WCS America - Premier Season II

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5 Things We Learned From the WCS America Season 2 Finals

by Fionn

Another season of the WCS America Premier League is over, so it's time to lay back, kick your legs out, and reflect on the events that have come to pass.

1. Polt and Taeja are the Captains of America

When CMStorm_Polt and Liquid`TaeJa played one of the best TvT series of the year in the Ro32, they sent notice to the rest of the competition in WCS America that they were a level above everyone else. Fast-forward to the season final, and it's hard to argue it wasn't the case. Polt became WCS America's champion, annihilating EG.Jaedong 4 - 0 in the finals following a closely contested semi-final battle against Taeja.

Polt and TaeJa were a combined 25 - 1 against the other players in the tournament. MacSed was the only other player in WCS AM who took even a MAP off the duo, winning a thrilling base race against TaeJa in the quarter-finals. Other than that, TaeJa and Polt only lost to each other, with Polt winning 2 - 1 in series and 6 - 4 on maps. While it's hard to expect the same level of domination next season, especially with players like Hack, HyuN, and ByuL potentially joining the fray, you have to give credit where credit is due: Polt and TaeJa crushed the competition in season 2.

You have to wonder how well Polt and Taeja would do if you dropped them off in WCS Korea. Both players were consistently placing in the top sixteen or better before they switched to the America region, so you would expect them to be in the title hunt. Maybe you wouldn't favor them in a series against Innovation or Rain, but they both surely have the talent and experience to give any player in the Korean region a good fight. If WCS America has any hopes for winning the entire World Championship at the end of the year at Blizzcon, the hopes will more than likely fall their shoulders.

2. Jaedong is Officially JaeKong

With his third second-place finish at a premier tournament in just a few month's time, EG.Jaedong has joined a small, elite club of players. Alicia, Squirtle and Symbol are the only other players with three silvers but no gold, a feat arguably harder than winning an actual championship. With his loss against Polt in the WCS America Finals, Jaedong has a special achievement even within the Kong Line: losing a final to a player of every single race in StarDust, HyuN, and Polt.

When you look at these four members of the Kong line (named after YellOw, the legendary silver surfer of Brood War), there is no question that they were—or still are—extremely good players. However, through some combination of choking and just plain bad luck, they've been denied the ultimate glory. So, what's the problem with Jaedong?

From his interview before his final with Polt, he said he was tired, having to go through a tough series with Scarlett earlier in the day before the best of seven final. While fatigue does make some small amount of sense, given Jaedong's Brood War background that saw him play preparation heavy tournaments like Proleague, MSL, and OSL, it doesn't really hold up as a reason. EG has been sending him to pretty much every tournament possible, and his good performances UNTIL the finals show that he's adapting well. Hell, he even came within one game of beating Stardust, before he lost game five due to his own poor play. The more likely answer is the more obvious one: for all his improvement since starting SC2, Jaedong's just not good enough yet.

It's scary when your favorite player has one of the oldest jinxes in pro-gaming hanging over him, but fans of Jaedong should relax. He's been consistently placing well in tournaments, has a team that's willing to send him everywhere (well, unless EG decide not to re-sign him in November; then start worrying), and already has the season 2 finals at Gamescom lined up. Just by sheer number of attempts, something has to give for Jaedong. Whether it's an unusually weak tournament, a super lucky bracket, or just continued, incremental increase in his skill, he should find a way. Until then, he and Flash can lament together about how hard it is for even legends of Brood War to win championship in StarCraft 2.



3. China and WCS America Need Each Other

In one of the most interesting storylines in a largely static SC2 world, Chinese players made their first serious foray into the international scene this season. Despite the fact that MLG made things about as difficult as possible for them, Chinese players took on the Challenger League qualifiers and made it through purely on the virtue of their skill.

Of them, the Invictus Gaming duo of Jim and MacSed were able to make it to the live finals, and they did not disappoint their country as they put in a strong performance. MacSed was the only player not named Polt to take a game off TaeJa the entire tournament, and Jim—after being eliminated in a 2-3 series versus Jaedong—was able to beat MacSed and aLive in the consolation bracket to qualify for the Season 2 Finals at Gamescom. With WCS AM in last place in terms of viewer interest, the Chinese players gave the tournament a much needed boost by being able to challenge the Korean invasion.

Until WCS decides that China warrants its own region, the Chinese players need to keep playing in WCS America. And that's a good thing for WCS America, because it needs the Chinese player. Maybe a region locked AM tournament would be better in the long run, but as long as Blizzard is keeping WCS AM totally open, the participation of the Chinese players can only benefit the region. They improve the level of competition in WCS America, and make things more interesting by giving it a better foreigner presence in the face of Korean domination.

