IEM5 WC Preview: coL & EG

Our first preview for the IEM5 World Championship is aimed at the two teams advancing from the American Championship Finals, namely compLexity and Evil Geniuses.

compLexity

Winners of the American Championship Finals are compLexity, who downed Evil Geniuses 2-0 in to win it. The team hasn't had much showing since the win over EG, the last official matches the team played were in the Brazilian KODE5 qualifier, where the team in the end lost twice in a row against CNB.

Track record
vs.	CNB	13-16	KODE5 2010 Brazil
vs.	CNB	10-16	KODE5 2010 Brazil
vs.	Evil Geniuses	2-0	IEM5 American Championship Finals
vs.	DINC	2-0	IEM5 American Championship Finals
vs.	Desire 2 Excel	16-5	IEM5 American Championship Finals

Despite not winning any majors in 2010, compLexity showed good form over the Summer and in the Fall, and more importantly ended up winning the American Championship Finals to qualify for the World Championship at CeBIT.

Great history, few titles

Brazilian Counter-Strike has a great place in history, it has always been mingling with the very best in the field, but very few titles have actually been brought back to South America. Looking in the history books, we have to go back to 2006 to find the first and sort of the only major win for Brazil.  At ESWC 2006 in Paris, a team experienced players and young talents went to the very top, as Made in Brazil downed fnatic to win the event.

A year later in Copenhagen, Made in Brazil won shgOpen 2007 with a victory against PGS. The same year, DreamHack Winter was conquered with a win against SK Gaming in the final. In the Summer of 2008, the Brazilians once again won an event, winning GameGune 2008 with a win against mousesports in the Grand Final. But this sums up the tournament victories for Brazilian CS. A good three years brought Brazil 3 titles, but what happened afterwards?

Brazilian CS went through a rough period - CGS raided the biggest stars and the development of new talents did not seem to kick in. Brazilian CS had to wait for the demise of CGS and their experienced stars to return, before Brazil was once again put back on the map.

2006 was a long time ago

Age	Rating	Major events won
	Bruno "bit" Lima	20	1.08	3
	Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo	19	1.23	0
	Bruno "bruno" Ono	24	1.05	2
	Renato "nak" Nakano	22	1.08	2
	Lincoln "fnx" Lau	20	1.19	3

One player to carry them all

Some may say that Raphael "cogu" Camargo is the cornerstone of Brazilian CS. We can't deny that in his time, Camargo played an important role in the teams he played for. Known for his fast-phase AWP, he could be the deciding factor in matches and at times won matches by himself.

Camargo has as we know retired, but there is a new kid on the block. One of the great talents Brazil has produced in newer times is the compLexity AWP Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo. Much like his predecessor, Toledo is a respected AWP and also has that special touch, which will allow him to win matches for compLexity.

Once he steps up his game, which he did on quite a few occasions in 2010 (best AWP at ESWC, 3rd best at WCG), then compLexity can be unstoppable. His performance at WCG 2010 Pan-America proved that, as he destroyed every opponent on their way to 1st place and recorded an amazing 1.67 rating, the tournament's best by far. Therefore, compLexity will have to put good faith in Toledo to once again carry his team through every challenge.

First match - 09:10CETMarch 2, vs. UMX-Gaming

Key to success– A fact that compLexity finally had the opportunity to practice against European teams before an event is crucial. The Atlantic has several times been a good reason to why the team is not going far in a tournament. The team's bootcamp in Berlin before going into the tournament, may very well be the deciding factor for the team.

Exit scenario– The Brazilian teams do have a bad record playing against Danes (in particular zonic & co.). Going back to ESWC 2007, NoA were the team to eliminate them. Also in 2010 Danes were the deciding factor for Brazilian CS, as both at ESWC and WCG, mTw ended their hopes of going deeper in the tournament bracket.

Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses managed second place at the American Championship Finals, despite losing to compLexity, they still qualified for the World Championship. The American squad attended a lot of international events through 2010, where managed to win one and maintained their domestic dominance in ESEA , as well as being the U.S. WCG representative.

