Mvp's Challenger League Round of 40 opponent has been decided: HappyZerg! That's right, it's happening tomorrow, so be sure to tune in. (I won't be able to watch, it's at a very inconvenient time for me )
Unfortunately, this time around, Mvp did not draw an amazing bracket. HappyZerg is a very manageable opponent, but having Grubby and BabyKnight in his bracket worries me... those are two great European Protoss players and Mvp does not seem to have fixed his TvP yet. I'm getting ahead of myself though, because the first challenge lies with HappyZerg.
Mvp's TvZ: 66.7% HappyZerg's ZvT: 51.3% Head to Head Record: 0-0
Don't let HappyZerg's 51.3% win-ratio fool you... most of his losses occurred much earlier. His recent form has been pretty astounding, winning against MMA, Ryung, and TaeJa. There is also reason to hope, however, because Mvp's TvZ looked on-point during ASRock's Sydney Showdown. Sure, Mvp lost to PiG by a score of 1-2, but keep in mind that Mvp pulled out mech to entertain his fans (too bad we couldn't see it!). I don't think we can draw too many conclusions about Mvp's TvZ from a series that included Siege Tanks vs. Swarm Hosts. Against Petraeus, Mvp simply dominated and never looked like he was in serious trouble. It's true that his TvP looks pretty bad right now, but his TvZ seems to remain strong.
What can we expect out of Mvp? Well, expect perhaps some Widow Mine drops, some macro with the standard parade push, or cute Hellbat Marauder plays. Expect drops and multitasking, as well as a solid macro base. If Mvp simply plays TvZ like he normally does, he should be able to comfortably beat HappyZerg. However, it's also possible that we'll see a battered Mvp fail to split and fall apart, especially with lag against him. In the end though, I would trust Mvp's TvZ over any foreign Zerg at the moment. Let's see the King back in action
Prediction Mvp 2-0 HappyZerg
The Bigger Picture Mvp is pretty much qualified for BlizzCon already... however, his performance here will tell us a lot.
Obviously, he needs to beat HappyZerg to make it back to Premier League... starting off 2014 in Challenger League would be a great blow to Mvp.
However, this is just the start... there is Grubby/SortOf in his path, and eventually BabyKnight. And these opponents are only the tip of the iceberg... if we want to see Mvp display a strong performance at BlizzCon, these are opponents he needs to swat aside.
If we see an easy 2-0 for Mvp, then we can expect even greater things from Mvp. If we see him stumble or even lose to HappyZerg, then the outcome of BlizzCon begins to look bleak. It all hinges on Mvp - how will he climb back up to the top again? How hungry is he for another championship?
Obviously, MVP wants to switch to KR next year and that is why he is not bothering with qualifying for EU. He even said a while ago that he wants to be in WCS KR.
On October 01 2013 02:10 SaltySam wrote: Obviously, MVP wants to switch to KR next year and that is why he is not bothering with qualifying for EU. He even said a while ago that he wants to be in WCS KR.
On October 01 2013 02:10 SaltySam wrote: Obviously, MVP wants to switch to KR next year and that is why he is not bothering with qualifying for EU. He even said a while ago that he wants to be in WCS KR.
But he'll be playing the group stage in WCS EU Challenger.
On October 01 2013 02:10 SaltySam wrote: Obviously, MVP wants to switch to KR next year and that is why he is not bothering with qualifying for EU. He even said a while ago that he wants to be in WCS KR.
On October 04 2013 18:10 Sketch123 wrote: http://gagadget.com/special/igromir2013/ russian stream from igromir. sc2 matches are over for now, they will continue tomorrow.
Thanks for the post, luckily Youtube streams have the rewind feature so you can still watch it. Is there a schedule for the following days or a results page anywhere?
On October 04 2013 18:10 Sketch123 wrote: http://gagadget.com/special/igromir2013/ russian stream from igromir. sc2 matches are over for now, they will continue tomorrow.
Thanks for the post, luckily Youtube streams have the rewind feature so you can still watch it. Is there a schedule for the following days or a results page anywhere?
saturday and sunday, 11-00 - 13-00 moscow time. 3000$ for first place. that's all i know