It is Saturday morning, the players have gathered in the hotel lobby. Excitement is in the air, comments are being made in anticipation of the upcoming games and everyone seems eager to get started. The walk down to the venue is a short one, there is a slight dash of rain falling down but nothing that will take their minds off the task ahead. Upon arrival, pro-gamer badges are handed out to everyone before the players make their way to their gaming stations.

Each World of Warcraft team and each Warcraft 3 player have their own dedicated computers, allowing them to set up and configure everything as they want to. As per usual, a majority of the players brought their own keyboard and mouse to make their gaming experience as familiar as possible.

As we get closer to that magical time where all the games are to begin, we find all the players sitting comfortably in front of their computers; warming up and getting ready for the challenges ahead. Last minute configurations are finished just in time for the games to begin. The moments before game start in the pro-gamer area are remarkably quiet. From here on out there is only one thing we will hear: "Pew Pew".

In only a few minutes the games will begin. We will, over the course of the day, have continuous updates for you all to enjoy!

For those of you who wish to follow the live stream from this event, simply follow this link: http://tv.esl.eu/de/esltv_stream/

More information and updates can also be found on our EU regional finals website at this location: http://eu.blizzard.com/rf08/

Update:

World of Warcraft EU Finalist teams:
1. Mousesports (Druid, Mage, Rogue)
2. x6tence (Druid, Warrior, Priest)
3. Pure Cartoons (Mage, Priest, Rogue)
4. aAa Agita (Warrior, Priest, Druid)
5. Nihilum Plasma (Warlock, Druid, Warrior)
6. Team Alternate (Rogue, Mage, Priest)
7. Triple Threat (Warrior, Warlock, Druid)
8. Sik (Rogue, Mage, Priest)

Warcraft 3 EU Finalists:
1. ToD (Human)
2. Creolophus (Nightelf)
3. KnOfF (Orc)
4. LucifroN7 (Orc)
5. LiiLD.C (Nightelf)
6. SaSe (Nightelf)
7. Grubby (Orc)
8. Happy (Undead)

Updated @ 6:05 pm:

The games have started, and the room is filled with strategy talk as the players communicate their plans as they go. Calls for help and calls for target swaps can be heard as we follow the players pursuing their goal for the weekend; Winning the Regional Finals.

By now, a lot of you are most likely already following the stream online, watching every move as they are closely narrated by the commentators. First game to be shown on the stream was a Warcraft 3 battle between Grubby and Creolophus, followed shortly after by a World of Warcraft game between x6tence and Triple Threat resulting in a 3-1 victory to x6tence.

This is, however, news that you probably have seen on the stream already. What you have not seen though, are the games going on in the pro-gamer area. Armed with pen and paper, we set out to capture some of the highlights from those games for your reading pleasure. As we watched the teams enter their games, the tension in the room skyrocketed and silence spread in the room amongst everyone watching. Comments intended both for teammates as well as their adversaries were thrown around in a manner that could almost make you feel the pressure these teams were facing; knowing fully well that potential adversaries are standing but meters behind them while studying their every move.

Imagine sitting in a room with 20+ other top end WoW PvP players, the two teams who are playing in front of their computers, the rest spread out around the room watching closely. In a majority of previous events, the main language used by the teams while communicating has been English. Here today, however, we find that a multitude of languages are being used to hide strategy talk both from their their current adversaries as well as competitors who might be eavesdropping from behind. Sik being Finnish, Mousesports being German, and aAA Agita being French brings forth a unique experience for spectators. This is an all out European event with players representing as far east as Russia, and as far west as the UK. This is the European Regional Finals for World of Warcraft.

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Match 1 - Pure Cartoons (3) vs Team Alternate (1)
In round 1, Team Alternate opened with a Rogue/Druid/Priest lineup while Pure Cartoons opened with their standard one, Rogue/Mage/Priest. Pure Cartoons opened aggressively on Team Alternate's druid, forcing a fairly early trinket. With TA's druid having used his trinket, a quick target swap to TA's Rogue followed by a blind on the druid (with no trinket to break blind) and a counterspell on the priest ended the game decisively. TA lost their only dps and the match was decided.

Round 2: Team Alternate changed their lineup after only one round, realizing their weakness. By substituting their druid for a mage, they now entered mirror match land in a RMP vs RMP setup. The change of classes, however, did not affect the outcome of the second match much. After forcing Team Alternate's priest to trinket, Pure Cartoons went for the opposing mage hard. A well timed blind on TA's priest resulted in quick death for their mage, winning the second match of the day. 2-0 to Pure Cartoons.

Round 3: Team Alternate manages to locate Pure Cartoons' rogue early with a sap. Gunning for PC's mage, TA puts out a lot of pressure very quickly and forces an early Ice Block that gets eaten by a mass dispel. Despite PC's priest trinketing the blind that gets thrown his way, a nicely placed counterspell ensures TA's victory with the death of PC's mage. The score is now 2-1 to Pure Cartoons.

Round 4: Pure Cartoons, having had some of their momentum taken away, are back with a vengeance. From the very start of the fight to the finish they apply a lot of pressure to TA's mage. Neither Iceblock nor Pain suppression can save the mage, and the game ends quickly in Pure Cartoons' favour. Team Alternate is the first team of the day to enter the lower bracket.

