The Hidden Global

It might be well beyond cliched by now, but somehow 2016 has proven itself to be a terribly crazy year. As this annus horribilis finally draws to a close, there’s still a few tournaments to enjoy. World Cyber Arena 2016 might be considered to be the penultimate tournament of the year, and funnily enough, it’s one of the few truly global premier tournaments we’ve had ever since the 2016 WCS announcement. Through six qualifiers and one wildcard spot, we’re now down to ten players (E/N: 8, as of Nerchio and Scarlett's forfeits). They will travel to Yinchuan, China, to fight over a $40,000 prize pool over three days.

What makes the event especially interesting is that it’s one of the first tournaments to showcase the recent big changes made to the game. Every single expansion has shaken the foundations of the game in a profound manner, and every single time, after the dust has settled, new players have emerged, even if only for a little while. With 2016 proving to be an especially volatile year, predicting who’s going to succeed in Yinchuan will be a herculean task. It might be tempting to just take a step back and see how it all plays out. If there’s ever a chance for one of the emerging names to shine, this is it. And let’s not forget, with players across the globe in attendance, this will be one of the rare cases to see Koreans take on the rest of the world.

The tournament is split into a dual group format with round robin Bo3, with the top 2 from each group progressing to a single elimination playoff bracket. If past experience is anything to go by, there’s a very real chance of spectacular upsets and frightening surprises. Whatever the outcome, the eyes of the world will be upon them.

Group A

ByuN

The ByuN of 2016 has focused all his efforts on just one simple thing: a mission impossible. After a dominating victory in the second season of GSL, the One Man Army was able to plow through BlizzCon, and in a nail-biting finals, to overcome a fierce Dark. A stunning performance in a star league, and the most important trophy of the year; what more could one want? ByuN has not been resting, however, and has returned to his roots, the online cups where he learned his versatility. While notably absent from HomeStory Cup XIV, and taking some key losses against Zerg players in the VSL Teamleague, ByuN will be ravenous for the last two premier titles of the year. By all accounts he’s already in the running for the best player of the year, but a win here would be crucial in gaining an edge over Dark, undoubtedly the best performing Zerg player of the year. To be brutally honest, this is ByuN’s tournament to lose.

iAsonu

One of the most successful and recognizable faces of the Chinese scene, iAsonu has been on the cusp of an international breakout time and time again. There’s just something impassable in the Ro16 that he’s yet to overcome on the international stage. Even so, he’s inarguably one of the best players in his country. He’s now going up against seasoned veterans of the tournament circuit like himself, and he needs to perform at top level to have a chance at the trophy. So far international success has been elusive in 2016, but perhaps now’s the time.

PtitDrogo

PtitDrogo seems to be teetering on the edge once again. He took down favorites Neeb and Patience at HomeStory Cup XIV (indeed becoming the sole foreigner to take a win over a Korean during the tournament), and given his late notice of a BlizzCon spot following Polt's forfeit, his eventual performance and victory over Snute there was pretty impressive too. There’s no doubt that he’s one of the better players in the European scene, but the only question has been showcasing his burgeoning talent on the international scene on a consistent basis. His only notable result for 2016 was winning DreamHack Leipzig back in January, yet he still managed to scrape together enough WCS points to take Polt’s place at the WCS Playoffs. He’s yet another regular face in the European online cups, but compared to Nerchio, he just doesn’t have the consistency to be placed in the highest echelons of the scene. For the Frenchman, advancing from the group stage should be viewed as a minimum objective.

Kelazhur

It’s been a relatively unremarkable year for Kelazhur on the global scene. On the other hand, he’s been one of the scariest opponents to face in the American scene, taking the Copa America title against Cham, while being narrowly defeated by Scarlett at the Kings of the North tournament. His win rate for the year is an impressive 75%, but most of his offline matches have been smaller local tournaments, featuring mostly players from the Americas. So far Kelazhur’s success has been confined to the North and South American continents, but he’s still a rising international star. He may not be ready to take on the biggest stars just yet, but he’s gaining confidence and experience to bring his skills to the international scene. Players like MajOr and Neeb were at some point in a similar position, and Kelazhur might be looking to follow in Neeb’s footsteps.

TooDming

A veteran of the scene, and known as one of the top ZvZ players in China, TooDming tends to bring with him a very solid style of play. He’s strong at times, but usually unable to reach exceptional heights. Even so, on his home turf he might find the strength he needs to measure up against the others in his group. He was a regular on the WCS Circuit, but ultimately failed to qualify for BlizzCon. His tournament successes in 2016 have been mostly been contained within China, sharing the trait with most other Chinese players. While his results on the international scene have been middling, if he’s to gain an edge over his opponents, it’ll be due to his age and experience. We’ve usually come to expect that younger upstarts eventually overshadow the older players, but every once in a while a veteran will show how it’s done. With the end of 2016 looming on the horizon, and 2017 still unknown, what better time than now?

Predictions

Unless something goes terribly wrong, ByuN should be nailed on for first place in this group; no one should have the power to dent him without some significant cheese going down. Second place is harder to predict, but I'll give it to Drogo.

Group B

Patience

Unlike the more famous other Korean of the tournament, Patience’s year has been one of ups and downs. He’s been a player of incredible potential for a while now, but he’s just been unable to claw his way to a title. That is, until he entered HomeStory Cup XIV. Losing to Neeb twice during the group stages of BlizzCon only meant that he bounced back stronger, taking down the dreaded former KT Rolster Trio on his way to victory in Krefeld. While his record wasn’t quite perfect, it was still hugely impressive, even more so because Patience lacks the flair of some of the other superstars of the scene. He’s been gaining momentum all throughout 2016, and if he’s able keep it up, he has a real shot at another premier trophy, which seem to be in short supply these days. His advantage stems from the natural world: objects in motion tend to stay in motion.

Jieshi

An upcoming player in the Chinese scene, Jieshi has established himself as a regular face in the myriad online cups. If his results are anything to go by, he’s still trying to find his footing in the world of StarCraft. His win rate is hovering just a tad over 50 % for the year, but he’s yet to do anything of note. With the balance patch, Jieshi is precisely one of those players who might explode onto the scene from relative obscurity. He’s been around for a few years, but only diehard followers really know him, so perhaps this is the time for his big break. Of course, back in August, the last time he faced international competition on the stage, he was soundly trounced in the groups. Whether he has improved his form, remains to be seen. (E/N: As ever, I'll pimp out this VOD from 2015 as a hilarious demonstration of his skills).

Cyan

The Chinese Protoss rose to the forefront of the Chinese scene when he fought against Snute in the finals of the NEO Star League International in August. His success was relatively short-lived however, as he fell against ShoWTimE a mere month later at the Copa America International. Since then, he’s been mostly focusing on online cups. Cyan also unfortunately failed to qualify for IEM Gyonggi, though not for lack of trying. He will now be looking to prove that his second place was not just a fluke, but going up against players like Nerchio, Scarlett and Patience, the playing field is stacked against him. Just like Jieshi, however, there’s still the possiblity of an upset looming somewhere in the back of his mind. If NEO Star League was his breakout event, a good run in Yinchuan would make sure that the world takes note.

Predictions

With Nerchio and Scarlett forfeiting their spots from this group (and no re-seeding), this has become a knife fight between two Chinese players for a spot in the semifinals. Once again, our Korean here should have no trouble winning out, but I'll give Jieshi the nod in his battle against Cyan.