HELM victorious, Farming-Friends close behind

This year’s gamescom wasn’t just packed with new games and shows but the second tournament of the Farming Simulator League Season 5. The stage in Hall 6 was full with fans and interested visitors on Saturday and Sunday while the Qualifiers and Finals were being held. Let’s have a look at some highlights!

Play-Ins

Farming-Friends vs New Holland

The tournament started with the Wildcard Team Farming-Friends against New Holland. The Friends fought hard in the first match and came out victorious. In the following two Best of 3 matches however, New Holland showed off their skills, combo-breaking their way to victory against the Farming-Friends with a solid 2:1.
Don’t fret though, this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the Farming Friends.

mYinsanity vs New Holland

Due to a team not showing up, Swiss eSports giant mYinsanity had to face off immediately against New Holland, energized from their victory against the Farming-Friends. mY put on a strong early performance, winning their first game with 535 points. The following matches however, New Holland managed to pull off a bale combo, getting that Baletastic boost to their points which led to a third match where the sponsored team once again pulled ahead and won 2:1, securing their spot in the Quarterfinals.

mYinsanity vs Farming-Friends

The first match of the Losers bracket set mYinsanity against the Farming-Friends. Two very skilled teams but not good enough to win their first matches of the tournament and unfortunately the mY player pb400 had an accident, flipping their tractor on the side which cost the team precious seconds, losing the first match. Emboldened, the Friends kept the momentum going, winning the encounter 2:0 against the Swiss team, securing themselves a place in the Quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals

New Holland and Farming-Friends clash again

This is not an error! New Holland and Farming-Friends got to meet again in the Quarterfinals as New Holland won their play-in and then the Farming-Friends fighting to the front of the queue for a second chance. The first match was a tight affair, with the score only having a 1-point difference until the final few seconds, where Farming-Friends snatched the victory from New Holland in the final moments! Their opponents did show them how it’s done when you’re wearing blue though, pulling the second victory of the Best of 3 in. The final match was as close as the first one, Farming-Friends managing to put all their bales into the barn for a victory in the final securing their win.

Power Team eSport goes on a winning streak

Next up we have two French-speaking teams face off against each other. Their fans also had a hard time deciding who to root for, as both teams performed well, with the Power Team putting the Power in their name to good use, winning with a solid 2:1.

And if you thought this was Power, then you need to consider that their next opponent were the very successful Farming-Friends. And fans of the Friends might have thought that this would at least turn into a 2:1 but alas, the French team showed us all a herculean effort and won their encounter 2:0.

The vice champion gets kicked out

JustD’Tracté likely felt a tinge of fear as they now had to face off against the vice champion New Holland. Team captain ElRodess seemed confident at first but when the first match was over, doubt started to cross his face and in the second match, they haven’t managed to secure the victory for themselves either and thus JDT got to move on in the tournament.

Two veterans enter the arena

HELM, current leader of the standings and made up of former world champion players, faced off against Astragon, a team that has been with the FSL since it’s inception back in Harsewinkel, 2019. HELM has been known to show off tricks and know counters to counters and right in the first match, Astragon made the mistake of not banning telehandlers, letting HELMs player Wühler show off his famous Triple Bale Throwing technique, delivering three bales into the upper barn door without even touching the conveyor.

Astragon tried to keep up with that performance in the second game, but right from the start it seemed under bad stars, as Martin crashed his tractor into the barn, losing the First Bale Bonus. The game then ended in a clear HELM victory, 2:0 for them.

Valtra gives their all

Lindner and Valtra, two older teams now entered the stage to show us how it’s done. After a close first match with a Lindner victory, the second game had to be restarted as one of the Lindner players accidentally selected a Forklift during the preparation phase. Oops! But despite that, Lindner put on an impressive display and sunk a 150pts First Bale into the barn, the record of the tournament thus far. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough to win them the second game and in the third round, Valtra secured their second win of the Best of Three, moving on to face off against…

HELM and Valtra, the players of the former were a recurring opponent and roadblock for Valtra in the past. Would this be different under a new name and with a new player setup? Valtra fought hard but HELM had a few more tricks up their sleeve, securing the first victory and subsequently rose the First Bale record to 151pts. In the end, HELM won 2.0 but Valtra gets to fight for a second chance in the Loser bracket.

