I'm a new member and I have noticed a lot of talk about CC dying, player numbers dropping etc. I don't know if this is true or not, but I have definitely noticed a lot of low rank players deadbeating. So perhaps one reason why CC may be dying is that new players are giving up too soon.
I recently played a game where there were a number of high ranked players and a couple of low ranked ones. One of the high ranked players assumed that I was retarded from the start and made that quite evident in the chat. He repeatedly called me a 'cook' and said that I will always be a cook. However, I actually was the dominant player (fog game) and would have won except for a phenomena I call 'cook blocking'.
When it dawned on this player that I was actually in the winning position, he protected the other high ranking player from me. He purposely helped the high rank, simply because he would rather lose to a high-rank than a 'cook'. This was all openly stated in the chat.
In the end the other high rank won by technical win. Round limit reached, him 109 troops, me 105.
As a new player, I have to say that this type of behaviour seems extremely parochial. I wasn't 'entitled' to win because I wasn't high ranked enough. If this cliquey behaviour is widespread amongst veteran players then it cannot instill much optimism in new players.