It will be a Korean show, it feels like Classic or herO, but you gotta mention Maru who is the most consistent player, even these days.. But, god I hope it's Rogue.

dysenterymd

1250 Posts

July 14 2025 22:09 GMT

One of these players will win:
Serral, Clem, herO, Classic, Maru

Reynor tier:
Reynor

Can do some serious damage and make a deep run, but won't win:
Cure, SHIN, Rogue, Solar

Might have an okay run but won't pull any big upsets:
Showtime, Trigger, Astrea, ByuN, Zoun

Heavily outmatched, winning a single match after the play-in would be a huge success: Heromarine, Lambo, Cyan.

Before Clem's recent TvP losses I was feeling he had a good chance at a repeat, but it's wide open now among the top 5. I'll give the benefit of the doubt to Clem and say he's still the favorite to win, but not a huge one. As a Serral fan (and a general fan) I hope he's prepped some good ZvP builds so we don't have to watch too much tempest late game.

TeamMamba

232 Posts

July 14 2025 22:11 GMT

On July 15 2025 04:55 lokol4890 wrote:
Maru. Statistics don't lie. Lost gsl s1 but won dh, lost gsl 2 and now will win ewc

Maru has no chance. He has proven he does not have the “it” factor at the world stage. Even when the road to the championship was given to him on a silver platter. He still managed to get stomped by TIME.

His road to the top 8 is probably the easiest.

I’m cool to have Serral, Classic , reynor, or dare I say a toss Clem (only if he plays toss for all matchup) to win it all

Poopi

France12938 Posts

July 14 2025 22:22 GMT

I think Classic has the best shot, protoss is super strong atm and he got good PvP so should be able to beat herO.
herO is not as proficient as Classic in PvZ nowadays so I don't see him beat Serral, so I don't see him as that good of a candidate
Serral is a favorite too, solid in every match-up albeit not as invincible in ZvP anymore, and might lose to Clem or another zerg
Maru has a decent shot if he gets a bit lucky bracket wise, if he can avoid Serral he has a good shot versus the other top dogs except maybe herO, and decent shot vs Classic as well
Clem is one of the favorites but dunno if his PvT is enough versus Maru? And he can lose to Classic or Serral

So I think we might have an interesting EWC with lots of candidates

Waxangel

United States33629 Posts

July 15 2025 00:13 GMT

#10

TL poll options are limited to 10, so just entered top 9 Aligulac + someone else opt ion

JJH777

United States4418 Posts

July 15 2025 00:56 GMT

#11

Probably Classic, Serral, or Clem but I think Maru and herO have very good shots if they avoid Serral. They can definitely beat anyone else.

tigera6

3494 Posts

July 15 2025 02:45 GMT

#12

On July 15 2025 07:11 TeamMamba wrote:

Show nested quote +

I mean, he botched his G5L chance THREE TIMES (including the terrible loss to Rogue) before finally done it, and he just won a global offline tournament in Dallas, so to say he has no chance is a bit weird.

RogueTheGOAT

166 Posts

July 15 2025 02:56 GMT

#13

On July 15 2025 06:55 ejozl wrote:
But, god I hope it's Rogue.

SC2 is best when Rogue is shamelessly abusing a broken build or scouted weakness to bludgeon a fan favorite into submission and hoist the trophy.

CicadaSC

United States1934 Posts

July 15 2025 03:18 GMT

#14

HOT TAKE: Serral is NOT a favorite. He showed weakness at Dallas. Now, Clem and Reynor are both in Korea and have been for some time. Who is Serral going to practice ZvT or ZvZ with? No offense but the others he can play with on EU are not on their level. If he was already looking shaky I don't see this helping him. I think Clem and Reynor over the past month, have been looking vulnerable as well. Some say it is because they are hiding builds and to that I have no comment. Maybe it is the case and that's why they've been losing, maybe it's something deeper. We can't know that. Though, I think Maru has to be considered a favorite. The last big lan that had all the players, he won. BGE didn't have all top players, and neither did GSL. They were hard tournaments yes but the roster wasn't as thorough as DreamHack Dallas.

Maru #1 fave.

SHODAN

United Kingdom1158 Posts

July 15 2025 03:29 GMT

#15

Maru has not revealed much of his play in recent months. he's done a good job of keeping his builds hidden for this event. I think he will be the most difficult terran to prepare against.

among all the terrans at this event, I think Maru is the least likely to get tilted by protoss

Maru is guaranteed to only play against 1 protoss player in the group stage, whereas Cure has to face at least 2 before making it to the playoffs

FataLe

New Zealand4547 Posts

July 15 2025 04:49 GMT

#16

On July 15 2025 03:53 starfarmer wrote:
we will get a protoss world champ and after that protoss will be nerfed into oblivion

Don't threaten me with a good time

MJG

United Kingdom1451 Posts

July 15 2025 06:23 GMT

#17

On July 15 2025 03:53 starfarmer wrote:
we will get a protoss world champ and after that protoss will be nerfed into oblivion

Zerg wins a World Championship? It's a normal thing to happen.

Terran wins a World Championship? It's a normal thing to happen.

Protoss wins a World Championship? Everyone loses their minds.

CicadaSC

United States1934 Posts

July 15 2025 06:26 GMT

#18

On July 15 2025 15:23 MJG wrote:

Show nested quote +

Zerg wins a World Championship? It's a normal thing to happen.

Terran wins a World Championship? It's a normal thing to happen.

Protoss wins a World Championship? Everyone loses their minds.

you can blame the pro gamers who push for that. i always hear players in interviews saying protoss is op or busted so... yeah that narrative gets pushed and of course if they were to win a world championship people will call them patch toss. I don't agree, but that's the world we live in!

CicadaSC

United States1934 Posts

July 15 2025 10:09 GMT

#19

havent been this excited for a tournament in a long time. lots of players have a real shot at taking home the crown where as going into ewc last year clem just seemed unstoppable.

jodljodl

182 Posts

July 15 2025 10:16 GMT

#20

On July 15 2025 11:45 tigera6 wrote:

Show nested quote +

Some very good points imo. Further, it's not like Maru was the only player that lost to Oliveira in Katowice. There was also herO, Reynor, Heromarine, Cure and Clem.

Some weeks ago I claimed Serral will win not dropping a map. Ofc not being totally serious. But also only semi-joking. I believe we will witness a pretty damn impressive run by Serral. As we already have so often.