ASUS ROG Winter 2012 Groups and maps - Page 13

Group A - 12:00

• PuMa
  
• Kas
  
• Titan
  
• Welmu

Group A seems rather straight-forward : one korean training in the US known for its TvP, a strong ukrainian terran and 2 protoss outsiders. However I don't think it will be that easy for PuMa, TiTaN is capable of beating and show good TvP and Kas is above him right now. Left alone is Welmu, not really a dark horse and a little bit outclassed by the rest of the tournament.
Pass : Kas & Winner of TiTaN vs. PuMa


Group B - 13:00

• Stephano
  
• MaNa
  
• Happy
  
• NightEnD

Ah Stephano, the foreigner powerhouse, the devil child, the person on par with NaNiwa for the flak he gets from the community. Yeah, that Stephano and the rest of the group. It seems rather insulting from me to say that he is on another level then MaNa, Happy and NightEnd but there is little room to discussion. That said, his last two big tournaments were god-awful. Dreamhack was disappointing and in HSC 4 he was more interested in having fun with Bling than winning. I guess that's fine but the checks aren't going to the bank by themselves. If you remember well NightEnd beat him at the DH Winter, I don't think it will happen this time. MaNa will once again lose against Stephano and Happy won't be solid or innovative enough. After Stephano everything is possible .. MaNa is traditionnaly stronger than Happy and NightEnd but he seems to lose steam this days. Happy is little more than a solid player and he lacks the spark that will make him a tremendous terran. And NightEnd is somewhat of a darkhorse.
Pass : Stephano & ???? (My bet on NightEnd)


Group C - 14:00

• Moon
  
• ReaL
  
• BRAT_OK
  
• ClouD

What is Moon capable of ? He is the same as in WC3 ? That will be his time to show us. His opposition while good isn't top tier and if he doesn't go 6-0 in his group, it will be a failure for a korean that known. ReaL is gimmicky but very ballsy, Brat_OK is a macro terran but lacking creativity and ClouD is creative but awfully tricky to play. ReaL doesn't have a good PvT so I will favor both EU terrans over him. ClouD is a uncanny TvTer and that will be his main advantage however he is not as solid as Brat_OK so he might lose to a protoss 2 base timing from ReaL.
Pass : Moon & Brat_OK


Group D - 15:00

• HerO
  
• SeleCT
  
• Seiplo
  
• sYz

After a dissapointing performance in ESWC, sYz is back. He has been somewhat discreet lately so I'm wondering he if can get out of this group though he is a respectable mid-tier EU. Speaking of huge letdown, HerO shouldn't lose here. That said, the common excuses for his losses are his nerves so I don't know ... he might see too much finnish girls and lose his head ... After some thought that's the only excuse he will have if he doesn't pass. I love SeleCT, he is a serious player and a smart guy (a really smart guy) and I think he is above Seiplo and sYz, the former being also a mid-tier EU.
Pass : HerO (jinx) & SeleCT

Group E - 16:00

• JYP
  
• 
  White-Ra
  
• Satiini
  
• DieStar

2 protoss, 2 terrans ? I can see where this is going. JYP should pass if he can win against White-Ra (which is not a given), he should win against DieStar because the polish terran has a horrible PvT on top of his nerves issues (not HerO-like though), Satiini (strongly reinforcing the argument I have with my finnish friends that finnish lacks creativity) should also lose. That leaves us with DieStar losing against White-Ra too and out, and Satiini as a wild-card. Because of karma, I'm going to bet on protosses, GSL is the thermometer of SC2 and Protosses have been doing great.
Pass : JYP & White-Ra

Group F - 17:00

• Taeja
  
• elfi-
  
• Adelscott
  
• Jinro

Did you watch the ESV Grand Prix ? If no, you are dumb because it was AWESOME. Props to them. So Taeja won, which while unsurprising proves that he isn't the last of SlayerS terrans. I'm going to be buyest and say this will be his international break-out. Elfi has a good PvP and Jinro is coming back and Adelscott really wants to stick with the french ideology of the Maginot line (except Germans always got around it - aren't they smart) of not-scouting. I can't foresee the results of Jinro vs. elfi so I'm going with elfi because his name is Samuli and if it's doesn't make you laugh then you are cold as ice.
Pass: Taeja (6-0) & elfi


Group G - 18:00

• Lucky
  
• Strelok
  
• Bly
  
• Bischu

Interesting group, perhaps the most interesting for me. Bly is an online beast but never did anything major. Bischu is a strong Protoss but inconsistent and Strelok isn't as strong as he was (though he is extra nice and considerate). Lucky had a good IPL3 and has proven to be a strong Code A (almost Code S). He should be the favorite here because he is korean but the others can take him with good odds. I'll go with Bischu this time. No special reasons, pure guts.
Pass : Lucky & Bisch


Group H - 19:00

• Polt
  
• PhoeNix
  
• BlinG
  
• TLO

TLO is fun and has improce since his switch to Zerg but he is still only a mid-tier EU, PhoeNix isn't as good as his teammate ReaL and will struggle against Polt and BlinG. Polt should take this group easily even though he is having issues in Korea. So the obvious second finisher is BlinG.
Pass : Polt & BlinG