oh man Pantheon skin would have been nice because you flex him in any role so he is more versatille. I guess I have to respect his personal opinion. Hopefully the skin would look good.

Conclusion

I know it is easy to just say LCK won and celebrate but this didn't come in one day. This came with many hardworks and please don't think only Damwon contributed. A lot teams worked hard for this moment and they made each other strong doing so. So many of them were like "I don't want to fight cause we might lose" then the coaches will be like "fight cause that's the only way we can get better." The teams decided to change and this is the result of it.

The Future of Cloudtemplar channel

So I have been doing this kind of stuff for a while and this one marks the final episode of the year. I've done this with Pony, with guest speaker, and even just myself and I am thankful for the fans and the attention I have gotten. From a youtuber perspective it is really hard for a hours long video to get any view. In Youtube short video are the one that get attention and viewership. Even I don't want to watch hour long video so I really appreciate you guys watching.

I have said this before but I have many things to learn and improve on. I don't have talent, I don't have skill, and all I can really do is try my best. There is a lot of time where I just want to stop everything and I wonder do I really need to do this much? Do I really need to live a life where I get cussed everyday? I have confidence that I can do this but it is hard somtimes. Most people don't know how hard I work and to be honest that's just life. You work hard nobody notices and you make one mistakes everyone notices. I guess that's just something we have to overcome. Anyway thank you guys for the support see you guys next time.

Nov/24/2020 news wrap-up: \\ War in Artsakh (Karabakh) \\ Russian reporter reveals details about last battles for Shushi, weapons used, drone warfare \\ soldiers' families receive aid \\ Red Cross to expand its work \\ politics & foreign affairs \\ economy \\ healthcare \\ other news...

Your 16-minute Tuesday report in 3971 words.

WarGonzo reporter Semyon Pegov shares info about Shushi, Armenian drones, Azeri snipers, Israeli tech:

Shushi battles
The battles for Shushi were very heavy. At some point, Armenians mobilized and brought many soldiers. Hundreds have died in and around Shushi. With the presence of peacekeepers, it's possible to recover the bodies. This is tedious work.
Armenians had some 200 soldiers in Shushi at the time of signing the document on November 9th. They were mostly in two areas: the hill with a cross and the prison building. The reinforcements with 400 soldiers were supposed to arrive in the morning but at 5 am they were told that the war was stopped.
When were Azeris able to infiltrate Shushi? On November 6th I was in Shushi and there was not a single Azeri, despite fake news from Azeri media about raising a flag. Around 4 pm we moved to outskirt near Qarin Tak, which was already a "buffer zone".
Army spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan was telling the truth about the battles around Shushi. I was there and saw it myself. We got caught up in a firefight when Armenians were cleaning up the outskirt on November 6th.
Around 20 special forces tried to infiltrate Shushi. Armenians used drones to locate and conduct airstrike against them. There were also Armenian drones with bombs that were supposed to be used. Around this time our group of reporters had to leave Shushi because it was dangerous.
Then another - much larger - group of infiltrator special forces were discovered. They attacked the highway and tried to infiltrate but were stopped. That night, on the morning of November 7th, around six professional snipers infiltrated the city and kept the street under fire.
Six snipers cannot control a city, yet Aliyev claimed the city was already under their control. Those snipers were countered with Armenian anti-sniper units. Some of the infiltrators were killed. On November 7th Shushi was "cleared" of these infiltrators.
More groups kept approaching Shushi through the Hell Gorge while being mauled by hundreds and hundreds of Armenian artillery strikes. As we know, Aliyev doesn't care about his soldiers' lives. When the Azeri public learns about their death toll, they will suffer not a mild but a real shock [gyorbagyor2020].
Huge forces were concentered on Shushi. They were brought there from Nakhijevan and other fronts. Azeris began retreating under Martuni because they couldn't sustain the entire front with so much focus on Shushi.
They gave over a thousand deaths to capture Shushi. On the rocky outskirt of Shushi, I saw over a hundred Azeri bodies in this location alone, in that day alone. There were battles in multiple routes towards Shushi.
The highway entering Shushi was captured by Azeris on November 8th. Armenians bypassed the captured area by going near Hell Gorge then moving north towards Shushi. Here, they killed hundreds of Azeris.
Armenians took positions near Shushi's radio towers about 2km away and shot at Azeris almost in a straight line. Not only artillery was being used, but also types of weapons I cannot disclose right now. I can only say SCUD was also used by Armenians.
Nonetheless, some Azeri groups managed to infiltrate on November 8th. It wasn't completely captured by them. Those who left Shushi upon the arrival of Russian peacekeepers can verify this. Shushi was likely lost politically. I don't say this to throw rocks at politicians.
I don't know for how long Armenian resources could defend Shushi, but they could hold on to it for some time. I don't know whether it would end with a bigger tragedy or victory, though.
About the talk that "Russia abandoned Armenia"
Russia couldn't get directly involved because of Artsakh's non-independent status and the need to be balanced as an OSCE mediator. Russia sent military aid, weapons, consultation during the war. Pashinyan also mentioned this.
I have reasons to believe that the air above Stepanakert was "closed" for Bayraktars with the help of Russia. No Russian forces would do this without the Russian govt's permission. It's my assumption. Although it was for a brief period, I think it helped to save Stepanakert and other parts of Artsakh.
plot twist: Israeli drones
The drones began working again around November 8th. It had a direct impact on the November 9th signing of the agreement. These drones, however, were not Bayraktars. The Israeli drones were earlier "hacked" and could be geolocated. Israelis found a way to close the hole and use these kamikaze drones again.
The defense needed time to bypass the new Israeli protections, but there was no time anymore. You could say Israeli weapons played a crucial role in this war.
who won?
Israel is the only true winner here. They sold drones, helped the ally, flew them close to Iran borders and "laid out groundwork" for future possible action against Iran. Erdogan is no friend of Iran considering his pan-Turkic nationalist agenda.
This will benefit Israel, which considers Iran its enemy. I believe Israel helped to locate Armenian air defense systems which allowed Azeris to strike them in the first days of the war.
Armenians and Artsakh lost lands but Azerbaijan did not achieve their final goal and they failed to achieve what they have today in the timeframe that they predicated. They used Turkey's and Israel's help and couldn't defeat a small republic in 45 days. On the ground, Armenian troops were no worse than Azeris.
Does Russia win? Today there are Syrian militants hostile to Russia, closer to Russian borders. This is not a win for Russia. Sure, our peacekeepers are there and thank god for that. Artsakh locals want and trust them. Artsakh residents are "more Russian" than many Russians who live in Russia.
how the agreement was signed
Putin made an ultimatum to Aliyev: either sign the document that we created together now, or "things will happen". Aliyev asked for 20 minutes to consult with Erdogan. He wanted Turkish peacekeepers stationed in front of Russian ones, on the other side of the line of contact.
In the end, no Turkish peacekeepers were stationed. This caused a serious conflict between Erdogan and Aliyev. Erdogan was expecting more.
who will live in the new adjacent lands?
Probably the jihadists and Turkomans. They are poor. Karabakh will look like heaven compared to what they have today. Many of them live in Idlib, Syria, and get bombed by Russia daily. Sooner or later Assad will liberate these areas, so what do you do with the pro-Turkish Syrians in the north?
This migration could end up being bad for Azerbaijan itself. Syrians and Azeris have different lifestyles. People who have been under Sharia law for 9 years will move to a secular Islamic state. We already know of conflicts between Syrian mercenaries and locals in bordering Azeri villages. When their population increases, so will their ideological expansion.
Azerbaijan would need to spend lots of resources and subsidies to move the Azeri population there. They don't even have a road to Shushi. They need time to build one. Even when it's built, I don't think Azeris will leave their cities en-masse to move to live in an area close to the conflict zone.
Rustam Muradov
The chief peacekeeper is the Hero of Russia Rustam Muradov. He is a fighter. He worked on peace between Ukraine and Donbas, has fought in Syria, helped to liberate Palmyra and Deir-ez-Zor (the toughest region with lots of ISIS). He fought against men whom Aliyev and Erdogan brought from Syria, so to suggest that he could be pro-Azeri just because he is from Dagestan is wrong.
partisans
I met a 60-year old Artsakhtsi grandpa with a rifle who was headed to the front line. If you think he will go to Yerevan, build a house, and forget about the loss of his home, then you have no idea who these people are. Expect a partisan war. I won't be surprised if Armenians infiltrate deep within Azeri-controlled regions and cause problems for local administration.
status
I don't know international law but I think Armenia or Artsakh should vote and recognize a legal status for Artsakh. Putin said it's hard to help Artsakh if Armenia hasn't officially recognized it. Russia helped Crimea after it voted for independence. It's my personal opinion.
https://youtu.be/xYXhAJEgzQc

