TECHLABS Cup quarters preview

15-2-2012 05:35

The playoffs for TECHLABS Cup are set to begin on Wednesday with two quarter finals taking place followed up by another two on Thursday, and it's now time to take a look at the upcoming matchups.

What makes TECHLABS Cup especially interesting is of course the fact it was the debut event for many of the renewed rosters among the European top, such as SK Gaming featuring Martin "trace" Heldt and fnatic with Andreas "MODDII" Fridh.

Group A saw Ukrainian giants Natus Vincere coming out on top and the Russians of Vifort surprisingly advancing over LIONS who were favored to advance as at least the second seed.

In group B the usual suspects fnatic and ESC Gaming were able to advance over challengers Xapso and snT. In the end, fnatic were able to best the Poles 21-9 on de_train to clinch the top seed for playoffs.

The third group ended up in a three way tie among SK Gaming, WinFakt and ALTERNATE aTTaX, with Virtus.pro exiting the group without a single point. In the end it was the two teams from the Nordics who made it out, as ALTERNATE dropped out due to a weaker round difference.

The final group saw KerchNET surprise everyone by winning it over Moscow Five, eSAHARA and Anexis. While eSAHARA lost each of their three games, the second place actually came down to the very last round of M5 vs Anexis, where a tie would have been enough for the Danes but the Russians escaped with a 16-14 win.

This leaves us with the following quarter final match ups:

Wednesday 18:00	Natus Vincere	vs Moscow Five
Wednesday 21:00	fnatic	vs WinFakt
Thursday 18:00	SK Gaming	vs Vifort
Thursday 20:30	ESC Gaming	vs KerchNET

Worth noting is that only the quarter finals and semi finals will be completed online, as the top two teams will fly out to Moscow on March 18 to duke the grand finals out on LAN for a larger slice of the $15,000 prize purse.

Natus Vincere vs Moscow Five

These two teams have a lot of history playing against each other where Natus Vincere has often had close games with the Russians but up until the Kingston Trilogy Tour just under two weeks ago, always escaped with a win in the end. According to rumours neither team has been practicing much which can always randomize the results a little bit and probably favors Moscow Five due to their playing style.

Na`Vi has looked strong once again after a bit of a slump towards the end of last year, starting the year with a big win at IEM6 Global Challenge Kiev. Moscow Five finished third at the same event and had some trouble in TECHLABS Cup's group stage, but are never a team you can count out due to their unpredictable playing style and high individual skill level among the team.

I do think Na`Vi will manage to overcome M5 this time though, although I expect the match to be very close. They are overall the stronger team and while both teams are clearly better on LAN, I think the Russians might suffer more from playing online due to relying way more on individual skills rather than teamplay, or the strats that Alexander "xek" Zobkov said they don't have.

Prediction: Natus Vincere > Moscow Five 2-1

According to Zobkov Moscow Five basically doesn't use strategies

fnatic vs WinFakt
(Prediction by Marc "Nix0n" Winther Kristensen)

WinFakt has just resumed practice days ago after captain Tomi "lurppis" Kovanen returned from vacation in North America. Despite not playing for quite some time, WinFakt managed to win against Alternate and Virtus.pro in the group stage, but then loss with a big margin agains SK in the final match. Andreas "MODDII" Fridh had a great debut with fnatic, going 3-0 in the group stage, managing a convincing victory against ESC Gaming to top the group.

Last time the teams met, was in Kiev, where fnatic won 16-12 on de_inferno, when facing off in the group stage. The question is how much time fnatic has had to fine tune Fridh's role in the team, a best-of-three showdown against WinFakt could very well display their current shape.

fnatic won 2-0 in the last best-of-three series between the two, when facing off in the semi of IEM6 GC Guangzhou. There has been changes in both teams since then, but still fnatic go in favored in this match. I expect two close maps, going in favor of the Swedish team.

Prediction: fnatic > WinFakt 2-0

Fridh had a great debut with fnatic, will that continue in the playoffs?

