ESL Open Week #78: Cure doubles, HeroMarine wins EU

Feeling a bit of déjà-vu? Week #78’s results were a repeat of Week #77 with Cure claiming victories in Korea and America, while HeRoMaRinE kept control over Europe.

Becoming the destroyer of military service returners during the Korean edition of the weekly tournament, Cure tore through Leenock and his new team mate herO to reach the finals against fellow Dragon Phoenix Gaming player Zest, transforming this ESL Open Cup into an in-house practice session in both the semis and the finals. Zest, too, had to take out a military returner in KeeN before a close 3-2 series against Creator secured him a ticket to the finals. Cure’s own semi-finals was hard fought as well, with herO taking two maps off the Terran before finally falling. That surely is a notable result for herO, who managed to land a big contract with DPG right after returning from the army. Still, consistency will be the key to whether or not he’s a worthy signing. In the end, Cure won in yet another hard fought battle, taking out his teammate Zest 3-2 in the finals to lift the weekly cup. This result marked his fourth win in the Korean edition in the current season, so he has now assumed sole leadership in the current medal ranking of the tournament.

ESL Open Cup Europe played host to a different Korean on Monday than usual: Zest did not participate on Monday, but his Terran colleague Cure attempted to win the region’s edition to attain the mythical prize of the ESL Open Cup Triple. His run ended in the quarterfinals, where uThermal let him sample a morsel of his TvT arts, putting Cure’s plans for world domination on hold for at least another week. Germany would be the controlling force of Week #78 in Europe with ShoWTimE stomping through the bottom side of the bracket, taking out DreamHack North American champion Neeb cleanly and then scoring a decisive 3-1 victory over uThermal, the vanquisher of Cure, to reach the finals. A familiar face of many tournament finals waited for him there, as HeRoMaRinE had cut himself a path through the upper side of the bracket, eliminating DIMAGA, MarineLorD, MaxPax and Denver with ease. As is often the case when Big Gabe and die Mauer clash, the series was decided by a narrow margin, with HeroMarine prevailing 3-2 to claim his fourth cup win of the season. While Denver bowed out to HeroMarine in the semis, the French Zerg had quite the notable run, taking out both souL and a reeling Clem in a shocking upset.

Europe and Korea once again clashed in the American edition—merely two players from the ‘home’ region made it into the Ro16—to see who would take control of the contested prize for the week. Defending champion Cure was determined to keep his throne and at least achieve another double, HeRoMaRinE also aimed for the double win, while Clem wanted a consolation prize. The Frenchman once again fell early on, however, being taken out by PartinG. The Big Boy went on to defeat MaxPax in the semi-finals in an action-packed and close series, winning this part of the bracket. It also featured herO trying to leave his mark once again, but the Korean fell to Gerald very early on this time. Cure and HeroMarine cruised towards a clash in the bottom side of the bracket, with the Korean Cup winner taking down Cham and GuMiho—his third elimination of a military returner in these two days—and the EU Cup champ disposing of ForGG and Creator. Where Cure’s TvT had forsaken him on the EU server, it was quite adequate on the NA server and he won the clash of champions by a 3-1 score, making the finals an all-Korean affair between former DPG team mates. PartinG attained match point after an initial win from Cure, but the Terran seems nearly invincible once he has reached an ESL Open Cup final and turned the tide with two wins a row to once again claim the double victory. Looking solely at the American edition, this is Cure’s third victory in this region in a row, while the tournament has not yet been won by anyone native to the region in the current season.

Thanks to the partnership with Shopify, ESL Open Cup winners earn $250 in prize money and 10 ESL Pro Tour points. Players who finish second earn 5 ESL Pro Tour points and $150. A top 4 finish guarantees at least $100 as well as 2 ESL Pro Tour points, reaching the top 8 pays out $50. Edition #77 of the ESL Open Cups will take place on the 11th (Korea) and the 12th of July (Europe and America).

by TheOneAboveU