Article by Ken "xandeR`" Smith
Artwork by eLegant

The new CAL season is upon us and Painkiller has a new division, which brings, as some would argue, a reason to pay attention to the league. Yes, CAL-I Painkiller preseason starts now and it’s looking to be a very interesting season. Several big name players who skipped out on the first CAL season due to lack of competition are back to compete in the Invite division. These players, namely dkt, wombat and daler, look to make a big impact and assert their dominance in the NA scene. Lesser known but still extremely skilled players like Ironson, FireBlade, Mouse, dj-- and Thump4, the CAL-PK Season 1 champion hope to prove themselves in the newly formed Invite division. After a very exciting 3 map battle between dj-- and Thump4 for the First CAL-PK Championship, the future of Painkiller and it’s position in CAL is very bright.

CAL has also implemented a few little things to make the division a little more competitive. First of all, instead of assigning maps to each week, the maps are now chosen by the competitors, which will result in players playing maps they are best at and thus putting on an even better show. CAL does choose the tiebreaker map of course and the hope is that these tiebreaker maps will have to be played very often. The preseason will also be used for more than just a warm up for the season. Players that do not play up to potential in preseason will be demoted back to Open to preserve the competitive nature of Invite.

The current list of players is as follows:

carnage: Newcomer to CAL-PK but a well known name in the NA community and a very skilled player.
cbnz: From the well known clan Check Six. Ranked 2nd in Open playoffs last season and made it to the quarterfinals.
crit1c4l: Proved to be a tough competitor last season and a rising talent in the scene. Ranked 25th in Open playoffs last season but managed to make it to the quarterfinals.
daler: The Team3D frontman jumps into the fray in Invite looking to make a splash. Ranked 8th in the world and 3rd in NA by our own GotFrag Rankings.
destrukt: No introduction needed for the famous dkt. From Check Six and currently ranked 6th in NA by GotFrag.
dj--: Kind of a dark horse of the PK scene. Placed 2nd in Open last season and was ranked 1st. Ranked 8th in NA by GotFrag.
fuRy: Lesser known player that made huge strides in Open. Was ranked 21st in Open playoffs last season and made it to round 2.
geoff: Another well known player in the PK scene. Hailing from idemise and bringing a lot of skill to Invite. Ranked 17th in Open playoffs last season making it to round 2.
AngeL: A very skilled player from the well known clan GB. Ranked 4th in Open playoffs last season and made it to Round 2.
id1o: A lesser known but still extremely skilled player. Previously of NAU. Ranked 15th in Open playoffs last season losing in the first round.
InFlow: A strong player in the NA scene looking to make an impact this season. Ranked 10th in Open playoffs last season making it to round 2.
Ironson: A very well known and skilled player with a strong history in DM games. Ranked 3rd in Open playoffs last season and made it to the semifinals.
Mojo: A very skilled player looking to make a good impression in Invite. Ranked 19th in Open playoffs last season making it to round 2.
Mouse: A player who surprised a few people and made it all the way to the semifinals in Open playoffs last season with a rank of 13th. He looks to continue his excellent play in Invite.
mr.selfdestruct: Not a very well known player but still very skilled and looking to prove himself in Invite. Ranked 18th in Open playoffs last season and made it to round 2.
Psychojo: A previous member of NAU and a very strong competitor in the scene. Ranked 6th in Open playoffs last season and made it to the quarterfinals.
The Lunat1c: Another lesser known player who is very impressive. Ranked 24th in Open playoffs last season and made it to round 2.
Thump4: Our CAL-PK Season 1 Champion. Ranked 7th during Open playoffs and currently ranked 9th in NA by GotFrag. Extremely skilled player on the well known team WEW. Looking to continue his dominance in the league in Invite.
Toast: A well known player from the famous clan United 5. Looking to improve his reputation this year in Invite.
FireBlade: Another member of u5 looking to further his career in PK. Ranked 5th in Open playoffs last season making it to the quarterfinals.
WOP: A lesser known player who is just now becoming recognizable. Member of WEW along with Thump4. Ranked 22nd in Open playoffs last season making it to the round 2.
wombat: A very famous player in gaming from Team3D. Known for his time in rdw in CS and 3D in CoD. Ranked 5th in NA by GotFrag.
Wreck: A very strong player from visualgaming. Newcomer to CAL-PK and hopes to make a big impression on Invite. Placed 5th at Summer CPL for PK in ’04.
clowN: Very skilled player though slightly lesser known who looks to make an impact on Invite this season.

And here is the schedule for the first week of Preseason in CAL-I PK:

cbnz vs. InFlow
crit1c4l vs. FireBlade
Psychojo vs. The Lunat1c
Ironson vs. Thump4 A rematch of the semifinals of Open playoffs! Match to watch!
Wreck vs. clown
daler vs. geoff
id1o vs. Toast
destrukt vs. fury
AngeL vs. Mouse
dj-- vs. Mojo
mr.selfdestruct vs. wombat
WOP vs. carnage


Well there you have your CAL-I PK players for now. Looks to be a very strong group of competitors with plenty of chances for great games between top players and huge upsets by the underdogs. Feel the Pain will be on TSN on Wednesday night where they will chat about current events in the PK scene as well as bring us the first two matches in CAL-I PK! First up will be crit1c4l vs. FireBlade, followed by daler vs. geoff. Be sure to check them out and get a feel for the new season of CAL PK! I’m sure you’ll join me in looking forward to a great season in Invite!