It is fair to say that despite a handful of recognised players attending the tournament, the qualifiers have passed by quietly and KODE5 now have a case of trying to generate hype at the tournament itself and there are good selection of players to provide the goods.

For the Europeans it is a chance for glory, and for Deadman a chance to see how much he deserves the title of underdog, will he woof woof his way to 1st place?

THE TOP DOGS

MYM.Grubby

Goal: Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen has seen a return to form in recent months in particular in the recent Road of the King tournament and will be in excellent shape coming into the KODE5 Grand Final.

Grubby finds himself in the easiest group of the four, with Pato probably busy concentrating on scraping off the rust, only Xyligan could cause the Dutchman any problems but with a 71% win average against Human statistically, it might be only a minor one.

Considering his experience and the calibre of opponents in the tournament anything other than a top 4 finish would be a disappointment. A top 2 could be achievable if he can work on his weakest match up to take out Night Elf threats Soccer and Shy.

Mouz.ToD

Goal: Yoan "ToD" Merlo has slipped a little of late having good days and bad days, he will be considered a threat but whether it is a serious one will depend if KODE5 falls on one of his good days.

However ToD already finds himself in a tough position as his group features two experienced Undead players, Hasuobs and Terror, and Human versus Undead is ToD’s weakest match-up statistically.

With only two progressing from the group stage, there is the chance for an upset but considering ToD’s experience to fall out of the group stage is unlikely but still a possibility.

With ToD’s current form a top four is conceivable but a top eight would not be a huge drama considering the opponents he could meet in the playoffs.

WICKED.Soccer

Goal: Deok Man "Soccer" Youn is the man who foiled June “Lyn” Park from reaching the KODE5 Finals as well as forcing him to accept silver at AWL Masters. Soccer is the threat of the Asian persuasion in this tournament and looks in good shape to finish big in this tournament.

He finds himself in the hardest group which includes Andrei “Deadman” Sobolev, FiX who defeated GG.HoT to qualify for the event and Happy of Mousesports. The group should certify we will see some tough games early on in the tournament and despite the opponents Soccer will be looking to finish 1st in the group.

With the competition so high in Korea, Soccer should make the most of an opportunity to compete in a tournament which features mostly Europeans. Anything outside top 3 for Soccer would be a surprise unless he encounters stiff competition from another top dog in the playoffs.

OTHER HOT CANDIDATES & PoTENTIALS

fnatic.Shy

Goal: Chul Woo "Shy" Park had a relatively good Road of the King tournament with his team finishing fourth with victories against player of the tournament TeD and also Orc player Who. However he has never challenged for top 3 and despite being able to topple the greats he has never been able to maintain the consistency to achieve silverware.

His main threat in the group stage will be Chinese Human player Infi, with Rotterdam and Frozen also perhaps able to mix it up a little. Although Shy should be able to take 2nd place, a top 8 finish overall would be satisfactory considering his form and skill level. However we could easily see him causing a few upsets in the playoffs.

WE.Infi

Goal: Xuwen "Infi" Wang has been putting it down lately with a good performance at ROTK as well as exceptional victories against SK.Lyn and MYM.Moon in the Neo Stars League Season II.

However Infi’s weakness is that he relies on the strength of two matchups, Human versus Undead & Human versus Orc. Infi’s worst record is versus Human, but thankfully there are very few Humans in the tournament,meanwhile his Night Elf record is above average but not exceptional.

With this in mind Infi will struggle versus Shy, Soccer and ToD due to their races as well as against Grubby who excels against Human. Nevertheless Infi has managed to defeat the top dogs before and he could be the surrpise of the tournament if he can get a few lucky breaks.

THE KING OF THE UNDERDOGS

WICKED.Deadman

Goal: Infamous Andrei “Deadman” Sobolev is by far the wild card of the tournament and he could hope for no better setting to stage his return to form.

Deadman of old was the best European Night Elf who shed his reputation of a hacker to take the stage and even though disliked, showed that Europe could compete with Asia.

Deadman not only finds himself in a tournament with very few Asian players but also one held in his home country, giving him a huge advantage to possibly pull out a shock victory.

However Deadman’s previous “returns” were disappointing and considering his group of Soccer, Fix and Happy, he will need to make his return to form quickly or he could find himself out even quicker.



Mystic Malystryx

Well although some of the big names are missing, finally we have a tournament with a chance for new faces to shine. Predictions are always a tricky business, especially as the playoff setup has yet to be announced, but I predict Grubby and SoCCeR to fight for gold and silver.

A lot of people are predicting Shy as a favourite but considering Infi is in his group he is likely to finish 2nd in the group so will probbably get knocked out by a 1st seed of another group early on in the playoffs.

I'll put my neck out and take a wild stab in the dark and predict a fight between Infi and ToD for 3rd place with ToD just getting the edge due to Infi's weak mirror matchup. I hope that Deadman passes the group stage just for the entertainment factor.

You can follow the event itself when it kicks off on Saturday via our KODE5 Coverage Item