Apparently, it wasn't enough to put the three of the most skilled foreign BW players of all time in the same MLG Columbus group. Wasn't hard enough. What MLG needed apparently was to ensure a group so incredibly strong that there wouldn't be a need to watch anything else. Consider that the only player in this group who is not a current, past, or guaranteed future GSL player is... the odds on Korean favorite to win the tournament.

Holy check?

None of these players need any introduction, but we'll do it anyway. MvPDongRaeGu is making perhaps the most anticipated foreign scene appearance in Sc2's young history. Not only do a clear plurality of fans believe he will win the tournament, but he is the sentimental favorite, and an MLG win will catapult him directly into the Code S slot he clearly deserves. But the path to the big show runs through Liquid`HuK, the recent Dreamhack and Homestory Cup double champion and an established Code S player in his own right. Then there's Dignitas.NaNiwa who is already headed to Korea by way of MLG, and has recently vowed to "get out of this period of mediocre second and third places at tournaments". These three players are all favorites to win the tournament.

Rounding out this group are Liquid`HayprO and Liquid`TLO, two players who have likely never been such underdogs in a group before. Of the two, HayprO has a serious chance to play spoiler, while TLO's recent injury makes him a sentimental favorite, but not a betting one. Oh yeah, and then there's the mystery candidate, the top finisher from an absurdly stacked Open bracket. There's no reason to doubt that even more GSL talent will make this a group battle for the ages.






If you're looking for a build order, stick to watching Group A. If you're looking for an argument, Group B is your ticket to internet acrimony. The players in this group don't just have talent on their side, most of them also have a legion of ravenous fanboys ready to spin the game results faster than a dancing zergling.

Of course, the group is headlined by the crown prince of controversy, EGIdrA, who is returning to MLG like The Beatles to Abbey Road. It is on the MLG stage that IdrA both shines, and lovingly crafts ESPORTS memories with the frequency of hallmark cards. Joining IdrA on the battlefield is his teammate and fellow holder-of-strong-options, EGiNcontroL who will be looking to repeat his Dallas performance, and not his Columbus one. Both EG'ers are coming out of a team bivouac in the arid expanses of Arizona, which should sharpen their play just in time for this weekend. The Korean in the group is not just any Korean, but the Emperor himself, SlayerS_BoxeR. This is his second trip to Southern California in the past month, having just competed in the NASL finals. The attraction at MLG will be his battle with IdrA, which is the first in-person meeting of a storied relationship. The first Boxer SC2 game seen by the foreign community was against IdrA, and there was a phony controversy over their NASL match. But most importantly, it was Boxer's ingame chat phonetic error that bestowed upon the Gracken the most famous of nicknames.

In this group of big names and famous personalities, Liquid`Sheth is the straight man of the group. Universally regarded as a nice guy, Sheth recently returned from a Korean trip that yielded mixed results. Officially picked up by Liquid as of several hours ago, Sheth will be making his debut with less practice and preparation than normal, but with some serious positive vibes. Finally, Dignitas.SjoW is not nearly as well known among the NA community. While a strong player who initially made some waves with unorthodox views on scouting, SjoW's play has drifted into the mainstream and hasn't yielded big results recently.






Group C is by no means a cakewalk, yet it contains a stable of players who haven't quite gotten their due for this MLG. Yet holding the reigning champion and some of the most consistent players in the scene isn't something to ignore, and by the closing rounds of the tournament, it wouldn't be surprising to see a couple representatives from this group still standing.

The first person who can't be counted out is SlayerS_MMA, who won MLG Columbus in memorable fashion, but hasn't gotten as much hype as his countrymen on the return trip. Part of that is likely due to his untimely loss to Puzzle in Code A which highlighted his ongoing struggle with TvP.But it's worth remembering that Puzzle eventually won Code A, and that MMA easily dispatched KiWiKaKi in the last MLG. He returns to MLG under the radar again, but no less of a favorite. The most decorated foreigner in this group is Liquid`Ret who can usually coast to a respectable finish on talent alone. Whether or not he can challenge the front-runners in this tournament is another question entirely. When they played in Code A, Ret was undone by illness, but still managed to give extremely close games. MMA has improved tremendously since.
RGNSLush is in the familiar position of MLG underdog. Yet he is one of MLG's most consistent top performers, culminating in a stunning 5th in Columbus. This MLG is his first with Team Reign. His former teammate, coL.Drewbie is another underdog who is capable of springing the occasional surprise, although his Columbus was a disappointment. For both of these players, it'll be interesting to see how their post-ROOT teams have affected their play. By contrast, the final seeded player in the group is a model of consistency. I have a habit of underestimating aTn.Socke, and I repeated my error with Dreamhack Summer. This time, the German protoss has a favorable group, and has been playing well recently.






