$1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

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United States of America Cometk
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$1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

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Post by Cometk »

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The ESOC Challenge Cup – Group Stage Roundup

Event Streamed Every Saturday and Sunday on ESOCTV
Dubbed as one of the most stacked AoE3 tournament in years, the ESOC Challenge Cup hosted this February will undoubtedly be a tournament remembered for a long time to come. One of the first big tournaments of the AoE3:DE era, the Challenge Cup features a cast of players exclusively from the highest peaks of the 1v1 Supremacy leaderboard, with only a handful of top-level players botching participation. Join us every weekend on ESOCTV, where the high-octane Group Stage matches will be streamed every Saturday and Sunday leading up to the Finals bash at the end of the month. If you're a newcomer to the scene and want an inside look into the competitive AoE3 community, look no further. We've gathered a panel of outstanding community members to give us their unbiased insights into the characters of the ESOC Challenge Cup and how they believe the event will shake out.
Without further ado, let's welcome our panelists:

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@minimoult21I represent a relative unknown. Age 3 has always been my favorite installment in the series. I played over a decade ago. After a long hiatus, returned to an awesome community. I do my part to help share the love for this game. Known for being soft spoken with helpful tips and sloppy Dutch gameplay. Reigning EPL2 Champ! MDS4LIFE!

@VinyanyérëCo-host of the AoE3 community's fourth-most popular podcast. One-trick lamer of the community's sixteenth-most popular civ. World record holder of the community's up-and-coming fifth seat pro to casting desk to coaching desk to analyst desk speedrun.

@Aussie_DrongoA veteran of the game, Aussie_Drongo played AoE3 competitively back in the late 2000's before going MIA. With the release of the Definitive Edition in October 2020, Drongo returned to the AOE3 scene, bringing his experience, his wit, and a much appreciated flurry of AOE3 content to both YouTube and to Twitch.

@MitoeDecent player and 12-year veteran of AoE3. Occasionally expresses self-loathing of his own gameplay. Future braggart upon completion of the group stage.
The Groups The ESOC Challenge Cup features only the 16 highest-rated players who signed up to participate in the event. The players were ordered sequentially from highest to lowest Elo rating on the 1v1 Supremacy leaderboard and sorted into 4 groups, with 4 players in each group. To make it out of the Group Stage alive, a player will need to win as many of their matches as possible. However, every game counts, as in the case of a tiebreaker, the total # of game wins the player accrued can be the deciding factor of if they move on to the Semi-Finals stage or not.

The ESOC Challenge Cup features Samwise12, Haitch, kynesie, Knuschelbär, Ezad, Lecastete, optibb, Mitoe, Kaiserklein, Kévin, LukasL, SoldieR, miggo1999, kaister, PrinceofKabul, and iamturk. Not every player who signed up made the top 16. Even high caliber sign-ups like H2O_ and Aizamk missed qualification. For those just joining us in the AoE3 community, let's take a deep dive into just who are the challengers in this ESOC event.

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Group A features a full roster of tournament-winners. Both Samwise12 and Mitoe have ESOC Championship titles under their belt. Kaiserklein has been the victor of innumerable weekend and minor tournaments. iamturk peaked #1 on ladder some time ago and was the victor of the original Empire Cup held in 2020. This group is blazing hot with AoE3 talent.
minimoult21
Aussie_Drongo
Mitoe
Vinyanyere
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Group B includes a more diverse cast of characters. The frontrunner of the group, Haitch, won not only the most recent ESOC event in the Goodhouse Cup, but also won the most recent ESOC Championship, taking gold in the 2020 Winter Championship. Prinz is a choice encounter, a relic against time and the former mentor of Haitch. While a bit of a boomer, Prinz had major success in the New World Championship 2019, being a top 8 qualifier for the LAN event. optibb and Kévin are both dark horses - the duo were actually teammates representing the Cuirassier Management Co. in the recent ESOC Premier League (EPL) Season 2. Optimus is no stranger to purloining games from top players when they least expect it, in addition to being a ladder paragon. Kévin had his breakout appearance in the EPL, finishing the round robin stage of the season with a record of 16 wins, 9 losses.
minimoult21
Aussie_Drongo
Mitoe
Vinyanyere
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Group C presents a clash in styles and personalities. Quiet kynesie is back after a tournament hiatus, yet is as threatening as ever with an impressive ladder peak, proving that his 2nd place finish years back in the 2018 Autumn Championship was no fluke. LukasL is also lowkey personality, with no supremacy event wins yet a high degree of top-level proximity. He achieved 4th place in the 2020 Winter Championship, and came out standing when faced with a death roster of opponents in the ESOC Premier League Season 2. Lecastete had a rocky EPL2 but has been making waves on the DE leaderboard, being a feisty challenger for the rest of the top 10. With the help of a recent hardware upgrade, the rambunctious kaister clobbered his way through the ranks to qualify for this event, wielding a formidable Lakota style that manages to strike fear into even the most worthy of opponents.
minimoult21
Aussie_Drongo
Mitoe
Vinyanyere
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Group D may be the closest of them all. Knusch stands as the man to beat, another ladder demon with numerous recent tournament achievements, most notably a 1st place victory over fellow groupmate miggo1999 in the Empire Cup 2 Finals. Miggo's hot and cold relationship with AoE3 should not shake ones confidence in his abilities, given his penchant for exceeding expectations and penetrating the later stages of events. Loose cannon SoldieR earned a spot after some admittedly rough first appearances in AoE3:DE events. Eager to perform, SoldieR can't be counted out though after a stellar record in the ESOC Premier League Season 2. Ezad made his way into the Challenge Cup with ease with an impressive #5 ladder position. An underrated asset, this likely indicates in upward trend in his playing abilities from Legacy AoE3.
minimoult21
Aussie_Drongo
Mitoe
Vinyanyere
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And that's the event. Check out eso-community.net to stay up-to-date on the event schedule and join us on ESOCTV every Saturday and Sunday of the month of February to catch the action of the ESOC Challenge Cup.
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Great Britain I_HaRRiiSoN_I
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by I_HaRRiiSoN_I »

