While KeSPA is frequently the target of harsh criticism for their sometimes puzzling behavior and strange ways of approaching extraneous competition, the organization has played an important role in SC2 this year. With the way this year's WCS was set up, players remaining in Korea for most of the year were always going to have a rough time making the cut for the Global Finals at Blizzcon. With this in mind, the KeSPA Cup (a WCS Tier 1 Event) truly has the potential to become a saving grace for many of the attending players and the first big stage ever for others.
Of the 16 attending players, 8 were invited based on performances in Proleague or WCS Season 2. The finalists from all three regions - Bomber and Pigbaby from America, soO and Classic from Korea, San and Stardust from Europe - along with the two top performers in Proleague's regular rounds, sOs and herO. The remaining eight are the victors of the incredibly stacked online qualifiers. With Blizzcon drawing closer, the KeSPA Cup is the last chance for a lot of players to keep their names on the list of potential attendees and with a single elimination Bo5 format, we are in for one of the best tournaments of the year.
As such, this might be one of the most difficult tournaments we could ever try to predict. Every single match from the Ro16 onward could swing either way, and it's unlikely that things will go according to expectations. All it takes is one upset to make a mess of predictions, and that's what makes single elimination tournaments so compelling. Much like March Madness, formats like these encourage everyone to guess just how things will turn out. TL Writers has had the monopoly on making predictions on this site, so we thought it would be a fun exercise to encourage everyone to make their own bracket, just to see who gets lucky.
How To Make a Bracket
Making a bracket using liquipedia sounds like a complicated task, but it actually takes just 2 minutes (not counting upload time) once you get the hang of it. Most of the writers actually didn't know how to make one, and it only took us a few minutes to figure it out. For those who want to learn how to make a bracket using liquipedia, here is a short tutorial.
Step 1: Logging in The very first step is to log in to your liquipedia account. Everyone who has a TL account has a liquipedia account, so all you have to do is use the same username and password. Search for the login button in the upper right corner of any liquipedia page and log in.
Step 2: Opening your userspace editor Once logged in, you'll see a page that informs you that there is no text on your page! Well, if you're reading this tutorial you've probably never edited anything in liquipedia before, so this is normal. What you want to do now is to edit your own page. Click on "edit this page" to open the editor. This is where you'll be doing your bracket.
Step 3: Copying the bracket Now that you have your userspace editor open, you're going to want the premade format of the tournament (in this case, KeSPA Cup) to make things easier. Search for KeSPA Cup in another tab, and look for the bracket. There is an "edit" button in the upper right corner of that section.
Click it and you'll be brought to the editor with the KeSPA Cup bracket. Select everything in the text box and copy it.
Step 4: Pasting and editing Now it's time to paste the bracket into your own userspace and start editing. Go back to the tab with your userspace editor open, and paste everything there. You now have an exact replica of the basic KeSPA Cup bracket in your userspace. If you are curious what it looks like, you can press the preview button to take a look.
Now, editing is quite easy. All you have to do is follow the syntax and plug in names, races, and the winner. Everything is already set up that all you need to do is fill it out. This is an example of a filled out Ro16 match:
[ul][*]R1D# are the players playing against each other, in this case San and ByuL. [*]R1D#race is their respective races, which also needs to be filled in. p for protoss, t for terran, z for zerg, r for random. [*]Since everyone is Korean in this tournament, their flags are already filled out. [*]R1D#score is their score in the match. In a best of 5 the maximum should be 3. These don't need to be filled out unless you want to be more detailed. [*]R1D#win is the winning state. The winner should be set as 1 while the loser should be left blank. This will bold the name in the bracket. [*]Everything else can be left untouched.[/ul]
You can click the preview button to see the effects of your changes.
Step 5: Filling out the bracket Now that you know how to edit, it's time to fill everything up. Since the KeSPA Cup starts in the Ro16, all the Ro16 players are already filled in. All you have to do is pick a winner. However, you'll have to enter each player manually from the Ro8 onwards. This is an example of a blank match:
Just like the Ro16 matches, all you have to do is fill this out. There is a header indicating the start of the code for a specific round.
R2 indicates the second round; in this case, the Ro8. W1 indicates the winner of the first match of the previous round, which is Classic vs Rogue. W2 is the winner of San vs ByuL. Fill out each entry with your predicted winner. All you have to do now is pick the winner of this match.
It's the same process for the other quarter finals, the semi finals, and the finals.
Tip: if you get lost or forget who you picked to win, or who should go into the next slot, simply preview the bracket so that you can figure out who goes where.
Step 6: Posting your bracket Once you've finished making your bracket, it's time to post it in the thread. Unfortunately, you can't post the code into the forums because you don't have HTML powers. The easiest way is to make a screenshot of your bracket in MS Paint. My preference is to use preview so that my userspace doesn't get permanently edited, but saving the page is acceptable as well. Once you have the bracket in front of you, just print screen, paste in MS Paint, and take out all the extraneous information. Save the file, upload to imgur, and discuss away.
Now that you've make a bracket, it's time to post it and defense it!
