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WCS Americas RO8 Preview: A Chance to Rise

Forum Index > SC2 General
14 CommentsPost a Reply

WCS Americas RO8 Preview: A Chance to Rise

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
March 23rd, 2019 07:22 GMT

WCS Americas Winter: Round of 8
A Chance To Rise

By: Soularion

Saturday, Mar 23 7:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)

[image loading]

More info on Liquipedia

  • Round robin.
  • All matches are best of 3.
  • Top 6 advance to the playoffs.
  • Playoffs: "Gauntlet"/"King of the hill" format based on RO8 ranking.

Read WCS Europe Preview

In contrast to WCS Europe, which has always had a deep middle and upper-class of players, North America has always been extremely top-heavy in StarCraft II. HuK and IdrA were dominant during SC2's nascent years, and there was a lengthy period where Scarlett was nearly the only player worth caring about in a global context. At present, it's clear that the scene has three stand-outs: Scarlett, Neeb, and SpeCial. Neeb's inclusion needs little explanation: he's the only player from North America region to win a WCS Circuit event, and he's been one of the best foreigners for all of Legacy of the Void. Scarlett, in comparison, has been far more inconsistent, but can still point to her IEM PyeongChang championship in 2018 as evidence of who she can be at her best. Since then she's returned to her inconsistent ways, but she's still a titan within the NA scene. Wait... where's SpeCial?

Neeb made top 8 at both IEM Katowice and WESG, getting eliminated by elite players in Stats and Maru. Scarlett finished top four at WESG, losing to Maru in a five-game third place match. On the other hand, SpeCial has struggled in 2019, getting eliminated from the WCS America RO16 by countryman Cham (who is the only representative from Latin America remaining), suffering group stage elimination at IEM, and losing to Scarlett in the first round of the WESG playoffs.

This is a development that has made the tournament more and less interesting at the same time. SpeCial's absense makes Neeb and Scarlett even heavier favorites to win it all, as SpeCial provided a rare Terran threat in the foreign scene. Due to the way the WCS Winter playoff gauntlet works, it seems very likely that one of Neeb and Scarlett will be waiting in the finals. However, SpeCial's absence is also an opportunity for the rest of the field, and we might see a new star emerge.

The 'rightful' heir to Terran throne would be MaSa. He certainly has the resume—he made the semifinals of a WCS championship back in 2016, and is the only player not named Neeb, TRUE, or Scarlett to win a WCS America Challenger tournament in the LotV era. He defeated both Scarlett and Neeb to win Challenger for WCS Austin in 2017 and very nearly did the same in 2018 with some extremely cheesy tactics. MaSa's problem isn't so much Neeb or Scarlett themselves—it's that he shares their problems with inconsistency. He's always struggled to get results on the main WCS stage where he must face the best from around the world. But he's already proven that he's truly elite within the NA scene, and MaSa is the player to watch if you're on the lookout for a legitimate dark horse contender.

The a potential problem for MaSa and the rest of the competitors is that this tournament is 'Americas' in name only. Enter China's TIME, the hottest commodity on the foreign Terran market. Granted, it's never been much of a market, but TIME is definitely a player to be watch out for. Reynor hogged the spotlight at WCS Montreal, but TIME's run to the semifinals with wins against Namshar, Kelazhur, Has, and HeRoMarinE was also quite impressive. Unlike MaSa, TIME has yet to prove he can beat Scarlett or Neeb in a high-stakes match. This will be an important test for TIME and for Chinese StarCraft. If he can can cause an upset and reach the finals of this premiere event, he'll become the first Chinese player to do so since XiGua in 2011.

The last 'obvious' candidate to make an underdog run is Cham himself, who already showed his upset potential by upsetting SpeCial out of the tournament. He's been quiet inconsistent on the WCS Circuit (noticing at trend here?), making top eight in two 2017 events but failing to advance past the groups stages in 2018. This event could remind everyone that the plucky Zerg who broke out in 2017 hasn't gone anywhere. Kelazhur and SpeCial have shown that Latin America is no 'minor' region on the WCS Circuit, and Cham has chance to continue to carry that banner.

There are three other players competing as well, and while they're not exactly favored to win, any one of them could come out of the chaotic round robin and reach the offline playoffs. Astrea is 'oddest man out' in the RO8 due to his almost complete lack of experience playing at this level. But looking at his WCS Winter performance alone, where he 4-0'd his RO16 group with wins over Kelazhur and puCK, you might pick him to make the playoffs. puCK and Probe round out the RO8 as the experienced veterans, having played in several WCS Circuit main events. However, neither of them have had much success lately, making it all the more important for them to reach the offline leg of this tournament.

This speaks to the fundamental question posed by this round robin: who will show up on gameday and book those precious tickets? With the exception of Scarlett and Neeb, every single player in this group stage has a lot to prove. For many of them, just making the playoffs at all would be considered a career landmark. But that can't be their mindset if they are to survive the group stage. This isn't just a chance to rise from the middle of the pack and get some lip service in future events—this is a chance to become a player that other pros fear and the fans truly respect.

Read WCS Europe Preview




Credits and acknowledgements

Written by: Soularion
Editor: Wax
Photos: Carlton Beener, courtesy of Blizzard

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TL+ Member
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States27974 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-03-23 07:49:22
March 23 2019 07:49 GMT
#2
True SC2 fans are cheering for TIME because that's the only way China will keep saving SC2 esports once Blizzard is gone
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
TL+ Member
StarcraftSquall
Profile Joined December 2018
United States188 Posts
March 23 2019 08:32 GMT
#3
Unlike Europe this is a lot more wide open, but I can’t see a scenario where Neeb and Scarlett don’t get out like the author said. Think Neeb is probably the favorite. But he has to show up. Both he and Scarlett have consistency issues and it’s cost them in the past.