Great read! Nice variety of panellists with their own opinions, I'm so excited for this event to properly kick off now :D
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India Challenger_Marco
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by Challenger_Marco »

Nice write up ! I like reading whenever Cometk post.
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by Le Hussard sur le toit »

Is the casting schedule out yet ?
ESOC : came for the game, stayed for the drama.
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Great Britain TheNameDaniel
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by TheNameDaniel »

Not much length from the Aussie
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United States of America Squamiger
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by Squamiger »

@Vinyanyérë thanks for the financial advice
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by comradecommissar »

@Aussie_Drongo truly providing the most insightful, detailed and thorough analysis here.
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Great Britain TheNameDaniel
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by TheNameDaniel »

is there a schedule for the stream btw?
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Kiribati princeofcarthage
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by princeofcarthage »

Should've done TRG predictions tbh
Fine line to something great is a strange change.
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Tokelau jesus3
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by jesus3 »

Awesome write-up and comments :love:

But don't underestimate the eternal wildcard Opti in that group! I think he might actually win an unexpected match and, at the same time, lose another match we thought he'd do better at. The usual, pretty much.
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

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Post by Aussie_Drongo »

Hey guys (especially @TheNameDaniel and @comradecommissar), apologies for the lack of detail. I failed to realize that the write ups would be broken up over each of the different groups, but have now provided an update to my initial thoughts that hopefully provide more insight to my feelings for the tourney!

Thanks @Cometk for letting me hand in my assignment past the due date :love:
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Spain PilsenGaming
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by PilsenGaming »

Awesome and promising tournament! I hope the community will grow a lot thanks to events like this. Keep up the good work!

Pd: Will you upload the saves to the forum afterwards? I would love to analyse them on my spanish speaking channel. Ty
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by Cometk »

PilsenGaming wrote:Pd: Will you upload the saves to the forum afterwards? I would love to analyse them on my spanish speaking channel. Ty
absolutely! all of the results will eventually be uploaded to this forum: viewforum.php?f=991

you can find the first series of mitoe vs iamturk there now :)
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by Garja »

schedule?
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by comradecommissar »

Aussie_Drongo wrote:Hey guys (especially @TheNameDaniel and @comradecommissar), apologies for the lack of detail. I failed to realize that the write ups would be broken up over each of the different groups, but have now provided an update to my initial thoughts that hopefully provide more insight to my feelings for the tourney!

Thanks @Cometk for letting me hand in my assignment past the due date :love:
Aah no mate, I was just joking. But thanks anyway!
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by Astaroth »

Nice write-up. Could we have the exact dates/times on the ESOC calender (if it works?) or at least somewhere here? I know it says "Weekend/Sat/Sun", but that isn't that precise and makes it hard to know when it will be on.

Sorry if I just missed it somewhere. I also realize having strict times makes it harder for everyone to organize, of course.

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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

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Post by Cometk »

@Astaroth only a few series have been played so far so we’re still sorting out the schedule
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by Astaroth »

Cheers!
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

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Post by chris1089 »

TheNameDaniel wrote:Not much length from the Aussie
Needs to pitch it up a bit more? Less of the short stuff?
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No Flag Kanoo
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

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Post by Kanoo »

chris1089 wrote:
TheNameDaniel wrote:Not much length from the Aussie
Needs to pitch it up a bit more? Less of the short stuff?
Around the 4th stump I reckon, should bring the slip cordon into play.
thebritish wrote:
19 Jan 2016, 09:58
So, you are saying that if i watch H20's rec, i can beat anyone below H20's level because i know his BO?
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

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Post by Cometk »

@TheNameDaniel @Garja @Astaroth stream schedule posted on the front page now :) also check out the Royal Clan 3v3 Tournament Team Draft on the /royalclanaoe twitch channel Saturday at 16 GMT!
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Australia PatrickLFC
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by PatrickLFC »

Kanoo wrote:
chris1089 wrote:
TheNameDaniel wrote:Not much length from the Aussie
Needs to pitch it up a bit more? Less of the short stuff?
Around the 4th stump I reckon, should bring the slip cordon into play.
I think part of why India won the recent series was the Aus quicks going too short too often
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

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Post by toriancarconn »

@Cometk after the group phase we immediately have the semifinals, right? Only each group winner moves on?
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by n0el »

yes
mad cuz bad
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Re: $1000 ESOC Challenge Cup - Group Stage Roundup

Post by Le Hussard sur le toit »

Would it be possible to have tournament recorder games posted on the ESOC forum 1) by the casters rather than the players and 2) listing the players' name in alphabetical order rather than winner first to avoid spoilers ?

Especially as ESOC TV has an habit of streaming the flagship series right at dinner time in France...
ESOC : came for the game, stayed for the drama.

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