WCS America - Season 3

Ro32: Group E Preview
TaeJa, Major, Top, HuK

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

VODs on Youtube

Liquid`TaeJa, MajOr, ZOO.Top, EG.HuK

by Waxangel

With some luck, we might actually see the first player actually from the Americas advance to the Ro16 tonight. So far, 12/16 of the advancing players hail from either Korea, China, or Taiwan—I'm sure even Mike Morhaime would find that a little bit funny.

But first, let's lock in one more Korean in TaeJa, who plays in his first major tournament since his spectacular run at DreamHack Bucharest. His undefeated record against sOs, Life, and INnoVation on the way to the title have many people calling him the best in the world, even if TaeJa himself prefers to stay modest. Even if TaeJa actually has hit a rough patch right after winning his most impressive championship to date, it's very hard to see him having trouble in a group with three foreigners.

Now, if Top happens to make it alongside TaeJa, then we're looking at the very real possibility of going 15/16 Asians in the round of sixteen (at least one North American is guaranteed due to Group H's makeup). Though he's overshadowed by fellow Chinese Protosses Jim and MacSed he's not far behind them. His run through Challenger last season included wins against Sage and Hack, so he has the same Korean-beating potential.

Our first North American hope hails from Mexico: the once KeSPA player MajOr. Major tends to be overlooked due to his lack of appearances in big, live tournaments, but he's not an opponent to be taken lightly. He's in the Premier League to begin with because he was able to defeat Alicia—one of the better Koreans in WCS AM—in a all-or-nothing deathmatch down in Challenger. After getting bounced by Jim, Ryung, HerO, and aLive in the past seasons, this is actually the easiest Premier group he's had in comparison and he might very well up advancing.

And our second North American hope and final player in the group is the Canadian HuK. HuK's in that situation where a lot of people can't objectively look at his game because of their disdain for his brash, unfiltered demeanor (see also: NaNiwa, IdrA), which makes him horribly underrated. He's reached the ro16 at two DreamHacks, and made Premier every season—if he were a quiet, self-effacing European, I'm sure he'd be rated a lot higher. Now that doesn't mean I'd necessarily pick him to get out of this group (let me think about it for a few more seconds), but it does mean I'm interested in a lot of underdog betting lines on him.

Overall Predictions:

TaeJa > Major
HuK > TOP
TaeJa > HuK
Major > TOP
HuK > Major

TaeJa and HuK advance.

Writers: Waxangel.
Photos: GHOSTCLAW.
Editor: Waxangel.