WCS America - Season 3

Ro32: Group D Recap
ByuL and Hack advance

Ro32: Group F Preview
Oz, Suppy, Demuslim, Apocalypse

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

VODs on Twitch.TV

ByuL and Hack advance to Ro16, Arthur and aLive to Challenger

by Waxangel

Well, so much for consistency. EG's aLive, the only player not-named INnoVation to compete in both WCS Season Finals so far, saw his WCS America run come to an abrupt end in the Ro32. Though he was one of the strongest Koreans in WCS AM up to this point, he was overpowered by a trio of ambitious newcomers in ST_Hack, Arthur, and IM_ByuL.


It was aLive's old Fnatic teammate IM_ByuL who took first place in the group, defeating Arthur and then Hack. While his win against Arthur was somewhat routine, winning with a base trade and then with good use of hydra-roach-viper, the series against Hack was more closely fought. The second game against Hack was particularly notable, drawing match-of-the-night honors as the two players duked it out in a series of non-stop battles on Whirlwind.

Though Hack lost in the winner's match, he was able to make up for it with a win against Arthur in the final match of the night. Departing from the trends of recent games, none of the games went particularly long as both players aimed at early-mid game tactics. Hack proved to be the superior, winning 2 - 0 to earn a ticket to a foreign tournament for the first time in his career.

Ro32 Group F Preview

EG.Oz, EG.Suppy, EG.DeMusliM, lvD.Apocalypse

by stuchiu

After yesterday’s all Korean group, WCS AM moves on to a half-Korean, half-foreigner group. Three Evil Geniuses players will see if they can hold off the Apocalypse, as Oz, DeMusliM and Suppy fight for the right to shill Monster energy drinks in front of a live audience. Meanwhile, Apocalypse will try to do something truly cataclysmic to WCS AM by eliminating two of the most popular foreigners remaining.

The Wizard

Just getting off the plane from his trip to Bucharest will be EG.Oz. Despite being the only Korean to have an all foreigner group in Dreamhack, he was slain by the duo of Nerchio and Elfi before he could make it to the big show on Sunday. Despite that failing in Romania, you have to admit that Oz’s career has been on the up and up since joining EG. After falling out of Code A in 2012, many suspected he was on the path to total irrelevance before being unexpectedly brought back from the dead by EG.

Since then Oz took a dip into the Lazarus pit and has come back showing hints of that old form he did back when he was considered one of the top Protosses in Korea. His PvP curse ended the day he beat Rain in PL. His PvZ seems adequate, with maybe an over-fondness of cannon rushing. His PvT looked extremely strong for a while as well, at least until he self-jinxed himself before facing Polt last WCS. Overall, Oz may not be the scariest Korean player in the tournament, but he's still one who will worry foreigners.

The Part-Timer

Oz will be playing fellow EG player Suppy in his first match. Despite being a part time player studying to be a doctor, Suppy has already shown a lot of potential with his best results being a top 8 place in WCS 2012, and his greatest achievement being 1 of 3 players to ever successfully stop a Parting WoL Soul train. While his HotS career has yet to reach those heights, he has still shown a lot of strong games throughout WCS AM.

What differentiates Suppy from many of his fellow foreigner Zergs and indeed from many players in general is that he is a devoted disciple of MajOr, the prophet of Innovation. When put up against Demuslim in MLG, Suppy seemed doomed. Demuslim had smashed him multiple times on ladder and he was without an answer. Then Major appeared to him with the dead sea scrolls. A collection of scrolls that had been passed down from the very inception of SC2. Inside was the secrets of the 6 pool, written by ActionJesuz himself. And thus Suppy eliminated Demuslim from MLG. Soon after, Suppy was poised to take the tournament to only be stopped by the American Patriot Polt as his 6 pool ran into a double wall. With only seconds left, Polt asked Suppy if he had any last words, and with his last breath he muttered, “Dammit Juan.”

That Guy We Make Fun Of

At the end of 2012, DeMusliM was a popular streamer and player. A player that many considered to be one of the strongest foreigner talents in the scene and one that caused much outrage when he failed to make the full list of invites for WCS NA and WCS EU. He was one of the many EU Terrans that people believed could lead the charge for the HotS era. Players that could finally show the world that it was not only EU Zergs and Protoss that could stand head to head against the Koreans and win, but also the Terrans.

One year later, his bandwagon is still limping along. HotS has been rough for non-Korean Terrans, and DeMusliM has had the worst of it with pretty much no notable results. He's more or less in the same position we saw him in last year, a popular streamer and player who may as well have "if he realizes his potential" as a middle name. While he has done well to make it into the Premier League for two consecutive seasons, it might be too late. Can the fans really trust another EU Terran with their hearts, after being burned so many times?

Demuslim with his typical charm will likely win them over again. He will play great, he will give them hope and right when they are on the verge of thinking 'this is the tournament where he finally does it!', he’ll probably die to a Korean.

The Korean Terran

Apocalypse is a Korean Terran. Uhhh, I think that's it.

Seriously though, Apocalypse has done well in the WCS system, reaching Ro16 in the first season and making it back into Premier in season 3. Most of his victories have come on the back of his TvT, and passable TvZ. His TvP has been mostly unimpressive however, with Protoss generally using him as a punching bag. The right match-ups could see him maybe even reach the Ro16 again, and this group isn't a bad place to start.

Predictions:

Suppy > Oz
Apocalypse > Demuslim
Apocalypse > Suppy
Demuslim > Oz
Suppy > Demuslim

Apocalypse and Suppy advance.

Writers: stuchiu, WaxAngel
Photos: GHOSTCLAW
Editor: Waxangel.