POV demos from the ESL Pro Series UK final matches
The final matches gave us a few surprising results, some fantastic play from the finalists. If you missed out seeing the final matches then we have the demos ready and waiting for your viewing. All you need to do is follow the match link and download the players demo.
The whole ESL TV VoDs for Season I have all been uploaded
The ESL Pro Series Season I for Counter-Strike: Source and Call of Duty 4 has been a great opening season for us all here in ESL UK. The professional ESL TV crew have uploaded all VoDs for this season for your viewing needs. Below is a collected list for the ESL UK Video on Demand section:
The highlights of the ESL Pro Series Season I Finals
This Saturday the first ESL Pro Series Season I Finals for the United Kingdom took place in London. We were busy on Saturday making sure you guys were updated on every aspect on the event; in this news post we will be giving you some of our highlights of the finals.
The event went into full swing at 9am when the eight Pro Series teams had their team meeting with the tournament admins. The meeting was to go over all of the rules and the protocols for the finals.
The matches were great to watch live, in front of the professional ESL Pro Series stage area. The treat watching the matches live at the Congress Centre is that you can see every aspect of the player’s expressions, they cannot hide anything!
One of the big announcements on Saturday was the introduction of Season II and its games. James '2GD' Harding announce the two new games of the ESL Pro Series II in the United Kingdom. As many hoped Quake 3 will join the ESL Pro Series sponsored by Intel in the next season as well as Trackmania Nations Forever.
My blog on the setup and pack down of the ESL Pro Series UK Finals
Friday
I and Fenda arrived at the venue at around 2:20pm to find two truckloads of ESL Pro Series equipment, but we did not panic as the team were present and already sorting the mass of equipment out. I then saw a tired James Harding and Joe Miller from the 13 or so hour trip from head office in Cologne, Germany. By this team I bumped into Soodi who was sitting down in the reception area, but something did not look right. Soodi then explained that he sprained his foot and looked to be in a lot of pain. After making sure Soodi was fine I then said my hellos to everyone and then I and Fenda headed off to Gamerbase, which was about a five minute walk from the Congress Centre.
We had arranged to drop off some of our event flyers at Gamerbase, which entitled free entry to the event on Saturday. I was really impressed with the layout and setup Gamerbase London had, but one issue we noticed right away was how hot the shop got and it was only half full! Once we did what we had to do in Gamerbase it was setup time at the Congress Centre, we had to wait until 5:15pm before we could actually start to move the hundreds of boxes into the event hall. We had a little wait around, and suddenly Four Kings turned up saying hello to us all. We had a little chat but then the lovely Congress lady informed us that we are now free to begin our setup and to wish us the best of luck with it as she was heading off home, by this time only Fenda, myself and Nico who was the event project manager was at the event as everyone else went back to the hotel to catch up on a few well earned hours of sleep. An hour or so later the three of us managed to get quite a bit of the setup gear in the hall (Lower Ground Floor) and then the whole team turned up and we were in full swing.
The trucks and Pro Series promotion banners
It has got to 12:00 o’clock and setup was still underway with the tournament admins checking all the computers that Counter-Strike: Source and Call of Duty 4 are working correctly. I and Flabbert then headed off to find out hotel for the night where I had planned to do some final press work for tomorrow. We checked in, dropped our bags off and rushed to find somewhere open to get well needed food. We walked in the direction of Kings Cross and found a burger king what had a amazingly long waiting line, we knew at this time nothing else would not be open so we waited for about 20mins and finally got our refreshments. We decided that as we both had stuff to prep for tomorrow and was so tired it would be a good idea to walk back and eat at the same time, so we did so and got back to the hotel around about 12:30 o’clock. I then went to my room to sort some last minute work and headed to bed.
The stage
Saturday
Why on earth would you design a bathroom to have an open floor plan and when you have a shower it goes all over the floor and almost into your bedroom area
I woke up around 7:00am, had a shower but I just could not work out the hotels shower layout. Why on earth would you design a bathroom to have an open floor plan and when you have a shower it goes all over the floor and almost into your bedroom area. After that shocking surprise I headed off to breakfast with Flabbert and Shazz. As I’m not a huge breakfast guy I only went for a cup of tea to wake me up., around 7:30 we headed off to the Congress Centre to start today’s proceedings
I arrived at the venue at 08:10am and the work started. James Harding and I rushed off to Sainsbury’s to buy eight big bottles of water for the strength test later on today, but we was rushed? No we was not, we thought it would be a good idea to test the competition concept while we were in the shop. So it was a battle against me and James, who would you expect to win? Well if I say I did would you believe me? No..... I thought not, after 30seconds or so both me and James were turning red and could not stop laughing and yes James did win, but I claim it was luck!!
"yeah you should ask us whats it for, in case considering a water overdoes" - James Harding
We then headed off to pay for the goods when the cashier gave us a strange look and said "That's a lot of water", to which James replied "yeah you should ask us whats it for, in case considering a water overdoes"
After the laughs we went back to the venue. The lovely James Harding asked for my help on his prep when we got back and as all my work was done until the press got here I was more than happy to help James out. Swiftly after I said yes he reviled what we had to do. Cut up the Green and Orange cards up in squares with him for the guess the result competition James was running on stage. This was hard work believe it or not; the card was quite thick haha.
Me going to stab James Harding
-- Pack Down --
Around 9:00pm we were starting to pack down and get everything in the trucks as they had to leave as soon as possible. The pack down seemed to really go faster than the setup; I guess that was due to the waiting we had to do to get into the hall on Friday. By 11:30pm most of the equipment was away and the techis were dealing with the cables and network gear. So TheRogue, Soodi, crtmN, Shazz, Camillie and me went off to find a fish and chips shop.
