by Wax
Week #238 of the Open Cups saw top players continue to hone their skills in the lead up to the Esports World Cup, with Dark winning in Korea, Reynor winning on the EU server, while ByuN came out on top in NA.
Last week, Clem started his Korean adventure off on a strong note by immediately winning the KR cup in his debut appearance. This week, Dark defended home turf by thwarting the king of the Open Cups, facing him in the finals and handing him a 3-1 defeat. The KR cup was also notable for two underdog Protosses making runs to the semifinals, with Firefly defeating Oliveira and soO while Trap took down GuMiho and Astrea.
In Europe, Reynor continued to thrive in Clem's absence by taking his second win in a row, going through Krystianer, Spirit, and SKillous on his way to the top. Reynor was able to bypass a collision with MaxPax due to SKillous' 2-1 victory over the stealthy Dane in the opposite semifinal, but SKillous ultimately couldn't overcome Reynor in the finals. In an upset update, WTL cult favorite(?) BattleB scored a surprise 2-0 win over ShoWTimE in the RO16, but immediately bowed out 0-2 to SKillous in the next round.
ESL play wrapped with the Americas/NA server cup, where Dark and ByuN collided in the finals for the third week in a row. After losing to Dark in the previous two clashes, ByuN got his revenge with a convincing 3-0 win. As with the other server competitions, the NA server had a bracket surprise in store—Russian Protoss Shameless made it as far as the RO4, buoyed by some match-up luck.
In non-ESL cup competitions, MaxPax won Kung Fu Cup Summer #10 (3-0 vs Clem 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 #10 (Partial bracket shown)