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![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Meru/2014/WCS_EU/Season2/WCS_EU_s2_3races.jpg)
Day 2 of WCS Challenger League concluded, and as the smoke settled, 5 more Europeans made their way into Premier League. The day was action packed, with close series and total stomps.
![[image loading]](/staff/lichter/WCSEU/2014/Season3/wcseuclgrpb.jpg)
The evening kicked off with a bout between Miniraser and DeMusliM, two players who have not had the best of years in 2014. God Save the Queen, because a widow mine buff couldn’t. DeMusliM found himself outplayed by Miniraser at almost every turn in their series, getting caught out by roach timings and Mini’s superb micro. The young Swede took only good engagements, playing very aggressive to counter DeMusliM’s greedy play. The Fnatic Zerg wasn’t averse to risky play himself, however, going for an early muta strategy in the final game. The risk was one well taken, as he was able to put DeMuslim on the back foot, giving himself room to get a strong economy and flood the Brit’s half of the map with units. In the end, Miniraiser ended up becoming the first Swedish player to advance, taking the set 3-1. DeMusliM became the first player from Premier to drop out of WCS EU Season 3 (not including Krr and BabyKnight), a distinction he will definitely not relish.
That trend continued as Serral took the second set of the evening 3 - 2 over FireCake. It was not without drama, however, as the first map had a dash of controversy. FireCake attempted a 9 pool on Overgrowth, which Serral easily held. FireCake then paused, demanding that Serral remove the vanity Ling skin, reviving the old johns of players being unable to accurately count the number of units. Despite the poor start, FireCake still managed to take the match after a back and forth of roach hydra, eventually teching to BLs. Taking a similar approach in Game 2, FireCake went for early roach aggression, forcing Serral into unfavorable engagements, ultimately taking the match.
However, if there's one thing that Serral has shown in his games against top Koreans, it's his resolve and ability to stay cool under intense pressure. He would bounce back with equally aggressive roach play in the next game, also utilizing mass corruptors to negate the BL transition this time around. The mYi Zerg may also have the only effective usage of nydus this year, using the passages to harass and draw FireCake's army out of position. The next two games showcased the young Finn's impressive micro: one match an impressive display of concaves, fungals, and hydra micro in roach-hydra wars, and the other in ling aggression and full frontal roach attacks.
The third set of the day was a tale of survival. BlinG was fighting for his Premier life and trying to break in to the Ro16 for a second time this year. SortOf, on the other hand, was trying to keep the Alliance name afloat in Starcraft 2. What ensued was a dramatic brawl between the two.
BlinG decided to open with stargate in the first three games, using oracles for scouting and some economic harassment. The first two games were tales of engagements, as an excellent fight for the protoss on Overgrowth spelled SortOf's doom, while a poor blink from 6gates of stalkers destined BlinG to defeat. Game 3, however, was arguably one of the best of the evening. Both players shifted gears as BlinG warped in a fast third base while SortOf sat back on ling infestor on his way to ultras. A poor move out from BlinG with templar, void rays and gateway units was slammed by SortOf's defenses, but the British Bad Boy hung on. His double robo paid dividends as it allowed him to halt the march of SortOf's ultralisks, but BlinG was bleeding from runbys on his infrastructure. Against all odds, he was able to chronoboost enough phoenix to combat the oncoming muta switch, and an improbable victory in a key engagement gave him the opportunity to close out the game. The series would not go on much longer, as BlinG's gateway pressure into all-in broke SortOf's third and the Swede's resolve for a 3-1 win.
When two of the top players of their respective nations square off, the result is bound to be amazing. The 4th set today was exhilarating, with both player bringing their best play. Lilbow, showing excellent decision making, managed to net himself a 2-0 lead, with impressive performances on King Sejong and Overgrowth. It seemed KrasS would need a miracle to come out the victor of the series. But luckily for the German, he had a bag of tricks to pull of the improbable, and in it was a few hellbats. Playing a ghost heavy style for the next two games, KrasS would simply come out too far ahead in late game engagements for the XMG player to come back from. With his trusty Hellions making an appearance in the final match, KrasS managed to grasp the Premier League spot after an exhausting bout. It marks a return to Premier for the German Terran, who had missed out in Seasons 1 and 2.
