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Road to BlizzCon #1 - Elazer - Global Finals 2016

Forum Index > SC2 General
47 CommentsPost a Reply
1 2 3 Next All

Road to BlizzCon #1 - Elazer - Global Finals 2016

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
Graphics byshiroiusagi
October 19th, 2016 18:11 GMT
Photo Credit: Helena Kristiansson
Elazer
Mikołaj Ogonowski
True eSport

The Invisible Star

by Soularion


Of the many justifications for the WCS system revamp, one of the most pressing claims has been the development of talent and growth of the foreign scene. If you look at the list of eight WCS Blizzcon qualifiers for this year, that might seem strange. Two are Koreans with a rich history in the game (viOLet and TRUE), which could have been boosted to four prior to Polt and Hydra’s forfeits. Two are stalwart EU zergs in Snute and Nerchio, while the protoss trio of Neeb, PtitDrogo and ShoWTimE have been tipped for success for years. Rather, the poster child of the new philosophy has been Elazer.

He played day after day, tournament after tournament, in spite of no reward being in sight.
In 2014, Elazer was a nobody. He lost 1-4 to Tefel at Dreamhack Valencia, his only offline appearance outside of Poland, dropping out in the second group stage. But that was a mere blip on his sheet. Elazer played over a thousand maps online that year; despite being invisible to all but the most dedicated watchers, he kept on. He played day after day, tournament after tournament, in spite of no reward being in sight. Even when the 2015 WCS Season was announced, it took a tremendous amount of effort to qualify the tournament. After three different sets of brackets, Elazer found an opening against SortOf and Kas to reach Challenger. It was then that he got his first vague glimpse at glory, and subsequently he realized how hard it would be to obtain. In Challenger his opponent was ShoWTimE, a more promising rookie who held an impressive online record against him, and whose top four finish in the previous WCS Season was far beyond Elazer’s wildest expectations.

None of that mattered. When it came time to play Elazer looked past that. He looked past the unlikely nature of an upset, fought through the nerves, and performed like a man without fear. The result was a clinic on solid macro play, combined with just enough cleverness to bring him past the finish line. He made ShoWTimE look like a rookie brought low by big game nerves, even though by all means that was Elazer's place going into the series. Elazer had beaten his Goliath, and his 3-1 win guaranteed him his first spot in WCS Premier. One of the greatest difficulties of being a pro is knowing that all the fans and haters will never quite get it. They aren't privy to the countless hours of practice, the slow increments of improvement that register as small personal victories, the uncountable moments of disappointment that occur off-camera. All of those wasted hours were proved meaningful in this one series, but Elazer wasn't done.

For the rest of the year he remained a fringe player; a player of sharp highs and fierce lows, shown best when he followed up a series loss to Hitman with a victory over Hydra, and a close defeat to Polt. He might not have found a tournament victory, or even a particularly deep run, but he turned some heads. In response to this failure Elazer tried harder. He logged another 700-odd maps that year, pushing harder than many of his peers as Legacy of the Void—and a greater opportunity in the form of the 2016 WCS—loomed around the corner.

He might not have found a tournament victory, or even a particularly deep run, but he turned some heads.
Before this year, Elazer was an inconsequential part of the StarCraft scene. Yet somehow he ends the year at BlizzCon, while dozens of more famous and accomplished competitors missed out. How did he defy the odds? So far there is no clear answer. Perhaps it took this long for his innate talent to mature. Maybe the hard work finally paid off, and the nine hundred maps he's played in 2016 stand as testament to his improvement. Maybe this iteration of the game rewarded his approach to the game more than Heart of the Swarm did. Whatever the catalyst was, Elazer is the living embodiment of the WCS system. He is a player who proved that dark horses can win, surviving the critical moments and moving up the hierarchy in the process. In 2014, Elazer was an online warrior; in 2015, Elazer was an offline dark horse good for an upset or two. In 2016, he's a Blizzcon participant.



