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Here is a particularly nasty match up after seeing neon demolishing their 1.6 enemy 12-3 on a CT sided map whilst playing as the Harder Terrorist side suggests that they could have been rather pleased. I know for one that many Players in this lineup from afterlife dislike de_train and find it one of their weaker maps so perhaps #asONE possess a key weapon in the form of experienced UK Players on a map like de_train it could go down to individual skill breaking into those bombsites.

neon have like I said had a resounding victory over Overtime who had respectable #onlinecup and Intel Cup finishes. Perhaps now being tested against one of the more tedious clans from the UK they will definitely not win this on skills alone. A Bit of luck will be needed for the guys here as they will have a significant ping disadvantage.

For asONE they have already done half of what they achieved. They did not expect to beat the best of teams here and playing with the mindset that they do only makes them more of a challenge. Hopefully they will have their strongest squad out to face one of Finlands’ mightiest.

I managed to catch up with both teams to get their thoughts

CSGN: One could say that perhaps you both had a fairly easy route here. Do you think that your time in CSGN has gone from one extreme to the other?

asONE|Shaw: You could say it is at the moment with this new tournament and being listed in the upper brackets but I think if we persist it will stay constant and we just play our game and try to focus on that.

neon`delonge: Well I wouldn’t say easy, but then again it wasn't hard either, T side of inferno 12-3 and our first game was pretty much there, however we didn't spare anything and gave them our full arsenal. Think that the Admin setup here is also good which helps things out a little.

CSGN: Noting that whoever wins this is likely to face another 1.6 team do you think that the 1.6 teams have played well so far in this tournament, for instance dignitas. And do you see them taking home the first prize?

asONE|Shaw: The 1.6 teams seem to put up a fight but I think they lack something compared to the Source teams. I’ve never played 1.6 so I can’t really criticise them but as a team we are never underestimating and we try to beat any team in any competition; we always know there are going to be upsets.

neon`delonge: Well we dropped one 1.6 team so they aren't "dominating" or anything and I don't see a 1.6 team winning this either as none of them have had convincing wins. However dignitas are doing quite well to set the standard of 1.6 in source.

CSGN: Are there any teams that you want to avoid playing; perhaps in the latter stages of this competition due to them being particularly better than you on a specific map or generally that you think they are better than you Altogether?

asONE|Shaw: We don’t want to avoid any team really; we'll play anyone and everyone if we have to. Each time we'll learn and persist to become better be it a win or a loss. We're a new team from mid April and to say we have bad maps is stupid because we've only been together for so little. Practice practice practice!

neon`delonge: Well we don't want to avoid any team, we just want to play against everyone regardless of the map or their skill level compared to ours. We still are the unknown underdog I guess so it's cool to challenge everyone

CSGN: To finish on is there any last comments you wish to make about this Tournament or any Shoutouts?

asONE|Shaw: Just like to say it’s a smoothly run cup and great work from all at CSGN. Definitely has to be a shoutout to the #asONE organisation as well as all our sponsors. Cheers NiT.

neon`delonge: well Shoutouts go to our managers “Corin” and “ALIG”, and to the CSGN admins who are doing a great job, keep up the good work!

CSGN: Thanks to #asONE and #neon and I wish you both the best of luck in this round of the Tournament. May the best team on the night win?

Prediction – Win for neon

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Here is a much different match up. Both ends of the extreme. Lansports had arguably the toughest Source team (Unseeded) and only just crept over the finishing line 16-14. On the other hand x7 had their game defaulted about 2 hours before it was due to start. I think this won’t be as easy as some are making out and I think x7 do have a chance.

Exotic again coming into this match have relatively little known about them apart from beating ctx.css 16-14. On a map like de_train it will be similar but they will need to practice long and hard for this. With their SGL Appointment to the Championship tier they really are starting to get involved in European competition. Here is another chance to see if they can better the regular crop of CSS teams springing up. I for one am quite interested to who Exotic will put out on this map as it isn’t one played regularly in the Spanish setups and could prove their nadír here today.