I am very interested to see how Astrea looks. We don’t know much about him but he looked really good in his Ro16 Group Stage.

TIME and Probe are going to be playing with one hand tied behind their backs because of latency so that may hamstring them slightly; something else to keep in mind.
Serimek
Profile Joined August 2011
France2114 Posts
March 23 2019 10:32 GMT
#4
On March 23 2019 16:49 Waxangel wrote:
True SC2 fans are cheering for TIME because that's the only way China will keep saving SC2 esports once Blizzard is gone


TIME can prevent SC2 timer to run out. Go China.
SC2 is the best game to watch and was the best to play before I grew old and slow...
Akio
Profile Joined January 2019
Finland951 Posts
March 23 2019 10:56 GMT
#5
On March 23 2019 16:49 Waxangel wrote:
True SC2 fans are cheering for TIME because that's the only way China will keep saving SC2 esports once Blizzard is gone

Damn I was already halfway of writing that Neeb will take this but I guess I have to cheer for TIME to take it with his Machine Guns and Bald Head Brothers
初雪のようにあなたの元へ行く。
Serimek
Profile Joined August 2011
France2114 Posts
March 23 2019 11:39 GMT
#6
On March 23 2019 19:56 Akio wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 23 2019 16:49 Waxangel wrote:
True SC2 fans are cheering for TIME because that's the only way China will keep saving SC2 esports once Blizzard is gone

Damn I was already halfway of writing that Neeb will take this but I guess I have to cheer for TIME to take it with his Machine Guns and Bald Head Brothers


Let's hope he won't be cheesed by Invisible Knife / African...
SC2 is the best game to watch and was the best to play before I grew old and slow...
Akio
Profile Joined January 2019
Finland951 Posts
March 23 2019 11:45 GMT
#7
On March 23 2019 20:39 Serimek wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 23 2019 19:56 Akio wrote:
On March 23 2019 16:49 Waxangel wrote:
True SC2 fans are cheering for TIME because that's the only way China will keep saving SC2 esports once Blizzard is gone

Damn I was already halfway of writing that Neeb will take this but I guess I have to cheer for TIME to take it with his Machine Guns and Bald Head Brothers


Let's hope he won't be cheesed by Invisible Knife / African...

With that kind of latency it'll be hard to defend Scarlett's dog rush..
初雪のようにあなたの元へ行く。
jy_9876543210
Profile Joined March 2016
190 Posts
March 23 2019 11:49 GMT
#8
On March 23 2019 17:32 StarcraftSquall wrote:
Unlike Europe this is a lot more wide open, but I can’t see a scenario where Neeb and Scarlett don’t get out like the author said. Think Neeb is probably the favorite. But he has to show up. Both he and Scarlett have consistency issues and it’s cost them in the past.

I am very interested to see how Astrea looks. We don’t know much about him but he looked really good in his Ro16 Group Stage.

TIME and Probe are going to be playing with one hand tied behind their backs because of latency so that may hamstring them slightly; something else to keep in mind.

Time is in US, his ping should be no problem. And he's arrived for several days, hopefully he doesn't have jet lag problem either.
Phase 1: F2    Phase 2: A   Phase 3: Profit!
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada5462 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-03-23 13:40:16
March 23 2019 12:55 GMT
#9
On March 23 2019 20:49 jy_9876543210 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 23 2019 17:32 StarcraftSquall wrote:
Unlike Europe this is a lot more wide open, but I can’t see a scenario where Neeb and Scarlett don’t get out like the author said. Think Neeb is probably the favorite. But he has to show up. Both he and Scarlett have consistency issues and it’s cost them in the past.

I am very interested to see how Astrea looks. We don’t know much about him but he looked really good in his Ro16 Group Stage.

TIME and Probe are going to be playing with one hand tied behind their backs because of latency so that may hamstring them slightly; something else to keep in mind.

Time is in US, his ping should be no problem. And he's arrived for several days, hopefully he doesn't have jet lag problem either.


Probe is also in the us I think

This is Neeb and Scarlett tournament to lose, but I do wonder a bit how Neeb will do in pvp against his fellow american, he did seemed to have a great pvp at WESG but he has failled against american protoss far bellow him in the past.
Also I can't wait for the Masa Scarlett series
http://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
DSh1
Profile Joined April 2017
277 Posts
March 23 2019 13:02 GMT
#10
Wow. I just noticed this is not a qualifier. This is so awkward with the region lock between "EU" and "A"
AusProbe
Profile Joined July 2012
Australia214 Posts
March 23 2019 16:34 GMT
#11
Probe is in Australia ;(
GoodApple
Profile Joined March 2019
11 Posts
March 23 2019 16:59 GMT
#12
li pay man add oil!
Duceman
Profile Joined June 2018
United States87 Posts
March 25 2019 03:48 GMT
#13
On March 24 2019 01:34 AusProbe wrote:
Probe is in Australia ;(


oof, RIP the SEA/Oceania region

TIME killing it tho
RealityTheGreat
Profile Joined January 2018
China515 Posts
March 25 2019 04:11 GMT
#14
On March 23 2019 16:49 Waxangel wrote:
True SC2 fans are cheering for TIME because that's the only way China will keep saving SC2 esports once Blizzard is gone

I don't think so.
Betrayed, forgotten, abandoned.
RealityTheGreat
Profile Joined January 2018
China515 Posts
March 25 2019 06:21 GMT
#15
It is time for TIME to prove that he will be the best foreign Terran lolololol.
Betrayed, forgotten, abandoned.
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