IEM Sao Paulo: Day one in review

February 8th saw the group stage of IEM Sao Paulo going halfway through. We take a look at the pool play standings and if they developed according to community's expectations.

Group A saw Supernova taking first in a much expected fashion.

The Korean terran was nearly uncontested through his group stage run, with KiLLer being the only challenge to him and the only one to actually take a set away from him. Killer was on par with Supernova during the majority of the series but, unfortunately, could not come victorious and had to play a decisive match against fellow zerg DarkForce.

The two played one of the best ZvZ in recent times, going to the very late stages of the game. The series saw high tier armies clash in epic battles, with ultralisks and banelings going against infestors and hydras. Eventually, the German prevailed 2-1 and secured his spot in the playoffs.

Group A also saw the misfortunes of the young American terran Illusion. The 15 years old gamer entered IEM Sao Paulo with much of the community's attention upon him after finishing second at the ONOG Invitational and was expected by many to advance to the playoffs. The terran did put up a good fight against the zergs in the group but ultimately his odd play defined by his late tank tech cost him both series.

Both Feast and Demuslim, the arguable favorites for the top two spots, opened their Sao Paulo run with dominating 2-0 victories and crushing the zerg opposition in an outclassing fashion. The two eventually met halfway through the matches for what would be the series for the first place.

In two sets, the Belgian sensation showcased why he was able to play on par with MMA during IEM Kiev and that his PvT is at the highest level. Feast opened the series with an aggressive blink tech that crippled DeMuslim early on, with the stim being the only reason for Brit's salvation. Still, DeMuslim was too far behind after the initial battle and could not pull a solid mid-game in order to defeat Feast.

The second set was played on Shakuras Plateau, eventually evolving to a state where gigantic army clashes were a common sight. The game walked the edge of a knife until DeMuslim mismicroed his EMPs and let Feast unleash all psi storm hell upon his army.

To end day one, Feast proceeded to crush homefield player Tunico 2-0, finishing with a perfect 6-0 score. Second came DeMuslim who prevailed over Xlord to earn his spot in the playoffs.

The war in Sao Paulo continues today at 14:00 CET with the rest of the group stage and players like Ret, Snute, Violet, ReaL and Slivko. By the end of the day we shall also have the playoffs pairing and tomorrow it'll be time for some direct elimination.