Three European teams and one North American team are contenting for the 2022 eWorlds trophy
After weeks fo intense online competition involving 18 countries and dozens of eSports players, the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship heads into its final weekend.
2022 IIHF eWorld Championship: Tournament Website / Live Stream
2022 IIHF eWorld Championship: Tournament Website / Live Stream
The semi-finals take place Saturday, with the championship final on Sunday.
FINLAND vs LATVIA: Can Latvia take out the defending champs?
Latvia has knocked out Sweden in the quarter-finals – but can 'chibra' and 'snipencelly8' pull off another shocker against Finland?
At the 2020 IIHF Esports Fan Championship, the Latvians were eliminated in the first round after losing 15-16 to Slovakia. Two years later, Kristers 'chibra' Bauers and Juris 'snipencelly8' Lopatko will fight for a place in the final.
The duo had already represented Latvia in 2020, but have consistently improved since then. In the group stage, 'chibra' and 'snipencelly8' finished second behind Canada, the first surprise followed in the quarter-finals.
Latvians gaining momentum after overtime thriller
In a wild 9-8 overtime victory, the Latvians defeated the co-favourites from Sweden. In the semi-finals things don’t get easier: Finland is the defending champion.
Erik 'ENCEKI' Tammenpää, 2020 MVP and winner of the NHL Gaming World Championship in Europe, and Valtteri 'Vattuyy' Virtanen have marched through the tournament in dominant fashion so far. As first in Group A and with an 11-8 win against Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
Finland not invulnerable
But a closer look reveals possibilities for Latvia: 'ENCEKI' was forced into overtime by Denmark's Martin 'xProAm69x' Vibholm Nielsen in the group stage, 'Vattuyy' lost 1-5 to Switzerland's Sven 'OriginaL-SnuS' Julmi on Saturday.
However, 'chibra' and 'snipencelly8' have already used up one ace up their sleeve: The Latvians played with the Canadian national team in the quarter-finals, which has the highest overall rating in NHL™ 22.
This option does not exist in the semi-finals, due to tournament rules competitors are allowed to select a country only once in the playoffs. Finland played Czechia first, and is looking to save the Canada team for the final final, something the Latvians might be counting on.
The first semi-final of the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship between Finland and Latvia will start on Sunday at 16:00 UTC. It will be broadcasted live on the IIHF's Twitch channel, with a Finnish stream available in parallel.
Main stream: https://www.twitch.tv/iihfhockey
Finnish stream: https://www.twitch.tv/sportsgamergg
Latvia has knocked out Sweden in the quarter-finals – but can 'chibra' and 'snipencelly8' pull off another shocker against Finland?
At the 2020 IIHF Esports Fan Championship, the Latvians were eliminated in the first round after losing 15-16 to Slovakia. Two years later, Kristers 'chibra' Bauers and Juris 'snipencelly8' Lopatko will fight for a place in the final.
The duo had already represented Latvia in 2020, but have consistently improved since then. In the group stage, 'chibra' and 'snipencelly8' finished second behind Canada, the first surprise followed in the quarter-finals.
Latvians gaining momentum after overtime thriller
In a wild 9-8 overtime victory, the Latvians defeated the co-favourites from Sweden. In the semi-finals things don’t get easier: Finland is the defending champion.
Erik 'ENCEKI' Tammenpää, 2020 MVP and winner of the NHL Gaming World Championship in Europe, and Valtteri 'Vattuyy' Virtanen have marched through the tournament in dominant fashion so far. As first in Group A and with an 11-8 win against Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
Finland not invulnerable
But a closer look reveals possibilities for Latvia: 'ENCEKI' was forced into overtime by Denmark's Martin 'xProAm69x' Vibholm Nielsen in the group stage, 'Vattuyy' lost 1-5 to Switzerland's Sven 'OriginaL-SnuS' Julmi on Saturday.
However, 'chibra' and 'snipencelly8' have already used up one ace up their sleeve: The Latvians played with the Canadian national team in the quarter-finals, which has the highest overall rating in NHL™ 22.
This option does not exist in the semi-finals, due to tournament rules competitors are allowed to select a country only once in the playoffs. Finland played Czechia first, and is looking to save the Canada team for the final final, something the Latvians might be counting on.
