by Sören ‘Fantasy’ Vendsahm
For the first time in the history of the young coL.Hearthstone squad, all four members are on active duty this weekend. In one of the busiest weekends in Hearthstone’s history – three different online competitions are taking place – the red and black brand will be present in all three of them.
Starting off the events is David ‘Dog’ Caero, who will try to improve on his second place finish last weekend. This time he won’t compete in the ESL Legendary Series though, but rather take his talents to the second edition of the Battle of the Best event. Originally the event was scheduled to take place right after DreamHack Winter, but the organizers pushed it back and acquired a star-studded field once more. Not only will IHU’s own Dtwo try to defend his title, but also featured will be the two Ukrainian superstars Kolento and Neirea, as well as Archon’s own Hosty and DreamHack Bucharest Champion Gaara. Dog will have his hands full with these competitions, as he also faces the tough task of going up against the DreamHack Winter 2014 Champion Kolento to start his run.
The tournament will have one compLexity Gaming star on the field and one in the booth as Noxious is lending his voice to the tournament in order to cast the event. He and Lothar will take over that duty, trying to bring you the best insight of what’s going on in the virtual card game. Follow Dog tonight at battleofthebest as the entirety of the Winner Bracket will be played, with the Lower Bracket and the Grand Finals being scheduled for Saturday.
From this two-day event to a possible three-day event in Tavern Takeover. The community beloved series established big production value in it’s first two editions and boasted caster Admirable to a complete fan favorite. All those ingredients are not changed in the third edition that is once more filled with all the stars and a tasty prize pool of $3.000 USD. That nice little christmas purse is well in Dan ‘Alchemixt’ Dalton’s sights, who will step into the Tavern for compLexity Gaming. After his appearance in the ESL Legendary Series Week 1, this will be the second official outing for the newest member of the coL.HS roster. In his way are all the big names competitive Hearthstone has to offer with XiXo, Faramir, ek0p, Kolento, StrifeCro and Neirea all making their presence felt in this one. The opening bout against Spanish player and SeatStory Cup #2 revelation PiniAwesome is scheduled for 3 PM EST / 9 PM CET and will be once more brought to you by the PVP Live crew on production plus Azael and Admirable manning the casting booth. To follow that spectacle head over to pvplive.
Last but not least, the Warrior king himself Jeffrey ‘SjoW’ Brusi will also be in action this weekend, bringing his armor to the ESL playground. As the fourth and final member to compete in the ESL circuit, SjoW has his sights set on the first direct invite to the LAN finals in Burbank, California – a prize handed out this week for the first time. Before that the winner would “only” receive valuable points and a re-invite to the next event, now the stakes are even higher. The winner and only the winner will automatically be able to plan his trip to California where $20.000 USD will be up for grabs. Grommash’s favorite son will try to punch that ticket straight away, giving him enough time to defend his ladder #1 ladder spot on EU and NA, without worrying over standings. To follow that event make sure to tune into esl_hearthstone on Saturday evening starting at 7 PM CET – casted once more by Frodan and Azmoqt.