A bucket full of water out of nowhere fell directly onto Soodi, which made us laugh for about an hour
Why fish and chips? Well TheRogue had a craving for them so we went with that idea. After walking for 40minutes or so we went past a few restaurants but our mission was to find fish and chips! Remember that Soodi had a really painful foot so had to walk at a slower pace. As we saw our hotel getting nearer Soodi who was at the back shouted “Antony, Antony, Antony” and then a bucket full of water out of nowhere fell directly onto Soodi, which made us laugh for about an hour. We then decided to drop our bags off at the hotel and seek advice on what direction to go.
The advice we got was to go in the direction of Kings Cross and that is what we did as we wanted fish and chips! The longer we walked the more hungry we all were. We approached a Pizza Express and we thought we would ask if they were still serving food, I went into the shop and asked the lovely three girls and got a rude reply “It is late, no we are not!” So we carried on and found McDonald’s, as soon as we went to open the door the member of staff locked it and said we are shut.
But just around the corner TheRogue spotted a Turkish Fish and Chips and Kebab shop, we was all so pleased we could eat at last. After having great fish and chips we all went back to the hotel bar were we had a few and around 2:00am we headed to bed.
The ESL UK models
All in all, it was a great event for us and we would like to thank everyone who turned up and supported ESL UK. I leave you with a photo of our lovely ESL UK models who did a great job at the event. We cant wait for Season II so stay tuned for further announcements.
After a long match, Four Kings have played a top game in this final.
The Grand Final for the ESL Pro Series Counter-Strike: Source competition has now been concluded. The final match was a spectacular one as everyone thought FragMasters TOXIC would of won due to them being undefeated for the whole season but this did not stop Four Kings giving it their all and walking away with first place.
The third place match is over with Reason Gaming taking the victory
Another great Call of Duty 4 match here at the Congress Centre, London. To determine which team will take forth and third was left to Reason Gaming vs zeroPoint Gaming. After a great performance Reason took third after a challenging match against zeroPoint.
FragMasters lose their first map in ESL Pro Series! What a map for the start of the ESL Pro Series Grand Final: 4Kings and FragMasters presented themselves on the same level on de_nuke. Now it's going to be de_dust2 to decide if FragMasters are the unlucky second after losing not a single map till the Grand Final!
What a first map in the grand final? FragMasters didn't show their best skills yet and let 4Kings win a lot terrorist rounds. But in the second half they did just the same and so it ended up 15:15. Now we will see the thrilling final of the first map!
zeroPoint Gaming and Reason Gaming really do not want to come last at the first ESL Pro Series Finals. Both teams are really giving us a great match here in London. The first map which was mp_backlot went into double over-time. First over-time was 3-3 and the second over-time went to 4-1 to zeroPoint Gaming. We now continue play on the second map which is mp_strike.
You voted for your most Most Valuable Player in CS:S and CoD4. Our league partner Cadred nominated four players in both Counter-Strike: Source and Call of Duty 4. The MVP vote was for the whole season, we have seen some fantastic matches and performances by the player for the whole of ESL Pro Series Season one. You guys voted in your hundreds and the votes are in.
The second Grand Final for the day has just started. Since the start of the first season FragMasters have lost not a single match! But now in the Grand Finals 4Kings is going to test them for the last time this season. See it live on ESL TV with ReDeYe and Joe!
After quite a few interesting matches TosspoT is finished for the day and will be replaced by noone else than Paul 'ReDeYe' Chaloner, caster of various UK events.
Now we are ready to see the second grand final for the day. FragMasters and 4Kings will play in a few minutes to find the first UK champion in CS: Source!
The Counter-Strike: Source finals will be FragMasters TOXIC vs Four Kings. This will truly be a epic match to watch so make sure you tune into the free ESL TV stream.
This match has been a great match to watch. Both teams are giving everything they have to join FragMasters TOXIC in in the Counter-Strike: Source grand final. The match has now entered a third map so stay tuned for match results.
While the second 1/2 final in CS: Source is still running, Infused and Dignitas is facing for the crown in UK eSports. Enjoy the match and see who will make it to be the first champion of the ESL Pro Series UK!
FragMasters TOXIC have secured their place in the Pro Series UK finals
What an intense match, Matt 'zalmah' Rider and Stuart 'TosspoT' Saw was really getting excited over this match, due to the fact that Vitriolic Gaming would not give up, they battled through but FragMasters did not want to lose their undefeated title.
Just a few seconds ago James '2GD' Harding announce the two new games of the ESL Pro Series II in the United Kingdom. As many hoped Quake 3 will join the ESL Pro Series sponsored by Intel in the next season as well as Trackmania Nations Forever.
Games of ESL Pro Series II in the United Kingdom: Counter-Strike: Source (5on5) Call of Duty 4 (5on5) Quake 3 (1on1) Trackmania Nations Forever (1on1)
So watch out for the upcoming qualification for the next season as well as the upcoming Grand Final matches in Call of Duty 4 and Counter-Strike: Source!
Cadred.org have put two interviews live from the ESL Pro Series Finals
Our league partner Cadred have been busy this morning interviewing blackmane from dignitas and with the Four Kings team.
How confident were you going into the game that you would be able to perform and beat Reason?
