Above Photo is Cursed

WCS Europe Season 2 - Premier League

Ro16: Group B Recap
Welmu and Duckdeok advance

Ro16: Group C Preview
NaNiwa, Tefel, MMA, Happy

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

VODs on Youtube

Stephano says goodbye as Welmu and Duckdeok advance

by Premasiri

Detailed results from Live Report Thread
+ Show Spoiler [Click for Detailed Results] +

An exciting night of WCS EU games was overshadowed by a more momentous occasion, as Stephano wrapped up his pro-gaming career. It wasn't the grand exit he wanted to give his fans, as he went out 0 - 4 to MVP.duckdeok and mouz.LucifroN, but the writing had long since been on the wall that Stephano was no longer the dominant force he once was.

It seemed almost opportunistic that as the worldwide Zerg hero made his farewell, Protoss—the race that had suffered most under Stephano's reign—came rushing to the forefront. The duo of NrS.Welmu and MVP.duckdeok advanced from the group, joining Protoss brothers Grubby and mouz.HasuObs in the round of eight.

Initial Match: MVP.duckdeok vs. EG.Stephano
In the opening series of the night, Duckdeok was swift to knock Stephano into the loser’s match with a 2:0 score. After a particularly quick version of the soul train caught Stephano woefully under-prepared in game one on Bel’shir Vestige, the French Zerg went on to play too safe in game two on Newkirk Precinct. By overmaking roaches in the early game but failing to do any real damage at all, Stephano’s low drone count was only capable of producing a ragtag mixture of roaches, hydras and corruptors when his Korean opponent attacked with a maxed out army. Unable to defend Duckdeok's overpowering attack at his third, Stephano was forced to tap out.

Initial Match: NrS.Welmu vs. mouz.LucifroN
With Duckdeok having established that no one was safe in the opening series, Finnish Protoss Welmu drove the point home by sending the more well-known Lucifron to the loser's match. Game one went poorly for Welmu as he was forced to play off the cuff after his mid-game gateway aggression was scouted, and he suffered at the hands of Lucifron's drops all game before tapping out.

However, Welmu was able to recover in no time in game two, using a proxy-robo immortal push to bust Lucifron's siege-tank double expansion. Despite having seen Welmu's aggressive style in games 1 and 2, Lucifron decided to opt for a CC first in game three. While he initially seemed to have taken the advantage when Welmu chose to go for a safe gateway-expand, that was followed up by a heavy two base colossus push that went undetected. Lucifron was caught uncharacteristically unprepared for the all-in, and Welmu booked a place in the winner’s match.

Winner’s match: MVP.duckdeok vs. NrS.Welmu
Duckdeok opened the series with a bang, going for an oracle-gateway all-in from one base and seemed to have the advantage on Welmu's 1-gate expand. However, the Finnish Protoss was able to execute very well on defence, despite Duckdeok's phoenixes lifting and limiting the effectiveness of immortals. With his expansion much later than Welmu's, Duckdeok made the risky decision to continue his aggression, transitioning into 5 gate + void rays to blindside his immortal-heavy opponent and take game 1. Much like his series against Lucifron, Welmu was able to recover a point in a rather simple fashion: a failed stalker push on the part of Duckdeok allowed Welmu to build a strong upgrade lead in the game, giving him the advantage necessary to take the game and even up the series.

Duckdeok seemed to take a lead in the deciding game with his early aggression, setting up a stalker contain that gave him firm control of the game. However, Duckdeok showed that his late game lacked in comparison to his brilliance in the early game, with his poor control and ineffective army composition allowing Welmu to turn the game and the series around, surprising many as he took the first spot in the round of 8 out of group B.

Loser’s match: EG.Stephano vs. mouz.LucifroN – The Swan Song Ends
Unlike the games against Duckdeok, Stephano was able to play fairly straight-up and normal against Lucifron. Unfortunately, even a standard start wouldn't allow Stephano to take a map in his final appearance. Although Stephano's mass roach-baneling traded reasonably efficiently against Lucifron’s bio in game one, poor drop defence gave Mouz’s Spanish Terran a large lead. With unabated aggression by Lucifron, the French Zerg was eventually strangled out in convincing fashion.