SK Gaming vs Vifort

Going into this match it would be hard to argue that Vifort's chances were more than maybe 20%. SK Gaming had a rough start with their new team as they fell against ALTERNATE but then picked up two comfortable wins. They have also been bootcamping for a couple of days now, which should definitely help trace ease into the team more as the days go by.

Vifort had a big loss against Lions to begin their campaign but then easily beat SharkGaming and surprisingly managed to tie Natus Vincere. Their best bet is definitely playing in an aggressive and unpredictable way just like in the Na`Vi match, but it will be harder to keep up throughout an entire best-of-three series without running low on money.

Maps will definitely play a big part in this match as I don't think the Russians stand a chance on train or nuke, but inferno and dust2 could be competitive if they win a pistol and hit their shots. I don't know too much about Vifort's tuscan, but you have to assume SK has the advantage on it.

Prediction: SK Gaming > Vifort 2-0

SK Gaming is currently bootcamping to integrate Heldt into their team

ESC Gaming vs KerchNET

ESL's announcement of the last chance qualifier for IEM6 WC must have been like Christmas and all of their birthdays rolled into one, and I expect their motivation to have skyrocketed since the announcement roughly two weeks ago. KerchNET has been outside of the limelight recently but came out with a bang, beating M5 16-4, Anexis 16-9 and eSAHARA 16-9.

ESC Gaming is clearly the stronger one of these two teams, but they have a long history of producing underwhelming results online and a part of that problem is the fact they don't seem to believe in themselves online either. KerchNET looked strong on their terrorist sides too (scoring eleven rounds on de_train and thirteen rounds on de_nuke) which has traditionally been ESC Gaming's strong suite and could result in lopsided halves.

Overall while I think KerchNET will probably win one map and even has a chance of scoring an unlikely upset win here, I still have faith in Filip "NEO" Kubski and company to pull out the win here and advance in to the semi finals. It won't be easy, but playing against a team that comes from another country known for weak internet connections and being located somewhat close to one another will also make it easier.

Prediction: ESC Gaming > KerchNET 2-1

Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas at it back in e-Stars Seoul 2010

The first two matches will be played on Wednesday at 21:00 and the latter two are scheduled for Thursday 21:00 . Semi finals are scheduled to take place on Friday, first one at 18:00 and the second one at 20:30 .

Cool.

2012-02-15 05:40

4 replies

M5>Na'Vi they will always do

2012-02-15 14:22

sry 4 replying, but the playoffs is on LAN or NET ?

2012-02-15 15:45

2 replies

read carefully next time. quarters and semis NET final LAN (in Moscow)

2012-02-15 16:00

1 reply

thanks

2012-02-15 16:23

I think knet will win because its online

2012-02-15 05:44

I think: hauahahahah

2012-02-15 13:18

So you are dumb. Polish net is shit and it gives +50% chances to Knet.

2012-02-15 13:41

U're talking wrong too. It's true that our inet is bad, but ukrainian net is bad too, so it doesn't matter in this match. But true is, that ESC is bad online, so KerchNET can win.

2012-02-15 16:32

Are the comments made by lurppis himself? Weird talking about himself and his team in third person if that is the case.

2012-02-15 05:41

5 replies

fnatic vs WinFakt (Prediction by Marc "Nix0n" Winther Kristensen)

2012-02-15 05:45

thank you.

2012-02-15 05:50

the second prediction is made by nix0n

fnatic vs WinFakt: "(Prediction by Marc "Nix0n" Winther Kristensen)"

2012-02-15 05:53

fnatic vs WinFakt (Prediction by Marc "Nix0n" Winther Kristensen) ...

2012-02-15 05:59

the finals wouldn't be in lan :s ?

2012-02-15 05:42

3 replies

Grand Final will play at where will play at Moscow.