For x7 I do not really know what their aims are. I’ll be blunt and say I cannot see them getting into the semi-finals as they do not possess the skills or the cohesion attained from some of the teams who have been playing together for longer such as cyberMercs or neon. However I think that winning this game will give them the boost to go on and play better. I haven’t seen their name pop up in any of the new competitions that have been released as of recent. Hopefully if they keep preparing well on the MR15 circuit they shall be able to mount an effective challenge.

CSGN: Both of you had different entries into this round, does that mean you both have prepared differently to this up and coming game as a special case scenario or was it just the bog standard pcws?

x7`xiLeF: Well I've only just come back from university, meaning we're still creating our strats for each map as they come up in competitions. The majority of our preparation has gone into whatever the CAL map of the week is, and since train hasn’t come up yet we haven’t had much time to prepare. However, we're doing our best to lock down the map, and we've got some quite unconventional strats in the pipeline, so we're hoping to pull off an upset in this game.

CSGN: This game is set to be another one of the close fought fixtures for this Week. Do you think that all of the fixtures on offer are going to be tough to call or can you see any sides outclassing their Round2 Opponents and moving onto the Quarter Finals?

x7`xiLeF: The first match, Ebuyer vs Planet6 should in theory go to Ebuyer. However, it may not be as clear cut as that, since Ebuyer have had half their team playing with Polarity for CGS, and Planet6 have a deceptively strong roster, so there could easily be an upset there. I don't know much about eyeG or eXult, but based on results and reputation, I'd imagine eyeG should take it. Northern Darkness has a very strong side, but 4DFX are a really talented bunch of guys who are adapting to the game really well, so it could go either way. I think this will be the match to watch. Cybermercs vs. Edge will also be good, and I'm hoping my Danish heroes’ cM can take this one. I think iG will beat OBi, as they have done nothing but improve recently, and they have rynn, who is made of 100% success and win. I haven't seen Dignitas play, but from reputation I'd imagine they should beat nV, even though they are a strong side. On paper neon should beat asONE, but there has been quite a bit of hype surrounding asONE recently, and I hope they can live up to it and pull off a nice result here.

CSGN: What sides do you guys think have the mettle to beat the best of them and Win this Tournament. Do you think that with some 1.6 Sides still remaining upsets can happen?

x7`xiLeF: There are some very good sides in the competition, and I think a lot of the results will come down to performance on the day. I wouldn't like to say teams who we can beat because I'd just be setting myself up to look a fool, but I think this competition is anyone's game at the moment, with no team shining above the rest. With regards to the 1.6ers, I think 4DFX will be the strongest of them in this competition, with an impressive performance over Junk52 (even if jaFro did carry) and continuous improvement, I'm expecting them to do well.

CSGN: Anything to add to finish on then?

x7`xiLeF: Best of luck to exotic in our match, hoping it will be a good game. Also, thanks to our sponsors; HVPC and Game-zero, our manager dfiance, and the staff at CSGN for running this awesome tournament.

CSGN: Thanks to #x7project and I wish you the best of luck in this round of the Tournament. May the best team on the night win

Prediction – Win for EXOTIC

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An interesting match for Infused Gaming tonight. With CGS upcoming, like many of the other top clans, they've have had to make changes to their roster which in the end did not work out. With HudzG returning from holiday, he will be available to play in the match (so I'm told) and I'm sure this will lift the spirits of the side. I feel this will be the first real test for their new line-up, with their match vs 4K being rescheduled last night, they've missed out on some vital team cohesion that only official matches bring out. Infused Gaming will be quietly confident but they know it it going to be tough.

OBI are certainly starting to show themselves as contenders for the #1 spot in Hungary. Excelling in almost all online competitions they play, they are high on confidence. A win last on Mill vs Neon will only add to this confidence and I'm sure they'll do their best to take it into the game tonight. An issue for them might be pings but they have the class to combat the effects of it and like Infused Gaming, they'll be quietly confident of grabbing a win.

This will be a very close match, a lot of it will be down to who wins the knife round. Train is a difficult map for terrorists and both teams will be trying to lock down counter-terrorists as much as possible. I believe whoever has the better first half (whether as T or CT) will go on to win the match.

Prediction – Win for Infused Gaming

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Write-up by Akirah