posted Sep 21st, 2018 - Nine teams posted their first scores of the ESL Championship 2018 before a weather system with rain and strong winds put the meet on a hold. The host expects better weather on Friday afternoon, and three Cessna Caravans will be ready to complete the round and add as many more as possible.

AtomiX YUU had the perfect start into the meet and for a redeeming competition. The German national 4-way silver medalist of 2018 and defending ESL AAA Class champion of 2017 did not perform on an adequate level at the national championships this year. AtomiX were looking forward to improving the performance in Saarlouis and did exactly that in the first of ten rounds. There will not be much pressure on AtomiX this year since 6.1.0. from Italy, the main opponent at last year's event, had to cancel on a short notice due to a recent injury situation.

Dark Energy won the bronze medals at the German Nationals 2018, 19 points behind AtomiX (169 - 150), and ended up with a 7-point deficit after one point deduction in the first round. Dark Energy is in Saarlouis with a different lineup. Roy Janssen replaces Luc Vereecken, while Uwe Soppa has taken back his inside center slot that Marco Arrigo filled for him at the end of August. All AAA Class teams completed the first round, and the sequence of Round 2 promises an even higher score for AtomiX.

ESL Championship 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		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	2,22,A	Total	Avg
1	AtomiX-YUU Skydive	DE	24	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	24.0
2	Dark Energy	DE	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	17	17.0
3	HorschD FSZ Saar	DE	14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	14.0
4	NeVa FSZ Saar	DE	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	12.0
4	JETMAX	BE	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	12.0
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	2,22	Total	Avg
1	Stardust	BE	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	17	17.0
2	Windfall	DE	14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	14.0
2	Black Forest Four	DE	14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	14.0
4	NOFX	NL	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	7.0
5	Team Red	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Das KO´s FSZ SAAR	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Blok 43	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Bazinga FSZ SAAR	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Ayro	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	4Motion - Eisenach	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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	2,P	Total	Avg
-	Skyflakes	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Rubix	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Nebula	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Heartbeat Skydive Team	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Aeropotam's	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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	P,M,F	Total	Avg
-	Mach 4	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	High Five	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Flying Cowboys	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

The new NSL-TV video features the teams with their preparations on Friday morning. The Dutch Project 20+ Team Red had their own very special ways to get ready. The warmup session was a combination of stretching, engineering and entertaining, while other teams followed the traditional procedures.

Team Red competes in the AA Class as one of the top contenders, as the latest NSL Power Rankings indicated. Four of the AA Class teams have completed Round 1, and 17 is the highest score so far, posted by Stardust from Belgium.

The sequence for Round 1 is identical between the AA and A categories, and the A Class teams have the first opportunity to measure themselves up with the AA Class teams.

Meet Director Mike Pennock explained during the opening briefing how the NSL/ESL competition draw works with these kind of sequences across the categories.

The sequence of Round 2 will then pitch the A and Rookie Class teams directly against each other with the same three random formations.