Predictions for SEA were thrown out the window when EnDerr was unable to participate due to Internet problems. KingKong's lack of practice was evident as he lost to both Blysk and Frustration (the latter being particularly surprising). Blysk sailed through to qualify while the relatively unknown (outside SEA, presumably) NXZ joined him. They'll face off against PiG and iaguz on Saturday (April 18th). While the specific combinations haven't officially been posted, I assume PiG will play NXZ and iaguz will play Blysk. If that assumption is correct, PiG is a 78% favourite (having beaten his fellow Aussie 2-0 in both their last BO3s), while iaguz is a much slighter favourite (53%), having lost to Blysk just a month ago in the Kung Fu Cup.
Day one of the American qualifier was a mix of surprises and the expected (101 players participated, a drop from last season, but no doubt some players were dodging the Koreans). Jaedong didn't lose a single game going through a fairly easy bracket; Xenocider also qualified, beating out a sloppy MaSa. In terms of surprises, Drunkenboi beat StarDust (as well as Illusion, who has returned to the scene). JonSnow had a fairly easy path to the final, but couldn't overcome the Tyrant. None of the part-time or recently returning SC2 made it through (Scarlett, ViBE, Goswser, qxc, etc). Here's some of the fallen:
R128: ViBE
R64: Goswser
R32: Scarlett, Tilea, qxc, StarDust, Bails
R16: Illusion, State, Neeb, Intense
R8: Drunkenboi, Semper
An interesting note attached to the new Korean participants: some are asking whether Jaedong or StarDust needed to be in the US to play in the qualifiers. If random Tweets are correct, they can play from Korea if permitted, which seems ridiculous in a supposedly region locked system (and given the rulebook), but I doubt Blizzard will disqualify them. I'm not clear on why Blizzard has made an exception, but without clarification it smacks of favouritism (with StarDust benefiting by proxy). For me, if you're going to allow players from other regions to participate in WCS (from Korea or otherwise), then their ladder play should be largely restricted to the local scene and they should reside there--otherwise the players are doing nothing to benefit the region they're profiting from. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, is said about this by Blizzard. [A brief update: Blizzard's statement about the issue suggests that so long as a player has their visa and residency requirements ready, they can participate.]
Day two of the European qualifiers is over (190 players participated in what brackets that turned very soft). Nerchio had a relatively easy path to qualify (JonnyREcco and NightEnD were his biggest opponents); elfi had it even easier (beating DeMuslim to qualify); while Ret's was the easiest of all (neither Namshar or Cooltea are considered top Europeans); MarineLorD had to do a little work to qualify (beating Dayshi, Stephano, and the rising Protoss player Theo). As for those of note who fell:
R256: Adonimus
R128: Elazer
R64: Starbuck, Lambo, Majestic, Strelok, Miniraser, BlinG, Kas, PtitDrogo, Tefel
R32: Lilbow, Dayshi, Petraeus
R16: Harstem (beat Jeysen in the rematch from day one, but lost to NightEnD), Zanster, Stephano, sLivko, KrasS
R8: NightEnD, DeMuslim (took out Zanster and Lilbow), Theo
There was a lot of hype surrounding Stephano's participation today. While the former EG player still occasionally participates in tournaments (Home Story Cup X was the most recent in November), he's a full-time student and SC2 is not his focus. How did he do? Despite making it to the R16, he beat no one notable (Snovski and Bouli have collectively won just over $300). That said, given how the brackets worked out today he should feel good about his chances of making it to Challenger and I wouldn't be surprised if he participates in the remaining qualifiers. Among those who failed to qualify, I thought DeMuslim's run was the most impressive.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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