Writers' Brackets
Although we often release articles as a group after coming to an agreement on the final predictions or rankings, the writers rarely see eye to eye completely. There's a lot of arguing, mudslinging, and insults when we work on collaborative articles, and it's amazing how we haven't killed each other yet. Most of us like different players while hating each other's favorite players, and our conversations are always colorful and frequently NSFW. It's a side of TL Writing that people don't often see, and KeSPA Cup has given us the opportunity to show our dissenting opinions.
It may not be a $100K tournament, but sOs needs this win to seal his place for Blizzcon. Everyone knows the Moneybags Protoss has his eyes on the prize, and with no other tournaments for him on the horizon, this will be his last chance to book his ticket early. With no elite terrans in his way and a conga line of protoss likely to advance, there's little standing in the way of his first non-100K tournament win. Unfortunately, this is sOs, and he has as much of a chance of losing 3-0 to Reality in mind numbingly dumb ways.
lichter's Champion: sOs The Darkhorse: ByuL The Disappointment: Flash Worst Bracket: Everyone with Zest vs Rain in the finals. Wow you guys have boring opinions. Worst Prediction: XXTN - Rain > sOs? Our brackets are almost identical except for the finals. Secret demerit for you.
stuchiu
The only real surprise here is me picking Bomber over Rain. Now objectively we can look at their skill and say, surely Rain will beat Bomber. He did great in GSL, great in PL and is ranked #1 in the PR. All very true reasons. But we have to remember that at the beginning of April before GSL Season 1 had ended he called out Terran as the next broodlord/infestor. (protoss then proceeded to win 10/12 Premier Tournaments against the might of broodlord/infestor.) Now that's a strong statement, calling a race broodlord/infestor. That's the SC2 equivalent of calling someone Hitler. So I fully expect Rain to lose here because terran is approximately at least two times as strong as it was back when Rain called them the strongest race on planet Earth. The rest I just picked the favorites to win up till the finals where soO inevitably dies to a protoss.
Champion: Zest Darkhorse: Bomber Disappointment: Sorry (I want him to win the finals against sOs so I can use the tagline, Sorry sOs, no Blizzcon for YOU!)
CosmicSpiral
We'll probably have to wait another month for a terran champion in Korea. When it came to brackets, Reality, Sorry, and Bomber all got the short end of the stick. There's a decent chance Flash can persevere against soO and Rain; he's lost enough times to know flexibility is key to beating top-end competition. But that's a lesson he has yet to show, so I can't maintain any faith against soO. On the other hand, Rogue has a great chance to pull 'upsets' against Classic and ByuL.
I'm going out on a limb to bet Rain won't make it to the final. Usually it's folly to bet against the man who is 19-3 in his last 10 PvZ series. But if there's a man who can topple the best protoss in the world, it has to be his teammate. soO has generally had close series against Rain in the past and can be clutch in ZvP when the situation demands it. Furthermore, he is backed by my unadulterated hate for anything that doesn't result in a silver medal for the SKT zerg. And we can't let that happen, can we? No, soO must be sacrificed at the hands of another protoss god.
Darkhorse
With the exception of the first two matches, the Ro16 looks pretty cut and dry. Afterwards, it starts to get more interesting. I've been looking for Rogue to have a breakout performance for awhile now and this could be his chance, so I am predicting him to make the semifinals here. Zest vs sOs could be an extremely tense PvP that I could see either player winning. soO should have the advantage over Flash given his recent victory over him in Code S, and Rain has been looking like one of the best players in the world in recent days. In the end I am going to predict that soO will overcome the obstacle of the SKT killer Zest and get his revenge by winning in the finals.
banjoetheredskin
Flash still sucks in my book because he refuses to accept that CheeseDust's playstyle will eat him alive. The only reason I have soO losing to Rain is because I don't want him to retire after getting another second place. Rain beats Zest in the final to confirm SKT is best KT, and then proceeds to beat him in GSL. Only then can soO beat Rain so that he can get another second in the GSL before retiring.
Soularion
Unlike the rest of these filthy plebeians, who all root for the corrupted tosses of Zest or Rain, I have chosen our one true god. Rogue. The King of Katowice. The Rollercoaster Zerg. These are all nicknames (that nobody uses) that he possesses, and he will add one more by the end of the KeSPA Cup - Killer of Dreams. He has a budding hatred for Zest and Rain, considering they knocked him out of Code S, and he's more than ready to give righteous vengeance to those who delayed the inevitable. It's worth noting that he beat both of these at Katowice, so if he comes in looking as strong as he did then, then the games are nothing more than formality.
Soularion's Champion : Rogue The Darkhorse : Rogue The Disappointment : Flash Worst Bracket : Gemini, lichter, stuchiu, banjoe, XXTN, Zeweig - You are all heathens. Worst Prediction : Everyone listed above - picking Classic over Rogue. Seriously? Not even a good toss?
XXTN
Those of you who participate in March Madness know it's not smart to always pick the favorites. In this case, Pigbaby beating Zest would be as big an upset as Mercer eliminating Duke. This is by no means impossible: Pigbaby has an unorthodox style and a knack for preparation. As an overwhelming underdog, he took down TaeJa in WCS S2, and I believe he can do the same now to Zest. With sOs' track record of winning the biggest tournaments, I wouldn't be surprised to find him in the finals. In the end though, the ever-solid Rain has to be my favorite to take the entire tournament.
