While it is maybe not the crowning team achievement for Warcraft 3 players that WC3L is, ESWC is probably (next to WCG) the biggest solo achievement a player could have. In 2007 Soju shocked everyone in taking the gold. Preview was written by Mirhi.

This year is shaping up to be a very tough field.

Group A:

SK.Soju
srs.DowaQ
FiX
Hasuelf
Paulyan

This group will be a pretty close race for 2nd place, with Soju being a heavy favorite to win it. FiX is in great shape right now, and though DowaQ is a very talened player, FiX seems to have been a monster on LAN of late, and I expect him to come out of the group

Winner: SK.Soju (4-0)
Runner-Up: FiX (3-1)

Group B:

wNv.TH000
Zeus[19]
Gravitas.HoT
nGize\\ShrieK
Cypress

The group of death! TH000 was seeded top in this group after doing well in the past few months, but I don't think he will win this group. Even though HoT has been an inconsistent player, he has proven to be an exceptional talent on LAN, and I expect him to come through and win this group. Shriek and Zeus will try to finish 2nd, but unless TH000 plays badly, I doubt they will best him. This is far and above the hardest group.

Winner: Gravitas.HoT (4-0)
Runner-Up: wNv.TH000 (3-1)

Group C:

SK.Lyn
mouz.HasuObs
Gravitas.Xyligan
Coup
CK

This group seems pretty clear cut. Lyn should have no problem going 3-0 here, especially if he gets a good map versus HasuObs. Xyligan has chosen not to attend the tournament, so there isn't much competition here.

Winner: SK.Lyn (3-0)
Runner-Up: mouz.HasuObs (2-1)

Group D:

MYM]Grubby
SK.Miou
Happy
Dark Scorpion
GuessWho

This group looked like the group of death until Happy announced he was not attending ESWC finals. As is, Miou and Grubby have no real competition for the top 2 spots.

Winner: MYM]Grubby (3-0)
Runner-Up:  SK.Miou (2-1)

Group E:

Gravitas.ToD
aTTaX.SaSe
PGS.Paladyn
DE.Lamwilliam
Dave

ToD and SaSe are going to be tired of playing each other. It seems like since they parted ways with mouz, they are destined to play more and more. SaSe dominated ToD online in WC3L just days earlier with a clear 2-0 victory, though LAN is a different monster. SaSe seems to be in pretty good shape, and I somewhat question ToDs motivation to play, but if ToD comes with a purpose he will be in great shape. Paladyn: I really don't see him challanging either SaSe or ToD, even though he has been practicing in Season 6 a lot.

Winner: aTTaX.SaSe (4-0)
Runner-Up: Gravitas.ToD (3-1)

Group F:

mTw.AMD.WhO
aAa.Wolf
srs.Sonkie
Firestrike
BONECRACKER

This group has to be the most wide open of any of them. Even WhO is not safe as Sonkie has beaten him once before. Though I think WhO is in the shape of his life and is one of the favorites to win the entire tournament, I think Sonkie, Firestrike and Wolf all have a chance of making it through. It will be a very close finish, realistically, I think Wolf, Sonkie and Firestrike could all finish 2-2 and have a 3 way tie.

Winner: mTw.AMD.WhO (4-0)
Runner-Up: srs.Sonkie (2-2)

Group G:

WE.Pepsi.Sky
SK.Reign
srs.Rotterdam
Dark Dancer

This should be a very close fight for 2nd between Rotterdam and Reign, and it will depend on their shape and how they play the map they get. Sky is in too good shape to drop a game here, but either of the other 2 could finish 2nd.

Winner: WE.Pepsi.Sky (3-0)
Runner-Up: SK.Reign (2-1)

Group H:

MYM]Moon
WE.Pepsi.TeD
nGize\\DeMusliM
nGize\\YanE

This is probably the 2nd hardest group. DeMusliM would have done well in almost any other group, but here he is going against 2 of the favorites to win the tournament who have unfortunately been matched in the same group. It's possible for TeD to upset Moon, but I don't know if I can see it happening. Meanwhile, Yane is a threat to beat his teammate DeMusliM. At the very least, this will be an entertaining group.

Winner: MYM]Moon (3-0)
Co-Winner: WE.Pepsi.TeD (2-1)

Final Thoughts and Predictions

Looking ahead at the tournament, I think that we will have a few surprises and that this will be a coming out party of sorts for a few players. As I have picked the group winners I think this will be our top 16. The following depends on seedings and brackets, but is an indication of how I feel about player strength.

Top 8:

Moon, TeD, Sky, WhO, Lyn, Grubby, HoT, FiX

Top 4:

Moon, TeD, WhO, Sky

Final:

Moon > WhO