2012-02-15 15:28

"Worth noting is that only the quarter finals and semi finals will be completed online, as the top two teams will fly out to Moscow on March 18 to duke the grand finals out on LAN for a larger slice of the $15,000 prize purse."

2012-02-15 16:17

tks :)

2012-02-16 21:56

well organized, this is already fnatic = D

2012-02-15 08:00

Read the article, the Grand final is.

2012-02-15 05:47

Time ???????

in the end of topic

2012-02-15 06:01

Its Online so Anything is Possible. But Hoping to SEE SK,ESC,Na'Vi and Fnatic in Semi Final.

2012-02-15 05:49

"According to Zobkov Moscow Five basically doesn't use strategies" :DDDD

2012-02-15 06:05

13 replies

so hardcore

2012-02-15 06:16

Its a pity cause they would achieve alot more with strategies

actually m5 have A LOT of prepared rounds for T side, pushes and arcades for CT etc. dont know what he talking about. maybe it is old info

2012-02-15 06:42

9 replies

it's what he said at iem kiev in the interview with thorin

2012-02-15 12:42

8 replies

"beating M5 16-4, Anexis 16-9 and eSAHARA 16-9" Anexis 16-11 edit please....

2012-02-15 13:48

they tried some pretty amazing ultra-agressive strats on their inferno CT-side yesterday against eSahara, maybe they're not giving as much importance to the strategies as the other top-teams do (preparing anti-strats for each game and stuff), but they're definetly prepared, xek was just releasing some extra pressure i guess :)

2012-02-15 14:25

not nearly every team anti strats, and it'd be hard to argue they have everything planned when you can see three different people use the very same awp in one half of nuke ct. apart from romjke and dosia, it seems like whoever picks up an awp gets to keep it in m5

2012-02-15 15:12

well i think that's their main strength (apart from their amazing skills), the opponent igl can't possibly anticipate what they're going to do on the next round, you can't be happy to win the gunround when you know they're as lethal with dgls than they are with riffles, they're pretty amazing to watch playing for us spectators !

2012-02-15 16:02

Do you think he spoke it frankly? I love to watch M5 as long as their playstyle is completely different from other teams, I have always been thinking it is due to ed1k's superb IGL skills, and such statement from xek somehow destroys my opinion. I am not a pro player and I'm afraid it is hard to me to tell clever strategies from none strategy at all.... ;)

2012-02-16 17:26

not having strategies doesn't mean what you think it means, i'm sure it even looks as if we have strats when we play with team finland for example but in reality no one usually calls anything, we all just "play". of course if we rush somewhere someone calls it, but mostly we just pug it. i'm pretty sure that's what they do, obviously from having the same lineup for so long they have built teamwork and set things here and there, but you can tell from watching them play it's still really random overall

2012-02-16 17:47

TY for the reply, but what does "pug" mean?

2012-02-16 18:03

pug is short for pick up game, it's basically the american version for mix/gather but it's also used as a verb. basically means just playing as a mix without tactics with little input/calls from anyone.

2012-02-16 18:09

just creativity just hardcore

2012-02-15 15:24

i think KerchNet will win 2-1. they are hard onlinerz :D

2012-02-15 06:21

Good news and great review by lurpiss for this games and well, he think that his team can beat fnatic and leave the prediction to Nix0n, but i think. M5 > Na'Vi 2 - 1 fnatic > Winfakt 2 - 0 SK > vifort 2 - 0 ESC < KerchNET 2 - 1

2012-02-15 06:30

actually i have never written a prediction for my team, that would just be awkward and not at all objective.

Agreed, anyways ur team make a good fight vs a team like fnatic, Good luck in the future.

2012-02-16 22:01

SAD FOR kERCHnet BUT GGGLHF GOGOGOGO Na`Vi

2012-02-15 06:31

fnatic-winfakt 2-0 sk-vifort 2-0 na`vi-m5 2-0 esc-kerchnet 2-0

2012-02-15 07:13

Kerch.net top 3

2012-02-15 07:15

there isn't gonna be 3rd place decider in this tournament ;P

2012-02-15 09:12

kep dreaming

2012-02-15 13:20

gl Na`Vi, KNET!

