Duncan "dunc" Wraight

Duncan is a regular top ten contributor.

He boasts an impressive TF2 CV, having captained the likes of what women want, TCM-Gaming, Ubersexuals and the TF2 England national team.

"This month I've gone for a slightly different rating system, albeit still based on numbers. I've given each team a seed ranking, based on my opinions of the teams at the beginning of the season and a little before it, with Dig being #1, idk being #4, FB at #5 and so on. That is where the opinion ends. I've totalled up all of the games played in ETF2L, ESL and the one ESH cup we had towards the end of April. From there I've used the seeds to decide how many points each team gets - or loses from each match. TCM dropping a point to Broder in ESL (I know that's not how ESL works it out, but I've gone for an ETF2L style points system, 4-1 for that game) means they lose points overall, where TLR beating www earnt them a reasonable number of points.

From that point of view, idk? are the strongest team in April by some distance, basically because they haven't dropped any points despite only playing against two teams. Beating FB on both maps was a great result for them, especially considering last month FB proved their worth at the top of EU TF2.

In second place, and this is where my system falls down a little bit, is www. Before I get slated, bear in mind that this is purely based on April's results. Cleanly beating the bottom two teams - idk? pink and bE - has earnt www quite a few points, though losing against both FB and TLR (that's +1 and -1 in my seedings) brings them back down. I appreciate that www shouldn't be in second place this month but the rest of the teams have all dropped considerable points by losing or drawing a map against teams seeded lower than them. All in all, www didn't have a great month, having already decided not long after i39 that they would fold at the end of the season, but they did still place 5th in ETF2L - their reward for taking points off Dignitas, idk, Power and especially beating TCM.

Third place has to go to idk? pink. Although they lost two games in April, they also took points off Power Gaming and drew against TLR, both of which are seeded higher than themselves. Losing to www was to be expected but the game against bE could've gone either way and in that they took six points.

Fourth goes to TLR this month, beating higher seeded team www but drawing with lower seed idk? pink and losing both maps to TCM in ETF2L. Had they taken six points from idk? pink, TLR would've taken second in my rankings for April.

TCM get fifth place this month, the highest of the top 3 teams in my pre-season seedings. They've also been the most active, which is no surprise to anyone, actively playing in both ESL and ETF2L. Losing to number 1 seed Dignitas and dropping points against the 10th seed Broder in ESL has affected their placement. Other than that their wins have been solid, beating TLR, FB and most impressively Power Gaming.

Dignitas are down in sixth place. Despite winning both of their games in April, they dropped points against number 2 seed TCM and number 5 seed FB, which puts them lower than expected.

Seventh sees Power Gaming who haven't had a good month. With their lineup changes being rumoured in the middle of April, I doubt the team had any motivation, which goes some way to explaining why we're seeing the number 3 seed all the way down here. Power lost both maps against +1 seed TCM and lost points against -5 seed idk? pink, which is a fairly poor result by anyone's standards.

Eighth this month, and in my opinion most disappointingly, is FakkelBrigade. After a promising month last month, the team's motivation seems to have dropped, losing 6-0 to both idk? and TCM. They did however take points off Dignitas which robbed them of their second place in ETF2L, and then went on to beat an uninterested www team on maps that historically favoured FB, but dropping points whilst doing so. FB have finished 7th in ETF2L, which is a real shame, as I thought this season might've been their opportunity to prove they really are a top team. Placing lower than two mid-season folds and lower seed TLR however doesn't help them to prove anything.

I'm putting Mister in at #9 as they beat Broder and new potentially top team "WeMadeFux" in ESH. Broder get 10th place as bE haven't picked up a single point in ETF2L and I'm fairly sure they'll be folding soon.

I'm not sure I strictly believe my own rankings this month so maybe the next Top 10 I do will utilise a different system :D"

Dave "dave" Hopton

Dave is part of Cadred's TF2 team. He concentrates fully on the coverage side of the game, and unfortunately doesn't play the game as much as he would like, but in the past was a top Division 2 player in Team YoYoTech.

According to himself, Dave is a generally awesome player, amazingly attractive and an all-around incredible guy. This certainly qualifies him to be part of our respectable panel.

