Any hopes for gathering momentum early are now dashed. Do NA and EU have what it takes to put up a decent showing?
The round-robin format of the first leg of the tournament means that teams will be playing in B02 rounds worth 1 point per game. Teams can break even with 1-1 results or one team can take all the points in a 2-0 win.
A predictable outcome
The Dignitas and Astral Authority matches were filled with deja vu moments that boded poorly for the west. Twitch chat gleefully chiding NA for everything (kills and deaths alike) while lagf memes ran rampant: this is what we can expect every time a Western team competes with Korea. The public's perception of the skill disparity seems to be growing, especially in light of the unfortunate performance Dignitas gave.
Ouch...
The popularity of this Reddit thread says it all. Astral Authority must remain focused in spite of the taunts and jeers-- they, after all, qualified and still have time to adjust their play.
A surprise defeat
Ballistix vs. Super Perfect Team showed the calculating deconstruction of Ballistix. The game was a bloodbath with both teams contributing to nearly 50 overall kills! The last push to the core required the patience and execution we have only seen from Ballistix, and while Super Perfect Team was very impressive in this series, a 1-1 record against Ballistix should be considered a win for the team.
An emerging meta
We saw nearly all Eastern teams (with Zero Panda in particular) respect Dehaka, Brightwing and Falstad. Dehaka in particular is clearly a top tier hero that, in the hands of a player like Rich, seems incredibly strong. MVP Black has been banning Falstad nearly every match and it appears that the global strategies persist once again at the highest level of play.
Tomorrow's matches are as follows:
Most of us non-eastern folk will be sleeping during the matches, but that is what VoDs are for! As of this post, official English VoDs from the main stream are still not available. However, CavalierGuest is doing the community a great service by solo-casting the clean feed for those who missed it.
This production value and polish of this tournament series should not be missed! I will be covering the finals of the event this December live in Beijing, so expect interviews, behind the scenes photographs and much more from GosuGamers.
Be sure to follow us on twitter for updates on the Gold Cup World Championship!
