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Enter the most expected match of the evening where the leader of the WCS rankings is playing the only foreigner in a series that promises to be the holy grail of Blizzcon hype.
At this point, few could argue against Soulkey’s superiority over all other Zergs. All throughout the season, the Woongjin ace has been showing solid form without a sign of decay, able to make all three playoffs of WCS Korea. Between June and October, Soulkey banked more than $57,000 in earnings, bringing home one gold and one silver medal and two top four WCS finishes. While his rating history chart didn’t have the same exponential growth as, say, Dear, Soulkey climbed towards the stop slowly but surely. Sometimes he would provide unthinkable comebacks, other times he would be brutally crushed but he was always an irrevocable part of the professional StarCraft 2 live.
Though he’s sitting on the ranking peak, Soulkey has a lot to fear. His round one opponent is Alliance’s Naniwa and the Swede is a serious package of responsibilities. His in-game ingenuity and unpredictability aside, Naniwa’s disposing of Revival in the Blizzcon tie-breaker was something to behold and the ease of his victory should really be alarming to Soulkey. Naniwa is not a player to drop a series just because he’s playing a Korean and his deep runs at DreamHack Stockholm and IEM New York are a living proof of that. A look at the grand final series against Life and Leenock shows one Naniwa who’s as ruthless as he’s persevering.
What’s more, the fact that Naniwa is the only foreigner at Blizzcon is extra pressure on Soulkey who doesn’t want to be that Korean who loses to a white dude. Something that might become a reality if Soulkey hasn’t learn his lesson to take the Swede with all seriousness.
Photos: Inven (Soulkey), This is Game (Naniwa)
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Most of you will look at this match-up and all-in your GosuBet currency on Polt. And why wouldn’t you: the CMStorm is a two-times WCS America champion, he’s been around since the dawn of StarCraft and is in the top ten of any respectable StarCraft 2 ranking system there is. He’s been named the “true American hero”. He’s won championships in all three major regions and every match-up of his is above the 60%. His TvT, in particular, is up to 80% in matches in the last six months.
On the other hand, in 2013 writers and fans still have no idea how to hype aLive. Although the last two years brought him one gold medal and three top four finishes, the heavy layer of many just-okay-ish results made sure that people forgot about that IPL victory and that spectacular 2012 GSL Season 1 run. In 2013, aLive still can’t find his way to the bench of universally recognized players, fittingly carrying the “invisible Terran” moniker. Of course he’s the underdog here, of course…
But maybe this match is not as transparent as it seems on first sight. Over the years, aLive and Polt have met ten times and both the series and map advantage lie with the EG Terran and that includes the one and only time the two played each other in a HotS televised match. What’s more, aLive’s TvT record shows victories over known masters of the match-up such as Mvp, Ryung, Maru and Lucifron so helpless against Polt is the last thing he is.
While numbers still greatly support the CMStorm Terran, take this advice: don’t all-in your money on Polt. The steaks are way too high to do that as you can be sure that aLive craves to reappear under the spotlights.
Photos: Kevin Chang (Polt), Helena Kristiansson (aLive)
Previous WCS Grand Finals coverage:
Upcoming WCS Grand Finals coverage:
Ro16 preview part 3/4: Polt vs Alive, HerO vs sOs
Ro16 preview part 4/4: MMA vs Bomber, Soulkey vs Naniwa
