GotFrag eSports

The new season of main is shaping up to be the one of the best seasons to date. The creation of an intermediate division in CAL has allowed for dod main to become a smaller, more competitive group of teams. However, the best thing about this upcoming season is that the skill level is more balanced out then it has ever been, which should provide for some very interesting twists and turns this upcoming season...

deadboLT #dbolt

Interview with deadboLT-akiro
deadboLT is technically a reform of the original short-lived 1.0 invite clan, but contains a much different starting roster this time around. However, whether or not this clan can live up to the original deadboLT and make it to CAL-Invite is still to be determined. Here I speak with deadboLT's leader Akiro to give me a bit of information of how they're doing heading into the new season.

gratt - deadboLt seems to have a roster consisting of mainly well known players coming back to play the game competitively once again. With this said, how do you feel you did last season in CAL-m?
deadboLT-akiro - Well, we were moved up mid-season so we knew we were not going to be able to play in either playoffs so we kinda didn't bother scrimming or trying to win the matches we had.

gratt - What do you have planned for this season? Is there anything you need to work on especially?
deadboLT-akiro - Well, we have picked up Ace/cano/varm and alkaline and have been really trying to get our chemistry together. We get along pretty well and have alot of fun playing together. The main thing we need to work on is not tking each other so much (lol) and just getting our teamwork down and hoping that we improve together as a team and are able to go far. Our starting lineup has been very active as of late: Akiro, Varm, Alkaline, BlueFlame, Expunge, Baba with Ace and cano alternating in there as well. Those 8 are always scrimming so its more like a starting 8 then just 6.

gratt - With all of your recent roster additions, do you feel that your team will be able to develop the much needed chemistry required to take the championship this season?
deadboLT-akiro - We are fortunate to have people who have either played together with each other on previous teams or have known each other for a long time. The only 2 guys who are BRAND new to the team are Ace and cano and they are both fitting in very nicely. Compared to how we played about 3 weeks ago and how we are playing now, I can see the chemistry growing already, so i think we can get everything together before play-off time. I have played with Alkaline in LP and in a short lived clan run by Unsurreal. Varm I've knwon since 1.3 and I met him at CTlan. But we'd be nothing without the Korean Warrior, Nick Mow. His proning in harrington mid is absolutely awesome and nothing can compare to it!

gratt - How do you feel about the competition you will be playing this season. Are there any teams you'll be looking out for specifically?
deadboLT-akiro - Well as fate has it the one team we are really looking out for it we were to play tonight in cal, which is Insomniac. The match is postponed (thanks steam) till next week but that is the one team we feel is the biggest challenge we'll face right off the bat. Other then that Highball seems to be the biggest competition we'll face. Tellah is a good leader and has gotten some pretty good players back for Highballs latest run.

Butt Naked Gamers #bng

Butt Naked Gamers is an older clan in DoD who have been able to stick with a similar roster for many seasons now. They have had some inconsistent seasons, but always seem to pull through. Unfortunately, everything always seems to go wrong for this clan come playoff time, and last season was no exception. Here I speak with Body, the current leader of BnG.

Interview with BnG|body
gratt - BnG has been around for quite a few seasons now. You've always been able to dish out a lot and cause quite a few upsets along the way. Would you say the previous season was one of your better or worse in CAL-m?
bng|body - For us, this season was pretty normal. We always seem to pull off a few upsets throughout each season, but we also seem to lose some close matches that we should have pulled off. Overall we did a decent job, but we always seem to joke in the playoffs. Hopefully with the release of 1.2 our members will become more active in the game and possibly pull off a few playoff wins this upcoming season.

gratt - Do you have anything differently planned for this season? Is there anything which you need to work on which you've were lacking the last few seasons?
bng|body - We really need to work on our chemistry. This past season we had a lot of trouble getting everyone to play to the full potential. Although weve been around for quite some time our chemistry is lacking, and we struggle on anzio, which is our weakest map. We've recently had a few people leave the team either for personel reasons or to go to a new team. This season we are really focusing on team work as opposed to individual skill.

gratt - Well, I guess that leads me to my next question: How is your roster looking now? Are there any big changes which may effect your performance this season (for good or bad)?
bng|body - Yeah we have changed our roster quite a bit. Maingos, who was one of our top fraggers decided to leave and go to ronin, as we are fairly uninterested in dod at the moment. We also will be losing our 2 asians in Ghost_Doll, and Cleburne. We recently picked up Insane from mafia, and xerophabia rejoined as well. SRP joined and is looking to be a promising sniper for us, we have the skill to compete but like i said before we do lack the chemistry between everyone, which is something we hope to change this season.

Team Ronin #team.ronin

Although Ronin is only a season old, they have managed to achieve quite a lot. They gained an impressive record of 6-2 last season, grabbing a spot in playoffs where they were shut out first round by a strong team in [e]xceptional (now High Five). Here I talk to roy, a valuable player in the clan.

Interview with ronin^roy
gratt - Ronin is only a season old, but has already seemed to add a lot of newer post-1.0 talent to the DoD scene. With this said, how do you feel you did last season?
ronin^roy - Last season we underachieved. We felt we could have went farther if we didn't have any roster problems. We also played poorly down the stretch once we installed hltv on our server. :>

gratt - Are you going to go into this season with the same preparations, or are you going to take a different approach? Is there anything you feel you need to work on?
ronin^roy - Well we pretty much have a new team this season, but i think since we have a greater chance of winning this season, we have to take a different approach.

gratt - Has Ronin had any large roster changes as of late which might effect your performance or chemistry (for the better or worse) this season?
ronin^roy - We overhauled our roster pretty much, but the core of derek bill and i are the same. Bill and I are playing different guns, so it might affect us in the beginning of the season, but as we go further into the season we should be fine.

gratt - CAL-m seems to have some very strong competition in mind with the lower tier clans being moved to CAL-im rather then be subjected to the monsters of the Main division. Will you be watching out for any specific teams this season?
ronin^roy - highball will be a strong team this season and so is sET, who knocked us out of the playoffs. Other then that i haven't really checked to see who was in cal-m.