We didn't really know how it was going to go as we had hardly practiced at all, but we know Reason had. We know that if we had practiced we should have beaten them on the day, but it felt more like a 50/50 going into today's game.
It’s amazing, for the first seasons it’s really good and it just seems like it can only get better. The professional layout makes me feel privileged to be playing here and I’d recommend anyone else to try for season two.
What a start into the CS: Source tournament. FragMasters showed a very good performance starting as Terrorists with 12:3. In the lasts round of the stage match's first map, 4Kings and Veritas started playing. We will provide you with further results as soon as possible.
We have a slight change in the next ESL TV match schedule
The next semi-final match which will be live on ESL TV will now be FragMasters TOXIC vs Vitriolic Gaming, so make sure you tune into ESL TV to view the live commentary here in London.
Now everyone in the venue is waiting for Counter-Strike: Source to start. The players already prepared their equipment and the match will start in a few minutes.
The winner of the Intel I7 CPU poster competition is announced.
A few weeks before the ESL Pro Series Finals we announced that in partnership with Intel we will be giving away a Intel I7 CPU for the price of a photo. The catch was that we wanted you to do was to take a photograph or a short youtube video of the ESL Pro Series UK finals poster in the most interesting pose/location/situation you can possibly find.
We have selected the most spontaneous photo out of our entries and that photo was submitted by Philip Wride. Here is the winning entry:
Congruations Philip on winning the CPU, may it bring you much happiness in your gaming prospects.
The first stage match was with Team Dignitas vs. Reason Gaming who are the top two predicted teams to do very well in the ESL UK Pro Series Call of Duty 4 final. Team Dignitas was very strong from the beginning and just overpowered Reason Gaming in the end.
The teams have setup and are now half way into their first matches.
We are in full swing for the first ESL Pro Series Finals, here in London. The venue opened to the finalists at 9pm for their team meeting with the tournament admins. Matches are still in progress but we have uploaded more photos for your viewing.
Season 2 will be announced at the finals this Saturday
29.01.2009 17:26
All the information you will need on Season 2!
This Saturday the finals of the £30,000 first season of the ESL Pro Series in the UK takes place in London, featuring the best Counter-Strike: Source and Call of Duty 4 teams in the United Kingdom.
But something will be changed for Season 2. New games will be added to the line-up, but the big question is: Which games will it be? You'll have to wait to find out! One duel shooter and one racing simulator game will be announced live on ESL TV during the finals, so don't miss the show!
Do you think you know which two new games will be joining Counter-Strike: Source and Call of Duty 4 in Season 2? Leave a comment on here before ESL TV announce the games on Saturday and you will win a Premium Key on the house!
Here is the current match schedule for Saturdays action. Please note that due to possible unforeseen circumstances the schedule may change on the day. If there are any changes, we will inform you as soon as possible on our event page.
Win an Intel Core i7 Extreme CPU + motherboard at 6pm this Saturday
In association with Intel we have some great prizes to give away at the event. You want it? You want to know what you have to do for it? Come and see at the venue. Live at 6 pm in Congress Centre, Central London!
Creepy one of the Europe Master Admins is attending the finals.
Tony 'Creepy' Löschner will be flying over from his home town Strausberg, Germany to attend the ESL Pro Series Finals on Saturday. Creepy is a very important admin here on ESL, as he has a lot of involvement with the global Call of Duty 4 setup, on top of that Creepy is also an European Master Admin who deals with a lot of the setup side of things for ESL Europe.
I sit down and speak to Creepy on why he decided to come to London this weekend and how the ESL UK Pro Series attracted him.
Personal Information
Name: Tony Löschner Alias: Creepy Age: 22 Position: EU Master Admin
Firstly Tony, what made you want to fly over from Germany to attend the ESL Pro Series Finals on Saturday?
Well I guess the most important point for me is that this final is the first in whole Europe., and it’s also the first offline event for United Kingdom. I hope it runs very well and without problem because the UK community is an important part in the sports scene and also for the ESL - I hope we can catch with tournament like this more users which know the advantages of the ESL and use them.
Have you ever been to London before?
No I have never been to London before. I read a lot of articles about the city and it will be great to finally visit London.
Your one of the Europe Master Administrators, how many events is it now you’re attended?
haha good question, I attended a lot of events in Germany but this would be my first events in Europe which is organized by the ESL, maybe I will attend more Events in the future - but its not sure yet. Basically it’s nice to meet people and watch how they work and exchange experiences about the work between watching games
What are you most looking forward to at the finals event?
The most important point for me is the Call of Duty 4 for the moment, the UK teams are really strong and I expect good matches which is would be nice entertainment for all visitors and also for me. I hope everything runs great without any big troubles
Vote for your Most Valuable Player for this season!
The ESL UK Pro Series Season 1 has been a spectacular opening season for both Call of Duty 4 and Counter-Strike: Source. This would not have been possible without the highly professional United Kingdom teams who have challenged each other for the title over the last 3 months. This has been the first Pro Series season for the UK and we feel that we have seen some truly epic matches and performances from the players.
This is now your chance to vote for the Most Valuable Player this season in Call of Duty 4 and Counter-Strike Source. Our League Partner Cadred have nominated four players in both games to vote for. Make sure you have a think about who really made a difference this season, and submit your vote.
The winning player for CS:S and CoD4 will win a Intel i7 920 CPU at the finals, so make your vote count!
Why not check out Gamerbase in London this weekend?
Gamerbase London is only down the road from the Congress Center where the first ESL Pro Series finals will be held this weekend. Gamerbase has 80 Dell XPS PCs containing the new Intel Core Quad Core processors and 8800GTX graphics cards. They also have an incredible library of over 150 games available for you to play either on your own or with anyone else in the centre.
