After a long break, the CS:Source Clan of The Week has returned, and it is with great pleasure I announce the Czech-Slovakian team Defeaters as our newest clan of the week.

Having had a fairly solid roster with minimal changes over the last year, they have been rising to the occasion recently and competing with the top teams of the European scene.

Their current roster stands as follows :
Jan "nerfHALLOO" Hornof
Martin "matez" Rázus
Marek ".PhP" Kádek
Petr "pR" Novák
Martin "UN_Soldier" Stehlik

With recent wins over Temptation, Copenahgen eSports, n!faculty, and Afterlife, and a strong performance in the Qpad Cup, the Insignia Cadre cup and the Eurocup, they are certainly a team to look out for.

I caught up with Marek ".PhP" Kádek in an exclusive interview :

IC : Hey Marek. Please introduce yourself and your team to the readers.

PhP : Hi everyone! My name is Marek '.PhP' Kádek. I've been playing Source since first versions, I have switched some teams, but I enjoy playing in DEFEATERS most of all. The team consists of 5 active members and one inactive :
.PhP - I'm trying to keep good mood in official wars, and arrange pcws and some other stuff.
UN_Soldier - My long standing teammate, I've been playing with in teams for about 1,5 year. He is allrounder that can take first kill most rounds.
pR, matez - These two guys have been playing together since days of cs1.5, they are deffinetly most experienced from us, and they have amazing teamplay. pR has great aim and he is our strat-leader, while matez is one to hold all important rounds.
HALLOO - He was my ex-teammate that decided to quit CSS after we won PGCC lan back in old days (with team eraisers). He came back right when we needed it, after dl_ decided to quit. He proved that he can take any position, and shoot heads with any gun.

IC : You guys have had some impressive performances recently, and seem to be finally getting the recognition as a top team. Has anything changed recently to make this happen?

PhP : From the moment we created this team, we all knew that there isn't top team which can't be defeated. That kept us motivated to practice hard. Results came soon, which had boosted our morale. Recently, we really wanted to attend some international lan, but lack of resources prevented that. That was(and is) a little downfall for our team. We feel that competing with the best teams at LAN is really best way to improve...

IC : That leads me on to the next question. What are your plans for LANs in the future? It is a shame we couldn't see you guys at LAN79, are you planning to get to any other major EU LANs?

PhP : We really want to travel to some LAN, but unlucky there isn't any team in Czech nor in Slovakia that could afford to pay our travel expenses. It all depends on our manager, he's been trying really hard lately, and with all luck we might attend some lans during July/August. Best would be some non-byoc.

IC : Well good luck with that, can't wait to see you guys at a major LAN. What tournaments are you guys competing in at the moment, and what are you treating most seriously?

PhP : Thanks - we are participating in Eurocup - with 2 wins(n!faculty, CopenHagen e-Spors) and 1 loss(multiGamer). We practice for every match hardly, and our goal is to advance to playoff. QpadCup - We've been seeded to second league, we are now in playoff finals, waiting for opponent from losers brackets (tempt/Wizards/eSrael). This is second most important tournament after EC for us, because it has some nice prizes. GBGL - more like practice tournament for us.

IC : How do you see the future for CS:Source? With almost all the US competitive scene playing CS:Source nowadays, and numerous big EU organisations picking up CS:Source teams, do you think we have a bright future ahead of us, or will 1.6 or promod take back over?

PhP : I think Source is future of Counter-Strike. Promod will only divide communities, if it ever comes out. I don't see any big 1.6 teams switching to Source in Europe, because that would need some really big tournaments. If you take a look at next generation of gamers, I don't belive they are going to play 1.6, so probably it will die sooner or later. Question is, will they play Source or some other game(Call of Duty, BattleField..

IC : Who do you consider the top team in Europe at the moment, and how do you think the scene compares to the US scene?

PhP : H2k - they've been doing great for long time and they have very good results at lan and online. I think we are inferior to American Source scene, because they put a lot more money and dedication into gaming. On the other side I don't really watch their demos so I can't tell it for sure.

IC : Okay, thanks a lot for your time Marek. I'd like to wish Defeaters the best of luck in all upcoming tournaments, and hope to see you guys at a major LAN some time in the future. If you want to do any shoutouts, nows your time.

PhP : Thank you! I would like to say hi to all my friends, all those cool i-net guys, and our manager Milan Lupaè.

Cadred.org would like to wish Marek and the rest of Defeaters the best of luck in the Eurocup and hope they have a bright future in the CS:Source scene.