Highball #highball

Highball is a reform of a clan with many seasons of invite experience under it's belt. Now led by Tellah rather then Skwirut, Highball has a lot to live up to in the DoD community; whether or not they can, is still to be seen. I recently had a chance to speak with Highball player Docano about how the reform is coming along.

Interview with hb-docano
gratt - Highball goes a long way back in the DoD community. With many comebacks to the game and a roster full of players with prior invite experience, how do you feel you're going to do this season in CAL-m? Is there anything you feel you need to work on?
hb-Docano - I'm sure we'll do ok this season in cal-m. Rumor has it that people are placing bets on us in fact. We're a good 7:1 that we won't last past the "3 weeks". I'm not sure if that includes preseason, but our main goal this season is to beat that spread.

gratt - Are you going to go into this season any differently then in the past? Is there anything you feel you might need work on?
hb-Docano - We're going into this season much differently. In the past we never had to try much to win games. We'd just scrim, go play, and dominate without too much effort. Granted we lost too, but it seems the game is harder to play now. my only reason as to why would be we don't have the raw talent we used to have. I don't mean to knock ppl like bliksta (the former 101st guy), ben (unsurreal, also ex-101st), and enven because they've all got their share of talent, but with bryan, chosen, and nick's all leaving highball, there are huge shoes that need to be filled. more than anything, we need to work on playing with each other more. John, nick, bryan, chosen, josh, and i had a close framework setup. We didn't have to talk much because we always knew what the other was doing/going to do, unspoken teamwork or whatever. We need to get that back.

gratt - Thanks to the introduction of a new CAL-im division, CAL-m is looking to be about to have one of it's strongest seasons yet. Are there any teams which you'll be watching out for?
hb-Docano - We'll be watching out for all of em. The game might have changed and the rosters blended among different teams, but i know it will still be like the old seasons in the sense that hb will be head hunted.

aCtioN #action

aCtioN is a very well known clan in the Brasillian community, often placing very highly in the LiBra league. Last season in CAL-m, they managed to get to CAL-o semi-finals, only to lose by 4 points to 2nd place CAL-o clan Section 8. Recently, I managed to interview well-known Brasillian player Chevsky about how his team aCtioN is doing, and how he suspects them to do this season of CAL-m.

interview with ]aCt[CHEVSKY^CyM
gratt - aCtion is one of the top Brasillian clans, and seemed to play very well in CAL last season. Disregarding the burden you carried in South American pings, you managed a close win to CAL-m runnerups Section8. With this said, how do you feel aCt played in CAL last season?
]aCt[CHEVSKY^CyM - The persistence of our team is definitely responsible for our success... all of our players were conscientious that we had to dedicate time and train a lot to reach the position we find ourselves today, and that was what happened. Every day we scrimmed 3 or 4 times to try new tactics, which became better and better in all maps we played. Victory came naturally and the teamplay we developed is something to be proud of. In sum, we are proud and happy with the results, and from now on, we want to improve more and more.

gratt - How do you feel your team will perform this upcoming season and how big of an effect do you think your location in brasil will have on your season's outcome?
]aCt[CHEVSKY^CyM - We are expecting for much harder season than the last. Now the adversary team level is better and I think that the games wont be easy at all. But I believe in our team, we are a great group end we have all the weapons to reach the playoff again, and thats what we are waiting for. And yes, unfortunately as being Brazilians we have this big disadvantage that is to play almost away with 200-230 ping. Unfortunately it affects our performance A LOT, I know we could do A LOT more than we do if we could play with lower pings, but when we entered CAL we knew we would have to deal with it. Besides the good adversaries and the great ping difference, I believe we could have won the game against section8 (which we consider a great team) and have reached the cal-o finals if there was no ping difference. But we can do nothing.

gratt - How is aCt's roster looking right now? Have there been any recent additions or losses which might effect the team's performance in CAL-m this season?
]aCt[CHEVSKY^CyM - We have 14 members right now: CHEVSKY, aOd, Stan, Atomic, BitchX, Chikens, Diesel, Dumorde, JDevil, Operator, StrahD, Tiger, Urso and Zingones, but 3 guys are away. Tiger is in Canada, JDevil is travelling and Diesel doesn't have DSL right now. We got 1 player in UrSo. He is a great player, but he stopped to play on 1.0 and back to play again now. We lost a great player in "Cogu", maybe you know this guy... he plays CS for MiBR (the best Brazilian clan) but now they have no time to dedicate to DoD d:-\ I don't think we will lose our performance with this loss, we have great players with all weapons and we will play BETTER now... we have more experience and more playing time with these guys.

gratt - This is looking to be one of the most competitive seasons of CAL-m to date. Are there any teams you fear playing?
]aCt[CHEVSKY^CyM - Yeah it will be a very competitive season in Main, and we need to do a great job to go to playoffs (we expect) d:- ) We never have fear playing DoD, CAL-O, CAL-M or CAL-I clans, we don't have fear... we have respect against who we play, but.. never fear. d:- ) and yes... sometimes we have trouble playing against Main or Invite clans because we always have 200ms 220ms, (180ms on a excellent US server), and the opponets call us a interp clan or campers etc.. all time saying "we can't hit you with your lag... no register" damn... no register with 40ms? try to imagine for us with 200ms d:-/ some american guys prefer to think "These guys are not good, they use hacked configs or something".

The Hype #thehype

The Hype, formerly pineRiders, is only a season-old, it carries many players who can be considered veterans in the game. Last season the team managed to gain an overall record of 6-0 in CAL-o, showing that they deserve a definite go in CAL-m. With Whitepunker recently going innactive as leader of the clan, I spoke to Co-leader Pinecone about his thoughts on the previous and upcoming seasons.

