Only a week and half after Europe hosted the WCS Season 2 finals we're back to do it all again. This season is all about securing a ticket to the grand finals at Blizzcon, probably via the season 3 finals in Toronto. Europe is currently underrepresented at the very top of the current WCS points list. Only highest ranking player, Mvp at #7 with 3500 points, seems somewhat secure with a 1150 point buffer between himself and #16. But the same cannot be said about the others from Europe.
After Mvp comes a set of players who are right on the cusp of qualifying. NaNiwa (#12, 2600) is only 400 points clear while duckdeok (#14, 2400) and MC (#15, 2375) are both less than 100 points clear of #16. All three will be looking to secure their places this season. Outside of the top 16 we have ForGG (#19, 2050), TLO (#20, 2025), Grubby (#24, 1750) and MMA (#26, 1650) who all desperately need to land themselves in the season 3 finals (i.e. top 5 finish this season) else Blizzcon isn't happening.
This season there is everything to prove, and even more to lose. Game on.
WCS EU Season 3 begins in
Group A: NaNiwa, TargA, ToD, ForGG
by Zealously
Every now and then a player will bring his game to the next level to perform beyond their usual level. Many players have, over the course of their careers, had one or two stretches where they’re just on fire beating opponents most would consider superior.
Naniwa's runs in Code S are talked about a lot, but I feel like what he has done over the last 3-4 months has been more impressive. High-profile opponents include Dear, Jaedong, MMA, the Durán brothers, duckdeok and Innovation. Out of all his matches over the last four months. perhaps the biggest story is probably Naniwa going 1-5 against duckdeok before their final showoff at the Season Finals. Naniwa managed to take him out 2-0 to advance despite the fact that the Swede has been notably weak against players he considers inferior. This tendency could potentially come back to bite him in this group, however, as he’s put up against TargA first – a player who, when you’re coming off beating Innovation and the EU champion, might deemed unworthy.
As for Targa, his greatest advantage against Naniwa is the amount of information there is about Naniwa's PvZ from the sheer number of games he's played over the past few months. Naniwa’s greatest strength is intuitive leaps that put him ahead of the metagame. But during the gaps between such leaps he is at his weakest, especially against decent players without major results – a description that fits the Norwegian Zerg perfectly. Targa will for sure know what went down in Naniwa vs. Tefel in season 1, and if the past is anything to go by – and against Naniwa it usually is – aggression will be the path to go down for the Targa. Naniwa likes to play greedy; he did it against Jaedong and he does it frequently against all kinds of players. If Targa catches wind of this and brings one or two clever all-ins to the table, I can see Naniwa falling handlessly to... Maybe the second "worst player in the world"?
On the other side of the group, two (kind of) Frenchmen face off as ForGG goes up against ToD. This is a difficult match-up to call, with ForGG’s notable inability to play TvP going up against ToD’s juggling of WCS casting and WCS playing. Being able to pull off both speaks volumes in ToD’s favor, but ForGG ended the ATC on a high-note by taking out HerO, while ToD – although qualifying for Premier – hasn't done anything very notable in any match-up recently having hit a rough patch just after his qualification for Premier League.
The big question is whether or not one player will bring something match-up specific to the table. It’s a stretch, but ToD talks a lot about how strong the Protoss late-game is and recent trends in PvT seem to support this opinion. On the other hand, ForGG is the kind of player who has no issues with abusing a certain build to make it far into tournaments – once he finds a suitable one that is. This could be an important advantage in a group where two players are Protoss. Both versus ToD and in a potential match against Naniwa, I feel like the early to mid-game will be ForGG’s time to shine. The guy knows his timings and is no slouch in terms of control and a quick two-base timing can catch anyone off-guard, especially someone intent on reaching the three-base stage quickly.
Looking at this group, Targa and ToD seem like the underdogs. ToD has to juggle a regular casting gig with his playing and has gone 0-10 in his last 10 games, whereas ForGG has gone 10-0 against opponents of similar level to the ones ToD played. Targa’s situation is slightly better, going 5-5 in his last 10 with a notable 2-1 win over qualifier hero San, but given the level of play Naniwa has displayed in all three match-ups recently (against Zerg in particular), I put advancement from this group out of reach for both Targa and ToD. Their one saving grace could potentially be prepared builds that work well against periodically inflexible players such as Naniwa (whose weakest match-up also happens to be PvP, which can be even more dangerous if your opponent comes prepared and you don't), but on most days this group should only turn out in one way.
