Day One:

There were plenty of shockers, and even a few tears towards the end, but we?ve successfully wrapped up day one of the 2011 European Battle.net Invitational.

After a slight delay, the matches finally kicked off at around 2pm. Naniwa and Strelok had a close round, which eventually swung in Naniwa?s favour. Ret and Tarson had a tense battle too, ending with Ret claiming the victory.

There were more than a few sad-faced fans when White-Ra went out 0:2 against Thorzain in the first round, and then landed another disappointing score against Nerchio in the Consolation Bracket. This must?ve been a relief for those cheering on Nerchio, though, after he lost his first round against Socke 0:2. Following his defeat at the hands of Ret in the Championship Bracket, Tarson reclaimed some ground by beating Strelok 2:0 in the Consolation Bracket.

Round 2 seemed nice and easy for Thorzain, who managed to win two games straight up against Socke. He?ll now face Ret in Round 3 tomorrow, who narrowly came out on top over Naniwa 2:1. In the Consolation Bracket, Tarson beat Socke 2:1, and Nerchio went down against Naniwa, meaning Round 3 will see Naniwa facing Tarson for a chance in the final.

There were some clear victories early on in the Warcraft Brackets, as both Colgate and Showtime scored 3:0 against their respective opponents; I can?t believe it?s not Wizard and x6tence. The losing teams faced each other in the Consolation Brackets, which saw x6tence walk away with the lead after a 3:0 win. Showtime won out over Colgate with a 3:1 score on Round 2 of the Championship Bracket.

Both Surprise Effect and Victornox went through to Round 2 after winning their Round 1 matches against DNAW Trio and Feeling Mad. The ensuing battle between the winning teams was close, finally seeing Victorinox take the lead 3:2 in Round 2. DNAW Trio and Feeling Mad faced each other in the Consolation Bracket, resulting in a 3:1 score to DNAW Trio.

You can visit the official 2011 European Battle.net Invitational site now to see the ladders, replays of the matches and more, and don't miss out on day two of the event, kicking off around 12pm CEST on Sunday, 7 August!


Day Two:

The 2011 European Battle.net Invitational has come to an end, but what an exciting end it was. We now know who will be travelling to BlizzCon to compete in the event there, and they all thoroughly deserve it.

Firstly, WoW team Showtime pulled out all the stops and defeated the finalists from the Consolation Bracket, DNAW Trio. The runners up fought valiantly, making Showtime work hard for their victory. They managed to win a match, making the score 2:1 to Showtime, but were beaten in the following game. Both teams will get to take part in the Global Battle.net Invitational during BlizzCon in October.

In StarCraft II, Tarson went up against Naniwa in the Consolation Bracket and was defeated 0:2. Naniwa went on to play against Thorzain, who was previously beaten by Ret in the Championship Bracket. Naniwa also walked away from that match with a 2:1 victory, and entry into the Grand Final.
Both Ret and Naniwa seemed icy cool as they began the Grand Final match, each walking on stage to a rapturous reception. However, Ret won the first match after catching Naniwa off-guard. The second match was over even quicker, as Naniwa tried a new tactic which, sadly, just didn?t pay off. Ret hardly seemed to break a sweat as he won the Grand Final 2:0.

As with the WoW finalists, both Ret and Naniwa will take part in the Global Battle.net Invitational at BlizzCon. We?ll see you there!
Don't forget to catch up on the replays, match brackets and more over on the official 2011 European Battle.net Invitational site.