Interview with Hype-dod|pinecone
gratt - Although Hype is a fairly new clan in DoD, it seems to have a talented roster of players with a lot of previous experience in the game. With this said, how do you feel you played last season in CAL-o?
Hype-dod|pinecone - Well most of us have played dod together before and it was pretty much a walk in the park, i'd say the only challenge last season was dJ.

gratt - Do you have anything differently planned for the new season in main? Is there anything which you feel your team needs to work on or figure out?
Hype-dod|pinecone - Well with alot of my guys going inactive, ive already got my eye on 3-4 guys to recruit, and of course like every fairly new clan we need to improve our chemistry and adjust to eachothers playin styles

gratt - I guess that leads into my next question: Have you had any changes in your roster lately which could effect the prime outcome of your season?
Hype-dod|pinecone - Well of course with most of the starters going inactive for now, and the loss of the awesome frenchy whitepunker, it will be an interesting season to see if we can adjust and the see how the new recruits play. :D

gratt - Now that CAL-im has been introduced to the DoD scene, CAL-m seems to be thriving with top-tier skill this season. Are there any teams which you may be looking out for?
Hype-dod|pinecone - Of course theres alot of top teams that are going to be tough, ie highball, rts, mornos, and i think ronin will be a top contender this year. There alot of other great teams that have the potential also. And of course M|inc has a chance to win the title too.

Vote Dukakis #vd88

Vote Dukakis is a fairly older clan who has really been able to show what they are capable of lately. Last season they were able to take down a few worthy clans and really show themselves as a real CAL-m competitor. I got a hold of VD88 member bucknutty on the clan's current situation.

Interview with VD88|bucknutty
gratt - VD88 seemed to really step it up a notch last season, showing many players that they keep up with some of the better clans in CAL-m. How do you feel you played last season compared to previous seasons?
VD88|bucknutty - in the previous season we just didnt care, we were in it to have fun. now we are still in it to have fun but are much more serious about competing. when you win you have more fun.

gratt - Do you have any different plans for the new season or are you just going to go by ear?
VD88|bucknutty - we scrim a lot more now too, and get a lot of help from our friends at rltw. going by ear pretty much, scrimming a lot more and trying to get only the same six for every match/scrim. right now we are moving our sixth spots around a lot.

gratt - Has VD88 had any major roster changes lately which may cause a devastating blow to either VD88 or the opposing clan this season?
VD88|bucknutty - nope, same roster since we started a few people have gone inactive. but nothing major at all.

gratt - CAL-m seems to be showing a much larger level of competition this season, which is sure to cause some great surprises and upsets. Can you think of any teams which you might be watching out for?
VD88|bucknutty - BnG for sure they are pretty good, looking forward to playing everyone. DicE should be tough. and I cannot forget M|inc or our Canadian pals zer.. there A LOT of great teams, i wish we could play them all.

Sp3cIaLisT #sp3c

sp3cIaLisT is a fairly new, post-1.0 clan which has really managed to do well lately. This clan has went through many changes which some could consider major, but it doesn't seem to phase them whatsoever. I spoke with the Sp3c leader BuLLeT about how the clan has been doing and what we can expect from them this season.

Interview with Sp3c-BuLLeT
gratt - Sp3c is a relatively new clan in DoD, but have already managed to prove themselves more then once, even with what some may consider to be "devastating" roster changes. With this said, how do you feel you played last season?
Sp3c-BuLLeT - Last season we had a lot of problems with our starters not showing up for matches and if they did show up they were really unprepared for the match. At the end of the season I recruited more active people that planned on showing up, so now I believe our roster is actually better, because what good are great players if they don't show up.

gratt - What do you have planned for the new season? Is there anything specific you would like to accomplish or work on as a team?
Sp3c-BuLLeT - We need to work on better communication. Most of talking on vent is useless chatter we have to curb that only talk about useful things.

gratt - How do you feel about the introduction of CAL-im? Will it help to make the competition in main this season better or worse?
Sp3c-BuLLeT - I personally don't feel IM is needed, but it will help keep some of the CAL-O caliber teams out of Main which will make our main matches more intense.

gratt - Are there any teams which you are specifically worried about playing?
Sp3c-BuLLeT - I feel if we practice and play hard every wed. we are capable of beating any team in CAL-M. I look it at as it is ours to win or lose (or DOD's to lose for us when our guys get disconnected mid-game).

I AM DoD Squad #iam-clan

I AM is a clan who has been around for a good while, but didn't really show they were able to compete until very recently. Changing from what was considered a very mediocre clan, I AM have been able to make quite the uprise lately, and don't seem to be stopping now. I managed to get a hold of I AM member Jacared for the overall scoop.

Interview with [IAM]Jacared
gratt - Last season [IAM] managed to really strut their stuff, suprising a lot of people and causing some upsets along the way. How do you think this season was when compared to your previous seasons in CAL?
[IAM]Jacared - I personally only played half a season before this one with [I AM], but we did do alot better last season. This was probably because of the fact that we had a good starting roster. Good pick ups on players and more practices and work involved with the players.

gratt - Are you going to go about it any differently next season? Is there anything in which you specifically need to work on?
[IAM]Jacared - We worked alot harder last season than we did the season before it. Worked on strats ect... I do believe that this season was alot better than most of our previous ones, we are always trying to improve ourselves. :) Next season we hope to work at getting our full starting roster in every match. Last season we probably only had all 6 of our players on for our final match vs Dink. And to practice alot more which we have already started doing in preparation for the season.

gratt - How is your roster looking going into the new season? Are there any recent changes which may make a definite impact on your progression in the league?
[IAM]Jacared - Our roster is pretty much the same with the exception of Dazed sitting out due to his computer. Right now we have Me, Lunchmeat, Bloodville, XRocker, SpiderMonkey and Blink as our starting roster and plenty of very good backups. Basically the only change was putting Blink in for Dazed.

gratt - Thanks to the new CAL-im divsion, CAL-m is looking better then ever, with all sorts of competitive clans. With this said, are there any teams which you will be looking out for this season?
[IAM]Jacared - The new CAL-im division is a great idea and I'm very pleased they were allowed to use it. For clans that we will look out for well... They would probably have to be Zer and Sync, both are very good clans and we have had the pleasure to match/scrim them before.

CAP Elite Commandos #capdod

CAP Elite Commandos is a clan which has been around for quite a few seasons now, but have only lately really shown that they can compete. The last two seasons they have done nothing but show that they deserve to be in Main, causing a few surprises and upsets along the way. Here I interview CAP Co-Leader Lord Chambers.

