With favorites Chinese wNv and Swedish SK.swe also in their four-team group, a loss to either could spell an early trip home. A best-of-three maps format will feature 4Kings and Catch Gamer playing on de_dust2, de_inferno and, if necessary, de_nuke.

4Kings and Catch Gamer come into this match seemingly heading in different directions. For Four Kings the recent departure from WEG of Joona “natu” Leppänen has been heavily covered by the eSports community. He left China for personal reasons to return home and won't be playing at the WEG.

To replace him, 4Kings has brought in former Abitstrike star and current Newlife member, Zhang Chao “LaiXiLaiXi” Xi. The real effect on the team though should be in the mental and teamwork aspects. Adapting to a new team member so close to the actually start of the event should prove challenging for 4Kings in both elements.

Previously Four Kings went 3-3 at CPL Winter 2005 defeating American Team 3D to eliminate them from the tournament. Tough losses to American Complexity, also at WEG, along with Brazilian g3x and Catch Gamer, left the British team with an 8th place finish. The match between Catch Gamer and 4Kings was a run-off for 7th place and ended in a 16-11 victory for Catch Gamer on de_dust2, the opening map for WEG Masters.

Catch Gamer opened CPL Winter 2005 with a tough loss to American TEC on de_inferno in an overtime upset, 17-19. They rallied though, ending the tournament with a 6-2 record including an impressive win over Germany's Mousesports, 16-7.

Like Four Kings, the major focus for the Norwegians will be their lineup. At the start of 2006 during a flurry of roster changes, Catch Gamer was able to grab two top stars from another Norwegian powerhouse team that has since broken up, Team9. Preben “OOPS” Josdal and Sondre “REAL” Svanevik both joined the team shortly into the new year in what was an important pick up for the team. The addition of the two superstar players gives Catch Gamer five solid starters with Svanevik and Josdal both having been the best on their previous team.

Svanevik is currently the second ranked player in the Gamesense database with a 0.976 FPR (Frags Per Round) on the back of a strong CPL UK victory with Team9. Four Kings counters with Jonas “Goodfella” Virtanen, who leads the team in virtually every major statistical category including a 0.735 FPR, 80.5 DAR (Damage Average per Round) and 465 total frags.

Even with many challenges facing 4Kings they have a solid history at WEG with a 2nd place finish in the first season and 3rd place finish in third season. The Norwegians also have past WEG experience having finished 2nd in the second season.

Catch will hope to prove its new line-up is worthy of the hype while surpassing the previous teams' accomplishments. The first step for both teams will be their opening match against each other.

Notes

Xi posted a 0.705 FPR with Abitstrike in the second season of WEG and was one of only two members of that team to post a positive ratio...Xi posted the highest score with Abitstrike against his current team, 4Kings, when they faced off during the second season of WEG going 14-15 with a 0.778 FPR...Catch Gamer, with a previous lineup, defeated 4Kings 13-5 on de_nuke and 13-8 on de_inferno...Geir-Stian “juve9le” Svendsen has posted a 0.939 FPR during his last three matches against 4Kings.