Allen inactive in SK

Great loss for SK-gaming. Jimmy "allen" Allen (Sweden) has announced he will be going inactive from competitive play due to illness. The long time SK player last played with GeT_Right, RobbaN, f0rest and face on Intel Extreme Masters V European Championship. Even then he felt bad and said, that his skill in CS is lower. Allen joined to SK Gaming on July 17 in 2006 alongside Mattias "Snajdan" Andersen, being just 17-years-old. Since then he has attended many events and most of the time finished within the top five. He issued a statement:

"Hey guys! After almost 5 years in the SK hoodie I've decieded to become inactive until further notice. I haven't been feeling well lately due to a sickness that effects me in a negative way regarding Counter-Strike. I choose to play the IEM Euro Finals in January even though I didn't feel well and after that I realized I should take a break and focus on my illness for a while.

I hope to be back one day and I wanna thank SK Gaming and my lovely team-mates for some great years, and I wish them gl this year, I think they'll do really well. Sick lineup 2011.

I also wanna thank all my loyal fans, of course, for all the support during the years. It helped me a lot keeping myself motivated having you guys cheering me on. Hope you guys will still be out there if I do a comeback.

I guess you guys wanted me to explain more about my illness but I find that very hard, it's complicated. Sorry about that. But I'm sure I will be fine in reasonable time."

In recent months, allen was substituted by Dennis "dennis" Edman from RAGE Gaming. He was very good on Intel Extreme Masters Global Finals and He goes with SK Gaming to Denmark in Copenhagen Games in the second half of April. He is listed as the top candidate in allen's place in squad.

We must emphasize, that allen probably will come back to CS. He is one of the Counter Strike stars. Just look at the list of his achievements:

2007 SEC (1st)
2007 IEM II LA (2nd)
2008 IEM II Finals (4th)
2008 Kode5 Global Final (3rd)
2008 IEM III LA (1st)
2008 IEM III Montreal (2nd)
2008 WCG (2nd - Silver medal)
2008 DreamHack Winter (1st)
2009 EM III Global Finals (4th)
2009 ESWC Masters Cheonan (2nd)
2009 Kode5 Global Final (2nd)
2009 IEM IV Chengdu (1st)
2009 IEM IV Dubai (3rd)
2009 IEF (1st)
2009 Arbalet Cup Europe (1st)
2010 IEM IV European Finals (3rd)
2010 IEM IV World Championship (3rd)
2010 Arbalet Best of Four (2nd)
2010 IOL S2 Final4 (1st)
2010 ESWC (2nd)
2010 SEC (1st)
2010 WCG Nordic (1st)
2010 WEM (2nd)

Well, goodbye allen and I wish you full recovery!

Source: sk-gaming.com , frag-executors.com, hltv.org

By the way, We still invite you to join our steam group: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Total1337Gaming and take part in the survey about our games server.

Xperia PLAY 2011 Prelude

Hi,this week we held a European tournament -Xperia PLAY Prelude 2011. On Wednesday and Thursday there was eight, fascinating battles.

The first two battles took place at 19:

1. x6tence vs. empty - The Swedish team (empty), as usual, showed the Spaniards how to play CS 1.6. They won 2:0 (1st - de_inferno 6:16, 2nd - de_dust2 10:16)
2. RG-ENUZI vs. face!- Not this league , RG-ENUZI, not this league. face! won 2:0 (1st - de_train 16:10, 2nd - de_tuscan 16:9). Only "kale" defended his team's honor - see this action:

Next match: mTw vs. Gamerzone. Of course mTw won this battle 2:0 (1st - de_inferno 16:3, 2nd - de_train 16:9

4. Cheap Times! vs. munkka - It was very hard duel. They must play up to 3 maps. Unfortunately, young squad, Cheap Times! eventually lost in a clash with munkka 1:2 (1st - de_inferno 22:26, 2nd - de_train 16:5, 3rd - de_dust2 11:16). Cheap Times! defended very well. This is evidenced by this situation:

5. Moscow Five vs. X (former DG)- The Russians surely won against X. That was Own3d - 2:0 for Moscow Five (1st - de_inferno 16:1, 2nd - de_train 16:4).