2012-02-15 07:38

I half expected this to be about a Terran add-on...

2012-02-15 08:28

Its going to be a great finals FODDER, looking forward to see it with me buddy?

2012-02-20 00:54

IMA LI LUDI ZA POSLEDNO AZ VA PITAM

2012-02-15 09:13

"According to Zobkov Moscow Five basically doesn't use strategies" - pwned.

2012-02-15 09:21

should've been a great tournament, if only it had hltv to watch the matches, hope to see fnatic vs navi in the final!

2012-02-15 09:23

unfortunately not possible as they will meet @ semis.

2012-02-15 13:39

+1 i hate see matchs on live stream =(...

2012-02-15 09:50

moscow five win!

2012-02-15 09:57

eh match fnatic vs WinFakt or AC Milan vs Arsenal London? :F

2012-02-15 09:58

Just put laptop close to TV like I am gonna do :)

2012-02-15 10:02

will these matches be streamed only aswell?

2012-02-15 09:59

quite the lineup....

2012-02-15 10:13

EPIC SEMIFINALS !!!! ESC ICY BOX vs SK-Gaming FNATIC vs Natus-Vincere I think :P

2012-02-15 10:22

g0 MODDII !

2012-02-15 10:23

esc will fail AGAIN heheheeheh

2012-02-15 11:12

gl all

gogo fnatic

2012-02-15 11:46

anexis + WMF = two of the most unlucky teams :/

2012-02-15 11:51

1.SK 2.NaVi 3.fnatic

1 Easy for fnatic. Moddii is the destroyer .

2012-02-15 11:54

M5 VIFORT FNATIC

2012-02-15 12:04

Good job Tomi(and Nix0n).

2012-02-15 12:05

sad for vifort

2012-02-15 12:44

I always have to laugh when I read lurppis's previews "I think the Russians might suffer more from playing online due to relying way more on individual skills rather than teamplay" doesn't make sense. teams that rely more on tactics such as for instance ESC and Na'Vi will have a disadvantage online since they can not communicate as well online as they can on lan. teams that rely more on raw skill and less on tactics like moscow five but even fnatic will be stronger online since they don't depend so much on communication.

2012-02-15 12:45

Na`Vi probably has the best teamplay out of any team out there due to having lived together for almost two years and having had the same roster for over two years as well. I would even go as far as to say I'm pretty sure they could execute most of their strats like robots without any communication if needed. Why? Because my teams who stuck together for a long time could as well. Calling adaptations /variations isn't that hard online in comparison and everyone uses Mumble on LAN now too. People who play a lot will more often than not be better at home, but overall playing skill based CS is harder to counter for the same reason at LAN. Have you seen M5's past results online vs on LAN? They are clearly way better on LAN. On top of that, there are rumors that they haven't practiced since IEM Kiev, although I don't know if that's true or not.

2012-02-15 13:19

Go KerchNet

2012-02-15 13:08

GO SK & fnatic <3

2012-02-15 13:16

fnatic will pwn !

2012-02-15 13:22

Ι want to see what will happen!!!wow !

2012-02-15 13:30

Na`Vi vs SK/ESC

2012-02-15 13:37

Natus Vincere 2 vs 0 Moscow Five fnatic 2 vs 1 WinFakt SK Gaming 0 vs 2 Vifort ESC Gaming 2 vs 0 KerchNET It's only in my opinion, pls don't comment this.

2012-02-15 13:38

You love SK??? trololo)))

2012-02-15 15:44

Vifort is strong now I think they can win with SK on inet

2012-02-15 16:53

Alternate can.. so (=. I dont compare Alternate with Vifort

2012-02-15 19:38

Wird that the best team play against the "weaker"xD

wird engrysh

2012-02-15 16:18

what happens with alternate???

they are out

Mother of russia do everything to see in final at Moscow M5 v Vifort. Prediction is useless if we are dealing with info from God.

