ET Masters to finish with a LAN

With the ET Masters reaching the business end of the competition i have confirmed that the final will be hosted by at the Crossfight Prizefight Challenge 2 tournament on Sunday the 15th April. Thanks go out to Tosspot for allowing a change to the CPC schedule to accomodate and host a LAN final for this tournament.

With that in mind the Masters schedule is running very tight. Here are the details:
Grid Round 3 - Date: 5 April
Grid Round 4 / Winners Final - Date: 8-9 April
Losers Final - Date: 10 April
ET Masters LAN Final - Sunday 15 April


Now onto tonight where we see some potentially mouth watering matches.

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TLR Tournament Review
The Last Resort so far are the only remaining team in ET Masters yet to even drop a round. They have played all their matches and won, so far in comprehensive style. Many wondered what effect adding mAus to their lineup as a replacement for M1lk would do to the team however his devastating aim and damage coupled with the quality teamplay that TLR show has prooven to be a winning combination. Their route so far:

Group Stages
TLR 4:0 Impact Gaming
TLR 4:0 Morrigu
TLR 4:0 Czar

Elimination Stage
TLR 4:0 Netrunners

With victories against top seeds Impact and NETR you can see that their route has not been a simple one however they have cut through the opposition like a knife through butter. Tonight however sees the exit of allstar marv who is replaced for the tournament and for the forthcoming CPC2 by the polish hitman Doktor. What effect this will have on the team with another lineup change remains to be seen. Will they just continue to sweep through their opponents with a seamless integration like the one of mAus or will the loss of Marv proove more costly than they imagined.[/hide]
K1ck Tournament Review
The team formerly known as Pingwins and prior to that uQ gaming have recently joined MultiGaming portugese organisation Kick eSports in a move to secure the foundations of the squad. With the team having played together with more or less the same lineup for a larger period of time than most ET squads can hold claim too they show they have the teamplay and firepower good enough to see them through to the stage of ET Masters whereby a win tonight would guarantee them a share of the prize money. They also recently secured a direct invitation to EC XV. This is the squads form so far:

Group Stages
K1ck 4:0 Elite
K1ck 1:0 KIH [default win]
K1ck 0:4 ZeroPoint

Elimination Stage
K1ck 4:2 Insignia Cadre

As you can see K1ck have had to play 1 game less than their opponents tonight TLR due to the fold of the KIH team however they have still managed to pick up wins against group winners Insignia Cadre in a thrilling game that went all the way to a decider.
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So on paper tonight this should be a TLR victory however an upset could easily be on the cards given the circumstances of the TLR lineup changes and the current form of K1ck

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Netrunners Tournament Review
The best way to describe the Netrunners tournament so far is unrealised. They seem to manage to win all the games they are expected to win however when stepping up against the other big hitters in the tournament they have been unable to take wins which explains why they are in the loosers bracket now. With news that the squad have not signed up for the forthcoming EC its a safe assumption that ET Masters and CPC2 will be as far as the team wish to go in the near future. That said i am certain they will want to go out on a high with good results both online and offine and that means they cannot afford a loss at the hands of zP tonight.

Group Stages
Netrunners 4:0 Agony Realm
Netrunners 0:4 Vicious and Evil 4I
Netrunners 1:0 Helix [default win]

Elimination Stages
Netrunners 0:4 TLR
Netrunners 4:0 Insignia Cadre
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zeroPoint Tournament Review
Most people would have seen the thrilling match a couple of nights ago when zP went down at the hands of Impact Gaming. That being said the match was a bit mystyfying (excuse the pun) because zP got off to a vicious start setting a time that no one really expected impact to come back from yet they did. Again on Radar a fast time could have been set by Impact yet this time zP recovered. A thrilling game to watch to be sure but the result leaves a lot of questions to be asked of the zP squad. Did the players have a bad game? Well definately certain individual players will not have been happy within the zP camp and will be looking to bounce back tonight against NETR but since the loss of hatred has this zP team lived up to the standard previously set by themselves. Until now the answer is no but i think it would be unfair to expect them to adjust to a lineup change so quickly however they have the potential to be as good as they were before. Are they still recognised as the #2 team in ET? Well they are the only ones that can answer that with their performances in game starting with tonights game against NETR.[/hide]

We'll see a rematch of the game between these 2 teams a week ago when they played for money, on that occasion NETR took the victory. Will we see a repeat of that match tonight....