The David to Group A's Goliath, Group D is like that team in that sports movie that you watched once. You know, the team with all the scrappy kids who got cut from the rich team. Yeah, that one. Everyone in this group has had recent struggles, and naturally, they'll have to work them out together. In that sports movie, the scrappy team wins the championship, and learns the value of perseverance. Can that happen here?

The most successful player in this group over the past month has been RGNKiWiKaKi, but his triumphs have come in Poker, and not Sc2. After five days in the World Series of Poker, KiWi netted a cool 40k, but can that haul make up for five days of lost practice time? Because that's what's really important here. The mercurial
IMMVP is the Korean invite to the group. I have this debate with Waxangel about whether or not MVP is overrated (I say yea). There is no debate though that his results in GSL July were underwhelming. He'll be hoping that a vacation stateside and some foreigner bashing is just what he needs to re-energize his Sc2 fortunes. Also returning from Korea is FXOmOoNan who seemed too overcome by nerves in the GSTL spotlight to live up to his potential. However, it's impossible to discount a month of intensive training on the Korean server and on more familiar ground mOoNan has a great chance to make a surprising run.

Another player coming to MLG after some special training is EGMachine. This may be his last chance to hold onto a seed he almost entirely earned at MLG Dallas 2010. Since that unlikely fourth place finish, Machine has had real difficulty achieving results, despite being invited to a large portfolio of events. EG is betting that their pre-MLG boot camp was enough to turn things around. The final invited player to the group is the one with the best results in the past few months. But just because Dignitas.SeleCT has been performing up to his usual high standards doesn't mean that he comes into MLG baggage free. SeleCT's otherwise stellar career has lacked the kind of marquee win that defines so many other top players. His MLG Columbus showing was a surprisingly poor performance, going 0-5 in his group. As the difficulty goes up each MLG, so too do the potential rewards. A deep run here would bring SeleCT back into the forefront of the foreign scene's best players.

List of likely open competitors

ID	Team	ELO 	Peak	vsT   Peak   vsZ    Peak   vsP	 Peak
WhiteRa	Tt	 2196  	2305   2145   2240   2107   2206   2055	 2055
meRz	Dig	 2133	2182   2107   2119   2065   2075   1971	 2055
Jinro	Liquid`	 2092	2191   2015   2047   2076   2122   2062	 2151
Fenix	Fnatic	 2132	2274   2179   2237   2040   2158   2083	 2151
TT1	Fnatic	 2143	2203   2091   2173   2019   2162   2142	 2142
Alicia	SlayerS	 2135	2183   2079   2099   2033   2077   2056	 2056
qxc	FXO	 2183	2308   2109   2179   2150   2168   2126	 2236
ToD	Mill.	 2123	2168   2113   2113   2033   2094   2025	 2086
MajOr	sixjax.	 2145	2279   2194   2196   2086   2172   2007	 2028
Ganzi ???

An open bracket in a tournament represents the ideal that anyone has an opportunity win. In Starcraft terms: it's the idea that an otherwise unknown ladder gosu can fight his way through the brackets – and with a combination of skill and luck – take down his more well-known colleagues.

With that in mind, let's go through a little mental exercise...



There are a lot of reasons to focus on the open bracket this time around, but the main reason is that it's STACKED. While I pity the casual participant going into Anaheim, MLG's probably thanking them for their money. Between GSL players such as Choya and GanZi, and dark horses like Tyler and Stalife, the open bracket is almost as difficult as group competition.

There's plenty of redemption story lines to follow, notably led by Tyler, Jinro and qxc. And while the old guard seeks to regain their past glory, there's plenty of up and comers trying to prove their worth as well. The Koreans are obviously in that group, but the much improved Destiny, dde and KawaiiRice are definitely worth keeping an eye out for.

It's a shame that Mouz couldn't send MorroW and ThorZaIN out again, but there's an amazing Euro contingent that makes up for it. Everyone's favorite White-Ra will rightfully steal the spotlight, but players like meRz, ToD, and DeMusliM are definitely going to surprise American fans who haven't kept up with the Euro scene. And of course, we can't leave Fenix out, despite our inability to easily categorize him. The man is preparing for a trip to South Korea soon, so it will be interesting to see what his training has yielded.

The only reason NOT to watch is if you're a huge fan of Zerg. The open bracket has a bad case of the "poor Zergies." The award of best Zerg in the open bracket will likely be a three way toss up between Destiny, ViBE, and CatZ – whom despite their creative and entertaining styles, are not exactly tournament favorites. If anything, I'd look for an upset from Destiny, who seems to have improved a lot in the last month. At the same time I wouldn't bet my shirt on him.

All in all, the unpredictable, eat or be eaten nature of the open bracket should give it a sense of urgency and excitement that the group stage won't have. Seriously, can you imagine a foreigner knocking a Korean player out of the tournament for good? I wouldn't want to miss that moment. I can't blame you for wanting to catch DongRaeGu vs Huk, or any of Boxer's games - but for the first day, the open tournament's where the action's at.