Shortly before Scandinavia turns into a mosquito-infested heaven for pestilence and players decide to take a break from QuakeWorld whilst pretending they have a summer worthy of leaving the house, we have a few more highlights to offer!

Friday, May 7th (tonight!) at 20:00 CEST:
Bulat vs LockTar, Ownage #3, Loser Bracket Final

This is going to be a guaranteed nailbiter and I think we can prepare for four maps at least - probably five! Bulat has ztndm3 and aerowalk, LocKtar has dm2 and dm4, and I expect the players to win their maps and nervously shake it out on dm6. But okay, I might be wrong there. Either way - this is not going to be a game you'll want to miss!

Place your bet: Bulat vs LocKtar @ Goldrush

Sunday, May 9th at 20:00 CEST:
Slackers vs The Viper Squad, EQL #11, Division 1 Final

The highlight of the 4on4 Season has arrived. Given the winning streak and the scary lineup ( XantoM, Milton, blAze, Ihminen), The Viper Squad are obviously favourites to win the Season, but let's not forget that there have been bigger upsets than this in the history of QuakeWorld. Slackers will be fielding Murdoc, ParadokS, Krab and Zero, all of which know how to lock a map and keep it locked. An error or a bad start, and there goes the map win for tVS.

Place your bet: Slackers vs The Viper Squad @ Goldrush

I asked blAze and ParadokS what they expected from the final, and this is what they said:

soma: tVS took down Slackers quite comfortably with a 2-0 victory during the season. Do you expect this to happen in the final too?
blAze: No, they are in much better shape now than they have been in years. And we will be rusty because we don't have a team to prac with until the day of the final.
soma: Okay, and you're not just being modest there?
blAze: No, I mean everyone saw how they destroyed fusion!
soma: And who do you think is Slackers' best player? The obvious pick is always ParadokS, but what do you think?
blAze: Murdoc, he is solid on every map! ParadokS is like Valla - great on dm3, good on e1m2, dm2... oh well
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soma: What do you expect from the final? What are your chances? I talked to blAze and he said you guys were pretty rusty in your EQL-encounter, and that he expects more of a fight in the final.
ParadokS: Well, even if we are better now than before, we are still not at their level. So i would give us like 20% chance to win. As i said before in some debate on forum, tVS is the only team in the scene that maintained four starplayers in their lineup while everyone else had to cope with whatever they had.
soma: 20% chance meaning decent starts and stuff?
ParadokS: If we play our best and keep our heads cool even when they put the pressure on - sure, anything can happen.
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I for one can't wait to see both these games. Make sure you check on IRC early enough in both cases so you don't miss out on commentary and coverage. Can the Tatar take out Locke? Can Slackers put an end to The Viper Squad's dominance? What do you think?