Division 1 sees favourites Slackers face off against the pride of Sweden, Suddendeath. This game is scheduled for 20:00 CEST on Wednesday 27th March. This sees it competing for viewers with El Clasico, the Champions League semifinal between Barcelona and Real Madrid - but seeing Murdoc battling against Reppie should be every bit as enthralling as Messi against Ronaldo.

SR have enjoyed a fairly straightforward route to the final, losing only a single map in the whole of the regular season, before brushing aside Fusion - despite the return to activity of Nitram - in the semifinal by 3 maps to 1. It is likely to see them start with ParadokS, Murdoc, Striker and Zero, which appears to be their established lineup that has put together strong performances this year backed by plenty of practice.

Suddendeath meanwhile have had to fight much harder to reach the final, losing a total of 14 maps across the regular season and playoffs, which culminated in an epic 3-2 semi victory over Clan Malfunction - surely one of the closest and most memorable playoff games in recent years. With 6 players having playing a dozen maps or more, they have a very strong squad of players but perhaps were lacking some routine in the early part of the season. However, the late addition of dutchman Reppie has proven a masterstroke and as shown in their last game they seem to have the winning touch at last.

The Bronze game will be played between the two losing semifinalists, Fusion and Clan Malfunction. Although 3rd place games can often be anticlimactic, both clans play some very good QW and it should prove an entertaining matchup. UPDATE: This game is scheduled for Tuesday 26th at 20:00CEST.


In Division 2, the finalist are both from Finland - Bad Luck Troopers and Lastenharha. In my opinion, these two clans are clearly the best outside of Division 1 and there is arguably a case to suggest that could have been competitive against some of the lesser Div1 clans such as TKS, SR2, DC and FT. This game is yet to be scheduled.

BLT seem to play a solid, reliable game across all maps and took full advantage of their 1st place in the regular season by racking up 3-0 playoff victories against both American outfit OClan, and new Russian clan Dinosaurus & Noobs, who impressed me by making the semifinals. Relying on solid teamplay rather than superstar individuals, they will be keen to impress in the showcase final.

Their opponent, Lastenharha, seemed to be many people's favorites from the outset of Division 2, with Koff legend Scenic being ably supported by the likes of Creature and Twist. Last season saw them struggle in Div1, but their current squad has got back into shape and they should prove a tough nut for BLT to crack. Perhaps surprisingly, they seemed to struggle against Chosen in the quarterfinal, losing the first two maps before showing good composure to power through to victory. Any complacency there may have been beforehand was surely banished by that game, and the semifinal against Fraggers United was a more routine affair, a comfortable 3-0 victory.

As you may have gathered, this leaves the Bronze matchup as D&N vs FU.


Finally Division 3 gives us a final of In a Blaze against Machinery. Personally, I was somewhat surprised to see a Div2 semifinalist from EQL12 in Div3 this time around, even allowing the absence of Div0 superstar Fix, who returned to CMF this season.

ablz reached the finals courtesy of 3-0 victories over new MOFO spinoff Oddballs, and fresh Russian outfit VM. Having played EQL with a stable lineup of henri, mel, nancy and rage, the good news is that they can finally rise up out of the shadow of Fix and achieve recognition for themselves. They can draw confidence from a narrow 2-0 regular season victory over Machinery.

Machinery themselves, having reached the Div3 final last season, will be hoping to put up a stronger showing this time around. Having placed 8th in the regular season - largely due to inactivity - they will likely be viewed as underdogs going into this match. However, in Sniegowy they have one of the outstanding players in Div3, and will be hoping for something special from the rising Polish star who averages more frags per EQL map than any player in any division, outside of Slackers of course. Their route to the final saw them dispatch Osams [3-1] and Boomstick Ownators [3-0] without too much trouble and they should go into the match expecting to challenge for the crown.

And so the Div3 Bronze game pits VM against BO (best clan name ever?!); it's good to see some fresh blood lasting the full season and still having something to play for. Both these clans will be hoping to clinch victory and build a platform to challenge even stronger next season.


As always, keep your eyes peeled on http://www.quakeworld.nu , http://eql.quakeworld.nu, and IRC for further information regarding fixture scheduling and live coverage.