by Wax
Week #226 of the Open Cups was played the day after the EPT regionals concluded, but many of the regulars still turned out to give us a series of competitive events.
The Korean server cup concluded in an unsurprising herO victory, with the #1 Protoss going through the gauntlet of Creator (2-0), Dark (2-1), ByuN (2-0), and GuMiho (3-2) on his way to the weekly title. There was, however, a pleasant surprise much lower down in the bracket, as Trap played in his first official competition since returning from military surface. He was immediately eliminated in the RO32 with a 1-2 loss to Classic, but it wouldn't be the last time we saw Trap on the week...
Moving on to Europe, MaxPax and Clem clashed in the finals for the sixth straight week, with Clem having won four out of their five previous meetings. MaxPax got some revenge this time around, defeating Clem with a 3-1 victory in the finals. This match also happened to be a rematch of a bout that happened somewhere in the EPT Regional playoffs, giving it some extra intrigue.
+ Show Spoiler [EPT results] +
While it probably wasn't much consolation to MaxPax, he 'avenged' his 3-4 finals loss to Clem in the EPT Europe grand finals.
Next up was the Americas competition, and this time Trap put in a solid performance for a player who's barely a month returned from military service. Trap made a run to the RO8 with notable wins over Mixu (2-1) and ByuN (2-1), but bowed out in the quarterfinals with a 1-2 loss to herO. As for the weekly championship itself, MaxPax went on a perfect, loss-less run in the Americas competition to earn a weekly double, defeating Astrea, GuMiho, and herO in the final three rounds.
In non-ESL cup competitions, Classic took his second straight victory in the Kung Fu Cups by winning Summer tournament #2, going on a very impressive run that included wins versus Cure, Rex, ByuN, MaxPax, and Solar.
ESL Open: Korean Cup (partial bracket shown)
*****
ESL Open: European Cup (partial bracket shown)
*****
ESL Open: American Cup (partial bracket shown)
*****
Kung Fu Cup Summer #2 (Partial bracket shown)