The qualifiers for the Intel Extreme Masters in Gyeonggi, Korea, have finished. The event will happen from the 14th to 18th of December and start off WCS Korea for the 2017 season. In the last qualifier four additional players were able to secure tickets to the event, completing the 16-man line-up for the tournament.
A strong Zerg player triumphed in the first bracket of this last qualifier, as soO was finally able to finish a run with success after having failed to do so in the first two qualifiers. The former SKT player did not get into the final series without mishaps, dropping maps to the unknown ChanKiM as well as Chinese Protoss Cyan, but in the end he played a solid series against Billowy and snatched himself a ticket to Gyeonggi.
In the next bracket a similar story unfolded: ByuL had tried his luck in both prior qualifiers and couldn’t make it through, but as it’s said, third time’s the charm. The zerg once again broke some foreign spirits on his way into the finals, defeating both State and MajOr, before also eliminating Sorry and his own former CJ team mate Bunny, who had already reached the deciding match on Day 2 of the qualifiers—just to be eliminated by Chinese Zerg iAsonu, the only foreigner to qualify for the event in Korea.
Also the Terran race could gather some confidence on Day 3: After having been eliminated by INnoVation in the first two qualifiers, jjakji finally was free of the cursed Machine and could march through his bracket uncontested. The former GSL champion defeated Creator, reigning HSC-champion Patience—for the second time during these qualifiers—Scarlett and finally aLive, another Terran who had been eliminated by INnoVation in a past qualifier. The Machine better be careful, because jjakji is certainly out for revenge in Gyeonggi.
Finally craziness ensued in the last bracket as Has cut his way through players such as Welmu and KeeN to meet none other than Maru in the final series. The Jin Air Terran, who has had no luck in prior qualifiers, was able to beat strong opponents in Rogue and TY to get a shot at claiming a spot in Gyeonggi.
What unfolded in front of our eyes can be described as a typical Has-series: The first game ended in a draw with Protoss buildings all over the map, a small group of stalkers and dark templar roaming the battlefield, while Maru tried to figure out a way to win without detection. After a while Maru had to offer the draw, which Has enthusiastically accepted—just to win the equally weird re-game and gain the 1-0 advantage. While game 2 was a rather unspectacular win by Maru, game 3 topped even the weirdness of game 1 as Has built his base all over Vaani Research Station while a scared Maru sat in his base. Instead of using his advantage to knock out his opponent, the Protoss built more and more blink stalkers and infrastructure, sacrificed his army to Maru’s meat grinder and slowly died. That’s Has for you. Maru fans can be relieved though: The Terran will compete in Gyeonggi!
soO, ByuL, jjakji and Maru will join the other twelve players, who’ve already qualified or have been invited beforehand, to form the following line-up competing in Gyeonggi:
Too bad TY didn't make it, otherwise it's really an excellent line-up. Maru, soo and jjakji(!) are looking to be back at the highest level, it will be cool to see how far they make it into the tournament.
On November 30 2016 01:04 Musicus wrote: Ty and aLive going out in TvT is a bit sad of Terrans, but overall this is a super cool lineup!
You may thank the gentlemen over at ESL for that, because they thought it was a good idea to seed the tournament by putting WCS Korea and WCS Circuit standings into one list, treating them equally and using that for seeding. For a WCS KR tournament qualifier. And they did that for every qualifier instead of seeding the 2nd one based on the first one and the 3rd based on the 1st and 2nd.
On November 30 2016 01:28 dr3am_b3ing wrote: Has the ONLY person to take a map from Maru
Maru in good form for 2017 boys. Can't wait for mid December
Maru lost to Forte 0-2 in qualifier #2 and to Cell(zerg from Taiwan) 1-2 in qualifier #1. I arent think he in good form, he like dark horse on IEM. He can destroyed everybody or lose in group stage
Maru what how did he win that bracket after losing in the other 2 previous brackets? Maybe he been training really hard on ladder and figured out a meta to play? Madness, still thankfully he made it and now i am even more hyped :D
On November 30 2016 05:24 MoonyD wrote: A bit sad that so many foreigners came so close to qualifying But alas, the players that qualified all deserved it.
I really don't get all the hype about Maru's current form. That guy dropped out of first two qualifiers and if Has hadn't some sort of mental breakdown (or stroke or whatever it was), he would not make it through this one either. I don't think he will make any significant run at main event. Nice to see soO and jjakji back on a top level again though.
On November 30 2016 15:34 maitiky wrote: I really don't get all the hype about Maru's current form. That guy dropped out of first two qualifiers and if Has hadn't some sort of mental breakdown (or stroke or whatever it was), he would not make it through this one either. I don't think he will make any significant run at main event. Nice to see soO and jjakji back on a top level again though.
As a huge Maru fan, I have to admit you're right and it's super sad. I worry that the days of Maru stomping face at tournaments may really be behind us. But I hope I'm wrong.
On November 30 2016 15:34 maitiky wrote: I really don't get all the hype about Maru's current form. That guy dropped out of first two qualifiers and if Has hadn't some sort of mental breakdown (or stroke or whatever it was), he would not make it through this one either. I don't think he will make any significant run at main event. Nice to see soO and jjakji back on a top level again though.
Those matches were not broadcasted, so maybe some Has level cheese happend there. In macro games against TY he looked quite solid tho.
The hype around Maru is hype around Maru, because Maru has always been Maru, which basically means he can just turn it on at any given time, regardless of his "form." Heck, his individual league performances have be abysmal to say the least in LotV, yet he was virtually untouchable in PL. Maybe it's just due to the fact that he struggles in long best of formats which require lots of prep work for specific matches, but honestly Maru is one of the most talented Terran's SC2 has ever seen, and the only thing holding him back is likely motivation/his body breaking down. Since it's a weekend tournament and not something like GSL or Starleague where the opponent has a lot of time to prep, this could actually work out to his advantage since he seems to shine when it's just raw skill vs raw skill without all the prep time leading up to individual opponents. There is a reason Maru's coaches over at JAGW would rate his "Skill Meter" at max, next to only the likes of sOs on his team. It's like the kid is half asleep in the booth half of the time, but when he really plays up to his potential and turns it on, it honestly seems like he's virtually untouchable. So yes, he might completely flop at this tourney, like he is regularly known to do, but he has the potential to just roll through every single opponent along the way and make a miracle run that no one's expecting, since he's currently in a "slump".
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/8QdygOp.jpg)
soO was finally able to finish a run with success after having failed to do so in the first two qualifiers. The former SKT player did not get into the final series without mishaps, dropping maps to the unknown ChanKiM as well as Chinese Protoss 
Cyan, but in the end he played a solid series against 
MajOr, before also eliminating 
