n0thing explains why they won against fnatic but not SK
Team EG, probably one of the biggest upsets during this tournament won against fnatic and MYM in the playoffs. 2763071, considered the star player of their team was interviewed by Fragbite about their win against fnatic, and why they lost against SK.
"The best SK right now" and "There's no excuse for fnatic"
The event ended yesterday but the voices still reverberate. At Gotfrag629444 discusses SK's victory at Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge Los Angeles, as well as his time spent playing CS:Source for coL in the US. At SK GamingArchi states that "there's no excuse for what happened".
Many great CS 1.6 matches were played in Los Angeles at the second Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge. Finally SK Gaming won the overall final against Made in Brazil. But who is the player of the tournament? Write a comment who's your favourite player! 2763071, 1767953 or maybe 3512989? It's up to you!
The second Global Challenge of the third season is finished in Los Angeles. We saw great tournaments and thrilling matches. We hope you enjoyed our Live Coverage from the United States! See you all from 17th until 19th of October in Montreal.
Finally we want to thank Intel for their great support!
It's over! x6tence.wow won the Global Challenge in Los Angeles. Nihilum Plasma played really good, but finally the Spanish team won with 3:2. What a great final and tournament!
After a great performance against compLexity the winner of the first Global Challenge, Nihilum Plasma, will face x6tence.wow right now in the overall final. Who will win the 15,000USD prize money for the first place?
As organizer IDG just announced, approximately 15,000 gamers visited this year's E4All. This is a decrease of 3,000 compared to last year's 18k visitors. Still IDG calls it a "successful second year". We are certainly satisfied, since we had a great tournament with most of the world's elite in Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft.
Swedish powerhouse SK Gaming won against Made in Brazil with 2:1 maps. SK came out of the Lower Bracket and showed an amazing performance. The guys form Brazil came back at the end of the second map. In the overtime the champion was crowned. SK Gaming won the second Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge.
SK Gaming had five match points, but Made in Brazil started a fulminate late game. Now it's going into the overtime. What an unbelievable Counter-Strike 1.6 overall final!
There's a little back story on 3438794 and yesterday's incident of nerd rage in the person of 3438888. I recommend watching that video before the interview. Also check out our ESL TV YouTube stream.
In a very short and unemotional match, SK Gaming won against Team EG 16:1. Thus, EG will go home with 6k$ in prize money (minus 12% for showing up late twice). SK really did a service to their fellow Europeans. On the European Continental Finals in February, Europe now has 3 slots for Counter-Strike teams to qualify for the Global Finals. Current slot distribution for the Global finals:
Europe: 3
Americas: 3
Asia: 2
Not yet determined: 4
So here's the plan for today: After the currently running lower bracket final in Counter-Strike, we will immediately continue with the Grand Final. World of Warcraft will resume afterwards. Thus we can ensure, that all 6 of today's matches can be shown live on ESL TV.
Here's an interview with 1767953 from SK Gaming. Check it out, and find all videos in our ESL TV YouTube stream, especially the already infamous nerd rage video.
Finally, Team EG showed up, and the match against SK is about to start any minute now. Since Team EG is also still playing WCG US, there's a lot of pressure on the match schedule. WCG forced EG to either start playing right now with the absolute minimum of setup time or having to forfeit their place in the WCG tournament.
10 WoW questions Gotfrag sat down with Laejten and discussed their performance at the Global Challenge in L.A. Afterwards 3438794 had to answer five questions regarding the elimination of his team.
Same procedure as everyday. Team EG is supposed to play the first match today and is still in the hotel. At least this time, we have their phone number to harass them. But don't expect the match between SK Gaming and Team EG to start on time.
World of Warcraft player Swarm gets really REALLY mad
I think you could label this as a must see video! Take a look at the madness. You can find all videos in our ESL TV YouTube stream. There are now several World of Warcraft matches on the stream.
AGAiN lost versus SK Gaming. The players around 1767953 owned the Polish team really hard: 16:02 is the final result. Especially taz and 452543 were really disappointed. Have a look at our pictures.
GotFrag just posted two new interviews. Find 2763071 talking about his team's performance here. And you can read 3512989 talk about all things mibr here.
