This move or decision could be seen as a confirmation of the rumours surrounding the former Mousesports and iCE cLIMBERS star, Magnus "fox" Olsson, that he has not fully returned out of inactivity to pursue a new career in Quake Live. With him dropping out, the ESL has organised a new and probably final Last Chance Qualifier to find a player to take his spot in Group F.
Many thought that the Swede was about to make an attempt at becoming an active player once more, as he had linked himself to the Reason-Gaming Quake Live TDM team as well as accepting an invite for the DreamHack Winter 2010 Kaspersky tournament. However, his actions now serve as a testament that the old school player will not be taking the game all that seriously and is likely to just head to Jönkoping, Sweden to meet up with old friends and competitors.
With the Intel Extreme Masters only being in Match Week #1, the ESL decided to still host a replacement Qualifier to find a new suitor. They are claiming this will be the final and ultimate Last Chance Qualifier, but with so many unexpected turns-of-events, you are never sure who might be the next candidate for an early exit out of the IEM European Championship.
Six players have been selected and they will face off against one another in a double elimination bracket with Best-of-Three matches to determine who will take Magnus "fox" Olssons' Group F slot. The players will meet on Sunday 31st, with the first matches going live at around 19:00 CEST.
Some strong players are participating, but it is expected that Nikolay "agent" Mayorov will be taking that last spot, as his experience and results carve him out in the favourite role. Although, recent ZOTAC Duel Cup performances have made it clear that he can suffer from a temper and has been seen quitting matches early on.
**UPDATE**: As it has just been found out that the Polish prodigy, Emil "DAXI0" Lanuszny, who had been placed in Group C of the ESL Intel Extreme Masters European Championship only has the age of 14, he will be replaced as well. The player who places second in the upcoming Last³ Chance Qualifier will take his spot.
Level Up TV will also be at hand to stream most of the matches, so you can be sure to head on over to levelupyourgame.net, should you be interested in seeing this small bracket unfold itself.
Participating PlayersMikkel "GEKKO" Kvorning
Sergey "x1t" Targonsky
Viaceslavas "fire_bot" Duk
Guillaume "Kirua" Medard
Robert "tox1c" Kopczynski
Nikolay "agent" Mayorov
LOL sick