WCS America 2014
Premier League

Ro16 Group C Preview
Arthur, TooDming, MacSed, TaeJa

Ro16 Group D Preview
Polt, XiGua, CranK, Bomber

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

VODs on Youtube

Countdown:

In Germany, Korea and China fight for the fate of America! No, it's not the plot to the next summer blockbuster. It's just business as usual in WCS America, where all the players from the Americas have been knocked out. With four Korean players through to the quarterfinals already, it will be up to the Chinese trio of TooDming, MacSed, and XiGua to make sure WCS America isn't a one-country affair.

Ro16 Group C: Arthur, TooDming, MacSed, TaeJa

by Darkhorse

The Round of 16 continues with Group C which showcases the Chinese players of WCS America for the first time in the round. On paper this group may seem fairly easy to predict, but the upset potential in the group is ridiculously high. No player is safe in any group, and this is no exception.

This WCS America season looked over before it began for ESC.Arthur. Almost anyone placed into a group with the likes of Jaedong and Bomber would be an underdog, but Arthur was completely written off as an afterthought. However, he managed to pull of one of the most shocking upsets of the Ro32 to defeat Bomber 2-1 in the winner's match to earn first place in that group and a spot in the Ro16.

Unfortunately, I think Arthur may have more difficulty here than he did previously. Arthur relied heavily on a series of aggression, timings, and all-ins to defeat Bomber. Even if he changes his strategies up, his opponents will not underestimate him this time around. Arthur's first match will be a PvZ against the Chinese zerg TooDming, a matchup that we did not see from Arthur in the Ro32 which makes it even harder to call. Arthur proved in his first group that he is not intimidated by fan favorites and is in the WCS to win no matter who his opponents may be. He comes into this group as an underdog again which, if the Ro32 is anything to judge by, is exactly where he thrives.

After Jim and MacSed caused a stir in 2013, ZoO.TooDming is the third Chinese player to make it to the live rounds of WCS America. Like Arthur, TooDming comes in having pulled off a fairly large upset in the Ro32, defeating Scarlett 2-0 in order to advance in second place from his group. Also like Arthur, TooDming did not show us any ZvP in the Ro32, so it is hard to guess what his current form in the matchup may be. He did recently run the Chinese Protoss Gauntlet in the Ifeng Electronic Sports Cup, so he is seemingly coming into the group with strong ZvP. He isn't a particularly well known player, but we've learned by now that it's dangerous to underestimate the underdogs. With some luck and some good strategies, he could be the third Chinese player to make the final eight.

On the other hand, iG.MacSed is a Chinese player who has established himself as a well-known regular in WCS America, coming off two consecutive Ro8 appearances in the tournament. MacSed has evolved from a player who relied mostly on catching his opponents off guard with strange, aggressive builds into a generally solid and strong Protoss. While it is reasonable to suggest that his Ro32 group (vs Sen and puCK) was one of the weaker groups, he barely looked pressured on his way to advancing in first place. Basically he played like a Premier League regular should and he should be considered a favorite to advance here. He has the distinct advantage over both Arthur and TooDming in that he has played in the offline tournament environment of WCS America before. MacSed is certainly a strong contender in the group, but his first opponent is one of the best terrans in Starcraft 2 history: Liquid`Taeja.

Liquid`TaeJa comes into this group in an extremely strange and precarious position. After winning five major tournaments in 2013, Taeja has hit a slump. When you lose 1-3 to SortOf at ASUS ROG and drops a series 0-2 to MajOr in WCS, all guarantees about advancement are off.

With Taeja experiencing some fairly serious wrist issues, there is potential for the group favorite to be knocked out right here in the Ro16. However, Taeja has shown some better form since his narrow advancement from the Ro32. He was able to defeat both Stardust and Life in the IEM World Championships before losing to eventual champion sOs. He showed some susceptibility to blink play at that tournament which is something that the protoss players of the group will take note of. TaeJa could show up in form and dominate the group, or play completely uninspired and early GG into a Ro16 elimination. Or perhaps he'll play somewhere in between. In any case, TaeJa is still a favorite in the group, but is in the most danger of elimination in his entire WCS career.

Predictions!

There is no doubt that Taeja is vulnerable in his present form. However, I am taking him as the group winner for several reasons. He showed good form at IEM, has had much more offline tournament experience than the rest of his group, and has traditionally shown the strongest play out of anyone in the group. The group becomes a little more convoluted looking at the other three players in the group. TooDming against Arthur could swing either way as there isn't much information on the PvZ matchup for either player. A TooDming vs MacSed match could be very interesting as the two have met in 9 bo3's with TooDming holding the winning record 5-4. In the end I am going to go with the two that have shown the best WCS results in the past.

