FInland has now won the IIHF's first two eSports events: the 2022 IIHF eSports Fan Championship and the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship
Finland has won the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship! The duo of Erik 'ENCEKI' Tammenpaa and Valtteri 'Vattuyy' Virtanen dramatically beat the United States 8-7 in overtime.
After a four-game series ended 7-7 on aggregate, FInland and USA had to play double overtime to decide the eWorlds champion.
The 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship saw a dream final on Sunday: Defending champion Finland met the tournament’s second strongest team the United States. Both rolled through the groups stage and playoffs and had won their semi-finals against Latvia and Czechia the day before.
Already in the first game it was foreseeable that the spectators could expect a thriller: Valtteri 'Vattuyy' Virtanen and David 'JrPens' Roebuck had an intense exchange of attacks on the opening Playstation series.
The American ultimately emerged as the narrow winner with a goal midway through the final period. This put some early pressure on Erik 'ENCEKI' Tammenpää, the MVP of the 2020 IIHF Esports Fan Championship.
The four-time winner of the NHL Gaming World Championship in Europe demonstrated his quality in Xbox series against Joseph 'Jos' Olmstead. After being down 0-1 and 1-2, 'ENCEKI' came back and won 5-2 in Game 2.
So, the action switched back to Playstation for Game 3, and it was again up to 'JrPens' to provide a better position. Roebuck missed a lot of chances, but in the second game against 'Vattuyy' he managed to win 1-0 and to make the overall result 4-5, setting up a thrilling Game 4.
'Jos' lifts US twice from deficit
Going into the final Game 4, 'Jos' had to overcome a one-goal aggregate deficit from the last game against 'ENCEKI'. Tammenpää took a 1-0 lead, but Olmstead showed a lot of mental fortitude in making the comeback and turning the score into 2-1 for the USA.
However, 'ENCEKI' had the last word in regulation, who scoring the 2-2 equalizer and forcing the Game 4 overtime. There, 'Jos' scored after six and a half minutes to make the final score 7-7 on aggregate, forcing all four player to get back on the sticks for a final overtime to decide the eWorld Champion.
Already in the first game it was foreseeable that the spectators could expect a thriller: Valtteri 'Vattuyy' Virtanen and David 'JrPens' Roebuck had an intense exchange of attacks on the opening Playstation series.
The American ultimately emerged as the narrow winner with a goal midway through the final period. This put some early pressure on Erik 'ENCEKI' Tammenpää, the MVP of the 2020 IIHF Esports Fan Championship.
The four-time winner of the NHL Gaming World Championship in Europe demonstrated his quality in Xbox series against Joseph 'Jos' Olmstead. After being down 0-1 and 1-2, 'ENCEKI' came back and won 5-2 in Game 2.
So, the action switched back to Playstation for Game 3, and it was again up to 'JrPens' to provide a better position. Roebuck missed a lot of chances, but in the second game against 'Vattuyy' he managed to win 1-0 and to make the overall result 4-5, setting up a thrilling Game 4.
'Jos' lifts US twice from deficit
Going into the final Game 4, 'Jos' had to overcome a one-goal aggregate deficit from the last game against 'ENCEKI'. Tammenpää took a 1-0 lead, but Olmstead showed a lot of mental fortitude in making the comeback and turning the score into 2-1 for the USA.
However, 'ENCEKI' had the last word in regulation, who scoring the 2-2 equalizer and forcing the Game 4 overtime. There, 'Jos' scored after six and a half minutes to make the final score 7-7 on aggregate, forcing all four player to get back on the sticks for a final overtime to decide the eWorld Champion.
'ENCEKI' scores the golden goal
The overtime format meant the decision was to be found in parallel overtime, with both players form each team competing against their opponent at the same time. 'ENCEKI' and 'Jos' played on Xbox, at the same time 'Vattuyy' and 'JrPens' met again on PlayStation – the first goal would lead to the victory in the final.
And here the class of 'ENCEKI' showed once again: The Finn scored after barely three minutes, with a open shot that went straight into the US goal.
The overtime format meant the decision was to be found in parallel overtime, with both players form each team competing against their opponent at the same time. 'ENCEKI' and 'Jos' played on Xbox, at the same time 'Vattuyy' and 'JrPens' met again on PlayStation – the first goal would lead to the victory in the final.
And here the class of 'ENCEKI' showed once again: The Finn scored after barely three minutes, with a open shot that went straight into the US goal.
The 8-7 result meant the Nordic nation claims the first IIHF eWorld Championship and the second straight #IIHFGaming competition, along with a thrilling conclusion to the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship.