[WCS] Spring Championship 2016 - Preview Text by TL.net ESPORTS Graphics by shiroiusagi

Attack of the Drones



Power Rank



Brackets and standings on Brackets and standings on Liquipedia



Season 2: Attack of the Drones



It's only been a couple of months since the WCS Winter Championships, but it's already time for 32 further WCS hopefuls to join up for another crack at the title. $35,000 is up for grabs for the winner, along with a prize that's might be just as valuable to some—a seed to the Global Playoffs this November. So before everything kicks off on Saturday, join us for a breakdown of the contestants. As with last time, this Power Rank was done solely by Soularion, although a couple of us have done some contributory writing, so once more shout at him if you disagree with the rankings.



Power Rank

by Soularion

Complementary writing by munch and banjoetheredskin



32. JimRising ⇔ NEW

Qualification Path: Top 4, NA Server Qualifiers



Coming in dead last is JimRising, a player who qualified with a very easy path—2-1s over MCanning, State, and PandaBearMe, who all rank as low-mid tier NA players—and has neither the results since (eliminated by PiLiPiLi in HSC qualifiers, and failure against Bly and Harstem last week in Austin) nor the home region results (he’s routinely struggled to even be top three) to back him up. There’s practically nothing that gives any hope to JimRising other than CatZ’s recent success against FireCake in Austin, which might inspire him to pick up some cheesy tactics if nothing else.





31. Bails ⇔ NEW

Qualification Path: Top 4, NA Server Qualifiers



Bails has forever been one of the mid-tier players in North America, and he's one of quite a few players bubbling under the surface who just hasn’t broken through yet. Recent results (beating KingKong and iAsonu to qualify here, losing 2-3 to puCK in Austin) back him up as someone possible of tossing in an upset, but unlikely to close it out. His in-region results and NA’s historical low position in WCS set him quite low here, and his lack of upset history gives him less power than some of the less certain competitors. Still, he’s far from bad, and with further practice he could join the ranks of NA players pushing for further success.





30. Cham ⇔ NEW

Qualification Path: 1st, Latin America Regional Challenger



Cham’s qualification came as a much bigger surprise than JimRising’s, considering that he 4-3’d Kelazhur in the Copa America finals. It’s a shocking upset, coming alongside a 3-2 against Polt online the week before, but was quickly erased by going 1-4 against the Brazilian terran in qualifiers for DHAustin. Still, he’s had better in-region success than JimRising, and has proven himself possible of getting an upset which Bails hasn’t had in quite some time. His recent performance in the Leifeng Cup, where he beat XY and lost to Jim, might hint at him moving up this list, but it’s really hard to determine considering how little concrete play we’ve seen from Latin America and China.





29. XY ⇔ NEW

Qualification Path: 1st, China Regional Challenger



XY quite likely caused the biggest upset to get here, up there with the likes of Cham and puCK. After enjoying years of success as China’s only noteworthy terran, the sudden onslaught of players such as Shana and Coffee started to challenge his throne, and his regional performance dropped. The first GPL season was a disaster, he lost to BreakingGG in the Austin qualifiers, and he even dropped 0-2 to a middle-of-the-pack protoss in Cloudy going into qualifiers here. Then, through the loser bracket, he beat everyone. Jieshi, Chick, BreakingGG, TIME, iAsonu, and then TooDming twice- it was a miracle run in every definition of the word, and it brought XY right up to this tournament. His regional dominance hasn’t been so good other than that single run, which is why he gets placed this low, and he doesn’t have the WCS experience that someone such as iAsonu does. XY’s gotten one miracle, but to come to Tours and find a run would take a second.





28. Jim ⇔ NEW

Qualification Path: 5th-6th, NA Server Qualifiers



Jim and XY are largely similar in that they’re Chinese players with good historic results in the region, who have started to struggle in Legacy of the Void. Unlike XY, Jim has significantly better WCS results and a very strong IEM run to his name, alongside a strong sense of cheesing and dirty tricks that he shares with many of his protoss peers. This dirtiness gives him a good advantage going into a single Bo5, but it’s hard to tell whether he has the skill and the experience within the new expansion to really use it.





27. Scarlett ⇔ NEW

Qualification Path: Top 4, NA Server Qualifiers



Scarlett managed to get us all excited for her trip to Korea, but was quickly sent home by a combination of INnoVation, Ryung, Zoun, herO and Bomber. This matches her generally underwhelming performance throughout Legacy of the Void. A win over Elazer at WCS Shanghai was a welcome surprise, but even then, puCK knocked her out and stole the show. Due to her past as a top-tier player it’s hard to say that she’s without potential, but if any other North American player had her results there’d be almost no hype going into Tours for them. If she’ll find success it’ll likely be on the basis of her ZvZ. Considering her bracket, that might make her a bigger threat than this placement dictates.





26. Strange ⇔ NEW

Qualification Path: Top 4, EU Server Qualifiers



Strange is, well, strange. He’s actually done quite admirably in Europe’s online scene, beating Bly in a Bo5 before qualifying over solid benchmarks in Dayshi and MaNa. He’s been quite silent since his qualification, which either means that he’s readying some next-level strats or just that he’s preparing extra hard to be the next one-qualifier-wonder. Who knows, really, but any goodwill harvested by his upsets has to be knocked down by lack of experience.





25. iaguz ⇔ NEW

Qualification Path: 1st, Oceania / SEA / Japan Regional Qualifiers



iaguz had a good day to qualify for this event. A path of NXZ, Blysk, KingKong (thrice), EnDerr (twice) and Seither means that he beat more or less everyone except for PiG and Probe in his region, and he’s had a good record against Probe as of late. He even beat Bails in a showmatch afterwards, which alongside his good performance in WCS prior pushes him up quite nicely. It’s definitely a stage better set for an Australian to perform than last time, but a harsh loss to viOLet and a double elimination out of ESL ANZ by Seither makes it hard to confirm that iaguz is beyond his region and ready for bigger challenges.







24. HuK ⇗7

Qualification Path: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 Standings



Outside of the big three of Neeb, puCK and MaSa, it’s a little hard to tell where North America’s at right now. It seems like it’s those three, and then everyone else. Bails and JonSnow have swapped places as the awkward 4th wheel, with HuK sitting in some odd place in the middle. Going into Dreamhack Austin, I was optimistic for his chances, but he ended up failing out 0-2 to FireCake and 1-3 against Neeb. While a big loss like that and generally poor results within North America make it very easy to doubt him, there’s still a big thing in HuK’s favor—namely, his quarterfinal run last time. Despite the fact that a lot of the field has only improved since, that run makes it clear that HuK’s moving alongside everyone to stay in a similar position for Spring. He’s keeping up, which in and of itself is pretty impressive for someone who’s been around so long, and that perseverance and experience is what pushes me to give HuK the edge over people who have similar results.





23. iAsonu ⇘ 3

Qualification Path: 5th-6th, NA Server Qualifiers



iAsonu surprised us by beating TLO last time, and since then he’s added a 2-2 trade with eventual WCS Shanghai champion Harstem to his resumé alongside a 3-0 victory against Kelazhur in Austin and some additional regional results. He’s quite far from uniting the Chinese region as one dominant force (unlike, say, Neeb and the NA region) but he’s taken enough steps to justify a raise in his standing. Still, things like his ensuing loss to puCK in Austin or his matches against PandaBearMe, PtitDrogo and Elazer stop him from showing up as a promising force for a region that hasn’t done well in this foreign WCS system. In short, good progress, but not enough yet.





22. Guru ⇔ NEW

Qualification Path: 5th-8th, EU Server Qualifiers



It’s a shame, really. I was all ready to get up here with a list of people he beat to qualify for Dreamhack Austin and this event, say how good he was for beating Nerchio (easily one of the best ZvZers around) and give him a healthy dosage of hype alongside an optimistic placing. Then, Guru was dumped out of the competition by a dismissive Hydra 3-0. It’s a run that shines light on the questionable nature of his experience and his consistency, which are only going to be bigger problems going into an event as big as Tours. While Guru does still have a better online showing under his belt than many of the players around him, he lacks proof that he’ll be able to bring something similar to the stage at the Spring Championship.





21. Has ⇗5

Qualification Path: 1st, Taiwan / Hong Kong / Macau Regional Challenger



The Prince of Darkness has arrived once more. Vengeance was swift against Bunny, as well as in game one against FireCake, but Has still seemed to have the same problems as before. Wonderfully entertaining style, bad macro. However, considering his matches against Harstem in Shanghai and Snute in Austin, he might actually be onto something. Not only has he had previous success in WCS Winter, but he’s also pushed that dominance into further results. As such, Has serves as the barrier between those too inexperienced to be favoritesand those who are honestly promising going forward, largely due to his gimmicky style that doesn’t hold up well to experienced players . Consider anyone below Has a fringe candidate for a decent run and anyone above someone who has legitimate potential that you should watch out for. Has himself? Who the hell knows. Just watch and grin.







20. SortOf ⇗2

Qualification Path: 5th-8th, EU Server Qualifiers



Similarly to Strange, SortOf’s name seems to reflect his style—he’s always half there. He managed to beat Lilbow at WCS Winter, and even take Nerchio to some pretty odd games, but didn’t even take a game off the Polish zerg before falling out. Since then, he’s managed to become an online staple; consistently a mid-tier player in the scene, but has struggled to do much more. He hasn’t showed up to any tournaments since and lacks the dominance to push himself higher, but at the same time it’s entirely possible to see a repeat of his win over Lilbow . Not that much is expected of him, but it’d be unfair to say that the new top Swede is without potential.