6.dateam vs. deathwish- deathwish won 2:1 (1st - de_inferno 4:16, 2nd - de_train 16:9, 3rd - de_tuscan 23:26).

7.Online Kingdom.fi vs. eSrael - Israelis didn't have any chances. 2:0 for Finns ( 1st - de_dust2 16:14, 2nd - de_nuke 16:12).

8.SK Gaming vs. gatherproffs- The best battle of this week. Both sides played very well. However, the composition of CS 1.6 stars like GeT_Right or RobbaN must win. They defeated gatherproffs 2:1 (1st - de_train 16:6, 2nd - de_inferno 6:16, 3rd - de_dust2 16:12). We could see amazing actions both SK and gatherproffs :

What is your favorite to win?
Source: HLTV.org, online-kingdom.org

The fragmovie about GeT_Right

Hey, recently I came across a fragmovie about Christopher "GeT_Right" Alesund - one of the best CS 1.6 player beside Neo, markeloff or carn. Currently, he is in SK-gaming. Enjoy!

source: cybersport.pl

SK-gaming without dennis...

...temporarily. Dennis "dennis" Edman appears to have suffered a hand injury, but will nevertheless attend Xperia PLAY next month (ooooooh). The injury was sustained after Edman had punched a wall with his left hand, something which ultimately resulted in a broken pinky finger. Injuries like these are often followed by a minor operation, but dennis says he has no plans to undergo such a procedure and is set to drop his cast in one week's time. Funny in this situation is fact, that dennis substituted Jimmy "allen" Allen in SK at the IEM5 World Championship due to... Allen's sickness. Sk-gaming believes in dennis's very (very, very) rapid return. They have already registered him at Copenhagen Games. This is very important event for SK, because in tournament take part elite of CS 1.6 like mTw, fnatic, frag-eXecutors, eSahara, TCM-gaming and mousesport (great come-back? :D). They couldn't give points without a fight.

The Copenhagen Games Xperia PLAY tournament will cater for 48 teams, with 29 of those spots already filled. A prize pot of ~$28,000 is on offer, with the winning team taking home half of that.

Xperia PLAY attendance list:

-eSahara

-Frag-eXecutors
-SK Gaming
-mTw
-TCM-Gaming
-upfront
-VALUE-GAMING
-rimosso
-Team Holte Vinlager
-Visual
-Competitive Advantage
-eXplicit
-Incipit
-NONE!
-dateam
-vital Gaming
-fnatic
-Online Kingdom
-eSrael Gaming
-munkka
-volgare
-x6tence
-alchemists
-Universal Soldiers
-Mousesports
-kolonD
-Deathwish
-DG
-Project.YM
-InterSTROMA

-Lions (probably, we don't know now)

This will be the best tournament in 2011!

Source: HLTV.org, sk-gaming.com, frag-executors.com

The most famous teams join to Xperia PLAY

4 days ago I talked about Copenhagen Games 2011. It's one of the best e-sport event in Europe. To participate in the tournament has motivated a great prize (45000€). Meanwhile, more and more teams (elite:D) join to Xperia PLAY. He is "small tournament" in Copenhagen Games 2011. No, they will not play on mobile phones. The participation in tournament confirmed SK-Gaming, fnatic, munkka, x6tence and other team. SK Gaming's Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund had the following to say about the event:

"As the news post here says I am, with my team, attending the Danish tournament Xperia PLAY in Copenhagen next month. We will play as much as we can and hopefully we will give You, the fans, the community and our organization the victory you deserve to be given. Please support us as you did with the World Championship (IEM) and we will regain our pride with you!"

Xperia PLAY and Copenhagen Games will take place at Øksnehallen in Copenhagen from 21-24 April, with approximately €20,000 to be handed out in the tournament. It will be great show!