Interview with Lord_Chambers|ec
gratt - Contributing to their recent success, CAP had the ability to surprise a lot of people last season. How do you think you did last season in comparation to previous seasons?
Lord_Chambers|ec - Uh, I think our suprise factor was lower last season than in past seasons. Almost all of our matches were close. And I don't even remember how we did when we were in Main during its first season, so the only thing I can compare to is how we did in Open, which means we did comparibly bad. Since Open was a blowout cakewalk, and Main was competetive.

gratt - Is there anything specific which you think you should be working on as a team? Do you think you're going to take a different approach next season or just go by ear?
Lord_Chambers|ec - I think we're taking a more complex look at strats these days. Suppose we're talking about Anzio. Before we'd have just sent certain guys and classes to the Bridge, and after they got the bridge they would go do whatever they want, and as somewhat experienced, wise players, they'd probably do something useful like flank Plaza, go get the laundry, or whatever. Nowadays I think we're trying to plan more for what people do after they get the Bridge, so we can be better coordinated. In practice this probably won't change much, but it's kinda the approach we're taking.

gratt - What is your roster looking like at the moment? Have you had any major recent changes?
Lord_Chambers|ec - No major changes, other than terdAL joining, and Lynx and Dillh0le leaving. As for a starting roster, we don't have one. Everyone is pretty equal on the skill level. Each player also has a prefered class, but there are a couple of us who are very flexible, so generally whoever scrims the most that week is who plays.

gratt - With CAL-im being introduced to DoD, the new season of CAL-m should be one of the most competitive seasons to date. Are there any teams which you will be fearing specifically?
Lord_Chambers|ec - Yeah, the mean ones. They yell on the internet and scare us.

Eggs Benedict #eggsbenedict

Eggs Benedict is a brand new clan. Surrounding the controversy of their automatic moveup to CAL-m, many people have investigated and noticed that EggsB seems very similiar to the well-known DoD clan DiNk. I decided to go right to the source and interview the EggsB leader justin on just exactly what this new clan is all about.

Interview with EggsB^justin
gratt - Most people are noticing EggsB's roster to look very similar to DiNk's. What are the similarities between these two clans? How do you see your team performing this season?
EggsB^justin - Our team Eggs Benedict is similiar to DiNk's (not going to lie to you). The similarities are that we've dropped a few players, and picked up new ones, made extreme roster changes, not just in new players but same players using different weapons, trying to see how well we can best match our skills to each others. Our main asperation this season is to make it to playoffs at least, new team, new players, with hopes at making it to the top, and hopefully having a good time as well.

gratt - Is there anything specific which you think you should be working for the new season?
EggsB^justin - well we've been practicing the maps we've always lost to every night, at least 3-5 scrims daily, to try and better understand strats for the maps we need improvement on while keeping a solid strat structure on the ones we are already good at and trying to recruit new members to fill in the gaps for the ones that have left both involuntarily and voluntarily.

gratt - What does your roster look like right now? Have you had any recent changes which could effect your performance (for the good or bad) this season?
EggsB^justin - I've seen both good and bad, we lost alot of our old heavy's, and back in the old days of 3.1 I used to heavy, which I've dropped sniping after 2 years of playing it, to fill in the gap as a heavy, but losing a sniper as well, and being as hard as it is to find a sniper, it doesnt exactly balance itself out.

gratt - This is definitely looking to be one of the most competitive CAL-m seasons to date. Are there any teams which you'll be looking out for?
EggsB^justin - This season we will be looking out for, we tend to treat every team the same, not slacking off for a team we have beaten in the past or one we have lost to, we are just dedicating our time to trying our hardest and giving our all this season.

Special Air Service #sasdod

sAs has been around for quite a few seasons now, and seem to always be getting better, with an overall score in CAL-m last season of 4-4. With some recent pickups of some more well-known players, sAs is sure to have an even better season then the last. I managed to talk with sAs member Batman to see how the clan is doing.

Interview with [sAs]Batman
gratt - sAs has been around for quite a few seasons now, but just lately have really started to take it up a notch. With this said, how do you feel you performed last season when compared to previous seasons?
[sAs]Batman - I dont really think that we did too bad last season. It was prolly better than the season before last. We had a strong finish against overdose which left us 4-4 which while it isnt spectacular it isnt too bad either. The season before last we had 5-3, both seasons we missed the playoffs by just a hair.

gratt - What do you have planned for this season? Is there anything you need specific work on?
[sAs]Batman - I think we pretty much have everything down, we are all working together very well, we all get along great and our strats are quite good so far.

gratt - What is your roster looking like going into the new season? Have you had any changes lately which could greatly effect your outcome this season?
[sAs]Batman - This season we will have our strongest roster yet. At the end of last season we picked up 2 very strong players amidst the aftermath of RBC Bewton and Nightstalker also we just picked up Jiro from Rev.

gratt - The introduction of CAL-im has allowed CAL-m to gain a much more competitive edge this season. Which teams do you see your team fearing or looking out for?
[sAs]Batman - well to be honest, I think that when each one of us is on our game, we can surprise pretty much anyone we play.

DaNiNjA #daninja.dod

DaNiNjA is a very old clan who has played in CAL-m for multiple previous seasons, with a high level of success. Last season, the clan seemed to fair a little worse then their previous season, which surprised many people. Here I talk with DaNiNjA players wintehs about how the clan and it's possible future in CAL-m.