2016 Winrates


64.96% vs. Terran
71.77% vs. Protoss
61.22% vs. Zerg

Rank


Circuit Standings
7

WCS Points


2610


The pressing question is, can he actually do anything at Blizzcon? Throughout his career, Elazer has done well against Polt and Hydra: last year, he showed that he could hang with them on a good day during the WCS group stage. Still there remains a gaping divide between the emigrants and those who stayed at home, a difference he will only experience when the fall breeze brings him to Anaheim. It's highly likely that Elazer is out of his league. Besides qualifying for BlizzCon he hasn't made any big impression this year. He has no major upsets to his credit and he has never appeared in a finals, let alone won a championship. Maybe, like so many times before, he has lacked the opportunity. Before that series against ShoWTimE, he was a player who never knew the pressure of playing for something. The pressure of having all of those years of practice on your back going into a series can be debilitating; knowing that if you lose, they're for naught. The Elazer of today is wiser and stronger. He's improved alongside his peers; but the most impressive part is that he's surpassed them.

Of all the Western players going into BlizzCon, Elazer has arguably the strongest online form. In the past couple of months, he's won a Corsair Cup over Nerchio and aLive, eliminated Polt from SGL 4, 3-0'd Nerchio and ShoWTimE at various stages of WESG, and most recently crushed Snute 3-0 at Wardi Open. These aren't nobodies anymore. These are no longer meaningless ladder sessions or fortunate victories unwatched online events. Elazer is a star. He's made it to the biggest tournament of the year—and more importantly, he's made it while looking like he belongs here. The BlizzCon stage is just another inevitable step for him. It's also the biggest stage he'll ever get; there is no greater time to shed one's weakness and transcend expectations than at Anaheim while everyone is watching.

The sweetest thing is, he could lose. Perhaps it's inevitable. He's facing players who have played this game longer, who have more experience, who have done greater things. By all comparisons Elazer is a mouse surrounded by ravenous cats. One could easily dismiss him as easy prey, a stepping stone for someone who actually deserves to be there—just like he should've been an pushover during ShoWTimE's journey to a successful 2015. In 2016 Elazer has been the Invisible Star, a player who has risen faster and harder than most expected, yet not far enough to straddle the worldwide divide like Neeb has so memorably done. He isn't a game-defining prodigy, but neither is he a nobody. At Blizzcon, Elazer is the greatest dark horse of all. He will either burn so brightly you can no longer ignore him, or he will be blotted out.






Writer: Soularion
Editor: munch, CosmicSpiral
Photo Credit: Shayla, Helena Kristiansson, R1CH, ESL, DreamHack
Winrate Stats: Aligulac
Layout & Format: shiroiusagi
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TL+ Member
Aeromi
Profile Blog Joined August 2012
France14456 Posts
October 19 2016 18:19 GMT
#2
Yay Blizzcon articles! :D
https://twitter.com/DrAeromi | Updates on live tournaments: @StarCrafteSport
Olli
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
Austria24417 Posts
October 19 2016 18:20 GMT
#3
Hello ladies and gentlemen, we're back
Administrator"Declaring anything a disaster because aLive popped up out of nowhere is just downright silly."
FrkFrJss
Profile Joined April 2015
Canada1205 Posts
October 19 2016 18:21 GMT
#4
Whoa!! Nice write up. I didn't know much about Elazer from before 2015, so it's nice to know how far he's come. I guess we have to rank him with Snute as people who work extremely hard.
"Keep Moving Forward" - Walt Disney
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
October 19 2016 18:24 GMT
#5
Some pretty hype writing for the most difficult-to-hype player of the tournament. I look forward to the rest of the articles.
Musicus
Profile Joined August 2011
Germany23576 Posts
October 19 2016 18:25 GMT
#6
Hell it's about time!!! Hype :D
Maru and Serral are probably top 5.
NinjaToss
Profile Blog Joined October 2015
Austria1383 Posts
October 19 2016 18:35 GMT
#7
shit, I was like what is there to write about Elazer, and bam, this happened. Such a great write up
I'm sorry for all those that got their hearts broken by Zest | Zest, Bisu, soO, herO, MC, Maru, TY, Rogue, Trap, TaeJa", Favourite foreigners: ShoWTimE, Snute, Serral and Nerchio| KT BEST KT |
ArtyK
Profile Joined June 2011
France3143 Posts
October 19 2016 18:38 GMT
#8
Nice! Is it gonna be 2 articles per day considering the time left before blizzcon?

