Yeah, that's surprising, usually you see more sweden and germany flags, only one of each there.

Voted for group D with Stephano/Mana/Sase/Puma, I think it will be the closest group. All of them are good players and all in good shape recently.
Stephano is really strong in ZvT and ZvZ, probably even better than most korean zergs except DRG and Nestea, I think he can beat Puma, but I'm not sure about his ZvP and there are 2 protoss in the group. Mana and Sase have a chance against Puma too, even a small chance, depend on the mappool I think. And then PvP is still quite random. Anyone can take the group.
Anyway about Stephano he is probably top5 for his ZvT and ZvZ, maybe not top5 overall because of his ZvP yet, but keep in mind he is only 17 and already plays very smart and calm, this kid will be top5 for the next 10 years if he keeps playing.

For all other groups I see 2 players taking top top2 easily, so no group of death.
Group A : MC and Kas, Group B : Socke and Select, Group C : Huk and Nerchio

vOdToasT

Sweden2870 Posts

August 15 2011 08:04 GMT

#63

IdrA in the same group as MC. T_T

Klive5ive

United Kingdom6056 Posts

August 15 2011 08:16 GMT

#64

None of them are particularly "death" like.
I see a clear favourite in each group, a likely runner-up and two underdogs.

Drake

Germany6146 Posts

August 15 2011 08:23 GMT

#65

group A have 3 big names but in group 4 every player is a top shot so i say D

Drake

Germany6146 Posts

August 15 2011 08:28 GMT

#66

my hope for advances are easy:

MC,Kas
Puma;Stephano
Huk,Nerchio
Socke,Killer

paradox_

Canada270 Posts

August 15 2011 08:44 GMT

#67

The easiest way to find out the group of death is to look at who you think are the weakest players in each group and compare. Mana and Sase as the "weakest" players in that group is pretty scary compared to Beastyqt, Moonglade or Diestar.

Razakel

Ireland466 Posts

August 15 2011 09:12 GMT

#68

Usually I would pick the IdrA - MC group. But I really don't think Idra has been performing lately, I feel like his skill has noticably declined, and just to take a step back from the is-the-BM-good-or-bad-for-eSports eternal argument. Whether you like or hate Idra you had to admit he was still a really shit hot macro Zerg who was winning games and tournaments (IPL 1). As much as he would hate for anyone to say it, IdrA now seems like the wildcard to me. He's just totally unpredictable, and I don't mean his playstyle, I mean his performance. IdrA can crash through people, playing like a beast (day one MLG Columbus), and then lose a single game, and his entire mindset just crumbles... (Day two MLG Columbus).

Some GSL spoilers about MC if you haven't watched his latest GSL games (GSL August) don't click).
+ Show Spoiler +

MC getting his ass handed to him by MVP and Noblesse respectively, with two good Terran's in his group, we could be seeing the two time GSL champion fall into a bit of a slump. Also when he was called out as the Ace for oGs, he was beaten fairly soundly by Revival in GSTL. Note: I'm not badmouthing MC, he's likely the best SC2 Protoss, but you have to admit, recent history isn't going in his favour.

With all that in mind I picked Puma, Mana, Stephano and Sase. I think a lot of people will predict Puma to take that group, but Sase's PvT is amazing and Mana has been showing great performance in the IPL. Stephano is also a stellar Zerg, and I think this tournament will really show off his skill.

Anyway, those are my picks and this ended up being a lot longer than I originally planned ^_^

zul

Germany5427 Posts

August 15 2011 09:14 GMT

#69

hmm - all groups look equaly strong to me. whoever did the seeding did a good job.

SamsLiST

Germany184 Posts

August 15 2011 09:16 GMT

#70

Pool A really has two Empire(Kas, beastyqt) and two eG(Idra,PuMa) members in??

wtf, the Gracken alone is more than enough Drama for one group -.-

________________

I have my money on Stephano and Nerchio, sick potential and way underratet

E:

my hope for advances are easy:

MC,Kas
Puma;Stephano
Huk,Nerchio
Socke,Killer

agree on the most part, but I suppose MC is gonna have a harder time fighting those 2 Terrans than Idra does (due to meatagame issues, not Skill:D)

tmtProdigy

Germany23 Posts

August 15 2011 09:34 GMT

#71

On August 15 2011 08:08 Accidentus wrote:
Pool D. People are voting Pool A because IdrA's overrated.

Amen.

Uriah

France54 Posts

August 15 2011 10:14 GMT

#72

Pool A and D are gonna be really tough to call, but Pool C will also be really interesting, Socke struggled quite a bit against T lately, and Select said he put lots of practice in his TvP so... It should be quite entertaining groups tbh

asperger

Sweden1310 Posts

August 15 2011 10:29 GMT

#73

No doubt, Pool D. I think every player in Pool D is better than Pool A (except for MC, of course).

namste

Finland2292 Posts

August 15 2011 10:37 GMT

#74

Pool D by far.

Also, I'm calling Kas and Beastyqt to make it out of Pool A.

AIOL!

France962 Posts

August 15 2011 11:49 GMT

#75

imo, pool D is the group of the death by far.

Fusilero

United Kingdom50293 Posts

August 15 2011 11:57 GMT

#76

I'm gonna have to vote pool C, first there's huk who eats foreigners for breakfast but there's nerchio who made a miracle IPL2 run and has shown he can play in the big leagues, moonglade who despite leaving FXO and being a relative recluse in Australia is still one of the strongest foreigner zergs and could easily take on the other players and tarson, well tarson is a very good player he's made some nice runs only stopped by players like MC and dimaga in HSC3 and the last IEM cologne so he could pull off an upset especially considering that nerchio may still be nervous at lans and moonglade who's supposedly been having personal issues may not practice enough to compete. By far the hardest group to call.

StateAlchemist

France1946 Posts

August 15 2011 12:11 GMT

#77

Idra MC rematch again lol

Tarson fighting, this guy is so nice ! :D

Therg

Sweden238 Posts

August 15 2011 12:27 GMT

#78

Group D by far

Bagi

Germany6799 Posts

August 15 2011 12:45 GMT

#79

Idra still gets overrated so hard...

Considering the current state of the players, the best group is the Puma group by far.

NexaS

United States202 Posts

August 15 2011 12:53 GMT

#80

If you didn't pick the Puma, Mana, Stephano, and Sase group as the group of death, then you should follow the EU scene a little more closely. Puma is the clear favorite to win the group, but the other 3 players will give him a run for his money.