The third season of the EPS kicks off tonight and it looks like the UK finally has some semblance of a "scene" again.

When the teams were announced for the event there were around 4 or 5 mix teams and spare pages needing to be filled. They have finally been filled and there has been a return of some of the old guard, as well as some new faces emerging looking to take home the third EPS title.

Here is a preview of the EPS with the teams I feel will still be in contention for the title at the end of the season, as well as some of the teams who could cause an upset.

The Favourites:

Power Gaming

Power will be most people favourites to win this season of the EPS. They are technically the defending champions as season three was won by Crack Clan - who later became Power Gaming. They made it to the final of i38 where they lost out to Reason Gaming in one of the matches of the tournament. The recent addition of Sam 'RattlesnK' Gawn will only strengthen them. Right now they are the only UK team who have proven they can keep up with the big names in Europe so I can't see them taking anything other than first place.

Player to watch: The man to watch has to be Daniel 'Re1ease' Mullan, he has been improving day in day out since he got his big break in fm! Toxic and can now be considered one of the best players in the UK. Having yet to win an event he will be eager to fix that and the EPS will be his best chance to do so since i38.

Prediction: 1st

Dan 'Re1ease' Mullan had the following to say regarding his teams chances:

I think we'll do fine and the only real contender for the top spot against us, once we start actually start practicing properly, will be fragmasters Toxic. Other than that I really can't tell you who will make it through to the lan finals as it seems to be quite tight amongst most uk teams at this time.

Fragmasters Toxic

Fragmasters Toxic have been plagued with problems since they decided to form the team, they took months to find a 5th player to slot in - which they found in Ollie 'crazycat' Netherton. Yet after a few weeks they decided the team wasn't right and they would be making changes. Out went both crazycat and kajsk1ng and in came Jim 'mx' Smale and Lewis 'Hughsy' Hughes. Problems or not the teams pedigree cannot be questioned, the core of the team played for Crack Clan - last seasons EPS winners, and the remaining two are regarded as hugely talented players. If anyone is to challenge Power Gaming, it will be this team.

Player to watch: Nayden 'nayden' Delchev - He had been playing in the second tier of the top UK teams for quite some time before finally making a name for himself at i38 with team Infused, although his team had a disappointing finish he consistently outplayed his opponents, playing excellently against both Power Gaming and fm! Toxic. He did enough to catch the attention of Richard 'ritch' Gibbs who decided he wanted him in this team, he will be looking to repay him by taking his team to first place.

Prediction: 2nd

I spoke to Nayden 'nayden' Delchev about his teams chances:

This season of EPS should be really interesting I think as there are alot of teams that could potentially make it into the top 4. I think we should be able to qualify to the lan finals pretty easily as I cant see much going wrong. I can only predict the top 3 which would be us, Power and TCM which I can say for sure, who will take the last spot I have no idea, there are a lot of strong contenders for that last spot like TLR, fish123, infused, noREPLY and GLG. It should be one of these teams I reckon. Good luck to everyone participating!

TCM

When TCM made it to the finals of i37 - losing out to Reason Gaming in overtime - many saw it as the start of something special for the team. It wasn't to be as after just a few weeks the team had been scattered to the four corners of CS:S, the organisation stayed out of the CS:S scene until just 2 weeks ago when they announced a new team. All of the players had played with the organisation in the past and, should they stick together, they are definitely capable of causing an upset or two. Since three of the team are from overseas they have added Jack 'Callisto' Mason to the roster in order to participate, something that shouldn't cause too many issues as he has played with most of the lineup before.

Player to watch: My player to watch for TCM will be Simen 'warclOwn' Aas Henriksen, having played at the top end of the scene for years he took a lengthy break away from competitive CS:S, playing for various teams in his home country but never really reaching the heights he did in Reason Gaming. This team marks a return for the player and he will be keen to show he hasn't lost his touch.

Prediction: 3rd

Eamon 'cauzed' Drea said the following:

This third season of EPS will be very interesting I think, there are a lot of teams that could beat eachother on their day and it will be good to see how the top 10 UK pans out. Im confident that we will place in the top 4 however there are a lot of teams who will be practicing hard for this and as we arent going to be practicing with our proper lineup results could well vary. I expect to see us, Power, Toxic and GLG/fish123 - who I think will suprise a lot of teams over the next couple of months - at the finals!

The Outsiders

Below are some of the teams that will be battling it out for the remaining play-off spots come the end of the season, and could cause an upset or two along the way.

GLG

TLR

Infused

noREPLY

Rive

Fish123

The Others

The rest of the teams that will be taking part this year. I can't see these teams making it to the play-offs as they are - for the most part - lacking the experience needed to consistently perform against the best in the UK.

bouncebackability

Ministry

Dignitas

The Imperial.uk

GSG

Rasta.

MTG

The cash prize will be divided as follows:

Cadred will be bringing you weekly coverage of the event starting from tomorrow.