This was an action packed weekend. With two events running concurrently at E4All, there was plenty of matches to watch and a lot of great outcomes. Below are a few key points that everyone should consider looking back at from these two events. Could SK and MiBR be turning a new page on MYM and fnatic? Of course it is too early to tell, but both of their performances have added even more excitement to the EM III series.

The pieces fit for Brazil

While MiBR was unable to finish strong against an unrelenting SK squad, they undeniably had the best performance of the tournament up to that point. With only five days of bootcamp practice with this lineup, MiBR shocked everyone. Their only really close match came against MYM in their group play match. After that point they rolled all the way to the finals. Led by cogu’s AWP, and fnx’s unrelenting aim, MiBR showed that they have exactly what it takes to make a real argument for being a top three team.

With their busy practice schedule and unrelenting study of the game and their opponents, MiBR will only get better. While they came out flat in the first championship match against SK, they showed just how much they deserved to be in the finals by forcing things into overtime. Enjoy your ten grand boys; you deserve it.


Practice does make perfect

Since the return of zet, SK has been working hard behind closed doors. With practices five to six days out of the week, and over a hundred hours logged in steam over two weeks, SK showed what needs to be done if you want to be the best. Where did they get all this motivation from? Most likely it came from the addition of zet. Spend five minutes watching his body language and positive attitude during matches, and it’s clear to see how much he adds to the team’s moral. While he keeps things light and funny, laughing and joking with tentpole, he seems to know just when to buckle down with a KOM IGEN!!!!


PoV has breakout event

Before this event, it was clear that PoV was nipping at the heels of the top three teams, just waiting for their chance to join their club. They started off slowly, being torn to pieces in a 27-3 rout by GamePlay. After that match, PoV regrouped, and came out strong against a shaky mTw. They were too much for the Danes, and took their predicted spot in the double elimination bracket. There they dropped in the first round to the red hot MiBR squad. They took down fellow Americans x3o, before their tournament life was ended in a close fought 16-11 loss to MYM. They ended EM III LA with a 5/6th place finish.

Not only did PoV have success in EM, but WCG US as well. Both groups were pretty difficult, but after losing 16-14 to x3o, PoV won the remainder of their group matches in order to advance over the Guardians by five rounds. They started off by clawing their way into Overtime with EG, where they ended up winning in straight rounds. That match would prove to be the end of the road for PoV, as they would lose their next two matches against EG and x3o squads who were looking to redeem themselves. They ended the event in third place. Representatives from both EG and x3o gave PoV the respect they deserved after having such unexpected runs in both events in each of their GotFrag interviews.


What does it take?

EG came out, defeated two of the top teams in the world, and placed third in a major international event. They also fell two rounds shy from becoming the US’ WCG representative for a second year. Despite that, people are still trying to pick apart the team, suggesting that several of the players don’t belong. When a team places the best that a US team has in years internationally, you don’t start trying to replace people. You figure out what went wrong, and make adjustments.

While it is way too soon to start calling EG a top ten international team, why do we even need to start labeling them? Why can’t we simply commend them on what they did, and just hope they can improve on this result? Who knows if EG can do it. But let’s let their future results do the talking.


X3O turns the tides

Last year was EG’s time. They won the WCG US qualifier, and went on to take down x3o in the rest of the year’s qualifying events, holding x3o from only attending events where more than one US team was able to participate. On Sunday, x3o took the first step in returning the favor. Finally they have been able to hold off EG and win a qualifier. Only time will tell if they can improve on EG’s (then known as eMg) fourth place finish at the global finals. With their hunger to attend the WCG global finals finally being satisfied, they probably will work hard so they don’t disappoint.