WCG 2008 Preview

Groups of Gold: The Team UK World Cyber Games 2008 Preview

With less then a week remaining before the 2008 World Cyber Games are under way in Cologne, Germany it's time to take a look at Team UK. The UK finished with three medals at WCG 2007 in Seattle and finished 14th overall with stand out performances from Infused Gaming in Gears of War (bronze medal), Zaccubus in Tony Hawk's Project 8 (silver medal) and Apollooo in Command & Conquer 3 (gold medal). 2008 has been an unprecedented year for the UK in competitive gaming with the Birmingham Salvo's CGS victory being one several stand out moments so far. You don't have to be a fan of the CGS to appreciate what takes to win that competition. Now that Birmingham has done Britain proud, it's time to see how we fare as a nation.

On October 3rd, the 2008 World Cyber Games competition groups were drawn and many gamers here in the UK held their collective breaths as some of the UK's best medal hopes were drawn up against some of the tournament’s stiffest competition. However, if these teams and players make it out of the group stages, they could very well go on to win it all. I'm suggesting that whoever makes it out of the group stages from these games will walk away with the hardware. We'll take a look at who exactly our best medal hopes are and who in their GROUP may send them packing and go on to be crowned WCG 2008 Champion. You will also find who my picks are for each group's runner up and who I feel could pack a punch if the circumstances are just right. What better way to start things off then with the man who surprised them all in Seattle: Apollo.

Command & Conquer 3: Kain's Wrath (RTS)

Although hailed as one of the best C&C 3 players in the World, Apollo's WCG 2007 victory didn't come easy. He faced tough opposition from both Team USA and Germany, almost losing the first map of the semi-final. "I could hear people sat behind me, saying, ‘He’s going out. There’s no way he’ll make it,’ but I just kept on playing and playing until I turned it around. I couldn’t give up.” After coming back and beating Germany's Leon 'Xeon' Machens in the grand final, Apollo secured the UK's first ever gold medal at World Cyber Games. Since taking WCG, Apollo has continued to dominate both the UK and International C&C 3 scene with a 2nd place finish at Play Hard Go Pro 4 and 1st place finishes at Multiplay's i33 and Samsung's European Championship 2008. Apollo should be on form to compete for back-to-back gold medals in Cologne.

Group A

Shaun 'Apollo' Clark - United Kingdom
David 'Khufu' Lathrop - United States
Pieter 'SLicK' van Niewenhuizen - South Africa
Amir Azlan - Malaysia
Chanin Tingruttana -
Leon 'Xeon' Machens - Germany
Keith Tang - Singapore

David 'Khufu' Lathrop was the only player to hand Apollo a loss in Seattle. Khufu went into the 2007 event as the Team USA Runner-Up; this time around he's going as the number one seed for the United States. Another Seattle veteran in Group A is the 2007 runner up, Xeon, who's bound to be thirsty for the WCG title. If Apollo has an off-game against an on-form Khufu or Xeon, Clark could be heading home early. Making Group A even tighter is returning South African RTS pro SLicK. After walking away from Seattle with only a single win, there is sometimes nothing more powerful than a player scorned. Fortunately, Apollo now has a full year of pro-gaming under his belt with Dignitas — which will have only improved his game.

Moss' Picks:

Predicted Overall Winner: Apollo
Predicted Group Runner Up: Khufu
Dark Horse: SLicK

Halo 3

What happens when two of the four players of the most consistent Halo 3 team in Europe are under 18 and thus ineligible to compete in the 2008 World Cyber Games? You go out and find two players from the other most consistent team in Europe! Meet Dignitas.VVV (or VVV.Dignitas); two parts Dignitas (Wrath & Adi), two parts VVV (Singh & Baadshah). The foursome competed against each other on their respective teams back in July at Matchbox 360's XL5 in the grand final. Dignitas, in what could be considered one of the UK's greatest console comebacks ever, walked away victorious. However, when confronted with the problem of two team members being under age for the WCG finals, it seemed natural for Dignitas to approach their XL5 opposition for partners. The decision has worked well as the foursome easily won the UK Qualifiers at i34.

Group D

Dignitas.VVV - United Kingdom
TSW.Flowen - New Zealand
LowLandLions - Netherlands
EndResult - Canada
Team_nBK - Mexico

The main competition in Group D comes in the form of the LowLandLions and End Result. L3 have been strong European Halo contenders for the past year with a standout performance at XL4 in March of this year. Led by Adam 'Infern0s' Baig, the team was unable to attend XL5 which could hurt them coming into Germany. The Canadian entry, End Result, had a strong 6th place finish in Halo 2 at MLG Canada in 2007. Walking into the 2008 MLG Pro Circuit, they held one of the highest MLG seedings for a non-US team ever. However, 2008 and Halo 3 haven’t treated End Result well: they've done nothing but stumble the entire season. TSW.Flowen, who come from a strong Halo 3 community in New Zealand, could also walk out of the group stages and into the single elimination bracket. VVV.Dignitas are running a LAN against The Imperial in preparation for Cologne. Singh and Baadshah are strong slayers and compliment Wrath and Adi almost as well as Omega and Gripz. BUT (and this is a very big but): chemistry will need to be 100% here if they are to have any hope of walking out of this group — let alone the tournament — with a medal. If the chemistry is on, the sky will be the limit.� UK Halo, welcome to the big show.

