Welcome to week 1 of season 5 of the Premier League. This season ben hopes to offer you the same level of coverage he did when he previously wrote for ENSL- weekly predictions followed by an end of the week round up featuring the highs, the lows, the HLTV demos and hopefully an interview with one of the teams. We've got an interesting group this year- our first American team and what looks like a great 3 way mid-table battle. Without further ado: Here is his introduction to the teams hoping to become Champions of Europe.

Keep That Donkey Moving (ktdm : ) Lineup: b1 (CL, comm), frG (CL), mu (CL, Fade), Avex (Fade), d, do0rkn0b (Mascot), g, Hickz (Aimbotter), splitter(Lerk), vara, Zallvan.

KTDM is a name famous in European NS history and one used to the lofty heights of the premier league. Revived by b1 and co., this team contains more raw experience than most of the teams combined and has veterans from knife, ktdm, ariadne, torment, teameu and many other top clans. The lineup is impressive, an excellent commander (one of the best in my opinion), great lerks and fades and an array of marine talent. You have to ask yourself what can stop this team? The answer: Activity. Since its forming I've not personally witnessed KTDM play excessively and many of the names are famous for short-lived returns to NS. Will KTDM be active? Will ENSL drive these players to return to past form? I hope so as it'd be a real boost for the community to have so many old hands return, but we won't know until the end of week 1. Watch out everyone else if they do, with b1 -an amazing driving force in a clan- and players that talented, it's hard to not see this team going all the way.

Flatline (~flatline.ns `) Lineup: L@ugh(CL), M(CL, fade), Cosmic(Female), feAr, HiVeFiSh (tank), phil (Lerk), saep, skipjack, wodka, word

Flatline have become a regular name in top European play over the past few months thanks to their strong alien round and high level of activity but are unfortunately let down by the quality of their marine play. For me Flatline are a mid-table finish unless they can iron out the problems that saw them only win 1/11 marine rounds -on a marine biased map- during the mini-cup, and that was with a shotgun rush. If they can apply the same level of teamwork and find key players to lead the way l(ike phil and morvie do for their alien round) then they can realize their potential. They're already very difficult to beat because of the strength of their alien round but without bolstering their other half they won't be real competition for the #1 spot.

Levitacus (Levitacus ~) Lineup: Invasion(CL, Fade), Talis (Shotgun), cleJs, Hopeanuoli (Fade), Kiviheikki, Kylma (Comm), LeoN, Scale (Lerk), Tane (Tactical mastermind), tmk (Useless)

For a period before the mini-cup Levitacus appeared to be returning to the form of season 1, which saw them take rounds off both lessthanthree and knife. With practically the same roster for the past year it's easy to understand why these guys have excellent teamwork and a lot of experience. Their marine rounds are daring and aggressive taking many teams off guard. Featuring a large early offensive of 3 or so marines with LMGs going after RTs and often being successful thanks to excellent medding and solid marining from the likes of Tane, Inva and Hopsu. If they can balance their excellent node pressure with controlling their own res flow better, then their marine round is a force to be reckoned with. Their alien rounds are also strong with a solid mix of lerk and fades; and once the second hive goes up- because of their decision to take DCs- weapons 3 is almost a complete must if you want to be taking down their life-forms. Unfortunately for Levitacus they didn't have a good show in the mini-cup, hopefully they'll show the form they had in the weeks before during this season but I don't see them challenging for #1.

Nine Legends (nL-) Lineup: Fana (CL, Lerk), sherpa (Comm), Pantsu (Fade), Ed|Rush, aA, n44bj, wltrs (Shotgun)

Nine legends won the mini-cup in convincing fashion dispensing of flatline, levitacus and the now departed souljah each 3-1 but have suffered the loss of Ben, their commander, morphz, their inactive pwnerer and Pizza, their Finnish guru. They were one of the few teams that had a strong marine as well as alien round in the mini-cup thanks to excellent marines like wltrs and n44bj. The quality of their marine round allowed nL to opt for a slightly more aggressive approach and their decision to employ somewhat Machiavellian tactics such as node and structure blocks made them a difficult team to predict. nL are the favorites going in to ENSL season 5 despite a depleted roster and an untested commander. Their teamwork is excellent and their alien round, lead by Fana and known for it's smart skulking from Ed|Rush and aA quickly dissects the less experienced marine teams. nL should be disappointed to not win and the smart money would be on them.

Reflect (Reflect) Lineup: Deimos, DrFurious, Charizard, Chuckers, Hellabean, lynXij, Milo, Pogo, Slipknot, Duogodofdeath (Fade), Splinter Steve (Lerk).

Reflect are the first American team to venture onto ENSL territory and I hope you all give them a solid licking and send them home with their tails between their legs- but I doubt you will because despite a high level of stupidity in their roster these guys are half decent. Forever reaching the CAL playoffs but always playing second fiddle to the likes of terror and exigent, they're now in the CAL finals but probably just because everyone else got bored of beating them and quit. I'll run you through their players because many of them are new names to you. Deimos is a rage machine and an exceptionally bad fade. We're talking about a guy who with less than 100 HP in a hive devoid of marines decided to walk into the only mine on the goddamn map and die. DrFurious has his own commanding maneuver named after him, he likes to jump out the CC in the middle of a base rush and lose the round for his team. Slipknot got knifed as fade by wltrs. Hellabean is like the Zamma of NA NS and Milo is one of those players who boggles the mind- how can you play a game for this long and still be that stupid?! Unfortunately for all you guys though they have two stars of the show: Splinter Steve and Duo. Duo is a pretty darn good fade and Steve is a pretty darn good lerk and a pretty darn good marine too, you just might not notice it because they have to carry a lot of dead weight.

Testicules ([t]) Lineup: bk, Frigg (Lerk), glh, Menes (Yank), Mike (Comm), Nirgal, Suix, tutu (Fade), appleman

In season 2 Insane went all the way to the final beating levitacus on the way only to lose to storm. They've not played together a lot lately but when they were active they were a solid performing team capable of taking rounds but lacking the consistency to take it all the way to the top. With m//ke in the CC they have a dynamic and exciting marine round to watch as he has a plethora of tactics ready to use and this makes them a difficult team to play againist. tutu, menes (From terror) and Ray are the big hitters in their marine round and the players to watch. Their alien round has it all, a good lerk, a decent fade and good teamwork. Whilst lacking the overall skill and experience of nL, reflect and KTDM, insane will be able to compete closely with levitacus and flatline for a mid-table finish.