Crew Cut: Hierarchy Ranks and Recruitment Frenzy

With last week's release of the all-new Social Club Crew Hierarchies feature, we've seen Crew Leaders jumping to exert their authority and assign rank amongst their mobbed up minions. Crews of all sizes and statures, from perennial top dog Founder LXG Crew down to eager upstarts like the GTA Annihilators, have been busy promoting and demoting Crew members to the positions of Commissioner, Lieutenant, Representative and Muscle. Here’s a quick look at how some squads have been parlaying the feature to tighten up their ranks for this fall’s planned extended holiday in Los Santos & Blaine County...

The Ganja Outlaws (WEED) Crew, who've been rallying Crew pride by doling out some dope hoodies and t-shirts for their members, was one of the very first Crews to set up their Hierarchy. Within an hour of the announcement, Leader DutchStoner set WeedDemon74 and Zedder13 as Commissioners and 2ueK1LL4, CammySutra and six others as Lieutenants, not to mention the 50 Representatives and 225 pieces of Muscle. We're excited to see what these guys can do once GTA Online is in full effect next month. Meanwhile, the One Bullet At A Time (1BAT) Crew went in a quite unorthodox direction with their managerial structure as Leader ErnestoRock2 decided to absorb the responsibilities of the Commissioner position into his own using his secondary account, ErnestoRock - obviously a man who ascribes to the theory that the only way to get something done right is to do it yourself. Perhaps the 1BAT Lieutenants (Mike921, PWN3D_l_Inc, and Newswire regular WrathOfJenati) better watch their back for the day when ErnestoRock3 comes calling for their spot.

Four Leaders with an early embracing of the new  Crew Hierarchy system (Clockwise from top): DutchStoner of the Ganja Outlaws, ITALIAN of Slaughterhouse, PhatGordo13 of GTAForums and ErnestoRock2 of One Bullet At A Time.

Meanwhile, thanks to newly-christened Leader Phatgordo13, the official GTAForums Crew immediately started putting on weight in the form of 68 new members, swelling their ranks to a stocky 129 total head count as of press time. Playing his cards a little closer to the vest, he went with a rather modest Hierarchy, sporting 3 Commissioners, 3 Lieutenants and only 2 Representatives as opposed to the traditional pyramid structure we’ve been seeing. On the opposite end of the spectrum we have Free Aim pro Crew Slaughterhouse, keeping their numbers deliberately low at 20 members to keep their constituency lean and mean. Crew leader ITALIAN handed out ranks pretty evenly, with nearly equal numbers between Commissioners & Lieutenants and identical billing between Representatives & Muscle. It will be interesting to see how those razor-sharp Free Aim skills translate from Max Payne 3 to the open world of Grand Theft Auto Online, and if a need for additional skillsets results in this exclusive Crew taking on more members.

Crew Leaders, Commissioners and Lieutenants, do give a shout in comments below to share your Hierarchy strategy thus far...

RECREWTMENT TIME

 

One of the more e stinging buzz for the very near future.

The Lost NZ (LOST) Crew are another group of auteurs who are using the power of the moving image to spread the word of their squad, which you can peep here. 

 

While everyone from Leaders to Muscle have popped up here at the Newswire with messages of recruitment, the Unfair Advantage (UFAV) Crew have taken the exact opposite approach. As put by Leader ChunLisBuns420, "UFAV is not recruiting, so don't ask." Will this tactic make this the most sought after gang in all of Los Santos, or will it instead serve as fuel for rival sets to beat them to a bloody pulp? Time will surely tell.

And while trying to find likeminded Social Club members to Crew up with here in Newswire comments is cool, some Crew leaders have learned that it helps to spread the good word on other social networks as well for results. Seems like every few minutes, there’s someone on Twitter shouting out or looking for a Crew to align with. If you’re lucky, we just might help you out by sharing your recruitment tweet with Rockstar followers worldwide. Such was the case for AgentP50, leader of the 182 Brotherhood (182B) Crew who we spotted and retweeted this week – taking his ranks from a relative handful of members to 132 as of press time, in less than a day. Also a shout to Inbetwixt, leader of the 657 BOYZ, whose membership has doubled in a similar case. While this will be something we’ll only be doing once in a while, it’s certainly advantageous to expand your recruitment message via tweets, Facebook and even Instagram posts to staff up that sick clique for GTA Online.

 

 

CREW VS CREW BATTLE

 

According to Webster's, to persevere is to "persist in a state, enterprise or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition or discouragement." The Fear The Wrath (FAHQ) Crew are indeed one perseverant bunch. Month after month, Crew leader WrathOfJenati has pointed out that no one - let alone main rival xVx-The-Agency-xVx would face them in a Crew vs. Crew battle on our official Rockstar live stream. Finally, the Terra Firma (TERA) Crew, seemingly unfazed by Wrath's bark, agreed to take these guys on one recent afternoon.

