WCS Season One
Challenger League

The Pros We Know
iAsonu vs XY
TooDming vs Jim
XiGua vs Clavie
MacSed vs Top

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

by lichter



As much as we'd like to include the Chinese scene, there is just something about their play and about their scene that makes them feel so distant and mysterious. Whether it's their isolated ladder, their unique metagame, or their lack of English, it's hard to tell, but their infrequent forays into international tournaments have always been interesting to say the least.

Looking at the list of players attempting to qualify from WCS China, it's difficult to believe that anyone on TL really knows more than a dozen players. Players with names like Ronzerola, BBCSWD, "Friends of the harmonic order to convince Mang" (according to Google Translate) litter the qualifiers, making it a shot in the dark at guessing how qualifiers will turn out.

Unlike Code B or premier international qualifiers, however, it seems that there are very defined tiers within the Chinese scene. Basically it's:

1. The Pros We Know
2. The other people

The final 8 players attempting to reach Premier League from WCS China Challenger are all names we've heard before, with the possible exception of iAsonu and Clavie for some of the less in-the-know. The other 6 players, however, are the cream of the crop of the Chinese scene, but only 4 will reach the inaugural season of WCS International.

iAsonu vs XY

For many older fans, the name XY should ring a bell. A former BW player, XY was one of the first Chinese players to get noticed by the foreign scene. Along with Sen and F91, XY is one of the older players from China and Taiwan that is still competing. Though he has lacked significant results during his time in SC2, he does have one gold medal from National Electronic Sports Tournament 2014. Coincidentally, his opponent in the finals was also iAsonu, his teammate from Invictus Gaming.

The IG zerg is a relatively unknown player in the foreign scene, though he did compete in WCS AM Challenger once in 2014. His pro career has so far been isolated to China, where he has become something of a Kong. In the last two months of 2014, the 22 year old zerg finished second in two major tournaments, the aforementioned NEST and G-League 2014 where he lost to Jim in the finals. There's no shame in losing to two of the most notable players from his region, and it goes to show that iAsonu has elevated himself from also ran and into a contender like TooDming or XiGua.

We've yet to see many games from him so it's difficult to predict just how he'll play against XY, and their prevailing winrates in TvZ's appear to give iAsonu the advantage. His 64% winrate in ZvT looks impressive, but most of his games come from qualifiers and online cups. XY does have the advantage of experience in high profile games, but he's also losing their head-to-head. This may not be a PvP, but I'm going to decide this with a coin toss. And the coin toss says to give the old man a chance.

Prediction:

iAsonu 2 - 3 XY

TooDming vs Jim

Perhaps the marquee matchup of this season of WCS China Challenger, both players must feel agrieved to be matched against each other. Both were mainstays of WCS AM Premier League last year, but only one will make it there this time. Though neither player made it past the Ro16 of WCS AM in 2014, they were both denied by Korean opponents. This could be the season where they finally reach the playoffs, but only one of them will have that opportunity.

Unlike the other elite Chinese players, success has so far evaded TooDming. He has yet to ever win a major tournament title, finishing second in three events and 3rd/4th in 4 others. Only the best players are ever able to stop the Zenith of Origin zerg, and it's unfortunate that he always seems to end up with difficult draws. He lost to TaeJa and Arthur in Season 1, Polt and Bomber in Season 2, and Scarlett and Seed in Season 3. With only Scarlett and Polt remaining from that list, it's easy to say that TooDming would be considered a favorite to go far in WCS Premier League.

Likewise, Jim has only lost to HyuN, Heart, iaguz, Bomber, and HuK in Premier League. Unlike TooDming, however, Jim is basically the king of China. He has on his belt 7 major tournament titles, with one even coming against MarineKing in the finals. While many scoff at inter-China titles due to the scene's isolation, Jim showed that he could compete with the best at IEM Shenzhen, defending his country amicably and earning 3rd/4th place by beating Life, TaeJa and San—three BlizzCon players including its champion. As the most popular Chinese player by far, Jim deserves to be in Premier League on name recognition alone. He should do well should he advance, but he'll have to earn it against TooDming.

Fortunately for Jim, he has the advantage in their head-to-head (18-13). My gut tells me that Jim should have something planned for TooDming, so that ZoO zerg will have to stay on top of his scouting. The iG protoss is one of the wiliest and cleverest protoss in China, and though he isn't quite as nutty as Has, he did invent the Express Train. Expect a bunch of strange all ins and maybe one shot at Sky Toss, but it should be enough to scrape out a victory.

Prediction:

TooDming 2 - 3 Jim

XiGua vs Clavie

The Watermelon zerg is rightfully one of the most popular players from China. He's been around for a long time, and for a while many believed that he was the best player from his country until Jim's rise to power. In fact, he even made the WCG Finals in 2011 before losing to Mvp 0-2. All 5 of his major title victories come from that era of WoL, and though he has yet to win anything since early 2012, XiGua remains a contender in tournaments he enters. As another mainstay of 2014's WCS AM, XiGua has also repeatedly run into the Korean Wall. Polt, CranK, Heart, Pigbaby, TaeJa and HerO denied him passage last year, and he should be relishing the opportunity to make it further in their absences. He's also received a fortunate draw in Challenger League, and barring a big collapse we should see him in Premier League this season.

Clavie, on the other hand, is a teamless player with zero information. He only had to defeat unknowns szxy and HunteR to reach this point due to two walk over victories, so we really don't have anything. I guess this one goes to XiGua.

Prediction:

XiGua 3 - 1 Clavie

MacSed vs Top

Though his success waned in 2014, MacSed remains the most successful Chinese player in WCS. He reached two Ro8's in seasons 2 and 3 of 2013, losing to TaeJa and ByuL in the playoffs. He's maintained his place in Premier League consistently, but he's been unable to break past the group stages again. Like his fellow foreign protoss, MacSed now moonlights as a caster and analyst, a role he performed on the official Chinese stream during the WCS Grand Finals last year. The iG protoss still has a lot to offer, however, and his fans will be interested in seeing whether his deviated from his preferred phoenix styles.

Top is fairly consistent as well, reaching Premier League in 4 of the past 6 seasons. While he's never made it out of the Ro32, he never fails to entertain us with his patently unorthodox style. Game 5 of his 2014 Season 1 series against viOLet will forever be remembered, and quietly many best games aficionados are hoping for his return to WCS.

As the only mirror matchup this WCS China Challenger season, this should end up being a curious affair. Chinese protoss are known for their whimsical approach to the metagame, and they could just blow our minds. More than likely, they'll cheese each other and the night will end abruptly. MacSed has the advantage with a slightly superior winrate, a better head-to-head (5-3) and greater experience, so that should make 4 Invictus Gaming players in WCS Premier League this season.

Prediction:

MacSed 3 - 1 Top

Writers: lichter.
Editors: lichter.
Graphics: v1.
Photo: GOMeXP.