The contenders of Star Series V

Gosu Ranking: #2
SL Season 4 placing: 5th
Statistics: 93-34 (73%)

Gustav "s4" Magnusson

The man who was responsible for out-drafting all opponents since the start of 2013, it will be interesting to see how s4's impression of the latest picks will be reflected in NoTidehunter's drafts at the LAN Finals. He is none other than the son of Magnus himself and often single-handedly controls the pace of game.

Heroes:

Henrik "AdmiralBulldog" Ahnberg

AdmiralBulldog is the backbone of Nth's playbook; in most matches, his performance in the offlane dictates the game for the Swedish team. When other players does not play well, AdmiralBulldog adjusts accordingly. With the new way of playing heroes like Nature's Prophet and Lone Druid, we saw how, at DreamHack Winter and Thor Open, he took on the added role as the initiator and semi carry for the team.

Heroes:

Joakim "Akke" Akterhall

A true star player, Akke is a master of micro. His plays with Chen and Enchantress are like the patterns for all rookies out there, he is a very unselfish player and always willing to do what's needed in the given situation. Akke is also the person responsible for the support Gyrocopter role.

Heroes:

Jonathan "Loda" Berg

Many great teams have fallen by the farmed hands of Loda. Any heroes capable of splashing AoE damage is what he excels at, be it Tiny, Kunkka, Sven or Battlefury wielders such as Void, Anti-Mage and Phantom Assassin. It is said that Loda's hat is the sponsor of the team.

Heroes:

Jerry "EGM" Lundkvist

Support players are often undervalued in a team but EGM as the newest addition to the team excels at his role. Replacing ex-captain EternaLEnVy, expectations were high for the young player. However this Swedish player has proven time and time again that his positioning and decision making is extremely well thought out and it somehow feels like EGM has been with the team for a long time now.

Heroes:

Nth's supreme performance at LAN events could be attributed to a variety of factors - the guys are friends in real life, a lot of practice following their victory at DreamHack Winter 2012 and also second placing at Thor Open 2012, but more importantly, the constant participation in every major Dota 2 tournaments. Their recent games demonstrated highly unorthodox picks where the team's experimental phase includes heroes like Spectre, Dragon Knight, Phantom Assassin and Doombringer. It will be interesting to see what the Swedish 'super-team' can bring at the event in terms of picks and playstyle.

Gosu Ranking: #8
SL Season 4 placing: 3rd
Statistics: 131-79 (62%)

Kai "H4nn1" Hanbueckers

H4nn1 recently taken the captain role of the team. He was seen leading Fnatic to victory at Thor Open at the end of last year where they won their first LAN title. Good knowledge of the game combined with high individual skill makes him a captain to watch out for.

Heroes:

Johan "N0tail" Sundstein

The core of Fnatic, N0tail can be remembered for his excellent play in HoN. However this young player has made a perfect transition and he is now dominating in Dota 2. For his team he took up the support role and has a very high sense of map awareness, which has secured many victories for the team in the past. He is also famous for his own style of playing Meepo. Maybe we'll see him playing this hero once again in Kiev?

Heroes:

Adrian "Era" Kryeziu

Era is the 'gun' of this European squad. This carry player is very handy with variety of heroes, but the most notable ones are Chaos Knight and Lifestealer. He is very seldom seen losing with Chaos Knight. Carrying his team in HoN to many LAN titles, will he repeat that success now in Dota 2? Heroes:

Kalle "Trixi" Saarinen

Having played for the Mouz in the past, the Finnish guy now plays the utility and initiator role for team Fnatic. His rock-solid reliability and incredible efficiency in executing tricky maneuvers are definitely a bane for the opponents. The versatility and the ease with which he can adapt to different roles within the team are absolutely admirable.

Heroes:

Tal "Fly" Aizik

As the versatile support player for Fnatic, Fly is responsible for covering team fight supports like Shadow Demon, Rubick as well as Jakiro. Initially the captain of the team, he has recently passed over that role to H4nn1. Another very dedicated player who comes from HoN with great LAN experience.

Heroes:

Getting to the top of the league table ahead of teams like Virtus.Pro, Team Empire and Natus Vincere is a commendable achievement in itself. And through sheer team coordination, the team has managed to outplay all those three teams utilizing an extremely aggressive playstyle. The squad is practically born on LAN. Will Thor's Open title holders continue their supremacy at LAN and take their second consecutive offline title?