Interview with DaNiNja|wintehs
gratt - CAL-m isn't a new thing for DaNiNjA, as they have been stable enough to stay in the league season after season with quite a lot of success. DaNiNjA seemed to do relatively sub-par compared to usual last season, surprising many onlookers. How do you feel you performed last season when compared to previous seasons?
DaNiNjA|wintehs - I'd have to say last season most of us just lost our drive and intrest in DoD. I know for me and most of the guys that go to school with me that are in the clan, just didn't have the time to really put any extra scrim time in... therefore we just suffered overall, that's why we took a break, just so we didn't get completely fed up with DoD.

gratt - What do you have planned going into the new season? Is there anything you feel your team needs to become stronger on (chemistry, e.g)?
DaNiNjA|wintehs - Right now our team is a mix of both the upper and lower squads we had last season, so we're still working on the chemistry between them. On top of that we've picked up a few people in the off season, but they're fitting in pretty well as far as I can tell. We might have a rough start at the begining of the season, but I think we'll be okay overall.

gratt - What is the DaNiNjA starting roster looking like currently? Have there been any great changes lately which could greatly effect your performance this season (for the good or bad)?
DaNiNjA|wintehs - Well right now our starting line has been Wickedpete, Duck, Shiv, Jericho, Metalslug, Parkus, and Miller in there at times. The only thing I'm concerned with is that a few of us (Jericho, Cleric, Syfnx, and I) are all heading off for summer break, so that might have an impact. I know that I'm not going to be able to play until the last weeks of the season when I get back to school lol.

gratt - With CAL-im being introduced, this is looking to be a very successful season of CAL-m. Are there any teams which you see your team looking out for this season?
DaNiNjA|wintehs - Well cal-m has a lot of talent this season... probably way more than any season before it. In our division I'd have to say that our biggest games will be against Moronos, Hype, and the newly revamped sAs (people don't give them enough credit). As for the rest of the divisions M|nc is looking really strong, and so is hb, mafia, zer and ronin... I mean once the playoffs come around it could be anyones game. We'll just have to see how the season plays out though before we start picking the cal-m champs lol.

e friends of the victory #teamefv

E friends of victory may be a newer clan to DoD, but their roster contains quite a few players which have great experience in both DoD and CS. This is their first season in CAL-m, but many are expecting them to be able to cause a few upsets and surprises. I talked with their leader, xirtam, to get the scoop on what the clan is up to.

Interview with xirtam[efv]
gratt - efv is a fairly new clan with a roster full of players with prior CAL-m/i experience under their belts. With players from teams such as RAV and dgf, this team is expected to make a definite impact this season. With this said, how do you expect to do in the upcoming season?
xirtam[efv] - We hope we do good, but e-friends is a mostly friendly clan with for first objective to have fun.

gratt - Is there anything your team needs to work on especially before they are fully ready to compete in CAL-m this season?
xirtam[efv] - Well since me, ninjuh, intolerance, and kwest already played together back in dgf, we got some good chemistry. We also got some players from CS who actually compete in cal-m under our cs division (#teamae). What we need to work on since we are a mix of games is to make new comers learn the maps and game and to work as a team. :P

gratt - What is efv's starting roster looking like at the moment? Have you had any recent changes which could make or break your chances this season?
xirtam[efv] - well its mostly whoever is around on match day. But if i'd have to say some names it would be: xirtam, ninjuh, intolerance, corbin, kwest, 1 rotation or 2 ( funball, kim, munson). No changes have been made, and we plan on not doing so since, we all the same peep from cs and dodroster. So to make a new addition it wouldrequire to be accepted from the cs players and dod players wich is not ez ^_^

gratt - The new introduction of a CAL-im division to DoD has surely helped to create a much more tightly knit and balanced CAL-m division this season. Can you think of any teams which you will be looking out for this season?
xirtam[efv] - Well i think one very promising team would actually be Highball, they got very skilled players and good chemistry since they already played together in the past. Mafia too can expect to be doing good since they used to be in cal-i and have some good players.

straight E-Thuggin #set

Last season, sET, also known as rts, managed to finish its inagural season in CAL with a 7-1 record, while losing by a mere 14 points to 85th in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. With nearly the same roster from last season and some very valuable experience under their belt, sET is bound to have a very strong performance this upcoming season. Whether they can manage to take the title home this season is yet to be seen, but as long as they manage to maintain a stable roster as they did last season, they shouldn't have too much trouble with the majority of teams they will face this upcoming season.

Interview with chu-sET
dtE - After a very successful first season in main, how do you feel about your team's chances to take home a title this season?
chu-sET - I'd say they are looking very well. There are still some decent teams but scrd is convinced it'll be a great one. I guess it'll depend on how much we put into it. Oh and we've been infused with the power of the moon, so our chances are good.

dtE - Has your team undergone any roster changes from last season and what roster can we expect to see playing for your team this season?
chu-sET - It's still pretty much the same roster. We picked up hustla from [e] so that'll help us out a lot. Current roster is op, scrd, cynikal, hus, kanga, chu.

dtE - sET is certainly a front runner to take the title in main this season, unlike last season where your team was relatively uknown. Do you feel the added pressure will have any affect on your team's performance this season?
chu-sET - No, not really. The only thing that will effect our performance this season will be how much we play together. Last season we rarely got a chance for all of us to play together since for a lot of our members cs comes first. Hopefully things will be different this season.

dicE #dice

This team of relative unknowns has made a substantial impact in the main division in their first season. After being moved up to main late in the season, dicE managed to grab a 5-1 record and managed to grab a big win in the playoffs against a very strong BnG team, before losing in the quarterfinals to now deceased, GP. Once again, dicE seems to be a very strong team that is still being overlooked by many people this coming season. The fact that they have such a small roster which gives them a chance to build tight chemistry between one another, gives them a big advantage over most teams competing in main. Now that they have some experience from last season under their belts, I think that dicE has another chance to suprise alot of people and make a big push for the championship come playoff time. Since dicE isn't the most skilled team in main this season, they are going to be forced to heavily rely on a strong team game from every member if they want to make a big impact this coming season.

