• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 04:58
CEST 10:58
KST 17:58
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall9HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0TL Team Map Contest #5: Presented by Monster Energy6
Community News
Flash Announces Hiatus From ASL50Weekly Cups (June 23-29): Reynor in world title form?12FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event16Esports World Cup 2025 - Final Player Roster16Weekly Cups (June 16-22): Clem strikes back1
StarCraft 2
General
The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings The SCII GOAT: A statistical Evaluation Statistics for vetoed/disliked maps Esports World Cup 2025 - Final Player Roster How does the number of casters affect your enjoyment of esports?
Tourneys
RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series [GSL 2025] Code S: Season 2 - Semi Finals & Finals $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo) FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event HomeStory Cup 27 (June 27-29)
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
[UMS] Zillion Zerglings
External Content
Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome Mutation # 478 Instant Karma Mutation # 477 Slow and Steady
Brood War
General
Player “Jedi” cheat on CSL Help: rep cant save Flash Announces Hiatus From ASL BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ [ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 [BSL20] GosuLeague RO16 - Tue & Wed 20:00+CET The Casual Games of the Week Thread
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile What do you want from future RTS games? Beyond All Reason
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Trading/Investing Thread The Games Industry And ATVI
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread NBA General Discussion Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Blogs
Culture Clash in Video Games…
TrAiDoS
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
Blog #2
tankgirl
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 674 users

2019 WCS Circuit: Summer - Preview

Forum Index > SC2 General
19 CommentsPost a Reply

2019 WCS Circuit: Summer - Preview

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
July 11th, 2019 21:07 GMT

WCS Summer Preview: Back to Business as Usual, and that's Okay

By: Wax

2019 WCS Circuit: Summer


Back in April, Reynor defeated Serral in the finals of WCS Winter: Europe and made StarCraft II fans around the world wonder if the Finnish Phenom's reign was over. In May's WCS Spring, Serral over-corrected for that momentary slip up by reclaiming the Circuit championship with a perfect 6-0 match record and overwhelming 17-3 map score. Along the way, he picked up a 3-0 revenge sweep against Reynor in the semis and then got his first ever grand finals sweep against SpeCial. Such a performance suggested that even if Serral is humble and says he doesn't care for the community's perceived rivalries, he'll still punish anyone who covets his WCS Circuit crown with Old Testament wrath.

With that in mind, the end result of this weekend's upcoming WCS Summer tournament can only seem like a foregone conclusion: another crushing championship run for Serral, who will seize his sixth WCS Circuit title overall.

Is anyone actually bored? I'm sure there are a handful of fans who would like parity, but there's a unique kind of entertainment to be had in watching a historically good player outclass his peers. In being so frequently one-sided, Serral games aren't the most entertaining in a 'neutral' sense. But the overarching story of his dominance makes his Circuit matches appointment watching for fans of competitive StarCraft II.

All that said, Serral has made writing the previews a bit tedious. It tends to boil down to the same formula, where we mark Serral as the overwhelming favorite and do our best to gas up the other so-called 'contenders' without actually saying any of them will actually win (oh god, we're casters). That's probably why Soularion decided to focus on some lesser known players in the section below, as a change of pace from ultimately futile hat-tipping (incidentally, we should congratulate him for indirectly predicting the top four of the previous tournament).

Still, just because something is familiar doesn't mean it's necessarily bad, just like apple pie tastes just as good whether it's your first or hundredth time having it. Likewise, we'd be remiss if we didn't give SC2 fans their regular dopamine hit from 'OMG, they said something good about MY PLAYER.' So I'll knock these out rapid-fire style, before I pass it off to Soularion to talk about the up-and-comers.

[Deep breath]

SpeCial: The first two games of his finals series against Serral at WCS Spring were closer than the 0-4 scoreline would make it seem. With his own games, as well as several HSC 19 games of partner/mentor TY vs Serral to comb over for information, he might be able to make the necessary adjustments to his late-game play to get the win.

Reynor: Say what you want about Reynor being 'just another' top foreigner (Terrans seem to trouble him in particular)—he's still the only player who made Serral look mortal in his ridiculous run of dominance since 2018. That's an advantage no one else has.

HeRoMaRinE: Big Gabe arrives on the scene with a perfect record vs foreigners at HomeStory Cup XIX. He seems just about due for another high finish that will lock him in for BlizzCon.

Lambo: Alongside Reynor, Lambo has been one of the best non-Serral Zergs on the circuit for the past year or so. On one hand, he's 0-10 against Serral all-time, so good luck getting over that hump. Still, a few of those losses were Serral barely eking out the win in a full-set series. He can't keep getting away with this! (Or can he?)

