WCS Challenger Season Two: Looking Back

After a hectic week WCS Challenger has wrapped up across all regions.  Only half the players (16) are returning to Premier, although none of the Koreans fell.  In generally I think the turnover is good for the system (6 of the top-16 from season one failed to return, but only 1 from the top 8)--it's a more interesting dynamic to see new players join the mix.  In terms of the biggest upsets: Elazer beating ShoWTimE, NXZ knocking out PiG, and Mystery taking out MacSed stand out.  I wouldn't expect deep runs from any of these players, but it does illustrate some depth in the scene (particularly in regions like SEA and China).

In terms of balance:
PvZ 3-4 (includes Hydra vs Zeal)
ZvT 2-2
TvP 3-2
There were also 8 ZvZs, 4 PvPs, 3 TvTs.

Map balance (excluding Hydra's match):
Vaani (13): TvZ 2-2 ZvP 3-1 PvT 1-4
Coda (12): TvZ 2-1 ZvP 1-3 PvT 1-4
Echo (11): TvZ 1-2 ZvP 0-4 PvT 3-1
Iron Fortress (7): TvZ 1-0 ZvP 3-1 PvT 2-0
Cactus Valley (5): TvZ 0-1 ZvP 1-0 PvT 1-2
Expedition Lost (3): ZvP 3-0
Inferno Pools (2): ZvP 1-0 PvT 0-1

It's not a great map pool for Protoss (Expedition Lost, Cactus Valley, Iron Fortress, and Inferno Pools are all bad), while Coda and Echo seem bad for Zerg and possibly Echo for Terran.  It's a small sample size however, so it will be interesting to see how this shifts in Premier.

We are left with 14 Zergs, 9 Terrans, and 9 Protoss, which is similar to season one (one less Protoss and one more Zerg).  The swarmhost change has not (yet) shown itself in results, although MorroW showed mech players how not to play against late game Zerg.

In terms of predictions, here's how things went by region (Aligulac/me where different):
EU: 8-6/6-8
NA: 7-0
China: (didn't get the chance to make predictions beforehand)
Latin America: 2-0
Taiwan: 2-0
SEA: 1-1
Overall: 20-7/18-9
These percentages are much higher than last season's Premier numbers (74% vs 54% for Aligulac) and it will be interesting to see if that holds going forward.

A few specific observations
-part-time players got crushed (which is a good sign)
-ShoWTimE played poorly against Elazer, dying to a spine crawler rush and bungling a pair of cannon rushes
-I had high hopes for Bunny vs Beastqt, but instead it was endless doom drops by both
-GunGFuBanDa crushed NaNiwa, but the Swede has taken right approach in realising he needs to practice more and not rely simply on talent
-the NA branch of Challenger was incredibly lacklustre, mostly featuring 3-0 stomps by the expected winners; even the 3-2 series featured games that lacked drama

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)