by stuchiu

Four minutes remained on the clock. Four chances remained for the foreigners to win a premier tournament in 2013.

Tick. TaeJa lifted the trophy at DreamHack Winter.

Tick. herO celebrated with cartwheels at IEM Singapore.

Tick. The final WCG title went to Soulkey.

One minute to midnight. Scarlett stood alone as the last hope for foreign fans, reaching the finals of ASUS ROG NorthCon. Her opponent was Jaedong, a player with his own world of pressure weighing down on his shoulders. He had taken second place five times on the year, and was determined not to end it with six. Even if it meant stepping on the dreams of the foreign StarCraft 2 scene.

Tick. Jaedong 4, Scarlett 2.

Boom.


And so, 2013 ended with a Korean sweep of premier tournaments. There had been close calls and narrow defeats, but in the end, those moral victories did little to soften the pain of complete and utter defeat.

Yet, it was not the end of hope. As long as even one player player dared to challenge the Koreans and at least one fan remained to cheer him on, hope would live, however faintly. But who would carry the tattered, battle-worn banner? Stephano had retired. Naniwa was losing interest in the game. Scarlett was burdened with wrist pain. The three pillars of 2012-2013 were crumbling, and no one seemed ready to step up as we headed into a new year. Even if hope remained, it seemed doomed to survive only as a faraway fantasy.

Or, perhaps, we just had to start looking in new places. Completely unheralded and unexpected, Taiwan's Sen won one of the first live tournaments of the year in the ECL. Sen and an entire brigade of Chinese Protosses trampled over the two Korean participants in MMA and Supernova, claiming the top four spots in the tournament.

Though it was not the premier tournament victory that foreign fans so desired, it the first in many small victories on the year. With Chinese and Taiwanese players offered more spots in WCS America's reorganized system, they took advantage of their expanded opportunities to challenge Korea's dominance in that league. Top eliminated viOLet. XiGua helped knock out Season 1 champion HerO. Has scored the biggest upset of all, eliminating Jaedong in the Ro32.

Even the North American scene started show signs of new strength. The Canadian-American HuK defeated HerO as he advanced to the Ro16 of WCS America. Mexican Terran MajOr, though unable to make a single deep run, racked up wins against players like Polt, Taeja, and Bbyong across multiple tournaments. The sixteen year-old Terran Neeb made his first WCS Ro16 appearance, even giving Polt a run for his money in the Ro32.

Unfortunately, foreigner momentum in WCS America has been halted. The Koreans proved to be even better when playing in ESL's Cologne than they had at Red Bull's Santa Monica studio in 2013, eliminating every single foreigner to form WCS America's first-ever all-Korean top eight.

While the Americas remain in ruins until season two, a chance for redemption still remains in Europe. Producing champions like Stephano, NaNiwa, MaNa and Nerchio, Europe has always been the most resilient bastion of the foreign scene. Even with the decline or disappearance of the aforementioned four, Europe lived up to its reputation in 2014.

TLO got to the semi-finals in IEM Sao Paulo, shooting down Bomber along the way. HasuObs had a magical run at the IEM Katowice open qualifier, where he defeated both Jaedong and Leenock.

NaNiwa's abrupt departure from the SC2 scene seemed to deliver a critical blow to the European cause, as he had accounted for half the foreign scene's finals appearance in 2013. But no sooner was an void opened up by NaNiwa, than other players have rushed to fill it. Three players in particular look to achieve what NaNiwa could not in 2013: keep the WCS Europe Premier League trophy at home.


The first and most familiar name is VortiX. The Spanish Zerg first rose to prominence in 2012 by placing 2nd in WCS Europe (a region-locked event at that point). Like many other European Zergs, VortiX's star seemed to fade with the release the HotS. However, he has slowly brought his performances back up to his old level, proving that his past successes were not just a product of the BL-infestor era.

Some might say VortiX has even surpassed his previous prime. In the WCS Europe Ro32, VortiX didn't just escape the group of death, he dominated it. By going 4-0 against MMA and Mvp, VortiX showed that not even GSL champions intimidated him. VortiX also won the Vasacast Invitational, an online tournament where all of the best Koreans residing in Europe competed. He beat three of them to claim first place: MMA, Stardust and Jjakji. All three of them still remain in WCS Europe, standing between VortiX and the championship.

The second player to rise was Snute. Snute came close to stopping the Korean sweep in 2013 when he reached the finals of HomeStory Cup 7, but he only ended up kickstarting the Summer of TaeJa. After his 4-3 win over Snute at HSC, TaeJa went on to win four more championships before the year was out, the most of any Korean player. As for Snute, his trajectory went straight down afterward, suffering elimination from WCS America and failing to place high in any subsequent tournaments.

However, Snute has finally been able to get back on track in 2014. Perhaps his training at the CJ Entus house is finally paying off. Or perhaps, as Snute himself speculates, he's benefiting from laddering against the many Koreans who have moved to Europe. In any case, things are looking up for the Norwegian Zerg. At Seatstory Cup (a miniature version of HomeStory Cup), he beat Hyun 4-2 to take the championship. His good form has continued in WCS Europe, where he has reached the quarterfinals by defeating Dayshi and jjakji. As the last European to win a premier tournament before Korean players won the next 37 consecutively, Snute could end the streak.

Last, but not least, Welmu will also be challenging for the WCS Europe title. Welmu had always been respected throughout the EU scene for his skill, especially when it came to PvP. The Protoss mirror played a huge part in Welmu's best tournament result of 2013, a top six finish in WCS Europe Season 2. However he never seemed to be more than 'just another strong Protoss,' unable to make the leap to a higher level. Until Acer TeamStory Cup 3.

Taking advantage of loose tournament regulations, a coalition of Koreans had entered the ATC3 qualifiers with an eye to claim Europe's top team title as well. The team, aptly named the "Bounty Hunters," consisted of a formidable roster of MC, First, YoDa, HyuN, and Real. ATC was on the verge of facing serious controversy due to the participation of the Bounty Hunters, but any potential drama was put to rest before it even started. Welmu walloped the Bounty Hunters with an incredible all-kill, sending them crashing out of the qualifiers while earning his own team NewRoSoft a spot in the main tournament. Welmu's Korean-beating ways have extended to WCS Europe, where he has recorded a 2-1 victory against MMA so far.

What we have in WCS Europe seems too good to be true. After suffering complete and utter defeat in 2013, foreigners have a realistic shot at winning a Premier League title. VortiX, Snute, and Welmu are all catching fire at just the right time, playing some of the best StarCraft 2 of their careers just before the WCS Europe quarterfinals. All of their initial opponents seem eminently beatable: Vortix just recently defeated jjakji in the VasaCast finals, Snute looked closely matched with MMA despite losing their recent head-to-heads, while Welmu challenges San with what might be the best PvP in Europe.

Three foreigners. Three chances. Of course, we all know this could all end in yet another disappointment. Another almost. Another time the dream ended and gave way to harsh reality.

Do we dare believe?