Looking back at the recent achievements of The Last Resort and Evolve Gaming, few would have anticipated the do or die showdown they stand to engage in tonight. At the end of the day, only one of these established sides will remain in the tournament while the other will be eliminated. The winner secures a position in the top three, but the loser goes home empty-handed. Prestige and prize money are on the line as two of Europe's best teams go head-to-head in the etQcup tonight.

The Last Resort
In the immediate aftermath of the side's success at Crossfire Prizefight Challenge II back in April, TLR suffered a sudden competitive setback that sent them staggering through the EuroCup. Starting out with an unconvincing 4-2 victory against the Finnish underdogs of Incomplete but eventually finishing 3rd behind clans that had hardly posed threats to them back in April, Evolve Gaming among them, the side's decline in level of performance was evident.

When the etQcup came along, the team pounced on the opportunity to make up for their recent indifferent run of form, but only to stagger and lose 0-4 when faced with opponents previously considered in their league: Insignia Cadre. The defeat to the Finns set the alarm bells ringing for the CPC2 champions who since managed to claw their way into the Losers Bracket semi-final defeating the promising Germans of Auxilia and the tournament dark horse Fear Factory X-Fi, the team that defeated Evolve 4-0 in the Winners Bracket the previous month, along the way.

The victory against Fear Factory X-Fi should be a comfort to the TLR side, but declaring them victors ahead of tonight's match on the basis of that victory would be to commit a logical fallacy. Judging by their recent run of form, they will have to spare no effort if they are to prevail tonight.

Evolve Gaming
Apart from last month's hiccup against Fear Factory X-Fi, the story of Evolve has been quite the opposite of the CPC2 champions. Looking back at the their lacklustre form in April, Evolve have come a long way with regard to level of achievement as well as performance consistency. After numerous failed attempts at breaking into the top three of many a prestigious tournament, their recent EuroCup success, although clearly evident in the final against pro5, comes somewhat as a bolt from the blue.

Despite their consistent performance, Evolve's journey to the top has been anything but straightforward. Following their first victory in the EuroCup against now-defunct Morrigu, Evolve made a radical line-up change by replacing long-time players kris and fobje with former one4one star sqzz and the always controversial razz. Although questioned by many, the reshuffle turned out very profitable; Evolve eased through to the playoffs and made short work of any opponent along their way, TLR included.

The team had built up a noticeable momentum during the group stage, and they quickly strolled into the upper bracket final to meet their group rivals of TLR a second time. This encounter coincided with some technical difficulties that left sqzz watching from the sidelines while Evolve brought in the much talked of Dutch gunslinger Azatej to take his place. The seemingly impromptu reshuffle did not bode well for Evolve who went on to lose the first map of the match, finally being stripped of some of their saved up momentum, only to bounce back on the next map and eventually seize the victory on the deciding map. Evolve thus secured a spot in what would be surprisingly one-sided grand final that, despite line-up difficulties from both sides, ended in a clear 4-0 victory in Evolve's favour.

The EuroCup champions have since made further changes in their line-up, bringing in former tactical adviser Adacore and the glamorous figure of ex-pro5 player butchji in the places of XyLoS and perfo/sqzz. Apart from their recent victory against a hardly active Impact Gaming side, they have yet to pull off something big in the etQcup, which has, so far, largely been a tournament of default victories for them.

Thinking back to a comment by Evolve's team leader toxic about his desire to face dignitas (who have already secured a spot in the grand final) in an official context, his team should certainly have the motivation to defeat TLR tonight. Will they be able to pull it off, or will TLR put them back in place? Be sure to tune in tonight to find out for yourself!