Group Previews and Predictions
by Tree.Hugger
Group A

Group A is not only full of fan favorites, but also favorites to win the entire tournament. The frontrunners in this group are MLG Dallas Champion (and future darling of Korea)
Dignitas.NaNiwa, and the Assembly Champion and NASL #1, Liquid'Ret. However, they will receive a stiff challenge from a deep pool, led by the often-overlooked
imbaFXO.Strelok, who always seems to remain one of Europe's strongest terrans, even if he never can convert his skill into a major championship. If this group is to see an upset, the Ukrainian is the best bet. But it would be a mistake to count out Liquid'NonY, who holds a 4-1 edge against Strelok, and retains his reputation as a master of preparation, even if his recent results have been disappointing. The group minnows are CNMoMaN and
SKJimpo, who lack international experience and pedigree, although the French zerg's creative debut in the NASL gives the slightest pause.

Ultimately, Ret and NaNiwa should be too strong for this group, with Ret holding a slight edge after his domination of NASL. But NonY and Strelok will make things at least somewhat uncomfortable at the top. While Strelok has the best chance to knock off a favorite, he'll need to overcome his troubles against NonY if he wants to advance.
Prediction: 1. Ret, 2. NaNiwa
Upset Watch: Liquid'NonY
Must Watch: Ret vs NaNiwa at 13:00 GMT (+00:00), Saturday on the Main Stream


Group B

Also playing in the first time slot, Group B is one of the more volatile groups in the tournament. Each one of these players has a plausible chance at advancing into the next round. Every game counts here. The first question for this group is whether or not
RoX.KiS.BRAT.OK will be able to obtain a visa and attend. He has failed to show in the past for both Dreamhack and Assembly, giving Mill.DieStar essentially a free advance at the latter event. If he shows, he will prove a serious threat in the group, and make things much more difficult for the Polish terran as well. However, the two zergs in the group,
Mouz.MorroW and mTwDIMAGA will be considered the favorites going in. They both have extensive international experience and impressive results in recent tournaments. Both players have weak points however. DIMAGA is notably vulnerable against protoss, while MorroW excels in that match-up, but fumbled his ZvZ and ZvT at MLG Columbus. That leaves an opening for either of the group's protoss players. After being considered one of Europe's best protoss for some time, Socke has been largely invisible ever since a fourth place finish at Assembly, although he did recently pick up a second place finish in the Black Dragon League. However, the more frightening protoss threat in this group might be
FnaticMSI.NightEnD, who has shown increasingly strong play ever since qualifying for the TSL in the spring.

MorroW holds the most solid position in this group, as he can be expected to only drop the ZvZ series against DIMAGA. He has a strong history against Socke, but will need to be especially focused against Brat.Ok and NightEnD, the latter who beat him to qualify for TSL. For Dimaga, his path is more tenuous, and cannot afford to lose both of his ZvP's. NightEnD, Socke, and Brat.Ok are all good bets to spoil the arrangement, and I like the Romanian on the basis of his recent aggressive improvement. The others, while strong players, seem to have less momentum.
Prediction: 1. MorroW, 2. DIMAGA
Upset Watch: NightEnD
Must Watch: MorroW vs Socke at 10:00 GMT (+00:00), Saturday on Total Biscuit's Stream


Group C

This is an extremely dangerous group, and contends with Group B as the most difficult to predict. Leading the group is the reigning Dreamhack Virus.Naama, who surprised everyone last time around to win, but has had little international success since. He remains a strong player, however, and is impossible to count out. the group favorite has to be the best North American player, EGIdrA who should be comfortable and confident in a group containing none of his perpetual irritants. His stiffest challenge should come from the always solid Kas. There's reason to doubt the Ukrainian overall, however, as his play has been not up to his usual standard ever since being destroyed by MC at Copenhagen. Indeed, he will receive his biggest test from MYMSaSe, who has exploded onto the scene recently, especially by beating the crap out of the FXO EU KOTH and advancing the to semi-finals of the EU IS Invitational. He'll be happy to be in a group with only one zerg, as it is his weakest match-up by a healthy margin. Rounding out the group are Dignitas.meRz, a solid player who hasn't struggled to break out, and of course, Warcraft 3 legend Grubby, who will, probably, sorta, maybe, hopefully begin to become a serious contender in Sc2 in the near future. But for now, his chances look slim.