Interview with dicE-Russ
dtE - After a very successful first season in main, how do you feel your team will peform this upcoming season?
dicE-RuSS - Well, we are hoping to do just as well or better then we did last season as long as we keep praticing the maps and getting down our team work and timing. With our new lineup were hoping to get back into the playoffs and hopefully make it a little bit further then we did last season.

dtE - I noticed that your team likes to keep a small roster of 6-8 players. What advantages do you think this provides your team as a whole?
dicE-RuSS - We like to keep our roster small because were all dedicated and with the lower amount of players it keeps players from being benched and lacking the playtime. Another advantage we see with the smaller roster is that we all get to work together more as a team and create further chemistry with one another.

dtE - Are there any goals your team has set for this season? With one successful season under your team's belt, do you feel your team is prepared to make a run for the main championship?
dice-RuSS - Well our main goal is to make it far into the main playoffs such as every other team but I think if we wanted to make a run for the main championship we would have to work alot harder and develope some more teamwork to get us ready for the invite level, But I don't believe we have that as our goal at the moment were just hoping the best and hoping we can advance far into the main playoffs and come out with another great season on top of us.

dtE - Had dicE experienced any roster changes this season and who can we expect to see starting for your team this season?
dicE-RuSS - Yes we had Gorilla leave us after the season, also we won't have eX playing with us this season who was never really on the clan but played for us last season due to rosters locking before we could recruit another player, But we picked up Sub and Badbrains from SaC, and also recently got RWC. Our starting lineup at the moment is Dye^Life, Frozentruth, Ap0c, Myself(RuSS), Badbrains and RWC but this could change if somebody left us or we picked up another player.

Mafia Gaming Syndicate #mafia

After a somewhat long break from the dod scene, the former invite clan, mafia, has decided to give dod another go. With some old returning players in venge, leon and cali, and new pickups in motiv and xerophobia, mafia is shaping up to be one of the teams to beat in main this season. While they have the talent to beat nearly in team in main this season, how well they perform this season will rely heavily on how active they are. Most of the players on their roster are old friends so chemistry shouldn't be too difficult to develop and once they get comftorable with each other's playing styles, their will be few teams in main who mafia won't be able to handle.

Interview with mafia`cali
dtE - Before your recent departure from dod, mafia had a short stay in main, before taking a break from dod. What has sparked your team's return to dod this season?
mafia`cali - COD is a horrible game....the speed at which its played, the guns and what not, so we just decided to go back to dod, but we wanted to find a new game to move to that we all liked....we were unable to :) .

dtE - What will mafia's roster be this season and have you made any signifcant changes from the old mafia roster?
mafia`cali - mafia has always had 4 or 5 guys that will always be with us but we did make alot of changes. As of right now our starting lineup is, cali, leon, venge, motiv, fleen and xero with fenom and xero taking turns for xero hasnt found his rythm yet. We also have duo comming back from mmorpg gayness, as well as zodiak and boomham returning, although they are a bit inactive.

dtE - With this being mafia's first season back, how do you feel your team will perform this upcoming season?
mafia`cali - Well when we first came back, we were losing all of our scrims cause we didnt have a sniper. Once we picked up motiv everything changed. I feel that as long as we have motiv backing us up with his godly sniping skills, we will do extremmly well in main.

dtE - Are there any specific teams you will be looking out for this season in main?
mafia`cali - ZeR has always been a strong team, so they will be definetly be one of the teams we'll be looking out for.

Mornos #mornos

One of the most underrated teams coming into last season was mornos. They managed to turn alot of heads as they managed to make it to the quareterfinals of the cal-m playoffs last season, losing to ZeR. This season however, Mornos is a front runner to win the championship. With three seasons in main under their belts, mornos has the talent, depth, and chemistry to beat any team in main when they are playing well. It's difficult to judge how big of an impact their new pickups, escher and GYBE will be, but if they are active, each may have a profound affect on how well mornos does this season. In order for mornos to take home a championship this season, they need p4wn to keep up his strong sniping and must be able to integrate their new pickups into their lineup.

Interview with mornos|GYBE
dtE - Last season, mornos experienced a great deal of success, managing to make it to the quarterfinals of the playoffs. How do you feel your team will perform this season and will the experience that your team has gained over the past three seasons play a big role in how your season turns out?
mornos|GYBE - I think so. Mornos (and it's predeccesor USDN) has always had good chemistry. Last season p4wn and I were introduced, and having gone through a season I feel we now fit in perfectly with the core of the clan. This chemistry will be an undeniable asset with all the new and reformed teams that seem to be flooding cal-m. And anything less than the finals is a dissapointment for us and will fall short of our goals.

dtE - How is your team's roster shaping up this season? What lineup can we expect to see this season and have yall undergone any recent roster changes?
mornos|GYBE - We only have 8 members, and escher's situation is still unknown at this point. So with only 7 real players right now, the roster will remain pretty stable, rotating between Clark/Wade/Turk/Rude/Chown/p4wn/myself. Besides the dirty hippie, we haven't made any pickups.

dtE - After three seasons straight in main, is your team getting anxious to get out of main and get the chance to play in invite with a finals win this season?
mornos|GYBE - Oh most definately. We were really aiming for invite last season, but in retrospect I don't think we were fully prepared. Our team definately desires to play at the level - and barring some unforseen inactivity - I think we'll be suffeciently prepared to play in the division by the season's end.

Mercenaries Incorporated #M|inc

M|inc (formerly oLC) is another team that has decided to come back to dod after a break from dod. With a promising roster of several former main and invite players, M|inc will be a force to be reckoned with this upcoming season. While they have the talent to make a deep run come playoff time, they must be able to develop chemistry among their starters by scrimming often. While I think that M|inc will have no problems with the lower and middle tier teams in main, they could encounter difficulties when they encounter teams with a bit more experienced teams such as mornos or sET.

