Starting May 16th and running through June 7th, Age of Empires fans can look forward to the largest team game tournament to date in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
Battle of Africa 2, hosted by MembTV, will help set the standard as the first major team game tournament in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Two years after the success of the first tournament, Battle of Africa 2, will feature all of your favorite expert players competing for their share of the massive $20,000 prize pool. If they want to emerge victorious, they are going to have to adapt to the vast continent of Africa.
What is Battle of Africa?
The Battle of Africa is renown for its fast, action-packed games on a wide variety of custom and classic random maps that favor aggressive play-styles. Every map was updated to fit the varied themes of Africa: with elephants and rhinos replacing the classic wild boars on Arabia, as well as zebras and ostriches instead of deer. The event was all about innovation, both through balance improvements to classic maps, as well as an added suite of brand new maps designed to put each team’s adaptability to the test.
In a recent interview I had with MembTV, he explains that:
“Age of Empires II is a strategy game at-heart, so we want Battle of Africa 2 to reward teams that really focus on the strategy [aspect of the game]. With the original Battle of Africa, I was very excited to see that the successful teams each had different strategies prepared for every single map. We expect to see even better in Battle of Africa 2!”
This is all a result of the innovative map design which ensures that every team had to carefully plan out their strategies per map, keeping every match fresh and full of surprises. Battle of Africa 2 promises many more entertaining and fast-paced games.
Battle of Africa 1 ended with former TyRanT members TheViper, DauT and TaToH facing-off against Aftermath (aM) in a great series with the former TyRanT members emerging victorious.
A look at Battle of Africa 2
While Team Secret is no doubt the favorite to win Battle of Africa 2, every team has a strong chance at the finals. All of the active top players are competing again, but this time some team rosters have shifted significantly.
As a long-time follower of the competitive scene, I’ve always had my eye on dogao, as he is a well-respected player and very recently made it to the semi-finals in Hidden Cup 3—only losing to TheViper. Likewise, miguel has always been a strong performer and according to MembTV, “miguel really excels with cavalry civilizations,” which are the focus of The Last Khans expansion to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Both dogao and miguel actually played together in the first Battle of Africa—placing 5th—but this time they will be adding LaaaaaN to their roster. LaaaaaN very recently qualified for the highly-competitive Red Bull Wololo and decisively earned his way to the final stages in many recent tournaments.
MembTV describes that while each team has a great chance, he will personally be keeping a close eye on Team Heresy to see how their new roster performs with dogao, Miguel, and LaaaaaN . Not only will Aftermath have another shot at the finals, so will all the countless fan favorites. Battle of Africa 2 is set to make May and June very exciting months for Age of Empires fans, as we all get to cheer on our chosen teams and watch how they each adapt to their new rosters and see what clever strategies they will bring to each game.
Which team will you be cheering for in the first major team game tournament for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition?
And if you miss any of the matches, they’ll all be uploaded to YouTube in the Battle of Africa 2 Playlist.
— Written by Troy “Resonance22” Hetzler