Track record
vs.	Area51	16-13	ESEA Invite Season 8
vs.	Ruins	14-16	ESEA Invite Season 8
vs.	ttb	22-19	ESEA Invite Season 8
vs.	Death Clutch Gaming	16-7	ESEA Invite Season 8
vs.	Frag Dominant	16-14	ESEA Invite Season 7 Playoffs

Going into the World Championship the team has changed their in-game leader, out went Tomi "lurppis" Kovanen and in game Andrew "Irukandji" Timmerman. The Finn got a lot of credit for EG's success in 2010, but at the same time Timmerman has received a lot of props for his work as an in-game leader, where he has managed to down EG on several occasions.

Close but no cigar

Just to touch on some of the fine results the team gathered before becoming 100% American again, EG went to the IEM4 World Championship, where they against all odds topped their group. Wins against fnatic, Fx, mTw and Mojawi, the Americans advanced into the semi-final. Here the team came short of advancing any further, as they were beaten by the winners of the event, Ukrainian Natus Vincere. In the bronze match EG came close to getting silver-ware around their neck, but metal slipped through their hands against SK Gaming and would have to do with fourth place.

Finally on the podium

It should take the team four months before they once again made it far in a tournament. On home soil, the team managed to reach the semi-final at Arbalet Cup Dallas. Once more they faced the Ukrainian giants, but this time shocked many, by starting out with a 16-1 win on de_tuscan. EG were however not able to reiterate as Na´Vi went on to win the following two maps. In the fight for the bronze, the team this time sealed the deal and made the podium with a 2-0 win against Lions.

First major win since CGS return

When CGS crumbled away - the American stars returned and joined up with EG. Prior to CGS the Americans conquered titles while representing compLexity. Since the return to Counter-Strike, the team had however not won a single international event. In September the relief came when attending the MSI BEAT IT finals in Beijing. With an intense victory in the semi-final against TyLoo, EG found themselves in the final against fnatic.

A landmark was reached

fnatic were downed too and the Americans nailed the victory they had been longing for so long to get a hold of.

Changes here and there

Changes came after MSI BEAT IT finals, Ediz "goodfornothing" Basol stepped down and in came Derek "dboorN" Boorn. The first real showing for EG with Boorn came at the IEM5 American Championship Finals, where they in the final faced compLexity. EG lost the match and up next was WEM in Hangzhou, after three matches EG were eliminated. Returning to the states, the in-game leader swap was announced and EG once again became 100% American.

		Age	Rating
	Danny "fRoD" Montaner	24	1.16
	Tyler "Storm" Wood	25	1.03
	Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert	20	1.18
	Derek "dboorN" Boorn	22	1.07
	Andrew "Irukandji" Timmerman	22	1.09

Two in the top of 2010

EG also had two players entering the top 20, which is a showcase how important the duo is for the team. Gilbert – the madfragger and Montaner – One of the best AWPers. Gilbert especially had a stunning second half of 2010, playing his best tournament on home turf (Arbalet Cup Dallas), being the 6th best in KPR (0.80) and the 2nd best player on de_train (1.30 rating).

Montaner fulfilled some of the potential the community had said he lacked since the return from CGS. Montaner once again showed he is one of the best AWPers in the world, the 4th in 2010. Just like Gilbert, he played his best tournament in Dallas and also played best on de_train.

First match - 09:10CETMarch 1, vs. Natus Vincere

Key to success– Should EG have the duo on fire, it is a very good argument in why they would do well. Facing them on de_train could also very well be a deciding factor for the other teams in Group B, just by looking at their statistics from 2010. Just like compLexity, the team is likely to harvest great fruits on the bootcamp the team is having in Berlin.

Exit scenario– It could be too early for Timmerman and EG to make it far in a big tournament, but on the other hand, we do not know what to expect; it will most likely be a do or die. Just like many other teams in 2010, EG had difficulties moving past Na´Vi, as they are sharing group, the Ukrainians beast could be the stopping factor for the Americans.

Stay tuned for more previews to come, Sunday will feature a look at the Asian representatives from redCode and UMX-Gaming. On Monday, one day before the event, we will bring you an in-debt article with the Europeans.