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Match 2 - Nihilum (3) vs aAa Agita (0)
Round 1: Nihilum started the matches with a Warrior/Warlock/Druid lineup, while aAa Agita opened with Druid + 2x warrior. The first round ended almost as quickly as it started; Nihilum put a lot of pressure on one of the warriors and prevented Agita's druid from healing. 1-0 to Nihilum, followed by some friendly taunts across the table, setting a higher tension for the next set of rounds.

Round 2: Agita's two warriors charge in on Nihilum's warlock, intending to drop his pet then get him down in a quick manner. As they engage and go for the pet, however, Nihilum's warlock manages to get away and spot the druid in one fluid motion. While Nihilum's warlock engages Agita's druid, one of Agita's warriors is brought down low health by the remaining Nihilum team members. A spell lock followed by a fear on Agita's druid swiftly ends the second round 2-0 in favour of Nihilum.

Round 3: Agita swaps one Warrior for a Warlock, resulting in a mirror match between the two. Nihilum continues to make taunting comments across the table, much to the excitement of the crowd gathered around them. "You want bash man? I'll give you bash!", a comment by Nihilum's druid as he preoccupies Agita's druid long enough for his team mates to pull off a kill. Swiftly and cleanly, this game ends 3-0 in Nihilum's favour.

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Match 3 - Sik (1) vs Mousesports (3)
Round 1: While Mousesports starts the matches as a Druid/Mage/Rogue composition, Sik opens the match with a Priest/Druid/Warrior lineup; a setup that has a relatively long lasting power. As the match unfolds, it is obvious that this is going to be the longest match thus far; Mousesports putting down some very effective and well timed crowd control on Siks's priest. A Sheep/Cyclone rotation is executed with careful precision by Mousesports, leaving Sik's priest unable to do much for a vast majority of the match. With his trinket used, and after 8 minutes of play, Mousesports manages to catch Sik's druid slightly off guard. A well placed blind on Sik's priest results in the death of his druid team mate. The score is 0-1 in Mousesports' favour.

Round 2: This round opens up very much like the previous one, and a quick swap to Sik's priest almost got him killed. However, shortly after, Sik caught Mousesports' rogue off guard and with a quick target change followed by Mace stun and some big number crits, the rogue finds himself eating dirt in ghost form. It is now 1-1.

Round 3: As this match plays out, it becomes very noticable for anyone watching that the level of pressure is rising. Finnish and German comments alike are flung around the table; some of it comprehensible in English, some not. At one point into the game, Sik manages to catch MouseSports' druid off guard with a target swap that very nearly kills him. Shortly after, it is Sik's druid who finds himself in the crosshairs of a target swap. After almost getting away, he is locked in place by an offensive cyclone by Mousesports. Despite getting Pain suppression and healed up past half way, Sik's druid still goes down resulting in a 1-2 score to Mousesports.

Round 4: The match plays out pretty much like all the previous matches; Cyclone and Sheep rotations are kept up on Sik's druid for a majority of the match. With each CC rotation the tension and pressure increases in the room as everyone is anxious to see the outcome. While Mousesports manages to get a full duration sheep and blind on Sik's priest, Sik still manages to fend off the assault and stay in the game. That is, however, not for long. 1.5 minutes later, target swaps are being thrown around like candy and MouseSports manages to catch both the druid with an untrinketable blind and the priest with an untrinketable sheep. This one move becomes the turning point of the match, as Sik's warrior is forced into defensive stance; unable to keep up pressure on MouseSports. As Sik's healers stuggle to catch up with heals on their low health warrior, MouseSports changes targets to Sik's druid and kills him without much difficulty. Game point and 1-3 in MouseSports favour.

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As we have seen the games described above being played out, we noticed that the atmosphere here in the venue is warming up. Players who are not currently playing are talking with each other in a nice and friendly manner, often discussing arenas and in some odd cases tactics. Occasionally we will see some of the players go sit down in the Starcraft 2 demo stations, playing against eachother in completely unfamiliar territory. These matches being both friendly skirmishes as well as curiosity for the new game just goes to show that the players here have a real sense of sportsmanship.

Win or loss, there appears to be no hard feelings between the teams. This is, after all, an event they are here to enjoy!

With that said, we will continue to update this thread with information, game results, recaps and other goodies. Stay tuned and keep checking back as the day unfolds along with the bracket results!

From Madrid, Spain, that is all for now folks!

Current World of Warcraft standings:

OPENING SEEDINGS
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Round 1:
Mousesports (3) vs Sik (1)
Nihilum Plasma (3) vs aAa Agita (0)
Pure Cartoons (3) vs Team Alternate (1)
Triple Threat (1) vs x6tence (3)

UPPER BRACKET
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Round 2:
Mousesports (1) vs Nihilum Plasma (3)
Pure Cartoons (1) vs x6tence (3)

Round 3:
Nihilum Plasma (0) vs x6tence (3)

LOWER BRACKET
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Round 1:
Triple Threat (3) vs Team Alternate (0)
aAa Agita (3) vs Sik (1)

Round 2:
Pure Cartoons (3) vs aAa Agita (1)
Mousesports (2) vs Triple Threat (3)

Round 3:
Pure Cartoons (1) vs Triple Threat (3)