Redemption. All one can ask for in life is a second chance, GamerCo received one from the WEG after it survived an improbable three way tie. The tournament so far hasn’t been kind to 2-4 GamerCo who faces one of the top teams in the tournament so far tonight in the 5-1 4Kings, but a victory tonight by the Americans could wipe an entire tournament of bad play.

GamerCo’s wins have come in unimpressive fashion with a 13-3 beat down of winless Maven, 0-6, while their second victory was a controversial forfeit win over wNv. The Chinese wNv was disqualified after WEG admins ruled that the team had been watching either the 0 second delay HLTV behind them on the big screens or GamerCo’s monitors.

Which infraction took place if at all is still heavily debated by wNv’s manager, who released a comment on a Chinese forum stating it was a conspiracy between GamerCo’s owner, Gary Siege, currently managing team NoA in Korea, and the WEG officials who could communicate through translators. He also claimed that WEG didn’t communicate with wNv until after the decision was made but full translation of wNv’s manager statement was impossible.

On the back of both victories GamerCo stares face to face with 4King’s impressive five victories. 4Kings comes in as one of the more impressive teams in the tournament, beating all of the other teams in the Semifinals. A 13-10 win over NoA came in the opening round of pool play, surprising many and forcing a three way tie that included the only team 4Kings lost to in the tournament, Abitstrike.

In the second round of group play, 4Kings added to their list of accomplishments by beating Mousesports 13-11 in a match that seemed more comfortable for 4Kings than what the final score showed. After a disappointing 13th-16th finish at Winter CPL, 4Kings has continued to improve in each game as their teamwork with this lineup continues to get better.

4King’s superstar Marc Mangiacapra has been aided by strong play from Jonas “GoodFella” Virtanen. Virtanen led all scoring at CPL Winter and has continued to play well at WEG.

Still a few questions remain as 4Kings has given up a high number of rounds in their five wins. Averaging 8.6 rounds per win given up to the opposing team, 4Kings has become king of the close victories.

On the other side of the showdown is GamerCo, whose replacement of Michael “Medias” Kim with Alex Medrano, lead many in the USA to place the blame on their poor showing at the feet of this move. GamerCo was left with no choice after Kim’s school issue forced him to pass on the trip to Korea. Medrano’s experience with the team left him the only viable option but his poor game shape has left GamerCo without a reliable 5th member and devoid of one of their previous top scorers.

Tonight's Melee.

Photo by Andy Arato