videos: artillery strikes near Shushi

Armenian soldiers shared a video that claims that Iskander (or other sources say SCUD) and Smerch were used against Azeris on Shushi outskirts. [the fired general Movses Hakobyan had also claimed Armenians used Iskander but didn't specify when and where]
https://youtu.be/vPUb8Puf3E8
https://youtu.be/v29U_i3ANTY

Corruption Prevention Committee asks Parliament to suspend Tsarukyan

Pashinyan administration created the Corruption Prevention Committee (CPC) institute last year to fight corruption. It consists of 4 board members: 1 nominated by the ruling party, 2 by opposition parties, 1 by the judicial branch.
Its job is to find a conflict of interest and vet public officials. CPC has asked the Parliament to consider taking action against BHK leadeMP Gagik Tsarukyan.
The Parliament voted to ask the Constitutional Court to strip Tsarukyan from his MP mandate. Tsarukyan is accused of running a business empire (Multi Group, etc.), which is against the law that prohibits MPs from simultaneously being businessmen due to conflict of interest.
Tsarukyan argues his allies are running his companies and they make all the decisions, and that this is a political witch-hunt against him. His critics point out that he even "slipped up" a few times and "admitted" that he still runs the companies.
[Tsarukyan is Armenia's known wealthiest man and a former oligarch (many argue he still is) who runs multiple companies while maintaining political power. Earlier this year he was charged with buying voters in the 2017 elections and tax evasion. That investigation began in 2019 from an unrelated incident, in which a construction company, allied with Tsarukyan, paid a bribe to Yerevan official. The NSS raided the construction company and found paperwork, including names, allegedly showing that the company was paid by Tsarukyan to buy voters in 2017. There was at least one witness testimony.
In a separate incident, Tsarukyan's right-hand man Arustamyan was charged with paying a large bribe to the former regime (UCOM case) to exempt Tsarukyan's business from taxation. The same right-hand-man was also charged with stealing large sums from the budget meant for building the North-South highway in Armenia.]
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035742.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035800.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035809.html , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201575

politics & molitics

12:45: the former Constitutional Court judge Kim Balayan (the judge in WikiLeaks case who was reportedly influenced by Kocharyan regime in 2008) has joined opposition ARF leader Gegham Manukyan and will hold a hunger strike. He demands Pashinyan's resignation.
He believes Pashinyan did not have the right to sign the agreement without the Constitutional Court's approval. [other believe it's merely a statement rather than a legally binding agreement].
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035744.html , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201529
14:20: The Justice Ministry, Armenian representative in the European Court for Human Rights, the NSS, and the Central Bank held a meeting to discuss legal steps regarding Azerbaijan's involvement of Syrian jihadists in the war.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035757.html
14:40: Himnadram released a report about the donation fund. $53m has already been transferred to state coffers.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035761.html
15:07: the government shakeup continues. Finance Minister Tigran Khachatryan and deputy Defense Minister Makar Ghambaryan are out.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035765.html , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201558
15:10: Education Ministry will issue grants to nine schools located near borders to reinforce their security walls and built bomb shelters. The "Safe school" project was launched in 2019 and has helped 6 schools so far.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035767.html
16:17: Mother See of Holy Ejmiatsin church will form a new office tasked with working with international colleagues to protect Armenian religions and cultural sights that are under Azeri control.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035774.html
17:01: ruling QP party held a session. Artsakh President Arayik was also present to discuss the Artsakh aid topic. Opposition media had earlier circulated rumors that Arayik wants to resign, which is why he went to Moscow yesterday to discuss the "terms". The ruling party said no such topic was discussed during today's meeting.
The party discussed ways to keep families informed about missing soldiers. "Instead of having them go from one building to another, they should stay home and we should inform them twice a day about the progress," said a QP MP.
Three QP MPs will travel to Russia for meetings.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201556 , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201553
18:28: Pashinyan presented the new Education Minister Vahram Dumanyan. "We need to reform our mentality to achieve our goals," said the Pashinyan.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201566
21:38: when will the government end the Martial Law? When the army sends a clear signal that it's OK to do so, said a ruling party MP. They will hold a Parliamentary discussion tomorrow. The opposition parties have been asking for its suspension because it prevents them from holding legal demonstrations.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201586
21:59: the police found Kalashnikov and 100 bullets in a car during a checkpoint stop in Yerevan. Several similar incidents were recorded across Armenia.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035811.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035807.html

Withdrawal from "Kelbajar"

Armenian troops began withdrawing from the north-western part, which is one of the 7 adjacent regions to Nagorno-Karabakh. They took the "Welcome to Artsakh" sign with them so Azeris wouldn't vandalize. The process is monitored by the Red Cross.
The army also blew up a military facility before leaving.
Boom: https://youtu.be/2grJnVYB47w
Withdrawal video: https://youtu.be/AXz1AWBTbg8
Patrick Lancaster interviews soldiers in Artsakh: https://youtu.be/-cpWoQ0AfpY
https://factor.am/313594.html

foreign response & diplomacy

The French city of Դեսին-Շարպիո has urged the govt to officially recognize Artsakh. The resolution mentions Azerbaijan's recruitment of Syrian jihadists and war crimes against Artsakh civilians.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035739.html
Spanish Congress has accepted another resolution from Jon Inarritu, who stayed in Artsakh during the war.
The resolution reaffirms deep friendship with the Armenian people, emphasizes the need to protect Armenian cultural and religious centers in the territories under Azeri control
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035726.html
MFA Ayvazyan discussed Artsakh topic with the Deputy Secretary of State Biegun.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035802.html
President Sarkissian visited Jordan where he met King Abdallah and the local Armenian community.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035781.html , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201514
Putin called Pashinyan and Aliyev to discuss Artsakh and details from the recent visit of the Russian envoy to AM and AZ.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035793.html

choo choo, mothe******r

Yerevan is still working on purchasing new buses so you won't bend over to a complete stranger for half an hour in marshutka. The competition to win a license to build the buses will begin next month.
Two companies participated in the first bid earlier. None were accepted due to poor technical specifications and lack of documents.
Meanwhile, Yerevan is also importing mid-sized 8-meter buses larger than marshutkas but smaller than the regular long buses.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035773.html