Most anticipated match:Bomber vs Rain, 2013 OSL S2 rematch Wildcard:Bomber (all depends on law or no law) Worst Prediction: LichtersOs > Rain. sOs is good but not good enough to beat Rain in PvP.
Zeweig
Classic has proven himself very good at multi-pronged harass against Zerg. Going against someone like Rogue might prove difficult as he is very inconsistent in his match-ups, sometimes looking to be one of the best and sometimes not getting close to Code S, and if Rogue has a good day it might just as well end the other way around. That said, Classic is in my opinion more solid than Rogue at the moment, and I favor him to win.
sOs versus Zest is a juicy one. Many think Zest will beat sOs, and I don't blame them. My head agrees – Zest is better at PvP most of the time, but sOs is unpredictable and sometimes you just have to go with your heart. And it says sOs. soO versus Flash will be interesting as Flash proved himself extremely strong against Zerg, but soO is one of the best Zerg players in the world. Although the same could be said about Flash (best Terran, that is), I would favor soO over Flash in an extended series – unless soO pulls a Solar and forgets how to hold a scouted 2-rax.
The finals will then be sOs vs soO, and here soO should win since it is a best-out-of-7 format and not just three or five games. sOs is strong, but when the series gets too big, he can't pull off his strongest all-ins without doing them twice, and soO is not going to die to the same build twice. That said, soO is on the verge of becoming a Kong, and since Protoss finals seems to be his weak spot, he might suffer a mental breakdown and give away a few easy games for sOs.
Final prediction: soO wins the final... or joins ranks with MarineKing
Trasko
Rain has truly showed us what it means to be an excellent StarCraft player and all fingers point at him as the eventual champion of the 2014 KeSPA Cup. This won't come easy as he first has to plow through a plethora of top tier players in order to reach the finals. soO, Flash, Zest, soO and sOs are all potential candidates who can take him down and so it will be very interesting to see how this tournament plays out.
Best Matchup:Rain vs soO Dream Scenario: soO loses in the finals. Worst Prediction: Soularion. Rogue > Zest <-- wat
Gemini
I don't see Rain not taking this, he's just been too solid recently and his bracket is more than manageable for him. The only thing that was hard was doing Flash over soO. It can go either way, however I still feel like Flash can take him out. I'd rather have a bunch of fanboy reddit hype instead of seeing soO lose in the finals to another protoss. There were a few matches in the Ro16 that I just wanted to put a 3-0 for, however everyone in the bracket is so good that I can still see them taking at least one map (except Sorry, how the fuck did he get in here?).
Soularion: Stop trying to make Rogue happen, he's not going to happen.
Destructicon
I consider most of my choices here safe. Rain has Bomber's number, herO, Zest and soO outclass Sorry, Pigbaby and Super, San and Classic's best match ups are against zerg, Rogue sucks in offline events that aren't BO1.
However I'm favoring Flash overall. Despite his early exit from the GSL it was still a very close ordeal where if things had gone just a little differently in either of his series vs soO or DRG he could be in the RO8 now. Flash's amazing August run, tearing trough all online qualifiers and also winning IEM still lingers on my mind. To win all those Flash displayed solid TvP and the KeSPA cup is full of protoss, albeit very solid ones.
His first challenge and his biggest danger will be StarDust. The mYi protoss plays a similar style to MC, willing and able to pull out the cheese whenever necessary, not averse to calculated risks, but also extremely solid in macro games. We saw Flash display weakness to MC, so he'll need to be on his guard, however if he can defeat StarDust I believe Flash has what it takes to go all the way. He will most likely have studied his loss vs soO and will be better prepared this time. While Rain is a very solid macro protoss, Flash has proven he can go toe to toe with the best of them and win and at this point he will have momentum on his side. If he reaches the final against Zest again then it should be easy sailing to another gold.
What I think will push Flash all the way his is drive. He has already proven he can do incredible things when he sets his mind to it. He helped his team secure victory against SKT1 and then, without the burden of Proleague to worry him, he went on a rampage that ended in him winning IEM Toronto. His loss in the GSL was a harsh reminder that he still has to work harder, but KeSPA Cup is where the train gets going again!
Korea's Plight
by Zealously Disclaimer: this is an opinion piece. It does not reflect the official opinion of TeamLiquid.net or its staff (other than Zealously)
Of all the criticisms aimed at Blizzard's WCS system, perhaps the greatest is that it fails to properly reward the best players in the world. No one can say that Stardust or jjakji are bad players, but there is a lot of ambiguity as to whether or not their achievements within the WCS system this year are comparable to those of some players currently ranked far below them. The WCS system promotes international travel and global participation - a sensible goal to make sure that the best players are properly rewarded for their successes overseas - but unfortunately punishes those who wish to focus on maintaining their status in Korea.
In a way, the existence of Proleague has only aggravated this problem. Granted, without Proleague there would likely be no KeSPA (at least not the KeSPA we know), but it is undeniable that Proleague's existence has severely limited the abilities of some of the world's very best players to travel internationally and rake in the big points from Dreamhacks, IEMs and Red Bull tournaments. You might ask whether or not this is even a problem since all players could potentially choose not to play Proleague and make a move overseas, and whether or not players that never make an effort to win as much as they could deserve to make it to Blizzcon.
