Tribes Power Rankings

The Cyber Sports Network’s first-ever Tribes: Ascend tournament just a few days away, so we decided it’s time to take a closer look at the players and teams in participation. This is the first Tribes: Ascend tournament with a substantial prize pool, and easily the most stacked tournament to date in terms of top teams and talent - the vast majority of active North American teams are here to find out who is the best in the region.

Power Rankings Rundown by FishStix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POf_eV1nBBw

Without further ado, our analysts for today’s power ranking:

If you missed them previously, take a look at the ruleset, prizepool, and format of the tournament:

Let’s go into a little detail on the history behind the current top North American Tribes: Ascend teams, and, of course, make some predictions on who is are the favorites going into this tournament:

1. Deadstop
Roster: Blitz, Apcizzle, ZProtoss, Bojinglebells, Mabel, RemiCs, Fire
Previous Game(s): Legions, T2/T:V
Links: http://www.teamdeadstop.com

“Deadstop is a team comprised of Tribes veterans, but many have played together at the highest levels of Legions competition, and is one of the strongest competitive teams currently playing T:A, boasting impressive wins in showmatches, scrims, and GameShrine matches. DeadStop has established themselves as one of the most consistent and talented teams playing the game. Watch out for strong stand defense and unorthodox flag passing.” ~HiRezBart

2. Team Legion
Roster: z4t01, projectile, hatuey, gMcizzle, Vir, Psycho, videoP, Matin, sfxer, PhonSC
Previous Game(s): mixed: Quake, T1/2, Jedi Academy
Links: http://www.the-legion.net/

“Team Tribehard emerged from the ashes of Stack N’ Hack, one of the strongest teams in early beta, and a few key members from Team Egocentric, and was picked up by Team Legion (or LgN) last week. Led by former Quake semi-pro z4t01 and with a strong backbone of top Tribes 2 talent (Matin as capper, Vir as HoF and shriker, projectile light defense), the LgN squad is no doubt a contender for the top spot in this tournament.” ~FishStix

3. Area51
Roster: zoidbergenstein, TITAN, Talespin, Blinks, Brick, VashEricks, pandalol, player3, pLif, AnarchyAo
Previous Game(s): Battlefield 3, MNC, some members T2
Links: http://area51gaming.com/

“A multigaming team that came on late into the Tribes scene. Able to rise quickly into the top 5 Tribes: Ascend teams due to their impressive coordination, teamwork, and hitscan accuracy. Area51’s play is characterized by strong vehicles from VashEricks and TITAN’s heavy on flag play. Talespin is one of the game’s most dominant snipers. Watch for an emphasis on cluster play, vehicles, and communication” ~HiRezBart

4. Tao of Tribe
Roster: Coproporphyria, Refried, Dyanmo, naner aka bootyclap6969, Conspiracy, dysphoria aka delerium, Makasuro, Red3y3, telia, Vypur, Alarik
Previous Game(s): T1/T2
Links: http://www.taooftribe.com/

Analysis: “One of the most exciting and experimental teams in Tribes: Ascend. Boasting a long Tribes 1 & Tribes 2 history, Tao is one of the most dynamic (no pun intended) teams, with a fluid offensive centric playstyle. Known for admitted lack of strategy, highly adaptable. Recently have added Vypur to their roster to assist on flag chase. Look for dynamic playstyles and strong capping from this team.” ~HiRezBart

5. Icarus
Roster: Fettuccine, Mavi, |V|ector, ekos, Kevin, elixer, kilar, zepto, Jinmen, Bravo
Previous Game(s): T1
Links:

“Team Icarus features some of the top talent from the later years of Tribes 1 LT, most notably elixer aka GeneWilder, arguably the best offensive T1 LT player of all time, and |V|ector who represents Tribes 1 base capping with long and well thought-out routes. Watch out for fast routes, a heavy emphasis on offensive coordination, and top-tier team play from this team.” ~FishStix

“Team icarus gives every team in Tribes Ascend a run for their money - whether they win or lose. Their longevity within this community only proves that they are only getting stronger as a team and with players such as |V|ector, an elite Tribes 1 capper, Mavi, arguably one of the most competent stay a home players and zepto, one of the most annoying snipers to cap against, this team has a chance to throw a big surprise into this tournament.” ~Apcizzle

6. Defense Turret (*NOTE: rumors say the team has broken up due to inactivity. Guess we’ll have to wait and see)
Roster: Gonno, EFX, Meyog, Elitcejorp aka Tarzul, JayTea, jsut, sashimi, sqz, subjective
Previous Game(s): T1/T2

“Defense Turret is a team all full of Tribes veterans, as they take the name of the their team from the anti-cheat program for Tribes 2. Names such as Meyog, Tarzul and jsut should be familiar if you are familiar with the franchise. Though they are a newly developed team, they all have individual skill, but it is up to them to collaborate and work as a team in Tribes Ascend to make it to the top 5. Keep an eye out for these players even after this tournament.” - Apcizzle

