EPT
Trap Wins MLG Anaheim
The yearly tradition continues. For the 4th year in a row, MLG have held their largest event of the year at Anaheim, and for the 4th year in a row, a new champion has taken the crown.
IM.Trap, the former STX_Soul Protoss fought his way through the loser’s bracket to take home the gold. Just barely making it to MLG by winning the Korean qualifier, Trap has proven that he was worth his place and then some. With brilliant micro, excellent planning, and a mindset of steel, the Korean slowly pushed through the competition, taking out 2 past Anaheim champions (DongRaeGu and Polt) in the process. The IM Protoss made the victory over the latter look almost easy, with two back to back 2-0s in Grand Finals, displaying wonderful play and an ability to switch between Colossi and Templar heavy compositions. In his PvZs, Trap showed a willingness to draw out the game, using a classic macro heavy style to slowly build up a deathball and steamroll his opponents. However, in his set against Scarlett, he also showed that he was not averse to cheesing it up, utilizing a strong timing push to neutralize the Canadian Zerg. For Trap, it was his first MLG appearance and his first MLG victory (And IM's 2nd, with Mvp taking 1st place at Anaheim in 2011).viOLet is the New Black
Trap’s was not the only story of success at the event though. Perhaps one of the happiest stories was the successful return of
viOLet. A former MLG and IEM champion, viOLet had fallen off since his visa fiasco in 2013, performing poorly in tournaments and looking unable to adapt to the current meta. However, things are on the up and up for the new American immigrant. After topping his Ro32 group in WCS, viOLet showed a strong performance at RedBull Battlegrounds North America. But he truly came into the fore this weekend. Topping his pool with a 6-1 set record, ViOLet set the stage for a spectacular performance. In the championship bracket, he would handily defeat Ragnarok 2-0, before being bested by his housemate Polt in an 0-2 loss. Though he would be taken down by Trap 2-1 to be left with 3rd place, this was viOLet’s best placement in over a year and a half. His play, as well as his demeanor, looked energized all weekend, though only time will tell if it will be sustainable.The Open Bracket Returns
This Anaheim saw the return of the Open Bracket. Over 200 people entered, among them Life, Leenock, Choya, Thorzain, NonY, HerO, Bomber, Jaedong, HyuN, Revival, Suppy, State, Harstem, Alicia and about a dozen others. Even Destiny came over from EVE to throw his hat into the mix. With a slew of old school fan favorites, current top Koreans, and MLG stalwarts, the competition was harsh, fierce and full of incredible matches. RedBull.Bomber would find his way to the championship bracket after defeating Jaedong, Leenock and Keen. The newly minted D.Seed surprised everyone by revealing that he did indeed still play Stacraft, reaching LR 3 of the championship bracket, netting himself 9th place and 125 WCS points. Life didn’t surprise anyone at all with an impressive run in open bracket, taking down Thorzain, Choya and Alicia. However, he did have an uncharacteristic early exit being bested by Scarlett 2-1.Scarlett Fever
MLG wouldn't be the same without a strong foreigner performance, and this go around, the honor was allAcer.Scarlett’s. The Canadian Zerg, coming off of months of practice in Korea has finally been reappearing at foreign events. Kicking off the summer spree with a Ro4 finish at HSC IX, Scarlett has capitalized on the hype by finishing 1st at RedBull Battle Grounds North America. At MLG she would make the best run of her career. After taking 4th in her group, she would start her Championship Bracket in LR 3, playing against ST.Life. Defeating Life in style with two completely different types of play (a slow death push on Frost and a baneling/speedling all-in on Overgrowth), she would move on to face DongRaeGu in the next round. After falling to a Zergling heavy play on Habitation, she would shock everyone by choosing Protoss for game 2. As everyone waited for her to switch at the last second, Scarlett was slowly reviewing the build in her head. A map dependent all-in that she had planned to use at Anaheim (only against certain greedy Zergs), the 1-gas, 7-gate all-in took DRG by surprise. After opening 3 hatch, he was taken aback by the sudden influx of Zealots and Stalkers. Though he held for longer than expected, after a long back and forth and with impressive micro and perfectly positioned Zealot warp-ins, Scarlett would take the game and then the set. After another win over Ragnarok, she found herself playing against Trap for a spot in LB Finals. Starting the set off with a loss to early gateway pressure on Overgrowth, the Acer Zerg would tie it up after a macro game on Alterzim. Sadly, indecision would spell her end on Frost, as she tossed away an early lead by not committing to an attack for some time, allowing the Protoss to destroy her economy and build his own deathball for the win. Despite losing to Trap, Scarlett's run was filled with Korean championship contenders and GSL Champions. It was quietly one of the strongest foreigner vs Korean performances we had ever seen in a single tournament, and it bolsters Scarlett's reputation as perhaps the only legitimate foreign hope. She did turn to the dark side of her most hated Protoss race, but I think we can all forgive her for that one.
peanuts' last words: "Yo, West Coast got lucky at crew battle. Mango and Lucky carried y'all. We win 9 times out of 10. REMATCH AT BIG HOUSE 4. "
