Run up to the Combine

Posted by: xilef

With less than a week till the Region 3 combine, the tension is mounting, and all the competitors are going wild with anticipation. All the CGS hopefuls will be heading to the Omega Sektor in Birmingham for the chance to get drafted in their favourite teams, and in turn becoming professional gamers.

Chenery

"With the UK and EU combine merging together to make one big tournament, it's obviously going to be a lot tougher for us, but ofcourse we only have one aim - to win. There's some really strong teams going such as Salvo, Magnetik, Berlin, fnatic, emuLate and of course our UK rivals Guns4Hire. It's going to be an amazing tournament full of strange and predicted results and I really can't wait!"

The preparation has been rigorous for some players since the World Finals in LA, and it will all be culminating soon. With very sparse competition online in some of the games, it has been difficult for some players to measure the strength of the competition, and it will be a very revealing week for a lot of players.

ChrisyB of the London Mint began his intense training today, bootcamping with some of the top players in the scene in an effort to reach the pinnacle of his game in time for the Combine. This will invariably be the aim for everyone attending, and some people have committed countless hours to get in their prime.

HenryG

"It's all systems are go in camp London Mint, we are training harder than ever. I am confident this is the best lineup I've ever played in, and we are going to be taking home the top spot."

Last year's CS:Source team will be attending with two different teams. HenryG, Chenery and Hughsy will be attending as London Mint, along with Ritch and HudzG. They have been preparing with this squad for a few weeks now, and won the MySites invite tournament with it just 2 days ago. Beta will be attending with guns4hire alongside crazycat, tiLs, KritikaL and Frankstah, and Jono will not be attending.

They will be going up against two other big UK teams. Firstly, the other Region 3 CGS team, Birmingham Salvo, who will be playing with wilzOOO and wez instead of Harriman and AdY. Also, Infused Gaming will be attending, with the lineup of shivers, Callisto, vpr, Friza and Tom. With all the best teams in the UK competing, the competition will be fierce, and everyone will be out to catch the eye of the GM's.

Hughsy

"We're feeling really confident in retaining our places on the Mint bench, with strong showings at the ig5 and i33 LAN events we have proven our worth offline, and with our recent 750euro win in the mySites online cup we have certainly proven that a week before the combine we are the team to beat! Everyone will be gunning for us!"

The FIFA competition will be heating up as well, with all the top players from the UK and Europe competing together in one of the most prestigious competitions since... the last combine. With the EU and UK competitions being merged, ChrisyB of the London Mint will be looking to turn some heads, and come out with a high placing in the tournament, if not win it overall.

ChrisyB

"I think again the competition is tough European wise, alot of top players are coming from around the world so winning the tournament is going to be extremely hard. Europe has the core for the best fifa players in the world, so winning the combine is almost prestigious as a World Championship. However i am a UK player and i think there is a huge margin between European and UK players. I think to this day I am the only UK player to compete competively in a top European clan, and I still do, so i think the UK draft will be extremely hard because i believe the Europeans will beat most of the UK players in the 1st rounds. However I can compete against them and i think i will have an advantage against them if i can get to the latter stages of the tournament. I feel very confident of remaning a CGS player from recent performances that i am the best player in the UK. einning the SFTLA league on PC and going unbeaten all season, plus winning the two cups showed my dominance on PC. Winning i33 and FIWC UK i proved i can go to any FIFA player and be the best in my country. So hopefully i can relax myself a bit and do well in the tournament. Training with Istvan this week will also hope alot, and i hope our hard training will reward us by the end of the week".

The Forza 2 tournament will be a real eye opener for the GMs, as a lot of the players will have converted from PGR3 for this season, and their ability to adapt will be showcased over the tournament. This provides a lot of players a chance to show their fluidity and natural skill as a gamer, providing they can perform on multiple mediums. The DoA competition will also be fierce, as it was a very close tournament last year, and lots of familiar faces will be returning for Season 2.

Ultimately, the GM's decision will come down to more than just skill, as both GMs will be looking to build a team which will represent the franchise both in and outside the game. Of course, the players have to undoubtedly come from the top of the game, but they most also be able to conduct themselves in a professional manner, and someone who will be able to help the team progress as a whole.

Ben

"Most importantly is someone who will gel into the team. It’s all good being part of the CS team but that’s just one part of the overall “team”, I’ll need people who will back each other and become a unit."

If I was to suggest one thing to everyone competing, it's to make yourself known to the GMs. There's going to be so many people competing, you may slip through the cracks if you don't make the GMs see your skill, so be outgoing and confident.

Best of luck guys!