Art Chaos WINS West Coast Open – PSP 2014

There’s a certain calmness standing on a field that’s been freshly laid out. The blades of grass slightly swaying as the dry Southern California air pushes past like a sporadic fan that you would think must be broken. Next door, the park hosting this years West Coast Open resembles what you might find at a weekend youth soccer league. As golf carts scatter between the six pristine looking fields to carry out the finishing touches, you can see Matty Marshall of Paintball Access gathering players for interviews and field breakdowns. The only thing breaking concentration as players gaze across the field hoping to visualize their wins are small planes taking off from the short runway set beside this park. It’s about 95 degrees outside, and it’s only Thursday evening. Prepare for a hot one…

Back and Forth battles are commonplace at the event. Teams that have never seen a first place podium finish at any PSP events; like Vicious and 187 Crew create upsets during nail-biter finishes. While on the contrary it was out of a twilight zone story-line to see Dynasty and Heat, two obvious powerhouse teams, picking up losses throughout the prelims. What first looked to be a field of dreams tournament setup, was quickly becoming twenty minute rounds of frustration and sweat. Just as the relentless temperature and sun beat down on the field, so did the scoreboard for some unlikely previous champions.

As I sat in the stands, it was clear that this tournament may see some new jersey colors gathered on the field celebrating after the final buzzer rang. While Edmonton Impact took the field, coming off confident from a win streak that reached across the Atlantic Ocean, Art Chaos was ready to prove their worth on American soil. Many believe that this is a new super-group that rose too quickly to the professional ranks, however I think the previous Russian Legion lineup (Alexander Berdnikov, Konstantin Fedorov, Mikhail Knyazev, Pavel Lukashuk, Vasiliy Panteleev, Sergey Solnyshkov, and Evgeny Zakharov) that is no stranger to a win, joined by another previous Legion and TonTons player (Axel Gaudin Sr), and some newcomers (Pavel Karsliev, Roman Lazarev, and Clint Moore) would have a much more conflicting idea. Just as ready as the weekend primed it for, the scoreboard began it’s counting game for both the Home and Away pit positioned teams. At the end of the day, this long, hot, blindingly sunny day Art Chaos WINS West Coast Open – PSP 2014.

Looking forward to arguably the most talked about and important tournament of each year, it’s strange to think what the World Cup scene will look like missing some of the most winning teams in paintball to the haunting thought of the Challenger’s Division. For now, just as those airplanes rise to the sky, so does Art Chaos rise that trophy they most surely deserve.

-Preston Rodriguez

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