"Wait, there'll be Chinese protoss players there?! I didn't sign up for that!"

IEM Shenzhen unfortunate lost one of its biggest names to visa issues - EG's Jaedong unfortunately will not be able to compete in the tournament. That leaves us with quite few players actually attending this event. The brackets are as wide open as they've ever been. Isn't that the perfect time for miracle runs?

The Open Bracket story is quite straight forward. There are five Koreans in it. That's enough Koreans to fill all qualifying spots. We don't really know much about any of the other players attending the Open Bracket, but we took some time to pick out one of them and give you a preview anyway. You're welcome!

Cyan is a teamless Chinese Protoss player. His only result is a 1-3 WCS Challenger loss to Jim in Season 2. Unfortunately, YellOw's SC2 career was shorter than Shaq's acting career, and there are no players by the name of Magenta or Black. Therefore, on paper, Cyan still gives no indication he can make a mark on this tournament. However, because he's a Chinese Protoss, we'll hear about him having taken a game off a good Korean off stream with a baffling strategy, then earn a televised game in the bout for the fifth qualification spot. Something about this guy says he's going to be the hometown hero. Unfortunately for him, Jaedong won't be there to be the one dropping said map to him, so he'll have to find someone else.

Rain

There is almost no reason why anyone would believe that Rain does not deserve to be on this list. GSL Season 2 champion. HomeStory Cup XI champion. This on top of Rain's other monumental achievements (including #1 Aligulac rating). The Protoss with a reputation for his solid mechanics and defensive style with a solid win rate against a diversity of opponents will certainly go far at IEM Shenzhen. Rain is most certainly one of the contenders to look for at this tournament and has very little to stop him from making the Round of 8. Anything but a top 8, even a top 4 finish from Rain would probably be surprising. He is by no means invincible though. There are others on this list who have the ability to knock him out of the tournament, but none can keep him from Round of 8. Rain may not win it all, but that's a problem for later. For now, Rain will enjoy little resistance on his way up, even with arguably the toughest group.

herO

It is not often that a player's achievements in one particular tournament are so outstanding that they earn him a title other than "champion." Those who come to mind are HerO at DreamHack Winter and NesTea in GSL. The remarkable successes of CJ_herO] at Singapore, Sao Paolo, Katowice, San Jose, and Taipei have given birth to the simple label "King of IEM." Save his surprise exit from Toronto in the open bracket, herO has always reached at least the quarterfinals. In fact, he himself noted that he has won each of the three tournaments for which he had to play through the online qualifiers. The reason, he said, is that he's able to qualify because he is playing in his best form, so his condition converts to championships. Once again, herO has fought his way through the gauntlet of the Asian Qualifier, and although his early (by herO standards) exit from KeSPA Cup may suggest his form is not at its peak, uThermal, Jim, and a player from the open bracket will almost certainly not be enough to stop the King of IEM from making a worthy challenge to reclaim his throne.

PartinG

The Soul Train conductor returns to IEM in style. On the back end of slaying a string of foreigners in the last few weeks, PartinG returns to a contest that may test his mettle yet again. Only time will tell if his abilities haven't lessened too much in order to beat the other contenders in his group and make it to the Round of 8. Hopefully his most recent loss to Sacsri is no indication of his future performances against other Korean players, but PartinG has a way of not letting us down. Of course when we watch PartinG, we do watch him in part for his antics, usually accompanied by his humorous command of the English language to the delight of many a crowd. We love to see PartinG win because we love to see him interviewed. Hopefully his path to the Round of 8 will show us if he will succeed MC as Master of Ceremonies. He certainly has the abilities both in and out of game to match.

YongHwa

Some are probably wondering if Artosis bribed IEM administrators to fly YongHwa to Shenzen just so he could cast more of his games and steal more of his builds. The unflagging hype our beloved GSL caster has created for the MVP Protoss is somewhat justified, however, with his steady presence on the fringes of Code S and S2SL Challenger. His play is characterized by very safe, solid macro, with the occasional two base all-in to spice things up. Despite YongHwa's somewhat predictable tendencies, the very nature of his style has allowed him to find enough success to warrant MVP sending him across the Yellow Sea. Although there's naturally some lingering doubt about the effects of the atmosphere of his first foreign tournament since IEM Hannover in 2013, particularly with Chinese tournaments' reputations for bad player conditions and technical difficulties, YongHwa's results in his few trips abroad suggest he won't be fazed. A silver at HomeStory Cup V and a 3rd/4th at the first Premier tournament in HotS (Hanover) are impressive for someone with such limited experience outside of Korea, and that adaptability could very well take him on a journey through the open bracket and even past the group stage.