Prediction Naniwa > Targa ForGG > ToD Naniwa > ForGG Targa > ToD ForGG > Targa
This is probably one of the most clear cut groups in my opinion, anything but Naniwa and ForGG coming out of this will be a massive upset. ForGG and Nani did just qualify from EU to IEM NY with Nani only losing to ForGG and ForGG going undefeated, while Targa and ToD both had rather bad performances.
also i take offense at Targa being referred to as the "second worst player in the world", even sarcastically :p I don't think I've ever seen someone go full foreigner as much as Tefel v MVP, and despite that happening after Naniwa's claims of Tefel being the worst player in the world it really solidified his position
Will be great games for sure.. will tune in given fact that the WCS EU is one of my favourite of the tourneys.. :D
Also - don't think that ForGG is a timing-oriented player.. In fact if anything - he's pretty damn good late-game with his own style with little-to-no marines and having hellbats instead of them while saccing to not have Ghosts in his army.. Quite a robust army composition, even vs Protoss I think..
So he's good overall vs 2 Protosses in his group.. In fact - he might've "overprepared" vs Protoss that much so he might even lose to TargA.. Probably gonna be 2-1 for ForGG though, so I guess Naniwa and ForGG advance..
And the "strange" feel I have is that Naniwa might not even advance from this.. But surely hope he does..
The only thing I am sure of is NaNiwa advancing from the group. He said himself he played on a laptop with the wrong settings during the qualifier for IEM New York.
Anyway he might not take 1st place if ForGG can stop him, but beating TargA and ToD shouldn't be that big of a problem for him.
Id like TargA to go through cause hes funny as hell, but I think NaNiwa, ForGG will be too strong.
nani for sure. not that sure for 2nd place... Tod was teammate with Forgg for a long time.. and he is really good in analizing players.. so maybe he figured out ForGG. On the other hand I really want the players who have a chance to go to Blizzcon to qualify.. so taht would be ForGG and Naniwa. hope to see GGs
On September 03 2013 20:22 jarod wrote: nani for sure. not that sure for 2nd place... Tod was teammate with Forgg for a long time.. and he is really good in analizing players.. so maybe he figured out ForGG. On the other hand I really want the players who have a chance to go to Blizzcon to qualify.. so taht would be ForGG and Naniwa. hope to see GGs
I hope so much that ForGG and ToD qualify. ForGG should go through, he can lose against NaNiwa but I don't see him losing to neither TargA nor ToD. He's back in France and that makes a huge difference compared to Season 2.
On September 03 2013 20:45 Boucot wrote: I hope so much that ForGG and ToD qualify. ForGG should go through, he can lose against NaNiwa but I don't see him losing to neither TargA nor ToD. He's back in France and that makes a huge difference compared to Season 2.
On September 03 2013 20:09 Fjodorov wrote: Does anyone know if Naniwa is in Korea or Europe? Thinking about the lag aspect
He's at home in Sweden right now. Atleast in Europe considering he played the IEM Qual.
He played that quali from Korea on EU server I think no ? He complained about lag in one of the games.
Nope, hes in Europe man. He had the lag because he used a laptop with the wrong settings on which made it lag for him. He will go back to korea in a couple of weeks he said.
This group is almost all about Nani assuming his status as a favorite in this group and in WCS Europe in general. He can't hide, it's time to practice the most difficult part about being a top contender, i.e playing in a configuration where you either do your job or disappoint and that's it: nothing more exciting to hope in terms of recognition.
For the rest, it's hard to picture ToD or TargA seriously threaten ForGG.
On September 03 2013 21:53 Seiju wrote: This group is almost all about Nani assuming his status as a favorite in this group and in WCS Europe in general. He can't hide, it's time to practice the most difficult part about being a top contender, i.e playing in a configuration where you either do your job or disappoint and that's it: nothing more exciting to hope in terms of recognition.
For the rest, it's hard to picture ToD or TargA seriously threaten ForGG.
TargA did beat ForGG, though it was with KR-EU lag i believe. But then again, without lag ForGG still dropped a game to FireCake :D
I always cheer for NaNi, of course. ToD has to get my second vote, as playing and casting in the same top-level tournament is freakin' absurd. Plus he's handsome.
Gogo Tod... I believe ! If he's in a good day and wins the 1st set of matchs he has a shot, as I've always pictured him to be one of the trust-based player. Although it will be hard to take down ForGG, I hope he does great. GL to all !
