[NEWS] 2025 Finalists CR, HMB Reclaim Regional Victory

East Asia Recap

With crazy upsets and exciting action, the region of World Champions had some major upsets to kick off March along the road to Berlin. February grand finalist and newly signed roster FENNEL (Achapi, I See, Ken-G) failed to qualify with crazy 5 set losses to For BBange and Feasible Gaming. 2025 World Finalists REJECT also failed to qualify with another 2026 loss to WWL Esports in the upper bracket, a repeat of the February Monthly Finals, and a five set heartbreaker against Galaxy Collapse in the lower bracket, another upstart Korean team. GLXY was disqualified from the Monthly Finals due to fair play checks, and so while REJECT was able to make it back into the Monthly Finals, it was shaping up to be a crazy day of upsets.

Quarterfinals

The first match from East Asia had ZETA DIVISION, last month’s champions, going up against F/A DF, a Korean roster that sneaked in through the lower bracket to play their first Monthly Final. The Japanese powerhouse went on to demolish the Korean challengers, even after they tried to put up a fight in the last game of Brawl Ball, finishing the first match of the day with a clean 3-0 score.

For the next match, we had a rematch from last month: SKCalalas against the very same team that swept them away in February, Rival Esports. After an insane performance from Naipishu during Gem Grab, that won them the set, they struggled in Brawl Ball, with Rival tying the scoreline and sending flashbacks from last month to SKC. The desire for revenge kept them going, allowing them to win the series after taking the next two sets in Knockout and Hot Zone and advancing into the semifinals.

The third quarterfinal saw a last-minute change just a few days before the event, due to the free agent team Galaxy Collapse getting disqualified after failing to meet the Fair Play requirements. REJECT ended up taking their spot, and the bracket was changed to match the proper seeding; therefore, F/A WWL was placed against Feasible Gaming for this match. WWL were the clear favorites going into the series, given the results from last month that placed them in the top 4 of the region. They looked incredibly dominant in the first two sets that it seemed like it was to be the second sweep of the day. However, Feasible Gaming managed to turn the game around, winning the next three sets without losing a single game, successfully claiming the reverse sweep to make their first semifinal appearance of the year.

In the last quarterfinal, both Crazy Raccoon and REJECT were looking for the opportunity to redeem themselves after the last Monthly Final, especially REJECT, who now had to make the most out of the opportunity they were given. The first set went the way of the World Champions after their opponents picked a strange composition that fell apart the moment the pressure started to rise. Knowing their mistake, REJECT won the following two sets in a perfect run, looking to close the series in Gem Grab, the same set where CR locked in with the drafts, granting them the win and sending the match to a decider set. Pinhole Punt would be the map that would bring redemption to either of the teams, as they went to a double match point, just a few goals away from advancing to the semis. But this time Crazy Raccoon were the better team, winning the match after some amazing teamwork and quick reaction clutches, knocking their rivals out of the tournament.

Semifinals

In the semifinals, ZETA went on to face the now vindicated SKCalalas for the first Grand Finals spot. This win would have meant a huge boost in points for SKC and an opportunity to keep the Brawl Cup dream closer to reality, but ultimately, despite their yearning for victory, the East Asia Champions showed no mercy and completely swept them away. The scoreboard ended in a crushing 3-0 result, where SKC were only able to take a single game during the match, ending their run for this month and letting ZETA DIVISION advance to the final match of the tournament.

After the WWL upset in the previous round, Feasible Gaming were now facing the toughest challenge any team in the world could encounter: beating the World Champions. But sadly, even after keeping their mental strength during the game and getting into some close sets, Crazy Raccoon were completely unstoppable and after their sudden early exit in February, they were coming to reclaim their throne once again.

Grand Finals

The Grand Finals showcased a true battle of titans: the eternal kings of the region, ZETA DIVISION vs. Crazy Raccoon, fighting for the Champion title. The first two sets were Brawl Ball and Hot Zone, where ZETA managed to keep the score tight but ultimately failed to take the sets. The third set went their way after successfully taking over the Knockout set to keep themselves in the game, but they fell apart in Heist, where CR pulled out one of—if not the most—one-sided drafts of the series, with Moya and Tensai making the most out of the Leon and Bull picks and reclaiming the title that was once theirs as the March East Asia Monthly Finals Champions, shortening the distance between ZETA and themselves at the top of the leaderboard.

EMEA Recap

After FUT Esports' reign of terror in February, all eyes were on Guesti and the young stars of EMEA heading into another month of fierce competition. Major upsets in qualifiers were abound in EMEA just as they were in every region this month. Metizport, the recently signed roster of F/A CMM, faltered against F/A Kebap in the second round of the upper bracket and were eliminated swiftly by a World Finalist Gugu led Skepis Gaming in lower round 2, far from the heights of the semifinals they reached in February. Kebap carried this momentum into their lower bracket match and qualified for the their second Monthly Finals as a roster.

Secondly, F/A Madrid (Formerly F/A Real Madrid) showed serious resilience to qualify, narrowly edging out Big Talents EU in a fiercely contested five sets and sweeping Rup's former team in BIG to qualify to their first Monthly Final of the year following Biso's retirement last month.

