Gamegune shakes things up

Published on ESEA Europe in 2008.

The 1.6 tournament circuit seems to be running at optimum speed in Europe and so we see a sizeable event every month or so it seems. After the excitement of ESWC Masters and kode5 GameGune was never going to live up to the same level of terms of the top calibre teams. That said though a number of well known faces made the trip to Spain and here are some of the big outcomes that emerged. From the Germans with something to prove to the energetic Brazilians who stormed the podium’s top step.

mouz marches on

Mousesports have shown a lot of faith in their current line-up and now that investment has begun to really pay off. Their big result at EM2 showed that mouz were not going to be dark horses forever, but that they had the capbility to really win an event. This event more showed that mouz is playing a specific level of play now, they didn’t dominate the event but they handled the teams they were expected to, A-gaming aside, and really ensured the world knew mouz were contender material. For now that may keep the hounds at bay but there will also be those who view GameGune as an opportunity to win an event Mouz couldn’t capitalize on.

High energy play and another classic upset

It really does seem to be impossible to predict when mibr will rise. No matter the level of opposition they face one never knows how an mibr team will respond. One characteristic they all seem to share though is a reliance on their internal energy. When they string rounds together and players start to gain confidence there can be a snowball effect and this can really carry mibr to strong halves. In their best performances that momentum builds up until stopping it becomes a tricky proposition for the other team. This event saw mibr slowly work their way through the event before emerging quickly at the end to win the whole thing, much like a long distance runner who has saved his ‘kick’ until the last lap where he hopes to overtake the opposition with a quick sprint.

A-gaming coninue to amaze

This team has real potential and not just because of one result last year. Their WCG bronze may have put them on the map but big performances in Russian events and the pickup of hooch has really established A-gaming as a threat to the rest of the well known teams. This team has a very specific style of attack which seems to throw opponents off, they benefit from good matchups against a number of teams who on paper might look better. This event saw A-gaming really show their ability to beat a wide range of opponents. Their victory over mouz who they would then lose to was a bigtime win and should give them some confidence going forwards from here.

X3o makes progress

In an era where everyone assumes EG.usa is far and away the best American team X3o beg to differ and their 4th place here really shows why. While at times facing a less difficult path than some other teams X3o impressed me most with their close game against mouz. This team showed that what they lack on paper they have made up for with fluid execution and chemistry. Whether they can actually contend to win an event really remains to be seen, for now they should enjoy a slight step up in the hierarchy and concentrate on being US #1s.

Absentees stop it being a full on party

Perhaps the only thing to bring Gamegune down from being a truly high profile event was the MYM, fnatic and emulate being absent thanks to their participation in the e-stars event. Roccat and ex-excello removed a couple more dark horses too. All in all there was excitement and tension but as spoiled as we are in the 1.6 world now we all expect to see the big names every time around from now on.