If you asked me two weeks ago what I thought about the current SK.swe Counter-Strike 1.6 division, I would have told you the lineup required an enormous amount of work if they wished to compete with the best European teams. I would have said that SK is the perfect example of why dream teams will never work out the way they are supposed to. Furthermore, I would have explained why SK has failed to regain the prestige that the SK name once carried.

But, alas, SK has proved the doubters, including myself, incorrect. They have fought valiantly these past few weeks and have once again reclaimed their spot in the upper echelon of European competitive Counter-Strike. Their ascension back into the hearts of Swedish Counter-Strike fans began with their success in the NGL finals. After impressively taking down rival organizations NoA and mouz, SK was looking ravenous. Although the victories over NoA and mouz were not exactly convincing, fans were able to see the tremendous amount of effort that was put into these matches - effort SK seemed to be lacking for quite some time.

The defeat of both NoA and mouz was a remarkable feat for SK, and their matches against fnatic were exceedingly entertaining to watch. Although it took SK three maps to oust both NoA and mouz, they were successful in doing so. When it came time to compete against the Swedish powerhouse fnatic, SK felt the taste of victory that they had long forgotten.

Although the SK team was unable to defeat rivals fnatic, they literally gave fnatic a run for their money. With a $10,000 USD disparity from first to second place, you can surely bet both teams were giving it everything they had. Even though fnatic may have defeated SK in only two maps, the defeats, 16:12 and 25:23, were close enough to convince even the doubting Thomas’s of the audience that SK was back in business.

It was apparent a few months ago that SK was faltering as a team, unable to solidify their place in Counter-Strike 1.6. With such a stacked roster of players in RobbaN, fisker, SpawN, allen, and striker, it caused one to wonder why they were wavering so. Speculation has led me to the following conclusions, any of which may or may not have impacted the SK team: lack of experienced leadership, lack of chemistry, periods of inactivity, and lack of ability to adapt to the changing Counter-Strike scene. Although SK may have succumbed to some of these disadvantageous issues, it seems they have finally come out the victor. In fact, SK is starting to look better than ever.

A few weeks ago at the NGL finals, the fnatic team that appeared unbeatable granted SK Gaming a map win at KODE5 Sweden 2007. SK won the map in a relatively convincing fashion, boasting a 16-7 defeat of the current Swedish champions. Abdisamad "SpawN" Mohamed led the charge, daring an impressive +9 GameSense, while the rest of his team, save striker, also ascended into the positive ratio range. On the fnatic side, only superstar player Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg was able to climb into the positive range. Abdisamad "SpawN" Mohamed, one of the most recognized names and faces in Counter-Strike 1.6, seems to be getting back on track and is bringing his team with him.

Mohamed has been at the top of the competitive CS scene for years now, always putting forth extraordinary effort in his game. You can find him in countless demos and videos pulling off some of the most incredible shots and rounds that have ever occurred in Counter-Strike 1.6. With his noteworthy performance, SK seems like they are on the right path to become one of the most prominent teams in Europe once again. His only sub-par performances seem to be on the map de_train; -12, -13, and -12 are some of his recent scores in matches with SK according to his GameSense. In his defense, he was competing against some of the greatest teams in the world. Nevertheless, it seems that if SK wants Mohamed to lead them to victory with his superior ability and experience, they require his statistics to improve on this map. Without improving his performance on de_train, SK will find it immensely difficult to win any major tournaments, bearing in mind that all tournaments have standardized this map as one of the focal four.

In the other two maps in the KODE5 Sweden Finals Best-of-Three series, fnatic was able to defeat SK without exerting too much effort. And although SK is most certainly settling back into their groove, they still have quite a way to go before solidifying themselves as one of the top European teams. Despite SK's faltering performance at the ESWC Sweden qualifier, the team has improved by leaps and bounds in recent weeks. They have displayed a hunger eerily reminiscent of the all-star NoA lineup. It's been years since SK has needed to prove themselves to the community, but their recent extraordinary performance undoubtedly silenced the majority of critics. Furthermore, it would appear that SK's combination of old school talent with new school ambition is finally paying off.

While it had taken the team a rather excessive amount of time before they were able to start turning heads, they seem to be settling into their groove. The team roles are falling into place and the chemistry is rapidly increasing, causing the team to excel. Some members of the GotFrag community doubt SK and will go to great lengths to explain how they will never be a world-class team with their current lineup. Perhaps they are correct in their assertion that SK could become a greater team if they acquired a stronger lineup, but the conjecture that SK will not succeed with fisker, allen, SpawN, RobbaN, and striker is borderline blasphemy. I believe the team has more than proved their potential in recent weeks by beating one of the top three teams in the world. Faster than you can say "fisker-face", SK has clambered back into the position of a world-class team. Whether you want to accept it or not, SK is back in business.