As part of HLTV.org's World Cyber Games 2009 pre-coverage, we now cast our view on Group C.

The five teams drawn for Group C have following lineups:

mTw	Power Gaming
Alexander "ave" Holdt	Joona "natu" Leppanen
Danny "zonic" Sørensen	Niko "naSu" Kovanen
Christoffer "Sunde" Sunde	Tino "tihOp" Puumala
Martin "trace" Heldt	Samu "plastE" Aalto
Oliver "minet" Minet	Max "ruuit" Aspe

Vatos Locos	Sequential Gaming
Thanasis "HACKER" Stamoulis	Otis "pupajoN" Duncan
Dimitris "HannibaL" Mitzas	Soren "Soren" Larssen
Kyriakos "avel" Etoglou	Rory "rBKE" Burke
Minas "ornatE" Karsten	Emir "rumil" Keser
Eleftherios "WaR" Patsatzis	Mike "Apoc" Aliferis

 

Virtus.pro

Alexey "LeX" Kolesnikov

Roman "ROMJkE" Makarov

Dmitri "hooch" Bogdanov

Nikita "Dio" Trifonov

Konstantin "groove" Pikiner

Group C definitely looks like one of the most interesting ones to watch, not only because it contains the defending champions, mTw, but also because it will in theory feature an intense battle for the two play-off spots as all five teams have had their share of success in the past.

WCG 2009 will be an extremely important event for mTw as it presents itself as the first real test for their new line-up. After parting company first with Jonas "whiMp" Svendsen and then with Muhamed "MJE" Eid, mTw lost the two players who had perhaps been their most consistent members over the years.

In Oliver "minet" Minet and Martin "trace" Heldt mTw have gained two very talented and motived players, but the real impact of the two swaps can only be measured now. The Danish Dynamite have been able to maintain their number-one status in the country, winning KGC 2009 and SLAP LIVE #19, and are currently undefeated in the Extreme Masters European Championship, but only the WCG will prove whether they are capable of performing on a regular basis.

Virtus.pro have been fairly good in recent months in Eastern Europe, winning Arbalet Cup in Ukraine with a stand-in and the CGL of Russia, but they have been very discreet when it comes to the main stages. After missing out on a place in the Extreme Masters European Championship, Virtus.pro finished fourth of their group at the Global Challenge in Dubai, and they are certainly looking forward to this event to make their mark in the international scene once again.

It has been quite a while since a Finnish team were last able to make a difference in a tournament, albeit the players always pretty much remain the same. Roster changes have been made and unmade and it has resulted in Finland remaining distant from the top. The team with the funny name bolster a strong starting-five after swapping two players, but it will take a lot more than a star-studded roster for Power Gaming to improve on a mediocre campaign at GameGune.

In Cologne, Immunity cause quite a commotion, with their horde of fans avidly cheering for the Aussie cause. This year, there is no Immunity and no Benjamin "benoR" O'Reilly. Instead, we have Sequential Gaming, who are no strangers to the demands of a tournament of WCG's magnitude, having attended the 2007 edition in Seattle, where they bowed out in the group stage, defeating k23 in the process. SQL are expected to mount a decent challenge for the second spot of the group, but their poor training conditions will certainly put them at a disadvantage against more experienced sides.

The last team that comprise Group C, Vatos Locos, have been very quiet in their recent international LAN appearances. In the 2008 WCG event, Vatos Locos failed to impress, finishing their group in fourth place, six points adrift of the top. At GameGune 2009, Delinquent Habits were third of their group with a solitary point, which has certainly left the Greek fans wondering about the state of their top teams and whether VL can pull off a repeating of the 7th/8th-placed finish at SEC 2008.

HLTV.org's final placing prediction:

1. mTw
2. Virtus.pro
3. PowerGaming
4. Sequential Gaming
5. Vatos Locos

Related

Preview: Group A
Preview: Group B

SteelSeries competition

Whodo you think will win Group C? By leaving your prediction in a commentbelow, you will have the opportunity to win a SteelSeries QcK+ CustomLimited Edition mousepad. You can pick your favorite, as there is awide range of mousespads to choose from (fnatic, mibr, MYM, SK andmore (stocks are limited)).



XLBet offers you the odds on Group C

XLBetis once again again ready to serve you withthe odds for World Cyber Games. Group C bets are available right now.Remember handicap bets finalizes once a team has reached 16 rounds won.

Group C sees mTw as the favourite, but you can bet against them in matches against Power Gaming and Virtus.pro. If you think they will fail to win against Virtus.pro in a 0-6 handicap, then you can score odds 2.10. Against Power Gaming, you can bet on Power Gaming winning in a 0-7 handicap, giving you odds 2.10.

The fight for the second place, Power Gaming taking on Virtus.pro, you can bet on Virtus.pro to win, giving you odds 1.42, while betting on Power Gaming will give you odds 2.55.

XLBet will be your home for all odds during World Cyber Games, go check out the available odds right here.