i34's Counter-Strike: Source tournament showcases a considerably weaker field of teams than i33, this is not to say that the competition is going to be poor, far from it, but there is a considerable lack of several teams. Where are the Finnish, Danish and Dutch teams? i34 it seems has suffered from bad luck.

In the TeX [The eXperience.DK] aftermath, many teams are going through the customary "we lost, change roster" phase. This has seen the likes of Logitech, Crossed and Magnitude [No roster changes] absent from this tournament. Another conspicuous absentee are ZBoard, whose manager Tony "Gom8z" Oilfeld confirmed they would not be attending. This has been the second successive I-series missed by the former I-series dominator and one must question, can they ever reclaim their title.

Nevertheless the line-up of teams at i34 showcases some ridiculous talent, with the top four placing's last year [two of them by organization name alone] returning for another crack at each other, the following is not meant to be a predictions post, you can see that in the preliminary seeds, it is meant to enlighten the reader into who the favorites are, their recent form and which teams may cause the huge upset.

Birmingham Salvo

The "Champions of the World" return in an attempt to keep a death grip on the Counter-Strike: Source trophy they currently hold from i33. No one doubts the caliber of player or quality of the team, but questions will be asked about the motivation to adjust back to the MR15 rule set to fight for a prize a tiny fraction of what was won less than two weeks ago. If they have the motivation and the desire to gun for a second successive win here, then I can see few teams standing in their way, a opinion over 55% you agree with. Salvo are the favorites here, it's up to other teams to step it up.

London Mint

A few questions were asked about the second seeding of London Mint by some users and I was rather baffled. They have done little wrong following a second placing at i33; wins against OPTX and Magnetik at the CGS were somewhat shadowed by a crushing defeat to Salvo, it's no shame to lose to one of the best teams in the world. Mint come here dangerously underrated, a position which draws instant comparison to i32, an event they won. They have the talent, they have incredible desire, do not underestimate them.

Reason Gaming

Following LAN79 this team has done it's best to live up to the hype, it was always going to be tough. A poor showing at TeX has seen questions asked of the team; can Sneix fill in for STR? Was LAN79 a fluke?

I'd like to think the answers are yes and no respectively, nothing can be judged from one average LAN, especially one so soon after a roster change. If the team can recover their form from LAN79 and TLR LAN then they can go on to win this, I'm personally incredibly excited in seeing how they fare up against the CGS teams.

emuLate!

Surprise absentees at TeX due to players holidays, although RegnaM did a superb job emulating (see what I did there) their presence with some superb admin work, emuLate need to live up to their potential with results. I still think they're the best team in France, even with Epsilon's win at TeX, they just need to prove it. A loss to Mortal Teamwork in the ESL Major Series II finals a few days ago does not bode well, but LAN is a different type of game. Momentum is key and if the French representatives get off to a good start they are right up there to contend for the title.

Four Kings

I penned this team all wrong, I saw the decision to form under the Four-Kings days after the second CGS draft a short sighted one at best taken by both the organisation and players dissapointed at the decisions of the General Managers ["CGS Rejects" was a possible choice of phrase here but I'm scared of Helbinde and value my limbs.]. Yet they went on to look amazing at TeX; teamwork, motivation and the obvious skill from these players shone through. Four-Kings have found a diamond in the rough with this team, and we'll see how brightly they shine at i34.

That was part one of the i34 rundown, stay tuned for part two shortly.