Can there really be too much of a good thing? Perhaps that's what the men and women of DreamHack were wondering as they fought off their hangovers, packed their bags, and moved to prepare for DreamHack Valencia not 24 hours after they had finished their masterful production of WCS Europe.



Hopefully, for esports fans around the world, the answer will be "no," their appetite for international competition only whetted by watching the best Europe had to offer. Many of the familiar faces from Stockholm will be back, from the reigning champion to those looking to redeem themselves. They'll be joined by some new faces as well: those who might have been impressed by what they saw at WCS Europe, but more than willing to show that they can do better.

Ahead of the tournament, here are seven storylines to follow.

No such thing as too much Stephano.

It's been just one week since EG.Stephano.RC crowned himself the best European player (and thus, best non-Korean player), and no one is tired of cheering for him to win yet another championship. No, when a non-Korean player has got the ball rolling, you want to see just how far he can take it.

While WCS Europe is perhaps the biggest event Stephano has won so far, in pure StarCrafting terms, DreamHack Valencia is a much more interesting tournament. Even though WCS Europe may have been the most concentrated dose of distilled e-sports entertainment ever, you can't deny that from a pure competitive standpoint, any tournament is spoiled by a lack of Korean players. You can't just conveniently forget that Stephano flubbed his lines at his previous outing at MLG Raleigh, where he tied for ninth behind eight Korean players*. Nor can you forget that Stephano's greatest validation as a StarCraft II player came at NASL Season 3, where he beat MC, HerO, and Alicia to take the championship.

So, what will it be this time?

*Interestingly enough, AZUBU.viOLet – one half of the Korean Zergs who defeated Stephano in ZvZ at Raleigh – will be in attendance at Valencia. Back at Raleigh, the term "schooled" was defined in a way never before seen in StarCraft II, as viOLet fended off Stephano's 6 pool rush with ease, and then defeated the French Zerg with his own early pool tactics the very next game (VODs). If Stephano's twitter is to believed, those losses led him improve his ZvZ for WCS Europe, in which case he would certainly love to thank viOLet by knocking him out of this tournament.

Los Hermanos Moreno Durán.

K3ǂVortiX and K3ǂLucifroN were incredible at WCS Europe, losing only to Stephano and each other as they took 2nd and 3rd place in the tournament. With Stephano's championship considered by many as a foregone conclusion, and some even considering him the best Zerg in the world, it was a huge triumph for Los Hermanos Moreno Durán even though neither took first place. The two brothers instantly put Spain on the map as the next peninsula power, coming up alongside South Korea and Sweden.



As the new heroes of Europe, they'll have the advantage of playing in their home country of Spain where they'll undoubtedly have the crowd at their back. As reserved and soft-spoken as they were at Stockholm, perhaps a hugely supportive friendly crowd could make them open up. Unfortunately for them, they're also facing expectations at their most unreasonable, going to their next major tournament before the hype has had time to settle. Going by their WCS Europe performance and Vortix's showing at IEM Cologne, you could expect them to do well against the Koreans at the tournament... but sixteen months in the post-MLG Columbus 2011 world have taught us to practice hope with caution. We'll decline predictions on this one – it will suffice to say we'll be very intrigued by their games.

Uh, Koreans.

There's one thing that prevents DreamHack Valencia from being the direct-to-DVD sequel of the WCS Europe Finals: Koreans. Well, actually there is one Peruvian player coming as well in TheMatteSC, so we'll give him some credit too, BUT BESIDES HIM, the seven Korean pros in Valencia will be the ones making sure the story unfolds differently from Stockholm.

Sure, WCS Europe was the feel good story of the summer, and the level of play was high enough (especially in the later rounds) that people could optimistically hope that the Korean hegemony might end in Shanghai. But it was still an experiment performed in a vacuum, and Valencia could end up being a bitter reality check.

While everyone will be looking out for championship contenders Liquid`TaeJa and AZUBU.viOLet, Liquid`HerO sticks out as the Korean player to watch.

It's unsure whether he'll make the final cut for the Global Finals, but he's the only Korean at Valencia who is qualified for WCS Asia. Not only is Stephano at this tournament, but so are other European representatives aTn.Socke, Grubby, K3ǂLucifroN, and K3ǂVortiX. We already know that Stephano can beat HerO (and quite handily at that), but it would be encouraging for foreign fans if any of the others could take a series against him as well. HerO is well suited to represent Korean Protosses such as Creator, Squirtle, Seed, etc. that the foreigners are likely to face in Shanghai. We can 100% guarantee you that people will be bringing up "but HerO beat/lost to foreigner X at Valencia" as evidence for all sorts of predictions in the lead up to WCS World Finals.