Similarly even early and mid-game macro openings came out from both players in game 2 on Bel’Shir Vestige, but led to slightly different midgame compositions on either side: Stephano opting for the brand of roach hydra that he was one of the few to ever touch in Wings of Liberty, and Lucifron choosing a tank-backed bio composition in response. A crushing engagement where Lucifron had an upgrade lead (forced by an impossibly close cancellation of stephano’s +2 attack upgrade), combined with a punishing drop that sniped Stephano’s lair was to be the final blow to end Stephano’s professional Starcraft career.

Final match: mouz.LucifroN vs. MVP.duckdeok
While very few would have anticipated a round of 8 with neither Lucifron or Stephano, Duckdeok caused just such a scenario by eliminating Lucifron 2-1 in the last series to advance in second place.

Game one on Bel’shir Vestige was over almost as soon as it had begun, with Duckdeok punishing Lucifron’s typical macro style with a comically simple 3 gate pressure. Returning the favour in game two on Star Station, Lucifron’s 5 reaper rush ended up killing 25 probes, forcing Duckdeok out of the game after attempting a ludicrous one immortal+MSC all-in.

Saving the best till last, viewers were finally treated to a proper game on Whirlwind to close out the evening. Duckdeok chose to open with a ridiculously fast and risky third base at the six and a half minute mark, swinging from one end of the aggression/greed spectrum to the other. With Lucifron only scouting the play after Duckdeok’s first colossus was already on the map, the gambit ought to have paid off. However, poor army positioning by the MVP Protoss gave Lucifron the space he needed to pick off a sizable portion of Duckdeok’s probes, resulting in Lucifron pulling slightly back in economy. Even so, Lucifron decided the only available choice was to end the game before it was too late, and went for a two base scv pull all-in. While the attack was just barely able to defeat the initial army of Duckdeok. However, Duckdeok was able to stabilise by the skin of his teeth, pumping out just enough gateway units and one crucial colossus as Lucifron rushed to destroy powering pylons. After holding against one last SCV pull attack from Lucifron, Duckdeok finally grasped the coveted Ro8 spot.

Group C Preview: NaNiwa, Tefel, MMA, Happy

by Zealously

The Burden of Being Better

All the pressure is on Alliance.NaNiwa. Now, one might think that the player with multiple high tournament finishes, a successful stint in Korea's Code S, and over a hundred thousand dollars in prize money won wouldn't be so worried about a player like dignitas.Tefel who has basically no accomplishments in comparison.

Yes, that would be true, except for this:



That, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is the one black mark in NaNiwa's professional career after his image-rehabilitation and entry into Alliance, and the feather in the cap of Tefel's surprise qualifying run into the EU Premier League.

Or maybe NaNiwa isn't worried at all. After all, things have been going swimmingly for him in Heart of the Swarm. 2nd place behind Leenock at Dreamhack Stockholm, 4th at MLG Spring, and a convincing victory over Thorzain in the Swedish e-Sports National Championships... More than just feeling good about himself, Naniwa might even call himself the best foreigner in world (only his early exit from last season's Premier League would give him pause). Even his PvZ, which plagued him for a long time in WoL, has gone from being his worst match-up to at least on par with his others, if not even better. The level of play Naniwa has shown in important games over the last few months should be enough to secure the first victory of the night.

But of course, there is never complete certainty in Starcraft and much less so with Naniwa – he fell victim to his own sense of superiority the last time they faced off, by playing greedy and simply dying instead of putting thought into his play. Naniwa considers himself a better player than Tefel, and he is probably right – when he can play to the best of his abilities. The problem is, the King in the North has his ups and downs. Tefel no doubt knows this, and he should know that he has a good chance if Naniwa once again plays as if he is much, much better than the Zerg.

There is a lot on the line for both players here – Naniwa's chances of reaching the Global Finals hinge on him advancing to the Round of 8, and Tefel will have his first true chance to make a splash should he advance to the finals weekend. For Naniwa, the first match is a matter of redemption, of proving that he actually is better than Tefel, and making the Challenger League loss just a minor blip. For Tefel, there isn't as much pressure: if he wins, he surpasses all expectations by beating one of the best and most accomplished foreigners in Starcraft II. Naniwa has cracked under pressure before, especially when he's playing against opponents he considers inferior (see: Heart). It'll all come down to whether or not that happens again.

