The sixth edition of the Electronic Sports World Cup is over. This year’s tournament moved from its roots in France to a huge convention hosted by their head sponsor Nvidia in San Jose, USA.

The change of venue raised some issues which were discussed in a previous piece. However, it did not affect the games themselves as MYM won the final match to take home 40 000 dollars and be crowned champions of the world - again.

ESWC `08 was a one-two punch of sweet bliss and redemption for the Polish team. PGS / MYM dominated the international 1.6 scene from September 2006 to the day after their victory at last year’s event. It went downhill from there.

In the twelve months since their story has been one of trials and tribulations. Firstly because some of the biggest hawks in esports came down to prey on the teams top player “Neo.” It disrupted the harmony within a team that up of winning a world championship had stuck together thick and thin, as friends.

Secondly, the team failed to meet the impossible expectations put to them, as they were destined to do. Improving on their near perfect record was not feasible in the competitive world of Counter-Strike: 1.6.

However, the big difference between MYM’s line-up and the other top team’s starting fives is that the Poles have firsthand experience of waiting at the back of the line. The experiences they made in the years leading up to their 2006 eruption might have helped them stay true to each other this past year. MYM knew that they could once again fly the Polish flag from the top of the podium if the recipe for their past success was re-applied.
Still, they failed to impress anyone early on. In the second group stage they fell handsomely to MTW, a team that was considered the best in the world prior to the event. They were lucky to draw Emulate in the quarter final, and after going down 0-1 MYM looked ripe for the pickings. Then Emulate paused and unpaused the game in the middle of a round. MYM found their spark in the following debacle and never looked back after disposing of the French. Mousesports, who came off a huge win against SK was beaten 16 rounds to zero. It is the first time a top team denies another top team a single round that deep in the playoffs of a major tournament. They were back where they needed to be and when eSTRO edged out MYM’s arch rivals Fnatic I think everyone at ESWC knew. Meet Your Makers would win it – again.

Another tango with the Swedes could have proved too much, but the weight of MYM’s experience and the momentum they had gained through their big semi final win was too much for eSTRO to handle - despite the valiant effort put up by the Koreans. LUq, kuben, Loord, Neo and TaZ have now won the 2007 and 2008 editions of ESWC, the World Cyber Games 2006 and Extreme Masters inaugural season. This is a veritable who’s who of important and prestigious tournaments over a relatively short period of time.

The question on everyone’s lips is what now?

MYM are facing the same challenge they failed at following their 2007 ESWC win –a challenge that, with the benefit of hindsight could be said to have “cost” them a year of their competitive life - and they are facing it again under the exact same circumstances. Has the year long slump they worked through to win in San Jose taught them how to cope, possibly positioning them for another World Cyber Games title later on in the fall, certainly an enticing prospect – or has the ESWC satisfied the hunger for success?

There are only five Polish guys that know the answer to THAT question.