We have reached a climatic stage of the tournament thus far, with the semi-finals upon us will we have any upsets due here? UK EMS Katowice Qualifiers Semi-Finals Preview:







Over the next three days we will see which of the eight teams will make it into the Online Qualifiers for a chance to play against some of Europe's finest teams and try to grab one of six spots which will qualify them to the EMS Katowice Finals in March 2014, which has a whopping $250,000 partly funded by the CS:GO community.



After the first night of pulsating action from the United Kingdom teams, we saw some big plays from various players, and some straightforward games.



HudzG's team mucked up my predictions from the Quarter finals, by beating TLM over two maps in rather convincing fashion, 16 - 5 & 16 - 7 on dust2 and inferno respectively. I predicted the score to be 2 - 1 to HudzG's team.



Despite the HudzG unit making a mockery of my overdone prediction, each of the other games went according to my script. MINISTRY didn't put up much of a fight against fm-eSports TOXiC as they went down 16 - 5 & 16 - 8 respectively on dust2 & inferno. Meanwhile, TeamCRG made hard work of their game as they lost the first map to Paynt's team PulseCore Gaming 16 - 9 on train. They managed to pick themselves up by winning 16 - 9 on dust2 and inferno. The other game between Rasta.Xd and myXMG went according to my prediction as well, as myXMG managed to win over three maps, they won the first map on nuke 16 - 8, before losing inferno 16 - 12, they then powered their way to a victory of 16 - 10 on dust2 to send Rasta packing.



This now means HudzG's team faces myXMG, whilst TeamCRG take on fm-eSports TOXiC.



hudzG's team Vs myXMG:



HudzG's Team Lineup: HudzG, steel, nooky, weber & zonixx

myXMG Lineup: Sheeky, Powell, Shaney, Js, CarL



A rather interesting game here is a foot, but what could be interesting is how long until the pressure folds on myXMG. If we were to say that myXMG being a team and HudzG's team being a talented mix, then in all theory on paper myXMG should win this outright.



It isn't that simple though is it? HudzG & weber back together is a combination worth talking about. After the fall outs, the ego bruises and bashes from the fall out of mTw.int, weber has seemed to make amends with both hudzG and steel in the process. You add in nooky who internationally before Copenhagen Games 2012 was berated by much of the Source scene as being "rubbish" has managed to turn that around. You throw in a talented zonixx as well and you have a mix team that can dominate in these finals. If I was a betting man, I would bet on hudzG's team to win this.



myXMG will be though a different kettle of fish from TLM, myXMG have been a core team since insomnia50 and have only had to make the one change since LAN after Puls3 left them, which means whilst some of their strategies may have changed to accomodate a new player, they still have a bulk of strats they can pull out. The issue I have is the fact that it took them quite a while to beat Rasta.Xd, they were sloppy on inferno, and had it not been for a hesitant Rasta.Xd the scoreline would have looked dramatically worse. On dust2, for a while it seemed like they couldn't close up shop as they got to 14, then a few rounds later 15, then a couple later just crossing that finish line. My worry is simple, you cannot afford that luxury of time against a caliber of player like hudzG, or even like steel or weber.



Key Battle: hudzG Vs Sheeky



Two of the more outstanding players in either of these teams, with hudzG being a long time veteran of the scene, whilst Sheeky hasn't been around as long, he has made some impression, and he did play consistently well last night against Rasta.Xd as he managed to pull out some good numbers.



hudzG has always been a motivated player in any team he has played in, and one of his most famous pictures was at an iSeries in 4Kings where he stood up and made a massive roar to everyone after his team managed to beat the then favourites crackClan in a rather epic battle of 25 - 22 on inferno. This is the hudzG we remember from Source, but we haven't seen much of him in CS:GO, it's not his ability or passion that is at fault, it is unfortunately the way things have gone for him.



