Canadian Starcraft 2 pro Gabriel "HeroMarine" Segat has fallen into the lower bracket of the European Dreamhack SC2 Masters Valencia. In the first match of the knockout rounds, he delivered a thriller against Kevin "Harstem" de Koning (2:3).

The two opponents hardly had any air in their best-of-five series and offered the fans action over the full distance. When Harstem had closed the bag after 24 minutes on the fifth map, he pulled up both fists and rubbed over his head.

"He's a little bit faster than me," Harstem said of HeroMarine in the winning interview. "So my plan was to never lose control," the underdog continued. It was the only surprise on the first day of the playoffs.

The other two Germans also lost their games in the Upper Bracket against two heavyweights of the scene. Julian "Lambo" Brosig lost to Finn and world champion Joona "Serral" Sotala (0:3), Tobias "ShoWTimE" Sieber lost to runner-up Riccardo "Reynor" Romiti (0:3).

Although all three Germans remain in the tournament, they can no longer afford to lose in the Lower Bracket.