TIME: The rising Chinese Terran has been proving he's very much 'for real,' reaching the top four of WCS Winter: Americas and top eight of WCS Spring. I'm very much invested in his future success, since China and Netease might be supporting half of the SC2 esports ecosystem in 2020.

ShoWTimE, PtitDrogo, Harstem, uThermal, Scarlett, Elazer: These players have championship pedigree, having won [tournament] in [year]. Can they rediscover that old form?

Neeb: We're STILL waiting on a finals rematch from WCS Jonkoping 2017, when Neeb beat Serral 4-3. I'm starting to feel like this is Neeb's version of beating your more-skilled friend once and retiring against him forever (we've all done this). Hey Neeb, give us our f***ing dream-match already.

Rising Stars, Underdogs, and Other Interesting Players

By: Soularion

In the non-Korean scene, we've come to a point where the top players are clearly defined, and the competition is so tight that a single WCS event won't make or break someone's reputation. How many times have we seen a top tier player be upset one event, only to return stronger in the next?

Does this event truly matter for Serral, who has won so many already and is only just coming off of a narrow victory over TY to win HomeStory Cup? Neeb, SpeCial, Reynor, Scarlett, ShoWTimE and Elazer have been involved in the musical chairs of WCS dominance for so long that their careers are better defined by GSL runs, BlizzCon performances, and other feats of greatness in mixed-region events. Despite the considerable stakes in terms of prize money and WCS points, one could find the WCS Circuit tournaments feeling somewhat meaningless in the "who's best at StarCraft II?" sense.

However, discounting the Circuit discounts an entire group of players: the up-and-comers. One of Legacy of the Void's greatest achievements as an expansion is obviously the reformed WCS Circuit system. More than anything, it has provided the opportunity for new players to show themselves under the spotlight. It's allowed players such as ShoWTimE, Neeb, Elazer, Lambo, and Reynor to have successful careers and become stars, and given Serral and SpeCial the chance to become truly amazing.

With the passage of time the new become the old, and sometimes the old are violently supplanted. Even the latest batch of players like TIME and Reynor are basically well-established figures on the Circuit, with a number of deep runs through WCS tournaments. So, who's next? Who are the players to watch out for? What makes them worth caring about, and how far will they go?

hr goblin
The first name to be mentioned as far as new players go is the one who shocked us most recently: goblin. The Croatian Protoss was one of WCS Spring's big winners, making it all the way to the quarterfinals in a run that saw him upset Cham, Namshar, Lambo, Probe and most importantly PtitDrogo in a full best of 5 series. goblin follows in the footsteps of Hellraiser, another up-and-comer who will be covered later, as a tricky protoss who succeeds as a wildcard with his unpredictable builds. However, he's not all cheese—unlike Has (perhaps the most successful player of his ilk) he has legitimate army control and some level of micro ability. That wasn't enough to stop him from getting mauled 0-5 in the group stage of the online QLASH Invitational 2, so we'll be looking to see if he's more Has than sOs at WCS Summer.

fr Clem
If goblin is somewhat of a 2019 Has, Clem is certainly easy to compare to Reynor. Not due to play—he plays an entirely different race—but because of age. In some ways he's an older player, technically qualifying for a WCS event in 2016 only to forfeit due to only being 14. The French Terran's debut was delayed until 2018, but it wasn't until 2019 that he finally made the playoffs. While some critics will point out that a fast start is not necessarily an indicator of success, Clem's excellent Ro16 series against ShoWTimE from WCS Spring (VOD) makes it easy to be optimistic. Still, he has not yet risen to the elite level of foreigners, performing poorly at HomeStory Cup and failing to go far in the last EU Challenger Tournament. We recommend fans have patience regarding the youngster. Not everyone can be a Maru or Reynor—players like Serral, Trap, and TY also debuted in their early-teens, but it took them a while to realize their full potential.

ru SKillous
Of all the players on this list, SKillous might be particularly unfamiliar to the general audience. Prior to WCS Spring, he was a regional Russian talent who played mostly online and in smaller local events, and wasn't even the best known player from his own country. Despite this complete lack of resume, SKillous came out at WCS Spring and reached the top 24, upsetting the more established souL and TLO along the way. In the biggest match of his career by far, in the Round of 24 at WCS Spring, he challenged MaSa by playing for mid-game skirmishes with few gimmicks and absolutely no fear. While he lost the series, he gained a lot of my respect, and could be someone to look out for going forward.

