(USA) - The most anticipated league of North America today is ready for their ninth season of Counter-Strike 1.6 league play. Top eleven teams from across the nation will have the chance to go up for over $10,000 in cash and prizes alone.

Judging by the teams in attendance this season, we should be in store for one of the better seasons we've seen in awhile. X3O looks to make it a third consecutive championship in CEVO Professional and to be the first team to do so. The X3O/MoB rival is still on the prowl as both are neck and neck with wanting the last word.

If that didn't make things interesting, Complexity will be competing this season with the rest of the bunch. It will be nice to see how they will stack up with the rest of the competition due to being out of the game for so long.

X3O

Matt "PaTyoJoN" Iantosca
Ben "TheNuT" Hui
Ediz "goodfornothing" Basol
Derrick "impulsivE" Truong
Dan "mehLer" Mehler

The defending champions for two seasons in a row will go for a third this time around. Coming off a second place finish at the WCG US Open and a auto-berth to the Grand Final later this year, X3O will make sure to take this practice serious as preperation down the road. They have kept the roster stable during the off season and really tried to focus on getting their chemistry picture perfect.

Their huge rival at the moment, MoB Gaming, will create another interesting season as they go back and forth defeating eachother. Most recently, X3O suffered a brutal 16-9 loss to MoB during the CyberEvolution OCZ Technologies event. You can guarantee these guys want some revenge with the stakes even higher then before as CEVO recently announced.

Strengths: It is pretty hard to name just one strength for these guys because they pretty much just have it all. Proving dominance for two seasons in a row has a bit of leverage on some teams to showing your power.

Weaknesses: Rivals. Teams like MoB and Evil Geniuses have X3O's number and have been calling very frequently. Their most recent upset was to EG at the WCG US Open and MoB has always gave them a challenge when it came down to grudge time, including two finals matches.

Prediction: First. Can't say it wouldn't be nice to be the first team to win three seasons back to back. Their career CEVO performance thus far has shown just that and will be interesting to see how they go up against some of the newer teams.

MoB

Noah "StrikeR" Alvarado
Thomas "thoMz" Garcia
Shaun "hostile" Catron
Joe "perez" Perez
Ryan "phamtastik" Pham

After a little roster shake-up towards the end of the season and during the off season, MoB should be happy with the progress they are making with a first place finish at the GotFrag Revival Preliminary #2 and another win at the CEVO OCZ Technologies event. Keep in mind X3O wasn't in attendance for the GRT event but they were for the CEVO OCZ tournament.

As many have noticed, Ryan "phamtastik" Pham was pulled out of playing Source for the past year as a salaried player and has decided to return back to the 1.6 scene. Pham has had a history with numerous of teams who have played against the best of the world. Then again, that was the past. To jump back so rapidly will cause some bumps along the way due to not being as active as the rest of the players who've been playing 1.6 when he wasn't.

Strengths: Chemistry. Keeping a stable three to four players for the off season will help this team more as they progress. They are also a tough team to prevent getting rounds on as their consistency has shown with wins in the second portion of the GotFrag Revival Tour as well as the CEVO OCZ Technologies event.

Weaknesses: Most of their losses have came from X3O in their career of match-ups played against eachother. Furthermore, when it comes down to finals match ups between the two, MoB has been winless. Their most recent addition of Ryan "phamtastik" Pham can also either make them or break them. With his quick jump back to 1.6 from Source, his feel for the game can change at any time.

Prediction: Second. I don't want to say it but I think the curse might hold them back. Now this is obviously way early in the season and they are one of the best teams along with X3O. If they can study X3O's moves more thoroughly, we may just see MoB first championship in CEVO.

Evil Geniuses

Michael "chE" Guevara
Scott "evolution" Cavallero
Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert
Ryan "NineSpot" Bell
Nazar "steno" Vynnytsky

Currently ranked #1 in the United States by GotFrag and tied for #10 in the world, Evil Geniuses need to keep their heads high. Following their disappointing finish at the KODE5 Finals, the American squad had a rough time at the ESWC Masters as they were quickly eliminated in group play. The change of pace from playing American teams to European teams might of threw them off and will need to adjust that as they head into Season 9.

Nobody can hold their losses against them because EG played phenomenal in group play defeating fnatic and Virtus.pro by at least 6 rounds. With that, you can guarantee this team is capable of playing up against the best in not just the nation, but the world as well.


Strengths: Teamwork. Their performance during the KODE5 Finals and the ESWC Masters against some of the top teams in the world showed they have what it takes to play against the best. They final have had a steady lineup of players for many recent events and looks to only build stronger with that grasp.

Weaknesses: Consistency. The KODE5 Finals and ESWC Masters wasn't there best performance and could still be hanging over them. They will also have to adjust to the level of play they are used to against the European players who have a very different style then they are normally used to.

Prediction: Top 3. Even though their standing in the past events doesn't look on paper, the amount of effort they put into it showed. If they are capable of defeating some of the best the world has seen, American teams should be a walk in the park.