19. PtitDrogo ⇘ 16

Qualification Path: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 Standings



Despite his recent shortcoming at Austin, bombing out 0-3 to Neeb, PtitDrogo remains one of the more well respected European Protosses. He has





18. FireCake ⇘ 4

Qualification Path: 3rd, French Qualifiers (MarineLorD disqualified)



FireCake kicked off Legacy with a bang. 3rd at Dreamhack Winter, and 2nd at HomeStory Cup were laudable results; especially as he was the highest placed foreigner at both events. Since then, though, it’s been a little more shaky. An 0-3 Ro.32 exit to Serral at DH Leipzig was a shock, a 1-3 loss to Polt in the WCS Winter quarterfinals more understandable. His recent reversal over Polt at DH Austin was a step in the right direction, while his loss to MaSa clearly was not. It all adds up to a confusing few months for the Frenchman on LAN. Maybe a convincing display here could cement his status.





17. Bly ⇘ 5

Qualification Path: Top 4, EU Server Qualifiers



In general, when a new strategy game is released, aggression is always superior to defence. That’s especially true in Legacy of the Void, where the punishing effect of worker harassment, new economies and wide variety of options gave zergs a litany of aggressive openers and all-ins. As the months tick by, and the game is worked out more and more, defensive macro plays become more and more viable as builds are refined and counters honed. Bly stood tall as the most aggressive, most unique zerg in the EU scene in the months after release. He was justly rewarded—a second place at DH Leipzig his best career result, alongside his similarly anomalous silver at DH Bucharest over three years ago. The only question is whether that aggressive style will continue to pay dividends. A 2-3 loss to Elazer at WCS Winter must have been a disappointment, and after





16. Happy ⇘ 5

Qualification Path: 9th-12th, EU Server Qualifiers (Clem disqualified)



For better or for worse, you always know what to expect with Happy. The methodical Russian has been a stalwart in the EU scene for eternity, and he’s one of the most consistent foreign terrans of the WCS era. From 2013 to 2014, he never missed a Premier League, oscillating from the Ro.32 to the Ro.8. 2015 though, was a different story. While it began predictably, he failed to make Challenger in either Season 2 or 3. That general malaise has carried over to Legacy. WCS Winter is the sole LAN he’s attended in 2016, and a 2-3 loss to Hydra ended that run at the first hurdle. Online, he’s still the same old Happy, but without a significant result in over a year, time is ticking on.





15. Lilbow ⇔ NC

Qualification Path: 1st, French Qualifiers



The spectre of BlizzCon still hangs over the Frenchman. Every lost game; every dropped series; every tournament without that elusive promised trophy. Even if he doesn’t feel the pressure of his statement last November hanging over him, it’s a shadow which follows him around, from the LR threads to twitter and reddit. He’s shown in the past that he can deal fine with pressure in-game—after all, he was the second foreigner after Sen to break the Korean hegemony in Premier titles—but this is a burden of a different sort. Six months after the Legacy launch, Lilbow’s still lacking any truly defining results—Ro.16 / Ro.32 finishes across the board. He’s still racking up results in qualifiers and online events—his 33-9 record in PvZ in the past two months is particularly noteworthy—but the clamouring for an offline win is growing louder and louder.





14. MaSa ⇗15

Qualification Path: Top 4, NA Server Qualifiers



Somehow, someway, MaSa has actually become really good. Across his past three LANs, he’s beaten Neeb to prove that he’s up there with the best in North America, beaten Harstem and FireCake to prove that he’s beyond the constraints of the European-America barrier, and managed to give Snute a good fight in WCS Winter. Of course, his failures to both Hydra and Snute make it hard to get as excited for him as one could for Neeb, but he’s quite clearly one of the most promising North American players and should be watched going forward. Neeb might be the spearhead for the scene, but MaSa (and puCK) are the people who are here to prove that Neeb is part of a larger trend within the scene. He's held back by his lack of online consistency and the fact that he isn’t very proven offline, but a good run here will skyrocket him up without problem.





13. puCK ⇗14

Qualification Path: 2nd, NA Regional Challenger



Quietly, puCK has been one of the more consistent North American Protosses recently. He has flashes of remarkable grit in macro games and an unsung penchant for designing clever builds here and there. Having taken Neeb to five games in the quarterfinals of DreamHack Austin and reached the top 4 at WCS Shanghai, puCK looks to be formidable in every matchup, if inconsistent. If there must be one cliché "dark horse" at Tours, puCK might be it. Unfortunately for him, he's drawn one of the tougher portions of the bracket for the first few rounds with MaSa as his starting opponent and either Bunny or PtitDrogo should he pass that test.





