ESL Pro Series Germany preview

The German EPS is the most important WarCraft 3 league in Germany aswell as the most established Pro Series of the ESL. The 11th finals are about to start and therefore it's time to have a look at the season and the finalists.

The season has been close in the end, when four players were even in points and everyone had the chance to qualify as third and fourth for the LAN playoffs. Miou and hanf were able to take the remaining spots behind the dominating Protois and HasuObs. Therefore the four finalists were found and no very big suprises happened at all. Worth a note is the outstanding performance of TryDying, who played his first season and almost qualified for the playoffs, and of Protois who only lost a single match.The last season's finalists have been almost the same: Except hanf, all three players were participating the finals of season 10.

Lars Gerrit 'Protois' Reichelt

Protois is playing for mTw and scored some important points for his team in the WC3L by defeating players such as Sweet or Rob.
His EPS Germany matches have been even more successful, he finished first during the regular season, only being beaten by yAwS. He clearly dominated the ESL Pro Series Germany this season, being six points ahead the second ranked player- HasuObs. The Undead player will be one of the two biggest favourites for winning this season and after his performance so far his goal most likely will be the gold medal.

Dennis 'HasuObs' Schneider

The reigning champion HasuObs did not show similar good results in the WC3L as Protois, but he did not have the chance to do so. Playing only in the last match for mousesports, he lost to BeT.WhO .
In the EPS he lost three times, against dArk, Protois and impact. Some of these loses seem to be suprising but overall he must be count to the favourites next to Protois when it comes to the offline finals. HasuObs showed last season's finals that he is able to beat miou and was ahead Protois, so his goal must be to defend the title.

Daniel 'miou' Holthuis

This player doesn't need an intruduction to any German and he's quite known internationally aswell. Nobody dominated the EPS as much as he did, winning six titles in a row. Nontheless he was dethroned by HasuObs last season and it looks like he might not be that dominating any more.
In the WC3L he lost three times with 1-2, scoring no points for SK-Gaming. Having a look at his opponents these loses could be seen as strong performances though, since he lost to Grubby, Sai and Ohjie. In the EPS he was defeated by HasuObs, Protois, yAwS and basH.
Miou is by far the most experienced player at the finals and this could be quite a big bonus for him. On the other hand it might be hard to practice enough to compete with the others, because this became routine. Miou maybe is not the big favourite for the title but he won't be easy to defeat aswell, so he must be taken very serious.

Johannes 'hanf' Morlo

The second mTw players at the finals seemed not to be too stable, if you take a look at the past seasons. Nontheless hanf is a very good player who participated the finals before, so he knows the athmosphere at the EPS finals and is experienced when it comes to important matches.
He showed a so-so WC3L performance, winning and losing closely with 2-1.
In the EPS the Nightelf lost to all three finalists aswell as dArk and therefore seems to be the underdog, who can't be underestimated but most likely will not place first or second.

Germany changing from Human to Undead

In the past, the EPS was dominated by Human players. Miou, Fire_de, Spell have been doing very good and finals with three Human players have been normal. Now - since Season X - it seems like Germany's best aren't the Humans any more. In the EPS, HasuObs and Protois are dominating and XlorD from SK-Gaming showed great preformances internationally - all three are playing Undead. Obviously the reign of the Human race was ended by the Lich King - or will brave Miou defend the honor of the brave Humans?