fr Denver
Denver is someone who actually broke out towards the end of last year, making the top 16 at WCS Montreal on the back of wins against TooDming, Harstem, and souL. However, his 2019 results haven't been so impressive. In WCS Winter: Europe, he lost a tight series to Lambo and then Hellraiser to fall out of the group stage. He followed that by not even attending WCS Spring. Denver has more experience than many of his peers previewed here: he's taken a map off INnoVation offline, he's been in those close WCS series and he's won online series against good opposition. He's the type of player that makes you wonder if he had a true breakout moment at WCS Montreal 2018, or if his run was just indicative of the sheer depth of Ro16-32 level talent in the EU scene.

ua Hellraiser
Of every rising star in Europe, Hellraiser might be the most consistent. After a top sixteen finish at WCS Winter: Europe, Hellraiser continued his march by fighting his way to a top 24 finish at WCS Spring. Hellraiser lives up to his name, embracing the griminess of Protoss in its most visceral form—cannon rushes and all. Still, it works, with alarming frequency. At the latest HomeStory Cup, he defeated ShoWTimE and Bunny on route to a top 12 placement. At a tournament where players like ShoWTimE, PtitDrogo, and Namshar were eliminated in the group stage, Hellraiser survived like a cockroach after a nuclear explosion (or an Immortal absorbing 500 roach shots by hopping into a Prism). He's actually had a better year than Bly so far in terms of WCS results and could be the player who gives the Ukrainian audience an exciting, main-stage moment at WCS Summer.

us Future
The aptly named Future seems to be the next in line for North American stardom. Astrea could contest this point, certainly, given his top six run at WCS Winter: Americas. However, some other signs are pointing to Future. He really started to grab our attention last December when he beat SpeCial and MaSa to win Cheeseadelphia #8. He had a solid run in NA Challenger, where he beat puCK, Semper and TLO before losing 2-3 to Neeb. He plays standard styles while being able to mix in just the right amount of crafty builds and timings to keep his opponent on his toes, a hallmark of all good Terrans. The big knock against him is that he hasn't actually achieved anything in a WCS Circuit main event. In WCS Winter he was eliminated by DisK in the group stages while he was eliminated by Silky in the qualifiers for WCS Spring. This will be his first time playing in a live, WCS Circuit event with a Challenger seed. Can he make it to his first Ro16, and perhaps even go beyond that?



Credits and acknowledgements

Written by: Soularion and Wax.
Photos: Starladder

Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
Drfilip
Profile Joined March 2013
Sweden590 Posts
July 11 2019 21:29 GMT
#2
I remember thinking that 2014 Clem and Reynor both looked good - and confusing their races because of Jim Raynor.
Since then, I haven't seen much of Clem's play. Reynor kept delivering, even qualifying for code S and winning a final vs Serral.

Thank you for the up and coming spotlight!
Random Platinum EU
Need
Profile Joined March 2019
566 Posts
July 11 2019 21:47 GMT
#3
Gimme that Serral vs Neeb grand final
dysenterymd
Profile Joined January 2019
1199 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-07-11 21:51:52
July 11 2019 21:51 GMT
#4
I think Neeb has a good (around 40%) chance against Serral in a grand finals. `recent' record and SerralvP favours Neeb but betting against Serral in a bo7 against a player with consistently worse results is a mistake. Too bad we won't get this final because Neeb will lose a PvP to PtitDrogo in the ro8 or something random like that
Serral | Inno | sOs | soO | Has | Classic
MajiN1
Profile Joined July 2017
113 Posts
July 11 2019 22:00 GMT
#5
Not a mention of MLord or Masa but they did well last event top16. They have the skill to reach it again and may be more
Dave4
Profile Joined August 2018
494 Posts
July 11 2019 22:02 GMT
#6
Go He Who Must Not Be Named
Locutos
Profile Joined January 2017
Brazil259 Posts
July 11 2019 22:47 GMT
#7
I sense Erik and Kelazhur in Ro16!
JJH777
Profile Joined January 2011
United States4400 Posts
July 12 2019 00:55 GMT
#8
I want Neeb vs Serral in the ro8. The bracket making them not face until the finals and then having it never happen is getting old.
Die4Ever
Profile Joined August 2010
United States17665 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-07-12 01:18:20
July 12 2019 01:17 GMT
#9
wait, Has couldn't make it????
NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Has wasn't able to secure a visa and was replaced by the highest seeded (according to the current WCS Circuit Standings) open-signup player HeRoMaRinE."
stupid visas
"Expert" mods4ever.com
[F_]aths
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Germany3947 Posts
July 12 2019 01:17 GMT
#10
Showtime. I actually saw him, in 2016 in Leipzig.