Lindner rising

If you think Lindners loss against Valtra demotivated them, you’re gravely mistaken. The Austria-sponsored team quickly made sure that the victory of the first match against Astragon was secured. During the second match, it looked like we’d see a third match, as a Lindner player got a tractor stuck against a tree. The team spent precious time trying to free it until Sinnfrei finally managed to wrestle the tractor from the tree and still the team managed to secure their victory against Astragon with 2:0 and ending the tournament for the day.

A new dawn

The Sunday started with Farming-Friends and JustD’Tracté entering the arena. A gripping set of two matches that ended ultimately in the victory of the Farming-Friends, who are seemingly bent on redefining the term Losers Bracket.

Valtra and Lindner, once more into the fray

The teams Valtra and Lindner had the opportunity to meet once more. Lindner once more flipping a tractor at which point the audience started to wonder if this is part of an elaborate tactic to confuse their opponents, because they won the first game despite that! Nonetheless, Valtra in the second game went and equalized the score. The third game then ended head-to-head, leading to Lindners victory, kicking Valtra out of the tournament for good.

Farming Friends road to the Semifinals

The Farming-Friends had a long way here and it’s not yet done. First, they had to face off against JustD’Tracté in a tense set of three matches. The first one had to be reset due to a technical issue leading to a disconnect, but both teams played their best and once the dust settled, the Farming-Friends emerged victorious.
Their next game was against HELM, who went and showed everyone why they are #1 in the Standings with a smashing 2:0 victory and a tournament record of 820pts in the 2nd game, securing them a place in the Semifinals

Power Team eSports vs Lindner

The last Quarterfinals would settle who gets to meet HELM or the Farming-Friends in the Semifinals. After an exciting ten-minute match, PTE won the first round solidly. The second match brought a surprise. For the longest time it looked like PTE would win when Lindner suddenly pulled a surprise maneuver and secured their comeback. The audience was sure that Lindner would keep that momentum going. Nevertheless, it might have been the nerves or the long day, PTE secured the win in the third round, despite Obelix almost crashing his tractor into the moat.

Semifinals

The new Veterans against Lindner

After a lot of fighting, we arrived in the Semifinals. In a thrilling showdown the Teams HELM and Lindner clashed in an intense series of matches, where both teams showed off exceptional skill and strategy. However, it was Team HELM that ultimately emerged triumphant, securing a dominant 2-0 victory over Lindner. Lindner put up a valiant effort, showcasing their own remarkable abilities, but HELM's relentless drive and precise execution secured them a well-deserved spot in the Finals.

Friendship versus Power

The Farming-Friends may not have had the strongest start into the tournament, but now they and Power Team eSports have arrived at the threshold before the Finals. The Friends would decidedly win the first game while the second game encountered technical issues, that prohibited the players from performing optimally. Thus the 2nd game had to be restarted and the Farming-Friends won this round, letting them move all the way from the Losers bracket to the Finals of the tournament.

Finals

HELM vs Farming-Friends

Finally, after two long days full of ups and downs, twists, and turns, two teams emerged victorious. At the pinnacle of the bracket, HELM and the Farming-Friends entered the arena. HELM, the champion from the FarmCon tournament, ready to defend their title. And the Farming-Friends, battered after many fights, ready to show everyone that that they deserve to be here.
Already the first match started strong but over time, small mistakes started happening, tractors bumping into each other, costing everyone precious seconds. In the end, HELM took the first victory, but team manager JayKay seemed a bit unhappy with how it went down. Nevertheless, everything was still in motion. Could the Friends pull back from this first setback?

Game number 2 already started excellent, with HELM pulling in a strong 151pts First Bale, repeating the record bale from earlier in the tournament. And for a time, the Farming-Friends had a strong position, leading in points. Maybe they felt that victory was in the bag. Maybe it was a tactical miscalculation. But right in the final seconds, HELM dropped three more bales into the barn, causing them to pull their score to a whopping 659 compared to the Farming-Friends 598. The second victory and the victory of the tournament therefore went to HELM.

We congratulate Team HELM on their second win this season. We’re sure we’ll see more of them and the other teams this season in the race for the €200,000 total prize.

Until next time and we see you in the field!