by Sören ‘Fantasy’ Vendsahm
The calendar shows April, meaning it was time for the ESL Go4 CoH Monthly Final of March this weekend. Experienced compLexity commander James “HelpingHans” Whiteside was one of the elite eight making it into the tournament, despite having to survive a tiebreaker match.
After a long month of CoH action, HelpingHans and three fellow players were in a tie for the last two spots. Hans had to go through Talisman first to secure his spot in the big monthly final. Just like Syracuse this past weekend, he got into the big dance with a bad seed, ready to take on the role of the cinderella story of the battlegrounds. Unlike Syracuse he delivered in spectacular fashion, marching his troops through the entire tournament to the monthly crown.
The initial seeding paired the British player against one of the most dominating CoH players right away – the Russian Jove, a fierce commander on the battlefield. The Brit made it past the intimidating Russian, only to face Finnish player Cruzz. Albeit lesser known than Jove, Cruzz eliminated Austrian player Malboroman in the Quarters to earn his spot in the Final Four of the competition.
That was the end of the journey for Cruzz though, as he ran into a determined compLexity general, fully focused on guiding his troops successfully through every battle and every tricky situation. Cruzz couldn’t muster enough resistance, unable to stop HelpingHans on his path to the Grand Finals.
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In the finals it was German player Luvnest awaiting him. Just like Jove, Luvnest is a feared opponent in the Company of Heroes 2 scene, claiming several top spots in the 1v1 leaderboards. His play with the Soviet forces has proven especially legendary, most recently including a 91 game win streak. Still, HelpingHans had overcome the challenge of the best 1v1 player on the leaderboards in Jove, he certainly had the power to win one last fight – ironically a fight between a German and a Brit, that in the last encounter picked their own forces in the game.
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It was a textbook ending to the fairytale that was the monthly finals of the ESL Go4 CoH March event. Not only did HelpingHans clinch the final battle commanding the British army, but he also claimed victory in a tournament he originally wasn’t even qualified for. From tiebreaker to champion, netting him a ton of respect in the CoH community, as well as 1300 Euro added to the purse.
Congratulations, James!