MacSed, Sen, puCK, SeleCT

by Waxangel

The last group of the WCS America Ro32 also happens to be the most internationally diverse group of the tournament, featuring four players from four different countries. iG.MacSed has been China's top representative in WCS America so far, making it to the quarterfinals in two seasons. Taiwanese player HKA.Sen hasn't had quite as much success as MacSed in WCS America, but when you look over course of his entire career, he's one of the most successful non-Korean players ever. Then we have the American lvD.puCK, who looks to finally get past the Ro32 and join Polt and Neeb on their German invasion. And finally we have d.SeleCT, who we've probably called both Korean and American depending on which one made for the more compelling narrative at the time.

Who will come through and take the final two spots?

It's likely to be MacSed and Sen fighting for first place, with the winner of their initial match taking an obvious advantage. MacSed's consecutive top-eight finishes in WCS America 2013 were oddly overlooked, even in a year where it was hard to find any foreigners getting good results except NaNiwa and Scarlett. Perhaps it's because we know even less Chinese than we do Korean, so that all we got to know about MacSed were his vicious PvZ cheeses and phoenix-colossus style in PvT. In any case, without a Korean opponent in this group, you have to think that a double-quarterfinalist of WCS America is going to easily get through to the Ro16.

Sen, one of the foreign scene's best players, continues to play well in regional tournaments despite having limited chances to show his games to Western fans. Notably, he beat the best China had to offer (+1 SuperNoVa) in the ECL, confirming his status as a regional powerhouse. In WCS America Challenger League, he showed that his famed ZvZ hadn't slipped a bit as he defeated former KeSPA player Check to enter the Premier League.

While we'd like to predict both MacSed and Sen to through, the fact that one of them will start off with a loss means there's a chance for puCK or SeleCT to go through. puCK may not have shined in the recent, NA-only Ender's game series of tournaments, but don't forget that he was good enough to earn the right to represent the US at last month's IEM Sao Paulo.

SeleCT is also a player who could cause an upset, especially given the maladjustment of Protoss players to the recent widow mine changes. Even if SeleCT is much diminished from the olden days when he was perched atop of the entire North American scene, he's still got a shot here. And if he's not feeling confident, he can always 2-rax.

Predictions:

MacSed > Sen
puCK > SeleCT
puCK > MacSed
Sen > SeleCT
MacSed > Sen

puCK and MacSed advance.