EPTWCS America Group E Preview
by Trasko
As we passed the halfway mark of the Ro32 last season, 100% of the people who advanced were Korean. At the end of the round, only 2 foreigners had made it to the Ro16. Many expected the same trend to continue, but as we pass the middle point of the round this season, we already have 3 foreigners into the Ro16, with at least one more certain. Group E might contribute to that number as the protoss duo of Arium and HuK hope to displace Korean Zergs viOLet and Revival.
The player with the most momentum entering this group is
viOLet. After dropping off the map due to VISA issues and other complications, there were questions whether or not he could get back to his best as one of the region's top zergs. With an impressive third place at MLG Anaheim, viOLet silenced those doubters and proved that he was back in shape after a long hiatus. viOLet also managed to get as far as the round of 8 in last season's WCS AM Premier League, a feat that many dream of but few achieve. With a more stable living situation in Georgia now that viOLet has his athlete's visa, it looks like the Surgeon Zerg is set for greater things. Though he is still without a sponsor, he stated in an interview with Acer that he somewhat enjoyed having no sponsors, and he preferred his freedom over the restrictions of living with a team. Back when he was on Azubu, he was able to claim two silver medals. If he feels better now than he ever has, then that's a scary proposition for any of his opponents.If he's truly back in shape, some would argue that it's only a matter of time before he claims his first Heart of the Swarm title. As an ex-Warcraft 3 player, viOLet's skillful micro and multitasking will come in handy against the likes of HuK and Revival, and while his ZvT is statistically his weakest matchup, he won't need it tonight. With a 63% winrate in both ZvP and ZvZ, it looks like he is well equipped to handle this first hurdle to the success he's waited so long to reach.
One fact that many of WCS AM's top zergs such as HyuN and viOLet share is their delight in competing (and winning) Playhem Daily tournaments.
Revival, however, is the king as he's won 42 of them. This is an incredible feat considering these tournaments are the battlegrounds of the strongest foreign players, as well as adopted foreigners like HyuN and viOLet. The former EG zerg has stuck around in the region despite his release from the team, but he has made a comeback since his sponsorship with CM Storm. Revival is actually one of the most successful players in WCS AM as he was runner up in its very first season, and he barely lost to his former teammate Oz in the semi final of 2014's season 1. Even though Revival has never been known as one of the best Korean players since his acquisition by TSL back in 2010, he's always been in the background, placing decently in Korea and reaching knockout stages in many foreign tournaments. This is now his 6th WCS AM Premier League participation in a row and he has both eyes on the gold. Another player who has been a WCS AM Premier League participant for 6 seasons in a row is
HuK. On the one hand, HuK is a player that often doesn't get enough credit for being one of the only foreigners to survive in Code S or win three premiere tournaments in his career. On the other hand, most of those accomplishments occurred in 2011, and he hasn't made a Ro8 since NASL Season 3 back in July 2012. A quick glance at his match history reveals he's no longer the road warrior of years past, but he's still a staple of the American tournament circuit and DreamHack. He's yet to do better than 4th in the Ro16, but few foreigners have.His kryptonite in the latter rounds of tournaments is always someone from Korea. He has no problems taking down players like Scarlett, hendralisk, and any of NA's contenders, and he's even won a Bo9 against Snute. Since leaving Korea however, it seems like he's forgotten how to beat players from that country. The last time Huk won against a Korean player in an official (non-qualifier) match was all the way back in May against HerO in Season 2. He did beat viOLet at MSI Beat It qualifiers 2-0, so it looks like viOLet does not possess immunity to HuK's shenanigans. That may just be enough to see him through.
Our final contender is someone who surprised us all with his win in the WCS AM Challenger League:
Arium. The wunderkind was signed by My Insanity after becoming the youngest player in Premier League, and he will aim to exhaust players into submission and continue his WCS journey. This time around however, he's faced with more seasoned players than someone like Courage, his Challenger League opponent. In his games, Arium showed that he liked to go for quick and early aggression against his zerg opponent, but he was not afraid of playing macro games either. His final game against Courage also displayed the resiliency required in playing from behind, and he will have to call on that same quality to overcome his inexperience. This season may be a little too soon for the pubescent protoss, but don't be surprised if he's grown a few inches since we last saw him.Overall Predictions:
This WCS AM Premier League season has had a couple of upsets with plenty of foreign player's overcoming their Korean counterparts. iaguz's first place advancement in a group that contained Jim, NesTea and Alicia has been the talk of the town, and Neeb's tussle with Guitarcheese sadly only resulted in the former making the Ro16. The last season of the year is prime time for more surprises. Whilst it's hard to argue for someone like Arium to come out as number one in this group due to a lack of an established play-history, the recent mYi signing did best iaguz and ViBE at MLG Anaheim. That's the same tournament where viOLet announced his return to the upper echelon of America's talent, but he has still lost questionable games to players he was once certain to beat. Revival is perhaps the only player who's been fairly consistent in what he's been able to achieve, but he hasn't looked like a contender for several seasons now. Last but not least, HuK's reign as the top foreigner may have passed, but he has proven that he can comfortably make it to the round of 16 over and over again.
viOLet > Arium
Revival > HuK
Arium < HuK
viOLet > Revival
HuK > Revival
viOLet and HuK advance to the round of 16. 