Sheeky managed to prove most people wrong when he managed to climb out of his closet at insomnia50 by beating Rasta.Xd and sending them to the lower bracket finals, he then had a stormer of a game against fm-eSports TOXiC in the Upper bracket final, where they took them the distance in that match, before finally going down 2 - 1. After that they quietly went out at the hands of a resurgent TeamCRG who had come off the back of an impressive display against Rasta.Xd. Sheeky was for a long time a hot and cold player within the scene, however last night he was on form and played with great rhythm.



Predicted Result: hudzG's Team 2 - 1 myXMG



TeamCRG Vs fm-eSports TOXiC:



TeamCRG Lineup: redsnK, decclan, dainelsan, tsack, CRMJ

fm-eSports TOXiC Lineup: Whindanski, neiLZinHo, rdl, Inzta, s0m



Now here is a much more in the balance tie, well I certainly feel it is anyway. TeamCRG and fm-eSports TOXiC had two very different games last night, the former had a pretty difficult time against PulseCore whilst, the latter had a rather dominant display against an out of sorts MINISTRY. The issue is for me, how to read either performance really. Having watched most of fm-eSports TOXiC rip heads of my own team last night, with star performer rdl being absolutely unstoppable, I do wonder how they can do against a side like TeamCRG.



This is a re-match of the insomnia50 Grand Final, and unfortunately for TeamCRG at that event, they came out the worse as fm-eSports TOXiC managed to stand their ground on the deciding second map by winning 16 - 9. In the earlier semi-final of that very same tournament TOXiC had beaten TeamCRG 2 - 0 in comfortable fashion. What is intriguing here, is what had happened post Semi-Final stage and before the Grand Final. Before the semi-finals TeamCRG had absolutely struggled to keep Team MINISTRY at bay, with two rather nailbiting maps which both ended in Overtimes. TOXiC were on top of their game ready for that semi-final, and managed to put in 2 solid maps against TeamCRG, where they simply couldn't make any in roads to a solid defense from TOXiC. After that point, CRG had to revamp themselves and come back somewhat stronger, and no one expected them to do that, which made it all the better to watch from a neutral point of view.



They first had I wasn't trying, and beat them comfortably in 2 maps, before they had their real test which was against Rasta.Xd, most betting men, would have bet on Rasta to win that contest, but it was TeamCRG who came out the stronger, and as soon as that happened nothing stopped them, as they went on to face Eternity (now myXMG) and beat them in a good solid match over their deflated opponents. Now was the grand final, foot on the gas, and still using that momentum that had carried them through the last two matches, and bam they take the first map (remember TOXiC only had to win one map so it was do or die for CRG). All of a sudden it was one map between them and glory of another title, and unfortunately that is where the steam train ran out of gas.



The point of this was context to how TeamCRG and more importantly redsnK's teams seem to do. If momentum is on their side, then suddenly they can beat almost anyone in the UK CS scene. But if they don't have that then they really seem to struggle. It was apparent yesterday when they were slow out of the blocks against PulseCore Gaming where they lost the first map, but then suddenly in the second it clicked and they managed to find some inspiration to see them through. Against a team like TOXiC especially with the line up they have now, they simply cannot do that, they have to start like they did last night otherwise TOXiC could seize that momentum. I have a feeling it will be a topsy turvy match.



Key Battle: CRMJ Vs s0m



After doing both redsnK & rdl in my previews for the Quarter Finals, I have turned my attentions on CRMJ and s0m.



CRMJ was one of the "upcoming" talents from Source, where he had played in numerous Rasta line ups over the years and was never in the top echelon of UK CS, but was recently picked up by TeamCRG in a process of seeing new talent in the CS:GO scene here in the UK. He put in some strong numbers yesterday night especially on inferno against PulseCore Gaming, and if he can do something similar tonight we could see a real dogfight on our hands here.



Similarly of s0m he also too was referred to as one of the "upcoming" talents in UK CS, after playing in the fringes of UK CS with paynt, he finally last year got his break in fm-eSports TOXiC where he seems to have cemented his place in the team. One of his flaws though is the fact that he can have bad games where he is really bad, but when he is hot, he is really really good. If he can play at a far more consistent level tonight against TeamCRG he could make the difference between packing his bags and going home, or packing his bags to Katowice. We shall see though.