 

Beginning with a Team Deathmatch at the São Paulo Bus Depot, TERA took an early lead in the first minute. However once FAHQ got going, they proved to be too much for the TERA squad. Five minutes down and with MINI 30 (XBL GT) taking initiative with 18 kills, FAHQ enjoyed a 48-22 lead. From there, the squad never looked back, winning Round 1 with ease 104-71. 

 

Starting afresh for Round 2 in a Gang Wars at Nova Esperança, TERA was looking to get something going. They went toe for bloody toe with FAHQ and with two minutes left in Chapter 1, they were tied at 15. Getting a slow start, MINI 30 picked things up and snapped the momentum away from TERA, helping FAHQ win the first chapter, 37-23. In Chapter 2's Grab the Bag, the two Crews were neck and neck for a while but once again FAHQ just tore it up in the last couple of minutes and took it 101-58. FAHQ wound up taking the last three chapters as well, effectively shutting out TERA for the round. 

 

Down 2-0 and looking to get on the board, TERA broke north for some Team Deathmatch action in Hoboken. Staying within two points almost every step of the way, TERA was in it until the last 45 seconds when FAHQ opened up a slight lead and won 86-83. sweetnpatient took top player honors with 20 kills, followed by JMTAotP and MINI 30 who each had 17. TERA's PALADINXD_KSA and xLdL MASHAKIll2 (XBL GT) each had 22. FAHQ might have backed up all that trash talk with a shutout but respect to TERA for going down swinging. Check out an archived stream of the full battle.

 

TOURNEY TIME

As we mentioned last time, EnigmaAssassin of the Ice Cold Assassins Crew (ICED) and HOT_KIMERA of the HOT CLAN Crew (HOTZ) hosted an epic 2 vs 2 Max Payne 3 free aim tournament, in which Crews had some of their top players battle it out for multiplayer bragging rights. For several weekends earlier this summer, what started as 28 Crews faced off in best-of-three 10-minute rounds of Team Deathmatch. Tietê River Docks was played in Game 1, Nova Esperança in Game 2 and, if a Game 3 was necessary, that was to be played at the São Paulo Bus Depot. 

A highlight of Round 1 was the matchup between  The Hardcore A Team (TEAM) Crew) and The Gallant Psychos (TGPS) Crew. In a Crew Cut one year ago, we regarded TGPS as being on the fast track to success - one month from their inception they were already in the Top 30. However impressive, those accolades meant nothing in this latest competition and TEAM dominated TGPS, winning both games, 42-18 and 38-23. With COMNADO DE ELITE (BOPE) Crew's israel-lucas leading the first round in kills, one could say their squad were the favorites against the Rock Heart (SEXY) Crew in Round 2. Instead, SEXY blanked 'em, 43-25 and 41-33. 

The final eight (clockwise from top left): TOP GUN PL4Y3RS, FOXHOUND UNIT, GOLD LIONS, Rock Heart, CAP PILLAS, Master of Weapons, ineffable arts and Sub-Zero Killaz.

Round 3 saw the FOXHOUND UNIT (UNIT) and Master of Weapons (SAMA) Crews take each other on in arguably the most intense match of the entire tournament. SAMA flourished first, winning the first game 25-21. Game 2 was tight to the very last second, UNIT taking the lead to win 25-24. After that, UNIT - never looking back - bounced SAMA right out of contention in Game 3, 41-29. The GOLD LIONS (LION) Crew had been solid throughout the tournament and the semi-finals were no different. Up against SAMA, LION won Game 1 by 25-20 and Game 2 by 38-28. While the ineffable arts (RED7) Crew won their matchup against SEXY 2-0, it was a close one: Game 1 was decided in the final moments 27-26 and Game 2's tally was 39-32. 

After a month of battle after battle after battle, RED7 and LION were to face each other in the finals for living legend status. From the start, both Crews made it very clear they earned the right to be on the big stage. The squads spent Game 1 trading kills, never letting more than a few points between them. RED7 took it 34-31 - just one win away from victory. With a seven point lead and around four minutes to go in Game 2, it looked like things were coming to an end. And then, in what could be considered the pivotal point of the finals, LION's Alex_silent stepped up, helping to reverse the lead and secure a 38-27 win. In a Game 3 do or die, LION turned things up a notch and stomped on RED7 55-30. 28 Crews entered, one Crew left - props to the GOLD LIONS for being the last squad standing - we definitely recommend checking out the highlights here.