Here is another one. You can read it at: esportshut.blogspot.ca/2012/07/history-in-making-golden-5.html.
For more interesting stuff about CS, go to esportshut.blogspot.com


The most fearsome people are those whose pattern cant be anticipated. Those who act without thinking. People who are straight off the bat. When I think of the movies, it reminds me of Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) from Casino. When I think about the same words in CS, it reminds me of Poland! A team who can devastate the best of the best even when they are not in the best of form is a feat that is known best for Neo and co. Known as the Golden 5, the Poles are considered to be the best team of all time by many (including myself). Its not that people like them, its what they have accomplished in the past years.

It all started back in 2005. Samsung Euro Championship hosted by WCG, the Poles were victorious over SK.dk under the tag of Pentagram G-Shock (PGS). The line up was not that of the Golden 5 but had the familiar names such as Filip "neo" Kubski, Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtaz and Lukas "LUq" Wnek.

The next year, PGS recruited Mariusz "loord" Cybulski and Jakub "kuben" Gurczyński and along with the other 3, they went to work. Their 1st achievement was a 1st place at WSVG UK (World Series of Video Games). Over coming the likes of mTw.de, 4K.uk and hoorai.fi, PGS stormed to their first prominent victory. Their aggressive style of play was the highlight of the tournament!

After their trip to London, it was time for Monza, Italy for the grandest stage of the year: World Cyber Games! After a perfect group stage, PGS didn't waste any time in reaching the finals against NiP. After loosing the 1st map, it seemed that the walle and co. will take it home but that wasn't to be the case. After winning the 2nd map, PGS humiliated the Swedes on the 3rd map taking home their 1st ever WCG title. The most notable part of their performance was that they only dropped 1 map from the 15 they played that tournament!

By winning WSVG UK, they managed to qualify for the WSVG Grand Finals in New York City that winter. But things didn't go too well for them. After Beating wNv, they lost to fnatic and then to NiP in the lower bracket eliminating them with a disappointing 9-10 position.

Next stop was Dallas, TX for CPL Winter! PGS were looking for retribution after the humiliating loss at the WSVG Grand Finals. They did exactly that after literally destroying the JMC (Jax Money Crew) and Pandemic from the USA. Although they fell short to an unstoppable fnatic but they didn't go down without a fight. They forced the 1st map into overtime (de_dust2: 17-19) and gave s decent challenge in the next map (de_train: 10-16). This set them up against aAa.fr (Against All Authority) who they had no problem beating and getting them an easy and a respectable 3rd place.

In 2007, Pentagram started off strong at shgOpen after going undefeated in the upper-bracket and qualifying for the grand finals. After NoA.dk sent MiBR in the lower bracket, they lost to PGS only to be avenged by the Brazilians. MiBR didn't look back as they went on to win shgOpen while Pentagram settled for a 2nd place.

After a great performance at shgOpen 2007, Pentagram travelled to CeBit for 2 tournaments: IEM Season 1 Global Finals and SEC. They were clearly the best team around as they managed to get away with $56K from the 2 tournaments. Claiming the first ever IEM championship, PGS came second to SK-Gaming. After topping their group in IEM, they were knocked down to the lower bracket by a surprising Gravitas.dk. PGS however faced much greater challenge but overcame them by defeating SK and fnatic and going on to defeat Gravitas in 2 maps to claim gold. At the SEC, they were also knocked to the lower bracket by MYM.no but fought through to the grand finals. After defeating SK in the 1st map, they couldn't manage to do the same and got away with a silver medal.

During the summer, PGS shocked the whole world again by winning another major title, ESWC! Neo and co. defeated NiP and fnatic to make their way to the final where they face NoA.dk (defeating Virtus.pro and MiBR). PGS never had any real problem except for the 2nd map where they gave NoA a run for their money as well. Finally they managed to take them down 16:5 on train and 16-9 on inferno only losing on nuke 18-22 bagging another $40K.

WCG was a total disaster for PGS as they lost surprisingly to the Finnish Roccat after a close match up only managing a 9-16 position. 3 of PGS members (neo, LUq and TaZ) were also part of the Polish squad for the ENC where they managed to get Gold as well. The total prize money for Pentagram that year was around $110K!