Interview with M|inc-gratt
dtE - M|inc, formerly oLC, has made a return to dod after a short break from the game. With a roster full of experienced main and invite players, how do you think M|inc will perform as a team this season?
M|inc-gratt - I think we have what it takes to do really well this season. Although the actual starting roster is looking a lot different compared to the original oLc, most of us still have a lot of playing experience with eachother from other past clans, such as h8, 3h, RBC, NmE, etc. I believe that we can really perform well as long as we keep serious and keep the practice.

dtE - hat roster changes has the original oLc undergone? Who have you picked or dropped along the way and how many original members are left from the original oLc?
M|inc-gratt - Actually, quite a large portion of the original members of oLc are left. Since our reform, we've had to deal with organizing all of the old members to their level of activity. Myself, daid, EndofOne and Elusive are innactive at the moment. We've managed to pick up some great players in gh0d, Jokur, defunct, urban, Spag, Sh|ftynou. Recently we had to part ways with a few older members due to innactivity. but theres no hard feelings and we've picked up some great new players which should be large assets to our success this season.

dtE - With a somewhat large roster, activity shouldn't be too much of a problem, but the chemistry could become a bit more difficult to develop with so many people on the roster. How active do you see your team being and do you think your team will have any problems developing chemistry?
M|inc-gratt - With the solid 8-9 active players we have right now, I think we should be very active without having to bench any players routinely. I don't think chemistry is a large problem due to the fact, as I said before, that most of us have played together in previous clans and have a good load of past chemistry developed already. Right now I think we just need to play with one another a bit more and let the chemistries develop with different players mixed in.

dtE - Are there any teams in particular that your team will be on the look out for, should you encounter over the course of the season?
M|inc-gratt - I think highball will definitely be a team to be reckoned with, although they're not exactly what they once were right now. We'll also be watching out for teams like sync and dJ.

Section8 Clan #section8clan

Section8 is another clan that has been competing in dod longer than most clans currently in main. While they have had their ups and downs over the seasons, this season seems have a very promising outlook for them. They managed to advance to the cal-o finals last season, before losing to SuaD. Although they have lost one of their strongest players in mag, they still have the talent and chemistry to pull several upsets this season. As long as they practice and come prepared for each match, they should give most teams in main a run for thier money.

Interview with [section8]Vass
dtE - After a very successful season in cal-o, managing to make it to the finals, how do you feel your team will perform this upcoming season in cal-main?
[section8]Vass - Aside from preseason (alot of our members are in exams) I think we will perform very well. Some people said we were "team mag`", and now it is our chance to prove them wrong. Alot of people forget we were in Main before taking last summer off.

dtE - Has section8 made any roster changes and who can we expect to see starting for s8 this upcoming season?
[section8]Vass - I am still trying to get confirmation on his eligibility (banned/not banned) from CAL, but former Fx|Beach has expressed interest in playing for us this summer. We are also actively recruiting. Our current starting roster is: Vass, Maniac, Elisha, Lifetime, Booduh, Verbal/Paranoia.

dtE - Does section8 have any specific goals this upcoming season?
[section8]Vass - We are not setting our expectations too high, as there are alot of great teams in Main. Our top goal is to make it into the playoffs.

Generic Clan #gc.dod

This fairly new clan to the dod scene is looking to make an impression in their first season of main. Most of their roster is made up of former redeye members who competed and did fairly well in cal-main last season, so the experience in main will certainly help them this upcoming season. Most of the members in gc are friends and have a somewhat short histroy of competing with one another, namely redeye, so the chemistry shouldn't be too much of a problem to develop. The biggest challenge gc may face this upcoming season though is helping each other to develop into some of the top players in main. It'll be important for gc to rely more heavily on a team game with solid strats, rather than relying on the pure talent they have.

Interview with [gc]Aether
dtE - Being fairly new to the dod scene, with some old redeye members from last season, how do you feel your team perform this upcoming season in main?
[gc]Aether - I think we'll do much better than anyone expects us to, and I believe we've already begun proving that.

dtE - After leaving redeye, most of the core players followed you over to gc which will certainly help your team's chances this season. Could you give us a quick rundown of what your anticipated roster will be for this season?
[gc]Aether - Our roster right now consists of myself, tr4gik, tyranny, shokerturbo, the Prophecy, and pjunkie. We're also looking to pick up two more players for this upcoming season.

dtE - With the new talent being added into main this season, are there any teams that seem particularly troubling?
[gc]Aether - deadboLT, highball and ronin are teams that seem particularly troubling in my mind, but there's plenty of other teams that seem very talented as well.

Overdose #dose

One of the more successful teams over the past seasons has been overdose. They managed to earn a 5-3 record last season in main and narrowly make the playoffs, before losing in the first round. While they're members don't have the greatest skills among the clans in main, they're team game is rapidly improving and under the superb leadership of Yondogg, oD has a chance to make a big impact in cal-main this season. With a new pickup in Amplified (former d3k), oD has a chance to not only make a return trip to the playoffs this season, but possibly when a few games come postseason this time around.

Interview with oD`Yondogg
dtE - After a very successful first season in main, managing to reach the playoffs, how do you think your team will perform in it's second season of main.
oD`Yondogg - this season our roster has been reformed, we've split our existing main squad and created a new open squad with some of the less active members from last season. with members in the open squad having had experience in main plus a few good recruits such as shakes and amplified(ex d3k) I think that the open squad will really have a good season.

dtE - Has your team undergone any roster changes for the upcoming season?
oD`Yondogg - the main roster has changed a lot, a few of our starters from last season have gone inactive with exams namely phoenix (oD co-lead) and his younger brother rubber, and of course some have gone to the open squad. We've recruited toe jam and smellypants (both from infusion aka darkstar) and travis aka triaL and cheeseymold are back to play in main, along with our new pick up in Amplified.

dtE - Has your team set any goals for yourselves this season?
oD`Yondogg - Our goals for this season I would say would be to make playoffs again and hopefully make it to quarter finals. Last season we had an easy schedule so although we did make playoffs I wasnt too happy with how things went. I'm looking forward to a much more impressive season this time around, and with this much more active starting lineup, I think we'll do just that.

dtE - Are there any teams that your team that you feel present a significant challenge, should you come up against them this season?
oD`Yondogg - I think that this season with the creation of cal-im DoD its eliminited a lot of the weaker teams in main, most of the teams in main now will provide a challenge and we wont be taking any lightly. But I'd have to say I'm looking forward to playing highball and mafia now that they're back, aswell as newer teams that have well experienced players such as Minc.

s3x Inc team #si.dod

s3x Inc is a newer clan in DoD, but is looking to be very productive. With some ex-ze and FsM players, team[si] is looking to make an impact this season. I managed to grab leader DecoY to talk [si].