2021 is canceled, forever 2020

Yerevan municipality was supposed to spend $210,000 on New Year's celebrations. They decided to give it to Stepanakert for infrastructure repairs. Additionally, several organizations run by Yerevan will have their budgets slashed and redirected to Stepanakert.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035741.html

sappers & aid

Russian sappers continue to remove the mines from the main roads, settlements, and in between their outposts. The risky areas will be mapped. Sappers received equipment from Russia.
The second convoy of Russian humanitarian aid with 22 trucks has arrived in Artsakh.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035732.html , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201569

edited videos

NSS has found that some of the videos recently circulated from Azerbaijan, allegedly showing Armenian POWs, were fake. Some were designed for psychological warfare. The agency urges internet users not to take everything they come across on social media for granted.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035727.html

wine from Hadrut

"Kataro" wine is produced in Artsakh's Hadrut region which is occupied by Azerbaijan. The product is now considered scarcity, so those who own some bottles began selling it for 5x the price.
https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/288039/

two churches

Dadivank and Amaras are two famous Armenian churches from the early Christian period. They are located outside of Nagorno-Karabakh territory per-1990s map, therefor the area has to go under Azeri control. Russian Kommersant outlet was able to verify that the two monasteries are under Russian peacekeepers' control.
www.civilnet.am/news/2020/11/24/Ամարասը-ռուս-խաղաղապահների-վերահսկողության-ներքո-է/409602

process to find missing soldiers & POWs

The process to find POWs and bodies continues. The Red Cross will spend $49m in the Karabakh area instead of the planned $11m. They'll hire 500 more workers.
"Both sides can find the bodies within their territories, but they cannot collect them from the buffer zone," said Red Cross. Today they visited Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan.
Families of missing soldiers gathered in front of the Defense Ministry then the Russian embassy with the hope to learn news about their relatives. They wrote a letter to Russia asking to secure the ability to collect bodies from areas under Azeri control.
"The process of exchanging prisoners depends first of all on the Azerbaijani side. We will work with international colleagues," said Artsakh HR Ombudsman Beglaryan.
Artsakh MFA met Red Cross representatives to discuss the process of finding missing soldiers.
Pashinyan met the family members of missing soldiers and POWs to discuss the location, identification and searching process.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035743.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035751.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035753.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035778.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035803.html , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201511 , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201592

20-year-long monthly aid for soldiers' families

104 families of fallen soldiers have already received aid from "1000plus" Soldiers' Insurance Fund. The Fund processes only several dozen cases a week because the process requires familial/marital relation verification and document collection. The local authorities will help to expedite the process.
Families of deceased or 1st-degree disabled soldiers receive a one-time 10 million Drams ($21,000), followed by a monthly $400-$600 payments for the next 20 years. Those with less severe disabilities receive half of the aforementioned aid. Those with over 3 children receive an extra $200/mo.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035754.html
Workers in Armenia are required to pay 1000 Drams from paycheck towards the "1000plus" Soldier's Fund. The Fund had earlier urged businesses to "double" the amount by matching whatever is paid by workers. Dozens of businesses join this initiative every week. "Some large businesses began responding. This could encourage others."
(you can donate at www.1000plus.am)
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035758.html

they protect the land

The army awarded several soldiers for acts of bravery. Lt Colonel Balayan organized a defense and reconnaissance, destroyed 1 tank, 1 armored vehicle, and 1 transport vehicle.
Private Verdyan evacuated wounded soldiers while under enemy fire.
Dozens more: https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201537
The History Museum of Armenia is collecting photos of soldiers who died fighting, as part of an archive to be presented later.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201588

watch out, this kid will rip you off

$2 for a single walnut? NAY. $2 for a single walnut with proceeds donated to soldiers? SIGN ME UP.
Armavir resident Vahe has been selling walnuts. He collected 4 million Drams for soldiers.
Interview with Vahe: https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201580

nature protection

The Nature Ministry found 28 instances of businesses illegally exploiting or harming nature between November 2-13. They were issued 13 million in penalties.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201572

regional kerfuffle

Erdogan is under internal pressure by opposition again over the worsening economy and COVID response. "If we don't implement a 2-week quarantine, things will go under control."
UNICEF 2020 placed Turkey at the bottom when it comes to working with children. A third of children are poor. Only 53% are happy with their lives; 90% in Netherland, 89% in Mexico.
720,000 kids are part of child labor, some as little as 5 years of age.
11,446 is the number of 16-year-olds who married last year. "Even in Ottoman Empire the age of marriage was 17 for girls and 18 for boys," says opposition.
Internal and foreign debt exceeded 1 trillion Liras in 2018, and 1.9 trillion in 2020. "Bad borrowing policy led to an extra 135 billion Lira debt. This is what Erdogan's presidential system and his son-in-law's stubbornness brought us."
Turkish Lira began strengthening after Erdogan's son-in-law Borat Albayrak left the Minister's position. However, Lira began declining again on November 23th, reaching 8.58 per $1.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035759.html , https://factor.am/313768.html

Armenia's GDP under COVID

GDP shrank by -9.1% in 3Q year-over-year.
It grew +39% (thirty-nine) in 3Q compared to 2Q, due to post-COVID lockdown recovery.
In the July-September period, the GDP Per Capita was $1,212.
Share of GDP by industry in 3Q: agriculture & fishing 17%, Manufacturing Industry 12%, trade & auto repair 11%, construction 7%, real estate 7%, financial & insurance 6%.
Full: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035718.html

inflation & economy

As the economists predicted earlier, the COVID, war, and devaluation of neighboring countries' currencies will put pressure on the Armenian Dram. Too valuable means the products you produce are non-competitive abroad, while cheap Dram means social issues for the general population. It needs to be balanced.
Today $1 was worth 512 Drams, compared to 495 last month. The Central Bank says they're monitoring the trend and will take steps to keep the prices and financial stability.
"We also had some devaluation in the initial COVID period. Today we have some uncertainty, which contributes to devaluation. Investors are less likely to use the resources. However, inflation will be manageable. It's within the limit set by the Central Bank," said a Parliamentary official Artak Manukyan.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035734.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035791.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035791.html

free breast cancer drugs

Earlier this year, the Healthcare Ministry began providing free "Her2" breast cancer medication to women. 132 patients are being treated. "They receive treatment in accordance with international guidelines. In the coming years, will be healthy and return to their daily lives fully."
Before the medication became free, 40% of women would reject the treatment due to high costs. This would lead to metastasis within 2 years. A 12-month treatment will reduce the chance of metastasis by 50%.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035769.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1007671.html

don't waste water

A subsidized infrastructure upgrade in Lusaghbyur will allow villagers to expand irrigated lands by 35 hectares, reduce water usage and waste, restore a local water network. 98 farms will be connected to the network.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201590

diasporans picking tomatoes

A group of Armenian diasporans visited Armenia to participate in a charity agricultural initiative.
https://youtu.be/s8VqOGztMSc?t=17
https://hetq.am/hy/article/124678

sports news

Something happened, and soccer star Henrikh Mkhitaryan began playing well again. 8 games, 5 goals, 4 goal passes for Parma. The fans declared him the best player in the match against Parma.
There is talk about extending his contract with Roma by the end of this year, says La Gazzetta Dello Sport.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035725.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035764.html
Skilling Open 2020 chess tournament continues among the top players. Levon Aronyan is at 12th place. Dutch Anish Giri continues to lead.
The tournament was created by Magnus Carlsen. Executive director Magnus Carlsen. Producer Magnus Carlsen. В главных ролях, Магнус Карлсен.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035724.html

