With the first three weeks of Call of Duty 4 safely put away, I think that most community members can agree on 3 different things: 1) Single Player is ridiculously cool, 2) Multi Player is actually fun to play, and 3) Damn, I wish we could start playing matches already! Well fear not folks, for the first full 5v5 tournament for North America is on its way! CEVO's $1000 tournament is the first real online battleground for teams both old and new to suit up and show off their new sprinting and knifing skills.

As is becoming of a new game, there are several teams that caught my eye, both old and new. Many veterans from the CoD1 and early CoD2 days have come back, drawn back to the series for a multitude of reasons ranging from looking for the next serious non-CS first-person shooter to play, to simply looking to have some fun with old friends. A number of teams have decided to shoot over from such games as CS:Source, Battlefield 2142 and even the recently released Team Fortress 2.

With that being said, let's take a look at some of the big names that have signed up to participate in CEVO's free tournament. Keep in mind that this is merely a pre-season write-up, and that the grapevine has led to my interest in some of the lesser-known teams.

The Oldies But Goodies

Team Pandemic

Nabore
Crzg
Prank
Miller
Keith
Gladia7or

It comes as no surprise that Pandemic should lead this first group of teams that have moved over from CoD2 and looking to bring their winning ways to a new game. Joe "Nabore" Amorosa is, as usual, one to quickly get past the "ooh la la!" that comes with a new game and has shown off some of the new peek and push spots that he has found in practice scrims. The change from Robert "rob-wiz" Kennedy to their new 5th, Keith "Keith" Hullenaar has not been one that is noticeable from a player standpoint because Keith is a very strong player, and was with Pandemic when they won Cyberhub January '07. No doubt that he brings a different set of strengths and weakness to the table than rob-wiz, but Nabore will undoubtedly find a way to make use of his "new" player's strengths.

The faster CQB (close quarters battle) play that accompanies CoD4, at first glance, seems to fit in well with the strengths of Pandemic's members, being a naturally aggressive bunch. They will have no qualms about throwing set stuns and cooked grenades all over the map before rushing in with a combination of Assault and Spec Ops guns, and with their precise and accurate shooting they win most battles. It remains to be seen how Prank will do without the consistency of the scope strapped to his back, but lately the m16 has been his main gun, making good use of its 3-round burst and almost-certain kill success rate. Naturally, I expect this team to make top 5 in the tournament, but no doubt they have the talent and the skill to win it all.