posted Sep 28th, 2018 - The NSL News coverage of the ESL Championship 2018 included the NSL-TV introduction of the AA Class winner Dutch Project 20+ Team Red on 22 September and of Rookie Class winner High Five from the Czech Republic on 23 September.

AAA Class champion AtomiX YUU from Germany and A Class winner Aeropotam's from Belgium took the time for NSL Talk in Saarlouis, as well. The two interviews complete the coverage of the four winners from four different countries: Germany (AAA) - Netherlands (AA) - Belgium (A) - Czech Republic (RRR).

Atomix YUU was a part of the German ESL delegation who were the defending champions of 2017. The best German team behind the national team (Airbus) did all they could do in their category and won the maximum of 10 ESL points for the German account.

Aeropotam's 10 ESL points for the 1st place in the A Class was crucial for the Belgian delegation to win the ESL Championship and take the ESL Spirit from Germany to Belgium. Both teams have new plans for the 2019 season, which include the next ESL Championship that will be hosted by Belgium after winning this year.

ESL Championship 2018				1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		ESL	H,P,7,8		Q,N,B,G,15		10,19,K		3,16,1		13,D,21		M,F,A,C,J		O,E,11,17		12,6,20		5,L,9		14,18,4		Total	Avg
1	AtomiX-YUU Skydive	DE	10	24		20	-1	16		15		14		41		19	-1	13		19		12	-1	193	19.3
2	JETMAX	BE	8	12	-3	17		13		13		9	-1	32	-4	14	-1	11		15	-1	9		145	14.5
3	Dark Energy	DE	6	17	-1	12	-5	13		12	-1	13		29		13	-2	10	-1	14		10		143	14.3
4	NeVa FSZ Saar	DE	5	12	-2	13	-2	11		10	-1	10		18		11	-1	9		14		8	-1	116	11.6
5	HorschD FSZ Saar	DE	4	14	-1	14		10		8	-1	9		21	-2	10	-1	8		12	-1	7	-1	113	11.3
Rank	AA Class			H,P,7		Q,N,B,G		19,K,8		15,1		13,D,21		M,F,A,C		O,E,11		6,20		L,9,J		14,18		Total	Avg
1	Team Red	NL	10	19		20		12		9		11		32		15		10	-1	18		-		146	16.2
2	Ayro	BE	8	18		15	-1	12		10		9		30		11		11		18		-		134	14.9
3	Bazinga FSZ SAAR	DE	6	16		18		11		8		8		27		13		11		15		-		127	14.1
4	Stardust	BE	5	17	-2	19		10		8		9		25		15		10		14		-		127	14.1
5	Das KO´s FSZ SAAR	DE	4	17		15		10		9		9		26		12		8		9	-2	-		115	12.8
6	Blok 43	NL	3	15		13		10		7		8		22		12		9		12		-		108	12.0
7	4Motion - Eisenach	DE	2	15		13		8		7		6		20		11		8		11		-		99	11.0
8	Black Forest Four	DE	1	14	-2	14	-1	7		8		8		16		10	-1	9		9	-1	-		95	10.6
9	Windfall	DE	1	14	-1	8	-2	7		7		8		21		11		0		0		-		76	8.4
10	NOFX	NL	1	7	-2	7		4		2		4		11		6		4		7		-		52	5.8
Rank	A Class			H,P,7		Q,N,B		19,K		8,G		D,21		M,F,A		O,E,2		6,4		L,9		C,J,H		Total	Avg
1	Aeropotam's	BE	10	14		14	-1	5	-2	7	-1	9		25		8	-1	6		10		-		98	10.9
2	Heartbeat Skydive Team	NL	8	9		10		7		7		7		16		9		6	-1	8		-		79	8.8
3	Nebula	UK	6	8		9		5		7		7		18		8		5	-1	6		-		73	8.1
4	Skyflakes	NL	5	7		6		4		4	-1	6		11		6		5		4		-		53	5.9
5	Rubix	UK	4	7		7		4	-2	4		5		10		7	-1	5		2	-2	-		51	5.7
Rank	Rookie			H,P,O		Q,N,B		K,E,L		G,C,J		D,H,P		M,F,A		O,E,Q		N,K,G		L,B,D		C,H,J		Total	Avg
1	High Five	CZ	10	18		12	-1	12		9	-2	11	-1	20		17		9		12		-		120	13.3
2	Flying Cowboys	DE	8	11	-1	10		8		1	-1	4		5		10	-3	6		10		-		65	7.2
3	Mach 4	DE	6	2	-1	4	-1	4	-1	2	-2	4	-1	7		6		3		2	-1	-		34	3.8

Both teams won their respective categories with new team record averages. AAA Class winner AtomiX YUU's 19.1 record number was boosted by a Super Sequence in Round 6. A Class winner Aeropotam's 10.9 average included two sequences with only random formations, as well. However, such a sequence is not unusual in this category and happens on a regular basis.

In fact, Rookie Class winner High Five performed the same two sequences in their category and posted the highest scores behind Aeropotam's and ahead of all other A Class and Rookie Class teams.

High Five announced during their NSL Talk that the Czech team plans to move up into the A Class with the beginning of the indoor winter season and with a new team member.

Aeropotam's and High Five will still not meet each other on the same leaderboard next year. The Belgian team also plans to move up and compete in the AA Class in 2019.

AtomiX YUU has new plans for 2019, as well, but will not be able to move up into a higher category. The goal of the German ESL champion in the AAA Class is to improve the new record average and put more pressure on the new Airbus lineup.

The chances for AtomiX YUU to become the top team in Germany are better than ever before. The runner-up has matured and collected a lot of meet experiences in the past years, and the same lineup has decided to continue for two more years and try to compete for Germany at the FAI World Meet 2022 in Tanya, Russia.

Airbus on the other hand has to re-build the team, as two members are stepping back, Goran Meyer and Jorn Thiele. Thomas Mack and Markus Bastuck have opened up a recruiting campaign for the two open slots, and they cannot count on any of the AtomiX YUU members.

It could be a very interesting situation next year in Germany. The German Nationals 2019 will be the qualifier for the world meet in 2020, and Airbus does not have much time to put together the new lineup and get back to the same 20-average level...