COVID stats & news

+1977 tested. +813 infected. +26 deaths. +3845 healed. 26069 active.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035729.html
Healthcare Ministry: the numbers from the past week indicate a reduction of infections. We went from 2k daily cases during the war, to 1.4k nowadays. We saw this decline during the first wave, too. It's possible that it could rise again, so stay vigilant.
70-80% of the population would need to be infected for there to be a collective immunity. Our known cases are only 127k.
The WHO is aware of 6 instances of "double-infection". Its definition isn't clear right now. We don't know if they are were infected again or the first infection was never properly treated.
Already-infected people should also follow safety precautions: wash your hands, wear a mask, stay away from others. We're headed to the flu season in addition to COVID.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035721.html
Five experts from WHO traveled to Armenia to help treat patients in serious condition.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201565
New COVID rules for funeral services. The director will have to appoint a supervisor responsible for sanitizing the area, ensuring there is running water, air ventilation three times a day, etc.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035749.html
Russia will involve 40,000 volunteers this year to test the SPUTNIK 5 corona-vaccine. The initial results indicate a 91.4% success rate within 28 days and 95% within 42 days.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035790.html

you can help Artsakh & Armenia

www.1000plus.am (soldiers' medical help)
www.HimnaDram.org (for Artsakh & Armenia)
www.ArmeniaFund.org (U.S. tax-deductible)

archive of older posts

Previous: https://www.reddit.com/armenia/comments/jzr2gk/nov232020_news_wrapup_war_in_artsakh_karabakh/
Armeniapedia has been archiving my daily threads:
http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/Daily_Anti-Corruption_Reports

Off-Day Match Thread

DOUBLE FIXED MATCHES (19.12.2020). BEST FIXED GAMES !!!

Le Bilan - Ligue 1 Matchday 10 : Crocodile tears

This week, Le Bilan celebrates its first birthday. Thank you everyone for being here every week to follow the last events of your favorite championship. And thank you to my londoner friend LeMexicanos for being the perfect Hermes last week.
In Europe, the french clubs had another shocker with 4 losses and a win. Lille was brilliant in Milan and french football is grateful to the Dogues and Yusuf Yazıcı for this performance, single handedly saving the coefficient.
Before the last international break of the year, there was still a Ligue 1 matchday this weekend with three obvious matches to follow : PSG-Rennes, Nice-Monaco and Lyon-Saint-Étienne.

Appetizers

Marseille won in Strasbourg in the most efficient and minimalistic way possible, with only one shot (but what a shot) in the whole 90 minutes. If Philip Glass was involved in football, he would coach Marseille.
Unsurprisingly, Montpellier won in Bordeaux 2-0 with goals from Mollet, who is starting to get his starting spot back regularly, and Delort. Bordeaux keeps disappointing with no visible signs of improvement. Their fans already knew from the start that the season would be long and certainly painful, it's looking more and more this way.
After an upsetting loss at the hands of RB Leipzig, Paris had to redeem themselves against another Champions League team, Rennes, defeated 3-0 by Chelsea this week. With eight injured players at the start of the game (and twelve at the end, seriously what are the physios doing ?), Paris still had no troubles taking the three points thanks to another goal from Kean and a brace from Di María (well one goal and a half in the end as the second one was given as an own goal for Da Silva). Rennes started the season very well but the last few weeks have been extremely rough to say the least, most likely a consequence of the heavy calendar, which is new for the team.
For the first time this season (and the first time in competitive matches since february), Lille fell. Brest was the team that finally defeated the Dogues. By scoring three times in the first half, they certainly made things quite complicated for a team probably physically diminished after their formidable feat in Milan (though according to Christophe Galtier, it was more the mentality that was lacking). Still, they didn't give up, getting back progressively with two goals from the inevitable Burak Yılmaz. The turkish striker even shot on the post late in the game but ultimately it was the Bretons who left the pitch victorious.
In the least Angers-esque possible, the black & white massacred Nîmes in their own home 5-1. You know you did poorly when even Loïs Diony scores against you (ok it was a penalty but still). Angers reaches the first half of the table, two points away from the Champions League spots (*shudders*, please don't). Meanwhile, the Crocodiles continue to feel the heat of the red zone.
Another high-scoring match saw Lens snatching a draw in the last minutes against Reims for their comeback after three weeks out of the pitches because of a COVID outbreak in the team. No less than five goals were scored in the last 15 minutes with Florent Sotoca being the hero of the Sang et Or (again should I say) with two goals at the end of the game.
After being humiliated in Prague against a team that lacked half of their players due to COVID, Nice had to bounce back, especially against their nearest rival. Unfortunately, they encountered a Monaco who seems to be (finally, perhaps, we will see) on the right track. Disasi opened the score, Diop doubled it in the second half before Pierre Lees-Melou reduced the gap. Not enough despite a clear domination in the last 45 minutes.
A derby between Lyon and Saint-Étienne is never a normal match and once again bizarre events occurred. First, Saint-Étienne played way better than expected and made their rivals suffer, especially in the first half with notable disappointing performances from Depay, Aouar and Bruno Guimarães, concluded by an own goal from Anthony Lopes following a great individual work from Bouanga. After an hour of playtime, Garcia made three changes, bringing in Thiago Mendes, Paqueta and, above all, Tino Kadewere. The zimbabwean, best scorer and best player of Ligue 2 last season with Le Havre, scored a brace something he dreamt about right before the match, delivering the Gones from a potential humiliating defeat. At the end of the game, les Verts had the opportunity to equalize but Denis Bouanga completely bottled the penalty.
34 goals were scored this weekend, as I predicted on thursday (and I've got witnesses to certify it). So far this season we've got on average 2,82 goals/match, compared to 2,34 last season at the same time.

Main Course

Matches

Home	Score	Away
RC Strasbourg	0-1	Olympique de Marseille
		Sanson 72'
Girondins de Bordeaux	0-2	Montpellier HSC
		Mollet 49', Delort 66'
Paris Saint-Germain	3-0	Stade Rennais
Kean 11', Di María 21', Da Silva (og) 73'
Stade Brestois	3-2	Lille OSC
Pierre-Gabriel 15', Perraud 19', Cardona 41'		Yılmaz (p) 45'+3, Yılmaz 57'
RC Lens	4-4	Stade de Reims
Banza 21', Foket (og) 77', Sotoca 90', Sotoca 90'+1		Cafaro 47', Dia 54', Medina (og) 79', Dia 81'
FC Lorient	0-2	FC Nantes
		Bamba 80', Blas 83'
FC Metz	1-1	Dijon FCO
Yade 21'		Baldé 13'
Nîmes Olympique	1-5	Angers SCO
Koné 90'+1		Pereira Lage 1', Bahoken 23', Bahoken 56', Diony (p) 82', Cabot 90'+4
OGC Nice	1-2	AS Monaco
Lees Melou 69'		Disasi 23', Diop 53'
Olympique Lyonnais	2-1	AS Saint-Étienne
Kadewere 65', Kadewere 74'		Lopes (og) 40'

Table

#	Team	Pts	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Paris Saint-Germain	24	10	8	0	2	26	3	+23
2	Lille OSC	19	10	5	4	1	17	7	+10
3	Stade Rennais	18	10	5	3	2	18	14	+4
4	Olympique de Marseille	18	9	5	3	1	12	8	+4
5	Olympique Lyonnais	17	10	4	5	1	17	10	+7
6	AS Monaco	17	10	5	2	3	17	14	+3
7	Montpellier HSC	17	10	5	2	3	16	13	+3
8	OGC Nice	17	10	5	2	3	15	12	+3
9	Angers SCO	16	10	5	1	4	15	20	-5
10	FC Metz	15	10	4	3	3	11	8	+3
11	RC Lens	14	8	4	2	2	14	14	+0
12	Girondins de Bordeaux	12	10	3	3	4	9	11	-2
13	Stade Brestois	12	10	4	0	6	15	22	-7
14	FC Nantes	11	9	3	2	4	11	13	-2
15	AS Saint-Étienne	10	10	3	1	6	10	15	-5
16	Stade de Reims	9	10	2	3	5	16	18	-2
17	FC Lorient	8	10	2	2	6	12	17	-5
18	Nîmes Olympique	8	10	2	2	6	10	19	-9
19	RC Strasbourg	6	10	2	0	8	10	19	-9
20	Dijon FCO	4	10	0	4	6	5	19	-14

1-2 Champions League group stage
3 Champions League qualifiers round 3
4 Europa League group stage
5 Europa Conference League group stage
18 Relegation play-offs
19-20 Relegation to Ligue 2

Goals

Player	Team	Goals	This week
Boulaye Dia	Stade de Reims	8	(+2)
Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	7
Wissam Ben Yedder	AS Monaco	6
Ibrahima Niane	FC Metz	.
Burak Yılmaz	Lille OSC	.	(+2)
Memphis Depay	Olympique Lyonnais	5
Stéphane Bahoken	Angers SCO	4	(+2)
Jonathan Bamba	Lille OSC	.
Andy Delort	Montpellier HSC	.	(+1)
Ignatius Ganago	RC Lens	.
Gaël Kakuta	RC Lens	.
Karl Toko Ekambi	Olympique Lyonnais	.
Yoane Wissa	FC Lorient	.

