Group B contains some strong teams, from the mighty Russians of M5 to the very entertaining Dignitas. Here is a look at their recent form.

Moscow Five

Alexey 'Alex Ich' Ichetovkin
Daniel 'Diamondprox' Reshetnikov
Eugeny 'Darien' Mazaev
Eugene 'Genja007' Andryushin
Edward 'GoSu Pepper' Abgarian

The team for m5 has generated a lot of hype recently on the back of some very solid performances. Despite the Go4LoL slip up to aAa yesterday, m5 are still generally considered one of the strongest teams to be participating.

Although this will be the first time we have seen the Russian team at a major offline event their line-up boasts some impressive players. Their Jungler Diamondprox is sat at #3 in the Solo Queue at the time of writing and he is partnered by exceptional top laner Darien who is regarded as one of the best top laners in Europe.

m5 are currently also sat at #2 in the 5x5 ranked queue on the EUW server, with nothing to lose and everything to gain, m5 will be a formidable team in Kiev.

Predicted Group Placing: 1st

Team Sypher

Well, where do we start with Sypher? Last week it was announced that Sypher had departed with their LoL team just before the ESL announced that Sypher were now eligible for the IEM Kiev event.

With that announcement there was a lot of confusion as to who would represent the organisation. Sypher had informed me that they were due to release their line-up on Monday 16th, as you will have noticed though, the 16th came and went with no announcement.

As it stands, it is unsure who will represent Sypher in 2 days time. The consensus seems to be that their old line-up will play for them. The reasoning for this is that the team their old line-up were joining has since announced a different set of players.

If the Sypher team who were at IEM NY will be in Kiev, then the team will be strong. However with all the confusion surrounding them then it seems only reasonable to predict them to finish bottom of Group B.

Predicted Group Placing: 4th

against All authority

Franzetti 'Alth0r' Romain
Damien 'Linak' Lorthios
Bora 'YellOwStaR' Kim
Paul 'sOAZ' Boyer
Shawn 'Osaft22' Bourquin

The team currently representing aAa have had a turbulent last 12 months. Many of them represented rival organisation Millenium until things went sour there. In addition many will recognise Alth0r from his days playing for SK Gaming .

All changes aside this team could be quite formidable; although they are not quite at the form they were when aAa were so dominant around the Season 1 finals at Dreamhack. The team has a lot of strength, all of the players are very experienced and have a lot of history together.

The pair to watch from this team I would be Alth0r and Linak, these two players were #1 and #2 in the EU solo queue long before Season 1 was announced and if they can play to their top potential, then both of them can be truly exceptional. The rest of their team are equally skilled so don't expect any weak links in this team.

Recent results have offered a mixed selection of wins/losses. With a first round defeat to Colon Three in the Go4LoL monthly final many would doubt them, but then in the most recent Go4LoL they managed to beat fellow IEM Kiev participant Moscow Five before losing to Meet Your Makers .

Overall I think aAa have a lot of potential to do well, it just depends how focussed they are and how confident in their own strengths. As well as ensuring Linak remains calm!

Predicted Group Placing: 2nd

Dignitas

Christian 'I Will Dominate' Rivera
Michael 'Imaqtpie' Santana
Patrick 'L0cust' Miller
William 'scarra' Li
Joe 'Voyboy' Esfahani

The Dignitas team is an interesting one to watch. They seem to either be unstoppable or disappointing. They came onto the floor late in 2011 and managed some successful outings, as well as a disappointing performance at IEM NY. However they are here again and have a real chance to add to their points to secure a place in Hannover.

Recently they won the CLG Last Call tournament, defeating both Counter Logic Gaming and Epik Gaming to take home the title.

Dignitas, if they play up to their potential could finish 1st in the group, however I feel this will not happen. I think they will struggle with the long journey and will not be able to break down the reliable gameplay of M5 and aAa.

I am prepared to eat humble pie however if they prove me wrong!

Predicted Group Placing: 3rd