[bfoonr's view[/b]]
zeroPoint! Gaming vs The Netrunners

Let me name you a map: supply. Let me now name you a team: zeroPoint. A combination that many thought insoluable as a permanent pen, if not more so if a certain shoutcaster's pre-game predictions were anything to go by, were making people dramatically review their opinion on the matter the other night: zP ripped through the Impact defense to set a blistering time, only to see the reverse task fail. Perhaps it was true, or perhaps such a time instilled a touch of complacency towards their opponents. The point is against Impact, zeroPoint looked far more the team we know they can be following the 4-0 capitulation in the yourogc.com showmatch just 10 days ago. ZeroPoint now have to build. The only problem? That 4-0 result came against their very opponents tonight, the systematic force of Netrunners. Hot on the heels of disposing with both Fear Factory and Insignia Cadre four to nothing, confidence will be oozing through Polish arteries tonight as they aim to inflict a second and crucial loss on zeroPoint, which would see them out of the ET Masters competition, this being the loser bracket 3rd round. However Netrunners are hardly on dry land themselves, and both teams know that they must not be first making any mistakes which could prove decisive. iTG's TosspoT and HeadShot Radio's bandiT & Sensi provide the commentary.

The Last Resort vs k1ck eSports Club

In the security of the winner's bracket, and fresh from relegating the aforementioned Netrunners, TLR will be fully expecting to go to sleep tonight having laid to rest another opponent. Take a look at their recent record: They've beaten Netrunners, beaten Polar, beaten cZar, beaten Morrigu, they even skinned Impact. In fact their last loss was way back in February against ironically zeroPoint. rysi0 comes into the TLR lineup tonight but the difference to the team should be pretty minimal. This is a team who are viewing the Masters tournament as Queens is to Wimbledon, a veritable warmup to the EuroCup, for which they too have real aspirations to go all the way. But all this without a mention of their opponents tonight, the cultured team of k1ck (pingwins) who dispelled all the 2 week cries with consumate ease, and have grown to be a worthy force in themselves. They too have earnt their place at this stage of the competition, overcoming the recently recruited negative image side of Insignia Cadre to join TLR in a match to decide who will go on and earn the right to face Impact, who as we saw beat zeroPoint in the other 2nd round match. Although k1ck have not such an impressive previous result history, they will be focusing on this match and not the past as they attempt to topple the odds and fell TLR. One suspects however, TLR will have just too much.


Edit - Predictions added

The Last Resort vs k1ck eSports Club (pingwins)

Tlr|ClownWe shouldn't have problems winning the match vs k1ck today, even though I know you can't underrate them, and we wont :P
k1ck-bullvox TLR is the big favourite for this match. We (k1ck) had the same situation against neg img and we did show a nice game against them and actually won the game. TLR is a different clan there teamplay is nice and they got some players that can take the win in a round on their own. So we just have to do our best and try to keep focused and try not to make any mistake and punish TLr if they do make a mistake.
Raveneye'i TLR should be able to take this pretty easily, their game is pretty superior compared to anyone elses at the moment. So, easy 4-0 for TLR.
Mztik`i It will definitely be an interesting match but I don't see it being anywhere near as close as ZP vs NETR, with TLR's recent form they've been pretty much unstoppable, it's easy to recognise why they came top 3 in the last eurocup and the addition of maus seems to be exactly what they needed. So although k1ck are a strong team i'm confident it's going to be 4:0 to TLR.
dignitas\urtier TLR should take the game against k1ck with a clear 4:0.
polar`fobje i think its will be an easy match for Tlr 4-0 or maybe 4-2 if k1ck will have a big luck :)
AuX`Snuble izi bash for TLR with mAus on the run. mAus is imo the best aimer in todays scene.. if he can show the same @ cpcII that is. 4-0 for TLR without really have to focuse..

The Netrunners vs zeroPoint! Gaming

Tlr|Clown Although zP havent looked strong in their last two officials, they will beat NETR with a clear 4:0 today!
k1ck-bullvox We've seen a week ago how NETR won in a nice game versus zP. I think the game tonight will be a bit closer but on the end NETR will take it with a 4-0 win.
Raveneye'i This one is going to be a little more thrilling, zP has been lacking something in their recent matches and NETR kinda owned them in their last official. If zP gets their stuff together they should be able to take this 4-0, but are they able to do it? I don't know, so I would say NETR will win 4-2 because the spirit of pobor runs in their veins and guides their way to the victory.
Mztik`i This is going to be a tough match, looking back a few months ago i would've easily put my money on ZP (all due respect to NETR though) but taking a look at recent results it could potentially go either way but i'll have to put it down to ZP taking this one narrowily but I expect 3 maps so 4:2 to ZP.
dignitas\urtier zP will take the game against NETR this time, if butchji and gifty are playing well. If not, it could go either ways.
polar`fobje last zp vs nert was 4-0 for netrunners i think this time will be the same as last game but its will be harder than last time for netr. so 4-2 for netr
AuX`Snuble zP lost against an impressive Impact i last round. I think they will come back tonight. Netrunners won last match on OGC, but this time there aint any money in this one match, so the polish players arent as much motivated:D zP wins 4-2.