TNC clinch ESL One Hamburg 2019 title

^{Title image courtesy of ESL}

TNC's spectacular group stage and playoff run at ESL One Hamburg 2019 ended by lifting the trophy after a grueling five-game grand finals. 

TNC Predator dominated the group stage of ESL One Hamburg 2019, dropping only one match out of ten games played. They were the talk of the town with show-stopping plays, precise movements, and undeterred focus. In the playoffs they then went undefeated dropping Alliance and then Gambit in successive 2:0 sweeps to reach the grand finals. No-one doubted their potential and pegged them for the championship team. 

But it almost didn't happen. 

Something clicked in Gambit after being dropped to the lower brackets by the SEA team. They were hungry for revenge, they were starving to prove themselves better than a 2:0 sweep under the table. 

Meeting again in the grand finals, TNC dismantled Gambit in the first game. In just 22 minutes they tore the CIS team apart and left their gaping wounds bleeding out. A lesser team would have just died out at that point. But Gambit couldn't let that happen, not after being given a chance to rewrite the history of their last meeting. 

In the second game Gambit paid TNC back, trampling all over them and perking up the spectators who had expected an easy and quick title win for TNC. Gambit were all over TNC, not giving them any space to breathe and showing no mercy. Their performance had tied up the series. 

After that it was back and forth wins between the two teams. Each team took turns man-handling the other with convincing wins and stellar performances. Once again, it became a tied series and the best-of-five had now become a best-of-one. 

Gambit's draft looked solid but TNC's Alchemist proved to be much too much to handle and in just under 30 minutes, TNC had locked in the win after controlling the entire game. 

Both teams will have a chance to potentially face off against each other in China as they both will be competing at the MDL Chengdu Major in just two weeks. 

ESL One Hamburg 2019 Teams

 Virtus.pro
 TNC Predator
 Vici Gaming
 NiP
 Team Liquid
 beastcoast
 Quincy Crew
 Gambit
 Vikin.gg
 Fighting Pandas
 Wind and Rain 
 Alliance
 

ESL One Hamburg 2019 Format

• Group Stage
  • Played from October 22-24
  • Two groups, six teams each
  • Bo2 round robin
  • Top two teams advance to the Upper Bracket of the playoffs
  • 3rd and 4th placed teams advance to the Lower Bracket
  • Bottom two teams from either group eliminated
  • Tiebreaker rules apply in order:
    1. Direct points between tied teams
    2. Neustadtl Score (Explanation)
    3. Number of wins overall
    4. Number of wins between tied teams
    5. Time coefficient
    6. Coin toss
• Playoffs
  • First round of the Upper Bracket played on October 24th
  • The rest of the playoffs held at the Barclaycard Arena from October 25 to October 27 in front of a live audience
  • Double Elimination
  • Except grand finals, all games played in Bo3 Series
  • Grand finals played in a Bo5 Series

ESL One Hamburg 2019 Prize Pool

ESL One Hamburg 2019 boasts a $300,000 prize pool distributed between all 12 teams in the following way:

1st place - $125,000 - TNC
2nd place - $65,000 - Gambit
3rd place - $35,000 - Alliance
4th place - $20,000 - beastcoast
5-6th place - $12,000 - ViCi Gaming/Virtus.pro
7-8th place - $7,500 - NiP/WaR
9-10th place - $5,000 - Fighting Pandas/Quincy Crew
11-12th place - $3,000 - Team Liquid/Vikin.gg

ESL One Hamburg 2019

ESL One Hamburg 2019 took place between October 22-27th, as 12 teams battled each other for a $300,000 prize pool.