Adroits CoD Masters - Preview - Preview 1/2

What more to ask for as a member of this Call of Duty 4 community, have we become entirely self-serving yet? Well in part it's indeed true, the valiant efforts of certain individuals have given us the opportunity to keep this eSports "dream" alive for several of us.

A few of them can be found in the Adroits crew, with Sean "Seanza" McDougall spearheading his first international event in the name of the SAGE during the sunny days of July. Quickly afterwards, Declan "germaine" Elcocks joined by Sanjay "caesiuM" Gambhir followed suit by partnering up to give us another event near the end of August. While relatively bumpy, the road to the Adroits CoD Masters seems to have been an energetic one, one we can look forward to all weekend.

So yes, the masses assemble in totality for a weekend of Call of Duty 4 at the highest level. Can it really be the highest level if the undoubted number one is sitting this one out, though? To be more precise, when taking a look at the latest TEK9 TOP 10 (I won't debate its futility nor corruptibility here), a saddening four teams are travelling to what was supposed to be the highlight of Call of Duty 4 this Summer.

Oh hi there WZZRD Café, long time no see...

I honestly ask you, where are the days of the events where you'd not only see the entire TOP 10 (bar one or perhaps two who'd always miss out due to various reasons) eagerly looking forward to the biggest events of the Summer, but also the TOP 20 not wanting to be there, but actually showing up? Where are the days of massive Antwerp eSports Festival Group Stages with clashes of the very best? Of those four teams you can see they are the more active ones, Infused.Tt and Team WinFakt! weren't even included in the months prior. I believe we have become jaded to a certain extent, with the top teams expecting full support and not wanting to come for less. I have always believed, if you really, truly want to be at the event, you'll find a way, even if it is more a financial risk than a reward or free ride. However, at another level, I feel we have reached a changing of the guard. The new teams are taking over from the traditional TCM-Gaming, Fnatic, ONLINE KINGDOM. The teams with the best odds at this event are the newest of the super star teams we have seen in 2011.

So if this is a changing, will it be permanent? Fnatic are rumoured to have started practising again, but can they really reach their old dominating levels, are the players in these teams still as dedicated and willing to keep up with the new guys? I feel that is what ultimately decides it, all teams in the TOP 10 or even beyond have their star players, but that's not what gets them the wins. Not even having multiple stars in your team will guarantee you a money finish. What distinguishes you from the pack is how much time and energy you invest in developing your game. It doesn't even mean the team with the most hours put in will win, you can play 3 nights a week and still secure you a shot for the title, as Team WinFakt! have done. You need to practise your routines efficiently and not only use your star skill, but use it effectively at the right time in the right surroundings. It's all about your team's meta-game, because skill does not even factor in it that much. You cannot safely assume that paradox will win his 1on3s each time to give you a round, you need to calculate your tactics so that you are put in the 3on1s time after time, not the other way around.

Will we see this, the coming weekend? On Friday and Saturday, we'll see some very unbalanced groups to start the event. Friday will give you an afternoon and evening to prepare some of that popcorn you have been saving. Saturday not so much.

G(e)r(mans)oup A

Infused.Tt's time to shine? They are perhaps one of the more underrated teams of the current TOP 10, being included only for the first time, after having been the United Kingdom's consistent number two for most of 2011. The influx of Daniel "tidde" Asp instead of Lauren "Pansy" Scott seems to have given the team wings as well, with the experienced veteran still hitting his shots like he used to for Fnatic. Their main competition will come in the form of the newly picked up Phantasmagoria line-up, though. A stepping stone result in Dublin will have seen the team learn a lot, but this event will be the true testimony of their strength and if we should rightfully consider them a TOP 10 team or if they have what it takes to lock themselves comfortably into the TOP 5.

The part-German, part-French, part-English, part-Norwegian mixed team, Phantasmagoria, has been considered on the verge of breaking through into the top level since December 2010, but line-up and organisation issues seem to have hindered their progress by quite a lot and they couldn't seem to get to an event to prove what they could do. Their new-found support seems to have given them an extra boost, with the team reverting to an older line-up, bringing back Christian "kaTana" Hofmann in favour of Daniel "zEnith" Johansen. All eyes will carefully watch the heavily debated German after stunning performances online. To be fair, the entire team will be scrutinized carefully, as they are a newcomer to the LAN scene and everyone will be asking whether they can or cannot do it on LAN.

Holy C***. Two German teams in one group, plus two more players in a third team. What's this, 2007? As admirable as the new German incentive is, XAIROO is perhaps the only one in Group A that could fight versus the premier two in the group. The NCE.I3D team should fall to them and especially with mercs Paul "TAYYY" Kellermann and Timm "NIGHTYI" Hellmanzik they should be the expected third place finisher, perhaps even higher if Phantasmagoria underestimate the eager German team. XAIROO had already caused some surprises in Dublin eSports Event, so Infused.Tt should know what to expect, even though they had the more experienced Miles "miles" Rauch under their auspices at the time.

Expected results: Phantasmagoria, Infused.Tt, XAIROO

Infused.Tt will go at it another time, with the entire COD4 community watching