UKCT - UKCounterTerrorist

Popular source site Cadred have updated their top 10 European source clan ranking.

The top 10:

1st. fnatic
2nd. Berlin Allianz
3rd. Stockholm Magnetik
4th. London Mint
5th. Real Life Rejects
6th. Insignia Cadre
7th. aTTaX
8th. Reason Gaming
9th. Logitech.fi
10th. Birmingham Salvo

You can view the whole article here.

With the 1.6 WCG finals starting this Thursday I thought I’d get in an interview with Phil “monkE” Dale, member of the UKs representative 4Kings.

Nic: monkE, after the shambles that was the WCG qualifier final, how did 4K feel about qualifying for Seattle? Did you feel you deserved it even though the circumstances favoured you?

monkE: When it comes down to it, we beat them in the upper bracket final. It felt fantastic qualifying for the finals in Seattle, even with all the controversy.

In terms of preparation how much have you done?

We've done a decent amount I think, you can always do more though, as us going full throttle practise is still only about three days a week. But we're bootcamping at Omega Sektor at the moment and that's helping to tie up a few loose ends.

Its been said that your group (G) is the group of death - How did you feel when you saw the draw?

We laughed a fair bit, it was pretty funny to see us together with fnatic/eSTRO/g3x, as they've all proved capable of beating anyone on their day, and fnatic's day is pretty much any day. On the positive side though, it gives us much needed international experience versus the best!

Do you feel you can surprise any of the big clans? eSTRO have been noted as being particularly unpredictable outside Asia and as dignitas discovered at ESWC many of the bigger clans tend to underestimate UK teams - Could this work in your favour?

I dont know, it's just tempting fate to suggest that we could beat a specific team. We've done our practise, they've done theirs, and we'll see what happens. All I want is for us to give it our best shot vs all of the teams we play. If that means we cause an upset, sweet.

Could you give us your thoughts about each clan in your group?

fnatic - It's them or Pentagram for number one in the world.
eSTRO - solo is awesome, I'm sure the rest of the team are pretty handy too.
g3x - Beat the old MiBR who were ranked third in the world so...
bioXar - Don't know anything about them really.
SimpleX - Not sure about them either, apart from that they're apparently Macedonias number one team.

With dignitas moving to CSS, how do you see the UK 1.6 scene now? People have been commenting theres less than five teams worth mentioning - Do you agree?

I dont really know to be honest, but with ESWC and CPL using 1.6 next year it might mean a few more people keep playing it!

TheSGL has now announced its seventh season. Will you be entering or is it to early to say?

Too early to say I think.

Will you be trying CSPromod out?

Maybe give it a shot after KODE5 qualifier, until then I don't see us having the time to really.

Do you believe that this 4K team is one of the most stable lineups the organization has used?

We've had the same lineup for about a year, which I think qualifies it as the most stable in a while!

Finally, whats on the horizon for 4K after WCG?

As I said, KODE5 UK qualifier and whatever 1.6 events come after that.

Thanks alot monkE, any shoutouts?

Just a thanks to all the people in the community that have supported us over the years!

Okay and good luck for WCG!

Thanks mate!

4Kings lineup at WCG:

Adam "JenuwiN" Griffiths
Andy "mh" Gray
Phil "monkE" Dale
Nick "NicholaisoN" Goodlad
Reece "ZaG" Bullers

Group G at WCG is:

4Kings
bioXar
eSTRO
fnatic
g3x
SimpleX

4K play their first match against SimpleX on Friday the 5th at at 19:00 BST.

We at UKCT wish 4K the very best of luck at WCG!

Not to leave any Irish readers out I've now composed an interview with Paul "Jimmad" Madigan of mix team Eugh who are representing Ireland at the WCG finals. (hes top right in the picture by the way!)

Nic: First up, why the name Eugh?

Jimmad: Well I'm sure you're aware this team was brought together to get the best that Ireland has to offer and coming from wink I wasn't particularly happy with wearing the sG tag. So debating it on the server one night leading up to the qualifer in Dublin, we were typing kill alot, so its derived from that sound, long story short.

