We might only be one day in, but the opening weekend of the WCS Global finals has already been a thrilling one. Day two introduced eight more players, two of whom would be leaving early, with the others joining the six players still fighting for a spot in the quarterfinals
Kelazhur's reapers, hellions and banshee did little to slow Dark, who powered up to four bases and hydra/ling/bane. Kelazhur moved out with small forces, but either lost them or was forced to retreat without doing damage. An attack by Dark on Kelazhur's third reset the Terran's tank count, but when Kelazhur moved out with bio/tank, he won the fight convincingly. His economy was lacking however and Dark, who had 88 workers, produced ultralisk after ultralisk. Kelazhur was pushed back and his fourth fell soon after, prompting a concession.
Dark opted for a ravager/ling/queen all-in on Ascension to Aiur, but Kelazhur held with two bunkers and tanks, forcing Dark to drone up and retreat. He went into infestors and a fast hive while Kelazhur continued into bio/tank. A liberator drew Dark's attention, allowing Kelazhur to cancel Dark's fourth. Lacking baneling speed, Dark tried to hold at his third, but finally attacked with the upgrade ten seconds away. Kelazhur emerged from the fight with a healthy amount of bio while Dark was left only with ravagers. Those died soon after as well, forcing a third game.
Kelazhur's liberator range/hellbat push bruised Dark, but the Korean Zerg held before expanding while teching into hydralisks and hive. Kelazhur posture on the high ground at the edge of Dark's creep with bio/tank as he finally took his fourth. Dark stalked Kelazhur’s forces, finally catching them outside the Terran’s fourth. Blinding clouds prevented Kelazhur from standing his ground, leaving him unable to prevent himself from losing his army and fourth base. Dark remaxed and dealt the final blow, earning himself a spot in the winner's match on Sunday.
Elazer held firm against herO's first oracle on Catallena, but the second got off a big stasis ward in the Polish Zerg's main mineral line that set up a two base charge all in. herO elevatored zealots directly into Elazer's main before diving into Elazer’s mineral line. Elazer defended with queens and zerglings, but constant zealot warp ins and warp prism micro from herO gave him a 1-0 lead.
herO opened with a stargate on Ascension to Aiur, but this time he added another two before moving into triple oracle production. Elazer responded with corruptors and then hydralisks while expanding, while herO was powering out blink stalkers on three bases. He finally lost his oracles, but by then Elazer's economy was crippled. Elazer's production just couldn't keep up as the stalkers kept warping in, giving herO his second win and a spot opposite Dark on Sunday.
Game one between TRUE and INnoVation was thrown on its head when a hellbat timing and zergling run-by reduced both players below 21 workers. From there TRUE went for ling/bane/hydra while INnoVation chose bio/tank. Despite the narrow confines of Interloper, TRUE found ways to kill INnoVation's workers in droves and, while INnoVation had suppressed TRUE for a time, the PSISTORM Zerg managed to get up to five bases. When TRUE dove in once more, he killed INnoVation's fourth, earning a concession.
INnoVation struck back on Mech Depot with two-pronged hellbat aggression that forced zerglings and gave INnoVation a significant worker lead. Behind that he had already taken a third base and began tank production. After a sixteen marine drop further deplete TRUE's forces, an attack on TRUE's third sent the series to the deciding game.
Game three took place on Acolyte. Auto-turrets and baneling drops were the only true signs of aggression from either player as TRUE powered up to hive and vipers while once more eschewing ultralisks. INnoVation successfully took out TRUE's fourth after repeated attempts while replacing his tanks with liberators, but the players continued to expand across the massive map. Fight after fight took place, but after nearly 30 minutes, it was INnoVation who had taken a supply advantage that he rode to a 2-1 victory.
GuMiho's initial hellbat push and liberator killed seven of Serral’s drones, giving him the lead heading into the midgame on Mech Depot. GuMiho moved into mech, going all the way up to eight factories, while Serral fought back with swarm hosts and hydra/bane. GuMiho held the advantage for a long while, but things swung in Serral’s favor after a series of positive trades. The script flipped again as GuMiho’s tank centric push leveled Serral's 10 and 11 o'clock bases, devastating his economy and giving the Korean Terran a clear path to victory.
Game two was more of the same as GuMiho once more went for mech on Ascension to Aiur. Serral defended hellbats and thors with hydra/bane and then swarm hosts. On four bases, GuMIho sallied forth with an intimidating tank based force. He ripped through a large portion of Serral's army before killing one of Finnish Zerg’s bases and setting up a siege between Serral's third and fourth base. Serral bled units into the GuMiho's entrenched position in an attempt to break it, but eventually ran out of steam, sending him to a loser’s match against TRUE.