The long road back

Back in 2011, SlayerS_MMA vs. IM_Mvp was a very one-sided affair. Whenever they faced, MMA would unceremoniously stomp the otherwise unbeatable IM Terran and (then-)three time GSL champion into the ground. MMA would go on to win two GSL tournaments before falling off around the middle of 2012. But whereas his nemesis hit rock bottom, Mvp rose from the torment of physical injury, and despite still experiencing pain while playing, won a GSL, an IEM, and placed 2nd in another GSL.

While MMA had briefly looked like he was going to overthrow Mvp to become the new Terran king toward the end of 2011, what actually happened was pretty much the exact opposite of a coronation. MMA's climb back to relevance has been a long and painful one. He fell out early in all kinds of tournaments in the BL-Infestor era, with his previously untouchable TvZ looking very vulnerable and his other two matchups not much better. But finally, things are once again clicking for green-clad Acer.MMA. He isn't back to his scintillating, tournament-winning form just yet, but he's on his way.

Another important step on the way back to the top is the WCS. MMA fell short last season, going out in the Round of 16 whereas Mvp advanced. This season, however, Mvp is already out. MMA may not think about it consciously, but I can't help but feel that by going further than Mvp, the broken old man who kept on winning when he logically should not have, the man who also happens to be one of your old rivals (in the most important tournament, no less), MMA will feel some sense of satisfaction. Mvp went out, and by holding on, by advancing, MMA will have come yet another step closer to the top.

MMA's opponent isn't a legend like Mvp, but still a very dangerous opponent in Empire|Happy. Forecasted over and over as a player to look out for, or at least someone who will be big soon, that soon has finally become now for the Russian Terran. Though he remains without a major championship in Starcraft II, he is showing European championship level form in Heart of the Swarm. He looked great all the way up to the elimination rounds of last season, where he had a minor breakdown and went out in the Round of 8 against DIMAGA.

Despite last season's early exit, and every early exit before that, Happy is a fearsome player to go up against. It was excusable not to know much about him given how detached the Russian Starcraft II scene was for much of WoL, but Happy has been wrecking household names of the Western scene in HotS. ToD and SortOf fell before him in the WCS EU Ro32, and he impressively defeated both MC and San last weekend at ASUS ROG Summer.

If there is anyone who should be as hungry for a major victory as MMA, it would be Happy. No Russian player has won a premier Starcraft II tournament so far, despite several coming very close. Happy fell out last season by playing below his abilities. Just like MMA and Naniwa, this group is, at least to some degree, a matter of redemption for Happy. As he showed us last season, he has what it takes to compete with the top Europeans. Whether or not he can go beyond that and take out a Korean seeking to recover elite status will decide if he advances out of this group or not.

Overall outlook

Naniwa and MMA should be the favorites in their initial match-ups. Naniwa has looked sharp for the most part in HotS, taking out some pretty big names all over to reach high finishers in two major tournaments, showing some good PvZ in the process. MMA vs. Happy is harder to call, with Happy being a bit too predictable with his builds and MMA being a little too inconsistent. But I'm giving MMA a slight advantage, be it on the recent level of play or superior experience in important matches. No matter who advances, Naniwa should feel comfortable against both, though Happy is probably a bigger threat to him, should he be the one to come out ahead after the first match. Happy's TvP can be described as 'abusive' in one word and 'f***ing abusive' in two, both things NaNiwa doesn't deal well with unless he gets ahead with build orders.

Unfortunately for Tefel, I don't see much of a chance for him in this group. He beat Naniwa last season, but his opponent came back for revenge and is looking better than he has in a long time. MMA and Happy are both at the very least equals to Tefel in TvZ, and with how Tefel's famous game against Mvp looked last round, I cannot give him much credit.

Naniwa > Tefel
MMA > Happy
Naniwa > MMA
Happy > Tefel
MMA > Happy

Naniwa and MMA advance to the Round of 8

Writers: Premasiri and Zealously (who is Swedish).
Graphics: shiroiusagi
Banner photo: ESL
Editor: Waxangel.