Crossfire events have become somewhat of a proving ground for ET players who's online performances have raised questions over the legitimacy of their supposed skill. With current anti-cheat being so poor and the surprise bust of team overload, the community has every right to be sceptical. In the current climate you can never be too sure if a new star player is naturally gifted or yet another netcoders customer.

Years ago, during the days when DSky and .gs ruled the roost, no-one was accusing Mystic of cheating. It wasn't the done thing. Great players came and went, without a sniff of a cheating accusation. In the present day, after being on the receiving end of three headshots, it is far easier to say to ourselves "he's cheating" than it is to admit "that was a great shot". At what point did it become the norm to accuse anyone of cheating?

The first major cheating case I remember reading about was that of Razz. (I wasn't particularly up to speed with crossfire at the time of alexL & Sgt. Peppers busts). It was unfathomable that someone had slipped through the Punkbuster net and was pulling the wool over the communities eyes. The bust did the contrary; due to the widespread coverage of Razz's mishap, my faith in Punkbuster was slashed. If this little Scot had been cheating, which other rivatuner users had I been playing against? Fast forward past the Fusenlist and accusations are rife as to who is the next to be busted.

Many players active in the scene today were once upon a time caught cheating. Few, like UKs own, Hype, are stupid enough to be caught more than once, and thus can never be trusted. For those who've been around since the dawn of time *cough* Ronner *cough*, we know who has a cheating history and who is as clean as a whistle. But with our community welcoming new blood on a daily basis, not everyone can be so sure.

This brings us onto Crossfire's roll in all of this. Before CC5 there were a number of players who's recent showings had been a little 'too good' without the reputation to match. Sitting in the dock while making their way to Enschede were Butchji, Naga, Shaky and Parra, to name a few. Despite years of cheating allegations thrown his way, butchji has returned time after time to The Netherlands, eager to let his MP40 do the talking. Ever greeted with a smile, Butchji seemed confident on the first day. And rightly so. A series of inspired performances culminating in Epsilon taking home the Gold. However, this isn't the first time Butchji has performed on LAN yet returned to cheating allegations. Perhaps now he will be given the respect he deserves as a proven player. Naga, winner of the Newcomer Award (the most impressive performer taking part at their first event) produced consistent frags from the top drawer. Special mentions as well to Shaky, Parra and the entire PolagZ team, who had raised eyebrows online but now in person as well. Also, let us not forget that mAus was once in the crosshairs of the accusers, until an MVP effort at CPC2 silenced every single last critic. With players making the transition from online-only to LAN-proven with consummate ease, it really does beg the question, who cheats?

Perhaps it's time we apologised to all the players we've accused on ET servers or community websites, who have shown us that they have what it takes on the big stage. Some will argue that a great performance at LAN doesn't prove that said players don't use cheats while at home, but surely this is clutching at straws. If a player is good enough to wow spectators with no aid, why the need?

Coming into CC5, I personally had a few players who's performances I would be keeping a close eye on. Now that the event is over and the dust has settled, I'm quite looking forward to being proven wrong again in April 2009 at CC6.