Moss' Picks:

Predicted Overall Winner: Dignitas.VVV
Predicted Group Runner Up: LowLandLions
Dark Horse: End Result

FIFA 08

FIFA is the mother of all games at the WCG, with this aspect of the event comparing heavily to the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC). Eighty players will be taking part this year and the UK is fortunate enough to be sending two of the best in the World: the Birmingham Salvo's Michael 'Bazza' Barrett and the London Mint's Chris 'ChrissyB' Bullard. This is the latter’s third World Cyber Games in a row, a very impressive feat. These two guys bring it no matter what the event. However, as with all FIFA events, if luck isn't on their side, a missed tackle or a run up the wing is all it takes for their dreams to be crushed.

Group J

Michael 'Bazza' Barrett - United Kingdom
Georgi 'crazy_kon' Georgiev - Bulgaria
Jeroen 'Acky' Jennen - Belgium
Andres Gutierrez - Peru

Like Barrett, this will be Acky's and crazy_kon's second WCG tournament; and although both had poor showings in Seattle, the youngsters have the potential to cause an upset and walk out of the group stages this year. Bazza, drafted by the Salvo only a day after his 18th birthday, is just starting to show his real potential. Not only did he help his CGS team walk away World Champions, he also won the FIWC UK Qualifiers. Nevertheless, Bazza still has yet to show that he's a World beater. He's disappointed in the past, but if he was to add a medal from the WCG to his already impressive achievement list, I would consider him to be the FIFA '08 Player of the Year.

Group A

Chris 'ChrissyB' Bullard - United Kingdom
Pedro Joaquin Moya - Nicaragua
Mario 'Mario' Viska - Austria
Craciun 'BeBe' Marius - Romania

Mario Viska will be ChrissyB's main trouble in a very strong Group A. The Austrian finished in 4th place at WCG 2007 and is easily one of the best FIFA players in Europe. A secondary threat lies in BeBe. The Romanian seldom loses, but also seems to pick his competitions wisely. ChrissyB, having an off day defensively, could ensure Bebe a spot beyond the group stages.

Two notable players missing from the WCG finals are Alfonso Ramos and Michael Ribeiro, the grand finalists of the FIWC '08 back in May, which could work in Bullard's favour (this could be because the FIWC was played on the PS3 instead of the PC). ChrissyB was on-form at the WCG UK Qualifier were he faced off against Bazza and won 4-1. If he continues to score early, and goes into the second half with a mental advantage over his opponents, he will go far — if not all the way. Finally, the good news for all FIFA 08 players: Germany is not sending WCG �ber champion SK.hero (WCG 2006 & 2008 Champion + WCG 2003 Runner Up).

Moss' Picks:

Predicted Overall Winner: ChrissyB
Predicted Group A Runner Up: Mario
Predicted Group J Winner: Bazza
Predicted Group J Runner Up: crazy_kon
Dark Horse: BeBe

The entire Team UK roster is a testament to how far both professional and casual gaming has come along this past year in the UK. Projects from such companies as TNWA (enemydown.co.uk), Multiplay (M Festival & iSeries), the CGS (Birmingham Salvo win) and XLEAGUE.TV (xleague.tv & Pulse Television) have all helped to bring new faces into the fold, be it from a partnership/sponsorship standpoint or a player standpoint. Combined with the triumphant announcement of the UKeSA, 2008 has seen the UK come to the forefront of the International esports scene. What an end to the year it would be if Britain was to place in the top eight at the 2008 World Cyber Games. Watch out Cologne.�

Time now for the Reverse Honourable Mentions: teams or players from Team UK who will have to be kidnapped or physically removed from the event in order for them to not make it out of the group stages, along with some of our best hopes of walking away with a medal.

Counter-Strike 1.6 - Team Dignitas

Project Gotham Racing - Ben ‘Live’ Morris & David ‘Daveyskills’ Kelly
Guitar Hero 3 - George ‘Monkey’ Boothby (One of our best medal hopes)

The entire Team UK World Cyber Games Roster:

Counter-Strike 1.6 (Team Dignitas)
Alex ‘AlesKiWaY’ Way

Kal ‘101′ Meek
Kurtis ‘kurt1s’ Shore

Mark ‘Spike’ Quigley

Suffian ‘Suffz’ Arshal

Halo 3 (Dignitas.vVv)

Azam ‘Bindle’ Abedi

Peter ‘Adi’ McGranaghag

Miles ‘Wra7h’ Ross

Davinder ‘Singh’ Kalsil

Project Gotham Racing 4

Ben ‘Live’ Morris

David ‘Daveyskills’ Kelly

FIFA 08

Chris ‘ChrisyB’ Bullard

Michael ‘Bazza’ Barrett

Guitar Hero 3

George ‘Monkey’ Boothby
Michael ‘MikeyBaby’ Jenkin

Command & Conquer 3

Shaun ‘Apollo’ Clark

StarCraft

Jamie ‘MidiaN’ Hallam

WarCraft III

Jonny ‘Driftwood’ Ede

Need for Speed: Prostreet

Steven ‘Stune’ Embling

Virtua Fighter 5

Dan ‘Rayne’ Read

Asphalt 4

Chris ‘Mellow’ Marsh

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