Fixtures have been played, forfeits taken, upsets witnessed; Esports Heaven’s Sennheiser Challenge has been consigned to the history books, but what a legacy to have left!

As the first cash prize tournament run by Esports Heaven for Team Fortress 2, the Sennheiser Challenge was always going to be a big deal. You can argue all you want about love of the game and team pride but a little financial stimulus always brings out the best (and worst) in any competitive game. The succinct 64 team single elimination format and €500 winner-takes-all final offered no second chances and ensured we would witness nothing short of unbridled mayhem.

Tuesday played host to the first three rounds of battle. Gravelpit was to be the map of choice for Round 1, notorious for upsets yet failing to disrupt the predicted order of things at this early stage of the competition. It was plain sailing for the top seeds in Round 2, with well rehearsed Badlands strategies being rolled out to devastating effect; only five caps were dropped by the nine Division 1 teams present. Just below the top tier strong performances were noted from Paroxysm who dismissed SpecialAttack in a 6-1 whitewash and ETF2L Division 2 newcomers, Crack Clan, who beat a vacant looking PENTIA in a well deserved golden cap.

The competition came a close on Tuesday with Round 3 on the enchanting Gullywash, a community map by former TCM scout and frog enthusiast Arnold “Arnold” Kutskout. Although the map is played in all the major leagues, it still remains unfamiliar territory for many teams with no definitive tactics to emulate from the crème de la crème as of yet. Crack Clan came close to an underdog coup but in the end had to settle for a 3-2 defeat to FakkelBrigade. Elsewhere I Don’t Know’s Black squad showed who wears the trousers in the relationship by crushing their Frog squad 5-0 and paving the way for the final day of action.

As day two of the competition dawned there was a whiff of banality in the air, pundits across the land were tracing out in their heads the probable course of events which would lead to yet another Dignitas-TCM final. Early on Thursday evening those rambunctious rapscallions at I Don’t Know had other ideas and proceeded by ruthlessly dissecting Team Dignitas, on Granary no less, in a 4-2 victory; producing the shock result of the century and a slap in the face to the community who had long ago assumed the position and unconditionally accepted Dignitas’ dominance. Don’t get me wrong, idk? are no slouches, but this was a roster which had never even played together before this tournament with the retired Patrick “Shintaz” P. reprising his old scout position and RAF flyboy Andrew “wai” Waite stepping into the fold after a long period away from top level competition. Many eyes were rubbed in disbelief that night let me tell you!

It was business as usual for Power Gaming and TCM-Gaming who made short work of Blight Gaming and Broder, both teams beating their respective opponents in 6-1 cap-outs. The fourth quarter final was mired in controversy with Fakkelbrigade throwing the rulebook at their Division 1 brethren, what women want. Some wires had been crossed with teams and admins regarding the usage of non-roster players or mercs which was ultimately determined to be illegal under the tournament rules. The outcome being that FB were awarded a default win and that www changed their name yet again, now sporting the delightful moniker of “wltrs and predz lost us 500E, cunts” on ETF2L; very postmodern.

Empowered by their monumental triumph in the previous round I Don’t Know went on to serve FakkelBrigade their just deserts, marmalising them 5-2 on the trainspotters’ favourite, Freight. TCM-Gaming faced much stiffer competition from their old adversaries Power Gaming, who were looking to redress the balance following their EMS defeat the previous night. However, revenge was not on the menu and TCM progressed to the Grand Final on the back of a 4-3 victory; the slimmest of margins. The finalists had arrived, battle lines were drawn and maps elected; Badlands for starters, followed by a main course of Granary and a Gullywash tiebreaker for dessert.

The salivating fans were not to be disappointed as I Don’t Know seemed to be finding the form that had eluded them since their long-standing Ogg-intaz scout partnership had dissolved many moons ago. The underdogs managed to derail the TCM war machine on Badlands, but it was no pushover, only reaching a conclusion via golden cap after an intense back and forth produced a 4-4 scoreline over the first 30 minutes of normal time. Unperturbed, TCM came out with a renewed vigour on the second map and demonstrated why they are recognised as a European powerhouse in Team Fortress 2; five rounds without reply and firing on all cylinders. How do you pick yourself up again after that sort of hammering? I Don’t Know.

One map a piece and everything to play for but the momentum has swung massively in favour of TCM who just violated idk? seven ways from sundown on Granary. I Don’t Know showed great composure and came out swinging on Gullywash despite the perception that they were punching above their weight. After several lively exchanges things were all tied at 2-2, the map had offered ample cover for Snipers so Player of the Season, Matthias “zerox” Kuehl, had been going toe-to-toe with two time Sniper of the Season, Jaakko “Jh” Hanhivaara, and whipping the crowd in to a frenzy with headshot after headshot.

It was around this time that idk? seemed to find fifth gear and just began to rampage with the combo of Anders “F2” Carstensen and Tomas “Extremer” A. just annihilating anything that moved; Extremer ending up with an unprecedented 5 Dominations - that wannabe Russian was on fire! It was soon 4-2 to idk? including a sublime ninja cap from Arvin “cube” K. and only a matter of minutes left in the match. TCM still had some fight left in them and managed to scrape back a consolation round but the damage had already be done: idk? 4-3 TCM.

Big thanks from the community to Esports Heaven and their admins for giving us a night to remember, and also to the good people at Sennheiser and Amazon for stumping up the cash prize. Keep an eye on Cadred for all the latest ESH tournaments and you can check out the full tournament bracket below.

Complete Bracket
ESH: The Sennheiser Challenge