by Wax
Participation dropped off slightly in the third week of the 'off-season' period, with Clem notably going missing from the week's ESL Opens. Still, a respectable contingent of players threw their hats in the ring to vie for $400 on each server and to stay in shape ahead of the EWC.
Classic won for the second week in a row on the Korean server, going through NightMare, GuMiho, Astrea, and Oliveira during his run. The cup also saw Trap achieve an early-round upset over Dark for the second week in a row, though the recently returned Protoss was later stopped by Oliveira in the RO4.
With Clem absent on the week, the door was left wide open for MaxPax to win yet another European server cup. SKillous handed MaxPax his only map loss of the tournament in the semifinals, after which the clandestine Dane swept Krystianer in the finals.
Neither Clem nor MaxPax came to compete on the American server, which left Dark and ByuN as the two heavy favorites to win the cup. Indeed, it came down to a BlizzCon 2016 rematch in the finals, with Dark prevailing 3-1 in the end.
In non-ESL cup competition, GuMiho won Kung Fu Cup Summer #8 (3-2 vs ShoWTimE in the finals).
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 #8 (Partial bracket shown)