[WCS AM] RO32 Group C Premier Season 2 2013

For Freedom, Democracy and other American Things
by DarkLordOlli

- They Grow Up So Fast

WCS America continues tonight with another group of Americans (purely US ones this time) defending their home against the Korean invasion. FXO.Neeb is not wasting any time to stand and fight as the only 15 year old truck takes on one of the big names to start his Premier League career. His road through Challenger League began with the knocking out of EG.HuK in the first round but was quickly followed by a defeat at the hands of ROOT.PucK. Neeb was then put into a group with two dropdowns from the previous Premier League season and... Liquid'Taeja. Unsurprisingly Taeja finished first in the group but Neeb nevertheless made it through in second place by beating both Maker and hellokitty without dropping another map, securing his place in the big leagues. The task of welcoming the youngster falls to a seasoned veteran of SC2, Axiom's Alicia. The Korean protoss may still be recovering from being cursed over and over by Artosis but has definitely picked up a lot of momentum in HotS, making it to the Ro8 of WCS America Season 1 only losing to the eventual champion, Liquid'HerO, and then impressively finishing first in his group at the Global Finals over Mvp, Ryung and KangHoSira. Most recently (earlier today in fact), Alicia all killed a Hyun-and-Center-less lineup of Quantic Gaming. Now, that string of solid performances by Alicia who was always known for good PvT coupled with Neeb's self proclaimed weakness in the matchup does favor the Korean protoss but if Life can win GSL at the age of 15, why shouldn't Neeb be able to overthrow a single player?


- A Good Match for Hipsters

The second match of the night will feature (almost) two Americans. With Apocalypse having been on Quantic for a long time now and never really appearing in Korea I think it's safe to say he belongs to the US now. The former Korean Terran will be going up against the man with probably the most AMERICAN name ever - Chad M. Jones, ROOT Gaming's Minigun. Both of these players are quite popular hipster picks, with both showing flashes of brilliance every now and then but never doing so consistently enough to have a big impact on the scene.
Apocalypse is mostly known for well thought out, crazy 1-2 base builds which never seem to just get stomped completely. Whether he wins or loses, his games are always messy and there's lots of blood or mechanical pieces and that blue robot blood stuff splashed everywhere. Apocalypse featured in Premier League last season but was knocked out in the first group stage only to 2-0 the Chinese protoss Top and climb straight back up.
Minigun had a different rise to SC2 fame. Originally known for featuring heavily on Destiny's stream where his classy middle name was created, he then went on to gain a lot of viewers for himself, entertaining them with casual commentary as well as cute and equally annoying forcefield and blink plays and - dare I say it with love? - gimmicks. Don't write him off as another one of those goddamn allin protoss players though as Minigun is very much so capable of drawing games out and is also known for having strong defensive capabilities against crazy all ins. Especially during the HotS beta, Minigun was one of the highest ranked foreign protoss players, often even the only foreigner in the top 10 among only Koreans. After a recent break from attending tournaments (explained in this blog), Minigun attended MLG Anaheim where he looked impressive in his first three rounds but then drew a very short straw running into Liquid'HerO and teammate ROOTYugiOh, losing 0-2 to both.
This one will be a good one for hipsters. Both players are popular underdog picks so at least one hipster-fraction will be happy after this series, being able to yell "I told you he was good!" and/or post the same thing in live report threads.

- Predictions!

This may not come as a surprise to you but Alicia should make it out of this group. I did however say the same thing about Liquid'HerO yesterday, experiencing the writers' curse on my first attempt, so take these with a grain of salt. I do however think that Alicia's strong PvT will carry him to a convincing win against Neeb. His next opponent might be trickier as Apocalypse just does weird things sometimes and Minigun plays Protoss and seems sharp at the mirror, making it through his Challenger League group solely on PvP skills. Still, Alicia should be favored against both as well. Who takes the second spot? Apocalypse is somewhat Korean so that's always a good argument to go with him but it might depend on whether or not he can overcome Minigun in his first match.

Alicia > Neeb
Apocalypse < Minigun
Alicia > Minigun
Neeb < Apocalypse
Minigun < Apocalypse

Alicia vs. Neeb
Alicia <Newkirk Redevelopment Precinct> Neeb
Alicia <Bel'Shir Vestige> Neeb
Alicia <> Neeb

Alicia wins 2-0!

Apocalypse vs. Minigun
Apocalypse <Newkirk Redevelopment Precinct> Minigun
Apocalypse <Bel'Shir Vestige> Minigun
Apocalypse <Neo Planet S> Minigun

Apocalypse wins 2-1!

Winners' Match
Alicia <Derelict Watcher> Apocalypse
Alicia <Bel'Shir Vestige> Apocalypse
Alicia <> Apocalypse

Alicia wins 2-0!

Losers' Match
Neeb <Akilon Wastes> Minigun
Neeb <Newkirk Redevelopment Precinct> Minigun
Neeb <Bel'Shir Vestige> Minigun

Minigun wins 2-1!

Final Match
Apocalypse <Bel'Shir Vestige> Minigun
Apocalypse <Newkirk Redevelopment Precinct> Minigun
Apocalypse <> Minigun

Minigun wins 2-0!

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Alicia and Minigun advance to WCS AM RO16!

Alicia vs. Neeb Game 1
Alicia vs. Neeb Game 2
Alicia vs. Neeb Game 3

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Apocalypse vs. Minigun Game 1
Apocalypse vs. Minigun Game 2
Apocalypse vs. Minigun Game 3

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Winners' Match Game 1
Winners' Match Game 2
Winners' Match Game 3

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Losers' Match Game 1
Losers' Match Game 2
Losers' Match Game 3

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Final Match Game 1
Final Match Game 2
Final Match Game 3