Somewhat of an enigma in recent months, noctis hit the headlines after controversially turning down sponsorship from Fatal1ty for Quakecon but his decision to join Vitriolic earlier this week could be a sign of a more serious mentality emerging. Considered by many to be Europe's best hope of overcoming rapha, the Austrian Quake star has thrived in QuakeLive so far, beating Spart1e in Cologne only to just fall short in the final versus the aforementioned American.
Group B won't be too easy for noctis but, barring an upset from the Italian from fnatic, should prove little more than a straining warmup before the real business begins in the playoffs. There he'll want to be on top of his game, especially being forced to play his much maligned DM6 in the best of five format. Noctis is a safe bet for the semi finals and very likely to go even further but still has something to prove when it comes to consistency.
Alessandro "stermy" Avallone (fnatic)
Despite his CGS and FPO fame, Stermy is a player that has gone along somewhat under the radar in QuakeLive so far. Originally signed by fnatic as the jewel in their new Quake crown, the Italian has been outshone by Spart1e thus far, despite not doing too badly at all. A 5th to 6th place finish at Quakecon looks better when you consider that his defeats against DaHanG and Cypher both went to three maps but it's his absence from competitive play since that will worry his fans.
Always the consummate professional, stermy will have done his best to get in shape for Dubai but could struggle with the talent arrayed against him here. Progression from the group stages looks a reasonable certainty but going any further will be asking a lot of the Italian, especially if he goes through in second place.
Pelle "fazz" Söderman (Excello)
Fazz's best days were probably back in 2003 and, although he still continues to compete at the highest level, he has a big task ahead of him here if he's to shine in Dubai. The removal of T4 from the map list is likely to hamper his efforts of progressing from the group and his chances look set to rest on what kind of form his first opponent, stermy, comes into this tournament on. A repeat of his famous fourth place for Sweden at ESWC in 2003 looks out of the picture but fazz is still no slouch.
Felix "smoke" Pafel (mTw)
Like most of the low seeds this weekend, smoke faces an uphill battle to make it out of the group stages in Dubai. An opening match against noctis is unlikely to give the mTw player much to build on and a win over fazz might end up being his most realistic goal in this tournament. Pointed out by many as the player that av3k could have replaced, smoke has popped up in a number of recent online events but his defeat in the opening round at the IEM Cologne Pro/Am doesn't bode well for his chances here.
The games will be streamed live on TEK9 vie ESL-TV.
Sorry im such a nooby so could you send me a link cheers corbi
when the stream is up you'll see it here on tek9....i guess
Yep!
Just keep an eye on TEK9. Corbie will be brining top-quality coverage as soon as it happens. All available streams will be on TEK-9 front page somewhere or another.
Richard "noctis" Gansterer (Vitriolic-Gaming)
Alessandro "stermy" Avallone (fnatic)
Pelle "fazz" Söderman (Excello)
Felix "smoke" Pafel (mTw)
edited 2009-10-16 08:58:36
gonna be just sick :)
ESL-TV
ESL-TV
nais
prizepurse compared to Quakecon or ESWC Grand Finals is.... WTF? THIS IIIIIIIIIIIS DUBAAAAAAAAI :D
go Alexey!
The games will be streamed live on TEK9 vie ESL-TV.
The games will be streamed live on TEK9 vie ESL-TV.
Sorry im such a nooby so could you send me a link cheers corbi
The games will be streamed live on TEK9 vie ESL-TV.
Sorry im such a nooby so could you send me a link cheers corbi
when the stream is up you'll see it here on tek9....i guess
edited 2009-10-16 18:16:23
prizepurse compared to Quakecon or ESWC Grand Finals is.... WTF? THIS IIIIIIIIIIIS DUBAAAAAAAAI :D
go Alexey!
Why the fuck aren't you representing yet? :(
The games will be streamed live on TEK9 vie ESL-TV.
Sorry im such a nooby so could you send me a link cheers corbi
when the stream is up you'll see it here on tek9....i guess
Yep!
Just keep an eye on TEK9. Corbie will be brining top-quality coverage as soon as it happens. All available streams will be on TEK-9 front page somewhere or another.
not great but its not shit considering its 1on1, 3 grand for yourself is no slap in the face.
not great but its not shit considering its 1on1, 3 grand for yourself is no slap in the face.
he just means that its low comparing to the prizepurse quake used to have.
luckier than me mate..i won't be able to see the quarters semis or the final :'(((
fucking classes
luckier than me mate..i won't be able to see the quarters semis or the final :'(((
fucking classes
Sorry to hear that man. They better come up with VODs.
But anyway it's about to go down! Everyone, hit the stream tv.esl.eu/de/esltv_stream/stream/55-flv-free
edited 2009-10-17 16:37:43