Written by: Nydra
So it begins, the great battle of our time. The start of the first WCS Europe tournament after the event's revamp is but a few hours away and four players sharpen their teeth, scenting fresh blood.
More WCS Europe coverage
Check link for VODs, news and match info
So it begins, the great battle of our time. The start of the first WCS Europe tournament after the event's revamp is but a few hours away and four players sharpen their teeth, scenting fresh blood.
Check link for VODs, news and match info
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Match 1: ForGG vs Bunny
3. Match 2: Slivko vs SaSe
4. Group predictions
5. More WCS Europe coverage
So it begins...
Many of you will remember what quality of entertainment was created the last time the label "WCS Europe" was slapped onto a tournament. A large part of the community still regards the Old Continent finals of 2012 to be the most exciting and most excellently produced event in StarCraft 2 history so, naturally, expectations for the new season are through the roof, to say the least.
Of course, things are a little bit different this time around. Production responsibility has switched from DreamHack to ESL (who already had their first minor WCS screw-ups during the qualifications but for the purpose of this article we'll let it slide), the format is a year-long circuit instead of a weekend event and the stories that develop are supposed to be deeper, more interesting and closer to the fanbase. It all sounds very enticing and majestic and leaves a feeling that something grand has been unleashed (see the photo below).
Granted, too many factors have changed to objectively judge from day zero if it'll all turn out a memorable event but come on, there's no reason to not be hyped! This is practically GSL. With foreigners. Who can actually win it all!
Of course, things are a little bit different this time around. Production responsibility has switched from DreamHack to ESL (who already had their first minor WCS screw-ups during the qualifications but for the purpose of this article we'll let it slide), the format is a year-long circuit instead of a weekend event and the stories that develop are supposed to be deeper, more interesting and closer to the fanbase. It all sounds very enticing and majestic and leaves a feeling that something grand has been unleashed (see the photo below).
Granted, too many factors have changed to objectively judge from day zero if it'll all turn out a memorable event but come on, there's no reason to not be hyped! This is practically GSL. With foreigners. Who can actually win it all!
Accurate photo of the WCS announcement ceremony, signaling that the games can begin (and also that the Korea to NA migration channels are open)
Photo by: Dennis Breer
Initial match #1: ForGG vs Bunny GosuBet
Meet ForGG, the terror of European-based tournaments (well, almost). He's the player who raided the EU events last year and took two second places, a top three and a top four. Granted, a gold medal is still lacking in his list of achievements but what this all says is that the Korean has zero trouble making it out of the early stages. You can fast forward to the final rounds and he will be there, guaranteed.
In further support of ForGG come his recent match records which are, to put it bluntly, bonkers. As the main ace for team Millenium, ForGG is currently on a seven game win streak in a period of three days, during which period he killed Taeja (twice), MMA, Nerchio, Scarlett, HerO and more. His TLD page shows that he's lost just eight games in his last thirty (with just one lost TvT) and saying he's on a hot streak will be a humongous understatement.
Against him stands Bunny the Darkhorse, who made it through the qualifiers by defeating players who, although with great renown, haven't been putting much results lately, except maybe Finale. That being said, Bunny's biggest weapon is the obscure intimidation that every darkhorse possesses combined with the fact that nobody has actually seen him play many TvTs, while there are hundreds of ForGG replays in our database alone.
However, along comes WCS's new format to make it all very tough for Bunny. The Dane will have to play at least two best of threes in at least two match-ups against some of the best Europe has to offer before making it through the next round. The time for preparation against the particular players has been but a few days and Bunny will have to rely on playing the race and not playing the player (which is something characteristic of foreigners anyways so maybe not entirely a bad idea). He's definitely shown powerful plays during the qualifiers so although facing ForGG will most likely result in a loss, the ability to comeback and win the next two games is definitely withing him.
In further support of ForGG come his recent match records which are, to put it bluntly, bonkers. As the main ace for team Millenium, ForGG is currently on a seven game win streak in a period of three days, during which period he killed Taeja (twice), MMA, Nerchio, Scarlett, HerO and more. His TLD page shows that he's lost just eight games in his last thirty (with just one lost TvT) and saying he's on a hot streak will be a humongous understatement.
Against him stands Bunny the Darkhorse, who made it through the qualifiers by defeating players who, although with great renown, haven't been putting much results lately, except maybe Finale. That being said, Bunny's biggest weapon is the obscure intimidation that every darkhorse possesses combined with the fact that nobody has actually seen him play many TvTs, while there are hundreds of ForGG replays in our database alone.