12. Bunny ⇗1

Qualification Path: 5th-8th, EU Server Qualifiers



For years, Bunny was the only foreign terran who performed on LAN. Whether it was his consistently good performances in WCS, culminating in his dual semifinals last year, or his weekender success—notably winning Gfinity G3 over StarDust, TLO, Snute and HyuN in 2014—he’s certainly earnt enough credit for us to dismiss a few crummy events. Even so, there’s no denying that his Legacy campaign has been decidedly mediocre. Poor results at DH Winter and HSC at the end of 2015, and a first round exit at the hands of Has at WCS Winter have been the only tournament results so far for Bunny. That said, his online results have been great (73% map winrate online in 2016), and he’s had a couple of great runs recently in the WCS Spring / HSC qualifiers.





11. Harstem ⇗7

Qualification Path: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 Standings



After all the false predictions, it looks like 2016 might finally be the Year of Harstem™. Coming off a stay in Korea during the off season and his first premier tournament win at WCS Shanghai, Harstem may be in close to the best shape he could be to take a massive win at Tours. Although he suffered a disappointing reverse sweep loss to Namshar at DreamHack Austin, after which he expressed frustration with his abilities in PvZ, Harstem seems to be otherwise confident in his chances to win any tournament on the WCS circuit. If PvZ is really his only weakness, the bracket will play greatly into his favor. With only one Zerg opponent guaranteed in the second round, and then a second in the semifinals at the earliest, the Dutch Protoss may have enough time to work out the kinks and round out his play as the top contender from the second strata of players here at Tours.







10. viOLet ⇔ NC

Qualification Path: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 Standings



Coming in at #10 is the lowest ranked Korean in the competition. viOLet is certainly the least effective of the three KR stalwarts left in the WCS system, and his poor performance in 2015 led many to feel that his time had come and gone. Then, the format for WCS was announced. viOLet has always been a weekend warrior. Even in his 2012-13 heyday, viOLet was a far more effective player in some of the most stacked IEMs and MLGs and IPLs in history than in GSL or WCS, and the transition from league-based WCS to the WCS Circuit of 2016 should definitely be to his benefit. His PvZ so far in 2016 has been extremely good (38-7 in 2016 so far), and we’ve seen him clock up a couple of decent results—a top 4 finish at Leipzig over Welmu, Elazer and Serral; a top 8 at WCS Winter over puCK and MarineLorD. That said, if there’s anything like the same desire for glory remaining inside him that drove him to all those results in the past, he’ll still have higher ambitions.





9. VortiX ⇔ NEW

Qualification Path: Top 4, EU Server Qualifiers



VortiX is the biggest unknown in the whole WCS lineup right now. Historically, of course, he’s one of the very best WCS-era foreigners of all time. 2nd in WCS EU 2012 behind Stephano, a top 4 finish in WCS 2013 S3, and multiple top 8 finishes throughout HotS is a record that any foreigner would be proud of. That said, it’s been a whole 18 months since his last Premier tournament—he’s been to Heroes and back in the meantime—and it remains to be seen how he’ll deal with his second debut. He forfeited his spot last time round at WCS Winter, and hasn’t been able to attend any LANs in the meantime, falling to TLO and SortOf in the DH Austin qualifiers. That said, his online form has been solid for the most part (66% win rate online), and his WCS Winter / Spring qualifier runs in particular have been impressive. If there’s one pick on this list which is based more on the past than the present, this is it; he’ll need to deliver results to maintain his position.





8. Elazer ⇗13

Qualification Path: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 Standings



For quite a while now, Elazer’s been ‘that Polish zerg who’s not Nerchio’. He first broke out into the scene in 2015 with a pair of Premier league appearances, falling out in the first group stage both times (although Hitman’s forfeit gave him a reprieve in S3). Legacy’s been a distinct step up—top 12 at DH Winter, top 16 at Leipzig, and an impressive top 4 at HSC. His performance at WCS Winter was more of the same—wins over Bly and iAsonu, before losing to Hydra in the quarterfinals, while WCS Shanghai must have been a disappointment—losing to perennial nemesis Nerchio was understandable; losing to Scarlett perhaps a little more galling. In general, that’s where he’ll be looking to improve next. He’s reasonably consistent against the lower tier players he runs into, while he’s also equally consistent in losing to better players. For lack of a better word, he lacks the ‘X-Factor’ to take upsets over the bigger fish in the WCS pond, and that’ll be an area he’ll need to address to go far here.