Arthur > TooDming
MacSed < Taeja
Arthur < Taeja
TooDming < MacSed
Arthur < MacSed

Taeja and MacSed advance.

Ro16 Group D: Polt, XiGua, CranK, Bomber

by peanuts

After an intense first day, WCS AM continues (and concludes) the Round of 16 with Group D. Featuring 3 fan favorites, a former champion, and a member of the Chinese trio, the group is sure to have brilliant play and memorable games.

CM.Storm's Polt has a lot to live up to. In 2013, he became the first, and only, player to win back to back seasons of WCS America. Across Seasons 2 and 3, the Korean Terran showed that his play had not deteriorated since his move to America, but, in fact, had achieved its greatest heights yet. Throughout the tournaments, Polt demonstrated a solid grasp of all three matchups, refusing to cede any weaknesses. His momentum has seemed to carry through to this year, if not continue to grow further.

The 5 Star General started off the year with a bang, just narrowly losing to HerO in the IEM Cologne grand finals. Amidst a flood of woes from other Terrans regarding the power of Protoss, Polt simply pushed through. Playing his heart out every step of the way, Polt showed an even stronger emphasis on his already formidable drop play. With a flair for sniping Nexuses, Polt was able to take a perfect group score, as well as take out top Korean Protosses in Classic and Rain. At IEM Katowice, Polt continued this trend. After spectacularly winning a Bo5 with a single reaper, Polt went on to slowly and systematically pick apart the previous GSL champion Dear. All this being said, we haven’t seen a single ZvT from Polt since IEM Sao Paulo, where he played two games against a Brazilian Zerg in group stages, which means XiGua could be a potentially dangerous opponent.

iG.XiGua is making his Premier League debut with this season of WCS. Once known as the best player in all of China, XiGua followed a common Zerg pattern of experiencing a slump after the eradication of BL-Infestor, only to reestablish himself recently as a strong player. His Ro32 play, though good enough to carry him to the next round, did seem sloppy at times. He often fell victim to harassment and crumbled under early pressure from HuK. However, when allowed to macro up and play on his terms, the Chinese Zerg showed fearsome attacks and wonderful engagements. If he can bring his top play, XiGua could create yet more upsets over the Koreans.

AX.CranK is a player who simply refuses to give up. After the disbanding of SlayerS, CranK went on to play independently before being signed to Axiom. As team captain, CranK has led his team to incredible success in team leagues, considering their relatively small roster. CranK himself has tended to fair decently in these competitions, most recently having a 13-8 record in Acer Teamstory Cup.

However, CranK has yet to find the same success in individual competition. Despite a solid macro game as well as a few reliable all-ins, CranK’s best result to date was a 3rd place finish at Lone Star Clash 2. That being said, he’s still produced decent, reliable results, with two Ro32 finishes, as well as a Ro8. CranK has continued to push forward, striving for an eventual individual championship title.

RedBull_Bomber is coming off of the best year of his Starcraft 2 career. With a win at the Season 2 Global Finals, and Ro4 appearances in GSL and Blizzcon, Bomber seemed to reach the peak of his play. However, Bomber has suffered some discouraging losses after BlizzCon, getting eliminated from IEM Sao Paulo by TLO while losing in the WCS America Ro32 to Arthur's blink all-ins.

As the king of making stuff, Bomber’s specialty has always been a full out, constant attack. Steady streams of Marine/Tank across the map allow him to put pressure on his opponents, no matter the situation. When drawn into the late game, Bomber shows excellent decision making, picking engagements carefully and deliberately. In TvT, he shows a prowess for shattering siege lines and pressing the issue, often driving his opponents as far back as their naturals.

Predictions:

As the defending champion, Polt is the clear favorite to advance from the group. He’s shown that he is still in top form, ready to take on whoever comes his way. Though he’s mostly been showing a prowess in TvP lately, historically, he’s no slouch when it comes to TvZ. XiGua, though a strong beacon of hope for the Chinese scene, is just slightly out of his depth in his initial match. However, going up against Crank, he has the advantage of having in-house practice against Jim and MacSed, two of the best foreign Protosses. Both Bomber and Polt have a strong shot at taking the winner’s match, and a match between the two could go either way.

Polt > XiGua
Crank < Bomber
Polt > Bomber
XiGua > Crank
Bomber > XiGua

Only one thing is certain. Roughly 1200 Marines will die.

Polt and Bomber advance.

Writers: Darkhorse, peanuts
Photos: ESL
Editor: Waxangel