There are series of just Quake III: Arena important tourneys. Long time since I've seen 3 huge european tourneys going quickly one after another in two months. CPL Cologne, Lan Arena 7, Euro Cup 5 - each one had the chance to be unique, but it happened that we've seen lots of identical matches.
Euro Cup - the most prestigious tourney, but... What had gone last weekend didn't seem to be the thing like everyone was expecting for long time. For myself I had no interest to see either iCe cLIMBERS will win or proZaC & Co... I haven't, essentially, watched any demo. And what could I see there? Of matches between Unreal and Regeneration I'll just speak nothing. Maybe, my departicipation was because of really hot summer in this region, or maybe because 3 big tourneys at once - too much. But maybe it's the unstability of players being in one team.
About QPO and p1mps - everything's already said, Eyeballers surprised us with having Fazz and Fox in the team. Clan mTw with having third places twice is an exception. On CPL Cologne, maybe last time, was the roster of "oldschoolers", on Lan Arena 7 those who didn't want to belong to oldschool generation, gathered and played again. Respect... But it's not the goal of the column, the goal is to write my impression of these tourneys:
:Quad Peoples Organisation - wonderful team, destructing the mypth that people aging over 19 years can't play good Q3. More detail of the roster:
Boy_scout - 24 years. Wow.
Hjalmarzka - 21 years. This guy's practicing, and he's getting things right.
Seka - 23 years.
Senti - 18 years. Most suiting year for gaming.
Skywalker - 27 years, but haven't seen playing on the tourneys.
Tech - 19 years. Got into QPO not so long ago, plays great.
proZaC - 17 years. Maybe this one brough the win for QPO?
In short, the roster is exotic. Noting the fact that these "old ones" constantly play in serious matches, the myth of cg_cant_play_well_after_19years "1" doesn't work. Don't know why...
:iCE cLIMBERS-esu - my favourite clan. The overall age of players is most quake-fitting. First time the team shown themselves on Euro Cup 3, where iCE cLIMBERS managed to win two q3dm6tmp games over Unmatched, who were the impossible to win that time. And shortly, IC become the best, winning Unmatched again at CPL London. That was the dream team... Four guys throwing any enemy away on their path. A bit later the team lader, Panicore, leaves the team, but they didn't stop and continued to own. IC had become the leaders of Gib`n`Run online league with their new player Belth.
After that, the "three tourneys" period starts. iCE cLIMBERS had the most stable roster ever, the same players, and I've personally beleived that they will repeat their success at CPL London. Three times they've been at the finals and three times they've been having only second place. Every time losing to other teams: ForZe, QPO, p1mps. I wonder if they will be getting not second, but fourth place :p I coudln't figure out completely, what IC didn't have to win, but I wish this phenomenal team become the best. But now it's unknown when it will happen.
:proZaC - 17-year-old Cyrus Malekani. The best teamplayer in the world, Im sure. However he never had own clan which have been a champion. He just movemen and that team where he plays - the best. There's no much difference, but there's still another essence...
Here's the big three names/brands, which had made my impression at the (again) three high-grade tourneys. Well, maybe I would go watch the demo from WCG finals? There's nothing else to watch...