2012-02-15 13:59

i agree with lurppis prediction, that Navi will win, but only because m5 didn't practice since IEM Kiev, not because Navi is stronger.

2012-02-15 14:01

Want to see fnatic vs SK Gaming final, especially now that they've changed lineups. A long time no see official matches between them (the last one was in e-Stars 6 months ago).

2012-02-15 14:14

fnatic with MODDII >> SK with TRACE

2012-02-15 14:44

Btw lurppis it isn't cool if you whine and your team has 15-25 ping and the other team has 10-15 :P Just saying to most people who don't live in finland or sweden where internet is like it should be this look pretty gay.. I have 15-20 ping on any server from my country and 40-50 on germans servers where we mostly play and you can play with guys that have 10-20 ping even with that. Whinning like a little bitch when you're a progamer isn't cool, you'll never win anything by whinning ;P In my opinion you were better at commentating cs than playing it anyway.

2012-02-15 14:54

you are an idiot with very little reading comprehension skills (or none at all, based on your comment). just had to get that out of the way. the point was that we had a MORE FAIR server tested, but because the bigger name in eSports always gets what they want, GTR just called us retards and said they wanna play on their server which had a much bigger difference. any normal admin would have taken the fair server, but fanboy admins pick the team with their favorite players in and told us we have 3minutes to join before SK gets a FFW. on SK's server the pings were 6 for SK, 21 for us. On ours, it was ~20 for us, 25 for SK. it's about being fair, not about the pings, and you should really try to comprehend what you read. but like you said, there is only so much morons can understand.

2012-02-15 15:23

It will be the first time I'll agree with you. It's so annoying to watch SK vs anybody when SK got 5-6 ping. It's not fair

2012-02-17 07:31

i like lurppis because he is troll just like me

2012-02-15 16:20

NaVi , fnatic , SK , ESC ---> semifinals

2012-02-15 15:01

oiioiii

2012-02-15 15:07

This will be a deadliest catch for WF if they will manage to win somehow!

2012-02-15 15:20

navi-esc final. sweeeeeeeet!

2012-02-15 15:30

Looking forward for ESC.pl vs Natus Vincere Grand Final :].

2012-02-15 15:55

I think SK vs Vifort 2-1 ;)

2012-02-15 15:58

great read

2012-02-15 16:15

Na'Vi-M5 2:0 fnatic-Winfakt 2:0 SK-Vifort 2-0 ESC-KerchNET 2-1

2012-02-15 16:45

the final is: fnatic vs esc or fnatic vs sk, in the semifinal will face SK and esc, this difficult :/

2012-02-15 16:48

awesome start of the year, I really want to watch sooner sk against fnatic :O

2012-02-15 16:50

well im agree with lurppis in this case

go go fnatic ! Moddi shot that bustards !

2012-02-15 17:03

esc

2012-02-15 17:57

gonna be epic

2012-02-15 18:02

2 - 0 2 - 0 2 - 0 2 - 0

2012-02-15 18:20

Last time the teams met, was in Kiev, where fnatic won 16-12 on de_inferno, when facing off in the group stage. <--- wasn't it 16-13? :) or do i remember wrong?

2012-02-15 18:54

MODDII beast! say no more

2012-02-15 19:42

Natus Vincere - Moscow Five (2-0) ;)

2012-02-15 20:18

I like it how they still use CRT monitors :D they rock!

2012-02-15 20:27

felippe play much versus SK in 2011 It has a bright future

2012-02-15 20:30

lol

2012-02-15 22:02

Online gaming is so boring to watch. You keep watching players wonder why people dont die or players aiming straight at the enemies faces and hearing the headshots, but nothing happens.. Its a shame theres not more lans nowadays where teams like these are just invited to and the rest can battle it out about the other spots...

2012-02-15 22:40