WoW Group Stage finished, Nihilum and x6tence qualify
Group stage in World of Warcraft over. The first place teams advance to the playoffs. Place 2 and 3 have to play one relegation match against a team from the opposite group to determine the other 2 playoff teams. Here's the final ranking:
Finally we had our first overtime in the Counter-Strike playoffs. SK Gaming won against sdasdasdasd in the lower bracket 21:19. Today, we're almost on schedule in Counter-Strike and are only facing minor delays in the World of Warcraft tournament. If we can keep this up, we'll finish on time today.
EG upsets MYM, Americas receive additional spot for Global Finals
In a tense match that was closely followed by everyone in the tournament area, Team EG beat AGAiN and advances to the upper bracket finals. For sure, nobody expected this event to be dominated by American teams, but here we are: The upper bracket final is Team EG vs. Made in Brazil.
This means: With at least 1 American team placing top 2, the Americas now receive the first of 6 additional spots for the World Finals! Now, 3 Counter-Strike teams can advance from the Continental Finals in Philadelphia to the World Finals at next year's CeBIT.
You asked for it, you get it. You can now download the demo of 3512989 vs SK Gaming. Please head over to this news and tell us what else you'd like to see.
The next top favourite is out of the tournament: fnaticRC! They lost in a thrilling game against sdasdasdasd on de_nuke. fnatic was really frustrated after their two losses in the Play-Offs. 1483411 smashed his headset at the ground. All players did not understand their performance. Check out our pictures after the loss. Desperation and frustration.
Also still available is 2763071 demo against fnaticRC (go to match). We will continue to supply you with in-eye demos. Please head over to this news and tell us what you'd like to see.
Just to give you the heads-up what happened in the last hour:
fnaticRC is out of the tournament, placing 7th/8th and not getting any prize money Turmoil Gaming is out as well, losing to ex-compLexity in the lower bracket
The tournament finally started after some nasty delays due to setup issues Made in Brazil is the first team in the upper bracket final, beating SK SK Gaming is now facing sdasdasdasd in the lower bracket
A summary of day 1 and a preview of the upcoming matches at Intel Extreme Masters Los Angeles. You can find all the VoDs on our ESL TV YouTube channel.
It seems that taz from MYM fell for our very own cs admin Nina. Is it the magic of the city of angels? However, something inspires him and his team. They just managed to beat Gameplay.
Since we had some major issues with the ESL page last night, we were unable to upload the full batch of photos that we had in store. So head over to yesterday's gallery, scroll down all the way and find profile pics of MugNmouse, OLD MOB and The realisT projecT as well as Fatal1ty!
The duel in the first round of the Counter-Strike 1.6 Lower Bracket between the two American teams ex-compLexity and Turmoil Gaming seems to be really hot. After winning the first two rounds Turmoil Gaming shouted: "Get fucking raped!" We'll see if the mTw killer can win. But one thing is for sure: This duel will be amazing!
It's done. Team EG beat fnaticRC 16:1 on de_train. The US teams are proving to be more than a handful in Counter-Strike 1.6. Man of the match: 2763071! His in-eye demo from the match will be available in a couple of minutes, stay tuned.
We have a lot of in-eye demos available, but we cannot upload everything from the event due to limited upload capacities. So for deciding what to upload, we'd like to include YOU in the process. Head to the comments section of this news and tell us, what in-eye demos you'd like to see. We had some issues with the group stage naming of the demos, so playoff matches would be preferred. Just tell us the match and player you'd like to see.
Update 1: First n0thing demo online here. Update 2: cogu, plastE, neo demos here. Update 3: Another cogu demo here. Update 4: cogu, fnx, PaTyoJoN and walle demos here.
Will the star team fnaticRC lose their first match in the Play-Offs against Team EG? The first half is finished on de_train and Team EG leads with 14:01. Unbelievable!
Due to some issues with the punctuality, we'll start off with delay again. The whole Team EG is missing though their match against fnaticRC is supposed to start in 5 minutes. Also, sdasdasdasd is not yet complete. So, the only matches starting on time are x3o vs. SK (live on ESL TV) and mibr against PoV.
Nihilums 2397882 sat down with head administrator for World of Warcraft Shawn and asked for his predictions for Los Angeles, his work as head of World of Warcraft in the ESL, the upcoming expansion pack "Wrath of the Lich King" and much more. Read the full interview here.
World of Warcraft Group Stage and Counter-Strike Playoffs On the second day of the Global Challenge Los Angeles finally World of Warcraft start off with the groupstage.
