1. Pentagram

Pentagram had an amazing year in 2006. Coming first at WSVG UK ahead of teams like SK, hoorai, seven, mTw and 4K. As WSVG UK was not enough for these five polish stars. They also won the polish WCG qualifier, representing Poland at the WCG Finals in Monza, Italy. At WCG they represented Poland incredibly well - Pentagram advanced from the group play with 6 wins, and 0 losses. They made it to the final, by defeating; H2k.thermaltake (former wNv.eu), Hacker.PK & NoA. Facing the Swedish Ninjas in Pyjamas. Forcing the match into a third map, they won in favor of 2-1, and they could call themselves WCG 2006 champions. They claimed first place on the Gotfrag: World rankings of November 2006. Pentagram are also participating in the ESL Core 2 Extreme Masters. They are in a painkiller group. As we speak they share first place with fnatic and H2k.thermaltake. Pentagram were one of the few teams in 2006 that only made one replacement in their lineup. Based on their results and performance in 2006, we predict them as winners of shgOpen 2007.

2. mousesports

The German team mostly known as mouz, are ready for 2007 with a new and absolutely astonishing lineup. They brought in former mTw players; silver, Tixo and Kapio. Especially Tixo and silver made a lot of progress regarding team development in 2006. Starting off with ALTERNATE aTTaX, who went to shgOpen 2006. They lost to the teams advancing to the final NoA & Serious Gaming, placing them at a 5-8th. place. Though they had some nice results during the summer period. They also attended the Intel Summer Championship (ISC 06), with a mixteam consisting; mooN, Tixo, silver, CHEF-KOCH and Kapio. They came 2nd after losing 2-0 in the final to compLexity. They both then joined mTw and after having no good results to talk about - The players then changed to the Mousesports organasation. They are ready for the Intel Core 2 Extreme Masters finals, taking place at this years CeBit in Hannover, Germany.

3. SK Gaming

The Swedish powerhouse SK-Gaming, had a terrible year in 2006. They did not perform well at any of the events they went to including ESWC and WCG qualifiers. Now this is the team everyone has been talking about, with the acquisition of two ex-NiP players, SpawN and Robban building on the solid skills that allen and snajdan have, this is one huge recipe for success this year. They however made still in the run for the NGL-One Season 2 finals. A close loss to MiBR this week at Inferno Online demonstrates that either they are holding back, or they’re just not ready. Despite they had a terrible 2006, we believe in this lineup, and we see them going in as third on the podium.

4. 69N-28E

Formerly known as hoorai, the team consists of world class Finnish talent, they have been fairly unlucky as of recent as at most events naSu has not been able to play (considered one of their best players) because of his young age. WCG they were close getting to the final, but a well playing NiP beat them to it. Though they managed to beat the danish NoA, putting them third on the podium. Recently finishing a lower than expected 7th place at CPL Winter 2006 (with barrack as a stand in), this team will be charged up and ready to win this tournament looking to prove their critics wrong.

5. mTw

After an excellent year, NoA can be considered the best CS team in Denmark.The team NoA, went to the last edition of shgOpen, beating fnatic in the final. The team went to WSVG with a small replacement. They brought in Paddy, and xione took a break. Nothing great happend though, and after a few weeks, a new team was formed. In came mJe and ave, our went the norweigans; prb, XeqtR and xione. WCG should be they breakthrough. They played very well through they whole tournament. They faced Pentagram in the semi-final, after defeating Mousesports and The image “http://static.hltv.org//images/flag/yu.gif” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors. KGB_4Glory. Unfortunately they did not advance to the final, since they lost on 2 maps. However they are in a bit of a slump at the moment demonstrating mediocre performances in the Core 2 Extreme Masters, will they carry this losing performance to the tournament this year? We think they will perform their very best and reach the top5, on their homecourt.