Last, but definitely not least, one of the most shocking upsets in BSC history occured: SK Gaming failed to qualify. After a disappointing showing in February, many were expecting EMEA's first seed from 2025 to bounce back in March - but instead, they fell ever further from grace. SK lost a close series to TTM in the final round of the upper bracket, but 12th seed NOVO Esports made dreams come true and defeated SK Gaming in five, aided by the addition of new player and 2023 World Champion MeOw following Enraged's transfer to NAVI. This was a shocking scene, and has likely ruined any slim chances of qualifying to Brawl Cup for SK Gaming on their homeground in Berlin, a sad sight for an organization who placed second at last year's Brawl Cup event.

Quarterfinals

To kick off the Monthly Final, the dominant force in FUT Esports faced off underdogs F/A Kebap, a roster consisting of Yuffy, Dede, and Ray, who swept their lower bracket opponents to qualify. While the first set in Bounty showed promise from the newcomers, their efforts were not enough to keep up with FUT, who took the match with a 3-0 scoreline, eliminating F/A Kebap.

For the second game of the day, Team Heretics were staring down NAVI. After the disappointing performance in February, NAVI went through a roster change, dropping LeNain and bringing Enraged, who was previously a player for NOVO Esports, to their squad. The match turned out to be a hectic fight between the two rosters. Team Heretics opened the match by taking the Gem Grab set without a hiccup, then NAVI responded back by taking Brawl Ball, despite dropping a game. Team Heretics answered by snatching Knockout in a close series, while NAVI brought it back by taking the Hot Zone set as their own. In the decider Bounty set, however, it was all Team Heretics. They left NAVI with another Top 5-8 finish and advanced to the Semifinals themselves.

The third quarterfinal welcomed HMBLE and F/A Real Madrid on stage. In a shocking turn of events, Rup, Yoko, and Jus managed to sweep BIG, already showing their capability to compete with the best. It definitely wasn't as easy when it came to facing 2024's World Champions, however, as HMBLE took the first set without breaking a sweat. F/A Real Madrid were not going to go down without a fight, managing to take a game in both Knockout and Hot Zone, yet unfortunately they were unable to take any of those sets. HMBLE secured three sets in a row, putting F/A Real Madrid away from further competition.

After one of the biggest upsets of the region so far, NOVO Esports have qualified to the Monthly Finals. The organization was all over the place. Enraged left the team to join NAVI, and Lukluk left for East Asia's FENNEL. Without a third player on the team, NOVO Esports was searching for options, and they selected MeOw, the 2023 World Champion and seemingly retired player, as their third. Their opponent was none other than the Italian powerhouse in Reply Totem. The match opened with Knockout, where it was all Totem and no NOVO. What came up next, however, is something nobody expected. After two back-and-forth sets, NOVO Esports were suddenly up 2-1 against EMEA's third seed. Entering the Gem Grab set, Reply Totem picked up triple buffie brawlers, while NOVO Esports chose a classic style composition instead, and as despite what it may have seemed, NOVO Esports still made it work, closing out the match 3-1, making it the first upset of the day.

Semifinals

Entering the semifinals, Team Heretics were once more tasked with facing FUT Esports, but this time it was much closer than last month. The first set in Heist already delivered intense gameplay from both teams, each taking one game. Ultimately, it was FUT Esports who claimed the set with a solid draft against Team Heretics' aggressive composition. Team Heretics then claimed Set 2, capitalizing on FUT's mistakes. After a close series Set 3 and a matchpoint scenario for FUT Esports in Set 4, Team Heretics still held on and pushed the match to a decider set, which would take place in Knockout. Starting off the draft, Team Heretics first selected a safe pick in Angelo, to which FUT responded with R-T and Kit. After Heretics answer with Ollie and Squeak, FUT have decided to run a very cheese-like strategy, selecting Darryl as their last pick. While Heretics put up a good fight, they had no great countermeasure against FUT's Kit Darryl draft. The match ended with a 3-2 scoreline favoring FUT Esports, who moved on to their second Grand Finals of the year.

Defeating Reply Totem was already a big feat for NOVO Esports, but it was only harder from here, as their next opponent was none other than HMBLE. Starting off the match in Knockout, HMBLE selected a defensive team, while NOVO Esports took the complete opposite approach. With good team play and coordination, NOVO Esports took the first set, to which HMBLE responded by sweeping them in the Hot Zone set, despite MeOw's teamwipes. The Gem Grab set, however, was a chaotic battle between both teams. While it seemed to be all HMBLE, NOVO saved the first game for themselves by pulling off a great gem heist, and despite dropping the second game, they clutched up the set victory. In the Bounty set, despite a matchpoint, HMBLE stood their ground very well, while NOVO began making mistakes, missing many crucial Gene supers for instance. The decider set was the most intense set out of the whole day, as every game came down to the final safe stage in Heist. First, after barely defending Symantec's Kaze push, Filippo barely managed to win the first game for his team with Carl, but then came more and more mistakes from NOVO Esports, leaving Symantec on their safe way too many times. Thanks to that, HMBLE barely won out against NOVO Esports in another 3-2 scoreline.

Grand Finals

History seems to repeat itself in EMEA a lot, as once more we saw FUT Esports and HMBLE in the Grand Finals. The match began with a convincing set victory for HMBLE in Brawl Ball, overwhelming FUT's composition right off the bat. Then, it seemed like FUT would bounce back, as the next two sets were theirs, despite being one Knockout round away from losing the third set. HMBLE wasn't going to let February repeat itself, however. They took Heist away from FUT, and in a buzzer-beater moment they managed to hold on in Bounty, claiming the victory and the March Monthly Finals Champions title as their own. With the Monthly Final over, HMBLE are back on top of EMEA by just two points, and it seems like the region's Brawl Cup representatives are almost locked in.