Gamerbase London will be offering a 25% discount to the ESL Pro Series finalists if they wish to boot camp at their centre this week or £15 per person to game all day (10am - midnight).
The ESL Pro Series Finals is not just for the professional teams to compete for £30,000. We want to open the event to anyone, people who have not played a game before or spectators who want to watch the competition live. Thanks to the generosity of Asus we will have a dedicated Free Gaming area, which will consist of sixteen laptops for your gaming needs. You will be able to play the following games in the Free Gaming area: Call of Duty 4 Counter-Strike: Source Unreal Tournament 3 TrackMania Nations Forever
There will also be a surprise mini-tournament with a prize up for grabs, turn up on the day to find out more info! If you fancy coming along to the event please feel free to join us. The event doors will open at 10am.
Vitriolic Gaming are a team who had great spirit in the ESL Pro Series season one. They have always looked ahead and concentrated on the task at hand and not let any oversight get in their way. I suspect they will be on top performance at the finals, but how do they feel? The interview tells all.
The ESL Pro Series brings eSports closer to the UK. Do you feel competitions such as the Pro Series will help in developing the competitive scene here in the United Kingdom?
Yes. Any light we can shed on the UK scene is positive. Professionalism is what esports has been missing and any leagues or tournaments that we can create for top teams is a step in the right direction towards stability in this sport and getting esports the respect it deserves.
How as a team have you guys pulled through this season. It has been the first season for the Pro Series UK tournaments, there was bound to be teething problems.
For my team it’s been loads of ups and downs really. This is our 1st major tournament as a team we had to go over maps quite passively, some of us have other major commitments outside gaming that to has affected out performance in some of our games, but we are pulling it together as the EPS finals draw closer.
Out of the four teams attending the LAN Finals who do you see as the favourites.
Good question. I really can’t tell because some teams crumble under the pressure of LAN. It can be anyone really.
Your first match of the tournament will be against Fragmasters-TOXIC, a team who went all season undefeated? Do you think this makes them unbeatable at finals also?
Hahahahahaha hail no, they are a good team but LAN is different some teams can be absolutely amazing and others who were good online can be absolutely shit when it comes down to it.
With the accumulated prize fund your team has won so fair what do you plan on spending the money on?
I’ll be spending it on clothes and a new phone.
What has been your highlight of this season?
The game against LTD.2k8 we all played really well and it showed in our result. One of their tactics was to rush me and it didn’t work, maybe if they did something different they would have got a few more rounds but they would not have beaten us. I shut them down and sent them out of the EPS LAN finals.
How do you feel the UK Counter-Strike:Source scene is progressing? Has the ESL Pro Series had any effect on it?
Since the CGS has shut down we will be seeing a lot more better teams in next season. The scene has become a lot more competitive and since the ESL is hosting tournaments like EPS and EAS UK it defiantly has made a big impact.
Will you be playing next season?
Yes hopefully.
How does the future of CS:S look in your eyes?
CS:S is going big, tournaments like EPS and UKESA will keep it growing.
Fragmasters Toxic are truly an highly respected and professional team. As proven in this season of the Counter-Strike: Source Pro Series tournament, they have won every match given to them but how do they feel about the upcoming ESL Pro Series Finals? Read on to find out.
I think the highlight has to be beating ZEN on nuke, that must have been one game to watch, and to play in it was something else, Very exciting, every single time we played them on nuke before in pcws they either beat us or we drew, so to finally beat them on nuke after deathdisco just went absolutely mental, was kinda special :D.
The ESL Pro Series competition brings eSports closer to the UK. Do you feel competitions such as the ESL UK Pro Series will help in developing the competitive scene here in the United Kingdom?
Yea without doubt, the more tournaments there are the more UK teams get forced to play against each other, the more they play against each other the more they learn and get closer to each other standard wise. Also with the tournament prize money its just another reason for these teams to play loads and take it very seriously, there wasn’t many easy games in this years EPS, and next year the standard will improve dramatically.
How as a team have you guys pulled through this season. It has been the first season for the ESL Pro Series UK tournaments, there was bound to be teething problems
Well, as many people know this team will not be the fragmasters toxic team for the next season, we had some arguments about motivation and people going behind peoples backs within the team and trying to find better teams and so on, But were grown ups now and we dealt with it in the most professional possible way, which was to play out this season together and make the move to change teams and so on when the season finished. Hopefully other teams will follow our example, and not muck around like they did this year, and chop and change so much.
Out of the four teams attending the ESL Pro Series Finals who do you see as the favourites.
I definitely see us as the favourites, if we don’t win i`ll be very VERY disappointed with ourselves, I think the hardest game for us will probably be vs vitriolic, we have a nack of playing bad first game of the day, and i think once we get rolling and we get a good result vs Vitrolic, then there will be no stopping us.
Your first match of the tournament will be against Vitriolic, a team who qualified in the final qualifier beating Tlr! {who later went to Four Kings}. How do you rate your chances considering you were unbeaten all season?
Yeah really good, I think most people down as favourites, and i definitely think Vitrolic will be the main game for us to sit down and talk about praccing for. If we are going to get sloppy and too casual in the finals it wont be vs 4kings, it`ll be vs vitriolic, so complacency will have to be addressed, and after the upset X’s team gave to us @ CGS combine, we are definitely not going to underestimate them.
With the accumulated prize fund your team has won so far what do you plan on spending the money on?