With that said, consider that of this year's three GSL finalists (Zest, Classic, soO twice), only Zest is guaranteed a ticket to Blizzcon. Classic's elimination from GSL at 2650 points makes Blizzcon a dream he no longer controls, while soO - currently in his fourth consecutive quarterfinals - remains in the risk zone. Of this year's 7 semifinalists (Life, TRUE, Maru, Classic, Zest, Rain, soO twice), only three are likely to make Blizzcon. The others might still make it, but their chances hinge on championships, miraculous circumstances, or both.
It is a well known problem that the Korean region is too stacked for its own good. The high concentration of skill makes it the place to be when it comes to improving but also often makes staying there synonymous with career suicide. There are too many players in Korea and not enough room for them to compete, which is the very reason behind most players venturing overseas to participate in the American and European regions. Personally, I think there is an issue when the players that don't are punished. The fact that there are so few Korean tournaments beyond GSL (and even then those tournaments are always tied directly to it) promotes travel to international tournaments and moving to other WCS regions but, as a consequence, misses the original mark: crowning the best player in the world.
With the recently announced changes to the WCS system, this question becomes a much more pressing one. Presently, making Blizzcon is already difficult for the players that choose to compete in Korea instead of Europe or America. By forcing players that are champion-level anywhere but in Korea back to Korea, the system will become even more volatile. Because less points will be distributed across a greater number of players, making Blizzcon via GSL alone (which, in my opinion, should be possible) will become even more difficult. One early elimination (consider a group of Zest, Rain, soO and Innovation) might almost completely nullify your chances of making Blizzcon without significant overseas travel. Needless to say, commitments to Proleague makes travel difficult and making Blizzcon even more so.
It's the eternal plight of Korean players to be - to some extent - unwelcome elsewhere because the players are too good. No fans want to see their players crushed by players that are both unfamiliar and superior in terms of skill. Restrictions are put in place to ensure that foreigners aren't completely shut out,Region locking the WCS might promote regional growth and eventually an evening out of the skill differential between Korea and the rest of the world, but as things stand now it will come at the cost of a stacked Blizzcon.
The fact that the KeSPA Cup - one of a precious few Tier 1 events this year - is absolutely necessary for many of the attending players says something about the flaws in this year's WCS. The Season Finals of last year - although awkwardly executed - acted as point boosters for each season's top performers, ensuring that the majority of WCS finalists made Blizzcon. Their removal changed the direction of the WCS system, and while one might argue whether or not it was a good change, Korea doubtlessly suffered.
KeSPA Cup might prove the saving grace of the GSL's top performers by allowing them to assert their dominance and secure tickets to Blizzcon, rendering this rant mostly pointless. However, it might also - and this is far more likely, given Korea's tendency to produce new championship caliber players every other month - see them all eliminated and their chances to make Blizzcon minimized. In either case, the incredible significance of the KeSPA Cup demonstrates a problem in the WCS system that I hope will be addressed for next year. If nothing else, then for the health of the world's best Starcraft scene.
Making this bracket is way too much work for me so I'll do it the simple way:
Ro16:
Classic > Savage (This is very hard. In this last GSL, Classic looked terrible against Zerg, losing to both EffOrt (who is not a ZvP maven) and Shine in Code A. But Rogue looked terrible against Protoss, being wrecked by Stats, Rain and Zest between Code A and Code S. Even his games against Hurricane, who just did not play well at all, were not impressive.) ByuL > San (This is very close as well. I think San demonstrated in GSL Global that he's not outclassed by the Korean-native players, but I think ByuL's form might have improved since he joined CJ and can practice against herO) Zest > Pigbaby sOs > Reality Flash > StarDust soO > Super (Super could take this. He can be very strong when he's feeling it, and everyone knows about soO's tendency to lose to Protoss in big situations (unless it's PartinG)) herO[jOin] > Sorry Rain > Bomber (If Bomber can't beat Pigbaby after being gifted that Carrier game...)
Love your piece Zealously. Totally agree. They're boosting the points earned in GSL next year, but they should have KeSpa Cup style event two or three more times solely in the Korea region. I'd love to watch a Dreamhack style, mega open bracket qualifications type tournament with nothing but the best if the best in the world (no reason foreigners couldn't try and come too really in that scenario).
Can't wait to post my bracket spoiler alert: Flash is my pick, head and heart.
On September 10 2014 02:04 Kommatiazo wrote: Love your piece Zealously. Totally agree. They're boosting the points earned in GSL next year, but they should have KeSpa Cup style event two or three more times solely in the Korea region. I'd love to watch a Dreamhack style, mega open bracket qualifications type tournament with nothing but the best if the best in the world (no reason foreigners couldn't try and come too really in that scenario).
Can't wait to post my bracket spoiler alert: Flash is my pick, head and heart.
