The EM Global Challenge kicked off with a great event in Los Angeles earlier in October. Now the tour continues on to beautiful Montreal, Canada. US players who have yet to attend events abroad will be in for a treat, as being greeted with "bonjour monsieur" will make you feel thousands of miles away from home despite the US border being less than an hour away via car.

While the LA event featured a handful of European teams and a host of US teams who were trying to make a splash, this event will be markedly different. Since e4all played host to both the EM LA event and WCG US finals, tons of US teams who would normally be financially restricted from attending anything but local events were enabled by the WCG US travel stipend. With no available traveling money, only the established US teams (and possibly two relatively local teams) will be attending.

Unlike the event held at e4all, this event will feature Canada's top CS talent. But with those teams really not able to vie for the top tier in North American CS, it is extremely unlikely that there will be a POV-esque performance given by one of the Canucks. Either way, underdog teams will have plenty of chances to upset teams, as two of the three teams in each group will advance to the double elimination bracket.


Evil Geniuses - n0thing, steno, chE, hostile, Nepo-
Check Six - levy, krb, dizzaman, aim, ?
North Stars United - d00m, kuby, Parad1s, sKz, Xp3???

While it is nearly impossible for EG.us to fail to advance, they will be given a good test in their group. NSU is comprised of the core of NP, along with Xp3 from aAa and former member sKz. While NP will be attending WCG with the same lineup they used to win the Canadian finals, it is pretty easy to translate the success of that team to nsu and call them the best team in Canada. Joining them in Group A will be the core of x6's newest CS squad. With two of their members missing the event, and the details of their travel plans still up in the air, it is possible that they will not attend. While levy and crew have been known to put together some strong pug lineups for local events, they have their work cut out for them. It wouldn't be out of the question x6 or nsu to put pressure on EG.us.

Predicted Advancers: EG.us, nsu


Made in Brazil - btt, cogu, fnx, nak, bit
Evil Geniuses - evan, Tekn1kal, phys1kz, lalonde, cozen
Dynamo - emonkS, Scorpio, Mousepad, kazuki, Mohasus

Regardless of whether or not you watched MiBR's matches in LA or not, it would be pretty insane to give anyone besides them the top seed out of this group. Their newest lineup version is really meshing well, and with their experience together, it should. They showed that none of them have any CSS cobwebs anymore, and they are ready not just to compete on the global level, but to excel there. Vying for the second ticket to double elim, are EG.ca and Dynamo. Since EG.ca placed second at WCG CA, with dynamo falling just four rounds short of getting out of group play. Don't let that performance fool you though, as they took down eventual semifinalists, Sway gaming, in the process. Just as most of the other groups, the most important match will come down to the bottom two teams fighting it out to advance.

Predicted Advancers: MiBR, EG.ca


SK Gaming - zet, tentpole, walle, allen, robban
Sway Gaming - heller, adr, a2z, ryennn, YaYooo-
slashLEVEL - revolt, wheels, kepo, genik, nzn

SK has another easy ride into the double elimination brackets. Expect to see a pair of low single digit's for their rounds lost in both of their matches. On the other hand, there will be a somewhat interesting match to determine who will be the second advancing team. That place seems heavily slated toward Sway gaming, who won CEVO-main this past season. Slashlevel also participated in CEVO main, however they ended the season with a sub .500 record. Sway also has shown that they are capable on LAN, reaching the semifinals of WCG CA this year, an event which slashLEVEL pulled out of.

Predicted Advancers: SK, sway


fnatic - ins, archi, f0rest, dsn, carn
Gravitas Gaming (formerly x3o) - goodfornothing, PaTyoJoN, impulsive, ben, mehLer
team j1n - They don't even know

With j1n most likely not attending, this group will probably be a wash. It would have been interesting had there been an additional Euro team, as an x3o and fnatic rematch might have been more important for one of the teams. But in this case, the only thing on the line will be seeding and pride. fnatic should be looking to get off to a strong start and show that their slump is over. x3o on the other hand will be looking for redemption against the team who they came close against in their LA group.

Predicted Advancers:fnatic, x3o