The first semi-final of the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship between Finland and Latvia will start on Sunday at 16:00 UTC. It will be broadcasted live on the IIHF's Twitch channel, with a Finnish stream available in parallel.
Main stream: https://www.twitch.tv/iihfhockey
Finnish stream: https://www.twitch.tv/sportsgamergg
Finland is looking to claim its second IIHF Gaming title
Here is a preview of Saturday's semi-final round:
USA vs CZECHIA: United States head into semis against Czechis
Through the groups stage and playoffs, Tema USA has had some bumps along to road but is looking like a contender for the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship trophy. The only team standing between the U.S. and the final is the Czechs, fresh of their quarter-final upset of Canada.
The favourites have not been as dominant as expected. Finland had a quite hard time against Switzerland on Saturday, while Canada and Sweden were upset in the quarter-finals. But the USA? David 'JrPens' Roebuck and Joseph 'Jos' Olmstead celebrated the clearest win against Germany.
They defeated Luca 'Cpt_DirtyDangler' Knoll and Kevin 'Kevinator-373' Würterle 15-10 on Sunday. 'JrPens' is still undefeated after eight games at the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship.
'Jos' started with a 4-1 victory against 'Kevinator-373' after his absence in the group stage due to a power outage. But he lost the second game on Xbox 3-6 against the German.
Also for the Czechs, their PlayStation player was the strongest: Adam 'Dzouvi' Mensik beat Sayed Safir 'SafirSnipezGOLD' Sodouri twice in the 11-9 upset in the quarter-finals against Canada.
In the first game he won 3-2, afterwards he showed a signature performance in a 5-2 win. Josef 'pepcastachurcik' Stachura was also convincing, he kept the two-goal lead in the 1-1 tie against Justin 'Regs84' Reguly.
US advantage due to team selection
The US has an advantage due to team selection in the quarter-finals: 'JrPens' and 'Jos' played with Czechia in NHL™ 22, 'Dzouvi' and 'pepcastachurcik' chose Canada – the national team with the highest overall rating on virtual ice.
The second semi-final of the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship between the United States and Czechia will take place on Saturday from 18:30 UTC. All four games will be broadcasted live on the IIHF Twitch channel.
IIHF stream: https://www.twitch.tv/iihfhockey
USA vs CZECHIA: United States head into semis against Czechis
Through the groups stage and playoffs, Tema USA has had some bumps along to road but is looking like a contender for the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship trophy. The only team standing between the U.S. and the final is the Czechs, fresh of their quarter-final upset of Canada.
The favourites have not been as dominant as expected. Finland had a quite hard time against Switzerland on Saturday, while Canada and Sweden were upset in the quarter-finals. But the USA? David 'JrPens' Roebuck and Joseph 'Jos' Olmstead celebrated the clearest win against Germany.
They defeated Luca 'Cpt_DirtyDangler' Knoll and Kevin 'Kevinator-373' Würterle 15-10 on Sunday. 'JrPens' is still undefeated after eight games at the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship.
'Jos' started with a 4-1 victory against 'Kevinator-373' after his absence in the group stage due to a power outage. But he lost the second game on Xbox 3-6 against the German.
Also for the Czechs, their PlayStation player was the strongest: Adam 'Dzouvi' Mensik beat Sayed Safir 'SafirSnipezGOLD' Sodouri twice in the 11-9 upset in the quarter-finals against Canada.
In the first game he won 3-2, afterwards he showed a signature performance in a 5-2 win. Josef 'pepcastachurcik' Stachura was also convincing, he kept the two-goal lead in the 1-1 tie against Justin 'Regs84' Reguly.
US advantage due to team selection
The US has an advantage due to team selection in the quarter-finals: 'JrPens' and 'Jos' played with Czechia in NHL™ 22, 'Dzouvi' and 'pepcastachurcik' chose Canada – the national team with the highest overall rating on virtual ice.
The second semi-final of the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship between the United States and Czechia will take place on Saturday from 18:30 UTC. All four games will be broadcasted live on the IIHF Twitch channel.
IIHF stream: https://www.twitch.tv/iihfhockey
USA takes on Czechia in the second semi-final.