I think the main issue is that success of a player has more to do with opportunity, marketability, luck, place of birth and so on than with skill. If you're on a foreign team you have more chances to play, to market yourself. If you're a foreigner you have more chances to get on a high profile team and be marketable to begin with. If you're just a little bit lucky in achieving success in GSL your marketability sky rockets. (and if you're on a hot streak you will be figured out and have bad results afterwards anyway) If you're good at English as a Korean player the same thing happens. If you play an unpopular race it drops. SC2 is so volatile, both in terms of gameplay and in terms of success, that most players know that their chance might come, so it's always arguably a good idea to stay in the scene hoping for your lucky break.
I think we would have been better off if Blizzard had not tried to take over the Korean scene and would have just let Koreans continue playing Brood War. Then all the Koreans would have transitioned to LoL by the time BW died a natural death and Korean SC2 would not be an issue.
Dunno about defense though, I just think this is what's gonna happen Sorry is my dark horse, with meta where terran has easier times agains protoss, I think he will upset herO but not Rain. San will beat the zergs but then get outclassed by protoss or terran. soO - Flash is 50/50, so I chose Flash just because he lost to him in GSL. Rain to win it all cause his safe and simple macro style is the best suited for weekend tournament like this, without preparation. Plus he is the only one in that bracket that I would probably favour a bit to defeat both KT players and soO.
After the Flash hype and the anti hype that followed, he will make it in the finals just to be beaten by the most handsome and best player in the world. Also KT best KT.
On September 10 2014 02:04 Kommatiazo wrote: Love your piece Zealously. Totally agree. They're boosting the points earned in GSL next year, but they should have KeSpa Cup style event two or three more times solely in the Korea region. I'd love to watch a Dreamhack style, mega open bracket qualifications type tournament with nothing but the best if the best in the world (no reason foreigners couldn't try and come too really in that scenario).
Can't wait to post my bracket spoiler alert: Flash is my pick, head and heart.
I was 100% sure I read an official post somewhere stating that this was the case. Must have just been a good idea that I adopted into my head canon about next years WCS changes. I can't find the post anywhere. Still looking, but haven't turned anything up. I definitely read it somewhere though, but must have been a random post and not official.
User:Clubfan/KeSPA Cup Well, what should I say? Maybe only why I picked sOs over Zest: I don't think Zest's PvP late-game is as good as sOs', also sOs likes money. Also Pigbaby is the darkhorse, I don't know which weird builds he created prior to the KeSPA Cup, but I honestly favor Zest. Sorry is another relatively unknown player, but I think ( / hope) he'll beat herO who hasn't looked that strong recently imho. Nonetheless, GL HF and GGs
I'm apparently not allowed to edit my own user page T_T I put it in my user talk page until this is looked into.
Most anticipated match: Flash vs soO Darkhorse: ByuL Disappointment: Bomber (see Law) Overrated player: herO What I really want to see: Sorry > Pigbaby finals, or Flash undefeated in the tournament.
On September 10 2014 02:04 Kommatiazo wrote: Love your piece Zealously. Totally agree. They're boosting the points earned in GSL next year, but they should have KeSpa Cup style event two or three more times solely in the Korea region. I'd love to watch a Dreamhack style, mega open bracket qualifications type tournament with nothing but the best if the best in the world (no reason foreigners couldn't try and come too really in that scenario).
Can't wait to post my bracket spoiler alert: Flash is my pick, head and heart.
I was 100% sure I read an official post somewhere stating that this was the case. Must have just been a good idea that I adopted into my head canon about next years WCS changes. I can't find the post anywhere. Still looking, but haven't turned anything up. I definitely read it somewhere though, but must have been a random post and not official.
Here's hoping anyway.
I think he's referring to that post by Kim Phan (Blizzard's eSport manager) on our wonderful forum.
On September 10 2014 02:57 The_Templar wrote: I'm apparently not allowed to edit my own user page T_T I put it in my user talk page until this is looked into.
Most anticipated match: Flash vs soO Darkhorse: ByuL Disappointment: Bomber (see Law) Overrated player: herO What I really want to see: Sorry > Pigbaby finals, or Flash undefeated in the tournament.
This is essentially the bracket I was about to make so I won't even bother lol
TL;DR I approve of this message. Flash for champion.
On September 10 2014 02:04 Kommatiazo wrote: Love your piece Zealously. Totally agree. They're boosting the points earned in GSL next year, but they should have KeSpa Cup style event two or three more times solely in the Korea region. I'd love to watch a Dreamhack style, mega open bracket qualifications type tournament with nothing but the best if the best in the world (no reason foreigners couldn't try and come too really in that scenario).
Can't wait to post my bracket spoiler alert: Flash is my pick, head and heart.
I was 100% sure I read an official post somewhere stating that this was the case. Must have just been a good idea that I adopted into my head canon about next years WCS changes. I can't find the post anywhere. Still looking, but haven't turned anything up. I definitely read it somewhere though, but must have been a random post and not official.
Here's hoping anyway.
I think he's referring to that post by Kim Phan (Blizzard's eSport manager) on our wonderful forum.
Yes the exact quote from Kim Phan was "It's safe to say that the changes in progress will have an impact on the points distribution, which is currently being assessed."
Now that a bunch more strong Korean players will have to return to competing in Korea (or retire, heh), they should hold two parallel WCS Korea tournaments or something.
