With only days to go before the kick-off of what is still for many people the highlight of the esports calender, a collection of the world's finest Quake players descend on Paris, France to battle it out for a top prize of $10,000. Toxic, Stermy and Fox may be in action elsewhere but the competition at this year's ESWC is by no means lacking, with players such as av3k, Cooller and forever all in attendance. Last year's champion, winz, has also decided to return to Quake 4 and will be looking for an astonishing third consecutive ESWC title this weekend. The ESWC has taken criticism from the Quake community in recent times over its decreased prize purse and lenient config requirements but I don't think anyone can deny it never fails to deliver on one front, pure excitement. Last year's event was, for many attendees, what esports is really all about. There are few experiences in gaming quite like sitting in a crowd of 5,000 fans in the Bercy stadium cheering every frag in a Quake 4 duel and that is exactly what ESWC 2006 had to offer. This year's event is held in the "Parc des Expositions de la Porte de Versailles" in the center of Paris and is aiming once again to offer a unique spectator experience.

Not only was last year's tournament an incredible spectacle, but it was also packed with surprises and upsets. We witnessed the emergence of the young Cypher, the triumph on home-soil of winz and a performance by forever which, to this day, he still ranks as his greatest achievement. This trio of underdogs left spectators gaping and established stars like Cooller and Toxic in shock as they went on to take the top three spots in what was a rollercoaster event. It's hard to predict who could cause a similar upset this year, but some people would argue the smart money is on GaRpY, a player who was probably unlucky to not receive a top seed. The main focus this time around is on the duo who teamed up to beat the supposedly unbeatable Toxic at the recent WSVG Louisville event, Cooller and av3k. Although it was the young Polish player who actually won the match, he was quick to give credit to his Russian "mentor" for the tactical advise, apparently scrawled on a pizza box, that allowed him to do so. The pair now find themselves as the joint favorites going into this year's ESWC and with a high possibility of facing each other for the first time since the Multiplay i30 event which av3k went on to win after being eliminated by Cooller from the upper bracket. Only time will tell if the Polish prodigy can claim his third straight major Quake 4 win of 2007 this weekend in Paris but with Toxic away in Dallas, he would have to be disappointed with any other result.

ESWC 2007 Quake 4 Tournament Details

Top Seeds av3k Cooller forever winz

High Seeds GaRpY k1llsen PURRI sorax

Mid Seeds falcuma Hunter Ob3n impulse

(Note: All other players are unseeded and the full list of attendees can be found here)

Prize Money:

▪ 1st Place - $10,000
▪ 2nd Place - $6,000
▪ 3rd Place - $3,000

Read on for individual profiles of the top and high seeded players.