Match week one is here!
The Battle For Berlin gets underway tonight and myself & twidi are here to bring you in depth previews of all 8 first round matches. Here are my previews of games 5-8:
Queens
razz
Clown
miNd
lepari
NuggaN
kot
Winghaven
perfo
Glitz
x3nja
DOPPL3R
Artifexx
caej
gnome
promen
Referee: urtier
Queens are fielding their 101st lineup of the summer, this time including experienced veteran and multiple LAN winner Winghaven and perhaps the best Polish player ever to play ET kot. The activity of these two additions is unknown, so how big of a role they will play is yet to be seen. With the recent merging of Dignitas and Anexis creating a true all-star team, Queens are one of the few teams capable of snatching a victory away from Anexis.
Player to watch: NuggaN
In the first round they'll take on a Glitz lineup who have traded wins in their opening two matches in this season's Clanbase OpenCup. They are highly active and boast a victory over renowned Fins KRP on the 6v6 ladder as recently as 11 days ago. If you're looking to a pick a winner here though, GTV odds suggest that your money is safe with Queens as at the time of writing, they are shading the odds coming in at 1.01 vs. 100!
Player to watch: Artifexx
inteRaction
denton
Green_Clon
malfoy
milhAus
jalo
loocko
L4mpje
ridji
Team-Aero
mental
hvK
danL
diablos
cupcaKe
m1ke
Scarce
hsTe
Referee: krosan
inteRaction are the lone Czech participants in the Battle For Berlin and have been flying the flag for some time now. The majority of this team have been playing together for many months, an eternity in the modern world Enemy Territory which sees teams come and go per season. They'll be hoping that their experience together will take them a solid few rounds into this tournament (that and Green_Clon's unbearable lag!)
Player to watch: milhAus
Their opponents tonight have recently joined up with a new team, Team Aero eSports. They are taking the seed of onemove who unfortunately had to drop out due to lineup problems. With the seed of #6 they'll face a slightly kinder opponent than had they been seeded #16, so they'll hope that this gives them the momentum they'll need to progress. GTV has iR coming in as slight favourites, holding almost a 1/5 ratio.
Player to watch: hvK
TAG
Lightning
Aphesia
Hope
urtier
twidi
dialer
Krein
Turboapinat
crittie
Juuti
kapaa
vokki
walle
Metsuri
Jewe
OldeNsAn
Referee: Baggiez
TAG have been around since 2007 and are easily one of the most recognisable teams in the history of ET. Their Benelux trio core of Lightning, Hope and overdrive might not still all be active, but the peripheral aphesia is attendance. With a list of pocals as long as my arm, urtier and oldschool buddy twidi are also joined by new Polish additions dialer & Krein to comprise a lineup completely new for TAG. The potential is there for them to reach the last 4 but don't be surprised if TAG fail and fail hard at the first hurdle.
Player to watch: Lightning
Their opponents tonight are the Finnish team Turboapinant. Their most recognisable player is undoubtedly chmpp aka walle - idolised by the players of k1ck. Regarded as some as the 'second best' Finnish team behind legendary MM/F5 and 'the other' Finnish team apart from KRP, Turbo have long been on the cusp of EuroCup qualification, prompting the long-running joke following swani. However, he has left their ranks and without him they might come into some overdue success, starting tonight in the Battle For Berlin!
Player to watch: walle
I have this game as too close to call and has the potential to be the most competitive game of the evening, and as such TosspoT will be on hand to cast this game from QuadV.
bSTURZ
fuchS
fizZ
sPECULA
Testi
Swanidius
MOTIF
pulZa
Turki
G2P
chry
Jere
Griim
Bl4d3
Kresti
sTOWNAGE
Tele
Referee: SimonKinsler
In tonight's late game we see bSTURZ, who despite boasting a decent lineup on paper, have not been converting their potential into results - which perhaps goes some way to explain why they come into the tournament seeded at 15 and have such a difficult opening game. After his 2 year pursuit to gain entry into the Clanbase EuroCup, Swanidius finally reached his goal only to leave behind the team which helped him get there. He now joins up with a bSTURZ team who will be keen to surprise tonight.
Player to watch: Swanidius
Seeded at #2, G2P will look for a quick victory over their lowly seeded opponents. They'll be hoping to get far into the competition and I'd imagine would be bitterly disappointed with a result outside of the top 2. Their main competition in the coming weeks will be Queens and Anexis, and it is in the semi-finals and final where we will see the full potential of this new reformation of Gaming2Perfection. The team lacks no shortage of aiming power, with German duo Bl4d3 and Kresti sure to bring the pain on their opponents tonight.
Player to watch: Bl4d3
People behaviour is erratic
Was quite a good game by chelsea, they looked really sharp (eventho our defense was horrendous due to all of our injuries!). I've spoken to some people who were there and they were shocked at the lack of atmosphere from the Chelsea fans ? Perhaps they weren't motivated against a small team.
first part of this article is pretty great! :D
aphesia is handling the line up for this seasons cups and tournaments and it seems he didn´t like how filus was playing in the line up and therefore decided to replace him. Him not talking to filus and just replacing him is retarded imo and not how we usually do things with TAG line ups.
Just my two cents about this issue.
xD
good luck green_clon!