Red Bull Battlegrounds, a Premier Starcraft 2 tournament sponsored by none other than one of the world most popular energy drinks, has reached a conclusion after a hard fought weekend. 16 elite players from all over the world converged in Austin for a total prize pool of 41,000. Each hand picked player was guaranteed a least $500 just for showing up to the madness.
Split into 4 battle-groups, the players faced off on the first day in a round robin competition.
In Group A, accomplished Zerg players Millennium Stephano and Empire's Violet ousted Terran players Quantic Illusion (the 16 year old Wonder) and Complexity's Ganzi. Stephano stomped the competition winning beating all the players with a decisive victory. Stephano and Violet managed to move on to the top 8 and onto the Main Tournament.
Group B consisted of the well mannered player Liquid Sheth and EG Thorzain were taken out by the Liquid Teaja and Quantic Sase. Despite some very close matches, Sheth lost to Taeja's amazing anti Zerg Play.
Group C had Korean super-talents SKMC and STBomber soundly defeating EG HuK and Canadian player Itsgosu Ostojiy.
Group D, Team Mates STPartinG and Squirtle made some very effective attacks against tournament veteran Ret and newcomer Lastshadow.
In the main tournament, Stephano made short work of PartinG taking him out 2-0. MC narrowly defeated Sase in a 2-1 protossfest, Similarly in the Terran v Terran match, Bomber ousted Taeja 2-1, and Squirtle attacks with watergun washing away Violet's dreams of moving on.
In the 2nd round, with back and forth matches, MC eventually rips apart Stephano despite his commanding victory over all his other opponents with a 3-2 victory. Bomber Stomps and kicks Squirtle in a 3-0 shutout.
For the 3rd and 4th qualifier, Stephano faces off against Squirtle. Despite trying all he can Squirtle is finished by the crazy Zerg Frenchman 3-1
With the finals underway and $15,000USD on the line, Bomber and MC flex their Korean muscles to duke it out in a best of 7. Despite all in attempts and daring assaults Bomber is the victim of MC's smart play and meticulous tactics. MC takes home the gold 4-2.
Top 4
1st - SKMC - $15,000
2nd - StarTale Bomber - $8,000
3rd - Millennium Stephano - $5,500
4th - StarTale Squirtle - $2,500