I sometimes feel like this forum is full of idiots... It's not because ForGG beat NaNiwa once that he will beat him a second time. Everybody knows that in term of skills, NaNiwa is slightly superior than ForGG. (except the millenium frenchtard suckers.)
On September 03 2013 23:12 KingMel wrote: I sometimes feel like this forum is full of idiots... It's not because ForGG beat NaNiwa once that he will beat him a second time. Everybody knows that in term of skills, NaNiwa is slightly superior than ForGG. (except the millenium frenchtard suckers.)
I dare say that while Naniwa may be slightly superior than ForGG skill-wise, Protoss is favored in PvT, and thus i can only cheer for ForGG :D
ForGG bad TvP? He beat SoS and HerO in finale season1 if I remember right. HerO again in ATC. Naniwa in the IEM qualifier. I see ForGG and Naniwa easily but i can't predict who will be 1st.
On September 03 2013 19:22 NeThZOR wrote: Nani's wearing an Alliance shirt? They are indeed from his country, but does this mean he has a huge interest in the Dota 2 scene?
Actually he despises DotA and MOBA games in general. Says there's no skill involved and compares the difference of SC2 and DotA 2 to Wimbledon and a yo-yo championship.
On September 03 2013 23:34 ppp wrote: ForGG bad TvP? He beat SoS and HerO in finale season1 if I remember right. HerO again in ATC. Naniwa in the IEM qualifier. I see ForGG and Naniwa easily but i can't predict who will be 1st.
Yeah I don't understand why Zealously said that in the preview. ForGG's TvZ is average but his TvP is very good.
On September 03 2013 19:22 NeThZOR wrote: Nani's wearing an Alliance shirt? They are indeed from his country, but does this mean he has a huge interest in the Dota 2 scene?
Actually he despises DotA and MOBA games in general. Says there's no skill involved and compares the difference of SC2 and DotA 2 to Wimbledon and a yo-yo championship.
On September 03 2013 19:22 NeThZOR wrote: Nani's wearing an Alliance shirt? They are indeed from his country, but does this mean he has a huge interest in the Dota 2 scene?
Actually he despises DotA and MOBA games in general. Says there's no skill involved and compares the difference of SC2 and DotA 2 to Wimbledon and a yo-yo championship.
5v5 yoyo would be pretty awesome.
I was pretty impressed that he brought up yo-yo championships and acted like that shit is easy. I mean, SC2 is harder, but being good at yo-yo is pretty hard too.
On September 03 2013 23:34 ppp wrote: ForGG bad TvP? He beat SoS and HerO in finale season1 if I remember right. HerO again in ATC. Naniwa in the IEM qualifier. I see ForGG and Naniwa easily but i can't predict who will be 1st.
Yeah I don't understand why Zealously said that in the preview. ForGG's TvZ is average but his TvP is very good.
Over the last 2 months, ForGG has gone 11-12 against a mixed bag of players including anyone from Caliber to Super. Not a bad record, sure, but hardly impressive.
On September 03 2013 23:34 ppp wrote: ForGG bad TvP? He beat SoS and HerO in finale season1 if I remember right. HerO again in ATC. Naniwa in the IEM qualifier. I see ForGG and Naniwa easily but i can't predict who will be 1st.
Yeah I don't understand why Zealously said that in the preview. ForGG's TvZ is average but his TvP is very good.
Over the last 2 months, ForGG has gone 11-12 against a mixed bag of players including anyone from Caliber to Super. Not a bad record, sure, but hardly impressive.
Check his vZ record, you will like it even more :D
Naniwa lost... I dont even... *sigh* well, I guess that means we should see him and the upcoming Dreamhack, because he NEEDS point desperately now. I really dont think he makes it with his current points.
Can't really say I'm disappointed to see naniwa bow out since he is such a bad mannered person yet I don't have a lot of faith in targa, having ToD go through would have been great. Gratz to targa nonetheless, hope he proves me wrong!
I'm watching Tod vs ForGG (yeah i was in holliday) and i noticed in the first game that the marines INSIDE the medivac are healed... Is not normal ? I thought it was not. You can see it when there is the 1hp dropship at the main just before it gets killed. You see 3marines in RED, and the next second just before the medivac dies, 1 of them is in Orange.
Is that normal ?
EDIT : i'm a dumbass... combat shields finished... i watched the rep
EPT
Mvp at #7 with 3500 points, seems somewhat secure with a 1150 point buffer between himself and #16. But the same cannot be said about the others from Europe. 
NaNiwa (#12, 2600) is only 400 points clear while 
TLO (#20, 2025), 
