The Big 5!

We’re drawing ever closer to CDC4 and from my point of view, I’m really excited. Not only because it will be my first CDC event but the shear anticipation encompassing the ET side of the proceedings is quite frankly, immense. True, we’ve had competition for the title before and true, the event has been over-hyped massively but come on, the only thing we need at the event now is a powerhouse such as MPG. Alas, that wasn’t to be but we’ve still got one hell of a competition on our hands!

As always, New Project are favorites. No revelations in that statement. There are however, a few teams vying for the top stop, with genuine contention credentials. As you know, I’ve already spoken about TLR with much feedback regarding that piece. This team does on paper, have the right setup and talent to challenge for the title but it would be incredibly short sighted to overlook the proven giants, EDiT.

EDiT should rightfully be named second seeds for this tournament, given past LAN performances and their recent EC runners-up accolade. Unfortunately, these ’s sometimes have a tendency to hit the self-destruct button. I’m not sure there are any other teams in the event that can find that illusive “top-gear” like these ’s can but their top form can be so inconsistent and gets overshadowed with other matters that tend to occur at a variety of the CDC installments. Rightfully referred to as veterans at this juncture, they know what it takes to go head to head with many of the tournament favorites and are in the somewhat unusual position of now being one of these teams themselves! If these guys can put the other issues aside and just get down to the matter at hand, I feel we have a great second seed and opposition for New Project to contend with. If not, we could have the same old story of a great start with a somewhat disappointing finally.

Finishing our big five ET teams, we have OVERLOAd and vae. Now within these two teams, we could potentially once again, have enormous competition for any spot within the top three. Having said that, there are a number of factors we need to take into account. When we look at OVERLOAd for example, there are questions surrounding the activity of this team. It’s no secret. Members of the team have publicly suggested that the objective for this LAN, is to have fun more than scaling the final rankings. Which is a shame for Crossfire fans, as another nemesis for New Project to contend with would be nothing but a good thing.

Questions circle vae as well. With somewhat of dream line up, when I first saw this team I personally thought to myself “Wow”. Complex thought to get around, I know but after a few minutes, some doubt did creep into my mind. How much commitment can half of this team put in? It’s widely know that the likes of RELOAd, senji and JaKaZc are also competing for Dignitas in the Quake Wars section of the tournament, so there’s always going to be a dark cloud hovering over this skill infested team. If they somehow manage to get the practice in, who knows, we could have a real contender on our hands. Once again, how could this possibly be a bad thing? I’m repeating myself like Alan Hansen on speed but quite frankly, I couldn’t give a shinny shite!

It’s so hard to make assumptions about teams when quite frankly, you don’t really know what they’re planning. No one really can. Day to day discoveries within a team are usually, kept within a team. Especially at this late stage of the proceedings. Well, unless you’re a member of that particular squad of course. So then I had a thought. Alarming yes but even people have thoughts, it’s true. The best way to get information about teams is of course, by asking them. What better source could there be other than straight from the “horses mouth”. Nothing revolutionary really! It also stops self proclaimed pundits like me making ridiculous statements, only to have forty people make you look like a minge on the internet (If you don’t know what the word “minge” means please do not google it, you may get into trouble).

So contained within this content, are interviews with the named teams in question, giving feedback to our wonderful community on all things CDC4’y. The same questions relate to all teams so hey, why not ask them the same questions! I hope this gives you more of an insight into the competition and allow for some well invested predictions! Enjoy!


So, we’re less than a week away from CDC4 and you can feel the excitement in the air! The sun is shining, teams are packing sleeping bags lined with “tobacco”, it’s a wonderful time. How are your preparations as a team going, as we draw ever closer to the big weekend?

Sheep : Nothing really special, apart from my bank account looking extremely empty - thanks must go out to Night for that as well, I had to pay for his tickets (210€ might I add - get it back though :D) - we are doing the usual routine or 'praccing' (ye right, inactive fuckers iron and toxic), so hopefully we should hold up fairly well at LAN.

