Every team has it’s impact players, the ones with the ability to turn games at will and the self-belief to trust themselves to perform on the biggest stage. This weekend’s EuroCup finals sees a number of such players go head to head and below I have picked out one from each team in attendence. The player’s to watch, the MVP’s, call them what you will… these are the players that will decide the outcome of this EuroCup and good luck to anyone who comes in their path.

Alexander "Knaller" Shulepov (TEK9 Networks)

Major Achievements: 2nd Netgamez 2006A (TmG), 1st WSVG Dallas (Tek-9), 1st Outpost on Fire 2 (Tek-9)

Alex has been at top of Call of Duty 2 since his rise to fame with the former TmGamers squad (later known as Check-Six). Aided by his frag movies he is know one of the biggest names in the scene but for a very good reason.

While a large amount of top players have fallen from grace, Alex has managed to keep adapting his game style and weapon choices to match the occasion. Now with the sniper in hand, he possess the raw talent and experience to change the outcome of any match. If Tek-9 are to win EuroCup XV they will need a big performance from their shining star.

Strengths:

Knaller’s extensive LAN experience around the globe means pressure and nerves don’t come into the equation for this relatively young Dutch player. You can expect a top performance no matter what the situation.

Self confidence plays a huge role in Alex’s game as it makes him try for shots that most people would miss and with his unerring aim he rarely misses such an opportunity.

Weaknesses:

Although it’s hard to pick out any weaknesses in a player like Knaller, a lack of practice with Tek-9’s starting roster in recent weeks could hurt him. A sniper more than any other class needs to know what’s going on around the map at all times and Tek-9 will need to hope they can pick up from where they left off after WSVG Dallas and OOF2.

Michael "Trigger" Sowa (Team Speedlink)

Major Achievements: 1st Netgamez 2006a (Speedlink), 1st Outpost on Fire (Speedlink), 4th WSVG Dallas (Speedlink)

Micheal has been one of the most consistent players in Call of Duty 2 since the game’s release and has been voted Europe’s best player on numerous occasions. He was the lynchpin in the German sides domination over the early CoD2 scene and when he doesn’t play well, the team feels it.

The German player has featured throughout Call of Duty history after winning glory with Ocrana in Call of Duty 1 and should be un-fazed by anything thrown at him this weekend. Few can match Trigger when it comes to big game experience and he is in many ways the definition of an impact player.

Strengths:

Experience, this is the key factor in Micheal’s game. He uses his game knowledge to his advantage and it allows him to out smart his opponents and put up impressive scores time and time again. While you may not notice Trigger registering the same number of spectacular frags as some of the other players in this list, watch out for him to pick up frag after frag, round after round, just by being in the right place at the right time.

Weaknesses:

The main thing that will hold Micheal back from dominating the matches is himself. After some terrible performances in the last EuroCup LAN finals, Trigger never forgave himself and he will be feeling the pressure to play at his best this time around. This could prove too much for the German who may also be out of practice after Speedlink confirmed their departure from Call of Duty until the release of CoD4.