Written by JP McDaniel

With the ESL finals coming up in a few weeks many have forgotten that before the big showdown at the finals, the European Continental Finals must happen. The groups have been released for this final and many people are speculating on who will win.

Group A has one big standout team in Nihilum Plasma. Paperkat and Inflame rattled the 2008 season with impressive European Warrior / Warlock / Druid (WLD). Many tournament followers are unaware of their new player Sonny however.

Sonny is wildly regarded as Europe’s best Druid, and always talked about as being one of the best druids in the world. Rumor has it however he has put the Druid class down and is picking up Paladin for this upcoming tournament. We’ll have to see how they fair but many will be cheering for this team as they performed so well in 2008.

Other notable teams in Group A include Mouseports, Milleniumm and aAa. It is unsure what they will be running at this tournament but expect a fight from these teams.

Group B, or as many are calling it the Group of Death, has several worthwhile teams. X6tence.AMD is a team that has done nothing but surprise since they began playing at tournaments. These three players from Spain were one of the only teams to use a Hunter in 2008, and with Hunter’s so strong in the current build of WoW they might surprise us once again.

SK-Gaming.EU has a lot riding on this tournament. As the original SK-Gaming team they have a lot to prove. Xom, Orly and Another are all three great players but with Rogue / Mage / Priest (RMP) being weak at the moment against DK and Hunter teams, you have to expect something else from the team if they hope to win it.

Last but not least is Team ROCCAT. While not a powerhouse in 2008, they were a team that people still took seriously. They have tournament experience and hopefully have honed their skills over the long break.

Who will win it? I’m not even going to try to guess. It is up in the air as Wrath has completely changed the tournament landscape. If you’re at all interested in arena make sure to watch though as I am sure many styles of play will be emulated onto live servers after this tournament.

Group A	Group B
Nihilum Plasma Paperkat Inflame Sonny	x6tence.AMD Siler Souler Falcon
Millenium Ocelote Kae Tharkum	Tera-Gaming Yunisha Instance Flashay
Mousesports Alec philDryzen Sanchez	SK Gaming Xom Orly Another
iNNERFiRE Desis Phenomenon c00ld	Mousesports Cake Reliza Lykke Redhot
aAa Anelit Hiss Phoenix	Team ROCCAT Henkel History Zibbit
SKY Texi Sharci Shimmy	lockdown lauryn hogaZ Chrille

Source: ArenaCast