Today meant the end of group stages #1 and #2 in the ESWC CS competition. What started with Astralis being eliminated after losing 2 matches in a row, kept on to show us the elimination of one of the biggest favorites and most hyped one in the tournament- NiP

Groups 5 and 6 come to an end:

Two groups that were left open after yesterday's matches were 5 and 6. In group 5 the 2 winning spots were open the leading 4, but Mouz and Lunatic were the probable winners.In group 6 Astralis were the strong candidates for winning the group, with a-Losers being the runner ups. SK.DK didn't seem to have a chance, after losing against a-Losers.

Mouz and Lunatic did eventually win their group. Mouz had a convincing win against the collapsing Function-zer0 with 16:02 score. Lunatic also won convincingly against RoyalFlush with a score of 16:10. The match between Lunatic and Mouz was then used to determine the winner of the group, and Mouz came on top with 16:10 win.

But the real action happened in group 6, the group that was all about SK.DK from the beginning. With SK taking a Swedish team, the Danish unit wanted to prove themselves once and for all, after having horrible results in any tournament they participated. Things didn't work out for them yesterday as they lost to a-Losers, and their chances seemed slim when having to face Astralis.

Things started to look bad for Astralis early in the morning, as they lost 10:16 to a-Losers. After winning the last unranked team in their group, a-Losers were on top and Astralis was in danger. The match between SK.DK and Astralis came in to decide the runner up, SK.DK finally managed to prove themselves in an important match against a top team- coming on the top with 16:14 victory against Astralis, sending the WEG2 participants back to Finland, and qualifying to the second stage.
They were at the top 16 then, but had to face Clan-IT, who humiliated them with 16:01 victory in the Danish qualifiers, Forze, who won against Team3D, and Virtus.Pro, who gave excellent game versus NiP, losing by a few rounds. With such opponents, it seemed impossible for the underdog, perhaps underestimated team, to make it to the top 8.

Group stage #2:

Group 1:

Counting by the amount of ties this group had, it was probably the most equal one. Kicking off with 2 ties of 15:15 in the matches of Team3D against GoodGame, and Hostile-Records against Lunatic, it was still everyone group.
Probably the most surprising game here was Lunatic winning against GoodGame. Their backyard wasn't as effective as they could hope, as they lost their match, who will later, due to another ties, will become significant match, with a score of 16:13 in favor of Lunatic. 3D tied Hostile-Records, but at that time 3D and Hostile-Records chances to qualify were even greater than France finest, GoodGame. However 3D were not able to win over Lunatic and win their group. Instead of that, they tied again. If anyone would win in the french derby between Hostile-Records and GoodGame, Team3D will be sent home. Unfortunately for them, someone won. Fortunately for Lunatic, it was GoodGame, who they beaten a few hours ago, therefore they finished on top of their group without a need to play a tiebreaker match. America's finest , Team3D, was sent home. The WCG 2004 winners were not able to win any match in their second group.

Group winners: 1) Lunatic 2)GoodGame

Group 2:

As ordinary as things can get, they were here. With wNv just winning over 4Kings and a-Losers disqualifying Astralis and beating SK.DK, they both were the strong candidates for the 1st here. GameCrashers didn't manage to beat GoodGame, and Team-Art were obviously the 3rd favorite when they are in the same group with wNv and a-Losers. It seemed to be right, as wNv kept their convincing performance, winning their Chinese friends Team-Art by 16:08 and a-Losers winning GameCrashers with a score of 16:10.
In the second match rounds, wNv kept winning, as they destroyed GameCrashers by 16:04. a-Losers also had a convincing 16:09 win against team-Art. wNv and a-Losers secured their qualification, and in the match between them to determine the winner of the group, wNv came on top with 16:05, destroying a-Losers. wNv seemed like a strong contenders for the 1st, but unfortunately for them, it won't happen.

Group winners: 1) wNv 2) a-Losers

Group 3:

Out of the groups, that was the "death" groups, also the one which is impossible to predict. With Complexity, x6tence, NiP and Mouz, no one is a favorite. CompLexity just got humiliated 2 days by Clan-IT, while both Mouz and NiP came on top of their first groups,and x6tence eliminated 4Kings.
The first match was between 2 big guns: NiP and CompLexity. While NiP tried to continue their performance from yesterday, CompLexity was hungry for a win against a major opponent. CompLexity did come out as winners, with 16:12 score in a very even match that was decided due to some mistakes from NiP side. Mouz then had a convincing win against x6tence, who seemed have forgotten how to play despite their match yesterday, as they collapsed with a score of 16:03 in favor of Mouz.

