I34 Predictions and Interviews › Deman's Thoughts and Predictions

It was Team EG who claimed the victory at The eXperience after another thrilling 2 map final that saw DeNY clocking up 34 frags on Backlot, an ace from qwerty and not to mention the comedy nade round. For that reason they will be hot favourites coming into I34 however they are far from unbeatable as Copenhagen eSports proved in the group stage claiming a 12-12 draw. On top of that they will be using laptops which while are nice, they wont be used to at all so will struggle in the playoffs.

LowLandLions showed massive improvements over their Antwerp performance and confidence is now pouring out of every team member as was evident in the huge grin JoePoe carried throughout his interviews. They won entry to I34 though and will be playing on the Elite Zone machines which I believe are right next to the stage area, meaning they may have a battle with QuadV's sound system which could cause problems.

Team Dignitas are the dominant force at the I-Series winning more Call of Duty cups than the CGS Champions General Manager ODEE has space for in his garage. However they looked a team in pieces at The eXperience with passionate outbursts between key players and captain. This will need to be addressed if they want to regain their long standing title.

Fnatic are another team that seem slightly fractured. While they try to disguise it there is clear tension within the team with various team members unhappy and multiple rumours of a total split after the event. You would hope if this is the case then they will put their all into going out with a bang.

mYm is a strange animal, from the outside all you will ever notice is non stop argueing about who made what mistake, which bomb site kept falling and who was top fragger. It's a strange way to work as a team but these young lads thrive on it and if they can manage to keep their ego's in check in the game they will eventually find the result they need at I34. Outside of the game there a funny bunch of lads always ripping into each other for some other reason and if Morg can keep them on a tight leash they may be able to finally stop finishing 2nd!

Reason Gaming performed admirably at The eXperience knocking out both mYm and Dignitas. Unfortunatly for them they didn't perform so well in the Group stages and had to do all the hard work through the lower brackets meaning despite getting a 4th-5th Finish at the event they actually got no money as reward. However the confidence and self belief that seemingly no one outside the team shares will hope them go far at I34.

Infused went out in a very sporting fashion at The eXperience with TEK9's 3 round penalty given they choose to /kill and making it even. Something I can't imagine very many teams doing given the choice but it earned them a hell of a lot of respect. Sadly though they lost the match and ironically would have progressed had they not done it. They are a very young team (unless you heard revoltz speak) that has a lot of potential should they manage to stay together long enough to see it through.

Sample This missed out on AEF and TEX and that may well be a hinderance when it comes down to the big matches. The experience gained by the traveling teams in big situations will be something they missed out on and having never attended a major event with this line up I'm not sure they cant break into the Top 5.

Deman's I34 Top 5
Team EG
Team Dignitas
Fnatic
LowLandLions
mYm