by Wax
'Off-season' play continued in week #235 of the Open Cups, with EPT points having been locked last Saturday on June 29th. The field of competitors remained fairly strong, with only a handful of top-end regulars taking a break.
The Korean server cup saw Classic win for the first time since week #204 (December of 2023), going through a Protoss-heavy gauntlet of Jieshi, Rogue, Trap, and Creator. Classic's run was aided by Trap scoring one of the big upsets of the week, defeating Dark 2-0 in the RO16 before later bowing out in the RO4. Lancer (formerly known as Cyan) also logged a notable upset, taking out GuMiho in the RO8.
The European cup ended in yet another MaxPax vs Clem finals, which concluded with Clem avenging last week's loss with a 3-1 victory. In a break from the usual pattern, this time it was the EU winner who ran it back in the Americas server cup, with MaxPax bowing out while Clem went for the weekly double. There was no stopping Clem with his rival out of the picture, as he beat Dark 3-1 in the finals to claim his second ESL cup of the week.
In non-ESL cup competition, Classic won KSL #54 (3-0 vs Dark in the finals).
ESL Open: Korean Cup (partial bracket shown)
*****
ESL Open: European Cup (partial bracket shown)
*****
ESL Open: American Cup (partial bracket shown)
*****
Korean StarCraft League #54 (Partial bracket shown)