Many moons ago there was a thing known as the Halo Top 10 Team List. On the eve of CAL Halo's Season 2 Playoffs, it has returned! With votes taken from sixteen of the top teams, this list looks to be one of the best thus far, especially after all the intense matches in the past few days leading up to the playoffs. Look for this list to be updated once after the quarterfinals and another time right before the CPL in July.

Gotfrag Halo Top 10 List

	Team Name	Prev	Change	Points	FPV
	GameWyze	5	+4	203	8
	Wat¿	3	+1	203	4
	Strive	2	-1	195	1
	Check Six	1	-3	177	3
	United 5	6	+1	108	-
	Indigo	10	+4	76	-
	Formula 1	New	New	74	-
	Undefined Status	New	New	61	-
	Cooked Gamers	8	-1	28	-
	Demise	New	New	27	-

Outside the Top 10: TAU (23), Goochers (13), Duality (12), TEAM zeroPoint! (11)

Analysis:  With four teams receiving the majority of the votes and monopolizing all #1 votes between them, Voters seem sure who the top few teams are in the league but a little unsure about how to rank them against each other. GameWyze, with an undefeated record and wins over Wat¿, Check Six, and United 5, nabs the #1 placing due to their 8 First Place Votes but only ties Wat¿ in overall points, meaning more people put GW at the top but more also put them lower in the 5th-6th spots. Wat¿, despite 4-2 losses to both GameWyze and Undefined Status at the end of the season, managed to edge out newly renamed Strive for the 2nd spot, dropping last season's CAL Runner-ups to 3rd on the list. The 16th seeded playoff team and last season's CAL Champions, Check Six, takes fourth after their 1-0 loss to GameWyze and 2-1 loss to Undefined Status, meaning their close losses to those teams hurt them much more than Wat¿'s 2 point deficits.

After the clear-cut top United 5 checks in with a strong lead over the next best team but far from cracking the fantastic four. With a 3-0 loss to GameWyze and no wins this season over top 10 teams United 5 needs to win some of the big matches in these playoffs to make an impact and gain momentum for CPL.

Indigo and Formula 1 share the 6th and 7th spots with only 2 points putting Indigo above the 8-0 Western powerhouse. Indigo has finally started to win some of the big matches this season, defeating TAU decisively in a makeup match and taking down High Halo, zeroPoint!, and NubZ GonE WilD throughout the season. In past playoffs and other big matches, however, they have not performed up to par and this will be their big chance as they are finally getting the recognition their hard work deserves. Formula 1 is another team that has struggled in big games in the past, and with an 8-0 CAL record but no wins over notable teams they are still a mystery entering the playoffs even with a #3 seed. Look for their first big test to come in the 2nd round on Danger Canyon.

Undefined Status, everyone's underdog favorites, nabs the 8th spot with an impressive 2-1 win over Check Six and a 4-2 victory over Wat¿. While not catapulting into the elitest group of teams, Undefined Status enjoys a spot on the top 10 for the first time in their Halo careers. The playoffs will be the true test to determine whether uS is a fluke or the real deal, especially with a rematch against Wat¿ likely in the second round of the competition. Undefined Status will be a team to watch this postseason and coming into CPL.

The bottom of the list includes two teams not competeing in this season's CAL playoffs. Cooked Gamers suffered a dissapointing loss to Check Six in the final week of the season, leaving them at 5-3 after losses to Goochers and Wat¿ and out of luck. With a roster sporting QTIP, Zyos, and DIESEL, especially with Zyos returning to PC after some XBox adventures, they will be looking to make an impact practicing as CPL is just weeks away. Demise is in a similar situation: they placed 2nd last CPL but only recently returned to Halo and it is taking them some time to adjust after their long hiatus in UT2k4. They will also be looking to practice hard and get down their teamwork on all maps as CPL comes ever closer.

Outside the top 10 we have a couple of East teams, including TAU, Duality, and the European zeroPoint!, and Goochers. TAU barely managed to gain a playoff spot, but with a revamped roster featuring the core of the Echo 7 team that had the #1 playoff seed in the CAL Playoffs last season they could do some damage while keeping a low profile. Duality also features a strong lineup and has surprised some elite teams during the season, so do not count them out in the playoffs. The best European team, zeroPoint!, has received praise from some of the best and played Indigo close in a 6-5 loss earlier in the year. Expect high capping games in their playoff run as the huge ping differences make for high scoring games. Goochers is the final team outside the top 10, and with some tough losses in the middle of the year to strong teams they are still looking for a strong playoff performance in their first match against United 5.

Methodology: This poll is a compilation of votes from the Gotfrag Halo staff and representatives from any top teams. A few votes were not tallied because they were not received in time.