The Virtual Bundesliga Club Championship is finished and did not go according to our plans. Mixed results led to a disappointing finish and we have missed our goal of reaching Top 6. We have landed in the tenth seat, which means that we have to go through the Playoffs stage in order to qualify for the Finals.

The Virtual Bundesliga Playoffs will take place this weekend and three of our players will enter the competition for our partner club 1. FC Koeln. On Saturday,
Tim 'TheStrxngeR' Katnawatos will compete in the PlayStation 4 group stage from 11:00 CET to 16:00 CET and from 16:30 CET to 21:30 CET
Michael 'Phenomeno' Gherman will play in the XBox One group stage. He will be joined by Timo 'Praii' Gruneisen who enters the competition via his successful qualification through the Open Qualifier.

Und damit ist unser @praiitwitch bei den @vbl_official Playoffs für den @fckoeln am Start!#effzeh #SKWin https://t.co/n9hI3pwLCU

— SK Gaming (@SKGaming) January 10, 2020

The tournament will be played in a Bo2 swiss format. If the match is still tied after two games, the match will be decided via Golden Goal in a third and final game. A total of 128 participants will fight for only twelve spots at the Finals. You can find the full schedule down below:

Saturday, March 7:
11:00 - 16:00 CET – PlayStation 4 Swiss Round 1-4
Round 1: Tim 'TheStrxngeR' Katnawatos vs. Bubu - 3:1 (0:0; 3:1)
Round 2: Tim 'TheStrxngeR' Katnawatos vs. Eisvogel - 5:4 (2:1; 1:2; 1:0)
Round 3: Tim 'TheStrxngeR' Katnawatos vs. MrKrassle - 4:6 (3:3; 1:3)
Round 4: Tim 'TheStrxngeR' Katnawatos vs. Niko29Caniglia10 - 2:3 (1:2; 1:1)

16:30 - 21:30 CET – XBox One Swiss Round 1-4
Round 1:
Michael 'Phenomeno' Gherman vs. NRaseck7 - 1:6 (0:2; 1:4)
Timo 'Praii' Gruneisen vs. Max1889 x - 4:6 (1:3; 3:3)
Round 2:
Michael 'Phenomeno' Gherman vs. Predator - 4:2 (1:0; 3:2)
Timo 'Praii' Gruneisen vs. FlimsiRabbit826 - 2:5 (0:3; 2:2)
Round 3:
Michael 'Phenomeno' Gherman vs. Max1889 x - 5:1 (2:0; 3:1)
Timo 'Praii' Gruneisen vs. PentaWolffHD - 4:3 (0:3; 3:0; 1:0)
Round 4:
Michael 'Phenomeno' Gherman vs. x Pedro 6 x 1:2 (0:0; 1:1, 0:1)
Timo 'Praii' Gruneisen vs. Human1Killerz - 6:3 (2:2; 4:1)

Sunday, March 8:
13:00 - 14:15 CET – PlayStation 4 & Xbox One – Swiss Round 5
Round 5:
Tim 'TheStrxngeR' Katnawatos vs. D__W20 - 4:5 (0:2; 4:3)
Michael 'Phenomeno' Gherman vs. BunyArda1010 - 4:2 (2:1; 2:1)
Timo 'Praii' Gruneisen vs. Schwenker1991 - 5:6 (1:4; 2:4)

14:15 - 15:30 CET - XBox One - Best of 32:
Michael 'Phenomeno' Gherman vs. Testotier - 5:1 (1:1; 4:1)
15:30 - 16:45 CET - XBox One – Best of 16:
Michael 'Phenomeno' Gherman vs. VBL Finisher - 3:1 (2:1; 1:0)
16:45 - 18:00 CET - XBox One - Quarterfinals:
Michael 'Phenomeno' Gherman vs. Bomber J N F - 5:3 (4:2; 1:1)

After his unsatisfying ending to the Club Championship, Phenomeno was able to reward himself for all his efforts and marched through the K.O. stage to qualify for the VBL Finals, which will take place on the 28th and 29th of March in our hometown of Cologne.