Arbalet Cup preview: Group C

As Arbalet Cup Europe draws closer, we take a look at how the most interesting group of the tournament might unfold.

SK Gaming	Evil Geniuses
Dennis "walle" Wallenberg	Danny "fRoD" Montaner
Johan "face" Klasson	Tyler "Storm" Wood
Jimmy "allen" Allén	Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert
Robert "RobbaN" Dahlström	Tomi "lurppis" Kovanen
Rasmus "Gux" Ståhl	Ediz "goodfornothing" Basol
WeMade FOX	UNiTED
Geun Chul "solo" Kang	Dmitri "hooch" Bogdanov
Min Soo "glow" Kim	Eduard "ed1k" Ivanov
Sun Ho "termi" Pyun	Roman "ROMJkE" Makarov
Sung Jae "bail" Lee	Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev
Bum Gi "peri" Jung	Andrew "B1ad3" Gorodenskiy

In what looks to be a very interesting three-horse race for the playoffs, SK Gaming seem to be the team with the upper hand if you compare them with the other teams in the group. Their runners-up finish at Arbalet Cup Best of Four shows they are probably Sweden's most in-form team right now, though their EPS Nordic antics have so far been very discreet. This tournament will present itself as the perfect chance for SK to reclaim the throne, now with Rasmus "Gux" Ståhl in their ranks.

The arrival of Tomi "lurppis" Kovanen has caused such a drastic change at Evil Geniuses that the American team have gone from no-hopers to serious contenders. EG, who placed fourth at the Extreme Masters World Championship Finals, recently saw themselves deprived of their number-one status in the US after being thrashed by compLexity in CEVO-P, but that result will have little or no impact on how they will perform in Stockholm.

It had taken WeMadeFOX a long time to show they were still in the business, but in Hannover they proved just so, shocking SK Gaming and forcing fnatic to a close two maps. However, that did not seem to please the South Koreans, who have recently picked up Bum Gi "peri" Jung. Talking about Asian teams' chances is always a risky call, so taking into account their lack of activity worldwide, the former e-STRO team look capable of fighting for a third place in the group only.

The team that seem to have the highest chances of wrestling Evil Geniuses for the second spot of the group is without a doubt UNiTED. This very interesting CIS combination, composed of three players from Russia, one from Kazahkstan and one from Ukraine, has had more than its fair share of roster shakeups of late, and not to the best result. The team's bronze at Arbalet Cup CIS shows the new additions may take some time to blend in, so this tournament may not show the best UNiTED just yet.

HLTV.org's final placing prediction:

1. SK Gaming
2. Evil Geniuses
3. UNiTED
4. WeMade FOX

SteelSeries competition

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

The competition will close at 12:00CET on Friday the 14th of May, when the first round of matches in the group kicks off.

The winner will be drawn between all correct answers once Arbalet Cup Europe has come to an end.