WCS America - Season 3

Ro32: Group E Recap
HuK and TaeJa advance

Ro32: Group H Preview
Scarlett, puCK, Minigun, Crank

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

VODs on Youtube

HuK and TaeJa advance to Ro16

by Waxangel

North America holds! Well, maybe it's not quite holding as much as it is saving the bare minimum amount of face, but we have to take what we can get. Canada's EG.HuK took top honors in Group B of the Ro32, becoming the first North American player to enter what was previously an entirely Asian Ro16 pool.

Mexico's MajOr almost made it two North Americans in the Ro16, starting off the night with a sensational 2 - 1 win over Korean powerhouse Liquid`TaeJa. While it was a victory to make a continent proud, TaeJa would take his revenge in the eventual rematch to eliminate Major and advance in second place.


The group kicked off with MajOr's aforementioned upset over TaeJa. The first game sent some bad signals, with TaeJa walking all over Major with a marine-hellion-banshee attack off one base. However, Major hit back by winning not one, but two macro games in a row.

In game two, Major appeared to fall behind with just two-base mech against TaeJa's three-base mech, but Major was able to push at a critical timing before TaeJa's superior economy could fully kick in. Game three then saw Major straight up out-duel TaeJa with marine-tank after nearly identical cloak banshee openers.

Meanwhile, in the other opening match, HuK secured a victory over the Chinese Protoss player Top in a close series. After winning in a wild base trade in game one and falling to zealot-immortal in game two, HuK clinched the series with his signature blink-stalkers in game three.

That led to an unexpected NA vs. NA winner's match, with HuK and MajOr fighting for a spot in the live Ro16 in California. HuK began by going for a risky Nexus first build on Whirlwind, which paid off after he was able to defend against Major's mine and hellion harass. Major attempted to go for a marine-tank composition afterward, but had to GG out after getting caught out of position by HuK's army. HuK's 1-0 lead was short lived, as his mostly unsuccessful blink stalker attack on Yeonsu allowed Major to recover a point.

The third and deciding game played out fairly standard, with both players going up to three bases after Major opened with light harassment. The turning point of the game came when HuK made a transition from his initial templar tech to colossi before Major was fully ready, dealing a painful blow to Major with an attack at his natural. From there, the game spiraled out of control for Major as HuK added another robotics to add two colossi at a time. Despite managing to take one impressive engagement against HuK's deathball, it was not enough for Major to overcome his disadvantage and he GG'd out.

Down in the loser's match, TaeJa seemed to be especially in a hurry to earn a chance at revenge against Major. Two quick infantry+stim timings made short work of Top, earning TaeJa the rematch.

Major went on the offensive in game one of the final match against TaeJa, going for a non-all-in proxy barracks rush. While Major succeeded in taking a small advantage with his early marines, TaeJa was able to pull right back ahead with some banshee harassment as both players set up for a macro game. TaeJa extended his lead even further with marine-tank attacks while taking a third base, leading Major to try a big two-base attack rather than trying to catch up. Unfortunately for Major, TaeJa had just enough defenses to hold on at home while counter-dropping with marines, forcing the GG out.

Major once again played aggressively to start in game two, with his marine-hellion-medivac attack putting him on par with TaeJa as they geared up for another macro game. Though Major continued to try and pepper TaeJa with attacks, they proved to be less than optimal against TaeJa's defensive, economy oriented play. TaeJa almost made pay Major pay for his fruitless attacks with a powerful mech push off three bases, but Major's tank production kicked in just in time to thwart the attack.

With economies and army counts being even, the balance of the game lay on a knife's edge. Alas, Major was unable to tip the game in his favor, with TaeJa being the one to find the game winning opportunity. Catching Major's tank force on the move, TaeJa dropped in hellbats from overhead while his own tanks rolled in on the ground. His tank core broken, Major was forced to GG out of the tournament after an impressive showing.

Writers: DarkLordOlli, Waxangel.
Photos: GHOSTCLAW.
Editor: Waxangel.