But then the Spanish team has woken up, as they managed to defeat NiP exactly the same score CompLexity had against them, 16:12. This makes one to wonder whether NiP are able to win clutch situations, as their team play didn't seem very solid. They based themselves around their aim, it wasn't everything when it came to win those 4 rounds that both x6tence and coL took from them. But, there was still hope for the ninjas! Mouz were destroyed by CompLexity with a score of 16:05, who secured CompLexity qualification to the Single Elimination stage. As x6tence lost against CompLexity as well, all NiP had to do is to win Mouz. As they had the better rounds ratio, they could still qualify.

The Germans had other plans in mind for NiP.A tie was enough for them to qualify. The first half ended 11:04 in favor of Mouz. NiP seemed broken, unorganized and not capable of anything. What are 5 rounds for a clan in Mouz level? Probably a lot, considering NiP had won 7 rounds in a row. With Zet having more than 10 kills in 3 rounds, how likely is it that Mouz will come back?
Well, they didn't, but it doesn't really matter. Despite Zet finishing with more than 20 frags, being followed by HeatoN, Potti and Walle's, each having more than 15, NiP managed to win the second half only by 11:04, again losing their most important rounds. This meant a tie
and disqualification of NiP. Another powerhouse goes home, with ins looking as their weakest link. NiP will certainly do a lot of thinking in the following weeks, in regard to their play and team.

Group winners: 1) CompLexity 2) Mousesports

Group 4:

Here we meet SK.DK again. After a good performance against Astralis early in the morning, SK is eager to show they are one of the best teams in the world. It can be an hard task though with Russia's best teams, Forze, Virtus, and Clan-IT, Denmark's finest.
SK got attention right in their first game, where they managed to win Forze by a convincing 16:03 victory. However, as we all know, the Danish team didn't do very well at it local scene, and their next game was against Clan-IT. They haven't been able to win, but on the other hand, they didn't lose. 15:15 was the result, and as Forze was destroyed by Virtus with a score of 03:16 in favor of Virtus. As Virtus tied Clan-IT as well in their first match, and Clan-IT won against Forze, the match between Virtus and SK.DK decided the 2 group winners.
SK gave all they had. Winning amazing 1v3 situations, Drally domination and a confused, not communicating Virtus, emerged to a score of 16:10 in favor of SK. They did it.The "defending champions" managed to overcome all the negative comments about them, won their group, and proved to the world that they indeed worth their spot in SK.

Group Winners: 1) SK.DK 2)Clan-IT

What happened today?

Today saw a crash of two powerhouses and a rising one. The ESWC emerged into 8 teams tournament, and now features only the best of the best, those who really have the talent and the abilities needed to become one of the world's best Counter-Strike teams. With NiP and Team3D being eliminated, and on the other hand, SK.DK making it to the top 8, the playoff will definitely feature intense games. Every game is crucial, and hopefully we won't see many ending with one team having less than 10 rounds.

Tomorrow: Single Elimination stage(Starting 10CET):

Its worth noting that the ESWC hold their playoff in a Single Elimination method, which means that a team that loses a game goes home. The structure for the playoff is the following:

Quarter Finals:

1) SK.DK versus a-Losers 16:09

Prediction: After losing to them yesterday, SK will surely wants a revenge and would like to continue their winning streak. Can go to both sides, but with SK being more motivated and having a winning streak, they will probably win it with a little rounds difference.

2) CompLexity versus GoodGame 16:06

Prediction: coL seems to be on fire, after winning their group with convincing victories. Although GoodGame are playing at their home, coL are more experienced in such events, and it will probably play to their favor.

3) Lunatic versus Clan-IT 16:05

Prediction: Lunatic indeed won their group, but their performance wasn't very flawless, as they had 2 ties. However they did win against GoodGame and this cannot be underestimated. It mostly depends whether IT can bring themselves to the same level they had versus CompLexity 2 days ago. If they can, the game is theirs. If they can't, Lunatic will probably have a win here.

4) Mousesports versus wNv 16:14 :

No need to predict here, as it was already played. wNv dropped a single match in this tournament, and it is this match, as they lost 14:16 to Mouz. Mouz will advance to the semi finals and wNv are packing now.

Semi-Finals:

1) SK.DK versus Mouz 16:13

2) Lunatic versus CompLexity Saturday 20CET