Neeb was the first player to qualify, battling his way past SortOf, Stephano and Bunny to advance.
ShoWTimE was the next player to make it through as he was even more impressive in taking down Serral, Classic and then Nerchio, all without dropping a map.
Serral had a rough start to his qualifying run after getting beaten in the opening match by ShoWTimE, but he battled his way back and took the last spot. On his way through, he beat Harstem, Stephano, Snute, Nerchio and Elazer to advance as the final player from the European qualifiers.
TY was the first player to advance, defeating three Korean players—most of the best showed up— in the American qualifier to advance. He started off with a 2-0 over Dear and then moved onto a tough battle with ex-teammate Zest. He beat him 2-1 to set up a final vs Losira, another former KT team mate. Taking an even closer series 3-2, TY booked his ticket to Katowice.
herO was the second player through. He defeated PuCK 2-1, followed by the same scoreline against INnoVation. The last game saw him pitted against Nerchio, whom herO swept 3-0 to qualify for IEM.
The final spot went to TRUE who completed the mammoth task of battling his way through the lower bracket from the first round stage. He was knocked down by Zest, but went on a tremendous run, beating Dear, Stats, Scarlett and Losira. Finally, TRUE had to face Zest again—this time winning 3-1 to secure his place in Katowice.
Solar was the first player to make it through the first Korean Qualifier. His impressive run took him through herO, ByuN, and ByuL.
Dark took the next spot after taking down Impact, Patience and INnoVation.
aLive was the surprise package in the first Korean Qualifier. After losing 0-2 to Patience in the first round, he went on a tear through the Losers' Bracket, knocking out Impact, ByuN, Zest, INnoVation and Maru.
INnoVation finally managed to qualify through the second Korean Qualifier. He took down Protoss pair Dear and Patience without dropping a game, setting up a TvT showdown with GuMiho, whom he beat 3-1 to qualify.
After falling painfully short in all qualifiers before, Zest also took his final chance to qualify for Katowice. He started off against his new rival Keen and then went on to face Losira. In a rematch of 2015's grand finals, Zest fittingly defeated Trap to secure his place.
ByuN took the final place on offer. Having lost in the opening round of the day to Maru he managed to drag himself through the dreaded lower bracket to qualify. He faced and defeated soO, ByuL, Losira and GuMiho before facing Stats in the deciding series. ByuN emphatically dispatched of the Protoss 3-0, securing the very last spot at Katowice.
All these players deserved to win. I'd say Maru over Alive top 4 terrans in the world but considering who he beat to take the spot...holy $#$%. And Top protoss in NA and EU well deserved. Shame no Nerchio or Scar for Zerg. Other than that, these are best of the best. Goin be a great tourny.
On February 01 2017 04:02 ProBell wrote: All these players deserved to win. I'd say Maru over Alive top 4 terrans in the world but considering who he beat to take the spot...holy $#$%. And Top protoss in NA and EU well deserved. Shame no Nerchio or Scar for Zerg. Other than that, these are best of the best. Goin be a great tourny.
Nerchio will be in the open bracket no doubt though. But will Scarlett fly from Korea for that ?
Do you actually get anything for qualifying through the online qualies, rather than the offline ones? Besides not having to go through the offline ones of course.
I'm sure Nerchio will be in open bracket given IEM is in Poland after all.
I'm highly disappointed with his performance in NA qualifier. Lost to herO 3 games in a row with the same build. No GG, BM all round. I like him and all but being in this profession for that long and still showing such a bad attitude is beyond my understanding.
On February 01 2017 04:02 ProBell wrote: All these players deserved to win. I'd say Maru over Alive top 4 terrans in the world but considering who he beat to take the spot...holy $#$%. And Top protoss in NA and EU well deserved. Shame no Nerchio or Scar for Zerg. Other than that, these are best of the best. Goin be a great tourny.
Nerchio will be in the open bracket no doubt though. But will Scarlett fly from Korea for that ?
