There is not going to be one dull match coming into the quarter-finals of the upper bracket, but NoA vs. EYE will probably stand out the most.

NoA, one year ago, placed second at their first CPL event, after being formed just months before. Since then they have picked up such players as elemeNt and Xeqtr to make their lineup almost infallible and it is finally starting to show. Then on the opposing side we have the surprise CPL champions that got off to a rough start at the 011 LAN after the loss of Hyper. Soon after the 011 LAN, EYE announced that they would be picking up Walle and Bullin from team spiXel to fill in their CPL roster, and these were probably the best two picks possible in Sweden.

Now what can we expect from these teams? Probably the best match of the day due to their playing styles.

If anybody remembers NoA's nuke on defense back with bsl and knoxville, it was impossible to penetrate. I remember trying to do previews on the team for de_nuke, but it was impossible due to the fact that I could not scout the offense since NoA would only give up 1-2 defensive rounds. Since then, they have gone through a couple roster changes and their defense hasn't been the same.

One of the reasons NoA's defense was so strong was because of how strong Knoxville was in the ramp room. Since he has gone inactive, the team has had a hard time seeing who will best fit the position. Before the 011 tournament, they had Xeqtr and elemeNt in the ramp room while Method would play in the upper site. Well right before the tournament, Xeqtr decided it would be best for him and Method to switch positions, and this was not a good idea. When NoA met up with spiXel, Xeqtr's playing style just wasn't enough to help hold this upper bombsite.

As we all know, after EYE lost Hyper, they haven't quite been playing up to par. They recently picked up the two leaders of spiXel Walle and Bullin and I expect to see some spiXel looking tactics coming into this match.

When I watched spiXel play NoA on nuke at 011, it was one of the best nuke offenses I have seen out there. SpiXel had spawn based flashes/smokes that would hit the squeak door, hut, and ramp room, all at the same time. When you are at a LAN event and it is all about communication and you see all of these nades flying at you from all directions, you are going to call it. When NoA had four or five guys calling what they saw, spiXel took advantage of the opportunity to hit a site during the confusion.

Although there are no demos of this new EYE lineup on de_nuke, expect to see a lot of the old spiXel tactics.

Well if spiXel dominated NoA's defense on this map, won't EYE? Not exactly. I have talked to the NoA guys, and apparently they realized their mistake, and have sent method back to the upper bombsite. Method is a very aggressive colt player and he is probably the best person on the lineup to mow down a rush to the top bombsite. I think that we are going to see some early attempts by EYE to hit this upper bombsite, until they run into the brick wall that will be the Naikon/Method combination.

But going over to NoA's offense, it is fantastic. They don't have too many tactics, but they are always dead on with their AK's on this map and get the perfect picks. Unlike most maps for NoA, they are able to pick, and commit. Usually NoA will pick off a player and then wait so long the defense has time to rotate or adjust, but not on nuke. Once NoA picks, you can expect them to be in one bombsite or another within seconds.

This isn't just going to be a great match because of the big names, but a great match tactically and all should be in the HLTV to spectate. It is almost safe to say that the winner of this match is more than likely to be seen in the finals match come Sunday.