Road to BlizzCon 2019: TIME (#5 WCS Circuit)

Expectations are Meant to be Unrealistic

by Wax

I've spent much of my time as a StarCraft II fan asking myself "why do we suck?"

For years, the question was directed at the United States, which couldn't seem to produce a true world-class player despite having the biggest user base in all of StarCraft. Even if we counted dual-citizen HuK as American, and even if we narrowed our scope to when was IdrA at the very peak of his brief prime, the USA was never truly relevant until Neeb switched to Protoss. I've also asked the question of New York City, a city so bad at StarCraft II that the semi-retired Axslav became our best player OF ALL TIME when he moved here to work for MLG in 2012.

All that goes to say: "China, I feel ya."



The first few years of Legacy of the Void must have been a trying time for Chinese fans of StarCraft II. The new expansion coincided with the introduction of the current 'hard' region-lock system in WCS, giving talented players from all over the world a chance to shine. And I'm not just talking about the obvious championship-tier players like Neeb (USA), Reynor (Italy), and Serral (Finland)—we've also seen players like Kelazhur (Brazil), Lambo (Germany), and Has (Taiwan) reach BlizzCon when they would never have had a chance in the past.

China was left out on the fun. For a while, the occasional playoff appearance by TooDMing or iAsonu was their best result in WCS Circuit events. Even WESG, the 'Olympics-style' event hosted in China, was unable to be a showcase for local talent as WCG had been in the past.

What's particularly confounding is that it wasn't always this way. In fact, older Chinese fans would rightfully bristle at my prior USA comparison ("How dare YOU pity us!"). Before Legacy of the Void, China was one of the few non-Korean countries to have its flag represented on the podium of major tournaments, the occasional spot of red in a sea of Taegukki's. Loner was the runner-up in the first BlizzCon invitational at 2010, while XiGua finished runner-up at WCG 2011. Jim and MacSed were among the few non-Korean players able to reach the playoffs in the pre-region-lock WCS America. Even China if never produced a contender on the level of Stephano, Scarlett, or NaNiwa, it was still very much a respectable StarCrafting nation. [Another reason that China's lack of success in LotV was so perplexing is because of some info Blizzard dropped a couple of years back at a StarCraft II community summit: China had, by a large margin, the largest player base in the game.]

Regardless of the cause of the problem, the solution for China ended up being the same as in every other country that languished in StarCraft mediocrity: wait until a kid with really fast hands decides he likes StarCraft II. And thus, TIME.

Like many of the other players to bear the prodigy tag, TIME didn't come from out of nowhere to earn a Global Finals spot. Back in 2016, he achieved a top four in China's GPL at the age of fifteen, the start of a long and successful career in his domestic scene. Before he ever had a main-stage game in a WCS Circuit event, TIME had already earned several podium finishes in China–including a championship at the age of seventeen.

The thing is, we're a cynical bunch here in the StarCraft II scene. We know that while the fifteen-year-old can grow up to be Serral, sometimes he just ends up being Xenocider (if you feel bad that I've committed a drive-by shooting on innocent bystander Xenocider, don't be—last I heard, he's doing quite alright for himself as a poker player). So when TIME continued to win domestic tournaments and qualifiers, it was easy to brush him off as a big fish in China's mysteriously small pond. When he broke into the Ro32 of Code S in 2017, it seemed more indicative of the shallow player pool in Korea than of TIME's skill.

That's what made TIME's top-four run at WCS Montreal 2018 a pleasant surprise for not just Chinese fans, but for anyone who cared about StarCraft II. It was further affirmation that we lived in a vibrant ecosystem where new stars could be born in any tournament, and that national heroes could attain international success with continued experience. TIME's crushing, 3-0 quarterfinal win over HeRoMaRinE—the new symbol of consistency in WCS—emphatically locked in the best ever result for a Chinese player in a WCS branded event.



At the same time, one had to wonder if it would be a one-time miracle, similar to that of Has or MaNa earlier that year. TIME had been going through a domestic league slump at the time, and had attended Montreal as a open-bracket player after failing to qualify from China's Challenger League/GPL in two consecutive seasons. Furthermore, his brutal 0-3 loss to Reynor in the semifinals seemed confirm his place in the "everyone else" group of the rising stars hierarchy (the hierarchy went like this: [Reynor] >>>> [everyone else]).

But instead of regressing back into the middle of the pack, TIME took major strides forward as a player in WCS 2019. With a top four at WCS Winter: America, and top eight finishes at the remaining three circuit events, TIME locked in his WCS Global Finals spots as one of the most consistently strong players of the year (maybe when he defeated HeRoMaRinE at WCS Montreal 2018, he absorbed his abilities, Megaman-style). That consistency also showed up in domestic leagues, where he raised the floor of his play and avoided upsets, winning three out of four Chinese Challenger tournaments on the year.

But what about raising the ceiling? In that regard, WCS Circuit tournaments were a disappointment for TIME. Much like in domestic competitions, TIME didn't seem to have trouble beating opponents he was 'supposed' to, taking out players such as Clem, Astrea, and Harstem on his way top eight finishes. Unfortunately, he also lost to everyone he was supposed to, and was eliminated by Serral, ShoWTimE, and Neeb (and even MaSa at WCS Winter: AM). If you had only watched WCS Circuit tournaments this year, you'd expect TIME to arrive at the AfreecaTV studio for the Global Finals, happily collect his $10,000 for showing up, and get torn limb-from-limb by Maru, Serral, and Stats.

And really, that would probably have been enough to satisfy the expectations of most fans, Chinese or otherwise. Personally, I'd have been happy that one more national fanbase got a chance to cheer for something more than just great StarCraft II during the Global Finals, even if it was just for two matches. I'd have been glad that after BlizzCon, they'd be able to watch their country in Nation Wars with a modicum of hope instead of overwhelming dread. For a year's worth of work, that seemed like a reasonable gain.

The beauty of StarCraft II is that sometimes, a single series can be all that it takes to inspire us, and overcharge our realistic expectations with blind hope. In the case of TIME, that transformative series came against none other than Serral in the quarterfinals of ASUS ROG/Assembly Summer 2019.



It's one of those rare series where both players end up looking fantastic, regardless of who wins or loses. For TIME, the collective realization was "wait, he's that good?" (For Serral, it was also "wait, he's THAT good?") TIME's ability to pressure Serral in the mid-game with his micro, macro, and multi-tasking mechanics made him look on par, or even better than any Korean Terran. It was a testament to Serral's tenacity that he squeezed out a 3-2 victory in the end, but it seemed like any other Zerg in the world would have crumbled.

It's rare in StarCraft II that we get an immediate 'wait, was that for real?' check on demand. In this case, we cleaned off our glasses and saw that TIME was, indeed, for real when he 3-0'd soO at GSL vs. The World. Even if soO was much diminished from his IEM Katowice-winning form, it was confirmation enough for our hopes.

And really, it's those two series that will be at the forefront of our minds at TIME heads into a potential group of death at the Global Finals. Not the good-but-not-great he showed on the WCS Circuit, and not the many disappointing outings in the China Team Championship—just those two series. Because while us StarCraft II fans can be a cynical bunch, if you show us a glimpse of greatness, we want nothing more than to see it again.