The tournament starts with a group stage, where the teams are split into two groups. The two best teams from each group then later face each other in playoffs. Let’s start unwrapping and take a closer look at what to expect:

Group A
Slackers: Paradoks, Murdoc, Zero, Krab (aka Shove It), En_karl, Striker, Phrenic
Quakeklan: Ok98, Dimman, Lethalwiz, TheEvilDog, Riker, Hagge, Grisling
Suddendeath: Reppie, Razor, Molle, Bps, Mawe, Lakso, Goblin, Arnette, Andeh
Teamkillers: Soma, Medar, DDK, Squeeze, Hangtime, Snapcase, Ganon

Group B
Fusion: Valla (aka Nitram), Rikoll, Serox (aka Chris), Lacsap, Kingpin, Skillah
Easy to Kill: Derek, Niw, Pericles, Slabi, Tom
OJOJ VITUN HELPPO!: Diki, Blaze, Darkki, Hlt, Fix, Fifi (aka Marklar), Creature
CCCP: Meshuggah, XN (aka Unnamed), Xpr, Moltas, Votary

Slackers is fielding a lineup most of us familiar with QW TDM are getting used to by now, with some of the best 4on4 players in the scene. Their solid foundation of ParadokS, Murdoc and Zero, backed up by a good 4th in En_karl or Striker, have performed at a top notch level all autumn and winter. They also got some wild cards at hand, with the somewhat inactive lately, Krab, and the Slackers2 recruit Phrenic, this team is perhaps the biggest favourite of them all to win EQL:Pro. Slackers are one of the teams that didn’t have to play qualification due to a top position during EQL12.

Quakeklan is more like a Frankenstein of a team this time around, sewn together with members from old Quakeklan (dimman, TED), Oblivion (Lethalwiz, OK98, Hagge) and some new recruits (Riker, Grisling). Plenty of routine and individual skills within all their members, perhaps especially with Riker who has been somewhat inactive the last years but has an impressive record of top division 1 TDM play since his days in Lege Artis. Their results during the qualifications were somewhat disappointing however, and they made it into the tourney in a fight for the last spot vs. Demolition Crew.

Suddendeath has brought joy to a lot of spectators over the years and I see no reason for that to change at the start of this year either. You never know where you have Suddendeath. You always wonder what lineup they are going to use, how well they are going to play, what mistakes they are going to do and what brilliant moves they will pull off etc. This is some of the reasons why I think Suddendeath haven’t reached the top of the top yet, but at the same time it's what’s so fascinating about this team. No team would ever dream of underestimating these individuals and on a good day these guys could beat anyone on any map. Suddendeath is one of the teams that didn’t have to play qualification due to a top position during EQL12.

Teamkillers have been looking really strong lately with their latest addition to their crew; Canadian high pinger Squeeze and Swedish aim beast Ganon. Together with the ever improving DDK and Medar, they did some promising results during the qualification with victories over both Quakeklan (2-1) and Fraggers United (2-0). The rest of their members have been somewhat inactive lately, but have shown earlier they got what it takes to play at a high level. It's a fairly fresh team which seems to have high ambitions with their QuakeWorld gaming, consisting of members that are less known than those of many other teams but really want to reach the top.

Fusion has established itself as a top team the last year, with a first place in the Polish ClanWarz 4on4 cup, followed by two 3rd places in EQL11 and EQL12. Much thanks to the addition of Nitram, but at the same time the team as a whole has improved a lot during the same period. The absence of Lacsap in the first two rounds (at least) of EQL:Pro, together with some inactivity in general the last weeks, might weaken the team somewhat but I would still consider Fusion to be one of the favourites. Fusion is one of the teams that didn’t have to play qualification due to a top position in EQL12.

Easy to Kill's foundation is the Polish buds Tom and Slabi that now got Derek, Niw and Pericles along for the ride. They did a nice performance during the qualifications by only losing one game versus CCCP. Considerably stronger on DM2 than the other maps, these guys are not to be underestimated and should be capable of putting even the best of teams off balance on a good day.

OJOJ VITUN HELPPO! is something close to a Finnish all-stars team, merged together from three other Finnish teams. Fairly fresh as a unit, this team consists of some of the most experienced TDM players in the scene, and they showed their potential by clearing the table during the qualifications, by not losing a single map to any of the teams in their group. This team is clearly one of the favourites to take home the EQL:Pro tourney, and it will be very interesting to see their matches vs. the other top teams.

CCCP was previously a team with only Russians in it, but due to some of their key players temporarily living on the opposite side of the Atlantic and others being inactive, they recruited two Swedes to their ranks, Moltas and Votary. The addition of these two players is very interesting as Moltas is a good addition to pretty much any team in the division 1. With Moltas and Xn as the star players, backed up by Votary and Xpr/Meshuggah doing the grunt work they can deal some damage as long as they put in enough practice and become a solid unit instead of just four very good players. So far they look very strong, blazing through the qualifications by not losing a single map. Lately they haven’t been that active though, but these guys in top shape should have a good potential of knocking any of the favourites out of the tourney.