Tuesday sees the culmination of the fifth season of ESL’s Major Series. We look back at the tournament so far and ask “Who will win?”

Tomorrow night Europe’s top banana’s throw down for a not-to-be-sniffed-at €1000 prizepool. In the green and white corner, sneaking in on a default win from the Lower Bracket, we have the impetuous Power Gaming A.K.A. Illegal, not to be confused with the old Power Gaming squad who have finished 3rd despite folding in January. In the blue corner stands imposing form of defending champions TCM-Gaming, coming from the Upper Bracket and thus undefeated so far in the competition; it really is theirs to lose.

This is not the first time our contenders have met since the EMS qualifiers commenced back in rainy October. Power drew first blood back then in ETF2L Season 6 with a decisive 2-0 victory that was most notable for a war of pings as neither side could agree on a server resulting in maps played at opposite ends of Europe and no love lost between these combatants. TCM-Gaming managed to turn the tables in their next encounter; a three map epic in Round 2 of EMS Playoffs from back in December which featured some end-to-end stuff on Badlands and Granary. They would lock horns again on a cold Saturday morning in January: The scene of the slaughter? Helsinki, Finland at Winter Assembly 2010 group stages where they produced one of the best games of the tournament with a tight 4-3 victory for Power on Badlands. They wouldn’t meet each other again until early February in the closing stages of Esports Heaven’s Moray Menace Cup.

Power Gaming seemed to be gathering momentum after a strong performance at Winter Assembly and a healthy dose of hype within the community. It was all looking rosy for the boys from Finland as they inched ahead again, winning the Upper Bracket final 4-3 in the dying seconds on Granary and taking the easy route to the Grand Final, but there was to be a sting in the tail. TCM had no intention of going down easy and proceeded by destroying Power 5-0 on the much maligned Well. Both teams then kicked it up a notch the second map, Badlands, producing a spectacular game that was only decided in the dying seconds as TCM overwhelmed the turtling Finns to deny them a shot at the golden cap and clinch the tournament.

These teams have already developed a savage legacy, so I should not need to tell you to be excited about this match but just in case you hadn’t gathered: it’s gonna be intense brah!

Playoff Bracket

Round 1	Round 2	UpperBracket Final		Grand Final
PwR 2
	PwR 2
idk? 1
		PwR 1
	Blight 0
Blight D
				TCM ?
[r@ts] 0
	TCM 2
TCM 2
		TCM 2
rockit 0
	illegal 1
illegal 2
Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Lower Bracket Final
			PwR F
	illegal 2
		illegal 2		illegal ?
	idk? 0
idk? D			illegal D
	Blight 2
rockit 2		Blight 2
	rockit 0
[r@ts] 1

SourceTV: relay.toaster.fi:27020

Stream: Pwnage TV, OnlineGamer.se & n2oTV.de

As always check this article and the trusty match ticker to your right for all the most up-to-date match and stream information. See you on STV, I’ll be the one fakenicking Robin Walker!

EMS V: Grand Final