INTRODUCTION

Most Warships legends have been grinding since the mode launched. Chinatale isn't one of them. He's 18, from France, and by his own admission he started as "the worst warship player of all time." Three years later, he's collected multiple French top 500 finishes, cracked the world top 50 several times, and openly says he won't stop until he holds the #1 Trophy.

We sat down with him for one of the longest and most detailed conversations we've ever run - covering his origin story, the mechanics of wintrading at the top of the leaderboard, why matchmaking complaints miss the point, and exactly what he thinks Supercell needs to fix before the mode can grow. Buckle up - this one goes deep.

THE ACCOUNT HE LOST AS A KID - AND THE COMEBACK NOBODY EXPECTED

Chinatale's Boom Beach story didn't start with ambition. It started with a nine-year-old watching his dad play.

"Hey, I am Chinatale, an 18 years old warship player from France! I discovered Boom Beach when I saw my father playing it. I was around 9 years old, and the game looked fun, so I decided to download it. I talked about it with one of my friends, and we used to play together after school. Unfortunately, I lost my account because it wasn't linked to a Supercell ID. I was just a kid and had no idea how that worked."

That could have been the end of the story. Instead, it was just the setup for one.

"Then, about three years ago, I suddenly remembered the game and decided to give it another try. To be honest, I don't enjoy the main island that much, but when I discovered warship, I knew it was the mode for me: a solo mode where you can see your ranking no matter who you are, watching your name climb the leaderboard after every win: it kept pushing me to play again and again, always trying to reach higher than before."

No lost account, no history, no head start - just a fresh install and a leaderboard that didn't care who you used to be.

"I WAS THE WORST WARSHIPS PLAYER OF ALL TIME"

Here's the part that separates Chinatale from most top-50 stories: he isn't shy about how bad he was at the start.

"I didn't reach the top immediately. I often joke that I was the worst warship player of all time when I first started playing the mode. But I always wanted to improve: day after day, season after season. I still remember the first time I made it into the French top 500. I was incredibly happy, but it wasn't enough. I wanted to climb even higher and surpass more and more players. Season after season, I kept moving up the leaderboard. Sometimes I performed worse than the previous season, but I never gave up. Instead, I looked for new ways to improve, spending all my free time practicing whenever I needed to. I think the main reason I became one of the best players is my determination. No matter how difficult things got, I always believed I could keep improving."

There's no secret trick hiding in that answer. Just a refusal to stay where he started.

THE TECH TREE SECRETS: TROOPS FIRST, EGO LAST

Every top player has a system for reading a new tech tree. Chinatale's starts with the units, not the shortest path to the end.

"When the tech tree is revealed, the first thing I look at is the troops. I want to know which troops we'll be using because they determine everything else. Once I know that, I analyze the rest of the tech tree. I look at which gunboat abilities work best with those troops, which boosts are the most valuable, and also, when to unlock them. Just because a node is available at, for example, 3 engine rooms doesn't mean you should unlock it as soon as you reach 3er. Sometimes the best upgrades are just after it, so it's worth saving your keys to reach them before everyone else. I usually create a first version of my tech tree on the website, then I share it with other players to get feedback. It doesn't matter who they are. Of course, discussing it with top players is a huge advantage, but even lower-level players can help. They sometimes notice things you missed or suggest ideas you hadn't considered. Even if those ideas aren't always the best, they're still ideas worth thinking about. In fact, there have been several times when lower-level players stopped me from making a mistake."

A world top-50 player crowdsourcing feedback from lower-ranked players isn't what you'd expect - but it's clearly working for him.

THE 4ER VS 5ER MYSTERY - AND WHY "BLAME MATCHMAKING" DOESN'T FLY

Scroll the global leaderboard and you'll spot it: some top players are sitting on fewer engine rooms than their rivals. We asked why. Chinatale had three explanations - and a warning for anyone who blames the system instead of themselves.

"There are several possible explanations for that. The first is a bad tech tree. Some players spend their keys on nodes that don't provide much value or that quickly become useless, while others focus on rushing toward the end of the tree. In almost every season, the strongest nodes are found at the end of the tech tree. Another possibility is that the next engine room simply isn't worth unlocking yet. In some situations, a player at 4er actually has a better chance of winning than a player at 5er. This doesn't happen often, and I generally wouldn't recommend staying behind because it delays your progress toward the end of the tech tree. However, it can sometimes be a good strategy if it allows you to climb the ranks earlier and collect your chests in a higher league to earn more keys. Many players blame the matchmaking because they often face opponents with more engine rooms. But in reality, I think that's usually their own fault. Those players reached the next engine room faster, which also means they had to go through a more difficult period earlier in the season. Everyone has their turn to struggle! Personally, I think the matchmaking is fair. I haven't seen a better system that would improve it without creating other problems."

