The Story So Far

The Lineup

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#1 Sunday 7th May

amis SE VonIvan vs. Pappy O'Daniel

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=â = Pappy O'Daniel usf vs. JÃ©rÃ©my okw

Crossroads

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JÃ©rÃ©my usf vs. =â = Pappy O'Daniel okw

Crossroads

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=â = Pappy O'Daniel usf vs. JÃ©rÃ©my okw

Crossing in the Woods

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VonIvan soviets vs. Burmie ostheer

Crossroads

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Burmie ukf vs. VonIvan ostheer

Crossroads

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Burmie soviets vs.

VonIvan okw

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)



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VonIvan soviets vs. Burmie okw

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)



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amis DE Tobis vs. Theodosios

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Tobis usf vs. Andres-TC ostheer

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)

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Andres-TC soviets vs. Tobis okw

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)

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Andres-TC soviets vs. Tobis okw

Crossroads

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Tobis usf vs. Andres-TC ostheer

Crossroads

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Refero soviets vs. Theodosios ostheer

Faymonville Approach

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Theodosios ukf vs. Refero okw

Faymonville Approach

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Refero soviets vs. Theodosios ostheer

Crossroads

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Theodosios usf vs. Refero okw

Crossroads

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Theodosios usf vs. Refero okw

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)

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#2 Sunday 14th May

DK FI Fredbrik vs. Talisman

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Fredbrik ukf vs.

Earth ostheer

Crossroads

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Earth ukf vs. Fredbrik okw

Crossroads

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Fredbrik ukf vs.

Earth okw

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)



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Rachmaninoff usf vs. Talisman okw

Faymonville Approach

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Talisman soviets vs. Rachmaninoff okw

Faymonville Approach

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Rachmaninoff usf vs. Talisman okw

Crossroads

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PT NL DevM vs. VonAsten

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Incredible FaHu soviets vs. DevM ostheer

Faymonville Approach

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DevM usf vs.

Incredible FaHu okw

Faymonville Approach

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DevM usf vs.

Incredible FaHu ostheer

Crossing in the Woods

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VonAsten soviets vs. Insane Spanky ostheer

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)



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Insane Spanky usf vs. VonAsten okw

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)



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VonAsten ukf vs.

Insane Spanky ostheer

Faymonville Approach

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#3 Sunday 21st May

DE DE Luvnest vs. Lt. Baumy

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Finndeed usf vs. Luvnest okw

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)

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Luvnest usf vs. Finndeed okw

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)

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Finndeed usf vs. Luvnest ostheer

Crossing in the Woods

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Tomakaze soviets vs. Lt.Baumy okw

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)

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Lt.Baumy soviets vs. Tomakaze ostheer

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)

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Tomakaze soviets vs. Lt.Baumy okw

Faymonville Approach

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DK ES Aimstrong vs. Jesulin

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|GB| The H[oo]ligan486 soviets vs. Insane Aimstrong ostheer

Crossroads

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Insane Aimstrong ukf vs. |GB| The H[oo]ligan486 okw

Crossroads

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|GB| The H[oo]ligan486 soviets vs. Insane Aimstrong ostheer

Faymonville Approach

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Insane Aimstrong ukf vs. |GB| The H[oo]ligan486 okw

Faymonville Approach

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|GB| The H[oo]ligan486 soviets vs. Insane Aimstrong ostheer

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)

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havoc lol soviets vs. Jesulin okw

Crossing in the Woods

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Jesulin soviets vs. havoc lol okw

Crossing in the Woods

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Jesulin soviets vs. havoc lol okw

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)

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#4 Sunday 28th May

GB NL HelpingHans vs. Zarok

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ku2521 soviets vs. HelpingHans ostheer

Faymonville Approach

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HelpingHans ukf vs. ku2521 ostheer

Faymonville Approach

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ku2521 ukf vs.