Assists

Player	Team	Assists
Gaëtan Laborde	Montpellier HSC	5
Florian Thauvin	Olympique de Marseille	.
Jonathan Bamba	Lille OSC	4
Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	.
Pablo Sarabia	Paris Saint-Germain	.
Benjamin Bourigeaud	Stade Rennais	3
Romain Del Castillo	Stade Rennais	.
Memphis Depay	Olympique Lyonnais	.
Zinedine Ferhat	Nîmes Olympique	.
Amine Gouiri	OGC Nice	.
Neymar	Paris Saint-Germain	.
Arnaud Nordin	AS Saint-Étienne	.
Ismaël Traoré	Angers SCO	.

COVID Championship

(May not be 100% accurate)

Team	COVID cases
RC Lens	14
FC Nantes	10
RC Strasbourg	9
Olympique de Marseille	8
Montpellier Hérault SC	.
Paris Saint-Germain	.
Lille OSC	7
AS Saint-Étienne	.
OGC Nice	6
Dijon FCO	5
Nîmes Olympique	.
Stade Rennais	.
Olympique Lyonnais	4
AS Monaco	.
Angers SCO	3
FC Metz	2
Girondins de Bordeaux	1
Stade Brestois	.
FC Lorient	.
Stade de Reims	.

Dessert

Top 3 Goals of the Week

#	Player	Match
1	Morgan Sanson	RC Strasbourg vs Olympique de Marseille
2	Boulaye Dia	RC Lens vs Stade de Reims
3	Florian Sotoca	RC Lens vs Stade de Reims

The Toulouse Corner

I had already planned to take stock of Ligue 2 since one or two weeks given the fact there were 5 matchdays since the last one. So imagine my reaction when I learned Toulouse lost against Valenciennes, a team that hadn't won since September. 5-4. At home. With FOUR GOALS FROM A RIGHT BACK. Was it laughter ? Confusion ? How does one not feel like it was a gift to the Bilan from the Almighty ? So yeah, that happened. In his whole career before this match, the hero of the day Jérémy Cuffaut, now 32, had only scored 11 goals. Unsurprisingly, he becomes the first defender having done such a feat in the history of Ligue 2. And that includes two wonderful free kicks (here's the last one, credit to NotMeladroit).
Now I know laughing about Toulouse is fun but apart from this little hiccup, they have actually performed quite well lately. Since their first win in 11 months against Auxerre that we talked about last time, they have added another three wins to their tally, consecutively nonetheless, which allows them to reach the heights of the 9th place. And it's a dutchman, Stijn Spierings, who has become the technical leader of the team that still hopes to get back in the elite and with only one point from the playoffs spots, it's definitely doable.
But the team there's a need to talk about is definitely Paris FC. After a last season where they barely saved their place in Ligue 2, it was tough to expect something incredible from them. Yet not only are the parisians leading the ranking, they are crushing it. With eight wins in ten matches and seven points above the second Troyes, the best attack and the second best defense, PFC is currently on an autoroute heading towards Ligue 1. It would be the first time two teams from Paris compete in Ligue 1 since 1990 and the relegation of Racing Club de Paris ^{(though technically it can be debated since RC Paris is based in Colombes which is 6 km from Paris but let's not get too picky}^).
Apart from the huge gap at the top, Ligue 2 is extremely tight with only the tiny club of Chambly seemingly on the wrong track. The fact they survived last year for their first L2 season, finishing at the 10th place, was already incredible.
Also shoutout to Mickaël Le Bihan from Auxerre, top scorer of the league. Le Bilan 🤝 Le Bihan
The complete Ligue 2 results
Ranking

L'Équipe Team of the Week

https://imgur.com/a/ETlhpSO

Quotes

André Villas-Boas, Marseille coach, slightly angry at journalists :

You are not allowed to make efforts to win a match and when you win a match with your efforts the match is saved by others! What are you saying! But what are you saying sincerely! You have to stop sometimes! Make concrete analyses! If you look at other clubs, you will see this kind of things. You think that winning in Strasbourg away from home is easy! Extraordinary guys make the difference in all the clubs, it's always like that. It's a victory on a difficult pitch that takes us very high in the rankings. I know you're upset but that's how it is, that's life.

Thomas Tuchel, Paris coach, also angry at journalists :

For me you are disrespecting the players who are there and you are disrespecting the team's performance by asking five questions about Marquinhos, two about Florenzi and none about the game, none about the opponent or what is needed today. It shows that you have no respect at all for what we are doing and what the team needs to do here, and that is very sad for me.

Julien Stéphan, Rennes coach :

There was more realism, more efficiency, I also found more cunning in them, more intensity. We have a lot of progress to make to be able to fight against these teams. We saw it this week in wednesday's match (3-0 defeat against Chelsea in the Champions League) or today's match: even if they are two different match contents, at the end of the match, that makes two heavy defeats and there are a lot of things to correct.

Christophe Galtier, Lille coach :

We thought the kick-off was going to be at 2 p.m., we were an hour wrong. We found an opponent that we knew was determined, we didn't know how to respond to their commitment, especially in their offensive races. We didn't exist, it was difficult for us to make the counter-efforts, just like the first two goals. When it is the full-backs who score, it is because there is a real problem of balance. [...] When there is such a contrast between two matches, the explanation is mental, and the only person responsible is me. My starting eleven didn't work at all. We couldn't get back into Sunday's match. I should have injected more freshness.

ThePr1d3, Rennes supporter and #FrenchTech enthusiast :

Truffert is such a cone he could be a VLC ambassador.

Next matchday

Friday 20/11, 19:00
Stade Rennais - Girondins de Bordeaux
Friday 20/11, 21:00
AS Monaco - Paris Saint-Germain
Saturday 21/11, 17:00
Stade Brestois - AS Saint-Étienne
Saturday 21/11, 21:00
Olympique de Marseille - OGC Nice
Sunday 22/11, 13:00
FC Nantes - FC Metz
Sunday 22/11, 15:00
Montpellier Hérault SC - RC Strasbourg
Dijon FCO - RC Lens
Stade de Reims - Nîmes Olympique
Sunday 22/11, 17:00
Angers SCO - Olympique Lyonnais
Sunday 22/11, 21:00
Lille OSC - FC Lorient
Thanks a lot to Hippemann for all the clips and the tables ! For more news about the best league in the world (except for the other four) and to improve your french, come and subscribe to /Ligue1.
All feedbacks are welcome !
Previous matchdays :
Season 2020-2021
M1 - M2 - M3 - M4 - M5 - M6 - M7 - M8 - M9
Season 2019-2020
M12 - M13 - M14 - M15 - M16 - M17 - M18 - M19 - M20 - M21 - M22 - M23 - M24 - M25 - M26 - M27 - M28

Some words of unsolicited advice for the devs, before the Alpha really gets underway.

