[WCS] Global Finals 2014 Day 1 - Page 742

2014 Blizzcon Power Rank

1. Zest
He's had the best year out of the everyone competing, he's reached 4 finals only losing one to his team mate Flash in IEM Toronto. This year he's been the undisputed King of Korea, winning 3 Korean tournaments, never finishing outside the top 8 at any of them. He rarely finishes outside the top 4 and only has on one occasion this year in a premier tournament (IEM Shenzhen). While he starts off against Life he has shown he's more than capable against him. At IEM Toronto Zest put in a dominating performance to win 3-1. This much will be tough but he gets through it would be very unlikely for him to not at least make the RO4.

2. herO
While you could say herO hasn't had an amazing year he's still had a pretty good one. He's won IEM Sao Paulo and TB's SHOUTcraft invitational. He's made the finals of the only two Tier 1 events this year (IEM World Championship and KeSPA Cup). While he hasn't had a good year in the GSL herO has bounced back from these problems and impressed in Korean and foreign tournaments alike. Unfortunately for herO in finals he always seems to get PvP which isn't his strongest matchup however, with how he's been looking recently with performances in WECG Korea Nationals he seems to have fixed it somewhat. While herO seems to suffer from nerve issues sometime he has proven he can make comebacks when it counts for example SHOUTcraft Invitational vs Zest, herO was 3-1 down and won 4-3. herO is ranked this high because he has notably an easier side of the bracket especially with his dangerous PvT. If herO gets off the mark and takes down MC he has all the tools to make the final and maybe take the whole thing.

3. soO
Inarguably the most consistent one in the top 16. soO has competed in 6 premier tournaments this year and has only finished outside the top 4 once (KeSPA Cup - losing 3-1 to Super). He's finished second in every GSL this year, somehow when soO gets knocked down he always gets back up and looks good as ever (until the finals). It's clear that soO has just problems with finals, without that issue who knows he could have won every final he's been in this year. Just when soO is counted out he strikes back against the odds and surprises you. After 5 painful final losses people are finally warming to soO and supporting him. He starts off with hard match against TaeJa however, once he gets over that hurdle there's nothing stopping making his journey of redemption. Count soO out at your risk and maybe just maybe this might be the one he wins.

4. Bomber
Despite making the switch from GSL to WCS AM Bomber hasn't looked any less deadlier. 3 premier tournament wins, and multiple 5-8 finishes shows he has the capacity to challenge for the Blizzcon title. Most recently winning WCS AM and Red Bull Battlegronds: Washington in dominating fashion. While Bomber hasn't played against the best of the very best like the 3 above him, the bracket plays into his hand. The earliest point he can play a GSL Korean is the RO4 with only Jaedong and StarDust/MMA stopping him from getting there. By being the number 1 seed Bomber has got the best possible opponent and out of form Jaedong. Unless Bomber chokes he should have a clear path to the RO4.

5. INnoVation
Unlike the 4 ahead of him in this power rank INnoVation really hasn't had a great year outside of his GSL win. He's only played in 6 premier tournaments this year and apart from his GSL win he only made the top 4 once ( played against Life in the DH: Bucharest RO4). However, recently INnoVation has started to look like how he did in his prime in mid 2013. He starts his Blizzcon adventure out against a vulnerable HyuN. Considering how good his TvZ, HyuN shouldn't be a problem for INnoVation. After the RO16 however, is when things become more difficult for INnoVation where he will have to confront either TaeJa or soO both accomplished players in their own rights. TaeJa is always dangerous and has the ability to beat anyone in the world on his day and soO looks completely unstoppable until finals especially if he gets a chance to prepare. INnoVation has the potential to go all the way but he should be at the very least looking ahead to the RO8.

6. Classic
Classic was on the top of the world after winning his GSL despite receiving arguably unfair lukewarm praise from many who watched his run. After he dropped out of the third season of GSL in the RO32 and spectacularly failing in the Proleague finals when his team needed him most he was being referred to as Seed 2.0. However, while flying under the radar for much of his career Classic a solid protoss as displayed by his very respectable performance in the KeSPA Cup where he finished in the RO4, losing to Zest and his godlike PvP. One of the reasons Classic is so high in this power rank he has pretty decent PvT and is on the easier side of the bracket. If the stars aline there is nothing to stop Classic from making another wonder run.

7. TaeJa
There's not much that needs to be said about TaeJa. On his day TaeJa is simply put unbeatable. He thrives in tournament environments often decimating the opposition. However, it's on the bigger stages when TaeJa generally falters. If TaeJa is on his game likely nothing will stop him winning Blizzcon although if the pressure gets to him he could quite easily go out 3-0/3-1 to soO.

8. Life
Life has had a mixed year he won Dreamhack Bucharest and also has top 4 finishes at GSL S1 and IEM Toronto. However, at times he has been poor such as falling out of the second GSL of the year in the RO16 to Paralyze and not even qualifying for Code S in season 3 meaning he had to rush to make Blizzcon something which Life never should have had to do. Life has the potential to go far if he beats Zest but Life is known to struggle against top Korean protosses. He has an abysmal record vs San who could potentially meet in the RO16. If Life shows up with his best and all the conditions are right he could take it however, he could equally turn up and disappoint.

