WCS Europe S3: The fall of fan favorites

After a great run in Season 2, Grubby took a Ro32 exit last night. Photo: ESL

In the culling of Ro32 Group D, both Lucifron and Grubby fell down to challenger, kissing their chances for a Blizzcon seed goodbye.

Although the group would see a somewhat surprising conclusion, its start was but most expected. In a close, three-game series, the now-teamless Genius was able to send Grubby to the losers match on the back of a cannon rush in game three. His opponent came from a one-sided series between Lucifron and league newcomer Starbuck in which the Spaniard was able to heavily dominate the Slovenian for a 2-0.

Playing a TvP against Genius in the winner's match turned out to be a grim affair for Lucifron. Failing a proxy mine opening and dying to a 2-base gateway timing in game two sent dealt the Mouz Terran as quick a loss as he dealt Starbuck but minutes ago.

The games that followed defined the playday as an excellent one. To remedy the sour taste of somewhat unexciting matches, Starbuck and Grubby fought for their tournament life in the loser's match. Going into late game scenarios in both games, the Slovenian channelled his excellent ZvP record and through a soft contain in game one and a massive tier three army of brood lords, ultras and vipers he was able to send the Dutchman out of the competition.

That sent Starbuck down to the deciding match against Lucifron in a series which quickly became the highlight of the day. A roach/bane bust drew first blood and set the stage for a grand macro game on Frost in which Lucifron and Starbuck engaged in massive battles, run-byes, counter attacks and unit death en masse before the Zerg finally outmuscled Lucifron's 4M madness.