WCS America - Premier

Ro16: Group B Recap
aLive, TaeJa advance


Ro16: Group C Preview
Revival, Scarlett, Sage, MacSed


Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

VODs on Twitch.TV

TaeJa and aLive advance

by Waxangel
Detailed results from Live Report Thread by The_Templar
+ Show Spoiler [Click for detailed results] +

In the group where hopes and reality were most at odds, reality took a brutally one-sided victory. The last remaining American ROOT.Minigun and massive fan favorite EG.DeMusliM were unable to take even a map off the Korean Terran duo of Liquid`TaeJa and EG.aLive, who went on to join EG-TL teammates Jaedong and Oz in the quarter-finals.

ASUS ROG Summer winner TaeJa came through in first place, defeating Minigun and aLive consecutively. There were some glimmers of hope for foreign fans as Minigun tried to use an unorthodox phoenix-colossus style against TaeJa, but he could not make the most of a few good situations and he tapped out 0 - 2. Despite claiming not to have had sufficient TvT practice due to a string of recent tourneys, TaeJa then went on to 2 - 0 aLive as well, showing that he had not lost his old mastery of the marine-tank style during the brief hellbat age.

America managed to recover a point of pride as Minigun managed to defeat the Brit Demuslim in the losers match, but aLive would prove to be too tough a nut crack in the final match. The EG Terran easily grabbed the final spot out of the group, unfazed by his opponent's stargate style.

Group C Preview: Scarlett, Revival, MacSed, Sage

Red and White, but no Blue

by DarkLordOlli

WCS NA continues past the halfway mark tonight after TaeJa and aLive cleared group B yesterday to continue the 100% success rate for EGTL Koreans in the Ro16 that Jaedong and Oz started. The newly crowned IEM Shanghai champion EG.Revival is the last of them attempting to join his friends in the top 8 tonight. He faces Acer'Scarlett in his first series of the night while ROOTSage and iG.MacSed clash in a PvP.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

The ZvZ between Scarlett and Revival kicks off an interesting and well rounded group C. EG.Revival has to be feeling good about his chances here, coming off a strong performance at IEM Shanghai where he finally managed to get over his live tournament jitters and collect his first big tournament victory. He'll look to WCS NA to continue living up to his nickname of "little dong," and he can't let this group get in his way. The fact that he only has to play against Zerg and Protoss should be a relief for Revival. It means that he gets to avoid his statistically weakest matchup ZvT and that he continues playing the ones he's had strong results in recently.

Revival has always had good but not dominant ZvZ, taking out European ZvZ master Snute 3-1 in the Ro8 last season on his way to the finals and edging out viOLet 2-1 in his Ro32 group to get to where he is now. As far as Scarlett goes, their last meeting during last season's Ro32 went 2-1 in favor of the EG Zerg. Revival currently has every reason to feel good but he can't let himself get overconfident after a big win as many a StarCraft 2 player has before.

This is it. North America is bringing out the big guns. As even a Minigun couldn't quite shoot down the Koreans swarming their borders, stealing their spots in the higher rounds and of course all their money, the proud region has to play its trump card. Accepted by most as the best North American SC2 player, the Canadian Queen of Blades, Acer.Scarlett, has already done her people proud, knocking out the defending champion HerO in a nerve wrecking slugfest, sending him to Challenger League (where he'll let some frustration out by killing off other Canadians).

Scarlett has the potential to go toe to toe with the best players in the world as she's shown time and time again. Scarlett has been hanging around the very top of the "Best foreigners"-list for a long time now. Looking at that list, a lot of the other higher ups have already fallen in WCS Europe as Stephano's career has ended and LucifroN, who many expecting to pick up the torch, was eliminated by MVPfinale's miracle hold only a few minutes later. Scarlett could use this group to light a flare and remind the world that she's still in the running for the currently empty foreign throne.

Another mirror matchup will decide who gets to face Revival or Scarlett with a top 8 finish on the line. This one is a PvP featuring the Korean Protoss ROOT.Sage and the Chinese veteran MacSed from Invictus Gaming. Under the ironwood rule of Catz, Sage seems to have found his rhythm and continues to do so, posting increasingly impressive results especially in ATC and the SC2L, taking out big names like HerO, CranK, Ryung and Lucifron with solid, well rounded play. His most recent offline experience didn't go as well though as Sage was eliminated from the Open Bracket by HerO and Sound. The ROOToss made up for it by topping his WCS Ro32 group however. Sage has not attended any events since MLG and should have had time to prepare thoroughly at the ROOT Gaming House so he will definitely bring his best builds, strategies and hopefully overall shape in order to turn his online powers into offline results.

Finally, the last player in this group had a shaky start getting into this group. iG.MacSed had a tough time getting out of his Ro32 group, trading blows and maps with the foreign duo puCK and Snute until he eventually emerged victorious. But even then, the Chinese Protoss' participation was anything but secure as visa issues almost interfered again. In the end though both MacSed and his Chinese Protoss brother Jim overcame all obstacles and successfully made it to the Ro16 without having to forfeit.

His recent PvP performances show that he's capable of competing with strong opponents like JYP and Jim but also indicate that he's susceptible to players you wouldn't rate as highly as those two, such as puCK and Bails. The Protoss mirror has picked up a lot of praise for having become a fast paced, intelligent and entertaining matchup. Sage looks to be the favorite in their encounter as he seems to be in better overall shape and also displayed promising PvP recently.

Predictions!

Revival looks to be a favorite in this group almost solely for his IEM Shanghai performance. Scarlett has recently expressed concerns about her ZvP which makes the opening match all the more important. If Scarlett falls down to the Losers' Bracket and potentially has to face two Protoss players, one of which (MacSed) she might not be very familiar with, chances are that the last American hope could be eliminated tonight. Scarlett is no ZvZ slouch however and despite being worried about Protoss, she's always done well against them. This one is especially tough to call as all four players could make it out if they put on a solid performance.

Revival > Scarlett
Sage > MacSed
Revival > Sage
Scarlett > MacSed
Sage > Scarlett

Revival and Sage advance!

Writers: DarkLordOlli and WaxAngel
Graphics: Pathy
Editor: Waxangel.