Altitude Nation Wars Quarter Finals

Team Asia Pacific came off to a rough start to the season but they have now solidified their line up with a very strong group of Chinese players managing to force an ace game against the United States in their last meeting. Asia Pacific is definitely a top tier team though probably underrated by many being as all of their performances were to an extent overshadowed by the remarkable strength of Group C. The only question remaining that could determine their performance here is how will the Chinese players sync with the two European teams in their division, if lag problems arise, they could find themselves in a good deal of trouble being as they have an all-star roster, however, it is one of the rosters of least depth. Another thing concerning Team Asia Pacific is they do not have a 2v2 team and so, they are going to have to gather their 4 wins from 1v1s entirely which could prove to be a heavy disadvantage at this stage of the competition.




Poland, also known as Proland within the starcraft community is host to one of the greatest 2v2 teams in the current foreign scene of Starcraft: Brood War. They have a Solid lineup of all A- rank players which have been performing extraordinary well in all of the recent foreign leagues. The big disadvantage Poland faces is that their line up is predictable, it's only real weakness is that it's a predictable line up, their line will be composed of 60-80% Zerg every week and so with a good ammount of practice in specializing vsZ, any remaining team can give Poland a run for their money. Their players are also match up specific to an extent, however being as the chinese players are quite new to the foreign scene, it is unlikely that any line up counters and what not will really come into play. Neither country's players will know each other's play styles too well which inevitably favors Poland to an extent. Poland is one of the favorites to take the whole tour, so there is no doubt they will be expected to win in this match up and it is up to Asia Pacific to show us what they have and lay it all to the table for this game.



Prediction
Poland 5 - 1 Asia Pacific

Realistically, Asia Pacific can draw it closer than this, however, their 2v2 line up wont be up for beating TrutaCz and Johnek. So, from a starting position down 1-0, I don't think that they can really pull it back for a victory. The Chinese players do have good talent, but Poland is just such a beast and to really be able to beat Poland, I think it will require a team with more depth than Asia Pacific being as they will have most likely 3-4 top caliber players show. Which realistically, when competing against what is possibly the best team of the competition is not feasible.

< Tau Cross >
< Ground Zero >
< Fighting Spirit >
< Blue Storm >
< Jade >
< New Empire of the Sun > 2x2
< Icarus >

Mazur 2 < Tau Cross > 0 Heroes
Pike 2 < Ground Zero > 0 S2Glow
SneazeL 0 < Fighting Spirit > 2 The.WK (WalkOver)
SouthPark 2 < Bluestorm > 0 kkllklkl
Choosy 0 < Jade > 2 cvcvbvbv
SouthPark[PL] Lurek[PL] 2 < New Empire of the Sun > 0 Heroes[AP] kkllklkl[AP]
ace match not listed

Team Asia Pacific has had a relatively rough season, however with some luck and a couple good showings, they have qualified for the playoffs. With the might of the Chinese gamers on their side, they have become quite a force to be reckoned with. They are the dark horse of this division, not much is known about them and they are not by any means the favorites of this division. With their incomplete showings and inability to pull a win in 2v2, they start on the back foot against any team. In their match up against Germany, a lot will depend on how the line up comes out. They have about an even roster in terms of strength and depth, it will be interesting to see how both lineups fair.




The German team came out of the gate quite strong from their division, taking a quick and early 3-0 lead, however they quickly found themselves in trouble having lost two of their last three. It didn't cost them their division title, but what looked like a very solid team going into the season is now looking rather shaky. Their 1v1 lineup is lacking the depth they need and their 2v2 lineup hasn't been the best either. Considering that their weaknesses are basically the same as Asia Pacific, this clan war is very unpredictable.



There are a lot of factors that are in the air when looking at this match up. For one, Asia Pacific has slightly more depth in their top tier players whereas the German lineup is more balanced, with that being said, if Germany can get their second tier players matched against the second tier slots of Asia Pacific, that will be guaranteed wins for Germany. This is all considering that both teams should have 3-4 top level players, their should be 1-2 slots for B/C level players. Now, if we look at race distribution, 3/4 of the top Chinese players play the Protoss race which is not ideal for Germany being as Kolll's worse match up is ZvP, if he can pull out a win, then Germany is looking pretty hot, but that's not a sure thing going into a players worse mu. Bakuryu on the other hand should have no problem in either match up Asia Pacific presents. Assuming the chips all fall in Germany's favor for the 1v1s, they should be able to pull this through quite easily, if the match ups don't then their hopes could be found riding on the 2v2 match which being as neither team has shown the best 2v2 performances, should be a very close series that will potentially determine the CW.

Prediction
Germany 4 - 3 Asia Pacific

< Circuit Breakers >
< Longinus 2 >
< Electric Circuit >
< Match Point >
< New Bloody Ridge >
< Neo Beltway > 2x2
< New HeartBreak Ridge >

Vanatir 0 < Circuit Breakers > 2 cvcvbvbv
TEH 1 < Longinus 2 > 2 Heroes
LML 0 < Electric Circuit > 2 kkllklkl
Kolll 2 < Match Point > 0 Kiante
Bakuryu 0 < New Bloody Ridge > 2 The.WK
Freeslot 0 < Neo Beltway > 2 Fold Kiante

The United States of America are the only team to go undefeated on the season and have the best SW/SL reccord. They have a very strong 1v1 lineup with plenty of depth for a full LU of top tier players. They have struggled with their 2v2 players, though high in skill have been lacking in teamwork and have at times lost to teams of inferior skill. Russia has several very strong 2v2 teams and so it is going to be essential for these players from the united states buckle up because any mistake they make will be exploited by their opponent.




