Every event one thing decides the difference between a top 8 placement and the mocking of the entire community, the match-ups. Some get the best of this critical aspect of tournament play; others receive the short end of the stick. Defending champions EYE may have gotten the former but SK definitely got the latter.

The top half of the upper bracket looks like a clean sweep for EYE into a quarterfinal berth. mTw.ATI looks like the biggest challenge and the former ICSU team has actually taken EYE before at Nollelva, but this is a huge gut check on LAN. GB could be interesting for EYE, if GB can get 8+ rounds on EYE, mTw.swe might be the favorite against them.

If EYE can survive their challenger in the Quarters it could get very interesting. Both mibr and NoA would love to be there, but tough back-to-back matches could prevent that. Mibr gets a tough, underrated 2D team that has done some damage in CAL-P. The Brazilians had moments at the pre-CPL tournament, but they can’t overlook the Canadian 2D here. Even with a win, the prospect of NoA after that isn’t promising. Still NoA really can’t overlook their opponent TAU. Everyone around the community will be curious to see if it was a “fluke” last event. I bet Amic would love to give Shaguar and friends a second helping of humble pie.

Out of all those teams above, it will come one team into the Semi-Finals. On the face, I’d say EYE largely because of the bad teamwork and the often fights displayed between NoA players during scrims and pre-match play. If NoA can avoid that, they could be facing the Titans.

The Titans aren’t the overwhelming favorite as they will have to go through what could be at least two top notch American teams. First they’ll face Deadzone, which could be an interesting indicator for their following matches. If Deadzone can keep it close, the chances of an upset by u5 and D!E or TEC. u5 first match against Esportsea looks interesting on paper with well known Icesalmon playing for Esportsea, but really this should be a steamroll.

The lower half of this bracket is the battle of USA versus Europe. Upper-level teams or at least ones hoping to join the elite of their region face off. Begrip.swe is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle when it comes to teamwork, as their recently put together team hopes to take out the first top ten USA team, TEC. TEC has looked venerable but has the talent to beat Begrip.swe. Really this match could be the start for USA to say this is their event or Europeans and especially Swedes to continue their stamp on a tournament they have really made their home.

The other half of this Quarterfinal berth is D!E taking on SK Germany. SK looked strong in their opening match against atr, 16-5, but D!E really has something to prove. Many are claiming they will be shown as the fluke of Summer 2004, a win here over SK would wipe that away. The flamboyant D!E has already guaranteed the victory, with CuZ going out on the limb.

Still the chances an American team will come out of this section of the bracket are slim. The Danish team, The Titans, really look strong and it’s their bracket to lose. Lower half of the brackets will be watching The Titans and the combination of teams in the upper bracket. The Titans will have to be curious to see what happens in the all upper Finnish battle.

In a poor twist of fate, Astralis and D-Skyline could face with a possible spot in just the Quarterfinals at stake. Both teams are considered top 10 in the world and their local rivalry only adds to the interest of this possible meeting. After aTTax’s poor performance in the opening round, it looks like neither should have trouble advancing.

The other half of that Quarterfinal game could be extremely interesting. Many believe mouz has been consistently overrated in both the GotFrag rankings and by many in Germany, while others feel 4Kings is overrated (Again I never said that!). Both of those teams will look to prove someone wrong in this group. I like mouz’s talent level in this one and the EPS playoffs really made them shine, but if 4Kings can build on the momentum of the CPL UK Qualifier; they could give mouz more then they expect. Either way, historically these teams have always played each other tough in EuroCup and other various tournaments.

The other team worth mention could be coL, who must face mouz. coL really needs to make a breakout win and mouz could be a great chance for it. Storm will need to play the game of his life in order to give them a realistic chance in this one. Strong play from all five will be critical, as mouz really has them beat skill wise in almost every single spot.

If 3D hasn’t seen enough of Brazilian teams already at WCG, they could get more then their fill here in this bracket at CPL. A second round match against Adrena, followed by a possible match against g3x could provide interesting fodder for the many unhappy Portuguese speaking gamers.

The final eight teams sees a large contingency of top American teams. Outside of the upper bracket section with u5, TEC and D!E, America’s hopes at this CPL will come here. zEx will look to show many Europeans that the depth of CAL-I can play with the depth of Europe, taking on Team64, an EPS playoff team. Both of these teams seem pretty evenly skilled leaving individual performances to decide the outcome.

The winner will most likely have to face Rival (GamerCo), who will look to surpass their Summer CPL 2004 showing. In order to do so Hanes will have to more then equal his playing during that event. Ever since Destructo left for NoA before that past CPL event, Hanes has been one of the major keys for this team. Any chances could rest on his shoulders. Forsaken shouldn’t be a push over and could give us a good indicator of how ready GamerCo is, even with Forsaken’s close match with x6tence (consisting of former e4 members).

The lower bracket will be decided in two areas. The Finish battle should be a major indicator, along with a potential GamerCo versus Team3D Quarterfinal match. The winner of either of those should represent this bracket in the upper bracket final. Still, with the way the CPL has played out last event, we wait to find out who the next TAU or Evenflow could be. This is why they play the matches.