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Sportsgamer Community, A total of 12 teams competed in Division I at the start of GCL 11 to secure the coveted title as the best team in the DACH region. In addition to ECL elite team Black Jacks, the three big favorites for the title - defending champions Deadly Phantoms and cup winners HC Lugano eSports - were known in advance. After a few exciting weeks, the decision has now been made: The Black Jacks got their revenge for last season and reclaimed the championship after six thrilling games against the defending champions. The main round After just 22 games played in the main round, the Black Jacks secured the best starting point for the knockout phase. Their only defeat of the season came against the Nürnberg IceTigers eSports after extra time with a 1-2 loss. The Deadly Phantoms also snatched a point in an overtime win. The result was 63 out of a possible 66 points, which put the fear of God into all opponents after the main round. They were followed by the Deadly Phantoms by a whopping 12 points, who also lived up to their role as favorites and made it into the playoffs without much trouble. Nuremberg, HC Lugano eSports, Red Bull Munich, and SC Bern also qualified directly for the quarter-finals. After the pre-playoffs, DEG eSports (7th) and Hockeyholics (9th) followed. The Playoffs Without any surprises, the favorites kept the upper hand in all series. The Black Jacks and Phantoms swept their rivals and advanced to the next round after just four games, while Nuremberg lost two close games to SC Bern but put in a very strong performance throughout and recorded clear victories. Munich was already leading 3:1 in their clash against HC Lugano, but then completely lost the plot and let the series slip out of their grasp, with the better-placed team coming out on top here too. In the semi-finals, the Black Jacks took revenge on their compatriots for their elimination in the previous season. Four out of six games were decided by just one goal, meaning that the games were always exciting and remained open until the end. Although Lugano fought fiercely, the Black Jacks' individual class ultimately prevailed, enabling them to secure their ticket to the final with a 4:2 win and take revenge on their rivals. In comparison, the second semi-final match was surprisingly clear-cut: The Deadly Phantoms progressed to the final round with a 4:0 win and thus remained unbeaten in the playoffs. The defending champions showed with strong results (2:1 OT, 4:2, 4:1, 7:2) that they are a force to be reckoned with in the final. The Final The final series between the two DACH legends starts on Monday, 1 April. The Black Jacks took a 2:1 lead in the first three games of the series. After a solid 3:0 for the Black Jacks, a rather close 2:1 followed. The Deadly Phantoms took advantage of this close game and were able to win game three with a goal by @willywonkaaa in overtime. Both teams relied on their defense and their goal-getters at all times and it was clear to every spectator that this would not only be an incredibly exciting final series but that both opponents would certainly not make it easy for each other. The grand final then culminated on Wednesday evening and the remaining games were played. However, the Black Jacks came up trumps there, only dropping one more game to reclaim the championship after a title-less season. The defending champions, the Deadly Phantoms, were only able to secure game 5 and challenge their opponents in a final thrilling game. Tim @Timasy Hess was the guarantor of success here, scoring both goals to send the Black Jacks to the title! The final series thus ended 5:2 in favor of the Black Jacks. Guaranteed Success Both in the regular season (113 points) and in the playoffs (41 points), Kevin @Keuschemisch Berg secured the top scorer title and was thus the driving force in the Black Jacks' strong offense. At the same time, captain Max @Toneee9 Tonitz followed his example with the defenders and added a further 46 points in the main round and 22 points in the knockout phase, closely followed by defense partner Christian @GERxVillain Ungeheuer (40 & 16 points). After a solid main round (86.73% save percentage, 1.08 GAA), Simeon @Simbanho Vorselman backed up his defencemen in goal, especially in the playoffs, where he even went one better statistically with a save percentage of over 88% and the same goals against average, while Johan @McSavid Rundqvist achieved even better stats in his 10 main round appearances (90.72% save percentage, 0.9 GAA). Conclusion Accepting the role of favorites and leaving no doubt: The Black Jacks are currently the measure of all things in the DACH region and deservedly secured the championship title as well as the double after winning the cup. Not only are the statistics of all team members outstanding across the board, but the new title winners rarely left any doubt about the outcome of a game. Even after setbacks, the Black Jacks were not fazed and bid a fitting farewell to Sven @Original-SnuS Julmi's last season for the club with the title. Here are the two GMs' opinions for you: Deadly Phantoms, Denis @CCBow-501 Roethele: "On the whole, the result of the final series is perfectly acceptable. The Black Jacks deserved to win thanks to their individual class and a strong goalie. It doesn't help that we were behind in every game except for Game 5 and were chasing a deficit." The Black Jacks, Kevin @Keuschemisch Berg: "First of all, congratulations to the Phantoms on another fantastic season. Represented in every final since GCL 2, 6 championship titles - nothing more needs to be said. All in all, we are very happy to win our 4th championship. In GCL 10 last summer, the whole team was a bit out of steam at the end of the season. It's all the better that we're now "back on top" and have been able to utilize our full skillset, even after our strong season in the ECL'24 Winter Elite. We were able to secure seed #1 in the regular season. Our defense was solid and our offense got rolling from day 1. In the playoffs, of course, there's a different wind and you tend to come from an organized defense. In the semi-final in particular, we wanted to take revenge for last season, which we did very well. In the final, it was clear to everyone on the team that we wanted to give Sven Julmi his 4th GCL title as a farewell present. And as in the previous three finals against the Phantoms, we were able to impose our game and, in my opinion, more than deserved to win the series in our favor. Special praise to our goalie tandem. Simba with 3 shutouts in the final - I don't think that happens too often. And at this point, a big thank you to Sven for all the years as captain, as well as Tschitsch for all his time at ZSC eSports and The Black Jacks, especially since he helped out again this season as right-wing in important games!" Congratulations from our side on winning the title again and the double! Daniel @DangerBrooklyn Göpfert