7. uThermal ⇔ NEW

Qualification Path: Top 4, EU Server Qualifiers



Much like some other players on this list, uThermal has been a quintessential ‘onliner’ throughout most of Starcraft 2. His career winrate offline of 61% is certainly impressive (with a jump to 68% so far in 2016), but it’s converting that into results at major LANs that’s proved to be the issue. Constant exits from WCS in Challenger or the Ro.32; low finishes in Dreamhacks, HSCs and IEMs. The skill that he demonstrates time and again from the comfort of his home simply doesn’t materialise nearly as often as required at major events, and he’s spoken in the past about his issues with nerves on stage.



That all fell aside at Dreamhack Leipzig, where he stormed to a top 4 finish, beating Tefel, Harstem and ShoWTimE in the playoffs. It remains to be seen if he can keep that level up moving into WCS Spring—while his online form is as good as ever, he hasn’t appeared at a major LAN since—but if he arrives in the same mood, expect to see his unique brand of terran aggression.



6. ShoWTimE ⇗3

Qualification Path: 2nd, EU Regional Challenger



ShoWTimE’s evolution over the past couple of years has been a bit of a rocky road. Starting off as a rather average protoss in Heart of the Swarm, he emerged as a major threat at WCS 2015 Season 1. WCS at the time was suffering from a lack of true macro protosses after NaNiwa’s quasi-retirement; ShoWTimE’s top 4 finish in Poitiers came at a time where no other protoss finished in the top 8. Strong in all three matchups, his PvZ was a particular highlight, blending sharp gateway timings with more traditional defensive lategame play. Then, it all fell apart. Elimination in WCS Challenger in S2 by Elazer; falling to Sen in the group stages in S3. From being the standout protoss of Season 1, to being usurped by a whole host of rising stars at the year’s end.



Legacy came at an opportune time for him, and proved to be the shot in the arm that he needed. A brilliant losers’ bracket run at DH Winter drove him to a 4th place finish; top 8 finishes at HSC and DH Leipzig seemed to suggest that this was not another flash in the pan. Elimination at the very first stage of WCS Winter will have been a huge disappointment, but perhaps the fact that he was seeded against Nerchio makes that loss somewhat excusable. Since then, he’s been quiet—no attempts to qualify for either WCS Shanghai or Dreamhack Austin—although he’s been dominating the German scene along with HeRoMaRinE. It’s probable that all efforts have been focussed on WCS Spring, and hopefully this time, he’ll manage to push on in the second half of the year.





5. Neeb ⇗3

Qualification Path: 1st, NA Regional Challenger



OK Neeb, time to stop now. You’ve had your fun. Online winrates of 70%+ in all three matchups in 2016 (81% in PvP). Regular wins over the American-Korean contingent (7-3 Hydra in 2016, 8-5 Polt, 3-1 viOLet). Consistent domination of his region’s qualifiers, be that DH Austin (10-2 run), WCS Spring NA Regionals (12-4), or his carousel of wins in the regular weekly cups dotted around the schedule. You’re not seriously saying that NA actually has a shot at a Premier title, are you?



Well, everything points in that direction actually. The big wins have come steadily, one by one, week by week, while his silver medal at DH Austin was the culmination of a promising, but unsuccessful patch of LAN appearances. Finally, he’s found success offline, and maybe the nerves that he frequently speaks of will be that much calmer next time he’s sitting in the booth playing for the big prize. During his precipitous rise over the past six months, Neeb has ticked all the boxes one by one—capable of beating the best players in WCS; capable of winning online; consistent beyond reproach. The only thing left to do is raise the trophy.





4. Hydra ⇘ 2

Qualification Path: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 Standings



Hydra was the champion that was promised. The Korean champion, sent to foreignerland to cleanse the masses with his KeSPA training and superior genes. While that’s true to some extent—he certainly was the best performing player of WCS 2015—he’s still been (whisper it) somewhat of a disappointment. Since he moved to the USA and Root Gaming, there’s still a sense of ‘not quite’ about the ex-CJ Entus star. His aforementioned WCS title and 3-4 Season 1 loss to Polt were certainly impressive achievements, but everything else has been a bit below par—a resumé littered in Ro.8s and Ro.16s.



A loss to Snute in the Winter Championships semifinals last time round had been the closest he’s been to those twin season triumphs, until last week’s win in Austin. Dominant play in all 3 matchups drove him to his first title in a year. 3-0 Guru, 3-0 Bly, 3-2 Elazer in ZvZ; 3-0 MaSa in ZvT; 4-2 Neeb in ZvP. His online play is as effective as ever—a map winrate of 72% since WCS Winter. For the first time since WCS Season 2 last year, the threat of Korean domination of WCS is rearing its head. Hail Hydra indeed.