HelpingHans ostheer

Crossing in the Woods

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Zarok ukf vs. steffenbk1 okw

Faymonville Approach

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steffenbk1 usf vs. Zarok okw

Faymonville Approach

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Zarok ukf vs. steffenbk1 ostheer

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)

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steffenbk1

soviets

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Zarok

okw

on Kholodny Ferma (Summer)





steffenbk1 soviets vs. Zarok ostheer

Crossroads

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KR PL KoreanArmy vs. BartonPL

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Jae for Jett usf vs. SoLKoreanArmy ostheer

Crossing in the Woods

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SoLKoreanArmy soviets vs. Jae for Jett okw

Crossing in the Woods

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SoLKoreanArmy soviets vs. Jae for Jett okw

Crossroads

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TwistedTootsy ukf vs. BartonPL okw

Faymonville Approach

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[L2P]BartonPL

soviets

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on Faymonville Approach





BartonPL usf vs. TwistedTootsy okw

Kholodny Ferma (Summer)

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A new meta is rising

By Siphon X.

The new soviet meta

by our Senior Strategist Hector

The early game

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The early game is the most crucial. The first two units are additional engineers for a total of three CEs.



The first two engineers must cap as much ground as possible, while trying to disengage from any fights. You cannot outfight the OKW right now, but you can outcap them. The third engineer will build T1 and then join the others capping points.



The advantage of building three engineers first (although this so far could only be observed in game four in the series of VonIvan and Burmie and in the matches between Noggano and Jove) is that they are cheaper than conscripts. Penals on the other hand would arrive later due to the build time of T1. Those 20 seconds of T1 build time will mean that you will lose map control, possible important buildings and of course, good munition income, so a fast clown car is out of reach.



Once T1 is built, proceed to build the M3A1, upgrade one engineer with flamethrower (preferably the one with highest health), put him into âclown carâ and start wreaking havoc. Be mobile with it and no worries: OKW lacks the early game fausts.



The only two things that can ruin your day are Raketenwerfers and mines. Raketenwerfer can be defeated by staying mobile and circle strafing it if it reveals itself. The closer you are, the less likely you will get shot at. Also keep your clown car repaired, so it does not die to first shot.



There is not much counterplay to mines. Just try to avoid typical mine places, baits and main roads. After all, there can be only one or two mines when the clown car hits the field.



Meanwhile you should build at two penals (three in case you can't get the Dshka soon) as good AI squads, so you can win fights even in places where your clown car is not around. If you have munition to spare, get another flamer, place mines and demos. Just do not get PTRSs unless you really need them. They will weaken your the anti infantry firepower of the penals. Only get PTRS on your penals when enemy gets the Luchs and you cannot hold ground against it (that is, your T70 is some time off). Then get one Dshka and use it like a, well, Dshka. A-move it with your forces or in a building. Use armor piercing rounds to keep a a flaktrack at bay.

