Despite their rather British-sounding name, "The Irresistible Blokes" are actually from the Land of the Suomi, Finland. As the Guild Wars: Factions World Championship draws near, the folks at NC Soft have been featuring interviews with participating guilds, grilling them about their practice drills, strategies and build philosophies.

While anyone could walk off with the trophy at this point, the Irresistible Blokes would seem to be real contenders. Here's the interview - decide for yourself.

Q. Who in your guild designs the team builds you use, or is it a group effort?
"Group effort. Each of us is used to playing certain classes, so best results come when everyone gives their opinion on their best classes."

Q. How much time do you guys spend practicing together?
"Our goal is to play four days a week, a few hours per day. Sometimes we play more, most of the time less."

Q. Does the guild usually use the same core players for all of its competitive matches, or do you switch out often?

"We only have about ten active players and a few semi-active players. Core classes like Monks and Warriors are played ninety-nine percent of the time with the same players."

Q. Is there anything special you do to prepare for a big event like the GWFC?

"It's the best time of summer here in cold Finland" [blogger's note: Finland is as far north as Alaska, so the Suomi are enjoying sunlight almost 24 hours a day] "so we're playing even less than normally! Hopefully we can practice some before the event."

Q. What guild do you think is your biggest competitor heading into the GWFC in Germany?

"There are no weak guilds in GWFC, but to name a strong one—The Last Pride [EvIL] is very good in important games."

Q. What guild's performance has surprised/impressed you the most during any of the seasonal playoffs?

"No big surprises so far. Mostly Harmless [MH] impressed us in the last playoffs with some nice gameplay, though."

Q. What was the guild's philosophy behind choosing the builds that they have run so far?
"Attack is the best defense. A mobile build with the ability to split effectively is a good way to fight many guilds out there that are prepared to fight eight-versus-eight."

Q. Did you choose your build to play to your team's strength, or what you felt was your foe's weakness?

"What we've found out is that we play our best when playing a build that meets our strengths rather than using counter builds".

Q. Which match do you feel was the most interesting/challenging for your guild?

"Every playoff game is a challenge; you should never underestimate the guilds that got into the top 16 of all the guilds out there. They're there for a reason. The game we enjoyed most was the Season 3, Round 2 game against No Clue [emt]."

Q. What has been the "highlight" moment for your team?

"The win against Clan Kgyu [KGYU] when our GWFC spot was secured."

The Guild Wars Factions Championship ("GWFC") series will be held in Leipzig, Germany later this month. It's open to all players, and there is over $100,000 (USD) worth of prizes at stake for the top ten guilds. More information is available at the GW website.