When Dreamhack open their doors, they expect over 10,000 people to walk through - and that is why they are the current record holders for the world's largest LAN party and computer festival. A day away the Dreamhack Summer event is certainly going to be something to remember, with the IEM IV world champions NaVi in attendance, as well as the 2009 dominators fnatic, Swedish legends SK Gaming and current Dreamhack Winter champions MeetYourMakers, but who will take the title this time?

Come with us as HOORAH breaks down the first two groups and Thorin the last two.



fnatic

Coming into the tournament, fnatic will be one of the favourites to pick up the win. At the start of 2010, the side were expected to pick up from their dominant 2009 season, but failed to do so after disappointing defeats at the IEM European and World championship finals. This streak of bad luck continued up until last month where they brought in their first gold of the decade at Arbalet Cup Europe. So the question would be can fnatic show the same form that won them the gold at Arbalet or will they fall at the final hurdle? With the team's history, most people would say fnatic will take home the gold, but it all goes down to who's better on the day.

Fair Frag

After winning Dreamhack's French International qualifier, Fair Frag secured their spot in the main tournament. The side will have a tough time in Group A with the likes of fnatic and MUSKELBYGGNING, but anything is possible in CS. A lot will also depend on who takes the final spot, which could decide the French team's fate, but winning performances against MUSKELBYGGNING and the unknown team could be enough to see them through to the play-off's.

MUSKELBYGGNING

The Swedish side of MUSKELBYGGNING confirmed their place in the tournament after a victory at Dreamhack Skellefteå V. They have Jim 'zneel' Andersson amongst the ranks, which could prove vital against the not so experienced teams. Like Fair Frag, their fate depends on whoever joins them from the BYOC tournament, so again taking points from the French side and the yet to be decided team should be enough.



Natus Vincere

Since winning the IEM4 World Championship, NaVi have been an unstoppable force, even when facing the likes of fnatic and SK Gaming. The whole team have a distinct freshness about them, which proves to be the key of their success. The Ukrainians should top the group and go on to do well in the playoffs.

Meet Your Makers swe

Since winning Dreamhack Winter, the MYM team have gone through a series of changes, all resulting with bad performances at events. However, their latest change will see them bring back Andreas 'moddii' Fridh who was a part of the winter victory. They also have brought in Andre 'BARBARR' Möller who has proved to be a vital asset in H2k, so it will be interesting to see how they perform. On paper the team should make it out the group stage, but the tests will start when they reach the play-off stage.

KaoS Contingency

The KaoS team have a lot of potential, and now have the change to show that after qualifying for the main tournament via the Benelux qualifier. They are a powerful force in their own area, but have yet to make an impact on the international scene, so Dreamhack will be a good starter for the team. Depending on who joins their group and if they can take points of MYM, the team may have a chance at advancing, but luck will have to be on their side on the day.



SK Gaming

SK Gaming really should have no problem with this group. Their own opposition with any name recognition is not the same team who won the Norwegian qualifier to get here. For SK all questions and answer lie with Na`Vi and fnatic. Should they lose to anyone else it would be a big disappointment for the players and their fans, though it's not an unreasonable stretch to suggest mTw should play them close.

SK will need to beat Na`Vi or fnatic to win the tournament and right now those are the teams they need to beat go to up in anyone's estimations right now, so everything seems to be in order. Arbalet Cup Europe was a clash of factors such as a stacked group, from which the two lower ranked teams emerged, and a poor opening game. This group should see them rolling into the playoffs so we'll get another chance to see them take on their two biggest opponents in BoX play once again.

A Na`Vi-SK match would certainly be an interesting prospect at any point in the tournament considering the swift beating Na`Vi put on them at Arbalet Best of Four and then the clawed back draw and victory by SK. In a reals series where every map borders on life or death that makes for an enticing prospect laden with subplots.

Right now SK are a top 4 team but looking in on the top 3, by the end of this tournament they can be legitimate contenders again or a team with changes required in their future. RobbaN will get his chance, as the new in-game leader, to steer the ship aright so eyes will be on him also.

Concode

Were this the Concode who had earned this spot to DreamHack this would be an interesting team to follow in the tournament. That lineup and this are not so closely linked though and in a manner which negatively affects this team's chances. Being Swedes and at least relatively well known it's reasonable they may be able to play SK closely stylistically given the right map but otherwise one should expect this team to come through in second but without any reason to expect anything from them in the playoffs against quality opposition.



mTw

mTw's 3rd place at Arbalet Cup Europe was a little puzzling, as were some of the other results here and there. Here is a team who on paper made a big step on their road to coming back into the elite circle of teams with a 3rd place and yet when one looks at the actual path they took there weren't a whole lot of great victories lining it. The most significant was a win over mouz which, along with some help from the other teams in the group, put mTw in a position to finish top 4.

mTw's problem has been clear: find a way to adapt to a recovering Sunde rediscovering his game while not hampering the game of burgeoning star trace. Answers have been far from forthcoming so far unfortunately for the Danes. trace has been unable to have the same kind of impact he did during that Sunde off-season. Sunde has overcome his rust to the degree that he was able to come alive at Arbalet and put up some rounds reminiscent of the old Sunde. For mTw to do well at this event they need to improve that balance further.

It really seems as though problems in finding the right spots or backup combinations for their stars has had a ripple down effect throughout the whole team. On paper this team has the personnel. From ave's widely-acknowledged shrewd eye for reading the game to zonic's impressive ability to play superstar for a half and carry his team to wins. minet has been the man underfire but truth be told when he is able to get into games he has played well. It'll be tough to tell what his real impact can be until the rest of the team is in order.

H2k Gaming

H2k were a much more promising prospect a few weeks ago. While there is now a new storyline to write with kHRYSTAL, niko and FYRR73 finding their way into the lineup this feels like a team who could well be taking one step forwards and two steps back for the moment. On paper their individual players could be argued to be better. The problem is that the strength of this team was having gradually built a lineup which fit together and had a tactical coherence. Now they're a mixture of players heading in different directions at the moment and whose effect on the overall unit is a total unknown right now.

Expect this team to have among the highest potential for a pure one map upset but also one of the lower chances of actually beating the good teams in a series.