1 HOUR OR 15 HOURS A DAY: WHAT A REAL WARSHIPS SCHEDULE LOOKS LIKE

Competing at the top of Warships isn't a steady grind - it's a series of bursts built around push points. Chinatale walked us through exactly what that looks like, including the reality of school eating into his season.

"The amount of time I spend playing warship depends on the strategy I'm following. Some days, I don't need to play much. I just collect my chests while waiting for the next push point. Once I reach it, though, I play as much as I can. Finding time wasn't always easy. Last year, I was studying at one of the best schools in France, with around 50 hours of classes and studying every week. Because of that, I sometimes adjusted my strategy so that my push points would happen when I actually had time to play. Now it's different because I'm on vacation, so I can play whenever I want. Next year I'll be at a different school, where my workload should be lighter than it was before. So, to answer the question, I can play anywhere from about one hour a day to as much as 15 hours when I'm free. That said, it's not 15 hours of actual gameplay. At the top of the leaderboard, matchmaking can take a very long time because there are so few opponents. I even remember one day when I had to wait three hours just to find a single match. During those waiting times, I usually do other things while staying in the matchmaking queue."

Fifteen hours "free," three of them just waiting for an opponent to exist. That's the tax you pay at the top of the world.

LOVE FOR THE GAME OR CHASING THE #1 TROPHY? HIS ANSWER: BOTH

What actually keeps someone grinding a single mode for years? We asked Chinatale to pick between passion and ambition. He refused to pick just one.

"Both. I believe you can't reach the top if you don't genuinely enjoy the game. You have to think about it all the time: Is my strategy really the best? Is my base as strong as it can be? How should I attack this base? It's impossible to spend that much time analyzing and improving if you don't love what you're doing, not to mention the countless hours you need to invest on the gameplay. But I also have a dream: earning the #1 Trophy. No matter how long it takes, I truly believe I'll achieve it one day. Whether it's next season or in ten years, it doesn't matter to me. I'll keep improving, keep learning, and keep giving it my best until I finally reach that goal."

WOULD HITTING #1 IN THE WORLD MAKE HIM QUIT?

Reach the very top of the mountain, and a lot of players lose the reason to keep climbing. We asked if a #1 finish would be his exit point.

"Haha, I've thought about that for a long time. Honestly, I'm still not 100% sure. Sometimes I feel like I'll quit, but then I remember that I've found a real family through this game. The community and the people I've met make it incredibly hard to walk away. I'll probably take a break at some point: whether it's for a few weeks, a few months, or even a few years, I don't know. But completely quitting? I honestly don't think that's possible."

"IT FEELS SO GOOD TO BEAT THEM WITHOUT CHEATING": FACING THE CHINESE TOP PLAYERS

The world leaderboard is dominated by Chinese players - and Chinatale's take on that fact is blunt, and immediately leads into one of the most detailed answers of the whole interview.

"Many Chinese players are skilled and ranked very high, but honestly, I don't think most of them deserve to be that high because of wintrading, even if of course, not all Chinese players are cheaters! When I face them, I try to tell myself that they are just random players, and honestly, it feels so good to beat them without cheating!"

HOW WINTRADING ACTUALLY WORKS AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD

We pushed further and asked him to explain exactly how the cheating operates - and got a genuinely rare, mechanical breakdown of a scheme most players only vaguely reference.

"Yes, some Chinese players are cheaters. They use win trading to get wins when they need them, for example to reach the top at the end of the season or to reach a new rank. It can even be used to skip entire metas. For example, if the temporary meta is scorchers, they can buy wins to stay in a good league and collect more keys from chests without having to unlock the meta troop. The way it works is that they all play at the same time. When someone faces the player who paid for the win, they retract. The others who face each other draw so they don't lose their win streaks. Since there are not many players at the top, they know who they are facing and if they have to give the win. Since the Community Manager is new and is way more involved in fighting cheating (thanks for that 🙏), many of them have been banned for account sharing (which is also a way of cheating) either for a month or permanently. It seems like they are not able to cheat as much as they used to, but some players are still suspicious. However, I don't think it's enough. They still create new accounts, so Supercell should find a way to review players' matches to make sure wintrading is no longer possible."