BuLL : It's pretty cloudy over here and there's nothing but rain in the air. We don't really have preparations, not yet as far as I know.

wEAK : Actually we were a little handicapped in our preparations, since dAv1d was on able to play 2 days a week but as for the rest - the hotel rooms are booked - most of the travel issues are solved - I guess we are pretty much ready to roll.

twidi : We got all the necessary things such as flights and accommodation booked, so by that we're ready for the event. When talking about our preparations with lots of practice, I have to say that it hasn't really gone well. RELOAd, JaKaZc and senji have been so busy with playing ET:QW that you can count our practices with your fingers (and you don't even need to use the second hand for that).

vila : We've had some troubles finding a place to sleep , but as CDC is coming closer, I’m having more and more fun on comms with my team. We've been boosting our praccing schedule so I can say it's going pretty well if we are playing serious (which is not always the case). :P

There are some absolute class teams (on paper at least) that will be joining you at the event, as always. Most of them have a good amount of LAN experience to call upon. What do you personally make of the competition? Are there are teams that have truly surprised you through what you have seen/heard of them?

Sheep : Well going back to the first/second LAN were np, then know as TLR, completely wiped the floor was where the most surprise came. Since then they've been pretty much unbeatable. Hopefully the mix of players we've got in this current team will prove enough to hold up against the big 'uns and allow us to put up a bloody good fight. The competition is great, I don't think I know anyone who has attended... or watched from home who has said it's kack. Personally, the CPC2 experience for me was one I will never forget.

BuLL : There are some nice teams out there, but NP and TLR will play in the final, I don't think any team can change that.

wEAK : Well I personally always loved the LAN atmosphere, since you cant compare it to any online competition. You never know what's going to happen, it's a total different level of pressure and excitement in my opinion. There are definitely teams which are going to surprise at the event. Such as TLR with a strong line-up, filled with awesome players, vae also look damn strong on paper, though I haven't seen them playing together so far.

twidi : New Project (former TLR) of course is the clear favourite as winner of the previous two events and I think they'll do great this time also. I haven't played against them yet, but now with wEAK I'd except them to be just as impressive as before. TLR is my 2nd favorite as they got so great mix of skilled and experienced players, I think the team would've been even stronger with Squall but even with Matias replacing him, they're still probably the most dangerous challenger for NP. I think we should do pretty well as well despite the poor preparation as we got a line up full of experience and some great individuals. As for the surprises, I think Random Clan can do really well if they get their team working as their line-up seems really nice.

vila : To be honest no team can surprise me. You have the other top teams like TLR and np that are certainly favorites for the tournaments. Then there are the outsiders like us, OVERLOAd and vae (although I’m not really impressed by vae, since they haven't played much afaik). I won't be satisfied unless we get a top 3 spot but I can say we have a good LAN experience as well since some of us have been to all four. :)

As always, people are asked at events to give predictions and opinions on players and teams. It’s a common source of entertainment for many people such as me. So the question imposes itself to be asked, do you have any picks for the tournament? Are there any players that will truly surprise/impress the viewers out with the forever rightfully mentioned names such as feruS and mAus?

Sheep : Yeah, me! My landmines are doing more damage than ever recently and everyone, including feruS (I know that from recent pracs) will get owned by them. On a serious note, I think it's pointless me giving any names, people know who to look out for. I'm just excited at the prospect of foSt, I hope he proves everyone wrong!

BuLL : No.

wEAK : Actually, no other players come to my mind when I think of shining one-man-army performances. The names you mentioned are pretty hard to top, though I am more curious about how certain teams will perform than single players.

twidi : From our team I'd mention mikza as he's in my opinion a very underrated player. If he does even closely as good as he does online, he should be one of the players to watch besides the stars like mAus, feruS, Winghaven and RELOAd. Although I hate to say this due to their retarded acting online, the Belgians have been doing great on previous LAN events and especially mesq and lio have been performing really well. My other picks would be (if they show up): foSt and Lun4t1C due to their cheating history and NuggaN as he has been accused of cheating so many times before.

vila : I would most certainly advise to watch lio or kevin and for myself I always love to spec BuLL =D. I can see lot's of people speccing accused people like savage or nuggan as well.

What are your personal goals for the tournament? Do you and your team have a common goal in relation to the LAN in any aspect? What are you hoping to gain from this edition of the CDC event, that you may not have achieved in any of the other editions?

Sheep : My personal goal is just to play better than I bloody did at CPC2, I was wack. This time around I hope to better my performance in order to aid the team a great deal more. As a team, without trying to sound to ego, we hope to finish in a top3 position, even challenging for the 2nd or perhaps even 1st spot. Well it's going to be good this time around... I'm finally going to meet my e-boyfriend of 3 years, Kevin.

