cArn's WCG 2010 preview

Journalists always have their say and views on things, so how about letting the players themselves take a stance this time around.

It is with the occasion of the upcoming WCG 2010 Counter-Strike Grand Final in Los Angeles, USA, that we bring you a preview from none other than fnatic team captain, Patrik "cArn" Sättermon.

Leading the ranks of one of the world's best teams, ever since 2006, Patrik can easily be considered a veritable Vito Corleone amongst the Swedish side's ranks. His constant performances and life-long experience in the Counter-Strike field speak for themselves, so without further ado, I'll give the floor to cArn, for the preview of the first set of WCG 2010 Grand Final groups.

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Full Gaming	Natus Vincere	forZe	SK Gaming
ENTiTY	Executioners	compLexity	MYM
bet4gamers			ATE Gaming
Earthquake

Group A

p00nhandlers, now Full Gaming, can indeed consider themselves the favourites of Group A, after they proved a stance, winning the Danish WCG qualifier. However, I would hold on to rating them just yet because there is a big difference between going overseas to a grand final and playing on home soil against a team they probably know everything about.

Full Gaming soon to compete in L.A.

The second place finishers of this group will most likely be the matadors from Spain, with some of their veteran players able to lead the less experienced team mates to victory against the Macedonians and Romanians.

Group B

A funny observation is that the last time (ESWC 2010) Na'Vi were drawn in a group with just two teams, they went all the way and won the tournament. A similar route in Los Angeles is indeed possible and I think a gold medal here would silence the discussions about which team has been the best in 2010.

markeloff, a cornerstone in Na'Vi's strong performances

What might cause Zerogravity's guys some stress is their recent absence from international waters. With a group consisting of only two teams they will not only miss out on the chance to warm up their notorious AK's, but they will also not be able to answer the opponents' question whether they still have wind blowing under their wings.

Group C 

What to say? Another group with just two teams that can easily claim themselves top 16 before making taking the first steps towards the LAX check-out counter.

For me it doesn't really seem fair that some groups aren't filled up, but I'm not surprised such a thing happens at the World Cyber Games, the organisation who could possibly have the weakest Counter-Strike expertise on the planet.

Anyway, group C is to me the hardest one to predict since both teams are dark horses in the tournament. It would definitely be of no surprise if one of these end up on the podium lifting a bronze medal.

Have the Brazilians got what it takes to hit the jackpot?

The Brazilians, who were recently recruited by compLexity, have a long and pretty successful gaming resumé. In their glory days, four of them in particular were upsetting the world order with special help from the best sniper of our times, Raphael "cogu" Camargo. Today, even without cogu in the line-up they are still able to do a huge impact, but their in-game style requires a confident sniper and I guess it's up to the WCG tournament in Los Angeles to prove the world whether FalleN is a worthy enough successor of the retired cogu.

The second team in the group, forZe, is as many other Russian teams very hard to predict. They are capable of doing miracles with their aim-based game but then again, some days, they are struggling against semi-professional teams. The majority of forZe (except Overdrive) played really well in last year's WCG in China, where alongside the famous Russian player F_1N, they went all the way to the 3rd place match, which they lost to mTw.

Many say, that if Dosia has a good day, forZe has a good day

In other words, there is huge potential in both teams and their fans should be happy that both will make it to the play-off. Which one will proceed from the first spot is impossible to say; will FalleN win the sniping battle or will the infamous Russian desert eagles be too deadly for the Brazilians? Time will tell!

Group D

I feel very confident in predicting that SK-Gaming will get out of Group D without losing more than 10 rounds. The Swedes will face MYM, who are being forced to use a replacement, and the never-giving-up Indians ATE, with some players having more WCG badges that the most of us can dream of.

SK: victory or crumble?

With just a week left to the finals ed1k announced his problems of clearing the US visa on time which opened up the way for mAger's return.

Obviously mAger's current form is not the best, but it makes me recall the German player Chucky, who came back from retirement winning WSVG 2006 together with aTTax.

The skill of today's players is indeed higher than four years ago and I have a hard time in expecting another miracle comeback, but we might see five Indian players who after WCG LA could possibly fulfil their dream of proceeding from group-stages, after trying so many times. The core players of MYM are still able to do very well but I think the consular issues they have had might cause them to take the Los Angeles trip as just a vacation on the North American continent.

Is it the time to see this side of hooch again?

With all that being said from Patrik "cArn" Sättermon's side, hope you all enjoyed the initiative and definitely expect to hear more frank comments and analysis from Patrik tomorrow, when we bring you the preview of the other WCG 2010 Counter-Strike Grand Final groups. In the meantime, you might want to have a look over other pre-WCG coverage interviews, simply by browsing through the links below.

Other pre-WCG coverage interviews:

TaZ: "Hope to stay on the right path"
 Video: Pre-WCG with ave & Sunde
 Friis: "We will end up in top 3"
 FalleN: "We are really confident"