Defending champions are out

Now who could have imagined, that the defending champions, would not have a chance to defend their title? The simple fact is that the defending champion of the Extreme Masters, mousesports did not advance from their group stage at the Continental Finals Europe.

Group B at the Continental Finals Europe, was one of the most intense groups to take place so far in 2009. The group consisted of several world class teams that should be attending the Global Finals. However, mousesports did not make it through, as they place fifth in their group. Even with victories against MYM and SK Gaming, it was not enough to advance.

Below, you will find their results throughout the group stage:

[opponents,314,60,5]

The SK Gaming win against MYM and their draw against Crack Clan ruled the Germans out. Placing fifth will not grant them a spot in further participating at the Continental Finals Europe, nor will it grant them a spot in the Global Finals tournament. The German power-house will from now on, only be spectating matches.

As the defending champions are out, it will give us a new champion for this season. Strong candidates are without a doubt the team of 2008, the Danish Vikings of mTw, who went through the main round with just a single map loss. Even with the map loss mTw finished with maximum points, as they won all of their matches. Another strong candidate would be the Koreans from WeMade FOX.


Who will grab the trophy?

Even with recent lineup changes, the team still contains strong players, which can bring them far. Sweden will send just one team to the European Finals, meaning either fnatic or SK Gaming will represent the Blue/Yellow colors. With recent lineup changes in the team of 2007, fnatic turn out to be the underdogs in this matchup.

[upcomingbooked,0,930828]

MYM against XLBet.Mirror - faced each other last in Dubai, where they played their main round matchup. The Danes secured a win, while the Polish team once again had to fight their way to the Continental Finals. Only one of these will go through at in Continental Finals Europe, while the loser will still after all advance to the Global Finals

[upcomingbooked,0,930827]

Make sure to drop in at 14:30 CET to watch the relegation matchups, where four teams will be fighting for the two remaining spots, in the Continental Finals Europe playoffs.