Only a couple of weeks after their rise to first on the Top Ten, the Water Vikings have attained major status once again.

The Water Vikings were created in 2010 by Zakster and Jed Pen. In the CPPS era, they were initially revived in May 2020 by Kingfunks4, Pjayo and Buddy (among others). However, last year, after a rocky few months, they temporarily closed their doors in November. They re-emerged on January 15, earlier in the year, under the leadership of Dino and Mabel.

Since reopening they have steadily gained traction, working their way back up to becoming a major army, once again. In their first week back, alone, they managed to grab onto fifth place in the Top Tens with a maximum size of 27. They managed to grow as a small/medium army and grab the top spot on March 4. They became the first small/medium army to do this in a long time. This proved that with hard work, what seems impossible can become possible. They also made history because it was the first time in the new era that they had claimed first. The last time they claimed the top spot was in August 2016. This was when the original Club Penguin was still alive.

The Vikings’ return event, earlier in the year

Most recently, the Vikings participated in the March Madness tournament. Despite not making it past the qualifying round, they were able to raise their max even higher. They were able to gather an astounding 44 troops online. With this, they have also gained troops from their previous allies, Ice Warriors, following their shutdown and controversy. Despite the Ice Warriors’ ex-members not being able to participate, the Vikings were able to get this big turnout. Could this be the start of something even bigger, perhaps?

WV vs ACP in the March Madness qualifiers

On March 19, Club Penguin Armies announced the Vikings’ move to major after achieving three weeks of 20+ size points. This brings the total number of major armies to six. What led to the Vikings gaining major status? Do they have any big plans for the future?

Club Penguin Armies approached Dino, Water Vikings leader, to find out more.

What did regaining major status mean to you and your team?

It’s a nice feeling but wasn’t anything crazy. I know that sounds weird because we have been S/M status for been a hot minute but WV has nevertheless had been an active/major force. Plus, our sizes were about the same as some majors (just not consistent 20-weekly averages for a 3 week span). ACP can still be seen as a major army even if officially a S/M army, no? I think the same logic applies: we never really stopped being a major army (just didn’t meet the requirements to be classified as such by organizations) so it didn’t really affect us. Some of our staff/HCOM were actually shocked to find out we were even S/M to begin with when we announced we got major status.

What are your plans going forward?

Para inevitabilis

With the unexpected flow of ex-Ice Warriors troops joining WV, how do you think this will impact the army?

I do think it’ll impact the army culturally and success wise. There’s no need to sugarcoat it. I always envisioned WV was gonna become major status anyways and do well, but this is a more than welcome surprise. All of them have been fitting in well. People like Purple, Luna, Trails, HC, Disha (return), Chek, Erick, DrQ (advisor), and Mogi have all been great assets. And that’s just to name only a few! I’ve seen basically all of the ex-IW staff contribute in some way haha

Do you have anything to say to those aspiring to be a major army or to those who are newer to the army?

If you’re aspiring to be a major army, don’t give up on that. It is true 90% of the time S/M armies who don’t have long legacies tend to stay S/M but it doesn’t need to stay that way. Recruit, set up a proper welcoming/greeting system, build up a community, see what schedules work and then stick to it, etc. Getting major is a long-term goal and you’re gonna need some short-term goals in between. But it is feasible. I rose a S/M army to de facto major in the rough conditions of CPR once so it’s more than possible. All it takes though is patience. The community isn’t as active as it used to be, but I’d argue that leaves a power vacuum (and if you’re committed enough, you can fill that void). DV is on the verge of joining the major club which shows there’s still hope for future new majors.

The Water Vikings’ motivation is clear even though their plans are secret.  Nevertheless, becoming an official major army will boost their confidence and motivation to do even better. And with the influx of new and old faces, we can expect to see the Vikings rise. Will they reach great heights within the community? Perhaps they will go on to dominate for the remainder of the year? Will the new additions help them to achieve their (secret) goals? Or will the Vikings fall short of greatness?  We wish the Water Vikings the best of luck as they continue on their journey.

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