The CS teams already begin with the playoffs at 13:30 EDT:
GotFrag got the scoop again and has interviewed zonic about their devastating defeat against ex-compLexity that saw them eliminated from the group stage. Read the full interview to find out what mTw is up to next and what they think about the American 1.6 scene.
GotFrag just posted a double interview with Archi and 2761205 about the group stage match between x3o and fnatic. They talk in detail about what happened on the server and what emotions they went through.
The top favourite from Denmark mTw int. is out of the tournament! They lost against ex-compLexity and placed only third in Group B. That's an unbelievable result. After winning against mTw an American player shouted: "mT who?!" Really hard for the players around ave. The whole team was disappointed and walked slowly and faint out of the tournament area.
We already mentioned that Team zEx is a really cool team, but the newest pictures of the five gamers from the USA reach a new level. Just have an own look!
As some of the teams have not been to ESL offline events, yet, we'll try to bring to profile and team photos of all attending players. So have an eye out for the picture gallery!
What's up with the big favourite mTw int.? They lost their first match against sdasdasdasd 12:18 on de_train. The Danish team is placing fourth in their group. Will they beat the American teams now? Or will they end fourth in the group?
Is Team zEx cool or what? Standing in front of the tournament area like gangsters having a blast and chewing bubblegum. And what is actually up with Alexandra 2520403 Nagy from fragbite? As soon as she arrives to pick up her press badge, heads get turned a plenty. Hope it won't destract the players, they have a job to do here!
What an atmosphere. Top motivated team Turmoil Gaming just won the pistol round against fnaticRC and is filling the tournament area with loud screams! This looks like it's going to be an exciting match.
Due to visa issues the European team of SK Gaming will not attend the Intel Extreme Masters Global Challange Los Angeles. Instead another US-team will try to get their share of the $30.000 prize-money: Finding Serennia, that consists of tournament-experienced players 3445418, 2871731 and Lunce.
Due to some problems with initial setup we're running around 40 minutes late at the moment for all Counter-Strike matches. We'll try to get the match details updated with current scheduled times and also try to catch up some time during the day.
And also check out this pic! It shows how our CS admins approach explaining forbidden positions. Last year we had several issues with these positions, so this year we actually brought printed screenshots especially for American teams not used to ESL rules.
Besides PoV vs. vio all of the first 4 matches are now live. Be sure to check out the ESL TV live stream that will show mTw vs. Roccat as soon as a minor HLTV issue has been fixed.
The guys from HLTV.org have set up their servers so you can watch any of the 4 parallel matches that you want. Here are the 4 server IPs. Matches are about to start any minute now. fnatic vs Guardians is already live!
Due to some issues with the setting up of the tournament PCs for the first Counter-Strike matches, the start of the tournament will be further delayed. We'll let you know when it starts as soon as we know.
Today the Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge Los Angeles will start! The matches are delayed in case of setup times. The first thrilling games will start at 11.00am PST.
Our setup crew worked hard to get all parts of the booth up and running. All is set for a great eSports weekend. Take a look at the hard working people who made this tournament possible. All this and more in our photo gallery.
New Steam Update!
A few minutes ago a new steam update came online! Our crew is updating all tournament computers and laptops from Alienware again. The steam update came suddenly, but our crew will solve the problem for sure. Nothing can stop the unbelievable Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge Los Angeles!
Roccat seems to have some problems at the moment. myMYM.com interviewed Tino "tihOp" Puumala from Roccat. The In-Game Leader talks about Roccat's current shape. They will bootcamp in Berlin to gain back old strenght. Read the full interview here.
myMYM.com keeps going with their short Los Angeles interviews. 475468 think the chances on fnaticRC defending their title is big, as they are ready to redeem themselves after a smaller repulse at DreamHack Skelefteå last weekend. Read the full interview here!
In another interview made by myMYM 1130101 talks about the shape of mTw int. He thinks that it's gonna be a tough tournament. They prepared well, but they had a break since October the 24th. You can read the entire interview here.
Nihilum Plasma about going to L.A. Ben "2397882" Forbes interviewed the three Nihilum Plasma players about their trip to L.A. and their expectations for the tournament. After winning the World of Warcraft tournament in Leipzig, the pressure is on for the multi-national squad. Read the full interview on the Nihilum website.
