We all had our doubts—and memes—about sOs going into this tournament, how his terrible year and last minute qualification were the omen for another miraculous championship run on the one side, and how this all primed him for an early exit on the other side. The greatest doubts may not have come true—after all, sOs advanced to his third top 8 appearance at BlizzCon—but they are far from having been swept away. The Jin Air Protoss may have survived the group stage, but he came close to disaster multiple times: Serral dismantled him like some random amateur, and HeRoMaRinE had him on the ropes several times, failing to finish the job and letting sOs snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in some of the worst games the WCS Global Finals have ever witnessed. The pattern seemed to hold in his PvP series against Zest, whose lack of good judgement on the last map probably contributed more to sOs’ advancement than any kind of great performance on the Jin Air player’s part.

So far, sOs has been the weakest player left in the field, winning more through his reputation than his abilities. Can the playoffs finally bring out the miracle man, who's never lost at BlizzCon? Our doubts certainly remain.

Group D was perhaps considered the hardest for the two foreigners to survive in. Classic and Rogue were both considered tournament contenders prior to the event, and Rogue did win the group but SpeCial made him work for it. His hellions diving in secured a massive lead in their opening game that a simple tank push converted into a victory. The second game was over quickly due to a zergling runby, but SpeCial again put up a strong fight on the third map, constantly harassing Rogue with drops, but ultimately falling to Rogue's relentless swarm host pressure.

Coming into Day 3, SpeCial was considered the favorite against Nerchio, but a huge underdog against Classic's expert PvT. SpeCial exceeded expectations by overcoming Nerchio as expected, but also putting together a highly impressive win over Classic, featuring easily the best game of the tournament so far on Acid Plant. SpeCial won out through intelligent decision-making, coupled with intelligently timed and well executed harassment, but it was ultimately his ability to crack Classic's armies that took the wins for him.

It's hard to say whether SpeCial can keep up this level of play, but to get past Stats in the quarterfinals he will have to deliver the same level, perhaps even more.

So far, TY played the most games of any player in this tournament, which already speaks volumes: his series were scrappy, too close for comfort, and overall simply unimpressive. Neeb had his number in their first match, gaining clear victories to send TY to the loser’s match. There, TY again failed to build up momentum against an equally struggling Lambo, dropping another map quite clearly before regaining balance and finishing the series. His deciding rematch against Neeb featured the scrappiest games of the group, as TY opted for similar strategies Maru had used to secure his own victory over the American Protoss player. Proxies were set up on both maps, but as Neeb didn’t straight-up die to the aggression and comported himself valiantly in both defence and counter-attacks, the games dragged on before TY could claim victory.

While TY’s great control, tactical prowess and adaptability did show through during some of his games, this group stage wasn’t exactly a great inducer of confidence for the remainder of the tournament, even though the longer Best of 5s and Best of 7s should suit him better. Far more dangerous Zerg players than Lambo are waiting for him in the playoffs. What we’ve seen so far won’t be enough to overcome them, so TY will have to step up his game for the coming matches.

Dark cannot be satisfied with 2018, and his performance at the Global Finals so far has again left some questions unanswered. While most spectators expected Dark to meet Stats in the winners' match, the Protoss was allowed an arguably easier road to BlizzCon as Dark banged his head into the wall that was ShoWTimE on Day 1 and lost 0-2. The German brushed off all of Dark's aggression—a proxy hatchery on Fracture and committed hydra/baneling attack on Acid Plant.

It took a Day 3 rescue mission for Dark to secure his place in the quarterfinals, and even that began with a very wonky set against Has, the second game of which could and very much should have gone in favor of the Taiwanese Protoss. ShoWTimE then fell victim to the rematch curse, and we finally saw more inspired play by Dark.

At the end of the day, Dark will need to step up if he is to advance any further. Serral already eliminated him from GSL vs The World with a ZvZ masterclass and unless Dark can come up with more than he has so far, a similar fate is very likely.

