Tom "DuRuS" Nevill

Tom has been writing about eSports in some shape or form for over 2 years now, and has recently become the Coverage Manager at Cadred.

Having previously been the Editor-in-Chief of ClanBase, he has a lot of experience with online and offline journalism. Now he is focusing his attention on the CoD scene as well as managing all Cadred's Coverage.

Having been to most of the recent events, he is known amongst the CoD4 and CS:S scenes quite well.

"Choosing my top 10 was hard, having to base it on the strength of the lineups. There are a lot of top players out there, and a lot of them have shuffled around a bit since the last top 10. However, I still had to rate the fnatic lineup that has remained unchanged, and had a lot of LAN experience.

I rate Power Gaming above Reason and Team CoolerMaster at least for the first few months. They have a strong lineup and they sound like they are going to be going to a lot of local LANs building up experience. They will be a threat to the top 10.

The rest of the top 10 is interesting, but I think unique, Burning and TLR all have potential. On the other hand I don't think TCM will be up as high as they were over the summer. "

Graham "messioso" Pitt

Graham has been around the Call of Duty scene since it's very birth. He first began making progress in the scene as a ClanBase supervisor back in 2006 and has since worked for the CGS, ESEA, ESH and mainly the ESL, where he has run the UK ESL Pro Series, aswell as working on the ENC and EMS in recent months.

He has since joined the Cadred team to provide even more coverage of CoD4 online and offline and to provide continued support for the community.

"fnatic top the list and I think that will be the same all round. A very strong end to 2009 and no lineup changes leave these guys ahead of the rest of the pack for now. Power Gaming have shown great potential in recent weeks, making great progress in the EuroCup and especially the ESH cups and for that earn the number 2 spot. Next we have the British duo of Dignitas and Reason who both have star studded lineups, but it looks like they both still need time to gel. However once they do, they will be two forces to be contended with.

The plucky Swedes of Unique come in at 5th for me, they showed at TeX what they are capable of, and have progressed well in the ESH cups. The new look Team Coolermaster are up next, time will only tell if these guys can continue where the old lineup left off, and with Carl "Awareness" Finch at the helm being accompanied by germaine and Robyee still firing on all cylinders they have the backbone to progress. Burning! come in at 7th, after bottling it at OOF3 they came back to TeX with a bang, eventually knocking Reason out in the lower bracket. They have progressed nicely in the EuroCup and ESH and are looking strong.

The same can be said for the next team, the Dutchies from TLR, who come in just behind after their recent EuroCup and ESH progress. And then this is where things get harder, with many teams around to fill the last two spots. I have gone for NCE.i3D and eSuba. NCE.i3D have restructured into a predominantly UK outfit and are looking strong, being in the grand final of the EuroCup and ESH Roccat SDMS. eSuba are my wildcard team. They haven't shown much into their abilities yet, but with names such as NiO, LuckeRRR and BLX returning together they could become a strong team. Just outside the top 10 are mTw, SPEEDLINK, corgz, PGS and YYT."

Camiel "Jetset" Rietbergen

Jetset, a 22 year old Dutch student currently in his final year of his bachelor studies, has been part of one of the biggest CoD portals since early 2005.

As the current director of content for Tek-9, he has put hours of time and effort into the CoD scene, giving it the attention it needed.

As one of the most highly respected journalists in the CoD scene, he certainly knows who the top teams are.

"Currently, I think that fnatic has an edge on the competition and are the strongest team in Europe. However, when looking at the potential of Europe's top teams, their current line-up and recent results, things become really close.

Reason Gaming, Power Gaming, Dignitas, Team Unique and Team CoolerMaster are all top 5 teams in my eyes and have the potential to go far. I do however think Reason and Power could compete for second place, possibly together with Dignitas, depending on how they will function as a team.

The places 7 to 10 are pretty random with teams like Burning and mTw, but this could definitely change pretty quickly.

Will "wizinium" Hunter

Will is a 19 year old student who is currently completing a Business Studies and Accounting Degree in Northern Ireland and has been involved in the COD scene since the release of COD2.

He is currently Community Manager over at TEK9 Networks along with being Head Admin Of Multiplay COD4 Pickup and quite recently has been picked up as a Esports Heaven COD4 Admin hosting numerous One Night Wonder Cups.

 

"It was a really hard decision between fnatic and power gaming for the top spot but I have opted for fnatic. When their lineup is active again they will explode once again and take everything cod4 has to offer. Power gaming will be out to stop them and at the minute I feel they are the most likely team to stop them. We also see unique breaking into the top 5 and if their lineup can preform to their maximum potential then we could maybe see them squeeze into the top 3.

We see TCM slip down the rankings due to serveral players being replaced and havent preformed aswell as they could be but give it time and I'm sure they will be back to their best. NCE.i3D have broken into the top 10 if they can preform to their maximum potential then we could definitely see this team moving up the ladder quite quickly and are a team to watch out for.

With serveral ESH cups coming up aswell as CiC7 and i39, this will hopefully clear the rankings up and we can see who are the top contenders for #1. "

Luke Cotton

Luke has been around in Esports for year's, and has played at the top end of the season in Battlefield 2.

Now he has moved into management, and set up Epsilon Esports before being offered a position at Crack Clan.

Since then he has moved over to Power Gaming with his fellow Crack Clan manager Ben Woodward, and they run one of the top teams around.

"Well, this is a tough one. There has not been much activity in the last 2 months regarding big events. In order to make a top10 we have to use the last "prediction" top10, results from ClanBase EuroCup, various Esports Heaven cups and line-up stability.

Teams like reason, dignitas and fnatic have not been the most active in the last period, but due to their line-up they are still top teams.

I chose Power Gaming as my #1 because of their results in the past months. A 2nd place in CBEC and winning the ESH Roccat SDMS cup. They are a team on form and the one to beat right now. We see the usual teams like fnatic, dignitas and reason gaming represented in the top5 as well. Next Century have been moved up in the list for me. Although they changed 1 player in their lineup after their ClanBase EuroCup win, they are still performing. I have also added Infinitus on the 10th spot. These guys have been showing themselves more than once in the recent online tournaments. They are an upcoming team and we will see if they can back their results up on LAN. "

We will start the proper CoD4 Top 10 off properly at the end of January so make sure you stay tuned to Cadred.org for full CoD4 Coverage.