Xperia PLAY attendance list:
-SK Gaming (Sweden)
-Competitive Advantage (Denmark)
-eXplicit.Dansk Metal (Denmark)
-fnatic (Sweden)
-munkka (Finland)
-NONE! (Denmark)
-Team Holte Vinlager (Denmark)
-Universal Soldiers (Poland)
-VALUE-GAMING (Denmark)
-Visual (Denmark)
-vitalGaming (Sweden)
-volgare (Hungary)
-x6tence (Spain)

Who is your favorite to win?

Natus Vincere won Intel Extreme Masters V!

Natus Vincere (lat. born for victory :)) defeated in the final duel Frag eXecutors. The Ukrainian machine led by Zeus (others: markeloff, Edward, Starix, Esenin) faced with Neo and partnership( TaZ, kuben, pasha, Loord) on de_train and de_dust 2. They won both maps, They won both maps, although the match was very tough. The second time they reached for the cup winners of Intel Extreme Masters.

Review of match (sk-gaming.com):

de_train (Fx 11-Na'Vi 4, 1-12)

The game got underway with the Poles defending the bomb sites of de_train following their knife round win. A heavy advantage on the Counter-Terrorist side allowed them to take a respectable 11 rounds, but Na'Vi were definitely happy with four rounds on the Terrorist side.

On the change over, Na'Vi quickly secured the pistol and the next two rounds. They then managed to string multiple rounds together, thanks to strong holds from both AWPers markeloff and starix. Throughout the half, the side only slipped up once, which allowed them to win the half 12-1 and the game 16-12.

[My comment] It was a two-AWP map. This weapon gave a huge advantage. When Filip "Neo" Kubski and Jakub "kuben" Gurczyński has the sniper rifle, entrance to the bomb-site resembled a massacre of the innocents (Na'Vi's innocents).It was the same, when Na'Vi was on CT , 1 or 2 Frag-eXecutors players could only watch as other colleagues are killed (Na'Vi usually killed 1-2 players per round with AWP).

de_dust 2 (9-6, 1-)

Taking down four of their opposition, FX thought they had the first pistol round of dust2 in the bag. However, Natus Vincere's Starix managed to clutch a 2v1 situation to win the pistol round for NaVi. The following round saw FX catch Na'Vi offguard, buying AK's to win the second round and even up the game. From that point rounds exchanged, more in the favour of FX, allowing them to take the half 9-6.

The second saw Na'Vi do a strong push on short A, only losing one man in the process, they took over A and eventually won the round. After two eco rounds from FX, they looked like they would pull a round back, but ceh9 managed to hold A with the bomb down, pulling of a 2v1 clutch. Four more rounds followed after that, until FX called a timeout, which lead to them taking their first round of the CT half. Then Na'Vi got back up after losing a round to win the following round and the next round, which won them the game 16-10, and the match 2-0.

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The victory was well deserved for Na'Vi because they played better, both tactically and skillfully. Na`Vi in-game leader, Danyl "Zeus" Teslenko, was the top-fragger.

Natus Vincere... lost to win in IEM. The ESL has announced that Natus Vincere will have their IEM5 World Championship earnings reduced by 13 percent. The reason for the imposition of penalties are two offenses during a match with mortal Team work. The first offense was leaving the stage without permission at halftime of the second map and the second was extra timeout to go to the toilet (:D).

The third place coincided with mTw, which defeated SK-gaming 2:1 (de_inferno 16:6 for SK, de_nuke 8:16 and on de_train 24:26 for mTw).

Final Standings
1st. Natus Vincere - $30,450 (-$4,550 due to 13% deduction)
2nd. Frag eXecutors - $17,000
3rd. mTw - $8,500
4th. SK Gaming - $4,000
5/6. compLexity br - $2,500
5/6. fnatic - $2,500
7/8. Lions swe - $1,750
7/8. Moscow Five - $1,750
9/10. UMX - $1,750
9/10. Team EG - $1,750
11/12. TCM-Gaming - $1,750
11/12. redCode - $1,750

Source: sk-gaming.com, navi-gaming.com, frag-executors.com, HLTV.org

Thank you for over 300 followers :D!!!

