USA - The CEVO Professional NationVoice $10,000 Season 5 Counter-Strike: Source Championship takes place this weekend, February 23rd and 24th. The top 6 teams from the division will face off in a single-map, double-elimination format, with a best-of-three Grand Championship Final. Championship Round maps will be selected one by each team and a third chosen by CEVO if needed.

Map Rotation:
de_nuke
de_inferno
de_dust2
de_train
de_contra

Prize Distribution:
1st Place - $5,000.00
2nd Place - $3,500.00
3rd Place - $1,500.00

This season of CEVO Pro CS:Source has been one of the most competitive seasons to date as the playoff bracket came down to the last matches of the regular season. Very few forfeits, only one team dropping(U5) and a fairly evenly matched group of teams have made for an exciting regular season and the playoffs look to be even better. GotFrag takes a look at the teams competing in the CEVO Pro CS:Source Season 5 Championships.

Guardians (12-1)

Philippe Olivier "PEX" Crepin
Justin "heatwave" McKay
Andres "misty" Gunaratne
Michael "deciple" Baker
Benedict "STRuK" Kaminski

Team Guardians, formerly known as electronic Gaming evolution, have basically surprised the heck out of everyone by starting hot, staying hot, and playing the sort of Counter-Strike you would expect from compLexity (and in fact, was delivered by LA just last season). Guardians played so well, they too almost had a perfect season, and even when second seeded Carolina played spoiler, it took a hard-fought 10-9 Overtime loss to end what had been a 4-game win steak to start the season. Guardians shrugged it off and proceeded to win out the rest of the season, including solid wins over playoff teams Pandemic and San Francisco Optx. They also picked up former United 5 member Jimmy “foogz” Koller in preparation for the upcoming CGS Combine in Austin, TX. Koller has fit in great with the team in place of Keven "AZK" Lariviere. In short, their season has been pretty much everything you'd expect from LA, but with a distinctly Canadian flavor.

Strengths: Guardians players are some of the more well-known Source players in the game today. Benedict “STRuK” Kaminski and Michael “deciple” Baker are veterans of such teams as Verge and Check-Six, and Justin “heatwave” McKay comes from the fan favorite One-eyed Zomblerz. Jimmy “foogz” Koller has been a ringer for Carolina Core after United 5 dropped out of CEVO for the second time, and is a fine player in his own right. They play well together and individually, and it shows.

Weaknesses: All that individual experience makes for a good cohesive unit, but the pressure is all on them now. In the playoffs, as has been demonstrated by Alex Rodriguez for the last few seasons, no one cares how good you do in the regular season, if that doesn't continue in the playoffs. This is also a barometer of sorts, to see how Team Guardians stacks up with CGS teams, and those good enough to be considered CGS-caliber teams, with the Combine looming in the proverbial distance. They will also be doing it without foogz, as he has quit the squad, forcing the team to pick up a fifth on short notice: former teammate of heatwave, and fellow Zombler, Andres “misty” Gunaratne. The team itself came together only a short time before the start of the CEVO season, so other than their individual accomplishments, Guardians doesn't have much to show as a team, though what little there is, is quite impressive.

Recent Results: 1st Place, CEVO-P CSS Season 5

Prediction: It's hard to predict how the team will go, because the playoffs are such a different dynamic, coupled with the fact that we haven't Guardians in much of anything before this season. Regardless, Guardians is a great team, and barring a Patriots-like collapse, or an incredible game from one of the CGS teams, Guardians will be battling to the end, and they may even win it.


Carolina Core (11-2)

Mark “Masternook” Torrez
Sam “devour” Chamma
Hoang “s0nny” Tran
Chad “DAFF” White
Cyrus “org” Habibi

I had written in my CEVO-P Season 5 Preview that, while I believed Core was a very good team, they seemed somewhat streaky and thin once you got past their AWP, Sam “devour” Chamma. They then proceeded to be the best team not named Guardians, en route to a 11-2 record and a second-place finish in CEVO Season 5. So I was terribly, terribly wrong, and the fans of Core couldn't be happier. Carolina has been lights-out this season, including being one of only two teams to record a shutout, against Eximius Sports in Week 4 (San Francisco was the other, also against Eximius, during Week 6). In last season's playoffs, Core took down then-TLR, before losing a tough OT game to eventual winners compLexity, and then getting knocked out of the tournament by Gravitas Gaming +}. This time around, they will accept nothing but total victory.