The final match of the evening would end up being the most one sided. After the success of Team Norway at Nation Wars, TargA looked to carry on the momentum and hype with a solid victory in Challenger. Germany, noticeably absent from the NW semis, decided that today was the day to exact revenge. Coming off of his countryman’s victory, ShoWTimE played to his strengths, utilizing aggressive timings and brilliant micro. Though he kicked off the set with an all-in, the game didn’t set the tempo of the set, as the Protoss followed it up with two long macro games. Even with economic play, ShoWTimE still managed to be the aggressor in every game, shoving TargA on the ropes almost immediately. The ESC Protoss became the 3rd and final German Player to make it through to Premier League.
Premier League Ro32 Players from Challenger League (5/16)
BlinG, 
ShoWTimE
uThermal, 
jjakji, 
Bunny, MMA, KrasS 
TLO, 
Miniraser, 
SerralPremier League Ro32 Players from Last Season's Ro16 (16/16)
Welmu, 
MaNa, Harstem, San, 
ToD, First, StarDust, MC, Grubby YoDa, ForGG Nerchio, 
Snute, Golden, 
LiveZerg, 
VortiXNext: WCS EU Challenger League Day 2
Friday, Aug 01 3:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
MorroW vs MvpAdonminus vs HappyKas vs TefelBly vs StephanoLillekanin vs PatienceRet vs DayshiBlinG Beams Back to Premier
After breaking through to the Round of 16 in WCS EU Season 1, BlinG fell in the Round of 32 in a rematch against MaNa. As Britain's brightest hope, the Dignitas Protoss did well to make it back to Premier League for a third season in a row. Peanuts had a little chat with BlinG to talk about his good year so far.
TL: In your pre game interview, you mentioned that your PvZ has “never been very good”. Do you view this set as a show that you’re still growing stronger as a player?
BlinG: Yeah I'd like to think so. I mean this past year I've had a lot of setbacks with my gaming due to personal issues and such, but I think it's a good indication of how I can perform when I'm fully focused and hopefully I can keep on improving in this kind of fashion.
TL: In the second game, you went for a blink all in. Historically, blink play has worked out well for you. Why do you think the build didn’t work out this go around?
BLinG: I think I made a few micro mistakes which maybe could've made things go slightly differently. Him sniping my first initial proxy pylon didn't help either as it delayed me slightly. Overall he defended it really well in my opinion.
TL: Your mother is famously supportive of you. Is her support a mental boost for you in tournaments?
BLinG: Yeah I guess you could say it is. It motivates me that little bit more knowing that if I win she'll be going absolutely crazy running around the house or something haha.
TL: Talk about Game 3. You were behind for a significant portion of the game, yet managed to turn around the momentum several times. How did you keep your cool and keep the victory in sight?
BLinG: Well every time I played on that map in practice games, they would always kind of play out in the same way and the game against SortOf stayed true to that for me. Admittedly I lost all of the practice games but the losses really helped me understand the map a lot more and what I needed to do to turn the losses into a win. Also PiG helped me out a lot and gave me some things to keep in mind which definitely seemed to work out for me so big thanks to him!
TL: How important was the recent buff to Probe Party Hat to your victory?
BLinG: I'd love to respond with a funny or smart answer but I literally had no idea the party hat got buffed. Bit of a shame if I'm honest because I probably could've played into it a bit more but I still won so it's not all that bad.
TL: Now that you’re back into Premier League, what are your hopes for the season?
BLinG: I would love to be able to make it to the Ro16 again, that's my first goal. My hope on the other hand is to win the whole thing, but I'm usually pretty realistic about things.
TL: Your final words were that you wanted to win, because you felt you had had disappointing results. How important is this result to you and what does it signify in terms of the goals you’ve had for your play this year?
BLinG: Yeah I mean there's no denying that my results have been pretty lackluster as of late but this win really meant a lot to me. It really reassured myself that if I dedicate myself properly, I can achieve what I know I'm capable of, so I'm definitely looking forward to the next chapter.
TL: How Hype are you for Halo 2 Anniversary?
BLinG: I'm actually pretty hyped for it to be honest. H2 was by far the most fun out of all the Halos. Will be good to jump on it again with some old friends for sure! (It’s gonna be so sick)
Note: (I just want to thank BlinG for this interview. He changed his schedule to accommodate it and was very understanding of a delay.)
