IEM Kiev Groups - Page 13

On January 12 2012 05:44 Yonnua wrote:
Naniwa should definitely be getting out of his group. He's the best player there, and the others are mid tier pros for the large part. His vZ is still quite weak, so I can see KilleR taking a game or two theoretically, depending on how well he got to learn Naniwa's style while Nani was on dignitas. In theory Nani should clean out the group without a loss and it'll be between beasty and Killer to see who goes through. Killer seems to be good at upsets in tournaments, but the safer bet is on beastyqt. If he prepares for Killers roach-heavy style, he should come out of the group.

If Grubby plays like he did at Homestory, he should break from his group. Kas is good, and he'll probably get out of the group as well, but if Grubby does well, I could see him taking Kas out. Zenio hasn't had much coverage lately, but Grubby and Kas both have pretty good vZ so I don't see him getting out this time. Diestar is very much an unknown quantity. He could do well, but he's unlikely to take out the far more successful players he is up against.

In group C, Hasu and MMA should get out of the group. Once again, it'll come down to how mainstream the styles of Pomi and Targa are. If they have unique styles and MMA and Hasu aren't used to them, they could do badly. Hasu wasn't at his best at HSC, so I don't see him taking down MMA, but he should clear Pomi and Targa. MMa almost certainly takes the group, depending on how much focus he gives to preparing. He has a GSL match only three days before, so he's not likely to be preparing for these opponents. When compared to people like Hasu who have until the event to prepare for him specifically, there could be an upset.

Hero will probably escape group D, but he'll need to beat DIMAGA and qxc. He should take out feast, who isn't such a massive player, but qxc in particular could give him a lot of trouble. On the other hand, he could well beat DIMAGA, who wasn't really on form at Homestory. Qxc will probably take out DIMAGA, but this is definitely the closest group. A three way tie is very much possible, but it's probably going to be qxc and Hero.

On January 12 2012 06:07 The Final Boss wrote:

NaNiwa has come so far since he was on Dignitas that I doubt KiLLeR's knowledge will have much impact on the game and NaNiwa's PvZ is super good. Maybe you missed MLG Providence where he beat NesTea in two Bo3s.... But if not look at his games against Zergs. On the first page, the only "weak" player listed there is Ciara, the other players are all ridiculously good and many are Koreans + Show Spoiler + and he has a pretty positive record on that page too. If KiLLeR can make a game against NaNiwa look close I'd be surprised.

I'm not sure that Diestar is really unknown because we continuously see him in tournaments, but he never goes anywhere. I doubt he'll do anything here either. His play always seems weak from what I've seen, so I agree with you that he has very little chance of escaping a group that talented.

I don't think that Qxc stands much of a chance, sadly. To the best of my knowledge he's been studying at school recently, so I don't really see how he can be as well prepared, which is something he'll need against players like HerO and DIMAGA.