3. Nerchio ⇘ 2

Qualification Path: 1st, EU Regional Challenger



In the Starcraft world, there’s always been a dichotomy between players who excel online, and those who win the big competitions. Obviously, it’s true that the best of the best find a way in both, but there are a select few who’ve struggled to convert success from the comfort of their home or teamhouse to success in the booth. Clearly, the stigma of the online bonjwa isn’t one that can be attached to Nerchio historically. Wins at HomeStory Cup and Dreamhack Bucharest; high placements at tournaments from Wings of Liberty to Legacy. He’s one of the most proven offline competitors in foreigner Starcraft history.



That said, it’s been a curious six months of Legacy so far for the Pole. On the one hand, he’s cut a swathe through the online EU scene. An online map record of 681-243 (83% match win percentage) is stunning, even considering the lower calibre of player that he often +runs into in the weekly cups that he frequents. Qualifying for WCS Spring by taking first place in his Regionals bracket is just a small example of the consistency he exerts on the rest of the scene, day in, day out.



On the other hand, though, it’s been six months without a signature result. Before WCS Winter, there were encouraging times (Top 6 at DH Winter, Top 8 at HomeStory Cup) and disappointments (Ro.32 exit at DH Leipzig). After WCS Winter, there was a sole appearance at WCS Shanghai (top 8). WCS Winter itself was the closest he’s been to the title he craves, but Polt in fine form swept him with ease in the semifinals. Granted, he’s been stopped on each occasion by impressive players (ShoWTimE at DH Winter, MMA at HSC, Lilbow at Leipzig, Polt at WCS Winter, Snute at WCS Shanghai), but if you want to win, you’ll have to beat the best in the competition. For one of the big hitters of the EU scene, it’s time to start to deliver.





2. Snute ⇗ 4

Qualification Path: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 Standings



Slowly, Snute is creeping towards his goal. For years, he was a solid European, capable of pulling off the odd upset. During HotS, he morphed into a protoss killing machine, taking games and matches off pretty much every player in the world. sOs, Rain, Classic, herO, MC; five of the absolute best players in Starcraft history. All beaten, all on LAN. Since mid-April 2014, he holds a 36-24 map record against Korean protosses offline; a 15-7 record in matches played. PvZ was the matchup that catapulted him into the big leagues; the matchup that made him one of the foreign hope in the lean years of HotS.



It’s strange to see then, in this time of his greatest success, that it’s the matchup that’s abandoned him. Compare and contrast a winrate of 52% in PvZ to 68% in the other two combined in offline LotV. Three of his past four tournament exits have both come at the hand of protosses—Neeb in the DH Austin semifinals, Harstem in WCS Shanghai, herO at IEM Taipei.



While that weakness may be an issue, it shouldn’t distract from the consistently impressive results he’s put up since Legacy launched. Since losing to Polt at WCS Winter, he’s added a second silver from WCS Shanghai, followed by a top 4 finish at DH Austin. His online form’s not too shabby either—notably taking out Zest 3-0 days before the GSL Finals. There’ve been small missteps, such as being dumped out of EU Regionals by LucifroN and Bunny, or of the DH Austin qualifiers by Guru and MiNiMaTh, but that’s nothing compared to the peaks he’s scaled offline this year. With two silvers and a top four in the bag, it’s time for Snute to push one step higher.





1. Polt ⇗ 4

Qualification Path: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 Standings



It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the best of Polt. He did take the trophy home from the first post-KR WCS Season, but only made the semis and quarters of the next two seasons. Sure, only Polt could call the Ro.4 / Ro.8 ‘disappointments’, but in tandem with his limited appearance at foreign LANs during the year, 2015 was definitely not a vintage year for the ex-CM Storm terran.



Swap to 2016 then, and once more history seems to be repeating itself. A smattering of decent online results were neither here nor there when it came to assessing his transition to Legacy of the Void, and were tempered by a poor performance at his sole LAN appearance at IEM Taipei. He arrived in Katowice for the WCS Winter Championships with little fanfare. The respect he was given was purely down to his reputation—three time WCS champion, GSL Super Tournament champion, regular antagonist at MLGs and Red Bulls and ASUS ROGs—and less to any observable results. Then, the tournament kicked off. Wins over Lambo and Dayshi were to be expected; his top 8 run, including convincing wins over FireCake, Nerchio and Snute, perhaps not. At the end of the WCS Winter Championships in Katowice, Polt was once more the king of WCS.



So, what now? Polt’s been relatively quiet in the weeks between WCS Season events. His online form has been merely ‘good’, and in particular it seems that a weakness to zerg has crept in. Since WCS Winter, he’s 16-17 in the matchup, dropping series to Rogue, Nerchio, Cham and XiGua. Most recently, of course, there was the loss to FireCake at Dreamhack Austin, where he couldn’t pick a flaw in the Frenchman’s roach / ravager / infestor turtle to ultralisks strategy.