Moon vs. Grubby

This will be the first time FnaticRC Moon and Grubby will be competing together at a major live tournament since DreamHack Summer 2011. Unfortunately, the two didn't cross paths then, as Grubby went out in the group stages while Moon went on to take second place at the tournament. Will the second time be the charm?

While the two WarCraft 3 legends aren't nearly as good at StarCraft II as they were at their previous area of expertise, a match between these two in Valencia would ensure that everyone there drowns in a deep sea of nostalgia. Though they aren't starting out in the same group, there's always a chance that they'll face each other later in the tournament. In that case, DreamHack is obligated to fly in Khaldor overnight so we can relive some very epic moments.



While you can kind of see Grubby's roots in his SC2 play, as he plays the race with invisible swordsmen and the annoying-as-hell unit that prevents stuff from moving in both games, it's hard to see anything in Moon's SC2 play that suggests he was the best micro player in WarCraft III. More than anyone, Moon's style resembles that of the JulyZerg, looking to max-out at lair and bludgeon his opponent to death with numbers and superior mobility.

You can't say it's the most effective style in this brood-lord infestor dominated day and age, but it was good enough to batter all the Europeans he faced into submission back at ASUS ROG Summer 2012 for an eventual fourth place finish (he was eliminated by MC). Grubby might have come off his best StarCraft II performance yet at WCS Europe, but a duel between the two should still be slightly in Moon's favor. Still, Grubby overcame adversity countless times in Sweden, so perhaps he could do it again.

PuMa goes missing; calls in a few ringers.

Not surprisingly, barely anyone noticed that EG.PuMa.RC was missing from this tournament, despite the fact that he has been to about 95% of non-qualifier events for the entire period he has been on Evil Geniuses, about fourteen months. Still, you can't blame people for not noticing his absence when he has two clones competing for him at Valencia.

Mill.ForGG and Quantic.TheStC share some of the EG Terran's key traits: They have excellent all around TvT and TvP, a penchant for performing two base all-ins in TvZ, international teams that are willing to send them everywhere, foreigner-crushing mechanics, and the ability to beat just about everyone up to top-tier Koreans. With PuMa's 2012 slump, fOrGG and TheStC are emerging as very capable replacements.

This should come as a relief to everyone, because Koreans have accounted for about 80% of credible Terran finishes in European tournaments ever since Morrow began an endless nerf-chain in 2010. With their teams' continued support, fOrGG and TheStC will help make sure that the words "Jävla Terran!" never go out of fashion.

Late to the party.

Not everyone got in on the festivities at WCS Europe last week, as several notable European players narrowly failed to qualify through the National tournaments. That doesn't mean they're lacking in skill, however, and players like ROG.elfi, Mill.Feast, d.BlinG, aTn.ClouD, FnaticRC Harstem, Empire|BRAT_OK, EC.SjoW, Liquid`TLO, aL.DeathAngel, mouz.Protosser etc. could easily have have slotted in at WCS Europe and made qualification runs. While the listed players are not exactly what you would call strong title contenders at Valencia given the Koreans in the pool, they could definitely rock the boat and prove that WCS Europe was poorer without them.

Of all the players to miss out on WCS Europe, Quantic.SaSe might have been the best. It's even more unfortunate that he failed to qualify out of Sweden when you consider that none of the three Swedish representatives managed to qualify for the WCS World Finals. SaSe's 4th place finish at MLG Spring this year (below DRG, Alicia and MKP) suggests he has the skill to shoot for the championship at a less top-heavy tournament like Valencia, but SaSe has shown consistency issues relative to his skill. SaSe won't be at the WCS World Finals come November, but he can definitely make a case at Valencia that he deserves to be there.

Shaking off disappointment.

There were quite a few notable players at WCS Europe who just didn't live up to expectations, failing to finish in the top seven. A few of them won't make it to the tournament, such as EG.ThorZaIN.RC and mouz.MaNa, but there are also a handful of players who will receive a second chance at Valencia.

Liquid`Ret is probably the player who wanted redemption the most, getting painfully eliminated from the WCS Europe after blowing leads against Grubby. Ret has rarely been mentioned as being anything less than a top five foreigner for most of his StarCraft II and Brood War careers, so the loss must have hit him particularly hard. Unfortunately for Ret, it's just one of those weeks where nothing will go his way, as an overbooked flight is jeopardizing his participation in his tournament entirely.

Among the fan favorites, the hugely popular Tt.White-Ra will join countryman Acer.Bly as they work to prove that Ukraine is still a top two power in Europe, while EG.DeMusliM.RC will have his work cut out as he tries makes the three WCS UK seeds seem reasonable.