EPTDreamHack Valencia
With the second WCS season now completed and each region having it's champion named, the race for Blizzcon is hotting up with only one WCS season left for players to cement their places or climb closer to a ticket. It is the turn of the major tournaments to bolster those points for all the Blizzcon hopefuls.
One of these tournaments is DreamHack Valencia and on paper, this is perhaps one of the weakest line-ups we've seen in recent times for a DreamHack tournament with Korean players especially setting their eyes on China over Spain for IEM Shenzhen. There is a grand total of 13 Korean players in attendance in Valencia this time around, guaranteeing us at least 3 foreigners in the RO16 for everyone to cheer for and be disappointed if and when they get eliminated.
Even if this DreamHack isn't as star-studded as previous events, there are still plenty of players to watch and see how they fare, but who?
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First player up to watch is Samsung's Solar, the sole KeSPA player to be in Valencia and the 4th Samsung player to compete at a foreign tournament in recent times after Stork and Armani's appearances at HomeStory Cup and RorO's lackluster performance at DreamHack Bucharest. Solar is coming into Valencia off the back of a remarkable RO8 finish in the GSL as well as a decent showing for Samsung in Round 4 of ProLeague and their only player to win games in the play-offs vs Jin Air Green Wings on Sunday.
Historically, DreamHack hasn't been a tournament circuit KeSPA players have excelled at with no champions to boast of and the most recent KeSPA placing in the tournament was KT Rolster's TY's RO8 finish at Bucharest, this could be for numerous reasons ranging from jet lag to the tournament format itself, it's a marathon, games come quick and fast which is different to the preparation based tournaments most KeSPA players are used to in the GSL and ProLeague. Can Solar overcome this and put in an impressive run? Only time will tell.
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SacsriWhen you look at the list of Koreans attending, pretty much everyone knows their names, they're regulars in the competitive scene, with the exception of Sacsri. This is his first foreign tournament as well as his first major tournament in the mYinsanity shirt. So who is he?
He's an ex-SKT1 Zerg, departing back in April and although he hasn't found much success in his career thus far he isn't one to count out early on, he's trained with soO, Soulkey and Dark. Three very solid Zergs in their own right but he's also no doubt trained with the likes of Fantasy, PartinG and Rain over the course of his SKT1 days.
Results wise, there isn't particularly much to say, he's had a few ProLeague wins and made it to Code A in Season 3 of WCS last year. With so few broadcast games to go by it'll be difficult for people to get a good grasp on how he likes to play and given mYi's Korean line-up so far, Sacsri could certainly prove to be Valencia's dark horse.
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BomberWith TaeJa not attending Valencia, the torch of Terran hope is passed to the WCS AM runner-up in Bomber; who's greatest enemy in this tournament is his own law. Bomber's Law is an enigma, a force almost greater than the Artosis curse, it's his undoing and nobody is exactly sure why. If Bomber can beat the law then there is no doubt that he is one of the strongest contenders for the DreamHack crown much to the delight of Terrans everywhere.
While there are some fantastic Koreans coming to Valencia, let us not forget the brave souls who wish to repel the Korean invasion, the foreigners who fight tooth and nail for glory and the most coveted title in the entire game: The best foreigner. They are the ones who decide if Europe holds or if Europe crumbles into relative obscurity once more.
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StephanoThere's no better foreigner to start with than Stephano, a bit like Marmite, you either love him or hate him but there's no denying that Stephano has an excellent chance to do well in Valencia. There is no doubt he'll be a fan favourite going into this tournament and even less doubt that if there are any major delays in this tournament, he'll be the one behind them with his style of play. With university out of the way for the year, the Frenchman has more time to focus on Starcraft in between parties and fans of foreigners everywhere will certainly hope he can reclaim some of his former glory while his victims weep as they are trampled beneath the tidal wave of locusts that will inevitably crash into their bases.
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VortiXAs we're in Spain for this leg of the circuit, it only seems fitting that the Spanish Inquisition is mentioned. There are a staggering FIFTY-ONE Spaniards set to compete in Valencia and who better to lead the Inquisition than VortiX. Arguably the best foreigner heading into the tournament off the back of his RO8 finish and Welmu dropping out, not only does he have momemtum from that coming into this, he's also on home soil which will no doubt mean the cheers and support from the home crowd will go to him over any of the other excellent foreigners competing, if any foreigner is going to take home the trophy, VortiX is the Juan to put money on.
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HuKThe EG Protoss is the sole NA representative in this tournament, hoping to turn his rather unimpressive 2014 around in any way he can. There was a time when HuK was a legitimate contender for the best foreigner but has dropped off since then and has struggled to pick up the pace once more and there's no better place than finding some momemtum than a DreamHack with only 13 Koreans. This is his chance to shine and find some of his lost glory.
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Champagne BottleThere is one final contender to consider in Valencia, the final boss. The destroyer of TaeJa's perfect streak at the end of Summer. The Champagne bottle does not care for records or playing fair, it only has one objective: to win and that it does, with flair and cheers from the crowd. Nobody roots against it, nobody dares. Regardless who takes the trophy in Valencia, they will lose in the end. The only person the bottle has to fear in this tournament is Stephano, who undoubtedly knows the secret to success in this match-up
