This past year, we have seen Painkiller come and go as the CPL World Tour deathmatch game. For 2006, the CPL replaces the quick and unforgiving game with Quake IV, as they have regained a friendship with iD games after a period of falling out. As we come closer to the 2005 Winter CPL in Texas we still don't know who will become the next big player in the scene, but we can offer some insights.

15. Meng Yang (RocketBoy)

Mr. Yang, RocketBoy. Winner of the Fatal1ty Shootout at the Great Wall in China in the game of Doom 3. A darkhorse coming into the Shootout at the time, he faced off against America's greatest known professional gamer and won. His success with Doom 3 could help him a lot in Quake IV.

Notable finish: ACON Fatal1ty Great Wall Shootout, Doom 3: 1st place

14. Jamie Pereyda (Missy)

The ladies' best Quake III player comes to show the boys where it's at. Extremely skilled and highly motivated, Missy is going to tough to beat coming into this CPL.

Notable finish: 2005 Quake III OSP MsQuakecon: 1st place

13. Michael Pettersson (TeveT)

Coming from Unreal Tournament, TeveT will have to prove he can play a good game of Quake IV just like everyone else that is coming into this CPL. Should be fun to watch him to see how well he has made the transition into this new game.

Notable finish: Three time UT Nations Cup winner

12. Brian Flander (destrukt)

Who doesn't love his mouse pads? All joking aside, he brings a love of deathmatch games just like everyone else and has been very involved with the community. Playing every game under the sun, he should be great at Quake IV, with his abilities that some others might not have picked up.

Notable finish: 2005 web2zone PK Tournament: 1st place

11. Jason Sylka (socrates_)

An impressive player from Quake III, just recently picked up by Complexity Gaming. Socrates will be looking to prove to Jason Lake that he was worth the invite at this CPL.

Notable finish: 2005 ESWC Quake III: 4th place

10. Alessandro Avallone (stermy)

Coming from Quake III and most recently a top player in Painkiller, Stermy was the youngest player to ever to compete in the World Cyber Games Finals. Being recently picked up by Fatal1ty as a team member should drive him to show his very best as he has done in Painkiller.

Notable finish: Electronic Sports World Cup, Painkiller: 2nd place

9. Andrew Ryder (gellehsak)

Hailing from Canada and showing great skill in Painkiller, gellehsak is an amazing player in both style and skill. Having just left his team Fnatic, we can only hope this doesn't affect his performance.

Notable finish: 2005 CPL Chile, Painkiller: 2nd place

8. Alexey Nesterov (lexer)

The Russian powerhouse player from Quake III and Painkiller is back to compete in Quake IV; as it's a slower game then Painkiller, he should feel right at home with the speed (the part of PK that he didn't like). Look for Lexer to put on a good show for everyone watching.

Notable finish: 2002 Quakecon Quake 3: 1st place