The day before the Guild Wars 2 World Championship, Denial Esports team captain Lord Helseth confidently stated, “Denial will be the only team in Guild Wars 2 history to win two LAN tournaments in a row. My only concern is that no team will be able to take a single game off of us, making the show a little less entertaining to watch.” Helseth was right about Denial’s back-to-back record, but their journey to the trophy ceremony was definitely a thrilling one. From intensely close matches to surprising upsets, here’s everything that happened along the way.
QUARTERFINALS
The first match of the tournament was between returning champions Denial Esports and Team Never Lucky, who made their first ever LAN appearance at the Guild Wars 2 World Championship. Denial Esports made quick work of Never Lucky with a clean sweep and a dominating Game 3 score of 502-26.
Game 3 goes to @DenialEsports 502-26! #GW2WC pic.twitter.com/k2K0a38miG
— ESL Guild Wars 2 (@ESLGW2) September 17, 2016
Game 1 of the second quarterfinal match started off with both Team PZ and Vermillion evenly climbing to 500 points. Team PZ were able to push ahead in the late game to take the first map, but Vermillion turned things around, winning the second game and riding that momentum to a 3-1 series victory.
Things turn around in Game 2 as @VermillionGW2 tie up the series 1-1! #GW2WC pic.twitter.com/LNJMzp2TZO
— ESL Guild Wars 2 (@ESLGW2) September 17, 2016
SEMIFINALS
In the most anticipated match of the tournament, the Season 1 and Season 2 champions battled in a rematch of last season’s grand finals. Rank 55 Dragons entered the Guild Wars 2 World Championship with the first European seed and a bye to the semifinals looking to reclaim their title as best in the world. Just coming off of a 3-0 victory, Denial maintained their momentum and handily won the first two maps, but Rank 55 Dragons turned things around with a Game 3 win.
Game 4 was one of the closest battles of the tournament, with everything on the line for both of these powerhouse teams, but the clock ran out with Denial Esports just eight points ahead, giving them the series victory and a spot in the grand finals.
With an 8 point lead at the 15 minute mark, @DenialEsports take the series and move on to the grand finals! #GW2WC pic.twitter.com/XL7vAQCjyx
— ESL Guild Wars 2 (@ESLGW2) September 17, 2016
After defeating Team PZ, Vermillion went on to face the first North American seed Astral Authority in the semifinals. Vermillion started off strong with a Game 1 win, but Astral Authority answered back and tied things up 1-1. After another close game that was decided at the 15 minute mark, Vermillion pulled ahead and pushed the score to 2-1. The European underdogs followed this up with a much more convincing Game 4 victory. Not many predicted that Vermillion’s expectations to place top two would come true, but they proved themselves and set the stage for an all-European grand finals.
Time runs out and @VermillionGW2 take the series lead with a Game 3 win! #GW2WC pic.twitter.com/aRA4vSBH7y
— ESL Guild Wars 2 (@ESLGW2) September 17, 2016
GRAND FINALS
Vermillion started off strong in the first game of the grand finals pulling ahead of Denial Esports in points.
Game 1 of the grand finals is slowly leaning in favor of @VermillionGW2! #GW2WC pic.twitter.com/hC1HQaHyOf
— ESL Guild Wars 2 (@ESLGW2) September 17, 2016
However, the final score of Game 1 ended at 518-322 in favor of Denial who collected themselves in the next two games to finish out the series with their second sweep of the day and claim their second consecutive championship title.
Your @GuildWars2 World Champions are @DenialEsports! #GW2WC pic.twitter.com/Z0wHvoMSRe
— ESL Guild Wars 2 (@ESLGW2) September 18, 2016
THANKS FOR WATCHING
Thank you to everyone who tuned into the broadcast and attended the live show in person and congratulations to the Guild Wars 2 World Champions Denial Esports! Be sure to follow ESLGW2 on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date with all the latest competitive Guild Wars 2 news.