It's a good thing for China too. With Heart of the Swarm just being released in China, good international performances from Chinese players could be what their scene needs to create interest in StarCraft II. Jim is intriguing in particular. The seventeen-year-old from Invictus Gaming is young and full of potential, getting to the top of the Korean ladder and supposedly even has a winning record against Innovation. At the very least, he's as good as the top European players, and with his proximity to the Korean server he could get even better. If Jim could succeed beyond just making the final eight at WCS AM, and actually challenge for titles and knock off some big Korean names at the season finals, then that would be a story that the entire StarCraft II community could get behind. There's a slim chance that SC2 could ever dent LoL and Dota in China, but having the best foreigner in the world would be a good place to start.

4. For Better or For Worse, WCS America is the Second Strongest Region

Although WCS America is still last place in popularity, the region known as WCS Korea-Lite has clearly pulled ahead of WCS Europe in terms of player quality, taking the spot as the second strongest of the three regions. In the six WCS Tier 1/2 events tournaments such as DreamHack, MLG, and so forth, nine WCS America players have finished first or second, compared to two for Europe and a single top finisher for Korea. Polt and TaeJa would be instant favorites if they suddenly were transferred to the European region, and players like HerO, aLive, Oz, HyuN, Jaedong etc. would be right behind them. With Stephano's retirement, WCS AM might even have the best foreigner in Scarlett.

But does it really matter?

Europe, even if it's the weakest region, has no trouble matching Korea in terms of entertainment. While the top level talent is lacking compared to WCS AM, the level of play across the board is very even, meaning you never know who could win in a given match. In America, you pretty much know what the final eight is going to look like as soon as the roster is announced, but Europe is truly anyone's game. The entire top eight from season one was replaced last season, with new heroes like Welmu and duckdeok getting a chance to shine, and long time fan favorites MC and Grubby making emotional runs.


If WCS Korea is the league you watch for the highest caliber of play, then you watch WCS Europe to see close, exciting competition between the best new and old foreigners, with just the right ratio of Koreans mixed in. America, while being the second strongest region, can't compete with Korea in terms of talent. At the same time, it can't compare to Europe in terms of entertainment. The earlier rounds tend to be brutal stomps of foreigners, often being more depressing than fun. While the later rounds tend to produce good, high-level games, the lack of foreigners saps a lot of interest.

There's no question the second season of WCS America was much better than the last, but it's still looking for its identity that sets themselves apart. Korea has the best game quality, Europe has close competition and a huge foreigner presence. What does America have? While we will have to wait and see how season three unfolds, my crystal ball tells me that we're just going to see mostly Koreans, Scarlett, and maybe a Chinese player in the top eight. In the end, it just may be the case that WCS America's identity crisis can't be solved until Blizzard overhauls the system.

5. Scarlett is a World Class Player, But That Won't Save the American Scene

If it wasn't obvious before, Acer.Scarlett is the best player in North America. It was one of her best tournaments in her career, with wins over players such as HerO, Revival and aLive in a top four finish. If it wasn't for Jaedong's decision to six-pool her in game five of the semi-finals, Scarlett might even have had a shot at knocking off Polt. Even though Polt showed masterful TvZ in his 4 - 0 shutout of Jaedong, Scarlett had defeated him 2 - 0 in the online RSL, and seemed to have plenty of confidence in her ZvT. In any case, she improved her claim to be the best foreigner in this post-Stephano world. NaNiwa, Grubby, Jim, Welmu, and Scarlett will battle for that honor at the upcoming Season II Finals, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

However, as great as Scarlett was, she was just one bright spot in a North American scene that grows more depressing by the day. ROOT.theognis, one of the better North American Terrans, might just have been the first of many WCS Premier League players to call it quits. Even playing in the highest tier of competition might not be incentive enough when Koreans are cutting you off at the Ro32 - 16 each time. Jim and Macsed were certainly a nice addition, but they could only do so much to make up for the lack of local, North American heroes. ROOT.Minigun was the second strongest North American this season, and even he only managed to place in the top twelve before getting knocked out.

Unlike Europe where the number of Koreans is kept in check by cross-server lag, WCS America is a region where there might only be three or North Americans in the Premier League next season (don't believe me? check out the Challenger League so far). With the Season 3 finals being announced for Toronto, Canada, HuK might surge back into the elite group of foreigners, but the options for NA heroes seem to be dwindling by the week.

Region locking is something we'll be talking about on end until the rules for the 2014 WCS season are announced, but by then, there might not be a North American scene left to save.

Writers: Fionn.
Banner Photo: GHOSTCLAW.
Editor: Waxangel.