by OtakuMZ - 8 years ago     show comments

Written by Multiplay Esports and published in association with this organization
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Live: Multiplay Twitch Channel

Recently, the Sacred Trial Invitational took place where 20 of the top Hearthstone players in the world came together to compete for a guaranteed top 16 spot at Insomnia58! Players were placed in groups, then competed in a round robin, where the top placed players in each of the four groups qualified directly for Insomnia58. The second and third placed players from each group would play in a single elimination bracket on day 2, rewarding an additional three spots to create the seven players that would progress straight into Insomnia58 alongside returning champion TPG.Ness.

The Sacred Trial

Day 1

Group A

Formed of NaVi Ostkaka, Tempo Eloise, TPG. BoarControl, G2 Lifecoach and Cloud9 Ekop, This group saw previous World Champion NaVi Ostkaka win his group with a 4-0 score and only dropping one game in all of his best of 5 series. Both Tempo Storm’s Eloise and TPG’s BoarControl would pass through into the day 2 single elimination bracket with scores of 3-1 and 2-2 respectively. Ekop and Lifecoach rounded out the group, both finishing day 1 with a score of 0-3 and failing to progress into day 2.

Group B

Group B would see VP Naiman, SK Powder, Cloud9 StrifeCro, G2 Thijs and Orange compete for another direct spot into Insomnia58. VP Naiman would finish the group with a 4-0 series score, securing him entry directly into Insomnia58. 2nd and 3rd in the group would go to Powder and StrifeCro, meaning they would progress into the single elimination bracket in day 2. Thijs and Orange would finish the groups 4th and 5th respectively, failing to secure a place in day 2 of the event.

Group C

Group C saw Cloud9 Firebat win all of his games in the group, giving him a direct invite into the main event at Insomnia58. NaVi XiXo would pass into day 2 after finishing the group in second place with a score of 3-1 and he would be joined by Chakki, who would finish the group with a score of 2-2. Completing the group were Zalae and SuperJJ, who would finish the group in 4th and 5th place and would not progress into day 2.

Group D

Tempo Storm Gaara, Liquid Dog, NaVi Hoej, G2 RDU and SK AKA_Wonder made up Group D and saw Gaara finish at the head of the group with a final score of 3-1. Dog and Hoej would progress to the single elimination bracket in day 2 finishing 2nd and 3rd with a score of 3-1 and 2-2. RDU finished the group 4th and AKA_Wonder 5th as both would fail to progress into day to with a final score of 1-3.

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After the group stage games had been completed as we drew day 1 of The Sacred Trial to a close, Ostkaka, Naiman, Firebat and Gaara would be confirmed as the guaranteed entries into Insomnia58. Another 3 spots would be up for grabs on day 2, where the remaining 8 players would compete in a single elimination bracket to determine who would join the 4 qualifiers and returning Champion, TPG Ness at Insomnia58.

Screenshot of the live stream

Day 2

Day 2 saw 8 players battle through a single elimination bracket with the hopes of securing one of three available slots left to qualify directly into Insomnia58. As a single elimination bracket, the pressure would be on each player as one series loss would put them out of the tournament so each game would count!

In round 1, Hoej, Powder, StrifeCro and BoarControl would lose their series, dropping from the tournament while Eloise, Chakki, XiXo and Dog secured progression into round 2 where the pressure would really be on.

Round 2 saw a 3-0 from both Chakki and XiXo, giving them two of the three spots and leaving one final spot up for grabs. Eloise and Dog would vy for this spot and it would be a close series with Eloise taking the series 3-2, knocking Dog out of the Sacred Trial and securing the final qualifying spot to Insomnia58.

Final bracket

To wrap it all up, here is a link to the Insomnia58 Gaming Festival where you can see all qualifying palyers compete. It will take take place at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, UK August 26th – 28th.