IdrA shouldn't have huge issues with this group, as it doesn't involve any players who seem likely to provoke IdrA into destructive decision making. SaSe should be destroyed by IdrA, but should also have an edge against anyone else. Kas is the main threat to these two, but he goes into this tournament after a quiet few months, and may fall just short here. If there is a huge upset in this group, it should come from Naama channeling the same magic that propelled him to his improbable title last fall. Otherwise, the battle should be between the top three. Grubby and meRz won't challenge.
Prediction: 1.IdrA, 2. SaSe
Upset Watch: Naama
Must Watch: Kas vs SaSe at 16:00 GMT (+00:00), Saturday on the Main Stream.


Group D

There are some groups that are difficult to call, and then there's Group D. It would be a colossal upset if anyone other than oGsMC, the world's best Protoss, and
FnaticMSI.Sen, one of the best zergs in the world, were to emerge from this group. That's not to say that this group does have talent. Sen's teammate, FnaticMSI.TT1 is among North America's best players, and made a splash at the Global Championships in the spring.
Mill.Adelscott is another threat as well, but his pioneering gateway-heavy playstyle will not take anyone by surprise as other players have adopted similar strategies and understanding of that playstyle is extensive. If something bizarre happens it'll be either of these players. The group is finished off with MYMClouD, who is solid but who has never been able to elevate himself to the level of the group favorites, and GGNaugrim, who has never shown the ability to compete at the GSL level either.

If the unthinkable happens, it'll be TT1 who takes advantage to advance. But that's pretty unlikely, even in PvP MC has maintained a healthy dominance over non-Koreans. Sen has been in top form as well and should give MC a run for the top position. Their biggest enemy here is probably jet lag.
Prediction: 1. MC, 2. Sen
Upset Watch: TT1
Must Watch: MC vs Sen at 15:00 GMT (+00:00), Saturday on the Main Stream


Group E

Group E features the return of Liquid'HuK to international competition. The Canadian protoss is the only remaining foreigner in Code S, but has a relatively underwhelming several months since he went through Code A. This is his chance at redemption, and to erase the semi-embarrassment of his Ro8 finish at Assembly. It starts with winning his group, but this should not be an issue. The closest competitor is FOX.Moon, who has been disappointing in Korean competition, but has been owning white dudes at every opportunity. DeMusliM's cancellation has made this group a pretty clear battle between these two, but
Mill.LaLuSh, who will play in Sweden's WCG championship finals while at Dreamhack, cannot be discounted on that performance alone. His teammate, Mill.Tarson could also steal a game or two, but is unlikely to really threaten. Dignitas.Bischu, who was screwed over so badly at Dreamhack Winter that he was basically invited directly into this tournament, and the last second replacement, RGFuRy should contend to avoid the bottom placement in this group.

The enigmatic DeMusliM could've really thrown a wrench in this group's placements, but without him this group should proceed completely according to plan.
Prediction: 1. HuK, 2. Moon
Upset Watch: LaLuSh
Must Watch: HuK vs Moon at 17:00 GMT (+00:00), Sunday on the Main Stream


Group F

There's a ton of talent in Group F, but for some of these players it's not always clear whether they'll bring the fire, or the smoke. The surest thing in this group might be ST_July, who's skill and experience need no elaboration. Yet July has shown a serious weakness against zerg, and it's difficult to know what to expect from the two other zergs in this group.
EGMachine is unlikely to pose a huge threat, as he hasn't put together a good tournament run since MLG Dallas 2010. srs.Sushi is much harder to guage, because we haven't seen him in serious (not intended!) international competition since February. but he has entered the tournament with a recommendation from Dreamhack's BeNeLux partner, and that's might indicate they know something we don't. So perhaps the most sure thing in this group might be mouz.ThorZaIN, who also might just be the best non-korean in the world. After suggestions that he was weak at LAN events, ThorZaIN backed up his TSL win with the most impressive performance of any foreigner at MLG. SjoW is this group's fifth member, and the famously low apm terran played some impressive losses in MLG. But that's definately a problem overall, and he'll have to avoid giving away close games and series here. And then there's mouz.HasuObs, who through no real fault of his own is somewhat overlooked in this group. Noted for consistency throughout most of this year, he has faltered somewhat in recent months, and needs a major LAN placement to really begin to receive the credit he deserves.