On September 10 2014 02:57 The_Templar wrote: I'm apparently not allowed to edit my own user page T_T I put it in my user talk page until this is looked into.
Most anticipated match: Flash vs soO Darkhorse: ByuL Disappointment: Bomber (see Law) Overrated player: herO What I really want to see: Sorry > Pigbaby finals, or Flash undefeated in the tournament.
The only reason I see Rain not winning this is the Artosis curse. This tournament is a PvP fest and Rain is a beast at that.
Good write up from Zealously. With the hint that Kim Phan dropped in the WCS changes thread it leaves me hopeful that maybe now with Region Locking in place Blizzard can finally place the appropriate weight on the Korea region necessary to alleviate the travel problem that the current GSL system has in place to essentially equalize the damage that will undoubtedly be caused by the region locking.
That being said my head says Rain will win this but my heart wants soO to win this to secure his trip to Blizzcon.
On September 10 2014 03:53 Incognoto wrote: people underrated soO.
he's one of the arguably best players in the world, flash doesn't have anything on him
It's not so much people underestimating soO from what I've noticed as people ridiculously overrate Flash.
Which is to be expected, the only person who in SC2 has a more fanatic fan base than Flash is Jaedong and it has taken a literal nosedive in results this year in order to silence that crowd.
The finals is a tossup for me, I'd say it's just about 50/50 between those two. San/ByuL, Rogue/ByuL, and Flash/Rain were all also very hard calls...
ALSO: Flash/soO could also easily go the other way, and depending on how well herO plays Rain may well take him out 3-1 or 3-0. I could see StarDust, Super, or Bomber possibly taking games off Flash, soO, and Rain but each of the latter trio has looked so good recently that I decided to go with 3-0s.
On September 10 2014 03:53 Incognoto wrote: people underrated soO.
he's one of the arguably best players in the world, flash doesn't have anything on him
It's not so much people underestimating soO from what I've noticed as people ridiculously overrate Flash.
Which is to be expected, the only person who in SC2 has a more fanatic fan base than Flash is Jaedong and it has taken a literal nosedive in results this year in order to silence that crowd.
Not only do I think ByuL has the potential to win this but he has a nice side of the bracket with possibly only playing ZvP to the finals and maybe even again there as well. He could lose to any of those Protoss players but realistically I think he'll only meet his end at the hands of Zest. If he gets Rogue in the ro8 that could be a problem as well since he has problems in ZvZ.
[QUOTE]On September 10 2014 01:40 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote:
Soularion:
Unlike the rest of these filthy plebeians, who all root for the corrupted tosses of Zest or Rain, I have chosen our one true god. Rogue. The King of Katowice. The Rollercoaster Zerg. These are all nicknames (that nobody uses) that he possesses, and he will add one more by the end of the KeSPA Cup - Killer of Dreams. He has a budding hatred for Zest and Rain, considering they knocked him out of Code S, and he's more than ready to give righteous vengeance to those who delayed the inevitable. It's worth noting that he beat both of these at Katowice, so if he comes in looking as strong as he did then, then the games are nothing more than formality.
Soularion's Champion : Rogue The Darkhorse : Rogue The Disappointment : Flash Worst Bracket : Gemini, lichter, stuchiu, banjoe, XXTN, Zeweig - You are all heathens. Worst Prediction : Everyone listed above - picking Classic over Rogue. Seriously? Not even a good toss? /QUOTE]
Rogue beating both Zest and Rain? Thanks for the laugh, Soularion.
On September 10 2014 02:57 The_Templar wrote: I'm apparently not allowed to edit my own user page T_T I put it in my user talk page until this is looked into.
Most anticipated match: Flash vs soO Darkhorse: ByuL Disappointment: Bomber (see Law) Overrated player: herO What I really want to see: Sorry > Pigbaby finals, or Flash undefeated in the tournament.
Darkhorse: ByuL Most anticipated match: sOs vs Zest Dream scenario: $O$ winning in finals against FlaSh in back & forth series with some crazy shit templar-based builds setting new meta for PvT and me stealing them builds for ladder owning \o/
On September 10 2014 06:41 Hesmyrr wrote: Pardon the intrusion, but is "defense it" proper grammar? I just saw this on the front page and the question is leaving a nasty mental itch.
No it is a reference to a famous Whitera quote "You make expansion and then defense it!"
On September 10 2014 06:41 Hesmyrr wrote: Pardon the intrusion, but is "defense it" proper grammar? I just saw this on the front page and the question is leaving a nasty mental itch.
No it is a reference to a famous Whitera quote "You make expansion and then defense it!"
Thank you, English is my second language so when it comes to such colloquialisms, I always have to keep possibility of me being wrong in mind and things get sincerely confusing.
On September 10 2014 06:41 Hesmyrr wrote: Pardon the intrusion, but is "defense it" proper grammar? I just saw this on the front page and the question is leaving a nasty mental itch.
No it is a reference to a famous Whitera quote "You make expansion and then defense it!"
Thank you, English is my second language so when it comes to such colloquialisms, I always have to keep possibility of me being wrong in mind and things get sincerely confusing.