Show 'em how its done Elazer :p
Sup dood ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ KiWiKaKi | SLush | uThermal | PtitDrogo | SortOf | Clem ~ "I told my mom she should vote for me in Nation Wars, she said 'I dunno, I kinda want Finland to win'" – Luolis ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_NScWV9h8k#t=1h01m
TL+ Member
munch
Profile Joined July 2014
Mute City2363 Posts
October 19 2016 18:44 GMT
#9
On October 20 2016 03:38 ArtyK wrote:
Nice! Is it gonna be 2 articles per day considering the time left before blizzcon?

Show 'em how its done Elazer :p


It'll be 3 tomorrow, then back to 2 a day from Friday
WriterForm is temporary, MMA is permanent || http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/508630-article-archive
Nerchio
Profile Joined October 2009
Poland2633 Posts
October 19 2016 18:45 GMT
#10
Cool article but still me in Acer shirt without red bull hat, rip
Progamer"I am the best" - Nerchio , 2017.
KtJ
Profile Joined October 2014
United States3514 Posts
October 19 2016 18:46 GMT
#11
The first of many! these are the best.
"I thought I destroyed my CC but it seemed like the only thing I destroyed was Idra's mentality."
Wintex
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Norway16838 Posts
October 19 2016 19:03 GMT
#12
On October 20 2016 03:45 Nerchio wrote:
Cool article but still me in Acer shirt without red bull hat, rip

[image loading]

here u go artur
The Bomber boy
Ej_
Profile Blog Joined January 2013
47656 Posts
October 19 2016 19:16 GMT
#13
On October 20 2016 04:03 Wintex wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 20 2016 03:45 Nerchio wrote:
Cool article but still me in Acer shirt without red bull hat, rip

+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


here u go artur

doing god's work
"Technically the dictionary has zero authority on the meaning or words" - Rodya
genghiswolve
Profile Joined January 2016
Germany101 Posts
October 19 2016 19:36 GMT
#14
I am so happy from him :D A very good gaming friend of mine is good gaming friends with him since WOL, and thanks to that Elazer even gave me some ladder replays for my youtube channel and all.
He always seemed like a cool calm guy to me. I might for ever be an mlord fanboy, but Elazer I believe in you, keep grinding!

PS: anyone agree that reading this about Elazer is basically what we could have read about snute in 2014/15? Always grinding, always playing, slowly improving, but never stopping? I think they are very simililar players (although snute is way more defensive, its very impressive clear cut macro, solid micro and a clear cut game plan. Elazer lacks in multitask and engagement preparation, snute in stability).
Die4Ever
Profile Joined August 2010
United States17665 Posts
October 19 2016 20:00 GMT
#15
YES FINALLY! Now I got something to read at work lol
"Expert" mods4ever.com
Elentos
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
55510 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-10-19 20:17:34
October 19 2016 20:13 GMT
#16
You guys did a really good job creating hype for a player I wasn't really to excited about going into Blizzcon.

But since there is a group stage this year, it would be kinda nice if you previewed the groups themselves, too. Or at least mention their groups in each players' article.
Every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute passes.
Argonauta
Profile Joined July 2016
Spain4906 Posts
October 19 2016 20:14 GMT
#17
For this kind of stuff is why i check liquid forums.

Can I say I miss one about proleague recap like last year one?
Rogue | Maru | Scarlett | Trap
TL+ Member
Probe1
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States17920 Posts
October 19 2016 20:15 GMT
#18
Great article! I was mildly interested in Elazer after his recent performance but this, this has me really excited to see how he does!

Thanks! Good luck Elazer!
우정호 KT_VIOLET 1988 - 2012 While we are postponing, life speeds by
munch
Profile Joined July 2014
Mute City2363 Posts
October 19 2016 20:22 GMT
#19
On October 20 2016 05:14 Argonauta wrote:
For this kind of stuff is why i check liquid forums.

Can I say I miss one about proleague recap like last year one?

This is going to come near the end of the year, no way it's happening any time soon
WriterForm is temporary, MMA is permanent || http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/508630-article-archive
Duckman
Profile Joined August 2009
United States158 Posts
October 19 2016 21:44 GMT
#20
Nicccceeeeeee looking forward to these
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