EPTGroup F, the last of the groups to be played in Germany will be the first group without a Terran representative. This group features the killer of the Tyrant, Protoss player Has, the return of the King of the North, NaNiwa, one of the two EG boys, Zerg player Suppy, and Finlands best Zerg player Serral.
I’d like to start off by addressing the return of the King. NaNiwa let the world know of his return when he chose to try the WCS qualifier. Many speculated whether he could still be a contender after his leave from the scene. His first attempt to qualify, he took down Group C winner MaNa, and Russian power house Happy. He then showed his form by beating top Polish player Nerchio 3-1 in Challenger. He also doesn’t have much history versus the players in his group, only having ever faced Suppy back in 2013, these players have their first opportunity to test NaNiwa’s skill after his break, with Has first up to bat.
Has will always been known for the massive Cannon Rush versus Jaedong back in WCS America, and will have to put that to test against his Zerg opponents. As of recent, Has has had little success in PvP. Losing to HuK, Top, HerO, Pigbaby, and having as of recent, only a 36% win rate in the match up. You can’t really blame him, as Taiwan’s top competition lies in their Zergs. In the PvZ match up though, Has has been able to take games off Soulkey, Snute and Sen, and has defeated most if not all Zerg players in China and Taiwan combined. He’s been full of surprises before and on paper has the skill to make it out of the group, but that will depend mostly on his Zerg opponents.
Suppy, a truly skilled player who has had most of his runs at tournaments stopped hard by many top Koreans, could use 2015 as his time to shine. Though having a hard time qualifying, losing to Night, Goswser, and Guitarcheese in the first three qualifiers, he justly defeated two of them on his way to qualifying for Challenger. He then defeated Bails 3-0 to make his way to the group. In fact he hasn’t dropped a game in ZvP in his past 11 games, but his ZvZ is at 50%. It will most likely come down to how we matches up against his first opponent Serral.
Another player to have been on my radar for the longest time, Serral has been in the heart of competition in Finland for long. Most recently taking second at Assembly Winter 2015, not dropping a single game until the finals, where he lost to fellow countryman Welmu 2-3. He also 3-0 Harstem in challenger league. Serral seems to be on top of his game, with a strong 73% win rate in ZvZ, and the most official games under his belt this year compared to his competition.
This prediction comes from the heart!
Suppy < Serral
Has < NaNiwa
Serral > NaNiwa
Suppy > Has
Suppy < NaNiwa"
Source: OMW Productions
