Benjamin 'DeMusliM' Baker
Team: nGize
Prediction: 5th – 8th — But expect him to topple at least one of the four more experienced players in the tournament. If anyone is going to cause an upset, it will be him.

The eternal “talent”, Ben “DeMusliM” Baker has shocked the scene many times with returns to activity but never really stayed active long enough to establish himself long-term. “As the "inactive" player, I hope to shock some people,” said DeMusliM in our interview with him.

His last offline tournament was 10 months ago, the ESWC Grand Final in San Jose, California, where he saw himself stuck in a group with Moon and TeD and did not progress. If he is going to shock anyone of the competitors it will most likely be Grubby, as the Brit poses a dangerous opening match-up for the Dutchman.


Manuel 'GrubbY' Schenkhuizen
Team: Evil Geniuses
Prediction: 2nd — Given his run of good form in the last few weeks, anything but the Grand Final would be a disappointment.

The only player to attend all three European Regional Finals, Grubby finished 5th-8th place last time due to a 2-0 defeat to SaSe in the upper bracket and 2-1 to ToD in the lower bracket, forcing him to miss BlizzCon 2008. He returns in 2009 having claiming the World Cyber Games for the second time, but has yet to win an offline tournament this year.

His last individual offline competition was ESWC Masters of Cheonan, where the best-of-1 format and hard opponents in the group stage like Weiliang 'Fly100%' Lu and Dmitriy 'Happy' Kostin saw him crash out early without winning a match. Meanwhile his online results have been excellent defeating the likes of Lyn, Moon, FoV, Fly and Reign over the past few weeks leading up to this competition. The advantage of playing in Europe plus double elimination bo3 format better suits him, but if he loses in the first to DeMusliM I think top three will be unlikely.


Dmitriy 'Happy' Kostin
Team: Evil Geniuses
Prediction: 1st

Happy was the winner of the last Blizzard European Qualifiers, and then went onto to take 3rd place at BlizzCon 2008, but since then has not won an individual offline tournament. Happy however, is aiming for 1st place at this competition; “Honestly any other place than first for me is going to be one big failure.” he said.

Like his team-mate Grubby he has enjoyed great online results in the last few weeks beating Jae Ho 'Moon' Jang, June 'Lyn' Park, Hyeong Ju 'Check' Lee and Xiaofeng 'Sky' Li, which makes him the favourite for this event. His offline performances have been modest but not exceptional in 2009 with a 4th place at ESWC Masters of Cheonan and 5th-6th place at the PGL in January. HIs given form both online and offline, compared to his two main competitors Grubby and Lucifron, as well as the only other major threat SaSe being practically inactive, makes him the favourite.


Pedro 'LucifroN' Moreno Durán
Team: nGize
Prediction: 3rd – 4th — Lucifron is not in as good shape as the EG duo which puts him behind them in terms of favourites for the event, but starting off in the easier side of the bracket, you never know.

The Blizzard Regional final last year was the tournament where the scene stood up and took notice of the young Spaniard after he beat LiiLD.C, an out of sorts Creolophus, and then ToD to take 3rd place. He then went onto to reach the Grand Final through the winner-bracket at BlizzCon2008, ultimately taking silver.Lucifron already took 1st place at ESWC Masters of Cheonan and still earned the WC3L rookie of the season Award through his online play, despite a disappointing playoffs.

His first round in the Blizzard Regionals is versus team-mate ThomasG, then second round either against his younger brother Vortix or semi-retired SaSe, so the Spaniard should enjoy a comfortable journey early on, managing to avoid facing Happy or Grubby until the upper bracket Final.


Nikita 'Nicker' Pomadov
Team: Geh aB
Prediction: 5 - 8th

Replacement for NightEnD, Nicker has at least one previous international LAN experience, the ESWC Masters of Cheonan, but an experience that was shortlived after finding himself with TeD and Moon in the group stage

With no noteworthy kills in an individual competition, and an opening game against a formidable compatriot, Happy, His longevity in the tournament looks bleak. However, it is always nice to see new faces, and hopefully he can learn from the experience.


Kim 'SaSe' Hammar
Team: none
Prediction: 3rd - 4th

The runner-up in 2008, SaSe was defeated 2-0 twice by Dmitriy 'Happy' Kostin last year, but still managed to defeat Manuel 'GrubbY' Schenkhuizen and Pedro 'LucifroN' Moreno Durán during the competition. SaSe has been out of action for a good while. Now clanless, the Swede has not played an offline tournament since the World Cyber Games in November 2008 where he reached the quarter-finals. Furthermore his last competitive online match was over four months ago, losing to XLORD 3-0 in the ESL King of the Hill.

He still however, has more offline experience than half of the other competitors, which should assure him at least a place in the semi-finals. He enters the fray with little expectations on his shoulders when compared to the TEAM EG duo or the ESWC Masters of Cheonan winner Lucifron. One would expect a modest performance from him.

Thomas 'ThomasG' Glinski
Team: nGize
Prediction: 5 - 8th

This will be ThomasG's first international appearance, and his first match is against Pedro 'LucifroN' Moreno Durán, so he is definitely being thrown in the deep end. The Dane plays in the Danish national team and has had some fair results in the NGL 3v3 league appearing in the second-string nGize team. Unfortunately with lack of any previous international LAN experience as well a habit of taking maps of good players and not series, he will most likely be an early casualty in the tournament.


Juan 'VortiX' Moreno Durán
Team: x6tence
Prediction: 5 - 8th

Lucifron's younger brother and now part of x6 after choosing to leave his brother's side in nGize. “My aim is winning the tournament, of course, but we all know that it will most likely not happen, so I am just preparing myself to be able to win at least one bo3 in the tournament.” He told SK.

The aim seems a respectable one given his opponents, as a surprise destruction of big names this time around, as his brother did last year, is most likely beyond him. However, it is difficult to gauge his exact skill level given the online ladder is private and he mentioned his brother had found him training partners. Hope springs eternal.