Predicted Result: TeamCRG 1 - 2 fm-eSports TOXiC



What are your predictions for these two games on Tuesday evening? Let us know in the comments below!





CS:GO in front of a huge audience! (More photos of IEM Katowice on Flickr.com) Over the next three days we will see which of the eight teams will make it into the Online Qualifiers for a chance to play against some of Europe's finest teams and try to grab one of six spots which will qualify them to the EMS Katowice Finals in March 2014, which has a whoppingpartly funded by the CS:GO community.After the first night of pulsating action from the United Kingdom teams, we saw some big plays from various players, and some straightforward games.HudzG's team mucked up my predictions from the Quarter finals, by beating TLM over two maps in rather convincing fashion, 16 - 5 & 16 - 7 on dust2 and inferno respectively. I predicted the score to be 2 - 1 to HudzG's team.Despite the HudzG unit making a mockery of my overdone prediction, each of the other games went according to my script. MINISTRY didn't put up much of a fight against fm-eSports TOXiC as they went down 16 - 5 & 16 - 8 respectively on dust2 & inferno. Meanwhile, TeamCRG made hard work of their game as they lost the first map to Paynt's team PulseCore Gaming 16 - 9 on train. They managed to pick themselves up by winning 16 - 9 on dust2 and inferno. The other game between Rasta.Xd and myXMG went according to my prediction as well, as myXMG managed to win over three maps, they won the first map on nuke 16 - 8, before losing inferno 16 - 12, they then powered their way to a victory of 16 - 10 on dust2 to send Rasta packing.This now means HudzG's team faces myXMG, whilst TeamCRG take on fm-eSports TOXiC.HudzG, steel, nooky, weber & zonixxSheeky, Powell, Shaney, Js, CarLA rather interesting game here is a foot, but what could be interesting is how long until the pressure folds on myXMG. If we were to say that myXMG being a team and HudzG's team being a talented mix, then in all theory on paper myXMG should win this outright.It isn't that simple though is it? HudzG & weber back together is a combination worth talking about. After the fall outs, the ego bruises and bashes from the fall out of mTw.int, weber has seemed to make amends with both hudzG and steel in the process. You add in nooky who internationally before Copenhagen Games 2012 was berated by much of the Source scene as being "rubbish" has managed to turn that around. You throw in a talented zonixx as well and you have a mix team that can dominate in these finals. If I was a betting man, I would bet on hudzG's team to win this.myXMG will be though a different kettle of fish from TLM, myXMG have been a core team since insomnia50 and have only had to make the one change since LAN after Puls3 left them, which means whilst some of their strategies may have changed to accomodate a new player, they still have a bulk of strats they can pull out. The issue I have is the fact that it took them quite a while to beat Rasta.Xd, they were sloppy on inferno, and had it not been for a hesitant Rasta.Xd the scoreline would have looked dramatically worse. On dust2, for a while it seemed like they couldn't close up shop as they got to 14, then a few rounds later 15, then a couple later just crossing that finish line. My worry is simple, you cannot afford that luxury of time against a caliber of player like hudzG, or even like steel or weber.Two of the more outstanding players in either of these teams, with hudzG being a long time veteran of the scene, whilst Sheeky hasn't been around as long, he has made some impression, and he did play consistently well last night against Rasta.Xd as he managed to pull out some good numbers.hudzG has always been a motivated player in any team he has played in, and one of his most famous pictures was at an iSeries in 4Kings where he stood up and made a massive roar to everyone after his team managed to beat the then favourites crackClan in a rather epic battle of 25 - 22 on inferno. This is the hudzG we remember from Source, but we haven't seen much of him in CS:GO, it's not his ability or passion that is at fault, it is unfortunately the way things have gone for him.Sheeky managed to prove most people wrong when he managed to climb out of his closet at insomnia50 by beating Rasta.Xd and sending them to the lower bracket finals, he then had a stormer of a game against fm-eSports TOXiC in the Upper bracket final, where they took them the distance in that match, before finally going down 2 - 1. After