MYM (Meet Your Makers) released the Norwegian squad and signed the Poles at the start of 2008. But the year didn't start off like the previous. They failed to qualify for IEM Global Finals II. In the KODE 5 Global Finals, they lost to fnatic after one of the best 3 map series and later lost to SK in the 3rd place match as well! At SEC, they again fell short to fnatic getting them a second silver in a row. It wasn't till summer that the Polish found their winning ground again. They won Dreamhack Summer 2008 without dropping a single map winning a close final against roccat.fi. They later won ESWC for a second year in a row, a feat achieved by no one else to date. During IEM III Global Challenge in Dubai, MYM faltered against and unsuspecting mousesports as they lost to them in 2 straight maps after mouz came from the lower bracket; thanks to an amazing performance by the late Antonio "cyx" Daniloski earning the Poles another Silver. They kept going downhill from then as they lost in the quarter-finals to mTw (Team of the year 2008). After that, MYM made a few changes to their line up removing LUq first and adding Filip "pionas" Pionka, then re adding LUq and removing Kuben. MYM did manage a 3rd place at Dreamhack Winter with pionas but the team wasn't the same any more.


In early 2009, neo and co. realised that they made a mistake by removing kuben so they called him back replacing pionas. They were also having problems with their organization which really affected their performance. Even then they managed to scrape a 4th place at IEM III European Championship. After a tough group stage, they were knocked to the lower bracket by mTw, the met the Danes again only this time eliminating them from the tournament. They eventually lost to the greatest fnatic line up but showed the world that they can perform under pressure and in hard times. MYM later announced the release of the Polish giants who were later signed by WICKED e-Sports. They earned pretty decent places with the tag with the getting a bronze at KODE5, a gold at DTS Cup and a silver at GameGune. They were released again by WICKED and were signed by a Dubai based organization, Vitriolic who sponsored their trip for the IEM IV Global Challenge. They didn't find much success there either and again found themselves without a sponsor for the 3rd time in the year.


To hell with sponsors, said the Poles and they travelled to Chengdu, China where they came over the unbeatable fnatic to win the whole event. They registered themselves in the WCG Hall of Fame becoming the 2nd team ever to win the WCG twice after Team 3D (2004 - 2005). They were the 1st ones to do it without a sponsor. They travelled to Sweden for Arbalet Cup Europe 2009 and for 4th place. At the last event of the year, they travelled to Hangzhou, China and managed a 3rd-4th place at WEG Masters! After a rocky year and a lot of speculation, the Polish proved that they can overcome insurmountable odds to accomplish extreme heights surprising the best teams when it seems most unlikely. Hence they were known as the Golden 5 and cemented a place in history forever!


In 2010, The Golden 5 were signed by the Polish organization Frag Executors (Fx). They also replaced their main AWP (LUq) with Jarosław 'pasha' Jarząbkowski through a program called Guns Are Drawn. The new team had the worst possible start to the year as they failed to get through the group stages of both European and Global Finals and Arbalet Cup Europe. But as time went on and the chemistry started to build, the results got better. They won e-Stars against the likes of fnatic, TyLoo and WeMadeFOX. Got 4th place at ESWC after a tough competition in both group stages losing to SK and mTw in the semis and 3rd place playoff respectively. They went further at GameGune, this time earning a silver medal, coming second to fnatic and last but not least ended up with a bronze medal at WCG which was one of the toughest competitions of the year! At the end of the year, they only managed a 4th at Dreamhack Winter after a shocking loss to Lions.se. They also managed a bronze at WEM after losing to WeMadeFOX in both the upper and the lower bracket.

2011 turned it around for the Poles. They started off with strong performances at IEM V Europe and Global Finals gaining a bronze and a silver medal respectively. They went on to win Xperia Play over SK which featured an amazing semi-final against mTw. After a break, Fx came back during the ICSC 8 LAN finals and got another 3rd when SK were storming everyone. They attended ASUS Summer and were victorious over there. But the event that defined the team was e-Stars 2011. Defending the title, they eventually came up against the seemingly unstoppable SK-Gaming in the final. They had beaten SK in the upper bracket quite comprehensively. After losing the 1st map (de_tuscan), ESC locked horns and won an epic match up in overtime. At SEC, the Poles had lost their sponsorship but as the tournament was in Poland, they attended under the tag of AGAiN again! After a shaky start in the group staged, they stepped up their game in the playoffs surprising Na'Vi with the aggressive play style and winning the final in straight maps, something they had never done before against the Ukrainians. After that performance, they were considered the favorites at ESWC but this time they got stopped by Na'Vi and also lost the 3rd place decider to mouz! They were also unsuccessful in getting past the quarter finals after another shocking loss to Lions.se yet again at Dreamhack Winter.

