At the 25th of July, the long awaited ESWC Belgium qualifier will find place at the Antwerp E-Sports Festival. In an exclusive article, Nick Reys talks about the favorites and the challengers. Who will put a stamp on the finals? Will the favorites confirm their shape or will the challengers outwit the Belgian top?
No, this isn’t a review about the latest CD of DJ Tiësto, but purely a preview on what can become the biggest CS-event of Belgium: ESWC Belgium 2008. Arised from cooperation between LowLandLions and Gamevibes (license holder of brands such as TEK9 Networks, Antwerp E-Sports Festival and badGirls), two Belgian companies at the forefront of the Belgian scene, this tournament will be a tussle between four finalists.
At the end of the Maytide, both organizations announced that Belgium would have its own qualifier including one spot for a Counter-Strike 1.6 team; quite unique as The Netherlands decided not to include a spot for Counter-Strike in its own qualifier: ESWC The Netherlands 2008, a country with more investors in the esports branche. Only that is a triumph for the Belgian scene. At the same moment, the announcement revealed that both organizations would withdraw from organizing the set-up, as they eschew conflicts around the event, as both organizations have a participating team in their ranks. Therefore, Wsquared Media – known for his famous community portal, Gamelux - will take care of the set-up.
Twenty teams could enter the competition which had two phases: an online competition where four teams could qualify for the grand finals at the AEF. The second phase – grand finals - will be set on foot at the much anticipated Antwerp E-Sports Festival; which holds primary a Call of Duty 4- and FIFA08-tournament and hands out a total prize purse of an astonishing € 50 000. Unseen for Belgian norms. Adding the ESWC Belgium 2008 qualifier to this festival, you create a breathtaking combination of pure esports where every sympathizer, dabbler and competitor would cough up for.
In the online competition, twenty teams battled to assure themselves of entering the grand finals. Hard duels found place, but only the four best teams could advance: namely the LowLandLions, TEK9 Networks, dfiance - more known as herotiC! - and last but not least, the infamous mix team XIOP. When you review the line-up of qualified teams, you notice that there isn’t a Walloon team in it. The four most known teams: xfire, electronic stars, myLegend and ethereal shipwrecked in the first phase. This shows that the gap between the two communities is getting bigger and bigger and that’s not good, certainly for the Flemish part. When the pressure shrinks, the efforts to improve get reduced.
In the next pages, we’ll present you an insight on the following teams:
Favorites:
• 
LowLandLions (You can also read the interview with Roy Gerritsen)
• TEK9 Networks
Challengers:
• Dfiance (herotiC!)
• XIOP
Fasten your seat belts, the rollercoaster ride is about to start.
| IRC Newsbot