For those of you that follow CS as well as WoW, cast your minds back to the best games you ever saw. What springs to mind? coL vs aTTax? SK vs 3D? Maybe even NiP vs X3. One of my own strongest (not fondest, however) memories is 3D vs 4k on Mill.

Chances are that many of your own favourite games are Euro-American clashes too. Bearing in mind that this is the website of SK, I’m sure a lot of you remember the SK-3D game on Nuke.

But for a couple of years now we haven’t really had any such games. American CS teams like EG and eMg gave us the odd upset, but never really threatened European dominance the way coL and 3D used to do. During the dark times of the CGS the transatlantic rivalry was all but dead.

Even now the most hated gaming league of all time is dead and buried, America is still rebuilding. Although X3O and Gravitas will surely give a good account of themselves at Extreme Masters, it would take the biggest upset in esports’ history for one of them to win the whole thing.

No such problems in World of Warcraft, however. WoW has taken off in a big way in the States – arguably more so than in Europe. Apart from Halo, WoW is probably the first esports game to be so well followed in America compared to the rest of the world.

Unlike CS, CGS had no effect whatsoever on WoW and teams like SK.US and coL are right up there with their European counterparts. Although European teams have won the majority of events where both continents have competed, it’s never been as clear-cut as the same fixtures in CS.

Most of the well known players come from America, in fact. I’m thinking here of Hafu, Serennia, Neilyo, Happyminti etc. Europe has the titles but America has the big names. Of course Europe has famous players too, especially here at SK, but they don’t get nearly as much exposure.

Extreme Masters is the chance for those big American names to add a little more prestige to that fame. The talent has always been there, but now the support is there too from big name sponsors; names that are well known and well established on the esports scene like coL and EG.

The chance for America to finally be back on par with Europe has never been greater. But there is, of course, a twist in this tale. After all, in the other big esports game – Warcraft III – neither of these two continents can hold a candle to the Asians. In WoW, our Eastern friends could well be here to spoil the party again.

Korean team HON has a solid record in international tournaments and kill e A is one of the most exciting teams to watch in all of WoW. There is a very real possibility that the Europeans and the Americans could be upstaged and that their competition could take a backseat. Maybe the next time a big competition rolls round I could be writing a column called “Korea vs the world.”

Although we’re unlikely to be reading blogs on "World of Miracle" any time soon, the Korean players could easily upset the applecart. It’s hardly likely that they care about transatlantic feuds when there’s fame and fortune up for grabs. The dark horse tag could suit these teams just fine.

So while we might be excited about seeing the oldest rivalry in esports reborn don’t be surprised if it’s overshadowed when the final comes around. RMP is still one of the most successful comps in arena play, and few do it better than the Koreans.

The world's first and only weekly esports column, The Zechs Files, returns next Tuesday.