I have to say that when you know what colloquialism means, you're likely to have basic grammar down as well
Poor Stardust! He seems to be the bannerman for the "undeserving globe trotters" despite having had some of the most success in the WCS system of anyone. Taking all 3rd party tournaments out of the equation, Hyun, MC, and Stardust still end up in the top 4 for points scored. Jjakji probably deserves the label- as well as Taeja, Polt, Jaedong, Snute, and surprisingly (to me, anyway) sOs and herO. All six of those players drop at least ten spots in the rankings, and for all but Taeja and Polt, that's enough to drop them out of the top 16. Jaedong drops 58!!!! spots when you get rid of his 3rd-party points. Funnily enough, I thought that taking out third party WCS points might make it less likely to see any foreigners at all. On the contrary, it pushes both Vortix and Welmu into top 16 position (technically a 4-way tie at 15) on the strength of their Ro8-Ro8-Ro16 performances so far, although no one else is really within shooting distance of them.
I have a google spreadsheet where I've looked at all this. If there's interest (and I can figure out how to post it without my name attached) then I can post a link.
I feel like I've watched enough stacked tournaments to know that things don't turn out quite as you'd expect.
I also think Reality could cause a huge upset here*, and also I could see Sorry getting a good run. Outside of that, sOs and Flash both have a shot at making it really far, but I think they will both stumble at the first hurdle.
* - was very tempted to put down Reality to win the whole thing as he is the only player that could probably have preparation against one race (protoss) only. The only other players he's "likely" to face are Rogue, soO and Flash. However, he isn't really known for TvP so I decided against it.
Classic > Rogue - neither player is playing all that great atm so I'm just gonna go with Classic. San > ByuL - San's PvZ is stellar. Pigbaby < Zest - Sorry piggy, Zest is pretty good. sOs > Reality - Sorry reality, sOs is pretty good. StarDust < Flash - I'm assuming FlaSh doesn't just fuck up and not scout all-ins like he tends to do. soO > Super - soO is fire. herO < Sorry - Just because I like being unique. Bomber < Rain - Rain is the best right now. No questions asked.
Classic < San - Classic just isn't good right now. Zest > sOs - sOs getting k-oed by First? Not a good sign. soO > FlaSh - Repeats are bound to happen. Sorry > Rain - Sorry Rain, but Sorry is pretty good... he is a Korean after all.
San < Zest - Zest #1 most handsome man soO < Sorry - soO just can't do well in (semi)-finals at all
Rogue vs Classic I haven't watched much of Classic, and nothing of Rogue, but 1) The non-PvZs I've seen of Classic recently, he did not impress me with his current form. 2) Classic Has some recent losses to sub 50% winrate ZvP zergs. Rogue > Classic
San vs ByuL Again, I don't watch PvZ much... but even though San's overall level of competition might be lower than ByuL's, his qualitative wiNs are still on par with ByuL's and more recent (single win vs Rain vs series win vs soO). So San > ByuL
Zest vs Pigbaby It's PvP so maybe Pigbaby can win (he did go 1-2 in qualifiers recently vs Zest), but... Zest > Pigbaby
sOs vs Reality TvP is a bit tough for Protoss at the moment, but when I made this pick I misremembered Reality as losing in his GSL group vs both Ps ;d Anyway, not gonna go back and change. sOs > Reality
Flash vs StarDust I can see StarDust winning, but I still believe Flash is playing pretty much the highest level SC2 out there right now. Flash > StarDust
soO vs Super I don't know shit about Super but soO is sick. SoO > Super
Sorry vs HerO No real data on Sorry's TvP, but if it's as good as his TvT is recently, and with T being slightly T favoured... Going with the upsetish pick. Sorry > HerO
Rain vs Bomber I'm a Rain believer, and have been for a long time. Rain > Bomber
Flash vs soO I think the winner of this wiNs the tournament (or Rain)... And I think Flash will pull out the win, I predict he'll mix in some clutch 2 rax or other Cheese this time and take it. Flash > soO
Sorry vs Rain I believe in Rain, and I haven't seen Sorry's TvP plus not enough recorded games to WanT to pick Another upset. Wouldn't be shocked tho, his form seems Great. Rain > Sorry
Rogue vs Zest Another match where I have no good reasoning, but I think Zest Has shown himself to be a reliable Top finisher and he beat Rogue recently. Zest > Rogue
Flash vs Rain Winner of this wins the tournament. I'm going with Flash because TvP balance and his current form. Flash > Rain
Flash vs Zest Flash will once again beat Zest. I think the bottom half of this bracket is a million times tougher than the Top to be honest, and while Flash vs Zest is a good final, I wiSh it was Flash vs Rain. Flash > Zest
How come that there are so many brackets, but nobody posted the all-green version so far? It would be so incredibkly hillarious if this cup were PvP only from Ro8 on!
edit: can you even imagine a Tier 1 event with 0 viewers after Ro16?
Round 1: I expect the Kespa players to largely dominate everyone else. Round 2: This is where the real meat and potatoes begins. All four potential matchups look very close:
Classic-Byul look the weak link in the bracket, both players were red-hot until recently but have dropped off quite steeply. Considering how bad Classic looked in PvZ in code S (despite winning GSL in a PvZ!) I think Byul has the edge.
sOs is another player that's been incredible especially in PvP until a recent drop in form. I think his PvP is better than Zest but Zest looks like he's in better form. Almost a coin-flip.
