Britain’s 16 best StarCraft II players faced off last weekend in London during the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) United Kingdom Nationals. Up for grabs were three highly coveted slots in the WCS Europe Finals in September, along with a $15,000 USD prize pool and the prestigious title of UK national champion.

Day 1

With shoutcasting by the famous duo Tastosis (Nick “Tasteless” Plott and Dan “Artosis” Stemkoski), along with host Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner entertaining the audience, the live spectators and fans following the ESL TV stream were in for a real treat.

Left: Spectators queued outside BAFTA before the doors opened. Right: View of the stage featuring Tastosis.

The day started out with favorites Benjamin “DeMusliM” Baker and Samayan “BlinG” Kay quickly winning their first-round matches to then face each other in the second round. After a few intense games, it was DeMusliM who moved on to the third round of the Championship Bracket.

A little later on, BlinG was eliminated from the tournament by Tom “Simba” Mcfaul in the Consolation Bracket. However, the taste of victory didn’t last long for successful newcomer Simba, who lost to Liam “Ourk” Streames in the following match.

Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner interviews Benjamin “DeMusliM” Baker (left) and Samayan “BlinG” Kay before their match.

Meanwhile, the action in the Championship Bracket continued into the semi-finals, as the winners of the two upcoming matches would be the first to qualify for the Europe Finals! Many UK fans expected seasoned professional DeMusliM to be the first to secure a spot, but they were in for a surprise. Despite a tenacious defense, the terran player gave in to the might of the Swarm, allowing the tournament’s youngest player, Paul “JonnyREcco” Whyte, to be the first to win a slot in the Europe Finals.

Paul “JonnyREcco” Whyte (left) and Nick “Ziktomini” Copello played the Championship Bracket final.

The second semi-final match turned explosive when Dan “Phamut” McDonald rained banelings on his opponent’s baneling force, but to no avail – Nick “Ziktomini” Copello took the series and the second UK slot in the Europe Finals.

Day 2

The second day of the event kicked off with intense terran mirror matches between Nathan “Lau” Lau and DeMusliM. Lau played aggressively from the very beginning, but his approach couldn’t hold up against DeMusliM, who took the series.

True eSportsmanship - handshake between DeMusliM and Nathan “Lau” Lau

The third and final UK spot in the Europe Finals was to be decided by a match between DeMusliM and Ourk, which turned out to be an exciting back-and-forth. In the end, DeMusliM showed better execution, nabbing the third slot and moving on to the Consolation Bracket final.

Next up, the Championship Bracket final between JonnyREcco and Ziktomini evolved into all-out zerg warfare. Lauded as one of the best ZvZs of all time by Tastosis, the match ended with Ziktomini moving on to the Grand Final.

Left: The trophy, waiting to be claimed by the first UK national champion. Right: Tastosis.

This outcome made for an exciting Consolation Bracket final, with JonnyREcco facing off against DeMusliM for the second time. The young zerg player once again showed great skill and composure, but DeMusliM took the win, moving on to the Grand Final to face off against Ziktomini.

Ziktomini pushed DeMusliM to his limits, showing off an impressive creep spread that prompted Artosis to call the zerg player “the creepiest guy I’ve ever seen.” DeMusliM pushed back, but eventually fell to another of Ziktomini’s strong early pushes and had to be content with second place.

Left: UK champion Ziktomini and his prize check. Right: Ziktomini cherishes his victory and the champion's trophy.

Congratulations to Ziktomini for winning the United Kingdom championship! He’ll move on to represent queen and country in the WCS Europe Finals in September, along with DeMusliM and JonnyREcco!