Unlike last year where suiGeneris, wink and Grinded attended, this years qualifier was composed mostly of mix teams and your route to the final was fairly easy. Is the Irish 1.6 scene at a new low?

You could say it is, theres more source teams in Ireland now than 1.6 teams but in general gaming in Ireland is bigger than ever, in terms of competition this years qualifier didnt hold a candle to last years (men vs boys ) There was more tension in the air last year - a great atmosphere with the rivalry between wink and sG.

Have you done much preparation for the finals?

We're pretty much versed on every map, we had problems getting decent teams to play against as no one took us seriously and to be honest they probably have a point! So in terms of preperation it hasn't been great, can always do better. We'll use our experience to hopefully get us to where we want to get!

In comparsion to 4K your group (C) seems a bit easier - Do you believe you make the second round?

You can only beat whats in front of you, that being said the belief was that last year sG could have made it out of their group. The belief is the same as last year, hey we cant do any worse!

Can you give me a rundown of the teams in your group?

MYM: Well, MYM are one of the favourites if you believe GotFrag, they're an experianced team with great players, but with elemeNt being dropped and juve9le back in maybe that'll cause some disruption in the camp, so you never know stranger things have happened.
Streep: I'm not too sure on these guys, so I can't comment.
ultimo: ultimo beat wNv last year in overtime, but I think that was a case of it being the last game and wNv not taking it too seriously.
XcN: They beat HiNet-UMX same time last year, about all I know!
HiNet-UMX: Had a hard group last year and came bottom - hopefully a win for us!

Will Eugh become a permanent team? Or is it purely for WCG?

I think elements of the team might continue as a clan, but it's too early to say yet. We'll see how Seattle goes.

Finally, could we see a return of a full wink roster with CSPromod coming out soon?

A full wink roster returning in the future is more than a possibility, promod looks to be getting there, slowly but surely. With the media attention surrounding the team in Ireland this year financial backing and sponsorship is now a reality for teams in Ireland, watch this space!

Thanks Jimmad, any quick shoutouts?

I'd like to thank Richard "biohazard" Smith and the digital hub for making this happen and putting together a brilliant event in Ireland!

Thanks alot, good luck at WCG!

Cheers!

The Eugh lineup at WCG is:

Paul "Jimmad" Madigan
Stephen "KaM" Walsh
Patrick "Par" Lucy
Eugene "practical" O'Beirne
Gavin "Vertakill" Devine

Group C stands as :

Eugh
HiNet-UMX
MYM
Streep
ultimo
XCN

Eughs first game takes place on Thursday the 4th against XcN at 18:30 BST.

Good luck to Eugh at WCG!

With CPL and ESWC both picking 1.6 for their next seasons, many wondered what WCG would choose.

Today the WCG organization committee has launched a large poll to probe the opinions of gamers of what games should be played next season. There are various categories such as Sports, Racing, RTS and 1.6 and Source have both made the shortlist for the FPS section.

CS has some tough opposition, with Quake IV in the fray, as well as TF2. You do however get a first and second choice in each section so you're not completely limited on what you can pick.

FPS section:

Battlefield: Bad Company

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Counter Strike 1.6

Counter Strike: Source

Crysis

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

Halo 3

Medal of Honor: Airborne

Quake IV

Team Fortress 2

Unreal Tournament 3

You can vote here.

The results are not binding and are simply being used to guage the publics opinion.

Guess what? We just guaranteed a prize fund of €12,000 for the CS: Source tournament at i32 in November!

Regardless of how many teams enter (up to a max of 128) we have set this prize fund in stone. If previous CS tournaments are anything to go by, this could see around 100 teams entering for a chance to win.

With a first prize of £4100 and tickets to i33 there's everything to play for. Second place will receive a massive £2000 and third place a respectable £1000.

We also have prizes for everyone down to 8th place who receive £175 - which is enough for consolation drinks in the bar!

To find out more about the CSource tournament at i32 take a look at our CS info page. i32 runs from 09:00 Friday 9th November to 16:00 Monday 12th November 2007.