The mid game

The lategame

Last words

Videos

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Things are beginning to get interesting! After two weeks of sterling action, we now see the field of thirty-two players brutally halved. Through hellish warfare, uncompromising and fatal, sixteen contenders emerge.To our fallen heroes, we salute you. Thank you for your sacrifice in making Grand Championship Series possible. You are gone but not forgotten, I believe the spirit of competition and the idea of a solider that battled until the very end can not be better summed up than GB Hooligan. His efforts against the veteran war machine Aimstrong were remarkable. To watch the full series (match of the tournament so far) click here. There were many other highlights of round one, many of which you would have seen on Imperial Dane's Channel , or possibly on Romeo's channel . Thank you both for helping us bring every single game of GCS to the viewing public. Or take a look at this playlist of all GCS content A_E and Stormless have cast.Talking of highlights here's your chance to prove yourself as a video editing artist and shiner of spotlights - in the:The next four weeks will bring you four shows with two best of five matches each show.Witch live every Sunday from:The below schedule includes the writing of and incredible stats collected and compiled by Siphon X. big thanks to him for all his work in analysing Grand Championship Series so far. For all large scale contributors to GCS there will be rewards to come. The stats summarize the the games played by the top 16 so far. Tech and commander choices are estimated from replay files, when available.: Pappy had no huge ordeal in his first round victory against Jérémy winning 3:0. VonIvan his opponent may be a scary proposition for him to now face, however Pappy has nothing to lose and a lot to prove, which may make him a surprisingly dangerous competitor. Especially considering when VonIvan let off the 'gas' pedal for one moment in round one and Burmie took a surprise game off him, so anything is possible.: VonIvan is looking terrifying, DevM and HelpingHans are both struggling to take games off his Soviet play (more to come on that from Hector in further down the article). However his Axis is looking a little more vulnerable, and you need both factions to be strong to win in GCS. It'll be an exciting series regardless, it always is when VonIvan is challenged and sufficiently motivated, as he appears to be, here in GCS.: Tobis managed to surprisingly defeat AndresTC in the first round in 3:1 games. He is the lowest seed to proceed to the next round where he will meet Theodosios. He is therefore the DANGERMAN of the tournament so far and is capable of causing shock upsets. He is up against Theodosios someone that has nearly suffered that particular indignity already, so Tobis may be out for blood.: Theodosios, seeded 5th, had serious problems against his first round opponent Refero, which he ultimately managed to overcome in the ace game. Given Tobis' habit of throwing out a much higher seeded player this might very well be set to be another thriller! Expect Theodosios to be doing everything in his power to prove his high seeding and Tobis throwing everything he has at him.: The UKF specialist already showed during his placement matches that he is also well-versed as the Axis. Likewise he had no problems winning against Earth in the first round. He is a solid player that is getting into his swing as a tournament competitor, expect him to be looking to hit the next level as the tourney progresses.: Talisman disposed rachmaninoff with a 3:0 round and will now face Fredbrik, despite also competiting in a competitive Overwatch tournament that very same day. Talisman is therefore no stranger to tournament play, as proven with his famous shock victory over HelpinHans in ESL and multiple runner up titles. Surely Talisman is a player that has the potential to take GCS by the horns and rise to the very top? We will see very shortly.: The number one seed DevM started the tournament with a clean 3:0 victory against the 'possibly not quite as Incredible as he might have needed to be' FaHu. He meets a very motivated VonAsten in the next round. Will he have a shock struggle like his clanmate Aimstrong, or will it be further plain sailing as the wunderkind marches on.: VonAsten has a point to prove, he has a chip on his shoulder, and it isn't a bad thing. It means he has fire inside him that makes him a fierce competitor and a possible dark horse. Having gone through the placement matches, where he played 1:1 vs. Spanky. The two met again in the first round of the main event, but this time VonAsten won all three games in a vicious bout. He has reportedly been scrimming with Jove and Noggano, which may mean he's battle ready for the match of his life.: The German juggernaut defeated Finndeed in brutal fashion, despite the plucky Brit's best efforts, Liebesnest could not allow any Lebensraum for his opponent. He will have to deal with fellow German Lt.Baumy in the next round, let's see if Luvnest's dominating authority will be challenged.:...who had no big problems winning against Tomakaze in the first round. He may be looking to spring a surprise ambush on Luvnest who has shown some weaknesses in early rounds of big tournaments in the past. All eyes will be on both Germans in this fierce matchup.: After SageOfTheSix dropped out of the competition, Aimstrong had to defeat |GB| The H[oo]ligan486, a substitute player. Easy, right? Well, it didn't quite turn out that way as we've mentioned before, as heroic Hooligan managed to win two games, one with a great strategic ploy (defensive OKW) the other in exploiting micro errors of his far more tournament-experienced opponent. He forced Aimstrong into a fifth game. Ultimately, the veteran Danish warrior prevailed in a series that could have gone either way.: The most