European Finals preview: Group A

As a part of our pre-coverage for Extreme Masters IV European Championship Finals this weekend, we bring you a close look on the groups and its teams – First up is Group A.

Group A is considered to be the toughest at the European Championship Finals. The group houses quite some candidates for the final stages of the tournament. Six teams where only the first place finisher is secured progression to the playoffs, while second and third placed teams will enter the relegation stage.

SK Gaming

Dennis "walle" Wallenberg
Frej "kHRYSTAL" Sjöström
Jimmy "allen" Allen
Johan "face" Klasson
Robert "RobbaN" Dahlström

SK Gaming finished in top spot of their group when the online part of the championship finalized. A group where the Swedes did not lose a single map. SK will come to Brühl with a first place finish at Arbalet Cup Europe as their latest achievement.

The team will be looking to improve the result from last year's finals, when they went out in the relegation stage. Since the arrival of the two H2k members, the team has gone to claim victory at Global Challenge Chengdu, IEF 2009 and Arbalet Cup Europe, which once again underlines that they are a team can be counted on, when it comes down to reaching the final stages of a tournament. SK Gaming are expected to be one of the contenders for the top spot, but it is not going to be an easy challenge for the Swedes. 

Antonio "cyx" Daniloski
Fatih "gob b" Dayik
Manuel "Tixo" Makohl
Navid "Kapio" Javadi
Roman "roman" Ausserdorfer

mousesports

The 2010 mousesports line-up have high expectations from the community, who believe this line-up very well could be one of the best compositions seen in a long time. And why is that? The answer is simple. The arrival of Roman "roman" Ausserdorfer has once again made the fans expect mousesports to go far and win titles. Without Ausserdorfer, mousesports managed a second place in their group during the online stage. The Germans secured advancement from the relegation stage by receiving a controversial default win against HellRaisers.

The German ESL Pro Series XV winners will be eager to repair the poor result the team managed at the finals last year, where they finished second to last of their group, with just two wins. But with the anticipations flying high, the team can only have great motivation to bring their a-game this weekend. Although it will be the first official appearance for Ausserdorfer with mousesports, it is expected that this team will be top contender to advance in first place.

AGAiN

Filip "Neo" Kubski
Jakub "kuben" Gurczynski
Jarosław "pasha" Jarząbkowski
Mariusz "loord" Cybulski
Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas

AGAiN might still feel like Christmas came late to Poland, as the team looked set to miss the European Championship Finals following a 2-0 loss against oXmoze in the relegation stage. But with the disbandment of SoA, the team got the chance to play for the very last spot to the finals. With victories against confis and MYM in the final, AGAiN made their way to Brühl after all. The team last week announced the addition of Jarosław "pasha" Jarząbkowski, who replaced Łukasz "LUq" Wnek. Jarząbkowski had before this helped the WCG 2009 gold medalists take 3/4th at WEM 2009, standing in for Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas.

The Polish squad is known to have a hard time playing online matches, but what goes for LAN games, we all know they are a team that can do some serious damage. Last season, they managed a notable third place finish at the European Championship Finals, being beaten by Alternate in the Consolidation Final. In group with other great teams, AGAiN are still expected to be a contender for the first place in Group A.

H2k Gaming - not attending

Abdisamad "SpawN" Mohamed
Emil "FYR773" Karlsson
Jim "zneel" Andersson
Mattias "Snajdan" Andersen
Samuel "Zyppe" Martinsson

H2k Gaming have been through some lineup changes since the former Lemondogs squad arrived to the Dutch-based organization. Just two of the players who managed to qualify for WCG 2009 remain in the team. The team has of late brought in Samuel "Zyppe" Martinsson, who replaced a retiring Niklas "niko" Johansson. They made their way to Brühl with top spot of their group, following a 2-1 win against mTw.

It is however a different team we will see in action this weekend, a lot has changed and how have the Swedes been able cope with the fact? Have they lost some of its solid-backbone? It will be an uphill struggle for H2k, who on a good day, might be able to fight their way to the magic top3, but expected to finish just outside.

Millenium

Christophe "sixeR" Xia
Guillaume "Geno" Ntep
Kupeli "MAJ3R" Engin
Mahé "Yoshi" Martin
Rassen "rara" Abdou

Defending French ESL Pro Series champions from Millenium made their way to the European Championship Finals with a 2-0 victory against Frag eXecutors in the relegation stage. Since the last time the team was seen in action, they have removed their captain Steve "Ozstrik3r" Flavigni. Just this week, the team announced the man to fill Flavigni's shoes, an old fox being Rassen "rara" Abdou.

Fourth place finish at DreamHack Winter came as a surprise to some, but with a 5-8th finish at WCG 2009, the team had results to back up their performance. With long-time captain Flavigni gone, it will be the first test for the team to see how things work out. On top of that, being in a group with such strong teams, it is very unlikely that Millenium will do better than the result from last year's finals, where the team finished bottom last.

Roskilde Ravens

Baljit "zE-" Lal
Christian "turkizh" Bindslev
Danny "BERRY" Krüger
Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer
Michael "Friis" Jørgensen

Danish side Roskilde Ravens had quite some roll in the online season, where the team clinched second place in the group. But it might just have been first place, as the Danes put up a great fight against Alternate, who grabbed top spot. In the relegation stage the team got paired with MYM, where the Danes shocked the scene, following a 2-0 victory against the DreamHack Winter champions. The match had a dispute from both teams, which resulted in a rematch. It did however not change much on the result, as Ravens repeated the 2-0 win.

The last LAN-performance from Ravens was at Arbalet Cup Europe, where the team did not stand many chances, losing all of their matches and finishing last in the group. With the stand-in Michael "Friis" Jørgensen things might be different, as the AWP'er is known to turn matches for his team. In this tough group, one-man armies do however not stand many chances, which direct the Danes to fight for not finishing last in the group.


HLTV.org's final placing prediction:

1. mousesports
2. AGAiN
3. SK Gaming
4. H2k Gaming
5. Millenium
6. Roskilde Ravens

SteelSeries competition

Who do you think will win Group A? By leaving a comment below, with the team you think will win, you will have the opportunity to win a SteelSeries QcK+ Custom Limited Edition mousepad of your own choice.

The winner will be drawn between all correct answers, once Extreme Masters IV European Championship has ended.

Bet on Group A with XLBet

The world largest e-sport bookmaker is once again ready to serve you with the odds for the European Championship Finals. Group A bets are available right now, check them out below.

XLBet will be your home for all odds during the European Championship, go check out the available odds right here.

* All votes on H2k Gaming has been removed, those who voted on H2k can select a new team to vote on.