Intuition has it that July won't have problems with the other zergs in this group, although this remains something to watch for later on. Sushi and Machine will look to play the spoiler, but neither will probably make a move to the top of the group. The best chance to beat July probably belongs to ice-water-in-the-veins ThorZaIN, and on his home soil, he might not even be the underdog. HasuObs and SjoW could advance from several other groups in this tournament, but the top of Group F is probably too strong.
Prediction: 1. ThorZaIN, 2. July
Upset Watch: HasuObs
Must Watch: ThorZaIN vs July at 21:00 GMT (+00:00), Saturday on the Main Stream.


Group G

This was on of Dreamhack's hardest groups, but after NaDa's cancellation this group gets much more manageable. The group favorite and hometown favorite is Liquid'Jinro. After recently falling from Code S, his confidence might be an issue, but it shouldn't be; Jinro is still among the world's elite, and can more than hold his own against the best of Europe. The primary challenger will be the ageless tt.White-Ra who takes his new sponsor Thermaltake, and special tektiks into it's first international LAN. The rest of the group has decidedly less international experience, and should suffer from it. NaDa's replacement,
eSuba.PredY is a solid player, but shouldn't present the challenge that NaDa would've. Virus.elfi has a number of smaller cups to his name, but has not made a dent in larger tournaments. Finally, ESC.GoOdy is the most prolific mini-tournament player on earth, but does not play well in larger tournaments or LANs, probably because his mech-turtle-with-blue-flame-hellion-drops-every-goddamn-game strategy loses it's effectiveness with opponent preparation. The final group member will be the winner of the BYOC qualifier. Unless this person turns out to be Empire.Nerchio, aAa.biGs, or another vengeful snubbed player, they're unlikely to do any damage.

Jinro's confidence is always a variable, but there's no reason to be worried about this group. If he plays comfortably, he'll take this easily. White-Ra should also have few problems. It's hard to pin down which of these players would be able to upset the apple cart, but elfi might have a chance after some good tournament wins recently.
Prediction: 1. Jinro, 2. White-Ra
Upset Watch: elfi
Must Watch: Jinro vs White-Ra at 12:00 GMT (+00:00), Sunday on TotalBiscuit's stream.


Group H

The final group of Dreamhack is so clearly the Group of Death, that even the departure of Fruitdealer doesn't make too much of a difference here. The best player in the group, and probably the favorite to win the whole event is ST_Bomber who has a plausible claim to be the best terran in the world. He missed MLG and was superseded in the public consciousness by MMA. Now it's time for him to return with vengeance. Right behind him are a legion of talented players who could easily advance in any other group. Fruitdealer's replacement is MYMXlorD, who has emerged recently as one of Europe's best zergs. But he's the underdog in this group. The most exciting player here is probably
Empire.Happy, the Russian terran with marine micro to rival MarineKing. He's been on a tear ever since the spring, and only really struggles against terran. Then there's
Liquid'HayprO who has been playing from Europe recently, but brings a wealth of Korean experience to bear, and is coming off a strong appearance in Columbus. Finally there's
mouz.MaNa, who was the runner-up in the last Dreamhack by the slimmest of margins. Yet he hasn't been able to maintain enough results in the interim to boost his statue here, and fair or not he's an underdog in this group. It's probably a good thing that the last spot will go to BYOC qualifier, because it's hard to imagine this group getting more crowded with talent. But then again, who knows who might show up to the qualifier. The group of death might get even tougher.

Bomber should win the group. But who will take second? The advantage probably rests with Happy, because his weakness in TvT won't affect him greatly; he'd be the underdog against Bomber no matter what, and he excels in ZvT. However, HayprO's experience is second best in this group and could easily turn the tables. The odds are against MaNa and XlorD getting out of this group, but both are talented enough to play a spoiler role here. No one is safe in this group.
Prediction: 1. Bomber, 2. Happy
Upset Watch: HayprO
Must Watch: Happy vs HayprO at 09:00 GMT (+00:00), Sunday on Gamesports' (GER) stream.