LAN events like buses, there isn't one for a while and then suddenly
two come along at once. When it comes to ECL this is most certainly the
case as we haven't had an event for over 8 months. Next weekend however
they will be showcasing their latest spin off with the
ECL Pro Series, featuring 4 Black Ops teams at the top end of Europe who'll battle it out for the title of Pro Series champion and £1000.
The event is taking place in Birmingham NEC at the Gadget Show Live,
unfortunately for those wishing to attend, it's been sold out for months
so you'll have to make do with a stream by provided by ECL Justin.tv
over the weekend.
The format of the tournament is simple, each team will play each other,
with the top two teams then battling it out again for the title of
champions. Who are the teams you may ask? Well check out my rather
dodgy predictions below;
- 1st Place
Tom '
Tommey' Trewren
Zak '
Riddlez' Tallis
Elis '
Blackk' Strouthos
Sam '
Bissell' Bissell
It was always going to be extremely hard to choose out of these 4 who
would be number 1 team, but I've chosen Royalty for a number of
reasons. The first is that they are currently on form, taking down each
of the teams below including a huge win over Power last week, who at
the time were unbeaten in regular tournament games. We also have to
remember that this is the only team in this list who've teamed recently
at a LAN event when 3 of the team attended Reflex GT 2. While their
placement of fourth was weak considering the opposition, the removal of
King and the introduction of Tommey has meant this team has grown
exponentially in fire power. This team know that this tournament is
their chance to put things right after their poor Dutch performance and
they'll be keen to take this £1000 away with a bang as they head into
ECL Blackpool.
Power Gaming - 2nd Place
Nick '
XLNC' Ward
Callum '
Swanny' Swann
Samuel '
Pacino' Walley
Maxime '
Maxxie' Ebran
What happens when you bring 4 amazing individual players into one
team and put them in a LAN event? Well the answer is we don't know yet
for Black Ops as it's never really been tried, however Power Gaming
will be keen to field their new squad at the ECL Pro Series in hopes
for a replication of their online form. Since forming as a team they
have been almost unstoppable with only losses from Royalty in regular
tournament games and a small loss to mX in the one day cup. I think
they'll do extremely well in the tournament, perhaps even topping the
group however when it comes down to the final game I think
personalities will clash and it'll all going to go downhill. A strong
performance from them is no doubt on the cards and regardless it will
prepare them as a team for ECL Blackpool.
Infused.Tt eSPORTS - 3rd Place
Ashley '
Sowerz' Sowersby
Luke '
LukeJS' Sowersby
Ryan '
Monksy' Monks
Nathan '
NayNay' Rowe
In my third place position we have none other than Infused, formerly
known as Incontrol, who's name was highly ironic for various reasons.
This team are going in very much as the underdogs as Sowerz and
LukeJs CoD4 achievements are all but a memory, but the 12th place
finish at ECL Liverpool is very much still alive and these two will be
keen to wash that away. NayNay has yet to place highly at an event
despite strong performances at ECL and with fresh talent Monksy we
could see them putting up a good fight.
Fnatic - 4th Place
Andrew '
Dopedgoat' Fisher
Tomas '
Gunshi' Jones
Tobi '
Tobi' Fisher
Andrew '
Jolly' Jolly
We finally get down to Fnatic, who to say the least, haven't had a
brilliant time on Black Ops so far with a grand total of zero
tournament wins. This team will be going to the event without Mak and
instead are taking Jolly, who could bring a bit of a life to a team
that otherwise seems dead in the water. After such dominant play on
CoD4 and MW2 they could still surprise us all and wipe the floor, but if
not, it will be hard for Doped and Gunshi seeing their LAN record
together slightly stained. Tobi on the other hand will be used to the
4th place finish.
It's looking set to be a great warm up for the teams in time for ECL
Blackpool the weekend after and each team will no doubt be looking to
take something away from this, win or lose. Remember to check out
www.Decerto.net over the weekend for news, links to the stream and results!
Source: Decerto.net
Subject: ECL Pro Series - Black Ops Preview 
Thu Apr 14 2011, 05:47