Hi all,
I've been a part of countless Betas/Early Access/playtests etc. by now, and unfortunately that also means I've seen plenty of games rise and fall in the process, sometimes through no fault of their own. Case in point: I was a part of the beautiful Evolve community from Day 1, and I trust the devs miss their old relationship with THQ as much as I do, seeing as what happened to that poor game once 2K's genius sales team got their paws on the monetization model. RIP to a title (and genre!!) which was lightyears ahead of its time.
Over the years, I've come to realize one simple fact about games that seems almost stupid to point out in conversation, but that a surprising number of devs (or perhaps publishers, who stifle the devs' creativity/Research and Development efforts for budget concerns) also seem to forget: games are mechanics, first and foremost.
You are not making a movie, you are not writing a novel with an interesting story, you are not trying to impress anybody with graphical fidelity or soundtrack or celebrity cameos or whatever else. I am not saying all of these aspects are somehow bad things to have; in fact, some of the greatest games in history (Shadow of the Colossus, Ocarina of Time, and yes, even Doom) showcased the best of these areas as well. However, what I am saying is that if your game only emphasizes all of these cosmetic features, but the core gameplay loop itself is shit, your game is absolutely guaranteed to fail, regardless of how nice the graphics are, how witty the dialogue is, how much effort was spent crafting the soundtrack, or whatever else.
Look at every single popular title we see thriving today: Minecraft sacrificed graphical fidelity for some of the most replayable and layered exploration/survival mechanics ever, adding an Infiniminer spin to Dwarf Fortress's already proven success. League of Legends stole DotA's entire gameplay loop and in a stroke of financial genius, made it both free-to-play and standalone. Battlefield allowed you to truly experience sprawling flavors of total warfare across land, sea, and sky, regardless of how beautiful the Frostbite engine can also be. Call of Duty boiled down close infantry combat into arcadey, bite-sized pieces you could pick up and put down numerous times throughout the course of one day. Apex Legends took the rough framework of DayZ/H1Z1/PUBG battle royale and added DotA-style heroes plus hyper-mobile combat for its unique take on the format. Fortnite ripped from the same source material, but introduced an unprecedented building/cover system lifted straight from its forgotten zombie-survival campaign mode.
Even supposed "sleeper hits" with unexpectedly healthy playerbases showcase the same exact truth; Rainbow Six: Siege brought tactical-ops gunplay into the 21st century, adding a layer of depth and polish which Counter-Strike could only dream of. Dying Light took the "proof of concept" open-world zombie mash of Dead Island, and added a great mix of parkour and day/night cycles to really "bake in" a daily routine of exploration, scavenging and combat. Rocket League added a loony mix of arcade racing and physics to an otherwise obvious replica of soccer. And so on, and so on.
In other words, the more you "lean into" game mechanics specifically, the more likely your game will continue to live on; I believe mechanics are literally a bottomless well of success for any developers both intelligent and fortunate enough to explore them. And that is where Back4Blood comes into question.
It is no secret whatsoever that this game is essentially a spiritual successor to the Left4Dead series. More than just a vague or superficial inspiration, we are basically seeing some identical parallels in the Alpha footage: four hasty humans with guns and consumables can be downed and revived, traveling down a linear level into a safe house while sharing items and banter along the way. There are basic horde zombies alongside Special infected, "setpiece structures" for some of the level design, and so on.
My request for the devs is this: please, please lean into improving every mechanic this game has, which Left4Dead does NOT have, because I fear there is more than a slight chance of jaded newcomers (mistakenly) saying something like “Oh, this is just Left4Dead inside a new engine? Yeahh I’m not paying $60 for a reskin”, and now you’ve lost them forever (via bad first impression alone).
The following is only a rough list, but so far I remember a couple standout features which already set Back4Blood completely apart:

A deck of cards, to help "Mutate" each playthrough, but in a far more intricate way.
Perks which actually make each character mechanically unique, unlike the strictly cosmetic variety of Left4Dead.
Actual sights and scopes for all of the guns, which can make a huge gameplay difference if implemented wisely (more on that below).
"Environmental" modifiers, which are a beautiful way to add variety and danger to the otherwise completely static (read: numbingly predictable) level design of L4D. Again, this one can be dug into SO much more heavily than just mere fog or rain on each map, although simple weather effects were still a genius addition by Turtle Rock.
I believe we heard some kind of blurb in the reveal stream about actual settlement cities being fortified by humanity in the campaign? As opposed to Left4Dead's just running through one giant rat maze of railroaded checkpoints, with clever window-dressing to hide the fact that you're all basically running a "point A to point B" sprint forever, and no other game type at all?

Now, I do not want to get my hopes up here, but if this last point means there is any chance for a new "wave survival" mode, where you are forced to hunker down and gradually build up defenses against an increasingly punishing tide of zombies (think Gears of War's excellent "Horde" and "Beast" modes), that would be simply incredible.
But now let me expand on what I meant earlier by "lean into the mechanics", using the bullet points mentioned above.

The Card System

For example, when it comes to the roguelike deck mechanic, please stray as far as humanly possible away from any boring-ass "Trivial +% buff to Stat X" incrementalism as your game balance allows. Obviously, having significant stat increases like a critical damage multiplier or heavy health/"armor" boost is one thing, but if we are ever stuck in the Korean MMO-grind territory of "+1.5% extra HP" or whatever, I believe this approach will not make a sufficiently noticeable difference from Left4Dead's formula to set this new game truly apart.
Limit-test the shit out of this card system, and only scale back the mechanics once you find something obviously broken; it is better to try and FAIL at making the card system incredibly flavorful and impactful, than to never try at all. Believe in your creativity when concocting brand-new mechanical interactions here, and not just dopey number-crunching which has minimal impact on each session's memorable variety.
Let horde zombies die instantly to any headshot, but then explode for minor AoE damage too, so your heroes have to gamble on a long-range damage strategy. Let the Special infected die, but then respawn as two of themselves with half HP and damage each, unless you make sure to first prevent this duplicate-resurrection by killing them with a specific weapon type like melee, fire or whatever else. If it is raining, let the vomiting Specials leave a large pool on the ground that deals Area damage/debuff constantly (or perhaps indefinitely), since the ground is now wet. Let the pouncing Infected deal massive extra damage to humans that are much further away, forcing you be particularly careful for them, but also perhaps forcing you to rush forward through the level as a means of countering this buff by decreasing pounce distances as much as possible. This game is in Alpha, so throw as many of these crazy combinations into the card rotation as possible, and only remove them once the playerbase decides it is truly too much to handle (perhaps some of the more "extreme" cards could be restricted to a higher Campaign difficulty, or "hardcore" multiplayer lobbies, so that noobs aren't scared away from the game early on?)
Even for the human card loadouts, adhere to this exact same "move fast and break things" power level for their design, ignoring vanilla stat boosts as much as you can: let the first 10 rounds of every assault rifle magazine be loaded with explosive ammo. Allow instant, "snap-targeting" POV camera to the iron sights of a gun, but then remove the hipfire crosshair entirely, for a purely "marksman" playstyle. Allow a single healthpack to be used twice (but maybe let these particular HP bars drain slowly over time, if this card becomes too overpowered in humans' favor). Allow much faster reload speeds and large magazine sizes for the "gunner" class, but then remove their ability to sprint (or make them walk slower; I'm not sure if B4B has a sprint button).
I believe this deckbuilding facet of the game is a great addition to the genre overall, and a massive key to B4B's future success.
Edit 1: Oh, I should also mention at this point; I fully understand (and lament) the eternal tension between developers trying to expand on new ideas, versus their publishers refusing to finance anything more than a two-minute brainstorming session for each area of the game. Thus I can fully appreciate the adverse effect this shareholder pressure would have, on such efforts as keeping the card system surprising and engaging via direct development hours invested.
However, I also trust we can all recite horror stories by now of penny-pinching managers essentially dooming even AAA projects by strangling their necessary innovation stage in the cradle (I’m not talking just in gaming here, or even in the entertainment industry overall). Warner Brothers management obviously has to waddle up to shareholder HQ at some point in B4B's life cycle, but let me just emphasize one thing: in this day and age, you are not only being given a simple choice between "less money and more money". You are potentially being exposed to the rib-cracking dilemma of "some revenue versus NO revenue".
I'm not only talking the failure to turn a decent profit here: I'm talking a real potential for premium creators to not even make back their initial investment to begin with, if things go terribly sales-wise. WB Games has already been slapped to its senses once in the recent past, so let's all just hope that crucial lesson stays fresh in their busy minds.
This is not a time when our grandmas would budget $60 per year on new games at Christmas, so "Hey, let's all just hope that guaranteed expenditure goes to WB this year". Ours is an unprecedented era where free-to-play games with 60GB installs and premium graphics are more than enough to distract untold millions of players year-round, so your mandatory sales task is having to convince all these FPS consumers that your purchased game is definitely worth more of their time and money than that free game.
Today we do not preorder titles from physical stores, with no real hope of refunding them once we realize how broken their business model (or even basic gameplay loop) is. We download entire titles and DLC from pro-refund services like Steam, who have both the infrastructure and intelligence to sidestep some major legal hurdles guaranteed down future roads. The global landscape is now ever-changing.
Today there are not a bunch of happy people with leftover thousands in their bank account to burn on whatever entertainment catches their fancy. We are living dead in the middle of COVID Winter, so people's financial and psychological tolerance for sales-team bullshit like this Non-Cosmetic Season Pass junk will not go over well, and they will be unusually quick to respond. I can almost guarantee you this.
There is nowhere for salesmen to hide anymore, and I say this as a former sales guy myself (emphasis on the "former", ethically speaking; goodbye to those sweet paychecks 😅). The internet contains enough online ratings, pre-release "journalism", and just overall unflinching player scrutiny at this point to behead any oh-so-clever publisher who thinks they can "pull a fast one" on consumers nowadays. There is nowhere left to hide.
Anyway, um ... moving on.