Interview with [si]victor
gratt - Although being a newer team, s3x Inc has already managed to show the DoD community that they are a very capable clan. With this said, how do you expect to perform?
[si]victor - Since we are a new team we still have do not have the chemistry that elder teams would have, but we do make that up with individual skill. Personally I think we should do well and will make the playoffs.

gratt - What is your roster looking like at the moment? Have there been any recent changes which could highly effect your chances (good or bad) this season?
[si]victor - We did have some major roster changed recently, broken and eman just left the clan and the newest members are myself sniping and Terror using heavy. Right now our roster looks pretty solid with great rifles good auto's and myself sniping.

gratt - What do you have planned for this season? Is there anything you need to specifically work on in order to be successful?
[si]victor - This season we are just trying to scrims as much as possible with our starting 6 so we can work on teamwork, strats, and chemistry. If you look at teams like gamewyze they have awsome teamwork and chemistry over individual skill and thats what wins big matches.

gratt - With the new introduction of CAL-im, this CAL-m season should be stronger and more evenly balanced then ever before. Are there any teams which you'll be watching out for?
[si]victor - Yes, I think trademarks current roster with ex-cali players such as beas and and habib look like a strong team, there is also HB which I feel will be the champions this season with their always improving roster, and the team overdose looks very decent also. I'm not too sure about mafia restarting up again but they do have some of their old members from when they where cal-i. So from the looks of it this season wont be easy.

TradeMark #trademark

TradeMark is a brand new clan, but is already shaping up to be a very strong competitor. Most of it's members have strong chemistry and experience from playing invite with next Level last season, which should greatly help them in Main. I spoke with Tm player Bish about the clan and it's future.

Interview with Tm`|Bish gratt - TradeMark is a new team, but is very remiscent of nL's roster last season. With this said, how do you feel you can do this season?
Tm|`Bish - Well all of us know someone else in the clan personally like for ex. 5 of the members live down the road from me (Fossil, Beas, Nuro, Virgo) Dorito and Fusion are brothers(mexicans), habib, dave, and triumph are friends from the Kentucky area....and all of this seems to gives us a really good chemistry. 4+ members i know +me* :>

gratt - What is your starting roster looking like right now? Have you had any changes which may make or break your chance at getting to playoffs this season?
Tm|`Bish - Well i think we have a good steady starting roster which is (Beas, Bish, Habib, Dorito, Fusion, Dave/Triumph) and if we come prepared for every match and scrim a lot I'm sure we will have a chance for playoffs.

gratt - How often do you scrim or practise? Is there anything you need to work on specifically to be successful this season?
Tm|`Bish - We just scrim whenever people are on, usually we go for 3-5 scrims a week. As long as we keep our minds on the game in a scrim/match I think we play well.

gratt - Now that CAL-im has been introduced, this is looking to be a very aspiring season of CAL-m, with very tight competition. Are there any teams which you will be looking out for this season?
Tm|`Bish - Theres plenty of competition in CAl-m right now, we have scrimmed highball several times and they seemed to be going pretty strong.

Preseason Top 10 Power Rankings

With many returning, experienced teams, and some even more newer additions to the more competitive CAL-Main division this season, we have decided to give a quick rundown of who we feel are the top 10 teams in main this season.

1. sET - With nearly the same returning roster from last season, sET is prepared to have a big impact in main this season. As long as they come prepared, they have the chemistry and talent to beat any team in main this season.
2. Highball - The reformed hb has the talent to beat any team in CAL-Main this season. However, skill won't always get you big wins, and in order for hb take home a cal-m championship, they must work harder at developing their team chemistry. If they can manage to develop good team chemistry, there isn't a team in main that can stand up to them in my opinion.
3. Mornos - Mornos is a team that has been in main for three consecutive seasons now, and they are without a doubt, itching to move to the next level, which of course is invite. This makes them a very dangerous team and with possibly the best team chemistry in main, they have the ability to take down any team on any given night.
4. deadboLT - Like highball, deadboLT is another team that has loads of talent, mainly in the form of experienced ex-cal invite players. But again, talent won't always get you the big wins, especially in close games. If they are more active this season then they were last, then they will certainly be, for many, THE team to beat in cal-main.
5. Mercenaries Incorporated - Another reformed team, M|inc has a very promising outlook to their season. If they are as active as the rest of teams in main, look for them to come out with some big wins and establish themselves as one of the teams to beat come playoff time.
6. Team ronin After a very succesful first season, and a revamped roster for this season, look for ronin to pull off some big upsets. Although they may be underrated by many of the teams in main, they have the talent to beat anyone on any given night, especially if they come prepared.
7. dicE - dicE has already made a big impact on the scene last season, and I don't expect them to slow down this season either. With an active and talented roster, there aren't many teams in main that can stand up to them, especially when you throw in the chemistry they have with one another.
8. BnG - Even though they've lost some starters, they've managed to replace them and once again look to be on pace to having another successful season in CAL-Main. If BnG is able to play to their potential, more consistently then they have in past seasons, then they are another team that you can expect a few upsets from.
9. Mafia Gaming Syndicate - Mafia is another reformed CAL-i team that has the ability to make an impact of their own this season. With many returning players and several new additions, it'll be interesting to see how big of an impact Mafia will have on CAL-Main this season.
10. e friends of the victory - This team has several ex cal-invite players on their roster and they seem to be developing a very solid team game as well. They have the talent and ability to beat most of the teams in main, now it's time from them to prove that they really can.

Darkhorse Clan

dtE - While many of the teams in main look very promising, I feel that dicE is the most underrated team that will have biggest impact this season. Although most people expect them to make the playoffs, most are not counting on them to make it very far this postseason. I think that as long as they keep a stable and active roster, they have the ability to make it to the semifinals, if not further this postseason. They manage to keep a small roster and tight chemistry, which will be essential to their success this season.
gratt - I definitely think sAs will be the Darkhorse team of the season. They have really been able to prove themselves lately, and with recent additions of Bewton, Nitestalker and Santa from RBC to their roster, I really don't see them slowing down. While I don't think they have a very solid chance at winning CAL-m, I really think that sAs has what it takes to get

Day Of Defeat: DoD CAL-Main Season 4: Season Preview

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