Unleash the Telehandlers!
Thirteen teams had registered to participate in the final Farming Simulator League tournament before the World Championships at FarmCon 24. In addition to the long-time favorites, two new teams played this weekend: The Kitty Cats and Die Ollen Zocker. Both teams tried their best, but were eventually eliminated from the competition early. Nevertheless, seeing new faces giving it a go was a welcome change. We hope to see these teams again in the future.
The established teams all played very well this weekend. Solid performances all around. Especially the teams making good use of the telehandlers made for some enjoyable viewing.
On Saturday there were only a few surprises, Kitty Cats, HELM, New Holland, Valtra won their first games 2:1. JustD’Tracté, PowerTeam Esport, and LU FT-HN got a wildcard for their first round.
In round two, Valtra put Kitty Cats into the loser bracket, while HELM defeated Trelleborg tires, and New Holland forced JustD’Tracté play for a second chance. In their third match against TB, HELM scored the first 600+ score of the day. 626 points secured them their advancement to the next round. Unsurprisingly their next game against Valtra was a win as well.
PowerTeam Esport played in round two against LU FT-HN, winning the game and marching on to meet their fellow French team New Holland. Having to yield to last season’s runner-up, PowerTeam Esport needed to try again in the loser’s bracket. New Holland marched through to face HELM on Sunday’s semi finals
In the loser bracket Die Ollen Zocker met Farming Friends, and Lindner faced astragon. Team mYinsanity, who had to yield against New Holland in their first game, got the lucky wildcard as did the Kitty Cats, who had to play against the winner of the game between mYinsanity and Trelleborg.
Down here most games ended more quickly with clear 2:0 victories for Farming Friends, JustD’Tracté and TB, who also in the final game of the day, eliminated the newcomers scoring 680+ points in both games. While the cats went in fighting, Trelleborg left them no chance.
On Sunday, we saw the teams playing together like well-oiled machines. Experienced as they were, all teams showed little weaknesses. However the second they did expose the slightest error in judgment, their opponent was upon them.
The first game, JustD’Tracté vs. PowerTeam Esport was a true nailbiter. After both teams won one match each, the third match was as close as it could ever be. JDT got the first bale, PTE caught up easily and both teams were almost equal in their performance. With identical scores, PowerTeam Esport secured their win through a bale toss in the very last moment of the game, winning by a hair, only three points ahead of JDT.
Valtra then faced Trelleborg tires. Both teams are strong grain players, so both were really close throughout most of their matches. However, slight communication issues on Valtra’s side let Trelleborg secure both matches.
Next up HELM met New Holland for the first time that day. And while New Holland tried everything to disrupt HELM’s clockwork, they ran out of bales in the first match, and despite some driving errors by HELM in the second match could not capitalize on their higher multiplicator.
In PowerTeam Esport’s game against Trelleborg tires the French team showed several minor mistakes which eventually added up and gave Trelleborg the edge. Both matches went to Trelleborg.
The semifinals in the bottom bracket saw Trelleborg playing New Holland. While the first match was a clear win for New Holland with 626:452 points, the second match was much closer. A solid grain play secured Trelleborg’s win. The third match was almost decided from the start. New Holland got the first bale, scoring 148 points while Trelleborg came in a little later, only getting 124 points. In the end, this score difference held until the end of the match. New Holland beat Trelleborg 543 to 504.
Now in the finals, New Holland face HELM again! After HELM scored only one point less on the first bale, they racked up an impressive 2.5 grain multiplier. New Holland tried to disrupt the game by closing the belt, forcing HELM to drive up the belt, making the best of the situation. In the end, NH let HELM back into the game a tad too early, letting them score 484:447 points.
In match two of the finals the roles were reversed. New Holland got a 2.1 grain multiplier and HELM turned the table, slowing down New Holland’s belt. Losing their advantage, New Holland could not get back into the game. With no more bales left at the shed, HELM secured their win.
