EU and NA Qualifiers

The first Global Event of the year, and the last chance for WCS players to scrape together the points they need to qualify for BlizzCon. That's what Kespa Cup is. While competition for the bottom spots is more limited in Korea, there are a number of players that can still qualify for BlizzCon through the WCS rankings. Two qualifiers will determine who gets to go to Korea to have that final chance. Each qualifier (NA and EU) awards two spots in the tournament.

Talking Numbers

WCS point distribution in Kespa Cup works as follows:

• 1500 points for first place.
  
• 1050 points for second place.
  
• 675 points for third and fourth place.
  
• 450 points for 5th-8th place.
  
• 225 points for 9th-16th place. That means purely by qualifying for the event, a player will earn 225 WCS points.
  

With that in mind, let's take a look at the WCS rankings.

1. Polt - 5570
2. ShoWTimE - 4935
3. Snute - 4405
4. Neeb - 4400
4. Nerchio - 4400

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6. Hydra - 3435
7. TRUE - 3000
8. Elazer - 2610
8. viOLet - 2610
10. PtitDrogo - 2545
11. uThermal - 2530
12. MaSa - 2055
13. Has - 1650
14. Harstem - 1615
15. Scarlett - 1380


The top five players (bold) are already qualified. TRUE cannot be eliminated from BlizzCon either due to his WCS Summer Circuit Championship win.

Who lives, who dies?

#6 - ROOT.Hydra - 3435 WCS Points

Hydra should be safe. The only scenario in which he can be eliminated requires a WCS player to win Kespa Cup, and another, who is within the necessary point range of him, to take second place. Third place (worth 675 points) is not enough for anyone to knock him out of the rankings. That is unlikely to say the least. Hydra can make it even more difficult for his opponents by qualifying into Kespa Cup himself. At 3660 points, only Elazer and viOLet could tie him with a second place finish, resulting in what I assume would be a tie-breaker match to determine a BlizzCon spot.

In other words: simply by qualifying, Hydra cannot be eliminated from BlizzCon at Kespa Cup. A Round of 8 finish seals his ticket to California.

#8 - True eSport's Elazer and nV_viOLet - 2610 WCS Points

Speaking of tiebreakers, we have one on our hands as it stands. These two have been tied for the bottom spot for a while, and only Kespa Cup can change that. The seat these two are on is not only too small for the both of them, it's also the hottest in the world. This is where the slugfest starts. PtitDrogo and uThermal could overtake them both simply by qualifying, and both would be out of BlizzCon for good. viOLet knows the danger he's in, as he already attempted the Global Qualifiers on the Korean server, but was stopped in his tracks by Rogue, who went on the qualify.

Elazer and viOLet have only themselves to blame, though. Their performances have gradually worsened throughout the year, and they have allowed others to catch up with them. uThermal has finished highly in the last two tournaments and appears to be in great form. He's the most dangerous opponent to them, but even Scarlett at #15 can knock them out with a Kespa Cup win. However, if uThermal and PtitDrogo don't make it, then MaSa will already need a third place finish to knock them out.

The only way they're guaranteed a BlizzCon spot is if they finish at least as highly as their chasers.

#10 - mYi.PtitDrogo - 2545 WCS Points

Drogo must finish higher than Elazer and viOLet in order to make it into the Top 8. But he also cannot allow uThermal to finish above him. Only a Kespa Cup win can guarantee a spot for Drogo, but a number of different outcomes will do the trick as well. Qualification alone may suffice, if Elazer and viOLet fail to make it, uThermal doesn't finish higher than Drogo, and nobody else finishes in second place or higher.

Drogo could be a shoe-in by now, but he's only taken 150 WCS Points from each of his last three tournaments (none from Copa Intercontinental), while others have taken more. That's not to say that he didn't put on a great showing against Polt at WCS Summer, where he notably also beat Elazer, but he has got to be kicking himself. The points could be his, he could be the one sitting uncomfortably in 8th place right now. Instead he finds himself with a daunting task. Qualify against the best in Europe, or be left in the rain.

