Do you remember how one year back DreamHack Stockholm was that small and cozy 8-man event when we knew who was going to win but sat in anticipation of cool games nonetheless? Turns out everything is different with this year's EIZO Open Stockholm. And I mean everything!
The peculiar thing about this first DreamHack event for 2012 is that even though the tournament has grown sixteen times, it's still very easy to be put within the borders of a single article. For the persons that have never glanced at the tournament format or the player pool this statement might sound hard to believe but rest assured that this is really the case. Because, as it'll become apparent in three days time, the size of the line-up doesn't matter much.
» From eight to a hundred and twenty eight
I don't get it.
Not the 128-man tournament, no, that's fine and surely isn't tilting anybody. The thing that stretches a bony finger and gives a sharp and possibly hurtful eye-poke is how all those players are arranged and the procedure they'll have to go through in order to grab the gold.
On first sight, the DreamHack boys are going through way too much trouble to run this tournament. Sadly, things are not very different on second, third or at any subsequent glimpses. After all, who puts up an event with three (3!) group stages, the first one having thrity-two (32!) groups with two (2!) players in half of them? With the next stage being of 64 players, this translates as "the top two in a group of two advance", making this entire endeavour more or less obsolete, not to mention that the higher seeds for the notable sign-ups lose any meaning whatsoever. There is nothing wrong or bad about opening a tournament to anybody that wants to sign, but DreamHack seem to have picked up the most rigid, nonsensical and plain stupid approach. Are you going to spend 20 minutes of your time watching Elfi against Yesterhead? Yes, I inferred as much.
Coming from the last question, we end up at a place where few will tune in to watch the first day at DreamHack Stockholm as finding a match of any interest among all the chaff will prove to be, to put it mildly, a tedious and tiresome enterprise. Reining the pessimist in me is a Herculean task and it's even more difficult to imagine a person spending his Saturday bound to a barren DreamHack stream and not refreshing Liquidpedia for results while reliving the Korean round-robin fiesta over at New York.
For DreamHack's sake, hope that this was all a jinx to the positive.
» In blue garments and yellow crosses
Ever since the very first StarCraft 2 DreamHack event, defending the home turf has not gone well for the Swedes. At every such tournament, they storm the front in greater numbers than any other nation and hack and slash, and bash around much like their viking ancestors. Yet every war is the same - their fury persists but their numbers dwindle; they bore, ram and stamp through the lines of the invaders, sometimes even reaching for their very heart, but always are their heads chopped off and spiked for edification.
The history of the northmen lists Thorzain, Seiplo and Naniwa as the most successful Swedes on DreamHack grounds. Thorzain made it all the way to the Valencia Invitational final where he gave DongRaeGu a hard time before finally dying at his feet, while Naniwa and Seiplo had somewhat of a less impressive runs, only reaching top eight of DH Summer and DH Winter, respectively.
The current course of time sees the tables turned, however. Since the Code S stompage in the last weeks, Naniwa soaked up the hype particles that floated around him and put them to results, establishing himself as the best foreigner in the world at the moment of this article, period. With HuK at MLG Spring Arena and with Stephano not attending, there is really no one of non-Korean character to challenge Naniwa's regalia. As for the other Swedes: Thorzain is still desperately searching for ways to top his TSL gold; Sase will have to prove that Nani isn't the only one that can effectively assimilate Korean practice; Seiplo will try (and probably fail) to paint another Cinderella tale on the DH canvas; and Morrow, Merz, Sjow and Bischu will be clinging to their long-gone and nearly forgotten glories, remembering when they used to make the headlines.
» Few in numbers
The bizarre format isn't the only thing setting EIZO Open Stockholm apart. When compared to every other recent and not so recent tournament, this one almost lacks Koreans. How about that... It really brings you back to the times where the Koreans habitated this distant preserve called the GSL and only occasionally made international appearances, playing the role of the exotic spice that gives every meal a unique flavor. Kind of like what the foreigners are nowadays.
Genius, Polt, Puma, Hyun and Monster. Just five of them but very able to take a stroll along the lane of dead foreign bodies which will surely be the case by day two.
Since Puma went to EG, he's been doing nothing but win foreign events or at least make it top 2. NASL 1, NASL 2, IEM Cologne golds; silvers at DH Winter and IEM Hanover; and even a top three at Assembly Winter just so he does not go for too long without a medal. Very few people are known to have tamed this predator and neither of them are in Stockholm this weekend. From the looks of it, this is Puma's tournament for the taking.
Genius and Polt, on the other hand, are two players whose skill cap and actual results are in unending conflict. Last month, the protoss finally made it to a second final since Blizzcon 2010, only to be meticulously butchered by Naniwa but a few days ago. Knowing how Koreans take defeats and the way they crave revenge, Genius will surely seek out Naniwa on Swedish grounds. Judging by recent outcomes, however, he might want to postpone this for as long as possible, lest he is made fun of again. And Polt... Polt is just Genius in terran armor and with rifle in hands. Everybody keeps going back to his two championships but end up arguing whether or not he will ever be as well-rounded as his titles suggest.
Hyun and Monster stand the wild cards of the party. Their individual record is not exactly their forte and both will have to make it at least top eight to get community's deeper respect.
» And what of the others?
Nerchio, Ret, Elfi, Mana, Socke - a very safe bet on what a non-Korean, Naniwaless top five might be. There is also little to none to be said about them that has not been written in countless articles, previews, reviews and tournament analyses before.
Who's the best out of them? I dare not say. MLG Winter Championship and IEM Hanover are still fresh and in support of Socke and Elfi but Mana has always made the playoffs at major DreamHack events and, Stephano aside, Ret is probably the best zerg in Europe if the game of drones goes in his favor.
A top four finish for either of them, however, is entirely different matter and expectations of such caliber will certainly crumble come Sunday.