Still having a good number of titles and prize money under their belt, the Golden 5 travelled to South Korea to face for WCG to decide the team of the year. They were signed by ESC Gaming before travelling who earlier released their Scandinavian line up (kalle, tacky, pronax, BARBARR, moddii). As expected, they met in the final against SK and gave us a match to remember. After taking the 1st map (de_dust2: 16-12), they lost the second map quite shockingly (de_train 5-16) as SK dominated the Poles on the harder T-side. The tie breaker was de_tuscan, ESC's worst maps! After the end of the 1st half, ESC were down 7-8 as T-side. After the switch, it seemed SK would take it but a strong performance by pasha and neo helped them getting the 9 rounds, winning the map 16-14 and their 3rd WCG title. With the victory, they became the team of the year, a feat they haven't had for a long time.

During this time, the online qualification for the IEM 6 World Championship were going on. ESC have a reputation of being the worst professional team online. They failed to win every qualifier for a Global Challenge. When all hope seemed lost, a ray of hope shined for the Poles. A couple of teams who had qualified, couldn't travel due to financial issues. ESL arranged a couple of matches in order to fill in those spots and ESC got lucky enough to go through. After a shaky group stage, they met M5 in the quarter finals which they won without much resistance (tuscan: 16-14, nuke: 16-5). We had another amazing WCG finals rematch of SK v ESC. RobbaN and co started off strongly with a 12-3 lead as CT on nuke. The Poles replied back even better. Pasha were on a rampage helping his team to a 16-14 win at the end. Next map was mirage which SK took without much difficulty [11-16 (8-7, 3-9)]. The last map was another nail biter where ESC seemed to run away after a 14-1 switch on train-CT. But SK wouldn't go down without a fight. They went on to take 13 out of the 15 round only coming up a round short. In the end ESC marched on to the final with another 16-14 win.

The final was a rematch of last years final. Na'Vi, the defending champions faces ESC for a shot at their 3rd title in a row having won it past 2 years in a row. But ESC were on a roll with all the momentum from the win against SK. Neo coming off strong on de_train helped them win the map 16-11 (6-9, 10-2). The next map was on mirage. It was another close match but ESC couldn't do anything wrong. Pasha performed yet again when it mattered most winning crucial clutch rounds. The Poles won it altogether 16-14 (5-10, 11-4). They have, since then, been unable to produce a solid performance in a tournament this year!

The Poles came into the CS scene as a dark force. A team that could beat the best of the best and at times when it was most unlikely. They beat fnatic in 2007 when it seemed no one could. They are the only team to have won all major titles more than once (ESWC 2007-8, IEM Season 1 & 6 and WCG 2006, '09 & '10). 2009 was the year when they changed 3 sponsors (MYM, Wicked, Vitriolic). Since their rise in 2006, they have won a major title every year apart from 2010 which is recorded to be their worst! Even then, they managed a few strong podium finishes. Filip "neo" Kubski is the only player to be named Player of the Year twice (2007 and 2011). In the Past 7 years, they have had only 7 different player where others have changed numerous (TaZ, neo, LUq, kuben, loord, pasha, pionas). Keeping all that in mind, they have accomplished more than any other team in E-Sports history. They have won every single title that matters. Their chemistry and team work may not be the best at times but when it gets going, its impossible to stop them.

For me they are the greatest team to have played the game. I have and will always support them. The facts and stats speak for themselves! But since IEM, the Golden 5 have not been able to perform up to the standards they have set in the past. Dropping out against Anexis in the lower bracket at CPH games, losing to fnatic in the semi-final at DHS 2012 and recently another 3rd place finish at GameGune 2012. They performed well but when it mattered, it seemed their motivation was not at the level that it should be. For me, their star players, neo and TaZ, did not perform up to the level. Pasha isn't performing like he did in the past year of at the start of 2012. I guess every team has their ups and downs. Just like Na'Vi have not been able to win a major tournament since IEM5, ESC have been having a tough time getting that gold medal again. I hope that phase passes out quickly and wish them the very best in the future.

*Special thanks to HLTV.org, SK-Gaming.com, GotFrag.com wcg.com, eswc.com and gOrdiii and whoever I may have forgot. All have been a great help in writing this blog!