The ESWC Masters of Athens is going to close the season of major tournaments for Quake. 2008 has seen only two champions in four majors. But you would have to be insane to bet all your money on one person winning in the capital of Greece.

The event has at least five players that have everything they need in order to be champions. This is why we took a different approach to previewing the event on SK Gaming. We have decided to grade players in order to determine the likelihood of their success.

Here is how it works: we judged the players' HANDS (preparation and aiming), HEAD (tactical ability and experience) and HEART (motivation and mental strength) on a scale of 1-5. On top of that, we gave ourselves the right to award players with a bonus point wherever we saw fit. In total a player could get 16 points on our scale.

8 - Richard 'noctis' Gansterer (best performance in 2008: 4th at GameGune)
Hands: 4
Head: 2
Heart: 2

The Austrian player is not a contender for the laurels in Athens but he is definitely good enough to rain on someone's parade. He is a strong and very dangerous fighter, but lacks in other areas, particularly in terms of map control.

In game, noctis thinks of how to get a kill on the opponent but not how to get control. This would often put him in situations where he got the frags but the opponent would have full map control fifteen seconds later. He also tends to leave gifts like a red armor or a megahealth lying around.

The way noctis forfeited his last games at the ESWC Grand Final does not build an impression of him being a player who is able to deliver his very best outside of his comfort zone. Still, his record of matches this year tells a story of a man who is not in the habit of losing to just anyone.

Overall: not enough to be the champion.

10 - Marcel 'k1llsen' Paul (best performance in 2008: 2nd at ESWC)
Hands: 3
Head: 2
Heart: 4
Bonus: 1

K1llsen is not an exceptional player. It would be hard to make a case that one of his characteristics in the game is unparalelled by any other player. At the same time, he is very solid and with his nationality comes the ability to not go below a certain level.

Perhaps he will not rise so high to dominate someone like Cooller or Cypher, but whenever they mess up and give him the game, he will take it from them. His second place in San Jose was a result of him picking up the presents that were brought to him on a silver platter. But accepting those gifts is a skill that some players rated higher than him do not have.

The German gets a bonus point because other players still see him as inferior.

10 - Magnus 'fox' Olsson (best performance in 2008: 2nd at Masters of Paris, 3rd at GameGune)
Hands: 4
Head: 4
Heart: 2

This player most certainly knows how to play the game at its very highest level. The Swede has great aim, he is very smart and he is also one of the most experienced Quakers out there. He has been proving it for years in... the early rounds of tournaments.

The later into the competition and the bigger the pressure, the more difficult it becomes for fox to win. He has beaten players like av3k and Cooller but never in crunch time. He wiped the floor with k1llsen in San Jose but it was the German that we saw on the podium.

Whenever it is important, the Swede tends to tilt. The odds are that unless he meets another tilter in the playoffs (which will even out the chances), then the story will be the same as always. That is if he gets that far because he has an undeservedly high-pressure group with rapha and toxic.

10 Zhibo 'Fan Zhibo' Fan (best performance in 2008: 2nd at GameGune)
Hands: 4
Head: 3
Heart: 3

One of the strongest aimers in the game, with a great natural rail and the ability to outshaft anyone in the world even with a disadvantage in stamina. The Chinese player also has a remarkable ability to play for long periods of time when the opponent has complete control of the map without giving away any points. He is also patient enough to play an entire game like this if he has to.

Feeding RazerJ with your own mistakes is the worst thing you can do. At the same time, this player can play too passively, only waiting for the rival to almost lay down and die for him.

He is skilled but hardly as headstrong as his main partner in crime Cooller. He can give opponents too much respect and he can also tilt and make bad decisions under pressure.

12 - Shane 'rapha' Hendrixson (best performance in 2008: 3rd at ESWC)
Hands: 4
Head: 4
Heart: 4

The American is named as one the contenders for the title. He has made a lot of progress this year, particularly in terms of self-confidence. He comes to Athens well-prepared and the only player to have taken a set of maps from Cypher this year.

Every aspect of rapha's game is well thought out and his in-game choices conscious and he is very motivated to become number one. His biggest weakness is probably the fact almost every opponent he will face in Greece will be more experienced.

Cooller was in more finals than rapha was in major competitions. But that will mean nothing if he plays as well as in San Jose.

12 - Anton 'Cooller' Singov (no remarkable results this year)
Hands: 3
Head: 5
Heart: 3
Bonus: 1

This player is one of the bigger question marks of the tournament. He no longer plays as regularly as he used to and his usual complaint at events is that his aim is not working how it should. On the other hand, for a Russian is much easier for him to prepare on a high level for a Quake 3 tournament than a Quake 4 one.

He is definitely a contender for the title because his main strengths never lied in aiming. He is a beast when it comes to controlling the map and decomposing the opponent's control. Cooller also gets bonus points for being a great tournament player with more experience than anyone. When the Russian sees a chance, he pounces and does not let go and then it doesn't matter if he is in shape or not.

Whether or not he has trained enough for Athens only Cooller knows. Ever since he noticed that he has won it all and money is the main thing that keeps him playing Quake, he could not find a challenge that would stimulate him enough to make him a winner again.

In San Jose Cooller had his worst performance at a major tournament in years. If that spurred his ambition, then he will be scary.

13 - Maciej 'av3k' Krzykowski (best performances in 2008: 3rd at Masters of Paris, 1st at GameGune)
Hands: 3
Head: 5
Heart: 4
Bonus: 1

If his hands do what the head wants them to do, then he will be amazing. Av3k is a very good player but also one that is not prepared well enough for Athens. His fans may find consolation in the fact that he said he was underprepared before the Masters of Paris where he was third.

His style is based on super sharp timing. If his aiming is on par with it, then he will be able to put enormous pressure on his rivals. Only the very strongest players will be able to defend from that.

If the aim doesn't work, then his luck and experience will have to in order for av3k to do well. Otherwise he will struggle a lot. Bonus points for the fact that he has an "bring it on, I don't care" attitude and gets better the farther he gets in the competition.

13 - Johan 'toxjq' Quick (no remarkable results this year)
hands: 4
head: 4
heart: 4
bonus: 1

The unstoppable Swede makes a comeback in Athens. His presence alone will make the Masters twice as interesting as otherwise. The last time he was seen playing Quake 3 was at the 2005 ESWC finals. The last time he was seen playing Quake 4 was a year ago.

This means that no one will know what to expect of him and how he will play with the CPMA physics (bonus points for that). Considering that aiming has always been his main strength, he should instantly come with an advantage.

He will not come as prepared as he would have wished, has no experience in CPMA and he himself has no idea what to expect of the event. Those are the reasons why he did not get 5's across the board.

14 - Alexei 'Cypher' Yanushevsky - (best performances in 2008: 1st at Masters of Paris, 1st at QuakeCon, 1st at ESWC)
hands: 5
head: 5
heart: 4

It is really a no-brainer that the Belarussian player is the number one favourite to win. He has won everything he could win this year and entertained his fans with a brand of Quake never before seen.

His aiming and overall skill is almost flawless these days, the speed with which he jolts across the maps hitting every shot also makes him very difficult to stop and he has found a right balance between defensive and offensive play. He has the experience and the confidence to win it again.

The only one weakness that he does seem to have is that he is emotional. If there is someone that could get on his nerves, then things might get interesting. Just as it was when k1llsen took DM6 from him in group play.

Still, one should not count on Cypher messing up. If he is to be beaten, then it will be by someone who plays a really good game.