BuLL : Well, I think our goals are different than the other Crossfire LAN events. We haven't had the practice we needed and our main goal is to have fun. We won't be sad if we don't pass the group-stage.

wEAK : For myself the goal is pretty simple - perform as good as possible. Of course we want to go for a top ranking, since aMenti was able to grab the CDC3 ET title. I guess this CDC edition is the last serious ET tournament for the most of us, so we just hope that our ET-history gets a happy ending.

twidi : Well.. I already got the 2nd place from CPC1 so I guess there's only the 1st place to achieve. Realistically said though, I think that top 3 will be our goal and we should have all the chances to be there if everything goes well. First place would require almost a perfect performance from us.

vila : As I stated I won't be satisfied unless we have top 3 spot, simple as that. I think the team will agree on that and a top 3 spot normally includes some prize money. It's not going to be easy since there isn't a loser bracket so you can't afford to mess it up. It will be hard but could be realized if we concentrate and play to our best.

The CoD4 tournament is looking huge and with added bonus of SK gaming attending, the “razzmatazz” factor surrounding this event could in fact, be monumental. If you get the opportunity of course, will you be paying close attention to the CoD4 section of the tournament? What do you make of the CoD4 tournament in general? Are you tempted to switch to a game like CoD4, when you see the vast quantities of signups/attendees concerned with that game?

Sheep : Nah not really. I'm going to play my game, meet some new people and have a good time. If that involves me watching a CoD4 game here and there with a few of the lads, then sure, why not? I can't say that I'm a big fan of CoD4 though, probably because I've never given myself enough time to play it properly.

BuLL : We have played CoD4 since the day it got released and we played several 3on3s/5on5s, but we really suck in it. We can own everyone at public and that is in fact really fun, but playing a pcw is really different than ET. We are still playing the ET style and we're rushing too hard :D. I will watch some of the matches to look how the game has to be played.

wEAK : Well since I’m a die-hard RTCW/ET player, CoD4 is not one of those games I would play competitively. Though the tournament at the event might be interesting with so many big names attending. I’m gonna take a look at some games for sure, especially when it gets closer to the final.

twidi : Yeah, I'm pretty interested to see how the guys who I know will do in the CoD4 tournament. From teams, I'm especially interested in vae's performance and from players, humM3L interests me the most. I've been playing CoD4 for some games myself and been following the eSports scene in general and to me it seems that CoD4 is growing huge at the moment with big organizations like SK showing interest in the game. I don't think that I'll be switching to CoD4 though as I don't like the S&D mode personally and it's too much about waiting and camping to collect the frags instead of fast paced action like in Enemy Territory. If I'd be gaming just for the money and glory, CoD4 might be my game, but I rather play games I like the most to play.

vila : I will for sure see some games and more precisely the SK and Fnatic team. I myself will never switch to CoD4. Maybe I will try it but it's just not my game style. I don't care how many people will pay attention to it, the main part of gaming is having fun and not the money. Therefore I will most certainly stick to ET and if there will be a similar game like that in the future I will continue with that.

Ok and lastly. Are there any people going to the LAN that you’re really looking forward to meeting? Either people you have never met before or people that you’ve been to several instalments with, that you now consider a good close friend?

Sheep : Iron for sure, known the guy for donkeys year and had a good time with him last time, hopefully be just as good, if not better this time. Can't wait to meet Kevin as I previously said, as well as the rest of the TLR guys who I've grown to love ever so dearly over the past few weeks. Basically if everyone is as half as nice as the guys at CPC2, it will great - hardly anyone is half as much an arsehole as they are online.

BuLL : As always it's great to see the guys from Kreaturen again. I’m looking forward to see Lun4t1C and foSt aswell :D. The guys from EDiT are nice guys and it's good to see them again. Same goes for Sheep, mAus, dAv1d and many more. :P

wEAK : Yea definitely, since meeting the people you talk to online is the most fun at LAN’s, besides playing. I’m looking forward to meet my team-mates of course and some other random crazy folks like Sheep or snoop.

twidi : I guess mikza and the other Finnish guys who I haven't met before are the guys who I want to meet the most. Also I'm really looking forward to see all the team mates from my previous teams like bullvox and Sheep and of course eVo, the manager of sFx LAN from CPC1 times!

vila : I always look forward to meet the Kreaturen boys , TosspoT of course, Cash and Ronner :). The others don't interest me much. :)

So the scene is set and there isn't really much else that can be said. People are packing, withdrawing vast quantities of money, it truly is a wonderful time. I'll be there the whole weekend running around with my camera, writing some coverage for all the unfortunate people that couldn't/wouldn't come to the even itself!

Thanks :)