The StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) Combined European Nationals brought together 16 players from eight different countries on the weekend of June 23-24 in Cologne, Germany, to fight for the Combined European championship and two slots in the WCS Europe Finals.

Day 1

Phillip “monchi” Simon, the lone Austrian player, started off strong by prevailing over Lithuanian Vytautas “Arew” Graiciunas, but then yielded to Diogo “sYz” Barbosa from Portugal in Round 2. sYz made it all the way to Round 4 of the Championship Bracket, but wasn’t able to get past Anton “LoWeLy” Plebanovich from Belarus. The Belarusian zerg player certainly started off on the right foot, scoring three 2-0s in a row, also beating out Swiss players Dominic “LionS” Michel and Andreas “Wulverate” Brunner.

Every participant wanted his hands on this.

One the other side of the bracket, the sole Romanian player, Silviu “NightEnD” Lazar, started by taking out José “ScReaM” Amaral from Portugal and Danail “Giantt” Lazov from Bulgaria. However, he was then sent to the Consolation Bracket by Swiss favorite Han “biGs” Sang Cho in one of the most exciting matches of the day.

After losing the first game to biGs’ brood lord and infestor army, NightEnD took the second map, but was forced to throw in the towel in the third game.

Tired LoWeLy and happy biGs stormed through the Championship Bracket on Day 1.

Day 2

In Round 4 of the Consolation Bracket, NightEnD overcame Giantt after a dramatic PvP series. Giantt then showed incredible ZvZ game sense against sYz, impressing the spectators and taking the win in two maps. NightEnD and Giantt then battled it out for the second time, but the Romanian player proved unbeatable and took the series in two relatively quick games.

The fallen — monchi and sYz. They both showed incredible play, but came short in the end.

In the Championship Bracket, we saw a clash between two zerg players: biGs and LoWeLy. Unfortunately, biGs wasn’t on the top of his game on Day 2 – after the match, he admitted to making crucial mistakes in the series. This, coupled with great tactics from LoWeLy, resulted in the Belarusian player claiming the first slot in the Europe Finals.

The winner of the second slot was decided in an exciting one-hour rematch between biGs and NightEnD. Both players fought valiantly, but in the end, NightEnD took revenge on his opponent, earning a spot for Romania in the Europe Finals.

It was then time for the two qualified players to face off in the Grand Final. LoWeLy continued his incredible winning streak, becoming the Combined European champion without having dropped a single map throughout the entire tournament.

LoWeLy and NightEnD will represent Belarus and Romania in the Europe Finals.

Congratulations to both LoWeLy and NightEnD for making it through to the Europe Finals!

Participants, casters, and the champion with the trophy!

Videos of the Matches

Shoutcasters: James “Kaelaris” Carrol, Manuel “Grubby” Schenkhuizen, Dennis "HasuObs" Schneider

Host: Salome "Soe" Gschwind Penski

Combined European Nationals - Day 1

Combined European Nationals - Day 2

Championship Bracket

Round 1 - Match 1: PandaTank vs. Safa - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 2 - Match 1: monchi vs. sYz - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 2 - Match 2: biGs vs. PandaTank - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Semi Final - Match 1: LoWeLy vs. sYz - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Semi Final - Match 2: biGs vs. NightEnD - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Winner's Bracket Final: LoWeLy vs. biGs - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Consolation Bracket

Round 1 - Match 1: xOni vs. Arew - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 2 - Match 1: monchi vs. Safa - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 2 - Match 2: xOni vs. PandaTank - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 3 - Match 1: monchi vs. ScReaM - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 3 - Match 2: Giantt vs. PandaTank - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 4 - Match 1: NightEnD vs. monchi - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 4 - Match 2: sYz vs. Giantt - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 5 - Match 1: NightEnD vs. Giantt - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Lower Bracket Final: biGs vs. NightEnD - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Grand Final

LoWeLy vs. NightEnD - Map selection | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 || Game 2-1 | Game 2-2 | Game 2-3

Additional coverage:

ESL Info

Liquipedia

Event Article on Battle.net