Fnatic regains Counter-Strike crown in Los Angeles

Fnatic got back to their winning ways at the Extreme Masters invitational in Los Angeles. By beating SK, they put themselves right on the pedestal of competitive CS.

Fnatic looked like champions from the first match on. They moved from round to round without any problems. By doing so, they showed that they are most likely the best team on earth. Their final against SK Gaming was so one-sided that their celebration after the last round could hardly be called ecstatic.

With a new team, SK Gaming was not able to get a better result than second place. A mix of players from the early 2007 SK Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas did well to get to the final. Such a good start wins them the time to work on solidifying the good shape without the pressure of their fans’ expectations.
The Extreme Masters event was dramatic for the other major team, PGS Gaming. Before the competition started, even Fnatic’s members admitted that the Polish team is the number one lineup in the world. After winning the “group of death” with Gravitas and SK Gaming, they probably did not expect disaster.

But losing both games in the playoffs to eMazing Gaming and eSTRO was just that. Is ten days of doing nothing in Los Angeles prior to the event a valid enough excuse for them? Probably not, and the problems may go deeper than just a lack of preparation.

Team Roccat from Finland showed a good performance with their third place finish, but somehow this team cannot take the one step that would take them to greatness. Fourth place went to Made in Brazil who also won a spot in the EM II tournament in March 2008. Two non-European teams could win spots for that event. The second one went to eSTRO.

The event was watched closely by members of Los Angeles Complexity, America’s best Counter-Strike: Source team and formerly one of the best CS 1.6 teams in the world. Judging by how much time they spent around the area, they probably wished they got to play in the event as well…

#1 - fnatic - $25,000
#2 - SK Gaming - $10,000
#3 - Team Roccat - $5,000
#4 - Made in Brazil - $3,000, qualified for Finals
#5 - e-STRO - $2,000, qualified for Finals
#6 - eMazing Gaming
#7/8 - Meet Your Makers
#7/8 - PGSPokerStrategy.com CS