The Intel Extreme Masters tournament hosted by ESL is moving into the next stage. 24 teams in the Counter-Strike 1.6 event have been selected and placed into 3 pools, from there two teams are drawn into groups. More than two teams of the same nationality cannot be in the same group.

The winners of each group (4) will proceed into the next stage while the teams placing in second and third will face eachother in a decisive match to determine the other 4 teams entering the next stage.

The Pools

Pool 1	Pool 2	Pool 3
SK Gaming fnatic NiP mYm.no mousesports Four Kings NoA hoorai	Alternate aTTax mTw alltherage emuLate Pentagram Raw-Gaming Virtus.pro x6tence	SK Gaming ID Gaming goodgame Highscore inzania plan-B Team-Impact Begrip Gaming

It is obvious to see that both Sweden and Germany have the most teams remaining in the event - possible signaling the dominance of those nations in esports? It is also clear, impressive but also interesting to see 3 Swedish teams in the top pool.

Group A NiP mousesports Alternate aTTax Virtus.pro goodgame plan-B	Group C Four Kings fnatic Pentagram alltherage Begrip Gaming SK Gaming
Group B hoorai mYm.no x6tence mTw Team-Impact inzania	Group D SK Gaming NoA emuLate Raw-Gaming Highscore ID Gaming

Predictions

Group A: NiP(1) with a virtus.pro(2) vs mouz(3) play-off.
Group B: hoorai(1) with a mYm(2) vs inzania(3) play-off.
Group C: Pentagram(1) with a fnatic(2) vs 4Kings(3) play-off.
Group D: NoA(1) with a SK.swe(2) vs emuLate(3) play-off.

Good Luck to all the teams.

HLTV.orgwill of course bring you all the matches LIVE so make sure you check back with us when the matches are being played. First matches start on the 27th October 2006 (NiP vs mouz) so don't miss out!

Links

Extreme Masters