Counter-Strike

NoA or SK? NoA or SK? None of the above! For the second time in a row ESWC is the tournament where the favourites lose. Adrenaline, NoA, SK… At the same time, the competition is immensely interesting. Accompanied by vesslan’s excellent commentary, it was really good to watch (for CS, that is).

Man of the Tournament: Runcha

Who? Remember the blonde chick from Russia behind Virtus.pro? That’s who. She manages the team that went #3 in this year’s ESWC and beat NoA and SK on the way to doing that. Talk about strong leadership ;).

Surprise of the Tournament: SK eliminated

There were some surprises in this event. TSG growing strong, the Titans and Spixel playing in the final and all that. The biggest surprise was the fall of the favourites, though. While NoA eliminated themselves by being obtuse and cocky (using shotguns in official CS games?) SK had no such excuse. They’re too experienced and too professional to mess around like rookies. Their loss was fair and square – they cared and they just could not understand what hit them in the 1/8 game.

Worst Luck of the Tournamnet: Virtus.pro

It was hard for me to find the team who had the worst luck in the tournament because I did not follow it all that closely. I would go, though, with team Virtus.pro. First of all, they came across really tough opponents on their way – NoA, TSG and SK are no pushovers. All those teams the Russians met early. Still, they got the upper hand over NoA and SK and… did not go all the way. What an unforgettable run that would be – beating SK and winning the damn trophy. Shame, big shame… :)

Highlight of the Tournament: Virtus.pro’s winning moment

I would like to highlight this moment because in the end, the final turned out to have had less attention than the elimination of SK. Virtus.pro were treated like world champions after beating SK and they sure felt like world champions too. At the same time, looking at SK’s faces… you could understand how big that moment was. And lexx almost cried too, even though he is not really Russian. All Virtus.pro? OK, ok, I did not watch all that much CS action!! :P