WASHINGTON DC, United States of America - The MLG's next stop in the 2010 Pro Circuit brings the competition to Capitol Hill where 64 top StarCraft 2 gamers will partake in the event, gunning for the title and the $2,500 prize that goes along with it. Alex "AGar" Gardner previews the action to come this weekend. 

At the end of August, MLG took their first major step into the professional StarCraft 2 scene with their MLG Raleigh event. With 64 pumped competitors in attendance, some excellent games were had, and at the end, none other than Canadian Protoss Huk stood atop everyone else. This weekend, MLG hits Washington DC, bringing with it the most exciting field in any major StarCraft 2 event yet. 64 players will step into the arena at the nation's capitol, but only 1 will stand tall as the MLG DC StarCraft 2 champion. Here's an inside look at some of the top contenders for the event.

The Targets

Three players really stand out as the players to beat at this weekends event - Evil Geniuses' Greg "IdrA" Fields, TLAF-Liquid's Chris "HuK" Loranger and Team Dignitas' Ryoo "SeleCT" Kyung Hung. Idra, the former Brood War progamer with CJ Entus (now hite Entus), was one of the first players to switch to StarCraft 2, and was easily leaps and bounds ahead of opponents from the start, sporting excellently refined mechanics and incredible game sense. While the balance issues with Zerg have handicapped him to a degree, he has still remained extremely competitive, taking silver in the first major event - ESL's IEM Global Challenge at Gamescom in August - and advanced to the second round of GOMTV's Global StarCraft 2 League, one of two non-Koreans to qualify for the tournament.  His progamer training and intense practice will aid him greatly in taking down almost any competitors that step forward in this tournament. Huk barged into the scene with some strong play in beta, and solidified his reputation at MLG's first event, where he took down everyone in his path and marched to the championship. He followed up recently with a strong top three finish at IEM's American Championships, where he dominated his group, then gave a close series to runner-up qxc in the semifinals before taking another close series off of Drewbie in the consolation match.  While his plights at IEM may have shown flaws in his game, proving him to be mortal after all, he also showed immense composure at the event, able to play from a 0-2 deficit and still show his moxie against players. Select is nowhere near as known or publically recognized as Huk and Idra, but he is equally, if not more so, threatening for the crown at DC. Select made some waves at the stop in Raleigh, where he took seventh place and beat out a number of top players including FnaticMSI's TTOne, PainUser, Masq and Root Gaming's qxc after being booted to the lower bracket in the first round. He since has dominated both renditions of the TL Open, and has maintained a spot at or near the top of the US ladder and has massed games on the other ladders as well. He is a very meticulous, mechanical player who should give a run to many top players on his way through the bracket at this weekend's tournament.

The Next Level

There are a number of players who stand out as potential threats to the top three picks and should stand a good shot at making waves at MLG. The first group is the trio of Andrew "Drewbie" Moysey, Kevin "qxc" Riley and Jonathan "KiWiKaKi" Garneau from Root Gaming.  The trio has produced a slew of top results recently, including runner up finishes from both qxc and Kiwikaki at the IEM American Championships and MLG Raleigh, respectively. Kiwikaki played a close series against eventual champion Huk at Raleigh, while playing strong at the IEM event at well, narrowly losing out in the group stages to qxc himself. Qxc played well in the IEM event, even taking out Huk 3-1 in the semifinal and pushing eventual champion Fenix hard, playing with his signature aggression throughout the tournament. He also faired well at Raleigh, marching to the upper bracket quarterfinals before losing to Huk and Select back-to-back, finishing 9th overall. Meanwhile, Root Gaming's leader Drewbie has been consistent, but not quite there at tournaments. However, his recent play at IEM showed a renewed and more refined player, and he looks bound for a big finish this weekend. Also keep an eye on Bryce "Machine" Bates, from Evil Geniuses. The Zerg player has been putting up insane results online of late, and if he can translate that success to the LAN environment this weekend, he should be able to pull off some big wins. Machine is always a focused player, and does his best work when he is zoned in on his games; so if he can find his spot, expect to see him punch out win after win. Tyler "Tyler" Wasieleski, representing TLAF-Liquid alongside Huk, was a perennial powerhouse in Brood War, and while he has yet to see success on the big stage in StarCraft 2, he has some of the best practice partners in the game in his Liquid teammates. If he's preparing for this event with full determination, look for him to pull off the big one late in the rounds. Finally, keep an eye on FnaticMSI's Payam "TTOne" Toshyan. The Canadian Protoss had a strong showing at Raleigh, finishing seventh, and should be looking to build on that success. He is a player that constantly improves on his performances and is well worth noting for a deep run again at DC, solidifying his position as a top contender for the national championship in Dallas.

The Dark Horses

There are a handful of players who aren't obvious picks to win, but could easily make a run to the semifinals or finals if the brackets work out in their favor. Among them are TLAF-Liquid's Jos "ret" de Kroon, Evil Geniuses' Geoff "iNcontroL" Robinson and Jake "LzGaMeR" Winstead and the Ukrainian Protoss Oleksii "White-Ra" Krupnich. Ret, who spent a stint with the professional team eSTRO during his peak in Brood War, recently picked up StarCraft 2 and signed with Liquid upon his return. While he has been inactive, he is said to have been practicing a lot lately, which could lead to a very successful debut for the Dutchman, who was able to take a game off of Nada and beat Idra at Blizzcon 2009. His skill has always been top notch, even when not at the peak of his practice, but he has produced incredible results when he practices to his fullest extent. Incontrol, a former WCG USA champion, has always been a strong force to be reckoned with in any strategy game. While not always the most mechanically sound in any tournament, he has always been an exquisite strategist, often outsmarting his opponents rather than outplaying them mechanically. His mechanics are still very good, but his true strength lies in his mind games. Meanwhile, teammate Lzgamer is a player who seems to go into a tournament every so often and hit a hot streak, tearing through the field. A dangerous player if he is on one of those hot streaks, he is still a threat for a deep run even without that factor. Finally, White-Ra is a long-standing fixture of the pro-gaming scene, dating back to some of the earliest days of international Brood War. He has consistently been a top gamer in international competition, playing well against both Korean and foreign opponents. While he has purportedly been limited on practice time since his recent marriage and has always been a player benefitting from mass gaming, it would be no shock to any player or spectator to see him make a deep run, as the Ukranian Protoss has always been one of the great minds of StarCraft, thinking of things that other players simply could not fathom prior to his use, and understanding the game at a much different level than many players.

Friday afternoon 64 players will take part as a member of the most skilled tournament field since the launch of StarCraft 2 yet. With this kind of talent, predicting one favorite is near impossible, but the players highlighted will provide intense, entertaining and skillful games this weekend, making the event one of the premier events of 2010 and setting the bar impressively high for 2011 to match the caliber of this year's tournaments. Check back to Insider Esports for continuous updates this weekend as the MLG Raleigh tournament progresses.