Character Traits

I'll start to move along a bit more quickly here, but I don't remember exactly what TRS's Community Manager mentioned about what makes each human character different; I believe besides the truly unique melee weapons they are locked to, everything else was just health and "strength" boosts ...?
I would urge that, once again, the devs avoid any boring, "+50 HP to your health bar" or "+10% melee weapon damage" stuff right now, and create character perks which truly stand out from the others. These buffs should help justify us preferring our favorite characters to begin with.
Remove crosshair-spread completely for the dedicated "sharpshooter" character. Give one of them the "berserker" ability to dual-wield melee weapons, for double the strikes. Allow a character to carry far more explosives or consumables, as the "mule" class for the team. Allow the "hunter" class to either spot Special infected from much further away with an extra UI outline, or just somehow "smell them coming" initially and warn the rest of your team, long before any of the others can.
Lean into every single mechanic, as far as "fair" balancing allows of course (if these buffs pull human winrates too high in Versus mode or whatever, perhaps either start drip-feeding Team Zombie some speed/damage buffs in response, or even just revert the original human changes entirely). Ignore boring-ass vanilla stat boosts that do not make an immediately tangible impact on the game. I cannot stress this enough.

Gun Sights

I would very much like to say that as a huge fan of iron sights in shooting games, there is an absolute world of difference that a distinct separation (between hipfire and sighting/scoping) can make in an FPS. For anybody who doesn't believe me, I would point you to the incredibly meaty, immersive, and rewarding gunplay of the Insurgency games. Sights exist for a reason.
You do not want the hipfire accuracy to feel like a fucking magical laser beam, or it will start to feel like reskinned Left4Dead (or even worse: Counter-Strike) all over again. Let the players truly feel the crazy kick of an LMG for once, if they decide to go in like Rambo and ignore the sights on top of the goddamn gun. I don't think there's a prone position in this game, but perhaps reward players who use the crouch button with reduced recoil from both hipfire and iron sights when they shoot?
Now that you've actually chosen to introduce gun sights in this game (a feature I also absolutely loved in Evolve too, by the way), give players a good reason to use them! Aside from the positive step of “weak spots” on the Special infected, and the obvious bonus to aiming with sights in general, you can also perhaps add “hanging traps” to the map which are set off if you shoot the single rope suspending them, introduce “treasure goblin” zombies who run away but can be shot for their loot if you are fast and accurate enough, maybe place the new Snitch zombies on far-away rooftops so players are rewarded for distinctly fast and accurate gunfire, and so on.

Environmental Features

Ohhh boy, where do we start with this one.
Okay: what we already see here is great. Fog, maybe rain or dust storms, increased wind making it harder to hear other humans or zombies, possible lightning strikes lighting the grass on fire? Etc.
But let's get really crazy here: what about acid rain that forces you to run for cover, numerous times in one match? What about massive sinkholes that open up on the ground in larger field areas, forcing you to take a now careful trip over what used to be an easy sprint across fully open ground? What about destroying certain walls, fences or windows of buildings (to give zombies more access you ambush you), or just removing the side of a building entirely, caused by a messy "military air strike"?
Even for the tamer weather effects, try to brainstorm ways in which otherwise simple seasonal changes can have terrifying effects on the zombies experiencing them. I already mentioned vomit lasting much longer in rain, but how about making strong winds cause the vomit (or even pouncing Infected) to travel much farther as well? Howling winds masking the screams of certain special Infected, allowing them to sneak up much closer to you before being revealed? Snowy or "icy" areas causing all the corpses which comprise the Tall Boy's giant arm to be frozen solid, forcing him to swing it more slowly but then also cause massive damage?
The sky's the limit folks (no pun intended). Let us feel like the in-game world lives and breathes just as much as the actual zombies do.

Fortification Mode ...?

I don't want to elaborate on this too much, in case I'm barking up the wrong tree. But I just want to say to Turtle Rock that if anyone can develop a worthy fusion of Left4Dead's gunplay, Gears of War's Horde mode and World War Z's punishing horde AI, it's you guys. Like I said, I was a part of Evolve's community from the very beginning, and while it crushes me to think about the future that game could've had under competent publishers, the innovative talent and relentless polish of that game cannot be denied by anybody. TRS devs are second to none.

