GotFrag.com - With this being the first major 1 versus 1 online tournament of the year, all of the big names\teams are expected to make a strong showing.

With summer in full swing and Quakecon talks circulating, this tournament is going to definitely give the North American Quake community an idea of where its best players stack up against the rest of the world. It's hard to really say right now who the best player in North America is, but a few names definitely come to mind. Then again, it's hard to say who the best player in the world is as well, since there really haven't been any international Quake Live tournaments in quite some time. All the more reason this tournament is very important.

Let's look at the big names competing in the individual conferences.

Northeast

Bradley "swooped" Olles - Team eMg
Walter "walter" Outlaw - dfm
Michael "bLt" Smith - In and Out
Chris "tehnewbz" Messer - In and Out
Thomas "griffin" Wall - EG
Justin "sparks" Sparks - Gravitas Gaming

This group is a great blend of new and old. Long time EG player griffin looks to head up this group, and in a big way. The big question with this talented group of players is who's going to emerge with griffin as major players. All of the remaining players have had great experience in 1 versus 1 so this is definitely going to be an exciting group to watch.

Projected Finalists: griffin, sparks

Southern

Daniel "carnage" Sturdivant - Loaded
Timothy "DaHanG" Fogarty - EG
Kevin "kgb" Holowchik - Team eMg
Eddie T. "rey" J. - Clan Knightmare

Lead by EG's Dahang, this conference features some of the most aim heavy, and talented player's on the planet. Carnage has once again been giving his time to Quake and it's showing in a major way. Put those two players in with the 45% lightning gun of kgb, and the all around solid play of rey and you have a conference that most players are glad they aren't playing in. Another conference with a clear favorite, it will be interesting to see who makes it out with Dahang.

Projected Finalists: DaHanG, kgb

Midwestern

Chance "chance" Lacina - EG
Kyle "relic" Mims - Loaded
Shane "rapha" Hendrixson - SK Gaming
Darko "darko" Delevski - Team eMg

This conference will present some good matches, especially if there is a chance vs rapha final. Not to be overshadowed by their peers, darko and relic will indeed be making it deep into this bracket, but how deep? Only time will tell. This group will have the most exciting final to watch, with both chance and rapha being very stubborn players who love to dictate pace. It's hard to call right now with this group, but I'll give 1st place to rapha.

Projected Finalists: chance, rapha

Western

Raul "raul_" Raygoza - iDemise
Gaven "whaz" Sorensen - iDemise
Andrew "gellehsak" Ryder - Currently Teamless
Eric "alac" Rhoads - Negative Influence

While the overall talent here may not be as plentiful as the other divisions, the West could end up making for some interesting matches. Clearly this division is led by gellehsak who's long time stint with EG made him one of the best players in the world. However, he will be playing from Eastern Canada and pinging 100+, so his hit scans and aim will be severely effected. Because of this, he'll even win this division. I will however pick whaz to win this as he's been playing on a consistent basis against other top tier players for some time now, not to mention he won't be playing central with a high ping. Taking second I'll have to go with gellehsak or raul, because as good as raul is with his low ping, gellehsak has more experience.

Projected Finalists: whaz, raul

Also, you can look forward to some awesome streaming from pwnage TV with casting from DJ Wheat and Slasher!

To sign up: http://alienwarearena.com/