WCS Season II Finals

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SK_MC at the WCS Season 2 Finals

by Waxangel

SK_MC has been called a president and a boss, but there's a comparison that I find more and more apt as his career goes on: A zombie. A zombie with an appetite for dollars instead of brains.

The first time we tried to bury MC was after Gamescom 2011. The former GSL champion had gone to IEM Cologne in search of a reprieve after getting knocked down to Code A, but was instead crushed 3 – 0 in the finals by PuMa – the only Korean he faced in the tournament. The coroner's report left no doubt about the cause of death: "Blunt trauma from 1/1/1, caused by playing a pitiful race for too long."

It didn't even take a month for MC to rise up from his grave, lurch his way to MLG Orlando, and defeat the Terran trio of MarineKing, TheStC, and PuMa on his way to devouring another $3,000 of prize money in a second place finish.

A year later, toward the end of WoL, it seemed that brood lord-infestor would be the headshot that finally felled MC for good, as he dropped back down to Code A and suffered a series of embarrassingly quick eliminations in international tournaments (MLG: Ro32, IPL: Ro32, IEM: Ro8, HomeStory: Ro16, NASL: Ro16). But the arrival of HotS seemed to breath life back into his limbs, and he used innovative oracle play to win a cool $6,000 with a fourth place finish at the inaugural HotS MLG.

The early HotS boost didn't last long, and MC was back out of Code S almost as soon as he re-qualified, and he decided to switch regions to Europe. It was a struggle for MC to make it into the WCS Europe Premier League at all, dropping series to Noname and Grubby before finally grasping hold of a last chance ticket. In the Premier League, MC struggled to make it through the Ro32 and Ro16, suffering defeat at the hands of Stephano and VortiX along the way. When MC was then eliminated from an all-foreigner group at ASUS ROG Summer, it was as if we were seeing him literally decomposing before our eyes.

And yet, as decrepit as he was all summer, MC dragged himself through the playoffs, beating Welmu, beating MMA, and finally slugging it out with the ascendant duckdeok in a seven-game grand finals. Though MC fell short after a failed all-in in game seven, it was still $12,000 more in the bank, and an open reminder that prize money is never, ever safe from his grasp.


MC has never been shy about his goals and aspirations in pro-gaming: to make lots of money. Has any other player ever told his team to hurry up and find more sponsors so they could pay him more next contract?

Yet, there a new twist here. MC's career up to now has seemed to be more of a "money for money's sake" type of pursuit, he seems to have another kind of goal in mind as he heads into Gamescom for the Season Finals.

my earnings now $382,288 i will get $17712 more in this WCS SEASON FINAL so i must get 1st or 2nd and then $400000

— 장민철 (@sk__mc) August 20, 2013

$400,000 is a nice round number to aim for. But more than just hitting an arbitrary goal, a top two finish would be meaningful in sending MC $25,000 clear of the second place career earner in Mvp (check sc2earnings.com for full standings). That's margin is more than Mvp could cover in one single tournament, minus the exceptional case of Blizzcon and its $100,000 first place prize.

It's important because money is MC's legacy. The all-time greats of StarCraft II all have an achievement they can claim is unique to them. FruitDealer will always be known as the first GSL champion, Mvp has his unmatchable four GSL titles, and Stephano is the greatest non-Korean of all time. MC? No doubt he will be remembered for his piercing all-ins and how he whole-heartedly embraced being an entertainer, but his relentless pursuit of wealth is what sets him apart from all others. For now, MC can say he won the most money, but much like Stephano's title, his record can still be challenged. Mvp could easily take the prize winnings crown back, becoming not only the best player ever, but the wealthiest as well.

Mvp stumbled in the Ro16 of WCS Europe, and now it's MC's chance solidify his lead by extracting more money from Blizzard. Close friends they might be, but MC can't just let Mvp have everything. It's time to put that prize money – and the title of first player to reach $400,000 in prize winnings – in the bank.

WCS Season II Finals: Ro16 Group A Preview

MC, Jaedong, Rain, Welmu

Group A of the WCS Season Finals is most notable as a nightmare for EG.Jaedong. Despite having made significant progress in the ZvP match-up, Jaedong still needs to improve considerably if he wants to hold his ground against the best the world have to offer. With even NrS.Welmu – the weakest player of the group – presenting a significant threat, Jaedong has his work cut out for him as he plays the OSL runner-up SKT_Rain in his first match. Thus, barring an incredible ZvP epiphany achieved through several 15 hour training sessions and hallucinations caused by consuming copious amounts of Monster™, we have to consign Jaedong to his death in this group.

That leaves us with a three-way battle between NrS.Welmu, SKT_Rain, and SK_MC to grab the two tickets into the quarter-final round. While PvP has made leaps and bounds in HotS toward discarding its old reputation as volatile match-up, regular Proleague viewers will also tell you that the good ol' coin flip is just one dark shrine away. Perhaps the threat of instant death isn't omnipresent as it was before, but this is still the match-up where we expect the most upsets and unpredictable results.

That bodes well for the lone foreigner Welmu, who has a surprisingly decent chance of making it through a group of three Koreans. He may not have been able to back up his confidence in PvP when he faced MC back in WCS Europe, but he's had time to hunker down and delve even deeper into his best match-up. His 2 - 1 win over Duckdeok in the WCS Europe Ro16 shows us he's more than capable of beating championship caliber Koreans in PvP, and a PvZ against Jaedong should also be palatable.

MC is in a similar boat as Welmu. While he knows the dangers of PvP very well, he should still feel alright about his chances of beating either Rain or Welmu. Also, the PvJaedong would be a welcome proposition should it happen.

It might actually be SKT_Rain, the favorite of the group, who is least happy with the draw. Despite showing great all around play to reach the Auction OSL Finals, the PvP's have to scare him. Not only has he lost to foreigners before in PvP (vs. BabyKnight @ WCS 2012), but it's clearly his weakest match-up at the moment. He never managed to break out of a long PvP slump in Proleague, which contributed hugely to his SKT's elimination from the playoffs as he lost to STX's Dear and Trap in back to back series. With his latest result being a 0 - 2 loss against PartinG in WCG Korea, you have to question his confidence heading in. But, at the end of the day, he IS the OSL champion, and he IS the ace of one of the best KeSPA teams. With the potential promise of a rematch against Maru waiting in the elimination rounds of the tournament, it would be a shame if Rain went out so early.

Predictions

MC > Welmu
Rain > Jaedong
MC > Rain
Welmu > Jaedong
Rain > Welmu

MC and Rain advance.

Writers: Waxangel
Banner & front page photo: ESL
Editor: Waxangel.