In Summary

This post is already gigantic, but I feel like I've made my point in as many different ways as I can. Here I'll now leave the
TL,DR: Dear devs: move fast, and break things. Or as the saying was made famous at GDC, "Fail fast, and find the fun". Lean into everything which makes your game different from Left 4 Dead, because the existing framework is already beloved by gamers, many times over. Make B4B faster, crazier, scarier, just ... better. Do NOT be afraid to punish the players with new modifier cards that might be extreme at first, because you can always just nerf or remove them later; WE ARE YOUR GUINEA PIGS. But on the other hand, find ways to mix already-existing mechanics like explosive weapons or rainy weather into disproportionately large gameplay implications, so that you don't have to burn a bunch of precious development resources on creating an entirely new Special infected from scratch or whatever.
You've already got a great thing going here, so please, just keep the train rolling forward as far as Unreal Engine and your mighty little brain cells allow.
Oh, and one final
Edit 2: I know it might seem like I downplayed the importance of great graphics and sound etc. above, but that was not my intention whatsoever. I simply wanted game mechanics to be PRIORITY #1 in the design pipeline, so that we don't ever have to worry about players becoming numb to what might devolve into "reskinned Left4Dead gameplay loop", once the eye-candy (inevitably) loses its appeal.
However, it is a fair assumption that fighting players’ boredom means making their most common tasks as interesting as possible, and cosmetics actually play a huge role in that specifically. If the most common B4B player activity is shooting zombies, we should definitely make that part of the game as variety-filled as possible via cosmetics as well, alongside the crucial mechanical trappings.
Even for such an old game, Left4Dead's brutal gore system is still simply incredible: shooting a sprinting zombie in the guts makes them glance down as they stumble onto the ground, clawing at their own innards like unraveling spaghetti. Shoot them in the head? If the bullet isn't big enough to just explode their skull completely, they still slump over instantly dead, their brain immediately losing any connection to their body. Used explosives on a horde? They all burst up and outward from the impact simultaneously like bloody fireworks, dozens of limbs and torsos blossoming apart in a demonic ballet.
We absolutely need more of that in B4B: make us feel the impact of our guns on the horde. Small arms fire leaves only small red holes, but larger-caliber or explosive rounds should start mulching them: meat and guts punching out their exit wounds and leaving large bloody splatters on the walls behind them. I know there was muzzle flash from guns in the Alpha footage already, even though other cosmetics like zombie dismemberment and door-breaking are clearly in Alpha state, so just keep up the good work guys. (Perhaps mechanical implications for gore as well? Armless zombies can't grab you, one-legged zombies stand still or fall prone, gutless zombies start vomiting up blood but will still swipe at you if you walk too close? One can dream.)
Not just the gore, mind you: polish every cosmetic involved with the core gameplay loop. Make the Specials' screams and impacts echo in our ears, to justify their status as our “arch-enemies”, as opposed to the faceless Horde. When the Ogre roars in your face, your eyes should falter into tunnel-vision as primal fear takes over your now-hyperventilating character's brain (in the B4B Alpha footage, that poor guy just kinda ... pops up like a Plants vs. Zombies character off to his daily commute, and then plods around like a giant baby ... do you guys remember the intense ground-shaking and boss music of Tanks in L4D?? Make us FEAR the Ogre, not just laugh as we walk past his sad slow ass.)
Gunfire should sound punchy, dangerously loud (does it draw Horde attention?), and satisfying upon impact, not just those crappy muted "click" noises of COD Warzone and Co. (again, I would point readers to the Insurgency series for exemplary explosive and firearms audio; from what I remember, Subnautica was another indie game with incredible audio design.)
However, when it comes to how "accurate" the gun sounds are, or how closely textures match their real-life counterparts? Not as big a priority IMO, since the core gunplay loop is not disassembling your gun or adding random cosmetics to them (err ... I hope). This is not ARMA, and any game with zombies already in it surely isn't compelled to mimic "realistic" items or environments (past a reasonable degree). When struggling to decide how zombies, guns, or explosions "should" sound, err on the side of fun I say. All in all, I’m confident you can afford to spend slightly less dev resources on the whole “realism simulator” side of things, seeing as players’ attention should most likely be elsewhere.
I think I might have sounded like I'm now off to play the Alpha like the rest of you all, but my PC can't actually run the Alpha (and perhaps not the full game when it comes out with optimizations, either). This entire wall of theoretical text was just a combination of my time with unfinished games of all types, and a whole lot of Left4Dead specifically; though purely hypothetical, I'm confident I covered everything that came to mind here.
Have fun without me guys, and above all else: massive congratulations to Turtle Rock specifically, on this new chapter in their timeline. You guys are some of my favorite devs on the planet (who else had the fucking brains to release FREE map DLCs to avoid splitting up the playerbase, all the way back in 2015?? The talent of pioneers always speaks for itself).
Wishing Phil Robb, Chris Ashton, and friends the very best, because you guys definitely deserve it. Take care

soccer prediction today matches video

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Soccer Prediction For Today Matches

Soccer prediction for today matches

Soccer Prediction For Today Matches

Soccer Prediction For Today Matches

Correct & Winning Net Predictions for Today Soccer Matches

Sunday fixed 1x2 matches. Even today all predictions are very good. Here are some prof of winning tickets from today selections with http://x12.biz tips. Best winning odds, fixed matches and of course a good selection of 1x2 betting on soccer, tennis and more.

[Soccer] European Qualifiers - FIFA World Cup 2018 - your predictions of todays matches.

Predictions On Score of the Soccer Match On Today

The record between these two sides is pretty even, with 7 wins for Union, 6 for Braunschweig and 5 draws in their 18 competitive encounters. And who will win today??? With our free football (soccer) stats you can make your predictions on goals, corners and cards in this match!!

r/soccer's Best of 2020 - Winners!

Jan/29/2021: __ Volunteer soldier's story __ Opposition members arrested after calls for murder & violence __ Interview: corruption in army __ Public official arrested for bribery __ Paid paternity leave __ Stats: economy, corruption busts, COVID __ Genome sequencing __ Smart farming __ Avg. salary

the war, army corruption, and possible solutions

flyers are distributed encouraging murder

update: five arrested after trying to break into government building

update: Vahan Badasryan arrested after threats

update: group tasked with Constitutional reform discussion will wrap-up soon

volunteer soldier recalls Artsakh war episodes / Manuel Manukyan and Edward Manukyan:

daily life in Artsakh's Shosh village

search operations continue

POWs

Qashatagh residents need compensation

displaced Shurnukh and Vorotan villagers will have new homes

anti-corruption: NSS busts Economy Ministry official with bribery

update: some large businesses abused micro-business laws to evade taxes

anti-corruption: +70% felony cases by IRS / ֏21 billion in damages uncovered

Do not ship narcotics wrapped inside tolma. Thank you.

draft bill to prohibit legalization of illegal buildings on public lands

COVID stats

COVID vaccines for Russian peacekeepers

COVID vs economy in December

Armenian scientists sequence 12 coronavirus genomes / Mutation details revealed

Soccer Federation will renovate a stadium in Abovyan city

you've got to clean that snow from sidewalks

farmers to use drones and robots

Nature Ministry busts illegal fishing in Lake Sevan

forest guards will receive another salary raise

2020 average monthly nominal salaries

paid paternity leave goes into effect in Armenia

Made in Kurtan

female + male = ?

Museum of Russian Arts

Artsakh refugee children entertain fellow refugee children

All Armenia Fund donates warm bedding to Artsakh refugees

top-10 bestseller children's books in December

donations to Artsakh & recovering soldiers

archive of older news

disclaimer

Offensive 4-2-3-1 *Long analysis*

Cloudtemplar on Damwon vs Sunning + Reflection

Damwon 3:1 Victory!

General Ideas

Game 1

SofM Shen Jungle

Pick/Ban

Sunny Side Up

Suning Roster on Paper vs Reality

Shen pt. 2

Game 2

Lucian

Why Eve Why Not Lillia?

Millionaire Binn and Vietnam Rengar

Game 3

All Right, Then. Keep Your Secret

Damwon's Biggest Strength

RED vs BLUE

Game 4

Series MVP

Best Players in Each Role in Worlds

2nd Best Players

Huanfeng

Why Caps?

Q&A

1. Was there a party?

2. Cake?

3. Seed Change?

4. Next year?

5. Cloudtemplar's Schedule

Jan/29/2021: Volunteer soldier's story Opposition members arrested after calls for murder & violence Interview: corruption in army Public official arrested for bribery Paid paternity leave Stats: economy, corruption busts, COVID Genome sequencing Smart farming __ Avg. salary

Offensive 4-2-3-1 Long analysis