As the WESG Europe qualifiers for the UK, Iceland and Ireland (titled “Britain and Iceland”) kick off… soon, here’s a preview of who’s set to damage the opposition. Everyone is competing for a spot at the WESG European finals in Barcelona over the 22nd-26th November. It’s worth noting that this lies in a break of the Gfinity Elite Series S2, so Endpoint and Method can safely compete.
WESG
Earlier this week, five Brits under the banner of Fish123 set off for Kiev, to participate in the World Electronic Sports Games. To get there, the side won the UK, Ireland & Iceland qualifier, seeing them beat three teams from their home soil en route as well besting the Icelandic “WM-” side in the qualifier final. This in itself was no mean feat, with the mixed Fish side defeating most of the United Kingdom’s better sides to make it to the Kiev European & CIS qualifiers.
Upon starting their campaign in Kiev three days ago, the British side found themselves a man down from their original roster, with Sam “RattlesnK” Gawn out and Team CeX member Jake “Boaster” Howlett in. Game one saw a close encounter with the tournaments Belgian representatives “dd”, featuring the formidable Kévin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans as their helmsman. Despite the initial tie, overtime saw the match escape from the Brits, leaving them with a loss for the start of the day.
The second game in what would be considered a challenging group was against Team EnVyUs, a side littered with experience competition globally in some of the game’s most notorious tournaments. However, with that being said, they did not necessarily enter the game on top form and the Fish side presented them with some resistance. Ultimately, the game fell the way of the French, but with a 16-12 scoreline that is not something to be shrugged off.
The final two games of the event were less than successful, with heavy losses at the hands of both ALTERNATE aTTaX and Danish roster Astralis, leaving Fish123 with a group stage record of 0 – 4 and a missed opportunity to advance to the qualifier play-offs.
However, for the European & CIS WESG qualifier, the action continues, currently with GODSENT taking on Astralis in a tight best of three. Head over to the WESG twitch channel to catch all of the action.
Group Stage Results:
Fish123 15 – 19 dd
Fish123 12 – 16 EnVyUs
Fish123 4 – 16 Astralis
Fish123 6 – 16 ALTERNATE aTTaX
20 teams from across Europe and the CIS have travelled to Kiev, Ukraine to compete in to compete in their respective regional final. The WESG is a competition meant to bring the world’s strongest national teams together in Shanghai, China for a chance at the lions share of the $1.5 million (£1.17 million) prize pool, however the teams first have to battle through their regional qualifiers.
The regional qualifiers were decided by an online competition for each sub-region of Europe and CIS. The UK, Ireland and Iceland qualifier saw mix team legends fish123 get through with the help of the ex-Orgles5 player Sam “RattlesnK” Gawn but unfortunately Gawn was unable to make the regional final due to work commitments. The final team you will see playing in Kiev starting tomorrow consists of:
- James “Kryptix” Affleck
- Brandon “Weber” Weber
- Aaron “AaroN” Hemmings
- Josh “mole” Rowley
- Jake “Boaster” Howlett
The team’s first match is against Belgian side DD and it starts at 11:30 PM tomorrow, go support our boys as they try and work their way out of the group of death consisting of EnVyUs, Astralis, Alternate AttaX and Belgian side “dd”. A challenge for all sides involved but not an impossible hurdle.
Fish123 however are not the only UK representation at the event. we have 5 British casters (and one Canadian) both at the event and here at home bringing you the event over 2 streams. The team bringing you all the action is:
- Ryan “Flakes” Oliver
- Tom “TomBizz14” Bissmire
- Henry “HenryG” Greer
- Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett
- Tom “Weefreemen” Pickering
- Josh “xDowsey” Dowse
All the action can be found on the Starladder twitch stream HERE starting from 7:30 tomorrow morning. fish123 face EnVyUs at 12:30. You can also keep up with the action on the starladder twitter @starladder_com or @WESGcom and of course we’ll post how fish123 get on over on our twitter @UKCSGO.