42 inch plasma television and a playstation 3, some clothes and a few really good nights out @ uni :D.
How do you feel the UK Counter-Strike:Source scene is progressing? Has the ESL Pro Series had any effect on it?
The uk scene is definitely progressing in source, The main 3 teams now have all got a lot closer to each other, Dignitas arnt practising as much, crackclan and ourselves is going to be a massive game due to the obvious reasons. The lower teams also have a chance to practise mentally hard, and play against the best teams for money so the EPS definitely has an impact on how well the UK scene progresses, if only there was more tournaments like the EPS in the UK Maybe we would have the 3 best teams in Europe in the UK.
Will you be playing next season?
Yea as I said before we`ll be playing next season, with a new lineup, Myself, re1ease, Frankstah, HenryG and url.
How does the future of CS:S look in your eyes?
The future looks good for css, with ESWC and intel extreme masters both contemplating source as their main game, then maybe we can see all the main 1.6 teams of late swap over finally to source, I think the swap over is literally just down to the sponsors moving the money to source, and the organisers picking up that source is now a bigger game. Maybe not competitively yet, but all it takes is one of the big tournaments, eswc, wcg to go to source and we’d have all the 1.6 teams swapping over im pretty sure :D.
zeroPoint Gaming is quizzed on this season and the finals.
zeroPoint have been in the spotlight for quite a lot of this season. Mostly due to the match against ATS, as zeroPoint had the same 10 points as ATS but they went through to the finals due to our tie rules. I ask them how that was and also how they are feeling leading up to the finals.
There has been some discussion over your right to be in the ESL Pro Series finals over ATS, you beating them during the season putting you into the finals. This is how our rules are when it somes to ties in the ranking points but what do you think about the situation?
Well basically it’s all down to the rules. If the shoe had been on the other foot, I might have had a little something to say about it of course, but knowing the rules now people don’t really have a foot to stand on. Honestly I think the rule reflects the game in my eyes, as the match points can be misinterpreted due to time-outs, manager fill in’s etc, which could lead to another team going out due to circumstances out of their hand. But luck shined on us for once and we are more than happy to accept it.
How has your preparation been leading up the to the EPS finals so far?
Well knowing that the majority of the other teams in the finals have had some problems, or just aren’t practicing , this as an open gap for us to take advantage and put some practice time in, however we are looking a little off our game at the moment and we hope to fix it up before the finals. This is being made harder as bAc’s girlfriend is here all week so sadly its only some 4on4’s, but in general we are just chilling back and enjoying the lead up to the lan.
You are the only team coming into the ESL Pro Series finals who haven’t attended either of the recent CoD4 LAN's. How does this effect your preparation knowing they've all had some good practice leading up to the ESL Pro Series finals?
We are just looking forward to the chance to prove ourselves, as this will be our first LAN together as this finalised line-up. Would have been nice to have had some LAN practice behind us, but neverless we see ourselves in a ‘nothing to lose’ position, as we are highly regarded as the underdogs. As for practice we have tried to play as many as the bigger names in the community right now and we are producing good results, just seems to be when we play the lesser teams we are falling down on. If we managed to get our game together there’s no reason why we can’t cause an upset in my eyes.
Your first match of the tournament will be against Team Infused, a match which has come up at i35 recently. Both teams have changed their line ups since then, how do you rate your chances now?
Well we have played 2 different Infused teams, and both in all honestly have run a train over us, both on the map of crash. But we are aware of their style of play and we are looking forward to what will hopefully be a tight fought game which will go down to the wire. We have made some line-up changes for the good, and Infused have finalised there 5, with two of the highly regarded ex-tek-9 players davvy and knaller, who will bring more experience to an already strong Infused line-up. But we will take every round as it comes and hope to cause an upset.
What are your thoughts on the other match of Reason Gaming vs Team Dignitas?
Well this one should be a good one, I’ve seen reason putting in some practice in the week days, however they have a some-what make shift line-up or a line-up we aren’t quite used to seeing from Reason Gaming. Where as Dignitas is Dignitas. Should be a close fought game but I expect Dignitas to take out, but Reason will give them a hell of a run for their money.
How do you feel the UK CoD scene is progressing? Has the ESL Pro Series had any effect on it?
EPS UK has not just generated new interest in the UK CoD scene as can be seen with up and coming UK teams in EAS, but in my opinion EPS has helped to keep a lot of the ‘bigger’ names involved due to the money, and I hope it can only expand further.
Will you be playing next season?
Of course.
How does the future of CoD4 look in your eyes?
Looks strong, a lot of big teams coming back, if we can push past and make a decision on what mod we will actually use will make matters a lot easier.
Reason Gaming are one of the front runners in the Pro Series Call of Duty 4 Finals. Reason were overall ranked third from the league stage, they are expected to be an strong team for the finals. I sit down and speak to Reasons team captain Lighters on the upcoming event.
Name: Christopher Lightburn Alias: Lighters Age: 18 Team:Reason Gaming
How has managing a six man line up to play in the ESL Pro Series with three players from the UK been?
Managing a 6 man lineup has been extremely easy considering how committed our players are. We had no problems rotating players as everyone felt it was fair aswell as best for the team. Another thing which helped was personal schedules such as football and the gym as everyone had their individual plans so it meant everyone got a break now and then especially because the matches were around 9-10pm. We had the odd problem because 3 UK players needed to be used at all times which meant a few matches we were forced to play with bad internet but we got by just fine.
How has your preparation been leading up the to the ESL Pro Series finals so far?