Losira

One of the delights of this year so far has been seeing Losira returning as a force in Korean StarCraft 2. After his spectacular rebirth at HomeStory Cup X last December, where he placed in the top four of a Premier tournament for the first time in three and a half years, he came back to Korea refreshed and reinvigorated. He tore through the early rounds of Proleague, serving as a central linchpin around which a completely revamped MVP squad began to take shape as a unit. However, for all the wins and ceremonies he’s given us, a quick glance at his results for the year puts things in perspective. Qualifying for two Starleagues out of the six available for the year is a gross underachievement, and his Proleague results have dipped since his Round 1 peak. IEM then represents another shot at weekender glory; the calm before the storm of the climax to the Korean Starcraft year. He’s perhaps fortunate that it’s unlikely he’ll need to play his relatively weak mirror matchup — zergs are practically non-existent in Shenzhen (and if the victory in the Open Bracket sends him to Group B, then, with all due respect, Snute will hardly be his greatest concern)—while his ZvT and ZvP have been on the up recently. It’s pretty inconceivable that Losira should fall in the Open Bracket, which is noticeably weaker than usual, and a spot in the quarterfinals should be his minimum goal.

SuperNova

SuperNova's tale is similar to YongHwa's at this event, having a limited number of foreign tournaments under his belt while struggling to stay relevant in Korea. Although he has been revered throughout his career for preparation and powerfully tailored strategies, which earned him nine straight Code S appearances, his recent drop off is a source for concern about his overall abilities. ROOT have not sent him to an international tournament until now, and it could just be that SuperNova has finally gotten out of his funk and is ready to remind everyone how strong his 20 different mech builds are. With some luck, SuperNova will avoid a group that puts his worst matchup, TvP, against any of the four best PvT players in the world. Without any Zergs at Shenzen besides Losira and Snute, SuperNova will have to rely heavily on his TvT and solving some of his TvP problems to make it to the quarterfinals, but he might have it in him.

TY

With all these fancy protoss giants in attendance, it might come as a surprise to many that TY is one of the most intriguing players there. Yes, KT Rolster's very own architect of weird, wonky and wonderful builds, has finally worked himself through another qualifier and fans should be excited to see how what sort of crazyness he brings with him. TY's first foray abroad happened nearly a year ago at Dreamhack Bucharest 2014. Despite most commonly known for his carefully crafted builds, TY found himself at home in the weekend long format, proving that his KeSPA training was enough to elevate him over foreigners and most Koreans in an environment where preparation hardly factors into success.
TY had another chance to prove himself at HSC X, where he got to the quarterfinals. While the large number of Koreans in attendance and TY's limited showings in 2015 would cast doubt upon his ability to reach the later stages of this IEM, his qualifier run, slaying Stats, Life and Dream, was no small feat and proves that, for at least a little while, he is ready to take on the best.

Classic

Like TY, Classic is one of those players you rarely see travel abroad, with a total of only three foreign tournaments to his name - IEM Cologne 2014, Dreamhack Stockholm 2014 and IEM Taipei 2015. Overall though Classic seems to have a strong impact in short, weekend-style tournaments. His lowest finish was the Ro16 at Stockholm, while at both IEMs he made at least the Ro8. At KeSPA Cup 2014 he reached the top four. Perhaps his most impressive tournament abroad though was BlizzCon 2014, where he made the semifinals and was eventually stopped by MMA on very unfavorable maps.
Any doubts that still remained regarding the legitimacy of his GSL win were swept aside as Classic finally claimed another championship, and did so in very convincing fashion - S2SL Season 2. Of the players attending, Classic looks like one of, if not the strongest. His PvT is frightening, his PvZ might be the best in the world. The only chin-k in his armor could be his at times shaky PvP. In a tournament with so many great protoss opponents, that might be the deciding factor for him.