The nineteenth edition of the National ESL Preseason cup has come to a conclusion with a DKMR player cashing in on the $250 USD. Varranis from the States is not only bringing the title back to the red, white and blue, but also to the DKMR brand.
The NESL Sunday cup is the main attraction on the weekly NESL Hearthstone schedule with a spot for the King of the Hill event and $500 USD at stake. This time the prestigious event had a Swedish player from the newly formed vVv team and a DKMR member featured in the playoffs, a battle Varranis won over Ostkaka.
The United States player of the established Hearthstone team made his first ever appearance in the cup count, marching straight through to the finals and the clash with the Swedish veteran. On his path to the showcase, he met a bunch of fairly unknown people like the Ecuadorian Knightmare, the Canadian heavyj73 or the Argentinean player RkT. The only player of real estimeemed prestige and a background of success in the NESL competitions was the former King of the Hill Twisted himself, who lost the battle with the DKMR player in the third round already.
Prior to that, Twisted eliminated known name ThatsAdmirable from Clarity Gaming, starting the trend of top names fading away rather quickly in this edition of the Sunday event. Varranis' teammate Alchemixt fell in the second round already, ROOT Gaming's own Amaz couldn't make it past the second round, reigning King of the Hill Chakki got eliminated there, while Puffin of Clarity Gaming at least reached the third round. Both Chakki and puffin had their conqueror in common, seeing as vVv's Ostkaka kicked them out of contention straight away. Those were also the biggest names the Swedish player had to eliminate on his route to the Grand Finals, getting two unknown Americans in SoShinyRS and Treesap7 in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals respectively.
All this efforts and the wins over those two big names didn't give the Swede a chance to put a crown on his head on Tuesday, but it gives him $150 USD to enjoy. Varranis on the other hand gets the $250 USD payout and a guaranteed spot in the play-in match for the next King of the Hill event on Tuesday. There he will try to get past his first foe, returning competitor Amaz, on the quest to challenge Chakki for the honor of becoming the seventh man to hold that title. Either he gets it or Chakki is only the second to have a successful title defense - either way, Tuesday will write history.
If you want to be a part of the cups and make your impression in the history books of Hearthstone, signups for the Wednesday cup are still open here - the big chase for Sunday's trophy can be found here.
NESL Preseason Cup #19 Final Standings
- 1.
Varranis - $250 USD - 2.
Ostkaka - $150 USD - 3./4.
Knightmare - $50 USD - 3./4.
Treesap7 - $50 USD
Full Bracket here.
