By: Stuart Brooks

The dust has almost settled here in Seoul, Korea with one more match to be played in the second group stage of WEG2005 Season 2. The four teams who will be moving on into the Semi-Finals have already been decided in the first two matches. Two of the matches on Friday will mean everything to the teams playing, while the other two matches are for pride and dignity. So far this season has been full of surprises with two of the favorite teams for this season making an exit before the second group stage begun. The second group stage has also had its fill of surprises so far with GamerCo, Astralis, wNv and Pentagram all going home after the last match this week.

The four teams who will be dueling it out for the top 4 spots this week are; 4Kings, Catch-Gamer, AbitStrike and Begrip. Each one of these teams has proven that they are the top teams here this season and deserve their spot in the final 4.
4.

4Kings - Mangiacapra, Red, elemeNt, Goodfella and aKuji
4Kings had one of the most intense matches to watch this season when they played GamerCo on train, barely edging them out with a score of 13-10. What really impressed me by their play was that they lost both pistol rounds. This is MR12 folks, that is almost unheard of. Clutch play by Mangiacapra in the last round of the first half, winning a 1v4, while aKuji chipped in with his own big round, winning a 1v2 on T side, protecting the bomb. 4K has been able to pull through to the top 4 with a loss against EG and a very close match against GamerCo. 4K has showed perseverance this season, being pushed to their limits. This makes them a very dangerous team as they can pull together and execute almost perfectly to win a match. Look for 4K to be in the finals.

Begrip - Calippo, isKall, RoBBaN, f0rest, Tentpole
Begrip has progressively gotten better with each match they play. Like 4K, they have also been pushed to their limits, and that makes them a very good team. In their match against Pentagram, they lost both pistols and were down 11-3 at one point. They banded together and won ten consecutive rounds, winning the match 13-11, in probably THE best match this season at WEG. Tentpole, roBBan and f0rest have really stepped up their play in the second group stage and as long as these three relative new-comers keep up their level of play, Begrip will be playing in the finals. You can't forget about Calippo and isKall though, as these guys are the backbone of the team and provide the stable 'star power' to this team. I expect many good things from this team if they can stay together.

Catch-Gamer - bsl, day, juve9ile, juzam, zevy
Catch-Gamer is arguably one of the biggest surprises in the top 4. Not many people expected this team to perform so well in the second group stage after a lackluster performance in the first group stage. It will be interesting to see how well they play in the Semi-Finals. Catch had an extremely close match against Pentagram on Dust2, where Catch was down 11-8 and was able to close out the last five rounds for the big W. Catch's win against Astralis was more surprising than close. They came out strong on CT side of train, picking up the always important pistol round. They never relinquished the lead and that’s why they are in the top 4. Their roster is relatively unknown except for bsl and juve9ile. Those two have loads of experience between them and will help lead this team. The entire Catch team has been together for quite some time, so they have that advantage against teams like 4K and Begrip, who have almost newly formed lineups.

AbitStrike - LaiXiLaiXi, 117, popo, freestyle, s`zero
AbitStrike has played superb in the second group stage. They first took down GamerCo on inferno pretty handily. Inferno is Abit’s best map as they are still undefeated on it at WEG. All 5 of their players have contributed in each and every match they have played. Abit then went on to beat their fellow Chinese team, wNv, on train, which sealed their spot in the Semi's. It is still to be decided whom they will play against in the Semi's, but this is a team to look out for. I think a few of the teams have underestimated just how good this team really is. It will be exciting to see how they fare against 4Kings or Begrip in this tournament. I wouldn't be surprised if you see this team in the finals here, as they have a very solid lineup.