EPT 2024 Spring Regionals: Clem, Astrea, Oliveira Win

Republished By Plato

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by Wax

The EPT Spring regionals concluded with the established powerhouses coming out on top, as
Clem won his sixth EPT/DHM Europe title, Astrea won his fourth in NA/Americas, and Oliveira claimed a tenth trophy in China/Asia.

With the conclusion of the EPT regionals, the sixteen players to be seeded into the Winners Stage of the ESL Masters Spring main event have been decided. The Spring main event will take place at DreamHack Dallas during May 31-June 1.

1: Coffee declined his seed to the Winners Stage and was replaced by Nice.
2: MaxPax declined his seed to the Winners Stage and was replaced by Reynor.Playoff Bracket

Clem, Spirit, HeroMarine, and Reynor (replacing MaxPax) win DreamHack Dallas seeds

With Serral unable to compete due to military service and Reynor competing from Korea with a server disadvantage, the European regional became a giga-sized version of the EPT Europe Weekly Cup as rivals Clem and MaxPax faced off in the finals for $15,000. In the end, the secretive Dane was unable to take advantage of the opportunity to win his first major championship, and conceded the 3-4 defeat that gave Clem his sixth EPT Europe championship (VOD).

The most successful EPT Europe player of all time winning another championship was a predictable result on paper, but Clem’s path to the “E6L” was not devoid of obstacles. Spirit scored a 3-2 upset over Clem in the upper bracket semifinals, sending Clem down into the perilous lower bracket gauntlet. However, Clem rallied back from that setback, sweeping HeroMarine and Spirit to reach the grand finals, and then overcoming a one-map lower bracket disadvantage to prevail against MaxPax in the finals.

Group Stage Results

+ Show Spoiler [Show Results] +

Playoff Bracket

Astrea and trigger win DreamHack Dallas seeds

The Americas region saw Astrea win the championship for the third straight season, his path to the title was rockier than in previous campaigns.

Astrea had to settle for a 3-1 record in the group stage, dropping a 1-2 loss to last season’s breakout player Trigger. Then, he suffered a stunning 0-3 defeat against Future in his very first series of the playoffs, with the American Terran’s early game strikes hitting the mark three times in a row.

In the meanwhile, Trigger advanced through the upper bracket and reached the finals with wins over Kelazhur and Scarlett, making it seem like the region was nearing a changing of the guard. However, Astrea lived up to his reputation as the region’s top player by making a strong run through the lower bracket, defeating Nina, Kelazhur, Future, and Scarlett to face off against Trigger in the grand finals. In a repeat from the EU regional, the multi-time champion told the rising challenger it wasn’t yet his time, and overcame the lower bracket disadvantage to take a 4-3 victory (VOD).

Group Stage Results

+ Show Spoiler [Show Results] +

Oliveira and Nice (replacing Coffee) win DreamHack Dallas seeds

The Asia regional began with utter chaos in the group stages, but ultimately reached the inevitable conclusion of Oliveira claiming the championship and winning his tenth EPT China/Asia regional.

The Chinese ‘big three’ of Oliveira, Firefly, and Cyan all struggled in the group stage, barely advancing with 3-2 records. While this led to early playoff eliminations for both Firefly and Cyan, Oliveira recovered from his poor group stage performance to dominate the rest of the way. The 2023 World Champion defeated Coffee, Lemon, Nice, and then Coffee again in his playoff run, recording an impressive 13-1 combined map score.

The two Oliveira vs Coffee series had some unusual twists, with Coffee opting to play his off-race Protoss in all but one of his games. Amusingly enough, Oliveira got in on the off-race shenanigans himself once he went up 3-0 in the finals, and won a PvP against Coffee to secure the seasonal title (VOD).

+ Show Spoiler [Show Results] +

Group Stage Results