That's about as detailed a public account of top-level wintrading mechanics as you'll find anywhere - and a direct challenge to Supercell to build better detection tools.

CASUAL OR COMPETITIVE? THE TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAYS TO TIME A SEASON

Push points aren't just a personal habit - they're a full strategy that changes depending on what kind of player you are, according to Chinatale.

"It depends on what kind of player you are. If you are among the best players in the world, you have to play as much as possible throughout the whole season to stay at the top. Ranking up early allows you to collect more keys from higher leagues, which helps you reach the end of the tech tree before your opponents and park before everyone has fully maxed their tree. If you are a more casual player, it is mostly important to play a lot on the first day to reach Iron or Gold leagues quickly and collect your chests early in the next leagues to get more keys. Then, your final push should usually happen during the last weekend, when you have the maxed tech tree."

WHY AN 18-YEAR-OLD PICKED WARSHIPS OVER BRAWL STARS AND CLASH ROYALE

Chinatale plays right in the middle of Supercell's flashiest, youngest-skewing titles - and chose the opposite. His reasoning comes down to how fast the meta actually moves.

"Sometimes I play Clash Royale too, but only for one or two months a year, and nowhere near as much as Boom Beach. I prefer warship because every season is different. The meta changes constantly, sometimes even every day, while in most other games the meta stays almost the same for much longer. For example, in Clash Royale, you usually play the same decks and use the same strategies over and over again. That's not possible in warship. You have to adapt and learn new attack strategies almost every day. Another reason is that you don't need to have played Boom Beach for years to become good at warship. If you're willing to improve, it's possible to achieve a good ranking soon after you start playing. In many other games, you first have to max out your account, which can take years."

CAN ONE GREAT SEASON PROVE YOU'RE ELITE? HIS ANSWER MIGHT SURPRISE YOU

A single #1 finish sounds like the ultimate proof of skill. Chinatale isn't convinced.

"I think you need multiple seasons to really know your true level. Finishing #1 globally or nationally in a single season isn't enough to say you're the best player. Maybe the troops or abilities that season suited your playstyle, so you performed really well. But the next season can be a completely different story! A truly good player performs well every season, no matter what the tech tree looks like."

YOU CAN'T CLIMB ALONE: THE ADVICE HE GIVES EVERY ASPIRING TOP 500 PLAYER

Ask Chinatale what actually separates players who break into the top 500 from those who stall out, and community comes before mechanics.

"First, they need to surround themselves with other players. You can't succeed in warship completely alone. Almost everyone makes at least one mistake during a season. Some mistakes are easier to fix than others, which is why it's important to have as many players as possible to discuss the best tech tree and share attack strategies against different bases. Watching videos from top players can definitely help, but it's not enough. If you want to finish near the top of the leaderboard, you need people to discuss the game with and learn from together."

"THAT'S FAIR": WHY HE DEFENDS THE MATCHMAKING EVERYONE ELSE HATES

Matchmaking complaints are constant in the Warships community. Chinatale doesn't just disagree - he lays out the math behind why he thinks the system is actually balanced.

"I think the matchmaking is good. Even if I sometimes have to stay in the queue for hours, I still think it's fair. Lower-ranked players often complain about facing higher-ranked players, but they have to understand that those players may have been waiting for an hour, or even longer, before finding a match. And if you beat one of those players, you get around +18 stars, while they lose around 18. That means they have to wait for hours just to get back to where they were before. In my opinion, that's fair."

LEGENDARY X IS A MYTH - SO HE TRIED TO GET SUPERCELL TO FIX IT

The rank ceiling of Warships technically reaches Legendary X. In practice, Chinatale says even getting close is a fantasy under the current system - and he's already pitched Supercell a fix.

"Reaching Legendary V is currently impossible. Even Legendary III is almost impossible for a fair player. Thundy, a French YouTuber, and I discussed a possible solution to make those ranks achievable. The idea was to redesign the ranking system. Since everyone would otherwise have the same trophy, we suggested adding a number from 1 to 10 on the legendary trophy to indicate the highest legendary rank reached. We shared this proposal with the Community Manager, but it doesn't seem to be a priority right now. And that's okay: we understand they have other priorities!"