Gosu Ranking: #9
SL Season 4 placing: 4th
Statistics: 138-81 (63%)

Yaroslav "NS" Kuznetsov

One of the top Russian players and arguably the best support in the Dota 2 scene. NS' history have always rendered him in top teams at all times. This time, NS will not only be the team support but also the captain and he will try to figure out the best strategy for his team to win their first LAN event with the current roster. Known for his high individual skill and supreme map awareness.

Heroes:

Sergei "KSi" Kuzin

KSi', remembered as the captain of zNation, definitely has the necessary knowledge and experience for this position and will now lead VP to new heights. He was recently seen playing secondary support but left this role to Ars-Art and replaced Santa in the offlane, something he has proven to be very stable at.

Heroes:

Oleg "Crazy" Kolesnichenko

Another ex zNation player, who joined the team together with KSi, this player is takes the solo mid role in VP. He is most handy with heroes such as Magnus and Queen of Pain. Just as his name portrayed, he is famous for his aggressive play and has often been seen outplaying the more established names of the game.

Heroes:

Ilya "IllidanSTR / Airman" Pivtsaev

'Airman Ga Taosenai' (formerly known under nickname 'Illidan') is new to the pro scene. Before joining VP he took part in several non-pro tournaments with different teams, he's been seen with PGG in TheRetry (but then again, who hasn't?) as well as with NS earlier in Garaj-Gaming. He is a solid carry player and was therefore, invited to VP during reformation. Since then, he has proven that he can be a true star, leading them to many victories.

Heroes:

Sergey "ARS-ART" Revin

As mentioned above, support players are often undervalued in a team but Ars-Art has gained himself a reputation for some spectacular plays, particularly his ward blocks with both Venomancer and Shadow Shaman. It is not easy to stay as a top support player in the scene. AA has shown that he can do just everything what he wants with the support role.

Heroes:

Recently winning the third edition of The Defense and finishing second at Ritmix Dota 2 League gave a good base to VP for the upcoming event. Also strengthened with the recent addition of Ars-Art, Virtus.Pro has all it takes to be the new champion of StarLadder, but the question remains can they perform that well at LAN as they're doing in online tournaments?

Gosu Ranking:
#11 SL Season 4 placing: 2nd
Statistics: 179-84 (68%)

Artur "Goblak" Kostenko

Goblak, also known as FreeWinneR, 333 and GO[blin], is the team's primary support player and captain. He is perhaps best known as one of Dota's biggest advocates of picking Bane Elemental and Undying, but Goblak is obviously talented with a wider array of heroes, most notably with the likes of Chen and Nature's Prophet in the jungle, and Shadow Demon as a ganker. He has played in basically all the top CIS teams, including WG, DTS, Natus Vincere, Darer, and now, Team Empire.

Heroes:

Roman "Scandal" Sadotenkov

Switching from HoN to Dota 2, Scandal, Empire's semi carry player is perhaps best known as one of Dota's the best Templar Assassins. Scandal is also talented with Shadow Fiend and Invoker. However, after Funn1k's departure and Vigoss' acquisition, Scandal made the transition to off-lane, leaving the solo mid role to Vigoss.

Heroes:

Vladislav "blowyourbrain" Morozyuk

Blowyourbrain, also known as phe`V, is Empire's primary carry player. He is perhaps best known as one of Dota's best Chaos Knight's. He has also been part of many top CIS teams including DTS, Virtus.Pro, but also the Russian National Dota Team. Blow fits the team perfectly and never hesitates to act in a team fight, always playing on the aggressive note.

Heroes:

Airat "Silent" Gaziev

Although Silent had a history of playing the carry and the semi-carry roles for M5. Since, he has evolved into a support player and a reliable one at that. Silent has displayed his talent with multitude of heroes in different roles, but he is the most comfortable with the supporting heroes. In a team that picks heroes to fit the strategy first and players second, Silent's versatility and wide array of heroes is a good asset to the team.

Heroes:

Ivan "Vigoss" Shinkarev

A true legend - 'The King of Gankers' is not a title easily obtained. Nowadays, 'the King' might not quite be the all-conquering force he once was, but he still likes to put up a great show for his fans. If you see Vigoss, once again, diving past towers or into crowds of enemies for kills, don't count him out no matter how insurmountable the odds might seem – he wasn't crowned the King for nothing. Vigoss is still known for dominant skill level and trademark YOLO-style.

Heroes:

Empire have already claimed two gold medals in 2013. They managed to secure the top spot in The Premier League Season 3 and also Techlabs Cup a few days ago. Inspired with those wins, they will be flying to Kiev with only one goal - Winning a third gold.