He is of course "die Mauer" and I think he does have what it takes despite his HSC19 performance.
You don't choose to play zerg. The zerg choose you.
TentativePanda
Profile Joined August 2014
United States800 Posts
July 12 2019 02:10 GMT
#11
I like too many of these players...
burnturn
Profile Joined December 2015
United States59 Posts
July 12 2019 02:53 GMT
#12
On July 12 2019 07:02 Dave4 wrote:
Go He Who Must Not Be Named

And who might that be?
sOs is best
FataLe
Profile Joined November 2010
New Zealand4495 Posts
July 12 2019 05:50 GMT
#13
Neeb with the 5 - 0 record against Serral in *recent* matches. Probably means nothing but i would love to see a circuit finals between these two. Neeb pulling a Maru though and not making it to the finals.
hi. big fan.
FataLe
Profile Joined November 2010
New Zealand4495 Posts
July 12 2019 05:50 GMT
#14
On July 12 2019 11:53 burnturn wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 12 2019 07:02 Dave4 wrote:
Go He Who Must Not Be Named

And who might that be?

He must not be named dude.. haha
hi. big fan.
Shuffleblade
Profile Joined February 2012
Sweden1903 Posts
July 12 2019 08:22 GMT
#15
Future seems like a really interesting player, hoping to catch some of his games! I hope SpeCial and ShoWTimE can deliver.

It will really take a particularly adacious player to have any chance to knock Serral out here. I don't see Serral losing in a macro game to literally anyone unless he does something weird like that double nydus ultra play vs TY so someone needs to reach into their sOs bag of goodies and go ham.
Maru, Bomber, TY, Dear, Classic, DeParture and Rogue!
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6887 Posts
July 12 2019 08:28 GMT
#16
On July 12 2019 10:17 Die4Ever wrote:
wait, Has couldn't make it????
NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Has wasn't able to secure a visa and was replaced by the highest seeded (according to the current WCS Circuit Standings) open-signup player HeRoMaRinE."
stupid visas


Oh noes

Love seeing Has play. His unique way of cheesing the hell out of everyone is just so awesome and completely applicable on ladder :D
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
RealityTheGreat
Profile Joined January 2018
China564 Posts
July 12 2019 09:38 GMT
#17
WCS Circuit without Has=Ramen(instant noodle) without seasoning packet
Betrayed, forgotten, abandoned.
muppet70
Profile Joined January 2017
Sweden72 Posts
July 12 2019 11:10 GMT
#18
Ive seen the occational insane plays from Clem, I hope he can keep that up more consistant to really become a top eu player.
Jimmon
Profile Joined May 2011
United States112 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-07-12 12:26:14
July 12 2019 12:24 GMT
#19
That Neeb description is EXACTLY what I've been thinking for so long.

I still think Neeb would take it though. <3
I love LOveRH
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6887 Posts
July 12 2019 13:15 GMT
#20
On July 12 2019 07:47 Locutos wrote:
I sense Erik and Kelazhur in Ro16!


I don't
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 1h 2m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
trigger 59
StarCraft: Brood War
Larva 605
Leta 572
Killer 374
actioN 322
PianO 168
Light 117
Backho 110
JulyZerg 89
Sharp 85
EffOrt 74
[ Show more ]
BeSt 45
Rush 19
zelot 19
Sacsri 18
NaDa 17
Noble 15
sSak 10
Bale 2
Dota 2
XcaliburYe516
XaKoH 355
League of Legends
JimRising 528
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K1727
shoxiejesuss662
Other Games
ceh9683
Happy320
Pyrionflax161
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH336
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 2
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota2223
League of Legends
• Stunt492
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
1h 2m
herO vs SHIN
Reynor vs Cure
OSC
4h 2m
WardiTV European League
7h 2m
Scarlett vs Percival
Jumy vs ArT
YoungYakov vs Shameless
uThermal vs Fjant
Nicoract vs goblin
Harstem vs Gerald
FEL
7h 2m
Big Brain Bouts
7h 2m
Korean StarCraft League
18h 2m
CranKy Ducklings
1d 1h
RSL Revival
1d 1h
FEL
1d 7h
RSL Revival
2 days
[ Show More ]
FEL
2 days
BSL: ProLeague
2 days
Dewalt vs Bonyth
Replay Cast
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-06-28
HSC XXVII
Heroes 10 EU

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
BSL Season 20
Acropolis #3
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Championship of Russia 2025
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters
CCT Season 2 Global Finals
IEM Melbourne 2025

Upcoming

2025 ACS Season 2: Qualifier
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
2025 ACS Season 2
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
K-Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
SEL Season 2 Championship
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.