EPTWCS Season Two
Challenger League
WCS EU CL Day 2
Bunny vs Beastyqt
ShoWTimE vs Elazer
FireCake vs Zanster
NaNiwa vs GunGFuBanDa
MaNa vs HeRoMaRinE
Brackets and standings on Liquipedia
Day 2
Bunny vs Beastyqt
Bunny right now is looking incredible; he had a fantastic start to the year, qualifying for WCS in his second attempt and blazing past his challenger opponent PtitDrogo. Despite being upset by MaNa in the Ro32 and Kane in the RO16, Bunny just brushed it off as he continued to plow through opponents and even defeated his team mate Snute 3-1 on his way to the semi-finals. There Bunny played a close series against Polt, taking Captain America to the brink, before being outwitted and running out of juice in the last map. Bunny seems to be at a crossroad: his play looks close to supercharging up to the next level and he sometimes shows this, but at other times he seems to just fizzle out. He continued to participate and win various online cups and show matches, notably defeating Koreans such as Soulkey, HyuN, JaeDong and Alicia. Still other losses like those against Cure, PartinG and Hydra serve to remind us that he isn't quite there yet. Overall though Bunny should be comfortable in his series against Beastyqt as he regularly clashes with and defeats the best of EU.Beastyqt's trajectory however appears more difficult then Bunny's to predict. So far his 2015 has been uneventful. He qualified in his first attempts for seasons 1 and 2 of WCS 2015, but lost to Welmu in a close 2-3 series in Challenger last season. Ever since he has resolved himself to playing in online cups, where he always seems to go deep but falter at somewhere past the midpoint. Before this though, he was a regular in most tournaments; he managed to make a Ro32 in NASL Season 3, a Ro32 in DH Bucharest 2012, and a Ro32 appearance in WCS EU Season 2 2013. 2014 was a dry year for him, with no notable results in any tournament. But Beasty is not one to give up and here he is, quietly back in Challenger.Prediction:
Overall I'm giving Bunny the edge here, he has just looked too good lately and Beastyqt, while he is prone to causing an upset every now and then and making a good run, just hasn't shown enough to suggest he deserves a spot in Premier over the Liquid Terran.
Bunny 3-1 Beastyqt
ShoWTimE vs 
Elazer
In 2014, the WCS system was a forgiving umbrella for the foreign scene’s top players. Alongside the imposing qualifier and challenger gauntlets, the automatic seeding system to the following season helped maintain a monopolistic system in the upper echelons of the foreign game. In 2015, though, such assurances have been firmly cast aside. Where previously the top eight from the previous system could stroll back into the big leagues, now it is only the champion who is granted that right. There has never been so rewarding, and yet so treacherous a time to be a participant in the WCS.
It’s natural, then, that
ShoWTimE must take this match extremely seriously, no matter the nature of his opponent. Fresh off an impressive run to the semifinals in Season 1, ShoWTimE's ambition should be to go just as far this time around. Alongside Bunny, ShoWTimE was one of the big standouts from the weekend playoff event; his measured, cerebral PvZ proving too much for Kane and PiG. One big issue reared its head though; an inability to perform against the best when the pressure was on. He had no answers for Snute’s roach aggression and choking swarm host play, while his utter capitulation at the hands of Hydra was a sad end to a successful weekend.However, that won't be the case here, as ShoWTimE should be heading into this match as the heavy favourite against
Elazer. Elazer has been slowly grinding his way through the European online scene for a while now, playing an impressive 900 maps in 2014 (for reference, his opponent managed only 371). His results there have been respectable—placing in the top 4 in the Go4sc2 Monthly Finals for three consecutive seasons—but it’s LAN appearances that he’s sorely lacking. Of the 1,100+ games he’s played in his career, a mere 40 were at a live event. Here, in his first appearance in Challenger league, he has the chance to earn a ticket to Cologne to add to that that tally.Predictions:
While Elazer actually beat ShoWTimE 3-1 last time they played, the latter's 5-1 series lead probably tells a more accurate story. With swarm hosts now defunct, up against a non-Korean opponent, ShoWTimE’s PvZ skill should shine through.
