So far there are an additional 12 teams signed up for the first portion of the event. Depending on changes made from the event organizer, it should consist of three groups of four teams. All groups will be competing on Saturday, contrary to the previous plan of having the competition start on Friday.

The top eight teams from the group stage (top 2 teams from each group along with 2 wild card teams) will compete in Sunday's double elimination bracket stage. This ensures that while only four teams will be eliminated, all of the teams in attendance get their fair share of the action and there aren't any "two losses and you're eliminated" teams.


Paragon of Virtue
Jeff "hero" Mettetal
Andrew "dRew" Timmerman
Eugene "zby" Watson
David "savior" Park
Mike "mkpro" Rogers

POV turned out a really solid showing at x3o Q4. They made it to the upper bracket finals, where they were sent spinning to the consolidation finals by MoB. In that match they lost 16-14 against EG.usa and ended up placing third.

Now they are back, and have apparently figured out their fifth player situation as long time VA area player mkpro has been added. The team is currently 5-5 in CEVO-p, with a notable win over frag dominant.

Strengths Individual talent and chemistry together. Even with adding a new fifth, mkpro has a solid relationship with some of the players out of game to make the transition a smooth one.

Weaknesses Not quiet there yet. While POV has come a long way, they still aren't on the same level as the top three teams in attendance.

Prediction Top 4. POV showed they have what it takes to destroy most of the teams in attendance. However they haven't shown that they can take out any of the top teams.



Frag Dominant
Ric "iNERTiA" Bundy
Jon "broodex" Gibbons
Chad "momper" Momper
Jared "strucky" Martin
Gino "gwhatkey" Wuttke

Well what do you know? Despite everyone ragging on this team for being online, here they are at the finals ready to prove themselves. While all of their players have experience on LAN, they haven't settled down since their days as iniquity and gotten around to attending any events, hence the reputation.

With some impressive results last season in CEVO, and a 6-4 record so far this time around, and a big win against MoB, FD is a solid contender. However this lineup is slightly different from last season's and has only been together for a few months. With some of the biggest current names in central CS featured on this roster, it will be interesting to see how they stack up against what the east has to offer.

Strengths No one plays scared. They know what needs to be done, and are willing to put their ego's aside and risk their stats to get things accomplished.

Weaknesses Limited experience. With this lineup only being a few months old, and with no events played together, this is going to be a bit of a learning experience. While they aren't the youngest team attending, they are when compared to the top three teams.

Prediction If they upset an invited team, they will place top three. If not, they will finish at the top of the teams from group play.



mainGear
Matt "PredatoR" McQuerter
Chris "truls" Navratil
Alex "millipede" Abbott
Dustin "dizzaman" D
Steve "seijim2" McCormick

Formerly known as Eximius Sports, mainGear has been doing better than expected this season in CEVO-p. While they have a 4-6 record, and are currently sitting at 10th of 12, they are only a few wins out of a playoff spot. If they have a solid finish to the season they might be able to pull it out.

Playing in their first event with this lineup might give them the boost they need. While most of their guys have been around for seemingly forever, they haven't really been able to make a huge splash on the scene. A solid performance here might help put central cs back on the map.

nPlay
Jacob "TYRIUM" Blewitt
Danny "Son1c" Gordon
Andre "bleek" Manzi
Sean "AIMETTI" Aimetti
Matt "spz" Brooks

Some old names from a few different CAL-p/CEVO-p teams are featured on this lineup. They are currently holding down the #11 spot in CEVO main with a 4-2 record. While this will be the first event for this team, the accomplishments and tournament experience between them all is pretty substantial.


PainTrain
Bryan "buskey" Buskey
Paul "tomcho" Tomcho
Ryan "nvrx" Owens
Robert "d1xoN" Dixon
Justin "tart" Tart

PainTrain is slowly but surely improving themselves. They came a long way to advance out of group play at x3o q4, and despite a two and out performance in the brackets, they should be looking up for this event. They have two new additions in buskey and tomcho, both of which are solid players with esteemed backgrounds and should help them. While their record in CEVO-m is a shoddy 3-4, their recent roster change should put some new life into this team.


Mach 5
Shane "ravage" Clawson
John "Kingof2v1" Manesh
Zach "sunjo" Ganey
Joe "beneito" Beneito
Matt "bahrain" Maisonneuve

With some nearly forgotten names from the VA area, Mach 5 is looking to make a big statement at this event. While they are only competing in cevo-im currently, they do have plenty of experience to go around. Look for them to be above the halfway point once the seedings are announced for bracket play.