What are the rules? As this is the first Global Challenge for Counter-Strike this season, I think it's time for some rule clarifications. Most game-specific rules are already covered by the Season III rulebook.
But of course the tournament mode differs from the online season. These are the cornerstones:
Matches are played in BO1.
Map is chosen through elimination (pool: dust2, nuke, train, tuscan, inferno).
1st & 2nd from each group advance to playoffs.
In group stage matches, teams will always play the full 30 rounds.
Group rankings are determined by: points, match result if points are equal, round wins.
Playoffs will be played in double elimination mode, best of three.
Groups for Counter-Strike here! The League Operations team just drew the groups for Counter-Strike Los Angeles and they are now ready to go live! Without further ado, here they are:
Which two teams from each group do you think will advance? Let's put your Counter-Strike knowledge to the test. Give your eight playoff teams in a comment!
Welcome James, Joe and Matt From now on three new British moderators will present finest eSports at ESL TV. All three already got a lot of experience as moderators and are well known throughout the scene. James '2861862' Harding, Joe '2861708' Miller and Matt '2621424' Rider will present the upcoming three Intel Extreme Masters III events in Los Angeles, Montreal and Dubai as well as the upcoming ESL Pro Series in the United Kingdom.
GotFrag's Bryan Buskey sat down with 3360495 of ex-compLexity to discuss their expectations for the Intel Extreme Masters in Los Angeles. The interview delves into PoV's recent lineup changes, their bad reputation as an "online" team and their expectations for the prestigious tournament.
As we reported yesterday, oXmoze had to drop out of the Global Challenge Los Angeles. DynastyGaming has cancelled its attendance as well. The two replacement teams are:
As we just learned, oXmoze is unfortunately unable to attend the Intel Extreme Masters tournament in Los Angeles. Stop by tomorrow to find out who is replacing the French team. See the full list of participants in both World of Warcraft and Counter-Strike here.
Tomorrow at 9pm CET Uli 'FlyingDJ' Schulze and our brandnew host James '2861862' Harding will present the drawing for Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge L.A. You can watch the show free on ESL TV in high quality.
The groups for Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge L.A. this weekend will be drawn live on ESL TV tomorrow evening. We'll get back to you with the exact time tomorrow. As soon as groups are drawn, you'll find the full match schedule on the groups pages and the match ticker above will finally fill up!
MYM to take revenge for last Intel Extreme Masters in L.A.
I just saw that MYM has another interview up. The second one is with their own Neo. He says that his team prepared well to prevent a fatal defeat like the one they faced last year. Still it won't be easy, if you look at the full roster of teams:
Interview with bit1 from Brazilian powerhouse mibr
30.09.2008 13:12
"Even greater than last year"
Our colleagues over at MYMYM.com conducted an interview with bit1 from Made in Brazil about their preparation and expectations for the Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge in Los Angeles. The young Brazilian talks about recent roster changes and makes some bold predictions for the Counter-Strike tournament.
As I just heard, our League Operations department is finalizing groups and schedules data for the World of Warcraft and Counter-Strike tournaments right now. If all goes well, there is going to be a live drawing on ESL TV Wednesday evening. You probably know, where you'll get the match-ups first, right? Stay tuned and give us your predictions in the comments!
eSports Action from L.A. in Brilliant Quality (For Free!) Our ESL TV tech guys have been hard at work to bring you this weekend's event in brilliant, pin sharp quality. All week long, you get free access to the 700k free stream! During the event you can access it directly through this very microsite here.
Behold the mighty journalist heroes It's really exciting. Only 7 more days until E4All hits off. I'm so looking forward to this great venue. And it seems like I'm not the only one.
Press accreditations are trickling in, and it already looks very promising. We have our HLTV.org expert Marc Winther, the wonderful Alexandra Nagy with her fragbite entourage and the one (and only) crow, also known as Jonas Gebhardt for MYM.
October action in Los Angeles The Intel Extreme Masters are back in Los Angeles! The second Global Challenge will be held at the E for All Expo, Los Angeles, United States. Watch the best Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft teams fight for $80,000 prize money and two additional slots for their continent at the Intel Extreme Masters Global Finals between 3rd and 5th of October. Everyone is more than welcome to join in either on spot or from home, as Intel Extreme Masters will bring full coverage both over the net and on spot!
slot distribution for the Global finals:
