EPT![[image loading]](http://i60.tinypic.com/j0z3ox.jpg)
Since its inception, the playoffs of Dreamhack have historically been made up of crowd favorites, with the same players making it deep into the tournament time and time again. Take a look at the last three Dreamhacks and you will find many of the same names. Hyun and MC have been in the playoffs of the last three events. Hero was the first player to take two golds and Taeja has won four times. Yet, despite being a tournament dominated by crowd favorites, Dreamhack has a rich history of crowning underdog champions and jump starting player careers. It all started at Dreamhack Winter 2010 where Naama claimed his first and only championship over Mana. Since then, many underdog champions have been crowned including mYinsanity Stardust. Before his dreamhack win, Stardust was an unknown player, only having attended one other lan event. Coming into Dreamhack Valencia, Sacsri had a lot in common with his teammate Stardust back in 2013. This was Sacsri’s first major tournament, no knew who he was, and the only people at the event who could pronounce his name were Korean. That was all about to change. The stage at Dreamhack would be Sacsri’s proving grounds.
Sacsri might have been a no name on day one of Valencia, but he was not exactly without accomplishments. He played broodwar as a programmer and spent more than two years on the roster for Sk Telecom T1. The reason he didn’t receive recognition was simply because his achievements were eclipsed by the tournament favorites and his own former team mates. He trained alongside such great players as the current GSL champion Classic, Parting, Soulkey, and Soo. The week before Valencia he competed in an eight man invitational where he beat Forgg twice 2-0. He also beat Stardust 3-2 before losing to Patience 2-4 in the finals. Patience had made it to the round of 8 of the previous dreamhack. Stardust is the WCS Europe champion. Sacsri was showing that he was capable of beating some of the top Dreamhack contenders. The question was: could he do it on the big stage where it mattered?
Seeded into the second group stage, Sacsri came out first in his group, only dropping a single map to Leenock. In the third group stage, he won his group again without dropping a single map. Just like that, he was in the playoffs.
Starting his playoff run in the round of 16, Sacsri beat the famous French player Stephano 2-0. Stephano gave him a run for his money in game two, but Sacsri stayed focused throughout the 42 minute slugfest. His switch to broodlords eventually clinched the win for him as Stephano had no answer besides a few corruptors.
Going into the round of eight, Sacsri faced the unconventional Slovenian Zerg player Starbuck. He looked dominant in the series, taking down Starbuck’s Broodlord build with a standard 2-1 Roach, Hydra, Infestor build in game one. In game two, Sacsri demonstrated how to deal with Mutas on Merry Go Round using Roaches. He used a creep highway to transport six Queens to Starbuck’s natural by the 11 minute mark, effectively ending the game upon their arrival.
In the round of four, he faced perhaps his toughest opponent yet in his team mate Stardust. After losing game one, in game two he used an unconventional push of 11 slow Roaches and Speedlings to deny the third and set him 40 workers ahead. That victory in the bag, in game three on Overgrowth he boldly took the gold base as his natural. Stardust tried to punish him with a delayed colossus push, but it hit too late and Sacsri swarmed around Stardust’s army to put himself in the finals.
During the pre-finals interview, Sacsri responded to MC calling him a no name. After some thought, he said, “I’m going to make sure, this finals, on this stage, everyone will know my name.” Starting off the series on Merry Go Round, MC exhibited flawless Blink Stalker and Sentry control, but he was behind in economy and tech all game and eventually his Stalkers were whittled down by Roaches, Hydras, Infestors, Vipers, and Adrenal Gland Zerglings. In game two, MC’s Stakers reigned supreme over burrowed Roach attacks. Moving into game three, MC used a two Oracle and Zealot timing attack to kill Sacsri’s third and bring it to game four. With MC on match point, Sacsri used slow Lings to snipe the Pylon powering MC’s Gateways and foiled MC’s four gate attack. In the final game of series, Sacsri delays his Lair to make 10 Roaches and a huge amount of Speedlings to counter MC’s Immortal Sentry all in. Sacsri stops droning at 46 and surprises MC as he leaves his natural, surrounding his sentries, and killing his entire army.
Dreamhack provided a stage for Sacsri to prove he’s a champion, but that’s not all. More importantly, he earned a name for himself. For the first time in his career, people are watching out for his next move. He will not be underestimated again.