Then again, if there’s one thing we know about Polt, it’s that he’s at his best when he’s weakest. Famed for his ability to comeback in games when down and out, it’s also true of his general approach to Starcraft. Polt’s shown time and again that he’s one of the very best in the world at fixing his flaws. He’ll be horribly shown up at an event, and blitz his way through the next, having ironed out all the kinks in his strategies. There’s a select band of players in Starcraft history who’ve beaten the odds enough that you simply have to trust that they’ll arrive in form, and Polt is certainly one. He may yet repeat the trophy-less latter half of 2015, but for now, the king still sits on his throne.







: Top 4, NA Server QualifiersComing in dead last is JimRising, a player who qualified with a very easy path—2-1s over MCanning, State, and PandaBearMe, who all rank as low-mid tier NA players—and has neither the results since (eliminated by PiLiPiLi in HSC qualifiers, and failure against Bly and Harstem last week in Austin) nor the home region results (he’s routinely struggled to even be top three) to back him up. There’s practically nothing that gives any hope to JimRising other than CatZ’s recent success against FireCake in Austin, which might inspire him to pick up some cheesy tactics if nothing else.: Top 4, NA Server QualifiersBails has forever been one of the mid-tier players in North America, and he's one of quite a few players bubbling under the surface who just hasn’t broken through yet. Recent results (beating KingKong and iAsonu to qualify here, losing 2-3 to puCK in Austin) back him up as someone possible of tossing in an upset, but unlikely to close it out. His in-region results and NA’s historical low position in WCS set him quite low here, and his lack of upset history gives him less power than some of the less certain competitors. Still, he’s far from bad, and with further practice he could join the ranks of NA players pushing for further success.: 1st, Latin America Regional ChallengerCham’s qualification came as a much bigger surprise than JimRising’s, considering that he 4-3’d Kelazhur in the Copa America finals. It’s a shocking upset, coming alongside a 3-2 against Polt online the week before, but was quickly erased by going 1-4 against the Brazilian terran in qualifiers for DHAustin. Still, he’s had better in-region success than JimRising, and has proven himself possible of getting an upset which Bails hasn’t had in quite some time. His recent performance in the Leifeng Cup, where he beat XY and lost to Jim, might hint at him moving up this list, but it’s really hard to determine considering how little concrete play we’ve seen from Latin America and China.: 1st, China Regional ChallengerXY quite likely caused the biggest upset to get here, up there with the likes of Cham and puCK. After enjoying years of success as China’s only noteworthy terran, the sudden onslaught of players such as Shana and Coffee started to challenge his throne, and his regional performance dropped. The first GPL season was a disaster, he lost to BreakingGG in the Austin qualifiers, and he even dropped 0-2 to a middle-of-the-pack protoss in Cloudy going into qualifiers here. Then, through the loser bracket, he beat everyone. Jieshi, Chick, BreakingGG, TIME, iAsonu, and then TooDming twice- it was a miracle run in every definition of the word, and it brought XY right up to this tournament. His regional dominance hasn’t been so good other than that single run, which is why he gets placed this low, and he doesn’t have the WCS experience that someone such as iAsonu does. XY’s gotten one miracle, but to come to Tours and find a run would take a second.: 5th-6th, NA Server QualifiersJim and XY are largely similar in that they’re Chinese players with good historic results in the region, who have started to struggle in Legacy of the Void. Unlike XY, Jim has significantly better WCS results and a very strong IEM run to his name, alongside a strong sense of cheesing and dirty tricks that he shares with many of his protoss peers. This dirtiness gives him a good advantage going into a single Bo5, but it’s hard to tell whether he has the skill and the experience within the new expansion to really use it.: Top 4, NA Server QualifiersScarlett managed to get us all excited for her trip to Korea, but was quickly sent home by a combination of INnoVation, Ryung, Zoun, herO and Bomber. This matches her generally underwhelming performance throughout Legacy of the Void. A win over Elazer at WCS Shanghai was a welcome surprise, but even then, puCK knocked her out and stole the show. Due to her past as a top-tier player it’s hard to say that she’s without potential, but if any other North American player had her results there’d be almost no hype going into Tours for them. If she’ll find success it’ll likely be on the basis of her ZvZ. Considering her bracket, that might make her a bigger threat than this placement dictates.: Top 4, EU Server QualifiersStrange is, well, strange. He’s actually done quite admirably in Europe’s online scene, beating Bly in a Bo5 before qualifying over solid benchmarks in Dayshi and MaNa. He’s been quite silent since his qualification, which either means that he’s readying some next-level strats or just that he’s preparing extra hard to be the next one-qualifier-wonder. Who knows, really, but any goodwill harvested by his upsets has to be knocked down by lack of experience.: 1st, Oceania / SEA / Japan Regional Qualifiersiaguz had a good day to qualify for this