Strengths: Core begins with their amazing AWP, devour. Devour is an exceptional “Terrorist” AWP, with his aggressive style of play, making him arguably one of the top three in CGS, if not the game today. Playing by his side are Hoang “s0nny” Tran, and the underrated Chad “DAFF” White. Another surprise weapon has been their fill-in, the former United 5 player Cyrus “org” Habibi, who has been subbing for the notably absent Adam “elusive” Messner. Core had tried org's teammate Jimmy “foogz” Koller, and even had their FIFA player (and former CS player) Nick “PeeKay” DePalmer play in a match against LA (10-5 victory for Core). Habibi has been their most stable, and most successful fifth, and will be key in Core's playoff hopes.

Weaknesses: Core's biggest weakness lies not within themselves, but once again, in the schedule. Being the second seed means a first round bye, so Core skips past the first map, Nuke, where they were 2-0, to Inferno, where they had their worst loss of the season, 10-1 against Dallas Venom. Venom is one of three teams who are the most likely to give the Core a good run for their money. Pandemic is another, as they are the only other team to give Core a loss (10-8). The third team is the one right above them. Core and Guardians played in an epic Overtime match, resulting in a 10-9 loss for Guardians that could just have easily been a win. Reuniting heatwave with his old teammate misty may in fact give Guardians the extra push they need to get past the Core. We will just have to see.

Recent Results: 2nd Place, CEVO-P CSS Season 5 (11-2), 2nd Place, CGS World Finals (4-0 record for Core.CSS)

Prediction: Core is another team that is just as capable of taking home the championship, so it's hard to bet against or for them. If Guardians ends up being a surprise knockout, however, then Core will have a much easier time of it. Top three placing, easily.


Dallas Venom (10-3)

Eric "brawwr" Neer
Josh "Dominator" Sievers
Corey "senah" Hanes
David "zid" Chin
Derek "exodus" Heidinger

Dallas picked up right where it left off from the previous CEVO season, and if one hadn't been paying close attention, he might think that nothing had changed with the team. That of course, is not the case, as the team brought in Eric “Brawwr” Neer prior to the start of the season to replace the departing Kevin “aZn” Wang. Neer's contributions have been nothing but beneficial, as the team currently sits in the third seed behind the surprising Guardians and fellow CGS team Carolina. The third place finish in the last CEVO-P season was something of a letdown after the stellar regular season, and the team undoubtedly hopes to improve upon that mark.

Currently second in both rounds won and rounds against, the results from the season tell an interesting tale – when Dallas wins, there is a high likelihood that it is a big margin of victory, while their losses are generally close matches. In fact, half of their victories were by 7 or more rounds. While big victories are irrelevant in the playoffs, the team will get a chance for revenge against two teams who defeated them this season, compLexity and Guardians (losses which were, incidentally, in consecutive matches).

Strengths: Chemistry and confidence. Hanes and Heidinger have played together since time immemorial (or so it seems) and Chin has been around quite a long time himself. Neer's introduction to the team appears to be seamless, so as a unit they are performing well. Coming into the playoffs on a 5 game winning streak only helps.

Weaknesses: Since committing to Source, the team in its incarnations has failed to make a splash when it matters with the exception of the first CGS Combine. They aren't inconsistent, they just haven't played up to their potential enough to be considered among the elite.

Recent Results: 3rd place CEVO-P Season 4

Prediction: 4th at best, but they could finish in 6th place in this bracket. San Francisco will not be blown out again, and LA remains a threat despite its recent struggles. Plus, a third seed means nothing if the team doesn't play like a third seed, or better.