M19 lose Allstars (FIN) 5:6 at prodigy
The game was really tight. During the preparations we had 3 PC changed, which made us and our opponents rather nervous. We started for terrorists. In the first round I had a sensation that we got it, but it was put out by an uncovered back. Thre ours were killed and we lost. In general it was all right for terrorists, except a couple of troubles that persisted during all the game. We were unlucky, too, playong for counterterrorists in the 1st round. After that we gave in two more rounds, lost the 4th, and had to give in in the 5th. Draw game. Then the team braced itself and restrained the Finns 6 times. In the last but one round I was sure in our draw, but the last round for counterterrorists was "perfect". Not a round, but one big hole...

M19 def Malaysia 3:2 at cbble
This team isn't very strong, so there were no problems. We gave in only 2 rounds for counterterrorists.

M19 lose South Africa (a technical defeat)
A bit worse than Malaysia, but we were given a technical defeat for the gossip after one player's death and failed to be disqualified from the tourney.

M19 def Netherland 3:2 at dust2
An average team, but they attack too fast, so they were unlucky =). Was boring and not interesting.

M19 def NoC (UK) 3:2 at nuke
We've known this team for long time and expected more. They took the 1st pistol round and the next - then we lead the game.

M19 def USA 6:5 at aztec
A tactically weak, but lucky team. Arcading all the time and run with AWP. It's impossible to play on aztec on these PCs, the lag's too big =(. So the game was nervous, but we won.

Now we're waintig for the result of the game USA vs UK, and after that we'll learn how many jointing matches we'll have to play to get to the final Top8 from the group. We hope a lot, and the information will be available tomorrow afternoon.

Now, after a long break due to Internet irregularities at the WCG tourney we are resuming our report.

A new gallery from the WCG

Latest demos from the WCG Grand finals

In the Configs section there are new configs of pro players like ZeRo4, ProZaC, Stelam and others...

For the start I'd like to list the players who got to the Top 16 and will continue to fight tomorrow on the double elimination system. Nice to see all the 3 Russian players in the list: PELE, kik, LeXeR and James from Ukraine.

Group A: LeXeR, blokey
Group B: ZeRo4, Aim
Group C: PELE, Xeon
Group D: Sid, rinrin
Group E: kik, Pyton
Group F: St.Germain, menendez
Group G: ProzaC, radic
Group H: Stelam, James

Some comments to the groups' results. There were a lot of surprises, and the first of them - a really unsuccessful game by Makaveli and Socrates. Maka played very diffidently and after another loss he made a real uproar with loud curses and chairs' and headphones' throwing. And Socrates after having lost his first game on pro-dm6 to Python, probably understood that he's not ready for the tourney, and played in a relaxed way. As a result he, naturally, didn't pass the qualifier and ended up 4th in his group. ZeRo4 hasn't warmed up yet either, according to everybody's opinion. Slinger lost successively 3 games and refused the fight, too, but Stelam punched everyone in his group, so it'll be enough for them. A pity for Janus, but he lost important games and also left the competition. The rest of results are quite expected.

Now about our players' games. kik demonstrated a total quake and won with confidence all (!!!) the games in his subgroup. See the scores below. I was worried that the guy could burn out after long wait for the games, but it didn't happen. Socrates and Python were defeated in very beautiful matches, and the rest had no chance. ZeRo4 watched closely Kirill's last games. It's significant. kik is undoubtedly the tourney's discovery!

All PELE's games passed rather evenly, and the group itself was rather quiet. He stumbled only on Chip from Ukraine. Underestimated a little, and the map wasn't really his best (tourney2). And LeXeR increased his score in every game, defeating all in his group except Janus on tourney2. A lack of trainings on this map with strong opponents told. And in general it's all right, the authorities don't press morally on Alexey, everyone's worrying and the chances to win are good. All our players have already went to their Village to have a rest and to prepare for tomorrow's matches. The games start tomorrow at 10 am (local time).