Friends, we have a new interview for you! Macca has shared his knowledge about the most frequent mistakes people make when setting traps, and he told us how to take an experienced and attentive opponent by surprise.

V — Vikings: War of Clans

М — Macca

V.: Hi, Macca! Tell us how long you've been playing and in which Kingdom. What Clan are you member of now?

М.: Hello and thanks for the interview. I’ve been playing for about two and a half years now. I’m in the same сlan I created when I first started: Blood Brothers 2b, kingdom 71. Still have the same players from day one. Good friends and loyal players. Fortunately, most of the top fighters in our kingdom joined us and some from other kingdoms too. So now we have a decent team with only one kvk loss in over a year, and for these reasons I will stay with my loyal clan BB2B until the game is over for me.

V.: Could you please share your experience and give some advice to our Jarls? Tell us what pitfalls to avoid when setting a trap for an enemy, and what to pay attention to.

М.: We don’t set traps too often, TBH we are more offensive fighters but really, the trap has to be calculated based on the сlan or kingdom you face.

V.: How do you evaluate your opponent? Do you change your tactics depending on the target or do you take the same approach to everything?

М.: The way to evaluate your opponent is a quick look at troops trained, lost, killed, and gear, of course, but for the majority of the time a decent player will disguise, but the best way is to save them as a contact and check gear now and then for when disguise runs out. That way you have a better idea of what you’re hunting. I suppose it comes down to an educated risk and knowing your account's limits. Normally, after the first 24 hrs of a major event, you have an idea of who the active fighters are, so really it’s just timing and patience when to hit.

V.: Tell us how you choose your targets.

М.: Choosing a preferred target goes on influence and troops trained and lost, palace size for the oracle, etc. I have a pretty good idea of what my limit is considering my knowledge and troop power. But now and again we go wild and hit anything blue in cvc, we call them Smurfs no points lost lol. If we win the first two phases of kvk, the third day is called No Risk No Fun Day, basically a day to test your limits without giving away the event. Anything goes.

V.: How important is espionage to you? Do you perform espionage, or do you prefer to waste no time and attack right away?

М.: Espionage is very important and the easiest way to land a hit, in my opinion, as no red alert so you can keep trying if you miss the first time. The problem for small to medium influence players is being able to repel a scout or troop attack using lynx etc. as the power of these max players is unreal. I do use espionage but my troops are much stronger as I focus more on troops until I hit my goal, then I work on scouts after.

V.: Sometimes you have to trick enemies into removing their Shields. To your mind, which ploys still work, and which ones are no longer useful?

М.: I think most ways to get your opponents to drop their shield are well known now, so you have to be quick and follow the active fighters until they get comfortable, then attack: patience is key.

V.: What's a guaranteed way to bait an experienced and alert opponent? Or is it impossible and it all depends on luck and reaction speed?

М.: Most experienced players will only be hit if they want to, so the best bet is the less experienced players with low troop kills. The most effective trap is a player who has focused on either troops or scouts, only low influence, but strong in that category. The key is none wasted influence if a trap works only on defence and health offence isn’t needed.

V.: What mistakes do you think Jarls make most often when setting traps?

М.: I’d say, one, setting small, high tier traps when facing a strong and organised clan, two, setting a big trap when facing a clan much stronger than yours, three, setting a trap with the host in lynx gear defending troops and scouts. Four, tile traps unless you're a very strong player, it’s just not worth it, putting high tier troops on a tile to defend against t1 tile hitters lol.

V.: Tell us which types of traps you believe to be the most unreliable and ineffective.

М.: The most effective trap, in my opinion, is a player focused on one troop type with enough t3 to defend against a solo hit with a low troop count to look appealing to the hunter. If you're unsure of what is needed to repel an attack from a big player, test with a friend from your own kingdom on a 1000 times smaller scale, i.e. 1.6m March equals 1,600 troops vs 20k equalling 20m that way you know what is necessary to defend a big attack with little loss. Before you go to the battlefield for real.

V.: Have you ever had a memorable battle with a particular opponent?

М.: My most memorable battle to date was a 1.1b solo hit when I was 9b influence, but I hope to top that very soon. Thanks for the questions, take care. Macca.

Jarls, tell us your stories about the most ineffective traps!