The Playoffs are Coming › The Also-Rans

While eight teams have now qualified for the playoff stage and are waiting for their first round games, there are also, of course, the eight teams who tried valiantly but failed to make the grade. This section focuses on these teams, their route through the group stage and their plans for the future after EuroCup XIV.



Morrigu #GamersNation

wesbo, joop, gyzr, lakaii, nrs, brot, kitty

morrigu were, many thought, an unlikely invite for the EuroCup. They were a relatively new side and one of their previous star players had recently been surrounded in hacking allegations. Nevertheless, they kicked off the season with a game far closer than many expected against zeroPoint, but failed to take away a much needed early victory. From there the season went downhill, their game against The Netrunners was, again, closer than many had predicted, but they still failed to take a map. In their final game they couldn't take a map off what many were calling a weak uQ team. morrigu thus finished bottom of group A, but their games were closer than the scoreline might suggest. mQ now plan to go into a period of low activity before coming back at full strength to compete at the second Crossfire LAN event. One of their players has something to smile about, though - Kittygirl is the first female player ever to win a PotM poll in an ET EuroCup.



uQ.Gaming

Lightning, LION, chaoz, flixx, zerender, abort

With their pre-season roster changes, many also called into question the worthiness of uQ's invitation. Indeed, they failed to impress with their initial game against NETR. After a lengthy delay and multiple rescheduled games, they then played mQ and won, keeping the hopes of a last minute resurgence to a playoff spot alive. The eventual group winners zP were having none of it, however, and crushed uQ on braundorf and radar to end their EuroCup season. uQ also intend to continue, although with rumours that flixx is likely to move to another team, they will probably return with a different roster.



vib

zeto, vila, sneek, mAus, lioco, acid

Perhaps vib's path through the EuroCup could've been predicted before it even started. They had looked strong for several weeks, but in the fortnight before the cup began faltered in several easy games. They began the cup with low expectation and, although they failed to take a map, looked strong in their first matchup against the cdap pi team. Things never improved from there, though, and when they went down 4-2 at the hands of 141 in a problem-filled game, their hopes for the season were all but dead. A solid performance from the aMenti team handed them a final defeat and last place in group B. vib, like morrigu, plan to go through a period of limited activity, and perhaps experiment in playing other games, before a possible return for the second Crossfire LAN event in April.



one4one eSports

sheep, vegi, kevin, iron, squall, danone

one4one's EuroCup began in a similar fashion to vib's, with an unconvincing performance and an initial loss to the aMenti side. Things began to look up for 141 though when, against all expectations, they rallied to a strong 4-2 win over the cdap pi team. With a 4-0 win over vib and the other results in the group, all 141 needed to progress was the predicted aMenti victory in their final game of the season against the cdap pi squad. This wasn't to be, as cdap pi shocked everyone again by storming to a straight maps win and sent 141 crashing out of EuroCup. The one4one team plan to continue playing in preparation for the upcoming LANs, their lineup is unchanged.



Fear Factory X-Fi

z3ro, wiesiek, wrobel, krisek, r1co, s4rna

Fear Factory began the season as odds on favourite to go through from group C with idle.ee, fresh as they were from a victory at the PGA LAN event. They only confirmed this view with an early victory over what many called a weak #Murso SFX team. Against Incomplete they faced a sterner challenge, however, and with Inc's loss to a rallying murso side, the group was forced into a three way tie. After defeating Inc in the tiebreak, they took on murso on a single round of radar to decide who would progress. murso took it, and Fear Factory were forced out of contention. FF have yet to decide on their plans for the future - maybe they'll return, maybe they won't. Only time will tell.



Incomplete

rival, sanda, spirea, stuka, lepari, dable

Incomplete were a team many had high expectations of when the season began. Rumours that they were the best Finnish side since Parodia abounded. Reality kicked in when they were comprehensibly defeated by idle.ee, but with a narrow victory over the second-favourites Fear Factory, Inc were thought by many to be on track for the second playoff spot. This wasn't to be, as murso defeated them in another close match to force the tiebreaker series. With narrow losses in both these tiebreaker games, incomplete were knocked out of the cup. Like Fear Factory, Incomplete have not yet decided what their future in ET holds. They hope to return, but as of yet nothing is certain.



Noll8

Blaze, Eddie, Kris, Gjerry, shy, keran, sexyhot, HellGoat, Matias

Noll8 were another team that raised eyebrows in the invites, some said they were in the cup only because of their name and history. This controversy was nothing, however, to the reaction when they played their first game against the much lauded amonkeys team - and won spectacularly. People now clamored that Noll8 was the favourite to take the group D second spot and this wasn't effected when Noll8 lost to Helix, but with another shock twist the unrated rewind side came from nowhere to defeat a weakened Noll8 team and snatch the playoff spot. Noll8 have the dubious distinction of having played the most different players in this season so far, and perhaps this was a contributing factor to their dramatic change in form. Noll8's plans for the future are unclear.



Abnormal Monkeys .:. sFx

tiigeri, mystic, torspo, saintt, jauhis, xpaz, et1

A team built from some of the most successful players in the history of the game, the pre-season expectations for the amonkeys side were tremendous. These hopes came crashing down to earth when they lost to the Noll8 team in their first game. A narrow victory against the rewind side the following day kept them in the cup, and with rewind's win against Noll8, amonkeys needed to triumph against the stalwart Helix team to progress. This wasn't to be, as amonkeys couldn't field a team for the final game and were forced to concede a forfeit defeat. The amonkeys side is now in a process of rebuilding and a new lineup hoping to compete in future online and LAN events will, apparently, be announced soon.


That concludes the teams that didn't make the grade. Next up we'll focus on those that did and the shape of the rapidly approaching playoffs.