Clem bounced back from a rare shutout in the previous week, scoring a weekly double with WardiTV and PiGosaur wins. Still, both herO and MaxPax managed to take series off Clem, suggesting we're re-entering a phase of parity in the weekly cups.
Clem immediately righted the ship in WardiTV Mondays, taking down both of his major cup rivals in MaxPax and herO on the way to a weekly title. The five game finals versus herO was tight and competitive, with the aggressive Korean Protoss pulling out a variety of tactics to try and get the upper hand. However, it ultimately ended in a very herO-esque manner, as his over-aggression with Blink Stalkers led to his demise VOD.
herO and MaxPax stole back the spotlight in Monday Night Weeklies, combining their powers to bounce Clem from the tournament in third place.
The ultimate PvP clash for the championship went in herO's favor, continuing the erosion of MaxPax's dominant position in the Protoss mirror. Not only did herO actually win a Phoenix war against MaxPax for once, he also took two convincing wins in ground macro games in then deciding BO3 VOD.
The back and forth between Clem and the top Protosses went to a third round, which resulted in Clem coming out victorious in the PiGosaur Cup. MaxPax got some revenge on herO by taking him out in their semifinal clash, but ultimately couldn't overcome Clem in a five-game finals. A troubling recent trend for Clem has been MaxPax and herO getting the better of him in macro games, but this time around Clem was able to close out MaxPax in such a situation VOD).
The bi-weekly KSL made its return, featuring a stronger field of competitors than usual—perhaps the effect of the EWC announcement galvanizing the Korean scene back into action? Still, no one was able to depose Korea's undisputed off-season king, as herO went through Creator, ByuN, and Dark to take the weekly title (VOD).
Kung Fu Cup continued its mod-centric run, bringing us more SC2 vs Brood War action. Dark, a player who has won SC:Evo competitions while messing around with random, decided to actually play his main race of Zerg this time around, and predictably he took care of business by going all the way. Other than that, the tournament was notable because we actually saw the incredibly OP Brood War mech (in my opinion) lose for once, with Gerald's Skytoss + Immortals overpowering Spirit's Goliath-Tank (VOD).
He's died trying it before, but it was Classic who finished him, the win was almost an accident, and the other Protoss players likely have not caught on...