9. San
2014 has been San's breakout year. San was constantly being seen as good player who was close but not close enough to winning anything. He finally got his premier win at Asus Rog Winter at the beginning of the year. San has competed in 10 premier tournaments this year and has only finished outside the top 4 4 times which comes when he generally has to face tougher Korean opponents. San (like HyuN in WCS AM) has been a monster in WCS EU, he has only finished 3rd/4th or better despite having to playing his RO32 matches from Korea and dealing with horrible server lag. If San can pull everything together he can get close to the title. However like some others in this stacked field he's not really seen as a championship contender like he would at other tournaments. If beats jjakji and faces Life he has a great chance to make the RO4, however, if he beats jjakji and meets Zest, San could be heading home very quickly.

10. MMA
MMA has had a mixed year, it started off well with a second place finish in the first season of WCS EU. However, in the middle of the year things feel apart for MMA, he dropped out of the second season of WCS EU in the RO32 and didn't even make the bracket stage at Dreamhack Summer. MMA has finished the year strong though with wins at Dreamhack Moscow (arguably the weakest Dreamhack of the year) and WCS EU. He won both events in dominating fashion rarely looking threatened at either events. While MMA is on the easier side of the bracket you can't help but feel he doesn't look as strong as Bomber or herO which potential stand in his way of making the finals. MMA has the potential to equally impress or depress at Blizzcon.

11. Polt
It's been a mixed year for Polt, while he hasn't enjoyed success on the same scale as he did in 2013, he's still shown he can be a forced to be reckoned with. While Polt had a good start to the year with a second place at IEM Cologne and top 4 at the IEM World Championship both in the days of protoss dominance, he has seemed to struggle since in non-NA tournaments. Polt has looked vulnerable at points this year especially in TvT and faces a strong RO16 opponent in Classic. Polt seems to struggle on the bigger stages against tougher Korean opponents. It's something that he showed weakness in last year as he won WCS AM seasons 2 and 3 but failed miserably in the season finals, he looked outclassed at IEM Toronto in particular. While Polt could make a strong run there's always that lingering doubt over whether he can do it against the best.

12. StarDust
While being given many derogatory nicknames such as 'Cheesedust' or 'Shitdust', StarDust has taken it all on the chin and shown he can compete with the best this year. Most notably when played a thrilling series vs Flash in the KeSPA Cup. However, StarDust seems to have periods where he either doesn't practice or looks out of his depth. He was uncharacteristically dumped of Gfinity by DeMusliM who hadn't even been practicing that much for the event and didn't even make it out of the open bracket at IEM Toronto. MMA is a winnable match for StarDust if he practices right there's no reason why he can't beat MMA or maybe even beat Bomber. However, StarDust just seems like while he could make a splash at Blizzcon it's more than likely he just won't.

13. jjkaji
jjakji is seen by many as the odd one out heading into Blizzcon. jjakji started the year with strong performances with top 4's at WCS EU and IEM Sao Paulo. However, since then excluding his performance at Dreamhack Moscow jjakji has been abysmal. He got knocked out in the RO32 in both season 2 and 3 of WCS EU and failed to get a top 4 at any events apart from DH:Moscow. Against good/great Koreans and foreigners jjakji has struggled with at events, he just looks to be in a slump and with no sign of improving. Many people will probably question why jjakji is this high on the list. He is this higher because he has a better chance at making the RO8 than those below him as San has struggled with PvT as of late.

14. MC
MC has had a good year by all accounts, he finally won his first premier tournament since 2012 and had 3 second places. However, coming into Blizzcon he doesn't look like much of a contender , he was dumped out of Dreamhack Stockholm by the unknown protoss player Spacemarine once again highlighting MC's weakness in PvP. In third season of WCS EU he was crushed in 20 minutes by YoDa in the RO8. So MC is coming into Blizzcon with something to prove, he goes up against herO who had seemed to be having problems with PvP but it looks like he's fixed those. MC doesn't look favoured over any of the players on his side of bracket apart from maybe Jaedong. Like Jaedong if MC wants to win Blizzcon he has a mountain to climb.

15. HyuN
HyuN has had a great year by all accounts he's attended 14 premier tournaments and placed especially well in WCS AM in which he won the first season and never finished outside the top four in the 2 seasons afterwards. However, outside of WCS and excluding TWOP, HyuN has failed to place in the top 4 at any of the other premier events he's attended this year. He also recently has struggled to beat fellow Koreans offline outside of his WCS AM S3 RO16 group he has failed to beat a Korean offline since early August. Against INnoVation it's difficult to see HyuN making it further combined with the difficulty of the rest of his bracket it seems like a mammoth task that HyuN has ahead of him.

16. Jaedong
While some others have struggled in WCS none have struggled more than Jaedong. He only made 400 WCS points from WCS AM this year which is lower than any of the 15 others at Blizzcon. While Jaedong has had 3 3rd/4th place finishes this year it's hard to see him making the RO8 let alone being a title contender. The fact is Jaedong looks a lot worse coming into Blizzcon this year than he did last year. He has struggled for most of the year versus terran and he goes up against a Bomber who looks good all around. Realistically it looks like the most one sided matched up on paper, Jaedong has worked miracles in the past but he would need to work his greatest to make Blizzcon.

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#1 Bomber

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#2 Hyun

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#3 Zest

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#4 Polt

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#5 MC

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#6 SAN

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#7 Taeja

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#8 Stardust

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#9 MMA

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#10 soO

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#11 Jjakji

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#12 herO

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