"April has been a pretty good month for TF2, with the final weeks of ETF2L Season 7 giving us some fairly exciting games in what's been the closest race in ages, and the post-i39 euphoria still driving sign-ups for i40 which should be the best offline event in TF2's history.

My vote for #1 goes to idk? after their ETF2L Season 7 conquest. Put simply, they have been on fire in the last 3 months, steadily rising up the rankings and peaking in April to secure the most coveted title in Europe. Close behind were TCM-Gaming, and I think they deserve the second spot after a nail-biting finish, only 1 point behind idk? and definitely one of the strongest sides in Europe.

You can't fail to miss Dignitas from this top group, and although their online performance hasn't been perfect – appe readily admits that they're not as good online as they are off – they are still an exceptionally dangerous side. Behind them in the 4th spot for me are Power Gaming. Though they performed very well in April, their victories were against lower skill sides who you would expect them to beat, and it's nice that the team in their final official matches have left on a positive note.

The middle of the table is as murky as usual, but based purely on official results, I'd have to say that the edge is with What Women Want and TLR. Although starting the Season very well, FakkelBrigade slipped away in some tough fixtures – perhaps due to their intense schedule – but still should be considered a top side.

Finally we reach the ever-difficult 7-10 spots. I've been pleasantly surprised by some of the results I've seen from idk? Pink, and their recent player acquisitions will hopefully set them in good stead for the Playoff period. Broder and Rockit, respectively topping Divisions 2A and 2B, for me complete the Top 10 for April."

James J. "Admirable" McDonnell

James is the (fore)head of TF2 coverage at Cadred. He concentrates to the daily coverage more than the others in the team. He has been a long time community enthusiasist.

James has played in the Irish national team and much-loved coolclan in the past. He currently taking some time out from playing to avoid failing at life.

He is also rumoured to be the best Medic in Europe.

"April has been a month for which I have been mostly absent or at least absent-minded; I can’t even remember writing last month’s Top 10 never mind what’s been going on in the scene since then, but I hear god loves a trier, so here goes!

The people’s champions, and recently crowned ETF2L champions, I Don’t Know? are a shoe-in for the number one spot in my book. They have been the most exciting thing in European TF2 since they exploded in to the limelight in the ESH Sennheiser Challenge back in February, and another solid performance this month has set their top team status in stone.

Despite being unable to crack Dignitas in the ETF2L, I felt TCM-Gaming edged it this month with a more consistent set of results. Notably, with Dignitas dropping points to FakkelBrigade albeit on new stopwatch map, Gorge. TCM won convincingly against Power Gaming in the ESL Premiership and with Byte as Soldier: bonus points for that!

That defeat against TCM combined with dropped points against idk? pink put a big question mark over Power Gaming’s April performance for me. Perhaps controversially and more than likely blinded by my love for my adopted family, I ranked FakkelBrigade just above them in fourth in light of their win over www and denying Dignitas a comprehensive victory. I guess I just hate Finns?

Man! I’m looking back at the Top 10 I submitted and I can barely even justify it, but I can’t be arsed to change it. From sixth to tenth looks something like this; is there method to my madness? Broder... scrapped some points versus TCM in ESL; TLR... only managed a draw against idk? pink; www... lost to FB and TLR; idk? Pink... took points from TLR and Power; and finally Spanish hopefuls Mister... impressed when lifting the ESH One-Night-Wonder title."

Patrick "JimmyBreeze" Harvey

Patrick retired from captaining a TF2 team last year, but since then he's only become busier in TF2, taking up positions as an ETF2L admin and a columnist for Cadred.

Patrick is well known for his insightful, irreverent and sometimes subversive esports writing.

"You should be rightly chuffed about I Don't Know? being the ETF2L Season 7 champions. After a div 1 debut Season 6 (4 map wins, 1 draw, 9 losses) that'd probably see most teams go emo and call it quits, they made some personnel changes - including a couple we second-guessed at the time, like letting Murrough "predz" O'Brien go and moving Anders "F2" Carstensen to medic - and kept on trucking. And started winning.

Their ESH win and subsequent finals appearance was enough, as I speculated at the time, to probably call them an elite team. Now that they've proved that they most definitely are over the marathon of an ETF2L season, and considering the way they took care of business this month, the question now has to be: how far can they go?

