The American made a second PAX grand final in a row to finally hoist the gold.
Compared to the somewhat weaker PAX South which opened North America’s LAN circuit in January, PAX East welcomed all kinds of high profile competitors over the weekend. Europe invaded Boston en massed, sending the likes of Sebastian “Xixo” Bentert, Jon “Orange” Westberg and Frederik “Hoej” Nielsen to try and wrestle the trophy away from the hosts. Even players from Asia were in attendance, featuring Hayun “Eloise” Tang and Jung-Soo “Surrender” Kim, both of whom ended up making deep runs into the bracket.
Ultimately, the day belonged to North America as only Orange made it into the top eight from the EU’s side, repeating his result from PAX South. Going undefeated the entire tournament, it was Raymond “Rayc” Cipoletti who accepted the $4,000 first place check.
This was the second PAX grand final in a row for the former Vicious Syndicate player, now competing for Panda Global. Rayc made it to the finals beating decorated players including Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh and Julien “Cydonia” Perrault before prevailing over Muzahidul “Muzzy” Islam in the winners and grand finals alike.
Although he missed the gold by an inch, to play at a major grand final has been a long time coming for Muzzy. Hailed by his peers as one of the best ladder players and deckbuilders, Muzzy could never quite match the praise with tournament results until now and he’s once again in prime position to view for HCT Championship spot in the current season.
