The ESL European Nations Championship of Counter-Strike: Source finally starts.

After four qualification rounds the main part of the ESL European Nations Championship kicks off. Twelve teams divided into two groups, the first team in each group directly qualifies for the play-offs, while the second placed teams will face the third from the other group. Four teams will therefore qualify for the finals, with the semifinal being played online and the grand final on LAN. At the finals three thousand euros are up for grabs, with €2,000 going to the champions and €1,000 to the runners up.

Almost all the best countries are taking part in this edition (the second) of the ENC but still some names are missing, mainly from the Scandinavian area: Finland, who won in April the ClanBase Nations Cup, Norway and Sweden (third in the CB NC), who respectively lost to Netherlands and Italy in the last qualification round.

Group A

In Group A there are France, United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Russia and Belgium.

The French team recently came second in the ClanBase Nations Cup, losing to Finland in the grand final after their victory over Netherlands. They also got a silver medal in the ENC last year. In the ENC Preparation Tournament they won against Norway and lost to United Kingdom, playing with mixed lineups, featuring players from VeryGames, redLine and EssentiaL.

The ENC Preparation Tournament was won by United Kingdom, who beat France and Czech Republic, playing with Hughsy, HenryG, re1ease, HudzG and FrankstaH. After five days they played the fourth qualification round versus Switzerland, with Hughsy being replaced by Callisto. In the ClanBase Nations Cup UK was knocked out of the competition in the groupstage.

In the fourth qualification round Denmark won against Spain 2-1, with frozt, kev1n, lokke, pur1ty and rytme playing, but in the ESL account there are also other players such as orga, krogh, wantz and 3k2 available to play. In the CB Nations Cup Denmark lost in the quarter finals against Finland.

Germany came fourth in the last European Nations Championship, while in the ClanBase Nations Cup they lost in the semi-final against Finland. They have a mixed lineup with players from the top three teams in the country, mTw, ALTERNATE and hoorai.

Russia got directly invited to the Main Round due to their position in the nations rankings. In the last edition they finished third in their group and after that they lost against France which was second in the other group. In the ClanBase Nations Cup they lost 2-1 versus Norway in the quarter finals. The team is mainly composed by players from forZe and PinCho.

Belgium is probably the weakest team in the group, the team started in the QR 3 beating Bosnia and Herzegovina, and went on to beat Hungary in the next round. The most noticeable players are NwK and Ex6TenZ from redLine, although apparently there are no players from AIMAZING.

Rankings Group A

Clan Details	Played	Wins	Losses	Draws	POINTS
France	4	4	0	0	12
Germany	4	3	1	0	9
United Kingdom	4	2	2	0	6
Belgium	4	1	3	0	3
Russia	4	0	4	0	0
Denmark

 

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Group B

In Group B there are Czech Republic, Italy, Austria, Poland, Netherlands and Slovakia.

Czech Republic is the title holder of the competition, last year they won the competition beating France in the final. However, in the recent ClanBase Nations Cup they lost in the semi-final against their Slovakian opponents, after a victory over Poland in the quarter-finals. The lineup is composed of seven players, five of which are from Giants, a team at the moment inactive. The other two players are bazy from Reason Gaming and MajklGO.

Italy was certainly the surprise of the fourth qualification round, where they unexpectedly beat Sweden in two maps after a victory over Turkey in the third Qualifying Round. In the ClanBase Nations Cup they got three losses, a win and a draw in the groupstage, but apparently they've improved so it'll interesting to see how they perform in their first ENC. The lineup is mainly formed by players of Inferno eSports.

Austria is another team which got directly invited to the Main Round of the competition due to last year's results. They started in the last qualification round, beating Italy, and they got the third place in the group stage. Then they were knocked out of the tournament by Czech Republic. The team features players from Team123, You Don't Know Me plus GreX from ALTERNATE.

Poland is the second team coming from the third qualification round in this group. They beat Portugal and after that they received a default win from Finland, thus qualifying for the main round. In the ClanBase Nations Cup they reached the quarter-finals, where they lost against Czech Republic.

Netherlands is another team coming from the third qualification round. They triumphed over Croatia and got the qualification after the victory over Norway.In the playoffs of the Nations Cup they won against Belgium, being knocked out in the semi final by France.The lineup sees all 4Kings players with the addiction of barchetta, caveman, foodas, and brains from Naturals eSports.

Last but not least, Slovakia. The team that was the Cinderella of the 2008 edition: they started in the first qualification round, reaching the group stage and placed first in their group. In the playoffs, after the loss against Czech Republic in the Winner Bracket, they beat Germany and lost to France in the Loser Bracket, ending third. More recently, in the Nations Cup, they reached fourth place, after losing in the semi-final against Finland. The lineup is formed entirely by players from Defeaters and Reason Gaming.

Rankings Group B

Clan Details	Played	Wins	Losses	Draws	POINTS
Italy	4	4	0	0	12
Slovakia	4	3	1	0	9
Austria	4	1	3	0	3
Poland	4	1	3	0	3
Czech Republic	4	1	3	0	3
Netherlands