Not only is it great for the game to have another legit top team, but their story should serve as an inspiration to us all. Find like-minded people who suit your talents, take part in every competition going, don't play with too much respect for teams that are meant to be better than you and don't fold when things aren't going according to plan. You can make a name for yourselves. You can win your division. You can even beat three MGO teams to the top spot while you're at it. A credit to the scene."

Sivert "Torden" Bakkeng

Sivert is our newest top ten contributor.

Don’t be fooled though he is a grizzled veteran when it comes to competitive TF2, having risen to fame in the revered Weapons of the Rebellion\4Kings squad that produced many of today's top players.

He currently captains Team Norway and the Scandinavian upstarts, 7 brothers who aren’t brothers, playing the pivotal medic role for which he is recognised as one of the best in Europe.

"Today, I was given the wonderful opportunity to write some stuff about some teams, in the effort to look smart and reflected. Let's do it! The way I see it this month, there's a clear winner, with rivalling pairs and trios appearing as we move further down the list. There's still a gap between top3 to the rest, but there's a lot of improvements to be seen in current challengers, which shall prove interesting to follow in the coming month.

Idk?

It's become common knowledge by now that this season of ETF2L was very tight. TCM, Diggy and Idk? battling for the golden pixels, with the latter team ending on top. Deserved? Looking at the stats between the 3 teams, it was. Eventhough their victory over diggy, and draw vs TCM was done the month before, the team showed no sign of weakness during april. -Beating FB in mentioned league, and showing strong results in PCWs.

The first duel of my debut top 10: Team Dignitas vs TCM gaming

Both teams have performed well (as expected) Outside of the league, TCM keeps showing strength against "weaker" teams, steam rolling both Mister and Broder (amongst others?). Dignitas on the other hand, started the month by winning i39. It's a tight race, but my tilt would have to go towards Dignitas, for their tight victory in the showdown that ended 2-2 on granary, and 2-0 on Gorge.

The next duel: FakkelBrigade vs Power Gaming

FakkelBrigade showed impressive games, by beating www, and stealing a point from diggy, as well giving some challenge in the last game vs idk. Power and FB clashed at i39, with a thriller ending in Power's favour. Their encounter in ETF2L was another close call, with the same conclusion.

Toward the end of the month, Power changed out 3/4 members of their roster, turning themselves into a completely new team. Having played against both teams recently, the new Power shows signs of not being quite warmed up yet (in contrast to FB). But, with the old team's track record earlier this month, Power still manages to strike a small point ahead.

The div2 trio: Rockit, Mister, Broder

With www folding, and TLR swiping off the radar, the next 3 spots will be battled between these 3 teams. Rockit and Broder are already approved for div1, with Mister to play a playoff game vs Special Attack for the last spot. Rockit beat Mister in ETF2L, Mister beat Broder in ESH. Broder did answer Mister in a PCW with a 20minute steam roll on Badlands, and a close call on Gullywash. Which leads to the question of who were out of form, on which day, on what map? Knowing this is a matter that could be highly biased from my part, i contacted Gl from Mister - who says exactly the same thing - he can't point one of the 3 out.

With the knowledge of my team submitting the ranking: Broder, Rockit, Mister - I'll balance it out with: Mister, Rockit, Broder.

The bottom: WeMadeFux ("Stealthy's team") and The Last Resort

Stealthy's high British mix shows a lot of promise, in terms of his and his team mates old merits. However, the team is not yet warmed up, with some old timers still playing "2008". I can't wait to see these guys getting better (and I expect that to happen fast). But as for now, they land at a 9th.

As mentioned earlier, TLR completely removed themselves from the scene this month. An educated guess as to "why" would be Mvp being stuck abroad due to volcanic ashes - as well as the problems they have in keeping their scouts motivated. It's tough to gauge what the team is good for, and they may very well prove to be better than the "div2 trio". But, as this list remains faithful to performance pr month, they land on the bottom.

Other teams to be mentioned. idk? Pink: Had lineup changes, should prove to be coming back soon enough. bE: A disasterous month (and season). Hope for the best with these guys. Stoic, a newly formed team, that shows some impressive results on PCWs."

You'll be able to catch more thoughts from our panel with Cadred's May Rankings in a few week's time!