WCS Europe Season 3

Ro32 Group A Recap
ForGG and TargA Advance

Ro32 Group B Preview
duckdeok, TLO, Happy, Sase

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

VODs on Youtube

ForGG and TargA Advance

by Plexa

WCS EU opened, for the second time, with a massive upset in Group A. ForGG lived up to community expectations and cleared the group 2-0 after a tense 2-1 victory over NaNiwa in the winners match. TargA bounced back from a 0-2 loss to Naniwa in the opening match of the night to upset him 2-1 in the consolation match and clinched his spot in the Ro16. ToD went a disappointing 0-2 in the group, but at least we'll be seeing more of him in WCS as a caster.

Ro32 - Group A
1.	ForGG	2-0 (4-1)
2.	TargA	2-1 (4-4)
3.	NaNiwa	1-2 (4-4)
4.	ToD	0-2 (1-4)

Detailed results from the live report thread by NovaMB
+ Show Spoiler +

NaNiwa vs TargA
NaNiwa <Polar Night> TargA
NaNiwa <Derelict Watcher> TargA
NaNiwa <> TargA

NaNiwa wins 2-0!

ToD vs ForGG
ToD <Bel'Shir Vestige> ForGG
ToD <Akilon Wastes > ForGG
ToD <> ForGG

ForGG wins 2-0!

Winners' Match
NaNiwa <Akilon Wastes > ForGG
NaNiwa <Polar Night> ForGG
NaNiwa <Bel'Shir Vestige> ForGG

ForGG wins 2-1!

Losers' Match
ToD <Bel'Shir Vestige> TargA
ToD <Whirlwind> TargA
ToD <Derelict Watcher> TargA

TargA wins 2-1!

Final Match
NaNiwa <Bel'Shir Vestige> TargA
NaNiwa <Derelict Watcher> TargA
NaNiwa <Polar Night> TargA

TargA wins 2-1!

---

ForGG and TargA advance to WCS EU Premier RO16!

The opening match of the night between TargA and NaNiwa was unsurprisingly clear cut. Targa was unable to gain any kind of traction against the Swede in either of the two games. In the first game Naniwa coasted virtually unhindered on his way to building an ultimate composition featuring almost every ground unit in the Protoss arsenal (and void rays). Targa seemed outclassed and conceded. The second game didn't go much better for the Norwegian, Naniwa executed a crisp void ray oriented 3 base push which Targa was never able to recover from.

ForGG's TvP was looking strong before today's group and it didn't fail to disappoint against ToD. Tod opened the series with a 1 gate proxy with hopes to catch ForGG playing CC first. Unfortunately for him, ForGG walled in with the standard Barracks wall and Tod's proxy was never able to see the inside of ForGG's main. Tod was never able to overcome this disadvantage as ForGG methodically tore him apart. The second game was a much better showing for Tod. However, Forgg slowly built up a substantial army supply lead by chipping away at Tod's forces until the supply advantage gave way to a win.

Naniwa vs Forgg was the most anticipated match of the night and Naniwa opened the series with a highly aggressive 2 base timing push. Fortunately for Forgg, he was able to see Naniwa chipping away at the rocks leading into his natural on Akilon Wastes and was able to buy enough time with his SCVs for his marine upgrades to complete and medivacs to arrive. There wasn't much Naniwa was able to do from that point. The second game was defined by exceptional warp prism usage from Naniwa. In somewhat of a reversal of roles, Naniwa was able to pull Forgg's army around the map using a warp prism and a conveniently hidden pylon. Naniwa's excellent storms and timely colossus switch were instrumental in fending off Forgg's counter aggression which won him the game. The final game of the series was clinched by Forgg with superb engagements and his trademark hellbat/marauder mid game composition.

The opening game of Tod vs Targa went exactly like you'd expect from a Tod game -- slow, methodical and well thought out. Tod and Targa exchanged minor blows on each of their maxed armies before Targa was able to capitalize on a lapse in Tod's army positioning. With this one engagement he was able to clear out the majority of Tod's army and from there the game was routine. The play of the night happened in the second game, where Tod successfully defended Targa's 3 base roach/hydra timing attack after the situation looked near unwinnable. He was able to carry that advantage to victory. Unfortunately for Tod, he was unable to repeat the defense in game 3 as he lacked any kind of splash damage to deal with the oncoming swarm and became the first player to drop out of WCS EU this season.

The night concluded with a repeat from the opening games of the day. This time, however, Naniwa opened the series with quick warp prism which, upon scouted, turned into an immortal/sentry all in. Targa was acutely aware of what was going on and had little difficulty deflecting it and going one up in the series. Naniwa wasted no time in game two to assert his dominance after relatively simple zealot aggression was able to kill off Targa's third. Targa was too far behind to catch up and slowly died to Naniwa. The final game of the night had Targa play to Naniwa's style - from opening three hatch gas before pool to hydra/roach aggression into mass queens as a counter to Naniwa's void rays. Targa looked one step ahead the whole game and despite Naniwa's best efforts he was forced to tap out.

