posted Sep 2nd, 2013 - The upcoming ESL Championship 2013 will probably be just as exciting as the German Nationals. The event format is very different and engages significantly more teams in the battle for the ESL Spirit.

The delegations from Belgium (3), Netherlands (5) and United Kingdom (1) have been taking turns winning the event between 2004 and 2012. Belgium is the defending champion and still owns the ESL trophy, the Spirit, until Saturday. Then it may change ownership, and the UK teams seem to have a good plan how to win the sword for the second time.

The participation has doubled from 18 teams last year to at least 36 this weekend. Host Belgium has a delegation of 12 teams, and 11 teams are coming from the Netherlands. Six teams are traveling from the United Kingdom to Moorsele in Belgium, and it is a very strong UK 6-Pack.

Registered Teams AAA Class: Thunder (BE), Whooops (NL), Cool Runnings (NL), Creeps (NL), Eclipse (UK), Hvezdy (CZ), Lupus (EE) AA Class: Olraait (BE), Les Stunts (BE), Red Hot Chili Air Peppers (BE), MACH4 (NL), Murphy Mania (NL), Half Ginger (NL), Aerodyne 4mula (UK), Invidia Maubeuge (FR), TNT (RO) A Class: The Daltons (BE), Cosmic Noise (BE), Odessa (BE), Fast Forward (BE), Get A Grip (BE), Shinobi (NL), Gravity Abuse (NL), Bad Habits (NL), Team Tetley (UK), Equal Pay 4 Women (UK), Entropy (UK), Zoonte (CZ), Equinox (LI) Rookie Class: Newton's Maniacs (BE), HOPPAAAA (BE), Jetmax (BE), Lightning (NL), Inside-Out (NL), Royal Navy Sea Fury (UK)

The best four teams of each delegation contribute to the total score. The winner of each of the four NSL competition classes wins ten points, the 2nd place gets eight points, 3rd place six points, 4th to 8th place five to one points. Teams can win Spirit points for their delegation in the same or in different categories - whatever provides the best ranking points.

Defending champion Belgium will surely win the AAA Class competition with Thunder as a part of the Belgian delegation. However, teams from other nations have a strong presence in the other categories and will make it difficult for Belgium to win enough points to defend the Spirit successfully.

UK teams Aerodyne 4mula and Invidea Maubeuge from France are probably the top contenders in the AA Class where Belgium may struggle to win a few ESL points.

ESL Championship 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	12,10,14	D,N,21,O	M,17,13	Q,2,9	E,6,15	4,P,19	K,16,J,18	1,11,H	C,A,7,20	3,5,8	Total	Avg
1	Thunder (BE)	15	24	19	26	23	21	21	21	25	18	213	21.3
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa (BE)	15	25	21	27	23	19	22	18	23	20	213	21.3
3	Creeps (NL)	10	16	13	16	14	14	11	12	10	12	128	12.8
4	Keerikeweere (BE)	9	12	10	10	11	10	8	8	11	9	98	9.8
Rank	AA Class	14,O,20	D,N,21	M,13,22	Q,2,9	E,6,15	4,P,19	K,J,18	1,11	C,A,7	8,F,H	Total	Avg
1	Cool Runnings (NL)	7	12	9	13	9	11	10	9	12	15	107	10.7
2	Potes En Ciel (BE)	10	10	9	13	8	11	9	10	15	11	106	10.6
3	Hvezdy (CZ)	9	11	9	8	11	10	10	10	14	13	105	10.5
4	High Altitude Heroes (UK)	9	11	8	11	7	11	10	8	14	13	102	10.2
5	Habanero (NL)	7	11	9	12	9	10	10	8	14	11	101	10.1
Rank	A Class	O,9	D,N,21	M,19	Q,2	E,6	4,P	K,J,H	B,L,G	C,A,7	8,F	Total	Avg
1	Paradox Kassel (DE)	14	11	11	11	12	12	13	10	12	10	116	11.6
2	4mula (UK)	9	11	13	10	11	11	13	11	12	12	113	11.3
3	MACH4 (NL)	16	7	8	11	10	10	16	12	10	10	110	11.0
4	Brakcs Banggang(BE)	14	6	11	11	10	9	14	12	11	9	107	10.7
5	O wat leuk (NE)	14	8	11	7	11	9	12	14	9	9	104	10.4
Rank	Rookie	O,K,B	D,N,J	M,H,L	Q,G,C	E,A,O	P,F,D	K,J,H	B,L,G	C,A,N	F,M,Q	Total	Avg
1	Equinox (LT)	16	11	20	12	14	18	13	14	12	25	155	15.5
2	4theQueen (UK)	10	10	13	11	12	11	16	9	11	24	127	12.7
3	Jesters (UK)	10	7	13	7	11	6	5	7	9	16	91	9.1
4	Team Tetley (UK)	9	4	11	8	8	9	7	7	7	15	85	8.5

The even stronger part for the UK delegation may come with the last two categories. The Netherlands have solid teams in the A Class, however, the UK teams have just shown at their national championships what they can do. All three UK teams have the potential to win ten points for their delegation.

Zoonte from the Czech Republic has another opportunity to outscore all other A Class teams directly on competition site this time and may steal valuable points from the other delegations. The Czech Republic has two teams in Moorsele (Hvezdy) and is probably the top favorite for the 4th place.

Last not least, the UK delegation has the Royal Navy team Sea Fury compete in the Rookie Class. Additional ten ESL points could wrap up the second ESL victory for the United Kingdom. The ranking order of the nations could be very different than last year...