Roster
Chris "blackmane" Kinnair
Michael "Mick" Bradshaw
Kenneth "plaZma" Aulie
Luka "lukzaR" Puš
Jonathan "raz" Baker

Here's the first team of the month for Call of Duty 4 at Cadred.org, Team Dignitas. Having performed at the top of the international scene for almost the whole existence of Call of Duty 2 with an incredible resumé of achievements, as well as recently winning i32 in Call of Duty 4, they have the dedication and the skill to rival any team in the world. I sat down with Chris "blackmane" Kinnair from the team in an interview about the new game, and Dignitas' approach to it.

A large portion of our readers are from CSS, so please introduce all your players and their roles in the team.

Well I'm Chris 'blackmane' Kinnair and have been part of team dignitas since about april this year. Im the youngster of the team just turning 17 last week and also the scope, my job is just to run around trying to get the early picks on whichever bomb site we go for and try to rack up the frags whilst doing so.

The leader of the team is Mick. He's really calm while playing and is not scared of telling you when you're playing bad or not doing the right thing. He calls all the strats and is always a crucial factor for winning any of our games.

Next up is raz. He's the star of the team, always fragging big and sometimes huge. He's really calm while playing but sometimes he is a retard. raz is a crucial factor in sorting out our tactics and often goes on a server on his own adjusting them and doing tac nades to improve our game.

We also have a viking in the team, plazma. He has really picked up the game well and can rip through an enemy rush with his ak in just a few seconds. He is also really funny and good for sorting mick out when he goes mental.

Last but not least is lukzar. He must have the worst mouse and keyboard ive seen in my life, his keyboard is covered in crap and his mouse freezes all the time. However this doesn't stop him being really good and rushing through the enemy defences with his smg's often finding a way through and backstabbing them all so we can push into the sites.

How are you enjoying call of duty 4 so far? Anything you'd change in it?

I don't think I'd change anything in the game, I'm just loving it so much. Now that the sniper bug has been fixed I can't wait to start playing again next week. I just hope that everyone else thinks the same way and this game will become big.

That leads me onto the next question. In Call of Duty 2, you were a succesful sniper in Reason Gaming, and after Trainee left, in Dignitas also. However, up until recently the sniper hasn't been used much competitively in Call of Duty 4. Yesterday a patch was released which improved the sniper massively, so do you think you'll go back to it?

Of course I'm gonna go back to it, even though I've been using the AK47 a lot because the scope just hasn't worked. Now the scope has been fixed and I've been testing it, it seems awesome. A bit harder than Call of Duty 2, but im sure I'll do just fine.

PAM also got released a few days ago for Call of Duty 4. What are your opinions on it, specifically in comparison to DAM?

Well I haven't got to use PAM yet, but ive heard that CDC config isn't on it, and theres a few bugs. Hopefully that should be sorted soon enough though.

How do you feel about the rules chosen by MCE?

I'm not really too fussed about the rules chosen, all I really cared about was getting deep impact off so you can't shoot through every wall with so much power. However i do prefer the CDC config, even though the change isnt that much.

Dignitas have generally had UK based lineups, but your current team has 2 foreign players in it. Does this create any problems in communication or practice (online and offline)?

The 2 players we have who are foreign speak perfect english, so we have no communication problems at all. However we can only really play 2 out of 3 weeks as plaZma works shifts, and comes home at 10pm on 1 wee.k

Recently your manager, Michael O'Dell, joined The CGS as a general manager. How has this affected your team?

It hasn't really affected the team at all, he still hovers around to make sure were doing what we should be, and Newman has taken over. He is more than capable enough of taking ODEE's roll and is in charge of most things going on at the moment.

What do you see in the future for Call of Duty 4? Unlike 2, there seems to be a lot of support from the developers, which is making it a lot more suitable for competitive play. Do you see it overtaking CSS as the main team FPS?

I am really hopeful for this game, and am very happy with the support Infinity Ward have given to the game so far. I hope this will be continue long term, and not just for the first few months to get the people on their side. However if Call of Duty 4 is to overtake CSS as a main team FPS it desperately needs CoDTV, with all the teams switching from other games including CSS to Call of Duty 4 it may happen, but without CoDTV I think it will fail.

How do you feel about Activision announcing Call of Duty 5 already? Do you think this might end the support early in Call of Duty 4's life, or will it be like Call of Duty 3?

Well I guess Call of Duty 5 will be console only, as Infinity Ward is not involved in it, so i dont really see it halting the support for Call of Duty 4.

So far there's not been much online support for Call of Duty 4, with few major leagues running it. Do you think this will hinder the progression of the scene?

I am pretty sure this lack of online competitions is purely down to the fact of the indecisive rule set. once that is fixed i believe the online tournies will start rolling in.

One final question for the fans, when are you going to cut your hair you filthy emo?

Haha, never!

Thanks a lot for the interview Chris. If you wanna thank anyone nows the time.

Well thanks to everyone at Team Dignitas especially the management for so much support and thanks to all of our sponsors. <3 Felix