7. Team Epidemic
Roster: LL-BLU-J, RIP058, LionGG, TrismGG, Mexico, GigaLaughBath, Alakabon, BADBOY4LIFE, Leech, Mikeax2
Previous Game(s):
Links: http://www.teamepi.com/

“Formerly Team Onyx, Epidemic has been defined in matches by their coordinated capper play. TrismGG and Mikeax2 are often seeing duo capping in tandem, posing a potential challenge to defenses carried by one player. Epidemic’s coordination has allowed them to make great showings, even against teams heavily favored against them. They could easily make a big impact in this tournament.” ~ZProtoss

8. Egocentric
Roster: DavidBowie, Ibin, PessimiStick, Xanthyr, Canucck, JazzyJ, verticle, Phesq, Pilot, Virty, Aidip, Sweetness
Previous Game(s): T1/2, Natural Selection, Battlefield 3
Links: http://www.teamegocentric.com

“Egocentric is one of the first established teams in Tribes: Ascend. Led by DavidBowie, the team has been through a few roster revisions as a few have players left for other teams. However, Egocentric still has solid, dedicated players such as Ibin and Canucck that help shape this team into a formidable opponent.” - Apcizzle

9. Vex Ubiquity Project
Roster: DarkAngel, root, abashi, bridude, Dissection, foobar, FuriousJodo, Odio, Tebbo, Vaxus
Previous Game(s):
Links: http://www.vexubiquityproject.com/

“VuP is a known team name throughout competitive Tribes history. Many of these players were picked up within Tribalwar.com as DarkAngel made a thread to get everyone together for another run in a Tribes game. They aren’t well known within the Tribes Ascend community, but with their past experiences and known teamwork, it will take them far as long as they put the time and dedication in.” ~Apcizzle

“Oldschool talent, but unproven in T:A. A complete wildcard.” ~FishStix
10. Boss
Roster: DiMitSu, Huntz, Frizzer, Silverstar, masque, RadNemesis, HotRodRe, casual
Previous Game(s):
Links: http://www.troc.us/

“After their primary capper left for Team Legion, Boss went through some dark times as a team, coming close to dissolving. But instead, they've returned with a vengeance, sporting some new pickups like masque and casual, and they have recently put up strong games against current top teams. Despite their recently rocky past, they are surely not to be overlooked in this tournament. ~dodgepong

11. Team BFF (NOTE*: Rumors have it that BFF has split up)
Roster: Ryukolink, Swordf1sh, connnnn, VIOP, CorneliusOliver, CrazyCraig, Rhekua
Previous Game(s):

“Another team that has been together since the beginning days of Tribes Ascend beta, Team BFF has experience scrimming top tier teams countless times. Regardless of their track record, they are a unified bunch that can be found playing together in public servers daily. With the right strategies, their tight relationship can help them work as a team and move up in the rankings. Names to watch for within this group would be CrazyCraig as their dedicated capper and Swordf1sh, as he is a player of multiple traits and is a good communicator.” - Apcizzle

12. Golden Circle
Roster: DoubleAgent, CBro, DeadBear, Furl, KrazyBear, Newmz, Pigonthewing, PulseBear, TheLegalDept
Previous Game(s): T1/2, Counter-Strike, Quake

“Golden Circle is a veteran gaming team. Many of their members go back to times before T1, and the average age for many players on the team is over 35. Nonetheless, there’s no doubt that Golden Circle might be able to leverage that experience over some of the greener teams that have signed up in order to eek out some surprise wins. Look for Golden Circle to be a darkhorse contender.” ~ZProtoss

13. dodgepong’s Dark Horse: Exica
Roster: Caja, Chambers aka Kaertes, LiquidSwordz, Kaws, sashimi, subjective, tenub, Woo, LegitBear, Bluekfc, Implosions
Previous Game(s): T2, ?
Links: http://www.exica.com

While it might not be common knowledge, Exica is made up of many long time T2 veterans. Kaertes being notable for playing for Rapture circa 2003/2004 when T2 Classic was in its prime, and players like sashimi (Mistcane), subjective (Astralis), and Woo being forces later in the game’s life. Most of these players haven’t invested as much time into T:A as some of the other teams in the tournament, but they certainly have the experience to surprise quite a few teams. ~ZProtoss

14th-23: Not really sure but we do have oldschool eSports team Check Six in attendance (a bunch of Counter-Strike players). Will be interesting to see how these primarily non-Tribes teams fair. Vexillifer is another wildcard in the pack.

The first playdays are Saturday and Sunday starting at 6PM EDT. The official live stream pre-show will begin at 6:30PM EDT / 3:30 PM PDT on CSN's TwitchTV Channel with commentary by FishStix and HiRezBart. Really looking forward to this

~ Credit to Ben "FishStix" GoldHaber for the writeup!