VBL: Final chance as a reward for a strong debut season

TSG had entered into the world of eSports in the autumn of last year without a clearly formulated target for the season, but the goal became clear by itself after the first half of the season: the team's gaze was firmly fixed on the top six places – they did not want their season to over at the end of the regular season on Matchday 26. After Hoffenheim had spent much of the season flirting with the play-offs, the team gathered their strength at the end of the season and converted it into nine decisive points against RB Leipzig and Hertha BSC on the last double matchday. They had secured their place in the top six after the 6-3 overall win over the side from Berlin, and after the late evening game against 1. FC Nuremberg, fourth place was set in stone – a truly remarkable achievement in a first season that was particularly challenging due to the Coronavirus pandemic. 

The big dream of winning the German FIFA Club Championship is therefore still realistic – qualification for the finals is the next step on the road to that landmark moment. This can be done next Wednesday in the knock-out game with Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who finished fifth in the North-West division. The Final Chance round begins with two games: a 2v2 match on the console to be chosen by TSG as the higher finishing club of the two will be followed by a 1v1 on the other platform. If a winner has not been decided after these two matches, another 1v1 game will be played on the console which was not used in the singles match. If the third game still does not bring about a decision, a second 2v2 will be played on the platform which was not chosen for the first doubles match. After that, we will know the final participants for the weekend on 27 and 28 March.

'Lukas_1004' and 'Bassinho' in the VBL Grand Final

Although the final round seems within touching distance, it should first of all be noted that just reaching the Final Chance stages is already a huge success. Last summer, TSG put together a talented eSports team with Lukas 'Lukas_1004' Seiler, Jan-Luca 'Bassinho' Bass, Jonas 'Bit0911' Bederke, Marcel 'plaplup' Schwarz and Bundesliga pro Munas Dabbur. However, it was not a given that the players would have already merged into a functioning unit in their first season together. Fourth place in the South-East division brings with it a further advantage in addition to taking part in the Final Chance round: thanks to TSG's position among the four best teams in the division, 'Lukas_1004' and 'Bassinho' have directly qualified for the VBL Grand Final of the individual championships – more chances for Hoffenheim to win a title.

 

TSG had entered into the world of eSports in the autumn of last year without a clearly formulated target for the season, but the goal became clear by itself after the first half of the season: the team's gaze was firmly fixed on the top six places – they did not want their season to over at the end of the regular season on Matchday 26. After Hoffenheim had spent much of the season flirting with the play-offs, the team gathered their strength at the end of the season and converted it into nine decisive points against RB Leipzig and Hertha BSC on the last double matchday. They had secured their place in the top six after the 6-3 overall win over the side from Berlin, and after the late evening game against 1. FC Nuremberg, fourth place was set in stone – a truly remarkable achievement in a first season that was particularly challenging due to the Coronavirus pandemic. 

The big dream of winning the German FIFA Club Championship is therefore still realistic – qualification for the finals is the next step on the road to that landmark moment. This can be done next Wednesday in the knock-out game with Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who finished fifth in the North-West division. The Final Chance round begins with two games: a 2v2 match on the console to be chosen by TSG as the higher finishing club of the two will be followed by a 1v1 on the other platform. If a winner has not been decided after these two matches, another 1v1 game will be played on the console which was not used in the singles match. If the third game still does not bring about a decision, a second 2v2 will be played on the platform which was not chosen for the first doubles match. After that, we will know the final participants for the weekend on 27 and 28 March.

'Lukas_1004' and 'Bassinho' in the VBL Grand Final

Although the final round seems within touching distance, it should first of all be noted that just reaching the Final Chance stages is already a huge success. Last summer, TSG put together a talented eSports team with Lukas 'Lukas_1004' Seiler, Jan-Luca 'Bassinho' Bass, Jonas 'Bit0911' Bederke, Marcel 'plaplup' Schwarz and Bundesliga pro Munas Dabbur. However, it was not a given that the players would have already merged into a functioning unit in their first season together. Fourth place in the South-East division brings with it a further advantage in addition to taking part in the Final Chance round: thanks to TSG's position among the four best teams in the division, 'Lukas_1004' and 'Bassinho' have directly qualified for the VBL Grand Final of the individual championships – more chances for Hoffenheim to win a title.