WCS Season Three
Challenger League

WCS NA Challenger
MaSa vs Bails
Jaedong vs Semper
StarDust vs Neeb
Kane vs HuK
Polt vs JonSnow
viOLet vs qxc
Xenocider vs Hitman

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

by lichter
Day 1:
Day 2:

Match: MaSa vs Bails
Matchup Stats: MaSa - 66% | Bails - 63%
Score Prediction: MaSa 2 - 3 Bails
Match Prediction: MaSa tries to play like his namesake but Bails blinks in and kills his medivacs every time
Outlook: If you follow MaSa on twitter, you'll know that he's been complaining about his TvP every since his WCS Challenger matchup was determined. You could take that as some sort of feint or mindgame, trying to convince Bails to relax. Yet Bails has been on a tear lately, even though it has been against lower level competition. MaSa on the other hand beat Astrea to get into Premier last season, where he also defeated MaNa. Not quite an enviable hitlist, but this match should still be close.
The Match in an out-of-context Tweet: MaSa will play dirty with a few all ins



Match: Jaedong vs Semper
Matchup Stats: Jaedong - 56% | Semper - 66%
Score Prediction: Jaedong 3 - 1 Semper
Match Prediction: Semper channels Has, because why not
Outlook: Sure, much of Jaedong's success has been in ZvZ, but he's not that bad at ZvT. His form is still somewhat of a mystery however, even though he did well enough in Season 2 before being pummeled by eventual champion Hydra. Semper on the other hand is one of the least experienced players in all of Challenger, and anything more than a game or two should be considered a success for the Canadian Terran.
The Match in an out-of-context Tweet: Jaedong appears rusty in Game 1 because he probably didn't practice that much



Match: StarDust vs Neeb
Matchup Stats: StarDust - 66% | Neeb - 56%
Score Prediction: StarDust 3 - 0 Neeb
Match Prediction: StarDust prints out his "free win" tweet and uses it as a celebration banner
Outlook: Switching races is nearly unheard of in Starcraft 2. Sure, you could hop around depending on balance, but players that race switch rarely experience much success, with one exception: Classic. Neeb, hoping to emulate the champion, has switched from terran to protoss. So far, his results look okay, but he has hardly been tested. On the other hand, StarDust, even at his worst, is as formidable a PvP player as you can find. He may not have the late game chops of his fellow Koreans, but his killer instinct is second to none (now that MC is gone).
The Match in an out-of-context Tweet: Maybe, just maybe, StarDust wins



Match: Kane vs HuK
Matchup Stats: Kane - 62% | HuK - 61%
Score Prediction: Kane 2 - 3 HuK
Match Prediction: HuK builds more gates in the series than nexuses and hatcheries combined
Outlook: When Twitter Professional and sorta retired SC2 pro Kane peaked in Season 1, fans believed that they had found the next great Canadian Champion. Unfortunately, he was knocked out swiftly in Season 2 by Jim and Petraeus. Then, he announced that he was taking a step back and planned on only playing WCS and nothing else. Just like that, no more Canadian hope. Oh, wait, HuK's still alive and breathing. The EG Protoss has hovered close to the border of Premier League for a while now, but 2015 just hasn't been his year. He's due for a breakout season some day; since this is the last season of the year, this might as well be it.
The Match in an out-of-context Tweet: Kane dicks around and loses in Game 5



Match: Polt vs JonSnow
Matchup Stats: Polt - 66% | JonSnow - 51%
Score Prediction: Polt 3 - 0 JonSnow
Match Prediction: Jon Snow dies and stays dead at least for the rest of 2015
Outlook: I don't watch Game of Thrones so I have no idea what happened and how this guy's namesake died. However, I'm pretty sure it wasn't as brutal as this match will likely be. Polt has won more WCS AM titles than JonSnow has made Challenger appearances, so a good outing tonight, even if he does get massacred, will at least be a valuable learning experience.
The Match in an out-of-context Tweet: Yup, definitely dead.



Match: viOLet vs qxc
Matchup Stats: viOLet - 57% | qxc - 54%
Score Prediction: viOLet 3 - 1 qxc
Match Prediction: qxc plays out of his mind in 1 game but immediately runs out of juice
Outlook: After showing he still had it in 2014, viOLet has had a much harder time this year. With two Ro32 exits and no foreign events to speak of, the Surgeon Zerg has sort of fallen off the map. Considered as the weakest Korean in WCS—and often counted by many as *gasp* one of the foreigners—his results as well has his play have shown little to suggest he can turn things around in season 3. However, he's still good enough to get into Premier each and every time, and he's already 3-0'd his opponent once in S1 Challenger. That isn't a surprise as qxc has had a difficult time with TvZ in WCS. In Season 2, he was left disappointed by Kane in a clear cut sweep. History suggests a repeat, but you never know with the John Lennon Toto Destroyer.
The Match in an out-of-context Tweet: viOLet uses a roach bane all-in in two games



Match: Xenocider vs Hitman
Matchup Stats: Xenocider - 57% | Hitman - 42%
Score Prediction: Xenocider 3 - 1 Hitman
Match Prediction: Xenocider star senses an all in but still dies to it
Outlook: Hitman is the only player in Challenger with a relevant matchup below 50%. That's a brutal indictment of his level of play, and he's unlikely to get much out of this series unless he has improved by leaps and bounds since his last qualifier. Xenocider is a solid foreigner who can go toe to toe with the best, and it's going to take a massive collapse for him to get ousted this early in the season.
The Match in an out-of-context Tweet: Hitman does all ins worthy of CombatEX

Writers: lichter.
Editors: lichter.
Graphics: Meru.
Photo: Blizzard.
Stats: Aligulac