Match ups are the key to CPL, any authority on the event will agree with you on that. Now that the seeds are out of the way its time to look at what really matters, the brackets and those match ups. Let’s look at the road the top teams will face if they want to finish in the top eight.

The first 16 teams are pretty wide open as Gamewyze and GBR.Titans stare at a possible second round match up. Both could walk away with a win but Titans has to be considered a favorite. It will be an early test for both. SK.swe looks to control the whole group but a second round match against Forsaken should test how good they are, remember Factory caught them in their first match at ESWC.

4K and g3x are the next pairing of top seeds, both will look to move on and probably face SK.swe out of that top group. Still this is a pretty weak group by comparison. 4K isn’t as good as CPL’s past according to most and g3x has lost arguably their best player. Honestly don’t be shock to see e7 walk out of this and play SK.swe in the Quarterfinals.

Danish teams dominate the next group as The Titans and Gatekeepers both show up. The French GG will try and wreck the party though as they will challenge the ESWC winner. The Titans should walk out of this 16 and with the play of mibr in the lower group they are the favorite to face SK.swe assuming they don’t find an upset in the upper section during the semifinals.

This might be one of the most difficult groups of the upper half as D-Skyline is an underrated team heading into this event. TEC and mibr both haven’t looked great in the past few events and both should be tested. A D-Skyline against mibr match on de_nuke would be quite exciting and the Finish team might be a favorite there with the Brazilian hopes up in the air.

Now onto the lower half of the winner bracket, Mouz is the big name but are they really the favorite in this group of 16? The winner of zEx/EG could be starting at a Quarterfinal appearance, both have decent skill and EG has to be happy with the draw here. zEx looked great in the opening half of the CAL-I finals on de_inferno, they’d get another shot on that map against EG if that were to play out. They can’t afford to choke here as EG will capitalize on any mistakes just as Rival did.

This is an interesting group, 3D has to feel comfortable with its draw but both EYE and 3D have looked spotty of late. EYE will get a chance to warm up for a run, but still face a tough Alternate aTTax team, while 3D needs to come in prepare if they want to beat EYE. Watch for moto and hyper in those early matches, whichever is playing better his team could be in the Quarterfinals. The spoiler here is Gamers.nu though. I like them as a possible top 5 team with the momentum off of CPL Spain but an early match against 3D on one of their best maps, de_inferno will be extremely tough.

The next 16 is the American great white hope bracket. TSG and u5 both feel they can be the top USA team, only one will after this bracket plays out. Don’t overlook m5Team or D!E. D!E can beat u5 on de_inferno and if they get a solid effort from everyone a Da_bears against Icesalmon fight will be interesting. TSG is also 1-1 against the Russians, they’ll get a chance to go back above .500 here with m5.

This group makes me laugh as anyone who follows CPL’s of the past has to find humor in the Punto cL facing Rival. The Chile based team beat a former Rival team helping to add to the curse everyone is talking about, can they do it again? This Rival team is pretty skilled but they did show some issues on de_inferno against zEx for the CAL-I finals. NoA is the big dog here but they could face an interesting match against Adrena who everyone is talking about, I’m not buying it though. NoA should have no problem there and Rival won’t have enough.

Winners:

America – All of the top American teams have a legit shot and getting out of their sections and into the Quarterfinals including TSG/u5, 3D and zEx not to mention NoA/Rival with an outside shot for e7.

4K – A weaker group for them could allow them to build up some momentum heading into Saturday. A top 8 seed with this setup should be possible if they can avoid an upset from g3x or zEx both should be a step behind.

D-Skyline – The poor seed made me think they would be in trouble but honestly this is a perfect spot for them. They can beat TEC and even mibr in this group before facing probably The Titans. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves but things are looking nice for them.

Losers:

Forsaken – Decent first round match and now has to face SK.swe in the second round. Good luck in the Loser’s bracket as they will be looking to make a long run with little room for error. They have the talent to beat SK.swe, just not the strats especially without Holden calling.

Gamers.nu – A really good team with solid talent now faces two tough back to back matches as it looks like they’ll get 3D on de_inferno and then EYE possible on de_nuke if they were to win out. Even the best teams would run into trouble with that kind of scheduled.

South America – DiN gets a tough e7 match right off the bat while Adrena will have to face NoA in the second round. Also Punto cL faces probably the hottest American team Rival in the second round. g3x could also face e7 who could become one of the most hated teams below the equator after this tournament. Mibr’s bracket isn’t cake either with D-Skyline and TEC being very good teams that could be favored over them after their poor ESWC performance, they’ll need to prove they are still the best South American team and a top five world team early.