HIS SUPERCELL WISHLIST: WEIRDER TECH TREES, LESS DEFENSE, AND TIME SAVERS FOR TROOPS

We asked what he'd change about the mode if he had Supercell's ear. The answer covered tech tree design, season pacing, and a free-to-play feature request he clearly feels strongly about.

"The main thing I'd like Supercell to change is the tech trees. They always follow the same structure. It could be interesting to change the shape of the tree: for example, using four branches instead of three, or even a circular design. It would make each season feel more unique and interesting. Also, the recent tech trees have been far too defensive at the start of the season. It's not fun for anyone. It's almost impossible for free-to-play players to compete, and even pay-to-win players don't enjoy doing slow, boring attacks. Most players dislike metas that are too defensive. Another feature Supercell should add is the ability to use time savers to train troops in warship. It doesn't make much sense that you can use them on your main base but not on warship. Free-to-play players have been waiting for this for a long time. It would also benefit Supercell. More new players would be willing to try warship, enjoy the game mode, and eventually buy Instant Training once they run out of time savers. Right now, without that option, many players never get the chance to experience high-level gameplay and fully enjoy the mode."

THE TWO MISTAKES THAT KEEP NEW PLAYERS STUCK FOREVER

We asked what actually holds beginners back. It's not one thing - it's a strategic mistake paired with a mental one, and Chinatale says the second one matters more.

"I think new players usually make two main mistakes. The first one is unlocking useless things in the tech tree. The second one is having the wrong mindset. No matter who you are or what your tech tree looks like, you will have bad losses. That's completely normal! The difference between you and another player is who can stay calm and keep focusing after a bad loss. Don't get angry. Watch the replay and learn how you can do better next time. Being angry doesn't help: replays do!"

TOP 500 IS FOR ANYONE. TOP 50 WILL TAKE OVER YOUR LIFE

Not all high ranks are created equal, according to Chinatale - and the gap between top 500 and top 50 is bigger than most players realize.

"Honestly, I think top 500 is achievable for everyone who is serious about the game. If you play every day, watch replays, discuss the game mode with other players, and keep improving, you will eventually reach top 500. Maybe not in your first season, but probably in your second one. Top 50 is a completely different story. You have to make warship one of the most important parts of your day. Your schedule almost has to revolve around when you are going to play. It's very demanding and mentally exhausting. You definitely won't achieve it in one or two seasons, but after a lot of hard work, you might reach it after several seasons. And the day you finally get there, you will probably be much happier than when you first reached top 500."

THE NIGHT HE SACRIFICED A SCHOOL EXAM FOR A WARSHIPS STREAK

Every top competitor has one season that broke them a little. For Chinatale, it was Season 85 - and the story ends with a genuinely painful real-life twist.

"I think the most difficult season I played was season 85. It was the only season this year where I didn't reach legendary. I was busy, so I decided to only collect chests during the second and third weeks and do my final push on the last weekend. But the end season meta was a complete RNG nightmare, with heavy choppas splits, and the randomness destroyed a lot of streaks. For the story, I played for hours on the final night and completely failed the assessment I had the next day! 😂"

FOUR TOP 10 FINISHES, ZERO TOP 5s - AND A LIVESTREAM ON THE WAY

We closed by asking about the future - both in-game and beyond the leaderboard.

"My future goal is to reach top 5. I have missed it so many times (I got four top 10 finishes but never a top 5!). After that, the next goal will obviously be top 1. I won't stop until I achieve this dream! For content creation, I'm planning to start livestreaming soon (probably in season 91 if everything goes well!). But becoming the best YouTuber is not really my main goal: I don't want to be one of the biggest Boom Beach YouTubers. I just want to share my attacks, and if people enjoy my content and find good hits they can replicate, that's what matters most to me! :)"

CONCLUSION

Chinatale's story doesn't fit the usual Warships template. He isn't a veteran who's been climbing since the mode launched, and he isn't shy about the fact that he started at the very bottom. What got him to the world top 50 was determination, a willingness to take advice from anyone regardless of rank, and a single long-term target he refuses to let go of: the #1 Trophy.

His breakdown of wintrading mechanics, his critique of overly defensive tech trees, and his pitch to Supercell for a numbered Legendary rank system all point to the same thing - a player who treats the mode as something worth improving, not just winning.

Four top 10 finishes and counting. Top 5 is next. We'll be watching.