So far there has been none as Christmas and new years was time for family and friends, however theres currently nothing hindering us from practising so we plan to get some very intense training done. We know these next few weeks are crucial so we are going to give it everything we got.
How has change of Mark "rZE" Rzepka to Thomas "choobie" Mead affected your ESL Pro Series season?
It didn’t really affect the season at all because choobie was added so late in the season which meant he didn’t play many games. Also it’s worth mentioning that the two players play two completely different roles so comparing the two is hard. There was probably only one match where we were affected and this was the infused match because kammyz had taken the scope insight of rzes absence. This meant he wasnt prepared especially for a team like infused on a map like district where the map can be sometimes be in favour of a scope.
Your first match of the tournament will be against Team Dignitas, a match which has come up in many LAN's in CoD4. Will this be a grudge match? How do you rate your chances?
It will be a grudge match indeed, everytime we play dignitas its always a great game so its definitely the one to watch this LAN. I think we stand a very fair chance against dignitas considering the amount of practice we intend on doing. The score is rarely one sided when we play each other and usually comes down to who performs better on the day, were hoping doing lots of practise will give us the edge.
What are your thoughts on the other match of zeroPoint Gaming vs Team Infused?
I rate ZP quite highly and consider them underated, that being said I still think infused are going to better them. I don’t know how they do it but they seem to be very consistent and if they practise I believe they will dominate them as some of their players are very good. It all comes down to how prepared each team is I guess
How do you feel the UK CoD scene is progressing? Has the ESL Pro Series had any effect on it?
The UK scene is doing really well, especially in cod4 theres considerably more top UK teams than other countries. I believe theres even more unknown but strong teams. As always though the problem is stability which obviously showed throughout the EPS season. The EPS has had a big effect motivating teams to come together to compete against each other. Without EPS I don’t think I would have known as many UK players as I do now as there isn’t another league where UK players compete against each other
Will you be playing next season?
Definately, I just hope the prizes are similar and the teams are more stable. Nothing beats a guaranteed game against players that your likely to meet on LANS. Besides its good to spot potential players coming through the ranks.
How does the future of CoD4 look in your eyes?
Very strong especially in the UK scene considering the UKESA, I’m also very confident considering everyone has dismissed COD:WAW to stay with cod4. It will be affected by which mod is chosen but for the better, I’m currently inlove with the new promod and its fixed them small little things that hinder the game.
Intel have kindly provided us with an Intel i7 920 CPU to give away to one lucky person here. Some would say that you need to do something quite rigorous to be eligible to win the CPU, but not here it is very simple and so easy.
All you need to do to win the Intel i7 920 processor is to be the person who can take a photograph or a short youtube video of the ESL Pro Series UK finals poster in the most interesting pose/location/situation you can possibly find. Be it on top of mount everest or held by a famous celebrity, get snapping!
What to do..
Deadline is Monday 26th. Send your entry to karsh@staff.esl.eu. You need to be 15 or above. To be at the finals to collect the prize live on stage.
Veritas are one of the four teams in the ESL Pro Series Counter-Strike: Source finals, who have battled their way through the oncoming teams and now have secured their place at the finals to be in a chance of winning that spectacular 1st prize of £5,000!.
Name: Richard Shepherd Alias: raisins Age: 20 Team:Veritas Gaming
The Pro Series UK competition brings eSports closer to the UK. Do you feel competitions such as the Pro Series help in developing the competitive scene here in the United Kingdom?
Well yes it does bring teams closer, and i think EPS is one of the best things to come to the uk scene in along time. But this can only carry on if teams dont fold half way through the season and mess with their rosters constantly, i feel some teams really gave an unprofessional outlook for the UK 1st season.
As for developing it, i really think next season will be the best season to date, because you have the ex cgs teams entering, and instead of random teams that got through qualifiers plainly as mix teams and can barely manage to make 1 win through 12 weeks of play, your going to have the "big boys" playing, such as dignitas and crack clan.
How as a team have you guys pulled through this season. It has been the first season for the ESL Pro Series UK competitions, there was bound to be teething problems.
Well as i stated just before, teams were changing rosters, and this also applies to our selves, we lost 2 people early in the season, i think it was just after the 3rd week of play, we then had to evaluate what we wanted to do. So we brought in jai and mr.k and since then we have been using the map rotation for each week as our main practise basis. And i think this has paid off well for us. the only losses we had was with the old players in the team, and since then we are pretty much unbeaten and into the finals!
Out of the four teams attending the ESL Pro Series Finals who do you see as the favourites.
Well im not entirely sure now, if toxic are using their old line up then them 100% but if they are using their new players, then any thing is possible. I would like to think us ofc, but i think toxic are going to take it. vitrolic certainly wont be winning this event.
Your first match of the tournament will be against 4Kings how do you rate your chances considering you were unbeaten all season?
Well we lost 3 matches, so i don't see where the unbeaten thing came from :D, but basically 4who? we are going into this even with truck loads of confidence, so we will shrug off any team that's put to us. i <3 dumbazo.
With the accumulated prize fund your team has won so fair what do you plan on spending the money on?
Not really sure, probs put it towards a new pc or something :D
What has been your highlight of this season?
Hmm good question, i think for me personally, would be seeing the huge amount of infused gaming content in the tv section! jk, but i think each game has had its great highlights tbh, the entire season has been a complete joy to play!
How do you feel the UK Counter-Strike:Source scene is progressing? Has the ESL Pro Series had any effect on it?