Rogue may be the defending WCS World Champion, but after a fallow summer and fall, he entered this year’s edition of the WCS Global Finals as anything but the most ballyhooed player. Back to back Code S quarterfinal exits combined with first round losses in GSL vs. the World and the second Super Tournament, had turned even the most devout fans into doubters, but Rogue showed much improved form in the second day of opening weekend. While he looked a tad shaky against SpeCial, which in retrospect is far from damning given SpeCial’s performances from then on forward, he completely dominated Classic in the winner’s match. His tried and true nydus worm to open the series was a predictable gambit that paid off as Classic was unable to hold the precise timing for the umpteenth time. Classic shook things up in game two, though Rogue was completely unfazed. Classic’s peculiar disruptor into colossi build was met with a far more pedestrian roach/hydra force that booked Rogue a spot in the quarterfinals.

Rogue may have entered last year’s WCS Global Finals as the hottest player in the world, but it’s important to remember he reached the Round of 4 in 2015 despite playing the role of underdog. No matter the circumstances Rogue has always performed well at BlizzCon, but it appears he’ll have a difficult time of things in the Round of 8. Rogue is 1-4 against TY since defeating him at BlizzCon last year, but hope remains for Rogue and his supporters, for that lone victory took place at IEM Katowice, their only offline meeting during the last year. The moral of the story is that Rogue knows when to step up and there’s no reason to think he can’t keep this uptick of form going in the Round of 8.

With all eyes on Maru and Serral, it might have been easy to overlook Stats. After all, he came off a rather disappointing year considering the standard he set in 2017. But so far the ex-KT Protoss has not missed a beat, swathing Has and ShoWTimE aside with ease. Perhaps more important than the result itself was the manner in which Stats advanced from his group. He never looked like conceding a map as he warded off any and all of Has' attempts to hurt him in familiarly composed fashion before simply outdoing ShoWTimE in two macro games. Essentially, Stats showed what we have come to expect from him and that is a good sign from someone who, throughout the year, has sometimes failed to do just that.

With Classic down and sOs not looking the part yet, every Protoss fan will be looking at Stats to carry the torch for them at BlizzCon. And his performance so far certainly warrants optimism. Stats will not be unhappy with the bracket he was drawn into, either. SpeCial is a doable opponent, sOs certainly hasn't looked convincing, and Stats already defeated Maru in a Bo5 at GSL vs The World. He will need similar form to make his way through the bracket, but early signs look very positive.

There’s no doubt that Serral entered the WCS Global Finals as the most hyped foreigner in the tournament’s history, but after opening weekend it’s fair to say he’s delivered validating the clamor. All eyes were on Serral as he faced off against recent Super Tournament, and two time BlizzCon champion sOs, with half the community cheering him on and the other half praying for his demise. The series started off with a bang as Serral easily thwarted a cannon rush on Lost and Found. Game two was more of the same. The Finnish Zerg swatting away a strange allin that took ages to develop. Serral looked shakier in the early game against Zest, but crisp decision making allowed him to seize control of both games, and ultimately a spot in the quarterfinals.

And so Serral finds himself in the Round of 8 of the most prestigious tournament of the year. On paper Dark is a stern opponent, but Serral’s made a living off the mirror matchup this year. He’s posted a 26-3 record in the offline ZvZ’s since the beginning of 2018, including a 3-1 win over Dark in GSL vs. the World just a few months ago. If history is any indication Serral’s tournament won’t be coming to an end any time soon.

What’s perhaps most important is that thanks to some good ol’ RNG the Maru versus Serral dream final remains a possibility. We’ll have to wait a week to see if the dream becomes reality, but with the way Serral is playing it looks like he’ll have no problem holding up his end of the bargain.

Group A was considered the hardest group by most, but Maru made a mockery of it by advancing with two quick 2-0 wins over Lambo and Neeb that never looked particularly close.

He hit Lambo with two uncomfortable timing attacks, one a bio/tank push that destroyed the Zerg's fourth base, the other a similar attack on his third, this time supported by a raven. Neeb fell victim to Maru's trademark early aggression twice, the first game won with a cyclone/widow mine push, the other essentially decided by a marauder/cyclone proxy. The scariest aspect of Maru's victories was that he never had to resort to his excellent mid- or even lategame play. Every game he entered was decided simply by his razor sharp execution of timing attacks. So we have seen only glimpses of Maru's full spectrum of abilities, and that must certainly be a damning sign for anyone unlucky enough to face him. Their focus must be on surviving long enough to play to their own strengths, but Maru still has his own to fall back on.

Overall, Maru has given us no reason at all to change his position from previous Power Ranks. He went into BlizzCon the favorite to win it and he will enter the quarterfinals just the same.