WCS season one completed yesterday as ESL ran the European and American finals (official viewership numbers aren't out, but there were far more people for the former--not surprising as there were more popular players in EU). Aligulac's predictions (who I agreed with) was 1-1 in the finals, as MC beat the (albeit slight) odds in Europe while HyuN won as expected. There series featured some fantastic games (the VODs are here; in each series the fourth game was the best), although it wasn't quite at the level of play that we saw at IEM Katowice.
In terms of overall predictive success in Premier games this season (absolutely excellent by the bye):
EU: Aligulac 22-10 (68%; I was 21-11)
R8 and onward was a struggle for Aligulac, although in many cases the odds were almost a coin flip
NA: Aligulac 19-13 (59%; I was 22-10)
I think the NA struggles throughout the season had to do with inflated foreigner numbers from before so many Koreans became part of the scene--guys like HuK and Arthur were statistical favourites in situations that made little sense
Combined Aligulac was 64% accurate in its predictions which is fantastic (my 67% simply illustrates that digging through match histories can tweak those raw numbers just a bit for a more accurate read).
WCS Europe
MC 4 
MMA 2
I was surprised that MMA never attempted an aggressive opening against MC, allowing the Boss Toss to dictate the pace of play. MC might have held a proxy racks of whatever other early pressure MMA could come up with, but I wonder if applying that pressure might have helped him out a little. Regardless, the recap: game one (Alterzim) both players opened economically, as MC sent out a pair of oracles largely to scout as he prepared for a two-base void ray all-in--MMA did not scout the attack and got run over. Game two (Habitation Station) MC went for a stargate again while taking the gold base which MMA scouted this time, building five bunkers along with turrets in response; MC walked up the ramp and MMA held the first push; MMA was confident enough to drop the main which served largely as a scout and distraction; he then sent a double drop to the gold and ran the other into the main; MC broke the natural while losing his economy and then was chased away as MMA brought his other units back, causing MC to tap out. Game three (Daedalus Point) MC went oracle again, this time teching to blink behind it--MMA killed the initial oracle with a widow mine; MMA scouted the blink all-in and bunkered up, but MC blinked into the main before the bunker was complete and died because of it (along with getting all his marines stuck in a time warp and not pulling SCVs immediately). Game four (Yeonsu) MC opened macro as the Boss Toss went zealot/archon; both players danced around on the map, but there were no major attacks as they went up to three bases; MMA was able to nab a couple of templars and a warp prism as MC moved out; MMA tried to trap the Protoss army out on the map, but MC set up a flank and forced the Terran army back as he teched to colossus; passivity brought both players into the late game armies of PvT (ghost/viking versus colossus/storm); MMA attempted to snipe the natural, but couldn't; both players established their fourth bases; MMA moved out after some widow mine drops and forced MC to fight up a ramp and while he destroyed a ton of army he lost all his vikings and found himself behind; MC killed the fourth and then attacked the third with both exchanging armies; MC attacked the fourth and armies were exchanged again as MMA's SCV count was reduced even further; MMA counter attacked, killed the fourth, and MC was forced to tap out (this was a fantastic game). Game five (Frost) both players opened with early expands with light harass designed to scout rather than damage; MC teched to blink which MMA scouted immediately and prepared for accordingly; MC transitioned into colossus, but that was scouted too so he went into zealot/archon; both players established their third bases; MMA snipped a warp prism with a mix of clever widow mine and unit placement; MMA poked the natural with a few units, but didn't accomplish much as he moved his army around on the map; MC didn't have an observer in his army and MMA landed emps on most of it army, but MC set up a great flank of templars by bringing them from his other bases and stormed the entire army, getting himself a 40 supply lead and forcing MMA back; MMA sent out double pronged harassment, but it simply gained him time rather than doing damage; MMA attempted a ninja fifth base, but MC had a zealot there which delayed it; MMA neglected defense of his third which got destroyed by zealots as he attacked and killed MC's third; MMA retreated to the planetary at the fourth but couldn't hold and had to tap out after a bit of a delay. Game six (Polar Night) MMA opened three-racks and MC with blink as both players expanded; MMA scouted the blink and MC transitioned out of it going into zealot/archon; MMA tried to clean up the pylons on the map, but MC kept putting down more; both players took late thirds; eventually MMA went for double pronged aggression aiming for a nexus snipe, but MC was able to hold; MMA loaded up a four medevac drop on the main which wasn't spotted, but didn't do much given that he lost all the units to storms; MC attacked the third and MMA had no ghosts with his armies and no response to storm, ending the game and giving the Boss Toss the championship.
WCS America
HyuN 4 Oz 2
Game one (Habitation Station) HyuN went for a proxy hatch in Oz's natural while Oz cannon rushed HyuN's natural; Oz killed the hatch with probes; HyuN sent lings into Oz's base as the Protoss hadn't walled off and morphed in some banes, killing off all the probes and ending the game. Game two (Frost) Oz opened nexus first as HyuN sent slow lings (after his one-hatch expand) which assaulted Oz's wall; Oz held and then went for a super quick third nexus as well; HyuN responded with four bases and macroed up, going for his usual roach/hydra/viper army, while Oz answered with colossus/stalker; Oz crushed HyuN when he attacked and countered, killing the third and HyuN tapped out shortly afterwards. Game three (Alterzim) both players opened economically with Oz building phoenix and after the early game Oz went up to three stargates as HyuN made muta/corrupters; HyuN was able to kill the natural before Oz was able to get phoenix range and enough army to fight in the air; Oz was finally able to attack and while a massive corrupter force pushed him back he reset the muta count; HyuN went on the offensive as he built more mutas and Oz defended with phoenix and sent the rest of his army to attack HyuN's bases (killing the fourth); lings killed the Protoss fourth while phoenix's killed all the drones at the sixth, but Oz had taken too much economic damage and had to tap out--it's a funny thing, but other than San and a couple of Code S Protoss I never see phoenix openings beat top Zergs. Game four (Yeonsu) Oz went for a cannon rush which killed the natural and slowed down HyuN immeasurably (an attempted slow ling attack past the cannons didn't do much); Oz cannoned the third and killed it as well; HyuN went heavy roach as Oz went immortal/sentry/blink stalkers; HyuN defended the first attack, but lost against the second and while he survived on a ninja base (attempting a swarm host transition) for about ten more minutes the game was not in doubt (this was a very fun game). Game five (Heavy Rain) Oz opened nexus first; after some passivity Oz attempted to kill the fourth with zealots, but HyuN defended with roaches; Oz teched to colossus and blink and killed the fourth; HyuN went muta and as Oz attacked he sent a roach counter to kill off Oz's third while HyuN trapped the Protoss army next to the natural, destroyed it and Oz tapped out. Game six (Habitation Station) Oz went nexus first and HyuN went up to a quick three bases including the gold; Oz went for a stalker-heavy gateway push, but HyuN caught them out with lings, killing Oz's army and winning the game.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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