CB NC XV: Round 5

Today is the beginning of new month, new month full of excitement related with our beloved Enemy Territory. Battle for Berlin II, EuroCup and ESL Country Championship are rapidly approaching. And of course it's an another big Sunday with
CB NationsCup with top game upcoming in the evening. Tonight, at 21:30 CEST, The Netherlands will face
Team Finland in the fifth round of the lower bracket of CB NC: XV. Winner of this game will fight for Grand Final versus Team Poland in lower bracket final. Make sure to grab some popcorn and pack of bears for this game!





The Netherlands

xPERiA
joshua
SQuid
Azatej
saKen
teKoa




Team Finland

twidi
mystic
Jewe
toMi
olBaa
Swanidius




Date: 01.04.2012
Time: 21:30 CEST
Maps: supply & Library_b3
League: CB ET NationsCup X
We are very close to the end of CB NationsCup XV. Only three games left to finish this tournament. The first one is a real clash of the titans, The Netherlands vs Team Finland! Although Finns do not have as strong lineup as they used to have in previous years, they are still being considered as a true favorites for the final victory. They are placed second in the latest Crossfire poll. Sadly, something very bad had happened inside one of these teams last night. I did not manage to get any details, but thanks to my insider I am able to reveal you one information, which is not good. Whole lineup must have been changed because of internal issues! Because of that, team captain needed some new players who can handle Dutch stars. Congratulations to toMi and Swani, who proved themselves to twidi with their recent performances, that scored them a place among Finland's finest. In addition to those newbies, olBaa & mystic were called for duty and they are coming back to the roster in this hard times. Dutch players have also prepared a surprise for their opponent. They want to completely destroy those Finnish greenhorns, so a slight changes have been made in the lineup. Two superstars such as Azatej and teKoa are going to give their best to make returned to the podium after six years of absence.

In their last games, has eliminated Team Germany - one of the main favorites for the victory and won against last years NationsCup runner-up Team Belgium.

xPERiA and twidi, national team captains, stated the following:

Quote by xPERia

In order to win this time we can't afford to have any mistakes like in our previous games, Finland is on top of their game again with olBaa returning and Swanidius debuting. All I can say is that it's gonna be a good one and hopefully a great game for the viewers.

Quote by twidi

Our performance against UK was really dissapointing so after that we made huge adjustments in the lineup and started to practice more with new players. We still have some problems with the unstability of our performances, but it's getting better and I'd hope that we will still get our revenge on UK in this tournament. NL has a really solid and active lineup and they've been performing well lately. Our praccs against them have gone both ways, recently we won them with a slightly weaker lineup (codelust) and after that they managed to beat UK so it's pretty hard to make anything out of that. It won't be an easy game, but I think that we now have what it takes to win and winning NL will be our next step.

The Netherlands previous wars:

4:0 vs Norway - Group Stage
4:0 vs Switzerland - Group Stage
4:0 vs USA - Group Stage
4:0 vs Canada - Playoffs UB Round 1
2:4 vs Poland - Playoffs UB Round 2
4:0 vs Canada - Playoffs LB Round 2
4:0 vs Estonia - Playoffs LB Round 3
4:2 vs Belgium - Playoffs LB Round 4

Team Finland previous wars:

4:0 vs Czech Republic - Group Stage
4:0 vs Brazil - Group Stage
4:0 vs Israel - Group Stage
4:0 vs Austria - Playoffs UB Round 1
4:0 vs France - Playoffs UB Round 2
0:4 vs United Kingdom - Playoffs UB Round 3
4:2 vs Germany - Playoffs LB Round 4

Salaneuvos - Gamestv.org expert:

Quote by Salaneuvos

According to the poll Finland has the upper hand to this game, 17.8% vs 10.4%. What everyone hasn't picked up is that team NL has been improving a lot this NC. They have a strong, balanced lineup and their constant improvement on teamwork led them to victory over the current favourite, uk, in the et.tourney. Much depends on the Finnish lineup as well. Will they play with the f6 lineup with Squall replacing me or use Stuka/Altsi/Vanhaomena? My biased opinion is that Finland will take this, but the game could go either way. I'm figuring 4-0 or 4-2 for the Finns.
Player to watch: I'd recommend free-cam to see the bigger picture, and aimwise olBaa.

As usual, I've gathered some predictions from known gamers and community members:

Quote by Kevin

Holland have a strong lineup but overall they probably are a little too weak to beat Finland. Finland, as usual, have a lineup that will either win this NC, or that will go down in the final. They have 5 players that I would put in any topteam without even doubting. ( Note: I simply don't know how good Altsi is so don't put words in my mouth.) If Finland has a good day it will be 0-4, if they have a bad day it will be 0-4. That, or I'm completely wrong on how I judge the skill-levels of the Dutchies. Player to watch: Iron, because Iron is bestest.

Quote by Robaciek

4:0 for Finland, even if NL picks their homemap missile. Fins started off the NC with rather unimpressive lineup, but now it's quite obvious they are motivated to rape again and have a chance for gold. saKen won't get carried through this one.

Quote by Zodiac

I'd say this is gonna be close.. Both teams have good individual players and decent teamplay. NL have had their problems while I would assume Finland is a pretty solid team. If NL manage to pull their shit together and play for objective instead of damage I predict this to be a 4-2 or 4-0 to NL.

Quote by subbi

I think its going to be a really good match. It could get really tight, if dutchies manage to keep the things up and not fall apart like they apparently did against Poland. Netherlands have a chance, but fins have probably pracced more and will take this 4-2.

Quote by sAvage

Judging from what we (team-swe) have experienced when playing both teams I think I'd bet my money on the fins! Team-NL has a lot of firepower and it could prove useful dependant on which maps are being picked but they just don't have the teamplay that the fins do. Most of the players in team-FIN has won NC, EC or whatever LANs there are so 4-0 or perhaps 4-2 to the fins if NL can perform!

Quote by ScarZy

It's been a while since i've played with Team UK but when I did FI were a strong team that had just started playing together. Since then although through defeats I am confident they can perform on a decent level and personally fancy their chances. Their opponent though, team NL, are not that easy to beat, especially when its made up of what is pretty much mCon which perform very well and work great together in the past. I expect to see dutch powerhouse sQuid hit 14k and super-fin Altsi destroy everything in his path. Overall it should be a close, even game and one that I would like to watch for once. Owzo should be Shoutcasting this.

Quote by An7ho

It will be an interesting game. I think Netherlands is going to win this game since they reclaimed their good teamplay during last offis. My vote goes for NL 4-2.

Quote by MiDAS

4-2 for Netherlands. Both teams have really nice lineups but I think Netherlands teamplay will be the difference in the end. Joshua has been godmode lately, but SQuids superior objective plays will get them over the line! Best of luck to both teams! shoutout to matias!

Quote by Clown

Should be really close, I can only give a slight edge to team Finland, but it will be a very close 4:2 win. I haven't really seen Finland playing as well as I expected before the tournament, so I think they won't have an easy time in this match, unless NL messes up a lot.

Quote by urtier

4:0 Fins! If the lineups on GTV speak the truth, the Fins are fielding hell of a lineup in this game. Massive aim power combined with lots of experience from off and online events. The Netherlands on the other hand are lacking glory names from the past NationCups and rely on fresh blood for this season. With strong aimers and some supportive players they could still do some damage and take a map.