The implications of Naniwa's early exit is huge. Naniwa is only 325 points ahead of the 16th place player on the WCS rankings (Rain on 2350). With so many points left to be won this season it seems unlikely that Naniwa will be able to finish within the top 16 without having big finishes at Dreamhack Bucharest and IEM NY. While he is certainly capable of this feat, this isn't an easy task even for the best in the world. Meanwhile Forgg has propelled himself to #17 on the ranking and a top 16 spot is well within his grasp. Of course, he'll need to perform in the Ro16 as well to keep his dreams alive.

by Zealously



The champion returns in form of duckdeok, coming off a relatively disappointing season finals showing. He wasn't handed the easiest group, with a Taeja on fire and a hateful vengeful Naniwa intent on bringing his scalp home to Sweden, but his play didn't have the same flair it did at the WCS EU Playoffs. His successes in the Protoss mirror were attributed to lucky draws, but there is no question that there was more to ex-finale's conquests in Europe than just luck. The biggest question for any player with a title to defend is whether or not said player will have maintained his form. The season finals were rough for duckdeok, but keep in mind that Innovation, Maru and Polt (the defending WCS champion and the other two regional champions) also fell out of the group stages in similar fashion. Is duckdeok eager to repeat his Season 2 performance and win another trophy few thought him capable of winning? If the answer is yes, then that can take you a very long way. But this is the group of inconsistent but occasionally brilliant players, and if you don't bring your best then you best be sure either someone else will.

Speaking of being eager to win a championship, duckdeok's first opponent is TLO. Without repeating his story too much, TLO is the paragon of consistent and determined improvement – you can see the trend of slow but always steady improvement not only in his play just but in his results as well. Always a fan favorite, the German Zerg has had to live without 1st place finishes – not something to be ashamed of by any means, but most certainly not something TLO is satisfied with.

Last season ended kind of abruptly for TLO as he dropped out in the Ro32 after being handed a tough group with both MMA and Mana. There are no more excuses this season – he has to make it far else he misses out on Blizzcon. Currently sitting at #20, a spot at the season finals will be what it takes for TLO to make it to the biggest Starcraft II event ever. He periodically shows everyone that he's capable of getting that far, but he needs to make sure he shows up prepared for duckdeok's aggressive tendencies. The MVP Protoss has a thing for timing attacks and while the stereotype is that TLO is a very creative player, his best chance against duckdeok will be to play things safe – not going out of his way to get 3 hatches before pool or anything of the sort, as that's the kind of play that'll get you killed by the duck in an instant.

There is also SaSe. After temporarily overtaking Naniwa as Sweden's best player last year, the Duke in the North has had a rougher time in HotS than his ex-teammate, not really distinguishing himself from other European protoss players. He did make it to the Round of 16 in Season 1 before being eliminated by a well-prepared Mvp, but since then Sase has been a question mark. He took out both Shuttle and Dimaga in Challenger, boding reasonably well for his match against Happy and a potential match against TLO, but what else? There really isn't that much to say when discussing Sase right now except ”mixed performances”. The guy who tore through MLG last year with great play could be the Sase we'll see, or we could see a mediocre Sase, who most likely will not make it out of this group.

Now, if there's a player who could possibly hungrier for a big win than TLO or Sase, it would have to be Happy. Sporadically brilliant, the Russian Terran with Warcraft 3 backgrounds has been pointed out as an up-and-coming player for... years, now. Logically, he shouldn't still be labeled an up-and-comer after all this time, but I feel that's the term that best embodies Happy. Heaps of potential, puts on great performances from time to time, but never consistently stringing them together for a deep championship run. He looked on the verge of it in Season 1 before imploding and dropping out of the Round of 8. Put in a group of several notoriously inconsistent players, Happy can either play to the best of his ability – and he does look great when he does, or he can play the kind of insecure and slightly lost style he did when he was eliminated in Season 1. Terran is arguably doing better now than then, so there are no excuses for Happy – if he wants to prove that he is a contender for the EU championship, and I'm confident that he can be, then he needs to be able to get through a group like this.

Prediction

duckdeok < TLO
Happy > Sase
TLO > Happy
duckdeok > Sase
Happy > duckdeok

TLO and Happy advance


Upcoming Groups
Sept 5: VortiX, Noname, Mvp, ShoWTimE
Sept 10: Grubby, Genius, Starbuck, LucifroN
Sept 11: Welmu, BlinG, sLivko, ThorZaIN

Writers: Plexa, Zealously
Graphics: shiroiusagi
Banner photo: ESL
Editor: Plexa.