The series opened on Ascension to Aiur. Kelazhur’s 2/1/1 featuring medivac boost proved ineffective, but he remained active on the map, sniping Elazer's building fourth base before being pushed back. The typical bio/tank vs hydra/ling/bane battle ensued, but the game titled in Elazer's favor after Kelazhur lost all his tanks in a failed push on Elazer's fourth. Zergling run by and solid defense widened the gap, with burrowed banelings dealing the critical damage that allowed Elazer's ultralisks and hydralisks to seal the deal.
Game two took place on Interloper. Kelazhur tried setting up a bunker at Elazer's third with the aid of hellions and reapers, but a zergling run from Elazer killed reinforcing hellions as well as 10 SCVs. Kelazhur moved out again, only to be bombarded by zerglings, banelings and queen at the cost of another 13 SCVs. The third onslaught of roaches and ravagers brought Kelazhur's worker count into single digits. Kelazhur, hung around, but there's was no saving him. His last worker fell and with it his BlizzCon dream as Elazer moved on to Sunday.
Serral got off to a good start on Mech Depot, distracting TRUE with a small zergling run by before canceling the TRUE's third. Serral already has his own third by then and he added on a roach warren while getting a lair. Down a base, TRUE went for a spire, but Serral scouted it, resumed queen production and went for a nydus. Roaches and queens gutted TRUE's third before battering their way into TRUE's natural, giving Serral a 1-0 lead.
TRUE rolled the dice with a 13/12 on Abyssal Reef, but he did not pool his zerglings in the fashion favored by his countrymen. Serral merely pulled some drones and ushered TRUE's slow lings away. From there, Serral took a faster third with superior upgrades while zergling pressure stifled TRUE's economy. Serral threw all of his roaches away against spine crawlers and mutalisks, but simply restocked on roaches and hydralisks, killing TRUE's mutalisks before crashing into the Korean Zerg's third base and eliminating him from the tournament.
Join us tomorrow for the conclusion of the Round of 16.
Inno played like shit today, and just barely managed to beat True of all people. Hopefully he can get his shit together for tomorrow, or else Gumiho will easily beat him.
That being said, I suspect Inno just got cocky and thought he could stomp True without breaking a sweat. He shouldn't make the same mistake against Gumiho.
On October 29 2017 08:34 onPHYRE wrote: Isn’t TRUE Korean though?
He couldn't win a single WCS Circuit event in 2017. He can't even win in an event with only foreigners in it and he had four chances. He is basically worst than a foreigner.
On October 29 2017 08:45 pvsnp wrote: Inno played like shit today, and just barely managed to beat True of all people. Hopefully he can get his shit together for tomorrow, or else Gumiho will easily beat him.
That being said, I suspect Inno just got cocky and thought he could stomp True without breaking a sweat. He shouldn't make the same mistake against Gumiho.
Honestly... I don't actually think Inno played that poorly ( a bit sloppy game 1 but not like Stat's really poor showing yesterday). It honestly looks like True was playing the game of his life, and that was enough to stress but not break Inno.
G2 was a good example of classic Inno looking OP when he got to dictate the terms of the game.
Also Kelazhur played pretty damn well overall, some sloppy mistakes costing him a pretty big upset.
Hero rofl-stomped and Serral looked very out of practice (somehow). 2/4 decent shows I'll take it.
Elazer trained in Korea and played in GSL, does that make him Korean?
Are you serious about that question?
It is so obvious that both Elazer and TRUE came from WCS Circuit, and GSL is always open to anyone in the world, and WCS Circuit tournament does not allow Koreans except someone like TRUE who got permission to play in there with visa.
On October 29 2017 08:34 onPHYRE wrote: Isn’t TRUE Korean though?
He practices and competes in foreignerland so he counts as a foreigner
The "no TRUE Korean" fallacy lol
No, it is not a No True Scotsman fallacy. It's simply verbal shorthand for saying "qualified through WCS Korea."
Syllogistically: Anyone qualifying through WCS Circuit is a foreigner. True qualified through WCS Circuit. Therefore, True is a foreigner.
In the era of region-lock, defining who is a Korean and who is a foreigner is extremely simple.
In actuality, True is called "foreigner" in order to abbreviate "Player born in Korea who wasn't good enough to make it in the Korean scene so he moved abroad, but who should not be confused with players born in Korea who were good enough to make it in Korea." True could be equated to players like Losira and Curious, who are obviously Korean players, but since the context is Blizzcon and Losira and Curious would never be present at Blizzcon because they couldn't make it, calling True a Korean at Blizzcon is disingenuous.
Anyone else feel they should of had the winners final played before the losers final?