However, along comes WCS's new format to make it all very tough for Bunny. The Dane will have to play at least two best of threes in at least two match-ups against some of the best Europe has to offer before making it through the next round. The time for preparation against the particular players has been but a few days and Bunny will have to rely on playing the race and not playing the player (which is something characteristic of foreigners anyways so maybe not entirely a bad idea). He's definitely shown powerful plays during the qualifiers so although facing ForGG will most likely result in a loss, the ability to comeback and win the next two games is definitely withing him.
Photo by: Kevin Chang
Initial match #2: Sase vs Slivko GosuBet
It is no secret that PvZ underwent a marginal switch in playstyle with Heart of the Swarm. The defensive macro Zerg playstyles of turtling behind fungal growths and teching to brood lords quickly disappeared, making way of more aggressive roach/hydra/viper plays and ground-based armies in general. Protoss experienced the same amount of change but the other way, going from timing-attack-centric plays to defensive, harass-based play into gigantic late-game compositions.
In Wings of Liberty, Slivko was one of those turtly fungal/brood lord Zergs and he was good at it, deadly even. He'd come at his opponents with all the power said composition could pack and he'd kill them, methodically, diligently, irrevocably. But Heart of the Swarm is different, as we mentioned. While Slivko's outstanding macro will still be of good help to him in the late game, his overall survival will be heavily reliant on how he handles the early and mid game. We haven't seen much from the Russian since IEM World Championship and a lot of time passed since then and questions will remain hanging until we see him in action. Can Slivko operate the aggressive roach/hydra 3-base pushes? How does he handle the largely ground-based Zerg in HotS and how much will he suffer from the changes to fungal growth? Will he try to find a turtling HotS playstyle that suits his WoL renome and lose (or, you know, spectacularly win)? How will he defend against the revamped harass opportunities of Protoss?
All these questions are particularly important to yet another person - Fnatic's Sase. The Swede has been a name on the pro scene since the old days but, to his misfortune, he hasn't had much success as of late and cannot come out of Thorzain's and Naniwa's shadows still.
The expectations for Sase to do well do not come from his established prestige only, however. Fnatic's Protoss has spent a lot of time practicing in Taiwan, has had great success in local tournaments and has been actively practicing with the Zerg King himself, Gamabears' SEn. Additionally, the changes to Protoss itself and the plethora of new opportunities weaved into the race further come in Sase's aid. The Swede has long been known for his creativity and seeing something new and non-standard for him to topple the group is not out of the question.
Predictions:
ForGG > Bunny
SaSe > Slivko
ForGG > Sase
Bunny > Slivko
Sase > Bunny
ForGG and Sase qualify
In Wings of Liberty, Slivko was one of those turtly fungal/brood lord Zergs and he was good at it, deadly even. He'd come at his opponents with all the power said composition could pack and he'd kill them, methodically, diligently, irrevocably. But Heart of the Swarm is different, as we mentioned. While Slivko's outstanding macro will still be of good help to him in the late game, his overall survival will be heavily reliant on how he handles the early and mid game. We haven't seen much from the Russian since IEM World Championship and a lot of time passed since then and questions will remain hanging until we see him in action. Can Slivko operate the aggressive roach/hydra 3-base pushes? How does he handle the largely ground-based Zerg in HotS and how much will he suffer from the changes to fungal growth? Will he try to find a turtling HotS playstyle that suits his WoL renome and lose (or, you know, spectacularly win)? How will he defend against the revamped harass opportunities of Protoss?
All these questions are particularly important to yet another person - Fnatic's Sase. The Swede has been a name on the pro scene since the old days but, to his misfortune, he hasn't had much success as of late and cannot come out of Thorzain's and Naniwa's shadows still.
The expectations for Sase to do well do not come from his established prestige only, however. Fnatic's Protoss has spent a lot of time practicing in Taiwan, has had great success in local tournaments and has been actively practicing with the Zerg King himself, Gamabears' SEn. Additionally, the changes to Protoss itself and the plethora of new opportunities weaved into the race further come in Sase's aid. The Swede has long been known for his creativity and seeing something new and non-standard for him to topple the group is not out of the question.
Predictions:
ForGG > Bunny
SaSe > Slivko
ForGG > Sase
Bunny > Slivko
Sase > Bunny
ForGG and Sase qualify
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