#11 - Liquid'uThermal - 2530 WCS Points

Liquid's most recent addition finds himself in nearly the same position as his better, PtitDrogo, only with the added disadvantage of automatically losing out to him if he doesn't finish higher than the French Protoss. Still, uThermal could make it to BlizzCon purely by qualifying, if everyone else around him doesn't succeed in doing so.

As far as form goes, uThermal should be one of the most confident players in the entire qualifier. His very first tournament victory at IEM Shanghai awarded him 1000 WCS Points, a semifinal in Mexico gave him another 450. He's one of the best players in the foreign scene at the moment, giving him a real chance to clinch a last second BlizzCon opportunity. For him, too, only a Kespa Cup win can absolutely guarantee it, though.

#12 - eLevate.MaSa - 2055 WCS Points

It's all rocky mountains to climb from here. MaSa needs at least a third place to overtake Elazer and viOLet. That is if nobody else gathers any points. MaSa is extremely reliant on players above him not finishing highly. Not even a Kespa Cup win is enough to solidify a BlizzCon seed, as players above him could still outrank him with a second place finish of their own.

MaSa may have done well at events all year, but gaps have appeared in his WCS Point earnings, such as Dreamhack Valencia and Copa Intercontinental, neither of which he took any points from. That has culminated in his less-than-enviable situation. But who knows, in an NA only qualifier, MaSa could make it through to the event. And with a doable first round opponent...

#13 - yoeFW.Has - 1650

And now we're entering miracle territory. Even with a Kespa Cup win, Has is very much within range of others above him. Has has been consistent all year, picking up points almost every event he went to, but the second half of the year has seen him fail to build on the promise he showed early on. That takes matters out of his own hands, but not entirely beyond him.

It's a pity that Has hasn't flourished in Legacy of the Void so far. It may have to do with cannon rushes being significantly weaker, or even nonexistent in PvZ these days. There's only so much cheese to be done in LotV, and Has appears to have settled on a more standard playstyle as a result. Don't misunderstand, he's still an insane person who won't hesitate to put cannons in your base if he sees fit, but it's a more rare sight these days. As polarizing as Has is, nothing he's ever done would be as big a talking point as qualifying for BlizzCon here.

#14 - Invasion.Harstem - 1615 WCS Points

Harstem won a tournament this year. It gave him 1000 WCS Points. How, you will wonder, is he still a thousand points off the bottom BlizzCon seed? The answer is as simple as you would imagine. Harstem has really not taken many points anywhere else. 300 at WCS Summer, 150 at two Dreamhacks, 50 at a Regional Qualifier for WCS. That's it. Unfortunately for Harstem, he could not translate the championship winning form that saw him win the Gold Series International into other results. Had he sustained it, he would probably looking at a much easier run-in now.

Unfortunately for Harstem, there is not much hope for him. A Kespa Cup win, as unlikely as it is, won't guarantee a spot, as Elazer and viOLet can hold on to their 8th seed with a second place finish. Harstem could finish second, but that won't be enough if those two gather any points at all, or uThermal or Drogo qualify. It's a rock road to BlizzCon, and Harstem is far from pole position.

#15 - Team expert's Scarlett - 1380 WCS Points

Scarlett's chances exist on paper only. If Elazer or viOLet qualify, she has to win Kespa Cup and pray they don't make it past the first round. If MaSa, or anyone above him, finishes in second place, her opportunity automatically disappears.
It's a shame, because Scarlett has produced some of the finest performances we've seen in WCS this year, but a lack of consistency caught up to her in the end, as seems to be a common theme this year.

Scarlett needs to have every StarCraft god on her side to stand any chance of qualifying for BlizzCon.

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Writer: Olli
Editor: Olli
Graphics: shiroiusagi