that they quietly went out at the hands of a resurgent TeamCRG who had come off the back of an impressive display against Rasta.Xd. Sheeky was for a long time a hot and cold player within the scene, however last night he was on form and played with great rhythm.redsnK, decclan, dainelsan, tsack, CRMJWhindanski, neiLZinHo, rdl, Inzta, s0mNow here is a much more in the balance tie, well I certainly feel it is anyway. TeamCRG and fm-eSports TOXiC had two very different games last night, the former had a pretty difficult time against PulseCore whilst, the latter had a rather dominant display against an out of sorts MINISTRY. The issue is for me, how to read either performance really. Having watched most of fm-eSports TOXiC rip heads of my own team last night, with star performer rdl being absolutely unstoppable, I do wonder how they can do against a side like TeamCRG.This is a re-match of the insomnia50 Grand Final, and unfortunately for TeamCRG at that event, they came out the worse as fm-eSports TOXiC managed to stand their ground on the deciding second map by winning 16 - 9. In the earlier semi-final of that very same tournament TOXiC had beaten TeamCRG 2 - 0 in comfortable fashion. What is intriguing here, is what had happened post Semi-Final stage and before the Grand Final. Before the semi-finals TeamCRG had absolutely struggled to keep Team MINISTRY at bay, with two rather nailbiting maps which both ended in Overtimes. TOXiC were on top of their game ready for that semi-final, and managed to put in 2 solid maps against TeamCRG, where they simply couldn't make any in roads to a solid defense from TOXiC. After that point, CRG had to revamp themselves and come back somewhat stronger, and no one expected them to do that, which made it all the better to watch from a neutral point of view.They first had I wasn't trying, and beat them comfortably in 2 maps, before they had their real test which was against Rasta.Xd, most betting men, would have bet on Rasta to win that contest, but it was TeamCRG who came out the stronger, and as soon as that happened nothing stopped them, as they went on to face Eternity (now myXMG) and beat them in a good solid match over their deflated opponents. Now was the grand final, foot on the gas, and still using that momentum that had carried them through the last two matches, and bam they take the first map (remember TOXiC only had to win one map so it was do or die for CRG). All of a sudden it was one map between them and glory of another title, and unfortunately that is where the steam train ran out of gas.The point of this was context to how TeamCRG and more importantly redsnK's teams seem to do. If momentum is on their side, then suddenly they can beat almost anyone in the UK CS scene. But if they don't have that then they really seem to struggle. It was apparent yesterday when they were slow out of the blocks against PulseCore Gaming where they lost the first map, but then suddenly in the second it clicked and they managed to find some inspiration to see them through. Against a team like TOXiC especially with the line up they have now, they simply cannot do that, they have to start like they did last night otherwise TOXiC could seize that momentum. I have a feeling it will be a topsy turvy match.After doing both redsnK & rdl in my previews for the Quarter Finals, I have turned my attentions on CRMJ and s0m.CRMJ was one of the "upcoming" talents from Source, where he had played in numerous Rasta line ups over the years and was never in the top echelon of UK CS, but was recently picked up by TeamCRG in a process of seeing new talent in the CS:GO scene here in the UK. He put in some strong numbers yesterday night especially on inferno against PulseCore Gaming, and if he can do something similar tonight we could see a real dogfight on our hands here.Similarly of s0m he also too was referred to as one of the "upcoming" talents in UK CS, after playing in the fringes of UK CS with paynt, he finally last year got his break in fm-eSports TOXiC where he seems to have cemented his place in the team. One of his flaws though is the fact that he can have bad games where he is really bad, but when he is hot, he is really really good. If he can play at a far more consistent level tonight against TeamCRG he could make the difference between packing his bags and going home, or packing his bags to Katowice. We shall see though.What are your predictions for these two games on Tuesday evening? Let us know in the comments below! Gumpster , Tuesday, 11/02/14 10:54