Team Russia had been seeded into what was named the division of death for the regular season. A division in which they held the first place position up until the very last week where Poland overtook them with a slight advantage of 1 SW. This obviously makes Russia one of the top teams to be reckoned with, with a solid 1v1 line up that has plenty of depth to some of the top 2v2 lineups in the current scene. Russia has looked pretty much unstoppable this season, only giving up one of two games to Poland.



This nation war will inevitably turn out to be a great decider in the outcome of this league and probably the one most important nation war aside from the finals. The united states and Russia are the next two best teams after the favorite, Poland. And so this game could very well determine which of them gets to face Poland in the semi-finals. Which would be a huge downer for either one of these teams. We are looking at what is basically the two remaining power houses aside from Poland. The 2v2 should go to Russia, however being as Russia's 1v1 lineup should get weaker where as the United States will have a very solid 1v1 line up, I would give the slight edge to the united states. However, if it does come down to one final deciding ace match, I can't say that team USA will be able to take down Pro7ect.

Prediction
USA 4 - 2 Russia

< Neo Beltway >
< Jade >
< Destination >
< Neo Aztec >
< Eye of the Storm >
< Fighting Spirit > 2x2
< New HeartBreak Ridge >

Michael 1 < Neo Beltway > 2 Pro7ecT
Jumper 2 < Jade > 0 Dewalt
Solar 1 < Destination > 2 Tama
Modesty 2 < Neo Aztec > 1 Djem5
Game 2 < Eye of the Storm >1 Must
Irish + Game 0 < Fighting Spirit > 2 Pro7ecT + Defi
Michael 2 < New HeartBreak Ridge > 1 Pro7ecT

The German team always gets a good showing from their players, however, they do not have an astonishing amount of depth in their top tier players, while their team is very strong overall, they have many good players, however, only a handful of great players and this is really going to cost them when going up against poland especially without a proper 2v2 team being as Poland has one of the top 2v2 teams in the scene.




The Polish team is one that is very predictable, you can tell with brilliant accuracy which 5 players will be playing 1v1s every single week, which is a big strength in Poland being that they always have their top line ready to go for every NW. Yes, their top line has some flaws in that some of their players have very predictable strategies, however, this really doesn't play a role unless their skill can be matched which I don't think will be too much of an issue for them in this NW. Unless Germany manages to get good match ups for Kolll and dOtY who wont fair well against P and Z respectively, they're going to find themselves in deep water.



Poland should not have too much to worry about for this NW and will probably find themselves racing out of their pool with a nice 2-0, they have a much better player composition than Germany does in terms of overall skill and realistically, TrutaCz and Johnek should win the 2v2. And so that leaves Germany having to win at least 3 of the first 5 matches in order to force an ace match which would favor them. However, the odds of Germany getting good match ups against Poland while having all their top players win(including probably 2 ZvZ) and then also winning the ace match(possibly ZvZ)... Just doesn't look good for Germany.

Predictions
Germany 2 - 4 Poland

< Electric Circuit >
< Bloody Ridge >
< Blue Storm >
< Andromeda >
< La Mancha >
< Othello > 2x2
< Tau Cross >

Choosy 2 < Electric Circuit > 1 Bakuryu
Mazur 2 < Bloody Ridge > 0 LML
TrutaCz 2 < Blue Storm > 0 Vanatir
Pike 0 < Andromeda > 2 Kolll
SouthPark 2 < La Mancha > 0 TEH
2v2 W.O 2:0 for Poland

Pending

< Neo Aztec >
< Ground Zero >
< New HeartBreak Ridge >
< Blue Storm >
< Destination >
< Eye of the Storm > 2x2
< Tau Cross >

ZeTy 0 < Neo Aztec > 2 Tama
TerrOr 0 < Ground Zero > 2 Pro7ecT
HanDy 2 < New HeartBreak Ridge > 1 Must
CaStrO 2 < Blue Storm > 1 PallMall
muSa 2 < Destination > 1 Dewalt
Belladona + Viciado 2 < Eye of the Storm > 0 Pro7ect + Defi

Pending

< New Bloody Ridge >
< New Empire of the Sun >
< Fighting Spirit >
< La Mancha >
< Chain Reaction >
< Andromeda > 2x2
< Neo Beltway >

Michael 2 < New Bloody Ridge > 1 Viciado
Semih 2 < New Empire of the Sun > 0 mUsA
Modesty 0 < Fighting Spirit > 2 HanDy
Game 2 < La Mancha > 0 CaStrO
Jumper 2 < Chain Reaction > 1 TerrOr
Game + Semih 0 < Andromeda > 2 Belladona + Viciado

+ Show Spoiler [Poland vs Asian Pacific] +
+ Show Spoiler [Germany vs Asian Pacific] +
+ Show Spoiler [USA vs Russia] +
+ Show Spoiler [Poland vs Germany] +
+ Show Spoiler [Latin America vs Russia] +
+ Show Spoiler [USA vs Latin America] +

Asian Pacific 2-4 Poland
Asian Pacific 5-1 Germany
USA 4-3 Russia
Poland 5-1 Germany
Latin America 4-2 Russia
USA 4-2 Latin America

+ Show Spoiler [Asian Pacific vs Poland] +
+ Show Spoiler [Asian Pacific vs Germany] +
+ Show Spoiler [USA vs Russia] +
+ Show Spoiler [Poland vs Germany] +
+ Show Spoiler [Latin America vs Russia] +
+ Show Spoiler [USA vs Latin America] +