Intel Extreme Masters V- Frag eXecutors defeated FnaticMSI.CS

Frag eXecutors (Neo, kuben, Loord, TaZ and pasha) confidently win with Fnatic (Delpan, pita, dsn, cArn, Xizt) 2:0 on de_dust2 (16:13) and de_nuke (16:10). Polish-(hardly)Swedish duel was the main attraction of quarter-finals (beside this match FX won with UMX-Gaming on de_inefrno 16-12 :D). This battle have given us some of the greatest series of all time but this instance proved a little anti-climactic as FX moved past fnatic without being pushed too hard.

Here you have a review of the battle on :

Dust 2 16-14 (CT 9-6, T 7-8) (sk-gaming.com)

The first map saw FX arrive in form as they pushed the game from the CT side of dust2 while fnatic won enough rounds to stay within striking distance but still not ever feel comfortable. After FX finished the half with a three round lead everyone had to know fnatic were set for a tough time coming back against one of the great offensive teams of this era.

fnatic did manage to pull back rounds, as Delpan showed off his AWP talent and fnatic showed they could retake B as FX continually attacked it. Eventually it had developed into a fully fledged nail-biter as the teams were clearly going to go down to the wire. A few key rounds saw the momentum switch to FX's favour such as one where a low health Xizt decided to save at A, thinking kuben was safely tucked away at the catwalk box when in fact he was above him inside the site and had looked quite tentative in their first exchange.

Most noteworthy for fans of CS highlight clips was neo's AWP round late in the game. The man some consider to be the greatest CS player of all time once more showed his special touch for the game as he saved an AWP and on a round where most of his team-mates had glocks he went to work demolishing fnatic at bombsite B. The part which thrilled the crowd and frustrated fnatic came when the Pole faced a 1v3 and killed each in succession, the last even coming through a box as the player rushed around towards him. The legend had once more lit up the big stage and many will look to tomorrow's face-off against f0rest as another chapter in their storied history.

Another theme of the dust2 game late was that fnatic seemed overly greedy, or perhaps a little panicked, as they bought weak over and over with famas and deagles only to lose round after round. On a map they had a few chances in the Swedes left one down and with work to do on nuke.

Nuke 16-10 (T 7-8, CT 9-2) (sk-gaming.com)

Despite losing on dust2 a couple of the fnatic players had shown some nice moments and once more it was individual rounds doing it for fnatic in the early going on nuke as they won the pistol round and third round with clutches. After that though FX locked the train into top speed and rolled over fnatic with classic FX aggressive nuke play. Few teams in history have been as good on nuke T side as this side and once more they proved a tough nut to crack for the CTs. Losing the first half 7:8 was no shame for FX as they had been down 4:7 at one point.

On the second half Neo aced the CT pistol round and it was clear FX were zoned in to take the series then and there. They charged forwards and fnatic simply couldn't find the answers to hold back the Poles.

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"Interestingly in the series FX used their timeouts very well and discussions seemed to be constructive rather than divisive, so they came back into the game each time and improved their approach. For fnatic this series suggests Kiev was a great few days but that's all it was. In reality their team is most likely more in the range of 3rd-5th than legitimately #1 or a big favourite for every event. Of course they'll have their chances to prove themselves at the next event and show some evolution positively in their game." -commented Thorin.

Fx will now face SK-Gaming (dennis, face, f0rest, GeT_RiGhT and RobbaN) tomorrow in the Semi-finals.

Today also mTw and Na'Vi defeated CompLexity on : de_nuke (16-3 for mTw) , de_dust2(16:10 for Na'Vi) and de_train( 5-16 for Ukrainians too). These first two teams will play against each other in Semi-finals too.

Source: sk-gaming, frag-executors.com, HLTV.org