EPTRo16: Group D Preview
Countdown:
by XXTN
There were no surprises last night as
Polt and Bomber advanced to the quarterfinals. So far Terrans have gone 3-for-3 in the Ro16 with TaeJa and MajOr looking to perfect the sweep. Will HyuN be the lone Zerg in the Ro8 or will viOLet be joining him? Joining these three is the ultimate WCS America wildcard - Arthur. The Ro16 finishes with a bang tonight.Coming off his best performance of the year at MLG Anaheim,
viOLet will try to carry that momentum into WCS America. viOLet’s golden age and the results he made his name with all lie a while back: in 2012 he won an MLG, finished second at a massively stacked IPL5 and second in NASL S4. In sharp contrast to those stellar finishes, he has failed to reproduce the same type of success in HotS. Being a student in the US and fighting against visa issues certainly did not help his cause. However, his recent showings at LSC, Red Bull NA, and Anaheim should finally spark some hope in viOLet's fans again. Now he's back in Premier League and looking for his first WCS Ro8 appearance. Could viOLet be on his way back to the summit?He may well be if he can get through a group that includes one of the world’s top Terrans and a cheesy Protoss who’s shown strong resistance to fan favorites. Against Terran, viOLet plays multiple styles including roach/hydra as well as the standard ling/bane/muta. As for his ZvP, viOLet seems to prefer early pressure with large roach/ling numbers to either finish the game or buy time to transition into a Swarm Host composition. In conclusion, viOLet is a crafty and versatile Zerg who prefers early aggression but also won’t shy away from the late game.
His first opponent of the night however is the Mexican Terran player,
ROOT.MajOr, the lone foreigner in the group (unless we count viOLet as American). In 2013, MajOr moved to Korea and joined Team 8, but didn’t quite experience the same rise in skill as Scarlett did. He had a poor showing at MLG (5th in pool play and eliminated in his first LB match) and only managed to beat one player at Red Bull NA. The silver lining though is that viOLet was the one player he beat at Red Bull. He also went on to defeat viOLet again in MLG group play. Now these two will face off for the fourth time in the last two weeks.This is MajOr’s first appearance in the WCS Ro16, but based on his recent performance, I would not consider him a favorite to get through a group with 3 tough Koreans. While MajOr has improved his overall understanding of the game and looks more fundamentally sound, he sometimes struggles with unconventional play or builds that he has not practiced against. This chink in his armor could prove to be fatal should he run into Arthur later on. But if he can win his first series against viOLet, MajOr may stand a chance against TaeJa in the Winners' Match given that TvT is traditionally his strongest matchup. Nevertheless, it will be a long and arduous road to the quarterfinals for the Mexican Terran.
After disproving all the doubters by reaching the quarterfinals of Season 1,
Spectre.Arthur finds himself back in the Ro16. In his previous appearances Arthur turned heads by placing first in a Ro32 group containing both Jaedong and Bomber. As his success was built on cheesy builds and timing attacks though, many saw his Ro8 achievement as a mere fluke. Now he’s back in the Ro16 with a decent chance to repeat his quarterfinal result. Critics could be silenced en masse if Arthur were to advance tonight. Though he's certainly a heavy underdog against the Prince of Summer, Arthur’s antics could very well work against viOLet and MajOr. Both barely have any experience against Arthur and have also been travelling recently (Red Bull and MLG), making it simple for Arthur to study his opponents while not being in the spotlight himself - Arthur almost exclusively competes in online cups, giving him plenty of time to focus on his WCS group. So if he shows up prepared with refined and well-rehearsed builds, Arthur could potentially get the drop on two unexpecting players. Will this be the group that turns Arthur into a Premier League mainstay or will his anti-fans get to be right this time?
Unfortunately for Arthur, he’s starting the night off against potentially the hottest player in the world,
Liquid'TaeJa, whose domination of SC2 tournaments has almost become a natural association with the summer months. Weekend barbecues, trips down to the beach, family vacations, and TaeJa winning tournaments. Even at a time when Terrans are struggling, the Prince of Summer seems to be hitting his stride. Last month, TaeJa won back-to-back tournaments at HSC IX and Dreamhack: Summer, where he played a perfect tournament (17-0 if you discount his loss to the champagne bottle). He defeated MC 4-0 for his 3rd consecutive HSC title and then beat HerO 3-0 in the DH finals.
Those results against two arguably stronger PvTers definitely do not bode well for Arthur. Neither does their previous encounter in last season's Ro16 which TaeJa handily won 2-0. Judging from both statistics and his recent games, TaeJa doesn’t have any particular weaknesses. He can be very aggressive in TvP and push the issue early on, but also has phenomenal late game ghost/viking control. TaeJa's TvT has always been stable and strong while at the same time being unpredictable - mech, bio, marine/tank. You name it, TaeJa can do it. As for his TvZ, TaeJa is very well aware of the current strength of marauder/hellbat pushes, but won't shy away from playing a standard bio/mine game either.
Summer is upon us. It's TaeJa's time.
Predictions
Based on his recent form, I fully expect TaeJa to advance in first. This leaves three evenly matched players all vying for that second place finish. As far as viOLet vs MajOr goes, I’m giving the upper hand to MajOr because he’s beaten viOLet at Red Bull and MLG, and now knows what to expect from the Korean Zerg. However, the real deciding factor for this group will be Arthur’s performance: can he pull off the upsets or will his antics be countered? Since TaeJa and Arthur advanced from last season’s Ro16 together, I believe they will do it again.
viOLet < MajOr
TaeJa > Arthur
viOLet < Arthur
TaeJa > MajOr
Arthur > MajOr
TaeJa and Arthur advance!
