Northcon, which is set to take place this weekend from 15-18 december, has organised a non-byoc event for the first time in it's existence. Teams could apply for a slot or qualify via either smaller LAN events or the online and on-site qualifiers. The first 8 attending teams are now known, while the final 8 will be announced very shortly.

Northcon, which is usually only considered a community based LAN, has gone big this year. The winter edition has a 6000 euro prizepot, something which is unheard of for this LAN, where the prizepot is usualy less than 1000 euro. It's also the first time the event organisers set up a fully non-byoc tournament. It seems they have chosen the right thing to do as they attracted some big names by doing this.

With 8 out of 16 teams announced for the pro tourney the turnout looks as follows:

mTw.int - HenryG, HudzG, wez, stingeR, nooky
Copenhagen Wolves - smF, socN, xlo, AnK, pur1ty
Team Thermaltake - osirisbash, miniT, sraven, crisby, xs1ck
n!Faculty - disruptor, asmo, qk-Mantis, ste, Tesla
EYES ON U - dash1, helli, deathX, bmd, mjr
Team STÄNDER - rainbow92, Beastly, Gery, PASS1ON, Skycaptain2
x2-Hosting.de - KRAEUTERHUMPEN, d0n, kaiii, stavros, smn
ZABO - mvicK, whN[R], Tali, mephisto, jaschbär

The tournament will be non-byoc, with stv and live stream including German shoutcast, and will be the first real test for the newest addition to the mTw organisation: the international squad. Stay tuned to cadred for coverage on the event as well as some interviews with attending players and teams!