After some gruelling group games on the first day, and some sensational bracket games on the second, Moscow 5 have reigned victorious at ECC Poland. Beating rivals CLG.eu in the final, it's safe to say that Moscow 5 are once again the best team in Europe. This position puts them top of the European ladder circuit, meaning that they'll definitely be attending Gamescom for the European Regional Championships.

So as I predicted, no boasting here..., Moscow 5 won the ECC Poland event, making them the best team in Europe as of now. On their way to victory, the russian side knocked out Elohell.net, OceloteWorld, Curse.eu and finally CLG.eu to claim their number one spot on the podium. As a little added bonus, I'd like to give a little review of how I think the top three did at the tournament, and we're they're likely headed from here.

Third place - SK Gaming

SK Gaming, though I gave them a little bit of grief in my preview, did very well this event. I put them as fourth place as I thought that due to having a new lineup, the more experience Curse.eu team would of put an end to them. However, the team proved that they are full of individual talent, and still able to take on some of the very best teams. This was proved as they took a map off of CLG in the first elimination game, then went on to 2-1 Curse.eu in the 3rd place match. With some great individual play from Kev1n, Yellowstar and even Ocelote, they managed to successfully outlane most of their opponents. It seemed though that they didn't quite have the co-ordination and cohesiveness that they needed to take down the giants CLG.eu.

I think SK definately showed that they have the ability and potential to take it to the big names if they so desired. However, I think to do this that Ocelote will have to create himself a lineup and stick with it through the bitter end. Now that SK have enough points to make it into the European Championship playoffs, it'll be interesting to see whether or not he keeps his current lineup. It seems though, that the return of Aranae brought out the best in Ocelote, as the fellow Spaniard seemed to bring similar passion to the team as the captain.

Second Place - CLG.eu

Counter Logic Gaming EU, the team that nearly everyone had their money on to win this event. The team had really been showing their dominance in Korea, 3-0ing their group in the OGN Summer Championship. However it seems that rivals Moscow 5 managed to clinch it from the team this time, but why? CLG.eu revolves almost all their teamcomps around the late game, biding their time and slowing gaining a gold advantage over their opponents. This strategy normally allows CLG.eu to use their excellent judgement to pick out the exact moment they gain the advantage, and push it. However when it came down to the final, Moscow 5 was very ready for this, and played in a way that stopped CLG.eu's ability to turtle. The team don't deserve any credit taken away from them though, as they played stunningly throughout the entire group stages, and also managed to knock out SK in the bracket.

I think CLG.eu need to carry on with what their doing, as they are definitely still dominating a lot of teams in Korea right now. However, as the OGN Elimination stage closes in, they will still need to be thinking about what changes they need to make in order to be able to take it to the Russians at Gamescom next month. CLG.eu however are a team well known for taking defeats well and learning from them, and hopefully this time the review of themselves will allow them to give the Russians a much better game next time around.

First Place - Moscow Five

These guys simply played a blinder. The Russians proved to everyone that they're not willing to simply let CLG.eu claim their rights to the European throne, and that when it comes to LAN events, they still reign supreme. These guys may have lost to CLG.eu in the groups with their risky strategy, but when it came to the finals they simply put it to bed. They played their laning phases perfectly, and roamed around the map when they needed to in order to shut CLG.eu down. As I said earlier, Moscow 5 played in such a way that allowed them to stop CLG.eu from turtling, taking out their biggest advantage. Moscow 5 gained an advantage in both matches and just kept pushing it and pushing it until eventually they were so far ahead there was no way for CLG.eu to defend against it. These guys are playing it cool, scrimming against top teams, creating new strategies, you name it. Moscow 5 need to just carry on being Moscow 5. They will carry on entering as many online tournaments as they can, all the time figuring out how to stay one ahead of all their major competitors. These guys believe in themselves, and so should you because they are a really scary team right now. It shouldn't be too difficult for these guys to carry on dominating, but they will need to think of something special if they want to beat CLG.eu again at the Gamescom event.

I have one more thing to say before I sign off this article, and that is...


GUARDIAN ANGEL OP