EPS Winter 2012 Finals

EPS Winter 2012 Website - EPS Liquipedia - ESLtv Twitter

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ESL Pro Series: Winter 2012 Finals, Cologne, 7/12/12 - 17:00 CET


The ESL Pro Series for Winter Season 2012 will come to a close this Friday as the top 4 players battle it out for
glory in the German scene. All 4 participants are of the highest calibur even on an international level,
performing extremely well during the initial qualification cups against the most hardened opponents from our
respective Country. Will HasuObs be able to claim his second SC2 EPS title? Will Socke unleash hell and
grab himself yet another as well? Or will the XMG challengers in monchi and XlorD be able to topple the
German Protoss Giants? All will be answered on Friday the 7th of December, in our brand new Studio.

Prize Pool

1st: €3,000 - TBA
2nd: €1,500 - TBA
3rd: €800 - TBA
4th: €400 - TBA
5th: €200 - Hanfy
6th: €200 - ClouD
7th: €200 - DarKFoRcE
8th: €200 - Hazed

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Qualification Cups and Ro8 Wrap Up - Presented by Kaelaris


disclaimer: I know I said XMG.monchi *facepalm*

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SCHEDULE

17:00 CET
mouz.HasuObs vs XMG.monchi

18:30 CET
XMG.Xlord vs aTn.Socke

20:00 CET
3rd Place Match

21:30 CET
Grand Final

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Ro4 Write-Up and Preview - by Kaelaris

mouz.HasuObs

Last season he was so close, yet so far, being torn apart in the finals by the rising German star HaNfy. The
season before that? Well, HasuObs decided to plow his way through the entire tournament, picking up
his first SC2 EPS title. This season though, HasuObs has been on fire. Winning Cup 1 and 5, then narrowly
being defeated in cup 4 during a PvP series, HasuObs finished top of the leaderboard and then marched in
to the Ro8 to dominate his Terran opponent in the form of ClouD. Looking back on the season as a whole,
most would say there is an extreme likelyhood in HasuObs doubling his SC2 EPS titles, however he faces very
stiff competition in the Ro4. If there were ever a 100% legitimate way HasuObs would be knocked out before
the finals, then monchi's furious PvP will present that threat.

XMG.monchi

XMG must be considerably happy with themselves as of late. With their recent acquisition of monchi
who seems to have really hit his stride AND now having two players in the top 4 of Germany's most
prestigious national tournament, it seems the XMG boffins are doing something right. Monchi has been
ridiculously impressive as of late, securing himself a title at IeSF, top finishing spots at DreamHack and
now the potential to close out a German EPS. That being said though, the vast majority of his success has
been via PvZ and PvP, something which fortunately for him will continue throughout this Ro4. We could
easily talk about his achiles heel being his PvT but it would be pointless. If monchi stays on this incredible
run he's been on, he has a pretty good shot of toppling the mousesports Protoss.

XMG.XlorD

Honestly, for the story aspect behind XlorD, I would LOVE to see him go the whole way! XlorD has been a
little elusive in StarCraft thus far, but in the past few weeks during EPS he has really stepped up his
game. Many will remember his previous comments at HSC of "I will be on the same level as Stephano soon".
Well, he's not quite there yet BUT half way through this EPS season he suddenly decided to explode.
Taking a Cup during the weekly tournaments in the season, XlorD now looks straight down the barrel of
Socke's loaded gun, a fierce, multiple EPS title holding Protoss who XlorD is going to have a very hard
time defeating regardless of recent rise to strength. But again, I have to re-itterate, if XlorD were to take
the entire tournament, as the last Zerg standing, with the heritage he exibits, it would be a fantastic tale to tell.

aTn.Socke

I know him, you know him, he requires very little introduction. With several EPS titles under his belt and even
being crowned the official German Champion during WCS, Socke still has a desire for much more. A lot
would consider Socke to be Germany's most accomplished player on Foreign soil, with multiple impressive
results abroad that easily rival the likes of HasuObs for that top spot. That said, Hasu and Socke hold very
similar styles in their play, something which has risen to prominence via a National breeding program,
apparently. With constant Zealot harrassment from all angles in the mid to late game, Socke deviates a
little from Hasu's standards by going for more timing attacks against Zerg, which come with devestating force.
The well practiced SC2 veteran will stand toe-to-toe with XlorD, and the Zerg better be ready for the full force
of Protoss timings or macro, otherwise XlorD will crumble to the favourite.

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Coverage and Stream Information

The finals will be covered over at
www.ESL.tv by Kaelaris and ThatIcicle
AND in german by.
www.TaKetv.net by TaKe

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People can grab themselves tickets for the live show over at the following link!

http://sc2proseries.eventbrite.de/

ESL Premium Members pay 5,99€ and get the discount back at the entrance.