Like, So...with Group A for instance:
Stats vs Special TY vs Snute
Then, why not play Special vs TY? Why play an elimination match on the opening day? This would do a few things.
Give the person who is going to get eliminated a day to mess with strategies and prepare. They have to win two Bo3's in a row, why not give them some extra time. WIth the winner's match, the winner wins, they now have the week off to practice for the Ro8, but the loser of the winner's match now knows he's going to play one of the two losers, and can now prepare for either of them (or just one of them if they really think they will win.)
So like...
Stats vs Special TY vs Snute Special vs TY
Let's say TY wins. Now Special has the night off, to prepare builds for either Stats or Snute. Both Snute & Stats have the night off to prepare, not only for their match against each other, but the possible match against Special. TY can go to bed happy because he knows he now has another week of practice before his next match, where as Special can prepare for either Stats or Snute for his final decider match.
That makes much more sense to me. It's crazy that a player can get knocked out in one day for Blizzcon. You can say you want Bo5, or Bo7 for these groups too, which might help, but I feel the biggest problem is a player (snute in group A's case) getting knocked out of blizzcon in one day, after two best of 3s. At least if it was two days, two best of 3s, it gives him some extra time to prepare.
On October 29 2017 11:09 SidianTheBard wrote: Anyone else feel they should of had the winners final played before the losers final?
Like, So...with Group A for instance:
Stats vs Special TY vs Snute
Then, why not play Special vs TY? Why play an elimination match on the opening day? This would do a few things.
Give the person who is going to get eliminated a day to mess with strategies and prepare. They have to win two Bo3's in a row, why not give them some extra time. WIth the winner's match, the winner wins, they now have the week off to practice for the Ro8, but the loser of the winner's match now knows he's going to play one of the two losers, and can now prepare for either of them (or just one of them if they really think they will win.)
So like...
Stats vs Special TY vs Snute Special vs TY
Let's say TY wins. Now Special has the night off, to prepare builds for either Stats or Snute. Both Snute & Stats have the night off to prepare, not only for their match against each other, but the possible match against Special. TY can go to bed happy because he knows he now has another week of practice before his next match, where as Special can prepare for either Stats or Snute for his final decider match.
That makes much more sense to me. It's crazy that a player can get knocked out in one day for Blizzcon. You can say you want Bo5, or Bo7 for these groups too, which might help, but I feel the biggest problem is a player (snute in group A's case) getting knocked out of blizzcon in one day, after two best of 3s. At least if it was two days, two best of 3s, it gives him some extra time to prepare.
Blizzard schedules it this way for hype . People have been complaining about it for years to no avail.
Chalk and more chalk. The only surprise thus far is Special beating Stats (which may end up not mattering depending on what he does in the rest of the group) and TRUE making Inno sweat.
On October 29 2017 09:51 Zaros wrote: Serral and Elazer aren't out yet and I think they still have a chance if they play their best.
While I feel that Serral has been overhyped all year, after last year's Blizzcon I'm not willing to count out Elazer just yet.
Serral's the archetypal practice bonjwa who gets hyped up by all the other players but doesn't perform offline.
Throughout all of 2017, I've heard so many people (even some pros) hyping Serral's awesome skill, how Serral was poised to unleash his incredible talent and claim undying glory for himself on the big stage. Any day now. Any day......
.....yeah. That narrative peaked at Jönköping. As far as I'm concerned Serral is a great player who simply is not championship material. Not against players who are actually champions themselves, with the trophies to prove it. Not at Dreamhacks, and certainly not at Blizzcon.
The foreigners are off to a pretty good start, all things considered, but Blizzcon is far from over. Tomorrow is the first real step down that path, and if the foreigners want the privilege of competing at Anaheim they're gonna have to earn it.
Personally, I predict Neeb advancing alongside 7 Koreans as the most likely Ro8.
EPT
2017 WCS Global Finals
Kelazhur's reapers, hellions and banshee did little to slow 
Dark, who powered up to four bases and hydra/ling/bane. Kelazhur moved out with small forces, but either lost them or was forced to retreat without doing damage. An attack by Dark on Kelazhur's third reset the Terran's tank count, but when Kelazhur moved out with bio/tank, he won the fight convincingly. His economy was lacking however and Dark, who had 88 workers, produced ultralisk after ultralisk. Kelazhur was pushed back and his fourth fell soon after, prompting a concession.
herO's first oracle on Catallena, but the second got off a big stasis ward in the Polish Zerg's main mineral line that set up a two base charge all in. herO elevatored zealots directly into Elazer's main before diving into Elazer’s mineral line. Elazer defended with queens and zerglings, but constant zealot warp ins and warp prism micro from herO gave him a 1-0 lead.