ShoWTimE 3 – 1 ElazerNaNiwa vs GunGFuBanDa
One of the emerging talents in Germany,
PkD.GunGFuBanDa is vying for his first ever WCS Premier League appearance. Germany has had a history of producing talented Protosses, namely Socke and HasuObs. Now a new generation has arrived, and GunGFuBanDa is keen to take up the mantle. Like every other up-and-coming talent, GunGFuBanDa plays in pretty much every online tournament out there. Whether it be go4sc2 Cup, Kung Fu Cup, ESL Pro Series, Fragmite Masters or Gfinity Masters - you name it and he’s played in it. The young German Protoss desperately needs major results to attract sponsors, score invites, and potentially convince Planet Key Dynamics to send him to a Dreamhack or IEM open bracket. Could this WCS season be the big break he’s been looking for? In a scandalous Season 1, GunGFuBanDa was suspended for attempting to bribe his way to a win in qualifiers. Every young player makes mistakes, and GunGFuPanDa seems to have learned from his. This time around, he managed to qualify for S2 Challenger on his very first try without dropping a single map to set up a Bo5 PvP against the always-controversial NaNiwa. Though he may not be entirely thrilled with this draw, GunGFuBanDa should be confident, considering he had a perfect 12-0 record in ranked PvP games in April. He has a solid understanding of the match and is very decisive in his strategies. Once he reaches his comfort zones, the German Protoss is confident against any opponent in the late game. People often say you’re only as good as your average game, and GunGFuBanDa can more than hold his own in a standard PvP.After ten months of inactivity,
NaNiwa finally returned to SC2 in early 2015. Proving that he still had a competitive edge, NaNiwa catapulted himself into Premiere League in his first season back. However, his return to prominence was short lived as he crashed out early in the Ro32 at the hands of a much-improved Serral and a cheesy Has. Since then, NaNiwa has a combined 22-7 record in ranked online games over the past 2 months and was also acquired by the Swedish “Team Property” (his 10th team). Now’s the time to show what he’s capable of, and while he may have the bigger name, NaNiwa may not necessarily be the better player. To his credit, NaNiwa can be one of the hardest working and most competitive players… when he wants to be. He can grind on the GM ladder for hours everyday and at times, he has some of the strongest work ethic in all of Europe. When he’s focused and ready to play, NaNiwa can micro better than most of his Euorpean peers and grind his way to a victory no matter how badly the odds are stacked against him. However, NaNiwa also has a history of succumbing to mental blocks and frustration. After all, he is the guy who forfeited against Polt at the IEM World Championships after just one loss in a Bo5. NaNiwa is easy to put on tilt when things don’t go his way early on. If GunGFuBanDa can establish an early lead - especially with cheesy builds - then the series can quickly spiral out of control for the Swedish Protoss.Prediction:
NaNiwa 1 - 3 GunGFuBanDaMaNa vs HeRoMaRinE
If it works the first time, why not try it again? That's probably
MaNa's logic for picking HeRoMaRinE for a second consecutive bout in Challenger League. While that seems like a logical choice, the series looked far from comfortable as it ended at 3-2 in MaNa's favor. The experienced Pole squeeked by and many wondered what he'd be able to accomplish in Premier League. He smashed viOLet and Bunny to advance 4-0 from the hardest group in the Ro32 as his reply. With that rousing victory behind him, it looked like he even had a shot at an upset after he was drawn into another difficult group in the Ro16. Unfortunately, he ran out of magic against Hydra and FireCake to fall from the bottom of the group. That seems to be the case with MaNa. On a good day, he can best anyone in any matchup. On other days, however, he seems to be a shell of his former title winning self. He has struggled with finding consistency in offline events, and his good days, while impressive, count as many as his bad. Sometimes, his natural talent can make up for his poorer displays, yet his recent rollercoaster form could be at another trough. Or, it could be somewhere along the curve. His results hardly give us any insight: he defeated Heart, Lillekanin and MorroW in succession before losing to the nameless frozz. Fortunately for MaNa, PvT has always been his best matchup, and it should be enough to trounce HeRoMaRinE on paper. Yet, like we saw last season, it will likely be close. The result will hinge on his form on the day, and HeRoMaRinE must take advantage of any sudden weakness that the Liquid Terran may show.
Ever since last season's defeat,
HeRoMaRinE has been on a tear against protoss. 21-5 since that meeting, but that record should come with an asterisk; his only significant opponents were GunGFuBanDa, Socke and HasuObs. There is no doubt HeRoMaRinE belongs in Challenger, but can he break into Premier League? While the German Terran has maintained a consistent tragectory over the past year, he has somehow been unable to get over the hump. His slow rise up the European charts has largely gone unnoticed due to his lack of barnstorming runs, and it's going to take more than a mastery of online tournaments to propel him to stardom. He came agonizingly short last season, and he has had more than enough time to prepare for this rematch.Expect another close series that will be decided by where their slopes intersect. While HeRoMaRinE's is slowly sloping upward, MaNa is at another stage in his cycle. Something tells me he's once again on a slide—but how far along on it?—, and it may be the German's turn to have a shot at Premier League.
Prediction:
MaNa 2 - 3 HeRoMaRinE
