Esports Report: The Brawlhalla World Championship and DreamHack Winter

Esports Report: The Brawlhalla World Championship and DreamHack Winter

It’s been an amazing year in Brawlhalla Esports, and it all culminated in the Brawlhalla World Championship at DreamHack Atlanta. Thousands of competitors from all over the world flew in to compete for their share of the $100,000 prize pool and the glory of being crowned the Brawlhalla World Champion.

Something never before seen at an offline event happened in the 1v1 bracket. At the World Championship, Top 8 had all North American players advancing. At previous offline events, there were always a few European representatives, but the North American players dominated at the World Championship. On the top side of the bracket, there was the number one seeded, top power ranked dominator, Boomie, going up against the Two-Time World Champion, LDZ, who was looking to grab his third consecutive world championship victory. We also saw the North American “Axe god”, @FlashpointGG Isidroo, going against one of the year’s up and comers, Sandstorm, on the other side of winners. In the lower side of the Top 8 sat @Wildcard_GG wrenchd, who had a harrowing reverse sweep going 3-2 after losing the first two matches against Remmy to earn his Top 8 spot. @Wildcard_GG wrenchd would be going up against the DreamHack Austin Champion, @GlobalBreakout’s Cosolix. The DreamHack Summer and DreamHack Valencia Champion, @SpacestationGG noeL, had to face the embodiment of Big Rig Bodvar, @RCGEsportsHub Lil Capped, on the other side of lowers.

It was a gripping Top 8 that had viewers screaming, cheering, and constantly on edge. Boomie ran through the 2016/2017 World Champion to sit in Winners Finals against Sandstorm, while in the lower bracket, @Wildcard_GG wrenchd sprinted through everyone in his path dropping only one game in Top 8 to @GlobalBreakout Cosolix, until he got to Losers Finals. In Winners Finals, Sandstorm started with an impressive 2-0 lead over Boomie, but suddenly the tide turned. Boomie barely manages to finish game 3 and stop the bleeding. Boomie would go on to decimate game 4 by three stocking Sandstorm and was well on his way to earning a spot in Grand Finals, but he couldn’t weather the storm. Sandstorm took game 5 and awaited the winner of Boomie vs @Wildcard_GG wrenchd. @Wildcard_GG wrenchd, in impressive fashion, took out Boomie 3-1 halting any momentum Boomie tried to gain and even caught him with a pivot slide charged Asuri Sword side signature from the top of Blackguard Keep, which is no easy feat to say the least. In Grand Finals, Sandstorm was too much. His Mordex dominated each game winning 3-0 to become the Brawlhalla World Champion. Across his entire 1v1 run, Sandstorm lost only three games, two to Boomie and one to @RCGEsportsHub Lil Capped. That wasn’t it for Sandstorm since in just a few minutes, he’d have to compete in 2v2s.

The 2v2 Top 6 bracket looked very different from the 1v1 Top 8. In the upper bracket sat 2 European teams, VipR3/Aggz0 and @teamPHZfi Addymestic/Cake.

Not only had we not seen two European teams on the top side of Top 6 this year, but across this year, Boomie had always been on one of the teams in the upper bracket. In the lower bracket stood the recently crowned 1v1 World Champion, Sandstorm, alongside his fellow Scythe-master, Ethan, competing against the classic European duo, Diakou/Dobrein. On the other side, Cody Travis/@FlashPointGG Isidroo, a duo we’ve never seen at an offline tournament this year, were ready to face @ScytheEsports_ T1FF4NY/Starlight, a combo that had led to victory in the past.

The 2v2 team that had dominated power rankings all year long, @teamPHZfi Addymestic/Cake, managed to barely overcome VipR3/Aggz0 3-2 in Winners Finals to earn their Grand Finals spot. In the lower bracket, Sandstorm/Ethan were on fire, stomping 3-0 against Diakou/Dobrein and then going 3-1 against Cody Travis/@FlashPointGG Isidroo. That train was put to a stop, however, as they ran up against the European team of VipR3/Aggz0. In a close match, VipR3/Aggz0 managed to 3-2 Sandstorm/Ethan to earn their spot in Grand Finals against @teamPHZfi Addymestic/Cake. Ultimately, it would be @teamPHZfi Addymestic/Cake who secure the victory to become the first EU team to win an offline tournament as well as the first full EU Team to be crowned World Champions. The closest to this previously was in 2016, Diakou teamed with North American Starlight to win 2v2s.

That wasn’t the finale for competition though as DreamHack Winter was right around the corner. Many European players traveled to Jönköping, Sweden to compete, but only two North American players, @SpacestationGG noeL and @FlashPointGG Isidroo made the journey.

In 1v1, we saw the continued North American dominance as @SpacestationGG noeL and @FlashPointGG Isidroo took Winners Finals. @SpacestationGG noeL earned his 3rd DreamHack victory, shutting out the European offline events. @FlashPointGG Isidroo was right behind him in 2nd place, controlling the top two spots for North America. In 3rd place, we saw simpLe, who was not able to travel to Atlanta for the World Championship, begging the question, “what if he had?”

In 2v2, the World Champions were content with their victory at BCX. @teamPHZfi Addymestic/Cake took 4th behind the North American team @SpacestationGG noeL/@FlashPointGG Isidroo. In 2nd, simpLe continues to surprise alongside Blew. In 1st, came a team that’s had an amazing year – VipR3/Aggz0. Despite many impressive moments as a team, this would mark the first victory for VipR3 and Aggz0, which was a huge morale boost for them. Aggz0 going on to tweet, “Not only was that my first tournament win, but I also got to do it with one of my best friends, which means a lot and is truly something I will never forget.”

DreamHack Winter marked the cap of the season. As we head into off season and players travel for the holidays, I asked the Esports Director, David “Foda” Kisich,  to say a few words about this year,

“This was an incredible year for Brawlhalla Esports. We saw the highest attendee counts for offline events, the most prizes awarded in a year, more viewers than ever, and the most exciting gameplay as our pros continue to improve upon themselves. All of these aspects will continue to grow as we move into 2019. I am very proud of what we have done as a community:  the competitors, staff, developers, attendees, volunteers, and viewers at home… everyone’s participation has been integral our scene’s success.”

And to conclude, here’s the final power rankings to close out the year.

 

 

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