Well atm 10x better than what it was, with the cgs teams back, and with new teams and Ukesa coming into play, source just got good again :D
Will you be playing next season?
Of course :D
How does the future of CS:S look in your eyes?
If money keeps being injected, and teams keep together, just as good as any other long lasting game. Also a shout out to all my fanboys you know who you are!, and also a shout out to our managers for putting alot of effort and dosh into seeing we get to places! much love and also a shout out to Kshadz as always, hes an up and coming 2k rating ret palla!:D
Dignitas have been a strong contender this season, with reaching the second place position on the overall rankings for the Pro Series Call of Duty ladder. I sit down and speak to Dignitas team captain, Mark Horner on the upcoming finals and the Call of Duty 4 scene.
Name: Mark Horner Alias: mark Age: 18 Team:Team Dignitas
How has your preparation been leading up the to the ESL Pro Series finals so far?
It has been a bit rocky over the holidays due to inactivity and some peopler having family things to sort, but thats set to change inthe coming week :)
During CoD2 Dignitas had been a UK powerhouse, and the UK's only real team that could compete in European competitions. CoD4 has brought to light a lot more UK talent, MYM, Team Infused and Reason Gaming all coming through to be top European teams. What do you think made this happen?
I think its a case of people just having more motivation as they saw it as a new game and that they had a real chance to be at the top, so they practiced alot harder than they would if they were for say a year behind everyone else in cod2.
After having to play with Will "Will" Nye replacing Chris "Blackmane" Kinnair for The GameLand and CC5 events recently, has your practice for the ESL Pro Series season been affected?
Not really, we didn't initially practice that much with will which turned out to be quite a downfall as it took us a lan and a half to gel with him, which could of been solved with a few hours a night online ^^. Overall our eps practice hasn't been affected.
Your first match of the tournament will be against Reason Gaming, a match which has come up in many LAN's in CoD4. Will this be a grudge match? How do you rate your chances?
I rate our chances quite highly due to the fact we always beat reason when it comes down to the crunch (over 3 maps with a merc :D). But who knows, it depends who practices more and who wants it more i guess :D
What are your thoughts on the other match of zeroPoint Gaming vs Team Infused?
With the ats drama i think infused have got it easier than they would if ats didn't go out :P Zp however are determined to make an upset and this might be the game they do it in !
How do you feel the UK CoD scene is progressing? Has the ESL Pro Series had any effect on it?
Its progressed well throughout cod4 with many teams being formed and reaching a higher standard of play, the eps has motivated teams to bring the best lineup possible which has been a bit of a blow to the eps season itself with the likes of sypher/tcm making one team meaning the season is one team short.
Will you be playing next season?
There is no reason not to ;)
How does the future of CoD4 look in your eyes?
The future will be determined over the next month or so when all the lans will announce the games and prizes, so wait and see :)
Thank you for your time, good luck in the finals.
Thanks, a big thankyou to all our sponsors... Intel, X-Fi, EA, Scan, Razer, Zyxel and Dell!
The second ESL Pro Series finalist teams are interviewed. The Counter-Strike: Source tournament has been a heated one from day one, how will the teams fair live at the finals? We get Pez thoughts on the finals, the ESL Pro Series and the teams.
Name: James Perrott Alias: PEZ Age: 19 Team:Four Kings
The ESL Pro Series brings eSports closer to the UK. Do you feel competitions such as the ESL UK Pro Series will help in developing the competitive scene here in the United Kingdom?
It will help do so definitely, everyone’s main aim at the moment is to get into the EPS and get to the finals! It has also brought stability to some of the teams in the scene, although a lot have been hindered by changes during the season leading to them doing very badly by the end of the season.
How as a team have you guys pulled through this season. It has been the first season for the ESL UK Pro Series, there was bound to be teething problems.
As a team we’ve found it 99% good! There were a few technical glitches linked with the anti cheat – aequitas, and the wild card systems and all the rules that ESL implement. But after the first game, you get used to it and it was fine for us. I know some teams have had more trouble than others.
Out of the four teams attending the ESL Pro Series Finals who do you see as the favourites.
Fragmasters
Your first match of the tournament will be against Veritas Gaming, how do you rate your chances?
We know we’re going to beat Veritas, they’re a good side and have done well to get to the finals, but we are very confident going into the finals.
With the accumulated prize fund your team has won so far what do you plan on spending the money on?
DRINKING money for university :p
What has been your highlight of this season?
Going 6-1 up vs Toxic, we all were so surprised. However it didn’t turn out to well in the end :(
How do you feel the UK Counter-Strike:Source scene is progressing? Has the ESL Pro Series had any effect on it?
The ESL EPS coming to the UK has had a big impact on the UK CSS Scene, it’s brought something which the UK scene was lacking. There wasn’t really a UK league or competition where all the UK teams were playing, and where they were practising really hard to win!
Will you be playing next season?
Of course!
How does the future of Counter-Strike: Source look in your eyes?
It looks promising, a few more events online cropping up, and everyone’s waiting for the unveiling of UKeSA. There’s more organisations supporting CS:S and more teams being announced. The future for CS:S looks bright!
Thank you for your time, good luck in the finals.
Thanks, I’d like to also do a big shout out to our supporters, 4Kings managers Ian & Shayan, and all the 4Kings crew and sponsors!
Vanner tells all on what the Infused team have been up too.
The finals are approaching fast and the four Call of Duty 4 teams are now getting ready for the ESL Pro Series UK finals event on January 31st. We will be conducting a small interview of all the ESL Pro Series teams, to see how they are getting on and their thoughts on the finals.