The Flash train looked unstoppable in August until he hit the same ro16 brick wall in GSL. soO just looked straight up superior to him in the matchup, and he is the best zerg in the world at the moment by a distance.
herO-Rain: Both players are godly in PvP but Rain just doesn't seem to make mistakes anymore. Still almost a coinflip.
Semis: Byul-Zest: Zest has been on an upswing while Byul's in a bit of slump, Zest should be favoured. soO-Rain: the awkward potential team-kill, anything could happen. soO and Rain have never played a televised match in HotS, but given soO's unfortunate record of beating everyone except protoss champions, and Rain's recent form, I'd favour Rain slightly.
Finals: Zest-Rain: Could the PvProleague Cup final be anything but a PvP? And could it be anyone other than Zest and Rain (yes, easily ) Both players are leaders on the two best teams in Kespa, which is the best (and now only) league in Korea, which is the best country in the world. The last time they met was to decide the Proleague championship, and Rain looked comfortably superior. Zest's understanding of the matchup seems less than perfect lately.
Both players are members of a very elite few who are multiple winners of not just championships but the hardest kind of all, Korean championships. Zest won the last GSL cup (the GSL Global Championship) but Rain won the one before that (the Hot6ix Cup.) Zest won a GSL but Rain won the first SC2 OSL. Seeing them again in the finals would seem to be the slightly likelier outcome.
I have pretty much the same as you too, in my bracket the handsome player wins in the final though
On September 10 2014 02:37 The_Red_Viper wrote: + Show Spoiler +
After the Flash hype and the anti hype that followed, he will make it in the finals just to be beaten by the most handsome and best player in the world. Also KT best KT.
Important question, are the Kespa cup vods going to be put on clash.gg? I want to watch the vods tomorrow but I don't want to have to wait for something to compile a full list D:
Rogue the god of Zerg has a close series versus Classic, going 3-2. After seeing all Terran players go 3-0, he decides to switch to Terran. He never drops a single map from that point on and takes the tournament with his superior skills.
Rain vs Bomber, with Terran being more Broodlord/Infestor then Broodlord/Infestor, leaves Rain so traumatized he has a negative map score.
Rogue the god of Zerg has a close series versus Classic, going 3-2. After seeing all Terran players go 3-0, he decides to switch to Terran. He never drops a single map from that point on and takes the tournament with his superior skills.
Rain vs Bomber, with Terran being more Broodlord/Infestor then Broodlord/Infestor, leaves Rain so traumatized he has a negative map score.
Rogue is a god
Keep your eyes on this prediction boys, it's got winner written all over it!
I would love Flash to win and prove he is the best of the best but I don't think he will pull it off. I really hope soO can pull it off! This is a mixture of head vs heart for me :D
Champion:soO The Darkhorse:ByuL The Dissapointment:Flash
On September 11 2014 11:52 playnice wrote: I'm sorry, but who's Sorry?
As far as I know a guy who's never gotten a broadcasted game, but he has had some mildly notable results offline/online with a few nice wins.
He was one of the players cut from SKT when they were cleaning house earlier this year. I'm not entirely sure if he was allowed to rejoin the team or not though. Easily confused with Journey who has a similar story. Although, at least we now see Journey fairly frequently.
On September 10 2014 02:37 The_Red_Viper wrote: + Show Spoiler +
After the Flash hype and the anti hype that followed, he will make it in the finals just to be beaten by the most handsome and best player in the world. Also KT best KT.
Rogue the god of Zerg has a close series versus Classic, going 3-2. After seeing all Terran players go 3-0, he decides to switch to Terran. He never drops a single map from that point on and takes the tournament with his superior skills.
Rain vs Bomber, with Terran being more Broodlord/Infestor then Broodlord/Infestor, leaves Rain so traumatized he has a negative map score.
Rogue the god of Zerg has a close series versus Classic, going 3-2. After seeing all Terran players go 3-0, he decides to switch to Terran. He never drops a single map from that point on and takes the tournament with his superior skills.
Rain vs Bomber, with Terran being more Broodlord/Infestor then Broodlord/Infestor, leaves Rain so traumatized he has a negative map score.
Rogue is a god
fuck you classic
Classic, destroying zerg hopes since 2014 Season 2
To me it looks like there is a very real chance that Flash might win this thing. In my opinion his TvP is solid and I would give him the edge in a TvT vs. aswell (all though Bomber is very scary in that matchup). Flash > Zest in the finals :D
6) (T)Flash - I’ve never seen a hype train crash that swiftly or loudly since Lucifron in 2013.
Cant believe you compare both hype train, Flash is obviously a top tier player now and he will still improve, cant wait for Flash to win the kespa cup.
6) (T)Flash - I’ve never seen a hype train crash that swiftly or loudly since Lucifron in 2013.
Cant believe you compare both hype train, Flash is obviously a top tier player now and he will still improve, cant wait for Flash to win the kespa cup.
That's also really wrong. Lucifron lost like 6-7 series without taking a map. Flash went 4-4 in GSL and just got to the RO4 of kespa cup