Nine Terrans, nine Protoss and six Zerg players made it to the RO24. If you haven't been keeping up with Starcraft 2, here is a cheat sheet to help you follow the matches.
The Terran
- ByuN - Holds the champion title for GSL, BlizzCon and IEM World Championship titles. One of the favorites to win the tournament.
- HeRoMaRinE - Relatively inactive in 2017, but still represents the top of EU Terran play.
- Ryung - Once defeated ByuN (Though ByuN's weakest matchup is TvT). Another world class Terran.
- TY - Currently on a loss streak when faced against equal S-tier competition. IEM chance for redemption.
- aLive - One of the best TvP players in the game, as long as he avoids his weak TvZ he has a real shot at top 8.
- jjakji - The GSL champion that went to sleep, jjakji has a devoted following that remembers his victories of old. He is back and needs an IEM win to reclaim his name.
- GuMiho - with a solid ~63% win rate against all races, GuMiho is a contender no matter who he faces.
- INnoVation - with an absurd series winrate of 83%, and a masterful approach to TvZ and TvT, INnoVation is the most popular favorite to win the whole tournament.
- uThermal - one of the most aggressive Terrans on this list, if his unique style surprises his opponents, his chances of winning are decent
Favorite Terran to win: INnoVation followed by ByuN
The Protoss
- MaNa - Polish Starcraft 2 Veteran who needs no introduction to his devoted fan base. Made it to the RO24 after a bad initial loss but needs to sure up his play to survive Korean onslaught.
- ShoWTimE - The European Protoss King, holder of multiple 7000 MMR accounts. Considered one of EU's strongest.
- PiLiPiLi - Young player from Kazahstan who made it to Ro24 after some big upsets. Although he gained some fans, extremely unlikely to advance further.
- Patience - Most known to be one of the few players to ever go head to head with INnoVation. This alone speaks volumes to his potential strength.
- Zest - Has been preparing extensively for Katowice and this win is personal for him, having won two years ago.
- Harstem - 2017 is a fresh start after a disastrous end to 2016 involving some messy organization drama.
- Stats - Stats has been on fire lately and is the dominate Protoss in the tournament. His play isn't flashy or unique, but his incredible fundamentals and solid play have made him a favorite to win the tournament
- Neeb - The first foreigner to ever win a Starcraft 2 tournament in Korean tournament. This mythos alone makes him a fan favorite.
- herO - A Korean Protoss that redefined how people play PvT. With some of the strongest competition being Terran players, this gives her0 a notable edge.
Favorite Protoss to win: Stats followed by herO
The Zerg
- Solar - In a field dominated by Terran, Solar's weak TvZ hurts his chances of getting past the Ro24
- Snute - Snute doesn't do well in online tournaments and this Lan circuit should do him well. His strength in ZvZ isn't very important this tournament, as the big threats are all Terran or Protoss.
- TRUE - True's strength lies in how off-the-wall his strategies are. However, unique play styles normally don't work against S-tier competition.
- Nerchio - A member of the old guard of tried and true Zerg players, Nerchio is one of Zerg's best chances of winning this tournament.
- Dark - Out of all the Zergs in this tournament, Dark has proven he has the ability to rapidly alter his play style when needed. This leaves him more competitively viable when facing the elite wall of Terrans and Protoss.
- Serral - an extremely strong ladder play that has yet to prove him self on a premier stage. He has the markings of a dark horse.
Favorite Zerg to win: Dark followed by Nerchio
Headline Image features photos from ESL found on the official IEM Twitter account. Watch the next stage of the tournament this Thursday live at intelextrememaster.com