Name: Adam Vanner Alias: Vanner Age: 19 Team:team-infused
Your first match of the tournament will be against zeroPoint gaming, a match which has came up at i35. Both teams have changed their line ups since then, how do you rate your chances now?
Same as before, we're favourites by a small margin but once again their good results coming in and our lack of playtime + results recently mean they'll win no doubt.
How has your preparation been leading up to the ESL Pro Series finals so far?
Non existent, we haven't touched the game since Gamerland barely. We played 2 maps 2nite but got bored after 4 rounds :-)
Like Reason Gaming, you have also been rotating a 6 man lineup. During the Season you lent Will "Will" Nye to Team Dignitas for The Gamerland and CC5, did this have any implications on your Season?
None at all, will can't be a part of infused so we weren't even playing with him at that point, we have zero tactics and have played about 5 maps together outside of EPS and LAN which was late November.
What made you pickup Davy and Knaller from the old Tek-9 team to complete your lineup for the ESL Pro Series, did you try searching in the UK first?
They're cool guys, we got on well with them during the summer lans and tw!st knew them from i33. Davy is also very skilled with grenades, while knaller has a will to win whenever CoD4's on the agenda! Don't think we even thought about UK players to be honest.
What are your thoughts on the other match of Reason Gaming vs Team Dignitas?
Dignitas should win, reason are weaker with choobie instead of eplo/rze no doubt. I think dignitas have properly played less than us so you never know, dignitas normally win though.
How do you feel the UK CoD scene is progressing? Has the ESL Pro Series had any effect on it?
It's the same as it's been for 6 months, reason/fatgames active and doing good, us and dignitas inactive and having mixed results. No money could turn the decline CoD4 is in.
From today on you will get all the information you need to enjoy the ESL Pro Series Finals number 1 in United Kingdom. We will give you interview, specials, statements, prize competitions and everything else to get you prepared for the 31st of January in London.
If you was an lucky winner in one of our VIP Ticket competitions please make sure that you send a email to me at karsh@staff.esl.eu. We are not sending out VIP Tickets, so you need to email me to be added to the VIP list or you wont be able to claim your ticket on the day.
I am opening the deadline for this until the 26th. Please don't miss out!
Today we can announce where and when the first UK Pro Series finals will take place. This is a very exciting time for everyone involved as we are in season one of the ESL Pro Series for the United Kingdom and we are sure to see some great eSports competitive play at our first finals.
The finals will take place on Saturday 31st January at 10am and will be located at the Congress Centre based in Central London. The Congress Centre is in a fantastic location in the heart of London’s West End, just one minute walk from Tottenham Court Road Underground Station.
Overnight guests can take advantage of discounted room rates specially negotiated by Congress Centre at a number of 4-star hotels literally on the doorstep. When booking, simply mention that you are attending an event at Congress Centre to take advantage of these preferential rates. Participating hotels include:
Jury's Hotel
Great Russell Street
For reservations: +44 (0)20 7347 1000
Radisson and Edwardian (Kenilworth and Marlborough Hotel)
The hotel is conveniently situated diagonally opposite Congress Centre.
For reservations: +44 (0)20 7666 2662
The Academy
Gower Street
For reservations: +44 (0)20 7657 8080
Hotel Russell
Russell Square
For reservations: +44 (0)20 7520 1825
Congress Centre
28 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3LS
Website: www.congresscentre.co.uk
Please do not contact the venue about the event.
Finals Prize Money:
Counter-Strike:Source
Call of Duty 4
1st:
£5,000
£5,000
2nd:
£2,000
£2,000
3rd:
£1,000
£1,000
4th:
£400
£400
Overall:
£15,000
£15,000
£30,000
The top four Counter-Strike Source and Call of Duty 4 teams from the league stage of the ESL Pro Series will battle it out at the finals. They are not just fighting to be crowned the best teams in the UK but in fact they also have a great prize pool to edge them on. Who will be the victor? Who will be the first team to be knocked out? Stay tuned to ESL UK to find out more.
Updates...
The ESL UK management team are hard at work making sure the first Pro Series finals will be a great success. From now until the event, we will be bringing you exciting announcements regarding the finals in further detail. We will have announcements regarding ESL TV, the official event schedule, the coverage plan and more. So make sure you keep a close eye on our website.
English (en)
Participants
Participants
ESL Pro Series
Intel® Extreme Masters
Alpen
Austria
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Belarus
Belgium
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Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech
Denmark
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Netherlands
Portugal
Poland
Romania
Russia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
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Turkey
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ESL Pro Series >
Call of Duty 4
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Source
Dawn of War II
TrackMania Nations Fore..
Americas Army: Operatio..
Battlefield 2
Blub Game
Call of Duty: World at ..
Combat Arms
Counter-Strike Manager
Cross Fire
Day of Defeat: Source
Enemy Territory
FIFA 10
Football Manager 2010
ICQ Games
Jedi Knight:Jedi Academ..
League of Legends
Left 4 Dead 2
MSN Games
OMGPOP
S4 League
Star Wars: Battlefront ..
Street Fighter IV
War Rock
Warcraft 3
EPS Season 1 CoD4 5on5
Quake 3 (1on1)
Trackmania Nations Forever (1on1)
Tony '
Unreal Tournament 3
Intel have kindly provided us with an Intel i7 920 CPU to give away to one lucky person here. Some would say that you need to do something quite rigorous to be eligible to win the CPU, but not here it is very simple and so easy.
Games: 
