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As I write this column, I sit on a Netherlands train headed for Enschende. I can't help remark on how comfy these seats are, seriously, Scotland trains are horrifically uncomfortable and are usually looked after by burly men who look like they wan tot rape you. D:

Anyway I've got a couple of hours to kill, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to look at the ET group stages scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Some teams such as Europe TAG and Germany aToOn have daunting first matches to overcome, which doesn't bode well for early stage jitters. Still, on the other hand, this could be the perfect moment to catch our two front runners unawares and really put the cat amongst the pigeons!

We also get to see whether we can really covet Europe Random as a true tournament outside contender, when they take on United Kingdom unKind. With so many line up changes it's hard to know how Europe Random will perform so United Kingdom unKind, with some United Kingdom home steads such as United Kingdom sqzz and United Kingdom crumbs, will be as good as a test Europe Random will get at such an early section of the tournament.

I feel sorry for teams such as France muse and Benelux mazz, as they could suffer the wrath of two publicly scrutinized teams. Don't get me wrong, anything can happen at this LAN but Belgium EDiT and Europe vae really have taken it in recent weeks, so I'm expecting these guys to be fired up and unleash their talent in the direction of the above two teams. They might have lacked practice but the talent will always be there to blow any adversary out of the water.

Our final three matches offer more of a conundrum when it comes to making a decent, valid prediction.

Our most contested match looks to be between Netherlands OVERLOAd and Benelux hMG. Now on paper, most would say that this is a walk in the park for Netherlands OVERLOAd but with lack of any serious practice, they could really be hurt by this bunch of talented Benelux players. If Netherlands OVERLOAd play well and Benelux hMg go out with all guns blazing, this match could be a real thrilling first stage encounter.

Moving onto the next two games see Benelux FiF taken on Netherlands ephix and Italy n1ce taken on Europe 8 Bit-gaming.

Netherlands ephix have the LAN experience here, which gives them a boost over their hearty counterparts. LAN veterans Netherlands Wesbo and Netherlands Ronner really have been around the block when it comes to CDC's, so it's difficult to see them get anything but a winning start.

Finally, our last game involves the Italy stallions taking on the multi regional Europe 8 Bit-gaming. This game will probably attract a lot of attention for somewhat of the wrong reasons. It's been well commented by the community that players Sweden NuggaN and Sweden savage will have a watchful eye over them, as many spectators have still not genially thrown out the possibility that the integrity of these players is some what "dodgy" at the very best of times. Still, what an opportunity for these two Sweden's to once put this myth to rest once and for all and get rid of that monkey on their backs.

Well, there you have it. Some pretty basic, non intrusive predictions. Day one of our adventure is upon us and now comes to the arduous task for making some predictions.

Here goes.

Europe np vs Europe TAG - 4:0
Benelux FiF vs Netherlands ephix - 0:4
Europe vae vs Benelux mazz - 4:0
Europe 8 Bit-gaming vs Italy n1ce - 4:2
United Kingdom TLR vs Germany aToOn - 4:0
Netherlands OVERLOAd vs Benelux hMg - 2:4
Europe Random vs United Kingdom unKind- 4:0
Benelux EDiT vs France Muse - 4:0

So there you are. Some will blatantly be wrong but you have my shitty predictions non the less! I can't wait, (Mainly as I'm stuck on this Netherlands train with Netherlands women that are blatantly making fun of me D:) as Friday will be the great indication for the coming days.

Another long read, sorry but it;s warranted!

Thanks :)