On February 01 2017 04:02 ProBell wrote: All these players deserved to win. I'd say Maru over Alive top 4 terrans in the world but considering who he beat to take the spot...holy $#$%. And Top protoss in NA and EU well deserved. Shame no Nerchio or Scar for Zerg. Other than that, these are best of the best. Goin be a great tourny.
Nerchio will be in the open bracket no doubt though. But will Scarlett fly from Korea for that ?
On February 01 2017 04:21 Thax wrote: Do you actually get anything for qualifying through the online qualies, rather than the offline ones? Besides not having to go through the offline ones of course.
On February 01 2017 04:02 ProBell wrote: All these players deserved to win. I'd say Maru over Alive top 4 terrans in the world but considering who he beat to take the spot...holy $#$%. And Top protoss in NA and EU well deserved. Shame no Nerchio or Scar for Zerg. Other than that, these are best of the best. Goin be a great tourny.
Nerchio will be in the open bracket no doubt though. But will Scarlett fly from Korea for that ?
No, she won't sadly. Already replied on twitter
Man, that is sad. She had a good showing in server qualifiers so if she participates in open bracket, she gets a good chance.
BTW, what happens to Elazer? He didn't try any of the server qualifiers. He is just gonna go straight to open qualifier instead?
On February 01 2017 04:21 Thax wrote: Do you actually get anything for qualifying through the online qualies, rather than the offline ones? Besides not having to go through the offline ones of course.
Paid trip and hotel. Straight to group stage as well (Ro24). No need to go to open bracket AKA open qualifier.
On February 01 2017 04:02 ProBell wrote: All these players deserved to win. I'd say Maru over Alive top 4 terrans in the world but considering who he beat to take the spot...holy $#$%. And Top protoss in NA and EU well deserved. Shame no Nerchio or Scar for Zerg. Other than that, these are best of the best. Goin be a great tourny.
Nerchio will be in the open bracket no doubt though. But will Scarlett fly from Korea for that ?
No, she won't sadly. Already replied on twitter
Man, that is sad. She had a good showing in server qualifiers so if she participates in open bracket, she gets a good chance.
BTW, what happens to Elazer? He didn't try any of the server qualifiers. He is just gonna go straight to open qualifier instead?
He tried and almost qualified through the EU qualifier.
On February 01 2017 04:21 Thax wrote: Do you actually get anything for qualifying through the online qualies, rather than the offline ones? Besides not having to go through the offline ones of course.
On February 01 2017 04:02 ProBell wrote: All these players deserved to win. I'd say Maru over Alive top 4 terrans in the world but considering who he beat to take the spot...holy $#$%. And Top protoss in NA and EU well deserved. Shame no Nerchio or Scar for Zerg. Other than that, these are best of the best. Goin be a great tourny.
Nerchio will be in the open bracket no doubt though. But will Scarlett fly from Korea for that ?
No, she won't sadly. Already replied on twitter
Man, that is sad. She had a good showing in server qualifiers so if she participates in open bracket, she gets a good chance.
BTW, what happens to Elazer? He didn't try any of the server qualifiers. He is just gonna go straight to open qualifier instead?
He tried and almost qualified through the EU qualifier.
Ah, he was invited one. Lost to Serral. Gotcha. Thanks :D
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/lJnqpog.png)
Neeb was the first player to qualify, battling his way past SortOf, Stephano and Bunny to advance. 
Serral had a rough start to his qualifying run after getting beaten in the opening match by ShoWTimE, but he battled his way back and took the last spot. On his way through, he beat Harstem, Stephano, Snute, Nerchio and Elazer to advance as the final player from the European qualifiers.
TY was the first player to advance, defeating three Korean players—most of the best showed up— in the American qualifier to advance. He started off with a 2-0 over Dear and then moved onto a tough battle with ex-teammate Zest. He beat him 2-1 to set up a final vs Losira, another former KT team mate. Taking an even closer series 3-2, TY booked his ticket to Katowice.
