The Event
Although the seeding system used for Warcraft III was perhaps too complex for its own good, resulting in some strange scenarios such as pre-tournament favorite 4K.Grubby being unseeded, everyone was in high spirits as the event began. The venue was huge, consisting of a main stage accommodating almost 2,000 fans, a large gaming hall where the majority of the tournament matches took place, and several halls for the media, live broadcasts, and exhibitors to set up shop. Among the latter was Blizzard's very own French community team, showing off the localized version of World of Warcraft. One lucky fan even walked away having won a Collector's Edition!
The Early Rounds
ESWC employed a double group stage system. In each group players played a round robin to determine which players would advance to the next stage. It's a system also employed by that "other" World Cup where athletes who don't have the micromanagement skills to cut it in Warcraft III kick a ball around instead. The first group stage yielded very few surprises, and generally everyone that was expected to win did so.
It wasn't until the survivors of the first group stage advanced to the second stage that some of the favorites began to fall. With a somewhat complex tie-breaking system leading to tough matches, this round saw notable players 4K.FoV, Creopholus, and Endure bow out from the event shy of finishing in the top eight where the prize money was to be won.
The Final Eight
The top two players from each of the second round groups were then inserted into the final single-elimination bracket to determine the event's winner. The SK Gaming clan found both of its players, apm70 and Insomnia, in the unenviable position of having to play each other in the first match. The Russian Night Elf player, apm70, wound up advancing with a 2-0 win over his Human-playing clanmate.
In the other matches, Grubby defeated Sweet 2-0, Reign defeated Fury 2-0, and Sky defeated Wolf 2-0.
Grubby, tackling his second consecutive Korean Undead player in round two, followed up with a 2-0 win over Reign. This relegated Reign to the consolation finals for 3rd and 4th place against WE.Sky, who was toppled in a 1-2 loss against apm70.
The final match took place on Sunday on the main stage, which was packed to capacity as the Dutch and Russian players squared off in an Orc vs. Night Elf match-up. Much to the delight of the highly partisan crowd, Grubby became ESWC 2005 champion with two fairly quick victories.
Select Replays
4K.Grubby
4K.Fury
SK.Insomnia
Endure
WE.Sky
SK.apm70
Creolophus
