Roster and Possible Classes

Max 'Yog' Yueh- Warlock, Warrior, Rogue
Alexander "Glick" Hloderwski - Warlock, Ret Paladin
Rumay "Hafu" Wang - Druid, Shaman, Priest

Possible Setups - Team Armory

Warrior, Warlock, Druid
Rogue, Warlock, Shaman

Fnatic's strong WLD composition definitely made them the team to beat during the Burning Crusade era of WoW Arenas. Excellent play from all three players, combined with the strength of the WLD (when compared to RMP and other less-than-flavorful comps) allowed them to stay in the limelight for quite some time. They clinched two 1st place MLG tournaments last year (Orlando and Dallas) and 3rd at both BlizzCon '08 and ESL Leipzig. However, as with all teams at this coming tournament, their specific classes and comps have had dramatic changes with the new expansion and will be playing an entirely different meta game when it comes to arenas.

As this team is built around Glick and Hafu, Rhaegyn will step down from their line-up this year. They have managed to find a very suitable replacement in Yog. Max ‘Yog’ Yueh originally played and led a team called ‘selective queuers’ which placed 2nd at Blizzcon. Yog is routinely mentioned among the best players in the United States because of his ability to play many classes at an elite level. It will be interesting to see how this seasoned team fares at MLG Columbus, there has been talks of Fnatic practicing very sparingly. However, despite the new make-up of Fnatic, most professional gamers know that LAN experience is vital and is the biggest strength of this team going into Columbus.


Roster and Possible Classes

David “Ohnoes” Atz - Rogue, Mage
Cary "Beast" Lee - Priest, Paladin, Druid
Austin "Shinaniganz" Jacobson - Warlock
Nathan "Kintt" Quinn - Death Knight, Warrior

Possible Setups - Team Armory

Rogue, Warlock, Druid
Death Knight, Rogue, Healer
Warrior, Warlock, Druid
Druid, Deathknight, Warlock

Pandemic is a quintessential professional WoW team, without question they were the first dominant team when WoW became a competitive game. With players like Kintt, Vhell, and Caal, they have always had the respect and recognition as a top level team. However, the Pandemic that we're going to see at this MLG event has not been seen anywhere before, not even on the Tournament Realm. However, that does not mean that you should not expect excellent play from this team, as they've individually been recognized as great players by the community. Many long time MLG fans will remember Kintt as having commentated quite a few events, but once again he has decided to return to the other side of professional eSports and become a player.

Perhaps a more important question than if Kintt will be back to commentating in the future is what sort of comp this Pandemic will be running at Columbus. Kintt is known as one of, if not the, most dominant Priests to ever play competitively, and there's no doubt that he'll be bringing that level of play to Ohio. Shinaniganz has been playing a Warlock online/on the Tournament Realm for quite some time, which may unfortunately play out to his disadvantage. Depending on how he has prepared for this event, the lack of mods and LAN experience may genuinely hurt his ability to play Warlock at the required level to stay competitive. It isn’t quite known yet if Beast will play Death Knight or Warrior, as he’s one of the best Death Knights & Warriors in online competition. Beast, Shinaniganz and Kintt placed top 8 during Tournament Realm to qualify for Blizzard Regionals. Pandemic will be looking to prove themselves with their new roster, and Kintt is decidedly looking to be crowned Wing King just one more time.


Roster and Possible Classes

Jordan "Happyminti" Mance - Rogue, Death Knight
Alex "Sodah" Ringe - Druid, Priest
Elliott "Venruki" Venczel - Mage

Possible Setups - Team Armory

Rogue, Mage, Priest

Complexity, previously known as GotGame East, was easily regarded as one of the top RMP teams in the competitive US scene in 2008. However, due to many different factors, they were also one of the teams who have yet to take a first place victory at any LAN event. Perhaps the changes from WotLK and 3.1 combined with the lack of a first place finish will be enough of a motivation to help them come out on top in this June event. Since assuming the Complexity name, they've been looking to prove themselves and will hopefully be able to add some credibility at this event.

All three players are easily the top of their classes, with their technical skills being regarded as top notch. Happyminti, who has played a Rogue since the beginning, is easily one of the most mature players to have competed in an event. This allows him to stay calm and collected even under the most intense of situations, especially if it comes down to a bad 1v1 situation. Sodah played a Druid for the entirety of last year with GGE as a RMD team, but to accommodate the strengths of the team he decided to switch to Priest and has picked up the class remarkably quick. Venruki rounds off this team as a Mage (to make an RMP comp) and is said to be one of, if not the, best Mage in the game at the moment. He didn't pull off a win like Orangemarmalade but his ability to sway games is still unmatched.


Roster and Possible Classes

Isaac "Azael" Cummings-Bentley - Warlock
Tim "Kollektiv" Yen - Shaman
Conrad "Zyz" Lope - Rogue

Possible Setups - Team Armory

Rogue, Warlock, Shaman

EG has been an interesting team to watch for the past few LAN events, ever since their introduction of Kollektiv as a team member. Running the unique RLS setup was quite a surprise to many as it seemed like a comp with little synergy. However, the team had clearly decided to play to the strengths of both their players and classes and were able play at the highest of levels. They were the one of the only American teams to perform up to par at the ESL finals which gave them recognition by both American and European teams. With the class changes and buffs to all three classes in WotLK/3.1, RLS has become a much stronger comp and we can only expect good things from this team.

Azael is one of the most intelligent and creative players to date and has always been one to innovate with the Warlock class. His attitude of play to win has been a tremendous part of the success of EG, and that sort of persona is going to be needed here for them to come out successful. Kollektiv is a name known all around world as, (usually) without question, the best Shaman player in the world...even by the Koreans, at which point you know he must be amazing. He's one of the players to watch at this tournament and will easily teach you a few things you never knew about the class. Zyz is one of the more vocal members of the professional tournament scene, and that's not without reason; he is a respected Rogue and plays the class extremely well. Due to the unique nature of the RLS comp as a team, Zyz has taken a more defensive stance as a Rogue and usually doesn't open, creating a huge different in play style for opponents to adjust to.