successful tournament player in CoH2's history, the spanish destroyer looked in fine form in the first round. The Spaniard quickly dealt with Havoc in a clean 3:0 series. In the next round he will have to take on someone that may pose quite a bit more of a threat in Aimstrong. With GCS having lengthy breaks between matches perhaps Aimstrong will now be rested, wiser, and more of a challenge for 'big Jezza'. One thing seems certain, it will be one of hell of a spectacle.: The winner of the last ESL EU monthly cup, started with a dazzling 3:0 against ku2521 disposing of his Korean opponent in record time. The final match took only seven minutes! In the next round he will face Zarok who will surely pose a bigger threat to the rampaging Brit. HelpingHans may be setting his sights on bigger things, but Zarok will be single minded in his intent to cause an upset. Let's see what happens.: The recovering Maxim 'enthusiast' went through a messy 3:2 series against Steffenbk1 without even picking Soviets once! The flying Dutchman was barely allowed to get off the ground in a brutal affair, that although has left him battle scarred, it won't have dampened his irrepressible spirit. Ever the strategist let's see what he has up his sleeve against a taller task, in the mighty Hans.: the tournament legend KoreanArmy played his first round against Jae For Jett, which he managed to defeat 3:1 much to the delight of his many fans. In the next round he will have to overcome the dastardly Polish mastermind BartonPL. Korean Army is a shining paragon of virtue and competitive spirit, having been equivocal to DevM in CoH1 and CoH2's early days, let's see if he can hit his former heights in GCS.: Barton defeated TwistedTootsy in three games where he did his best to earn his stripes, Barton may be a troll to many, but when there's money on the table, he is capable of transforming himself into a tourney winning machine. It seems destiny that Barton meets HelpingHans in yet another tournament, but there is a very large Korean Army standing in his way.The recent patches saw serious changes to the a lot of units, so the meta is expected to change compared with what we observed during the WPC series last fall. While a more extensive analysis will be provided after the conclusion of this event, we can look at first statistics from the main round Like in previous events, Soviets are the most picked allied faction being used in 25 matches, followed by USF with 19. However, while UKF basically did not happen during the WPC series, it already accrued respectable 13 games so far.Ostheer, however, fell behind OKW, being picked in only 23 games as opposed to OKW's 34.There were serious shifts in terms of commanders as well.One of the formerly most picked doctrines, Mobile Defense, so far does not seem to be used once. This is likely due to the reduced lethality of the light vehicles after the WBP patch. Mechanized Assault, the other most popular doctrine now reigns supreme, even after the changes to the Stug-E. The second place so far goes to Elite Troops, followed by Lightning War, Blitzkrieg, Osttruppen and German Mechanized.The most popular doctrines for Soviets now are everything that contains a Dshka (see the section by Hector below): Nine times Lend Lease was chosen, followed by Defensive Tactics (four games). The former go-to commander, Guard Motor Coordination Tactics, so far was seen in only three games.Special Operations doctrine was picked almost twice as often (nine) as the former champion, Scavange (five), even though the Command Panther was somewhat nerfed in the GCS patch. However, Luftwaffe Ground Forces and Fortifications have seen some resurgence, being chosen in four games each.The USF commander choices so far do not differ much from what we saw during WPC, with Armor and Heavy Cavalry Company being picked most commonly.The currently most used commander for UKF - and that by a margin - is the Special Weapon Regiment being picked in eight games, while the formerly most popular Mobile Assault Regiment so far saw action in two games.It was obvious that soviet meta will shift after all those GCS patch changes. But I do not think many of us thought it will shift this way. The creator of this meta is probably VonIvan. We also saw many other top players utilizing this strategy, for example Noggano or VonAsten with some variations.This strategy is particularly used in the Soviet-OKW matchup. I don´t think it has much of a use against the Ostheer. The reason is that the Ostheer has a slower start, a weaker late game and of course the early faust.The point of this strategy is straightforward. Gain as much ground as possible early on so you either win the game before OKW starts fielding the Wunderwaffen or at least gain enough advantage for the late game, so you can fight the OKW “on equal terms”. It is most commonly used in conjunction with the Lend-Lease commander.Reveal guide section:Now you must get a T70 to both gain more ground, win infantry fights and possible keep a potential Luchs at bay. As the game progress, you should get at least one Su76 for anti-tank duty. Of course get medics, maybe another Dshka or penals and wait for Shermans. T4 is probably not worthwhile building, because it does not offer much that Shermans and Su76 cannot do.In the late game spam Shermans, replace any loses, plant as many mines as possible and add some Su76s to your roster, so you can fight even heavier axis armor. Play conservatively now, Shermans are beasts once vetted. Wait for enemy mistake and then flank his big tank to end the game. Try to hold at least two VPs which should not be too hard with two Dshkas, penals and Shermans.#ADAPT. The key of this strategy is always the same – multiple engineers into clown car, into t70 with Lend lease as doctrine and penals as main line infantry. Other things really depend on the enemy army composition and how well you fought your early game.