GotFrag.com - This team is a little interesting. Just recently they had a few roster shakeups and have a newer roster for the Finals. With the majority of their roster leaving and three new players coming in, this event is one where they need to prove themselves.

Last year, cJ_B and Projeckt were the only two players on this team. These two players have been almost inseparable when it comes down to making teams. A key person that is missing from earlier in the season is David "savi0r" Park. Savi0r is most known for this time with x3o/compLexity. With three new players surrounding them and a solid five set for ESEA, their week of practice will have to be utilized very well. They ended up not winning a single match out of the two Bo3's they played at last years finals, but that does not mean things did not change drastically with this roster. With the newer roster and better communication, they have the definite potential to do something bigger than last year.

The teams first match will be against Turmoil Gaming. This means that they will have to show up and be ready to play in the tournament. They wont get a round to mess around and see how they might do, they have to be there 100%. Last year coming into first round of the ESEA finals we saw Ruins upset Turmoil in the first set of Bo3s, something that might pop-up again this year, but most likely not.

Excello's ESEA Playoffs Roster:

Alex "hazard" Martins
Zeus "demos" Wu
Jason "Jstone" Caposello
Christopher "projeckt" Costoso
Cj "cJ_B" Banarsee

League Record: 9-7
Seed:6th

Expected Finish: I see this group of guys going in last, or next to last place. They have a newer formed roster that is hungry to win on LAN, but I honestly don't think they will be able to pull it out. Of course CS is "Any Given Sunday", but with 6 of the best teams in North America meeting up at full force, some teams are just going to be unstoppable.



We caught up with Alex "hazard" Martins and Cj "cJ_B" Banarsee to ask them a few questions about the upcoming LAN Finals.

You guys recently had some roster shakeups, what lead you to choose the people you did and what have you guys been doing to prepare for the event?

Hazard: Well we weren't heading in the right direction towards ESEA playoffs. First off, we hadn't even realized that we could still qualify before playing Turmoil on de_lite, lol. I actually ended up figuring out that with 3 more wins over Turmoil, EG, and loaded, it could set us up for the 6th spot in the playoffs. We managed to get wins over Loaded and Turmoil, and a forfeit over EG since they were on vacation. This means that we barely pushed out Ruins from the playoffs by rounds won. Then we shaped up the roster and got down to the basics. We just went over some ideas, and a few strats, but we just mainly focused on trying to build up some chemistry. With time any team can become great, it's just a matter of knowing your strengths and fixing your weaknesses.

Why did you choose the five you chose coming into this event?

cJ_B: What lead us to choose this 5 is the past chemistry we have together. We all come a long way, our best bet was to attend the LAN with former teammates rather then a whole new set of players. We're going into the tourney sort of how SK went into Chengdu with a weeks practice. So were gonna make the best of it.

Your first match is against Turmoil, what have you guys done to prepare to play a team considered to be top 3 in the US, and who do you see as your biggest "rival" in this tournament?

cJ_B: LoL. I have the LoL because Turmoil is a good group of guys. For some reason we always end up playing Turmoil, and it's coming to a point where we know Turmoil a little too well. We played Turmoil at WCG Quiver Shoot-Out, WCG US Finals, and in a bo3 for ESL-I. The match between turmoil is going to be really interesting and fun, but its at a point were we really understand how they play and we'll use that to our advantage. Also, going into this tourney we don't really see a rival, but hopefully we can play EG at this LAN. :]