event. A path of NXZ, Blysk, KingKong (thrice), EnDerr (twice) and Seither means that he beat more or less everyone except for PiG and Probe in his region, and he’s had a good record against Probe as of late. He even beat Bails in a showmatch afterwards, which alongside his good performance in WCS prior pushes him up quite nicely. It’s definitely a stage better set for an Australian to perform than last time, but a harsh loss to viOLet and a double elimination out of ESL ANZ by Seither makes it hard to confirm that iaguz is beyond his region and ready for bigger challenges.: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 StandingsOutside of the big three of Neeb, puCK and MaSa, it’s a little hard to tell where North America’s at right now. It seems like it’s those three, and then everyone else. Bails and JonSnow have swapped places as the awkward 4th wheel, with HuK sitting in some odd place in the middle. Going into Dreamhack Austin, I was optimistic for his chances, but he ended up failing out 0-2 to FireCake and 1-3 against Neeb. While a big loss like that and generally poor results within North America make it very easy to doubt him, there’s still a big thing in HuK’s favor—namely, his quarterfinal run last time. Despite the fact that a lot of the field has only improved since, that run makes it clear that HuK’s moving alongside everyone to stay in a similar position for Spring. He’s keeping up, which in and of itself is pretty impressive for someone who’s been around so long, and that perseverance and experience is what pushes me to give HuK the edge over people who have similar results.: 5th-6th, NA Server QualifiersiAsonu surprised us by beating TLO last time, and since then he’s added a 2-2 trade with eventual WCS Shanghai champion Harstem to his resumé alongside a 3-0 victory against Kelazhur in Austin and some additional regional results. He’s quite far from uniting the Chinese region as one dominant force (unlike, say, Neeb and the NA region) but he’s taken enough steps to justify a raise in his standing. Still, things like his ensuing loss to puCK in Austin or his matches against PandaBearMe, PtitDrogo and Elazer stop him from showing up as a promising force for a region that hasn’t done well in this foreign WCS system. In short, good progress, but not enough yet.: 5th-8th, EU Server QualifiersIt’s a shame, really. I was all ready to get up here with a list of people he beat to qualify for Dreamhack Austin and this event, say how good he was for beating Nerchio (easily one of the best ZvZers around) and give him a healthy dosage of hype alongside an optimistic placing. Then, Guru was dumped out of the competition by a dismissive Hydra 3-0. It’s a run that shines light on the questionable nature of his experience and his consistency, which are only going to be bigger problems going into an event as big as Tours. While Guru does still have a better online showing under his belt than many of the players around him, he lacks proof that he’ll be able to bring something similar to the stage at the Spring Championship.: 1st, Taiwan / Hong Kong / Macau Regional ChallengerThe Prince of Darkness has arrived once more. Vengeance was swift against Bunny, as well as in game one against FireCake, but Has still seemed to have the same problems as before. Wonderfully entertaining style, bad macro. However, considering his matches against Harstem in Shanghai and Snute in Austin, he might actually be onto something. Not only has he had previous success in WCS Winter, but he’s also pushed that dominance into further results. As such, Has serves as the barrier between those too inexperienced to be favoritesand those who are honestly promising going forward, largely due to his gimmicky style that doesn’t hold up well to experienced players . Consider anyone below Has a fringe candidate for a decent run and anyone above someone who has legitimate potential that you should watch out for. Has himself? Who the hell knows. Just watch and grin.: 5th-8th, EU Server QualifiersSimilarly to Strange, SortOf’s name seems to reflect his style—he’s always half there. He managed to beat Lilbow at WCS Winter, and even take Nerchio to some pretty odd games, but didn’t even take a game off the Polish zerg before falling out. Since then, he’s managed to become an online staple; consistently a mid-tier player in the scene, but has struggled to do much more. He hasn’t showed up to any tournaments since and lacks the dominance to push himself higher, but at the same time it’s entirely possible to see a repeat of his win over Lilbow . Not that much is expected of him, but it’d be unfair to say that the new top Swede is without potential.: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 StandingsDespite his recent shortcoming at Austin, bombing out 0-3 to Neeb, PtitDrogo remains one of the more well respected European Protosses. He has expressed a lack of confidence in his PvT , which may not bode well for his first round match against Bunny. Should he win, he may still have to face MaSa in the second round, who looks to be in solid form at the moment. Although he said he feels good about his PvZ, his part of the bracket does not play well into that strength. We know that on a good day, the Frenchman is good enough to win a tournament on the caliber of DreamHack, but having a good day at Tours will require him to lift his play one step up. In other sports one might point to the home crowd advantage, and the audience very well could provide him a confidence boost.: 3rd, French Qualifiers (MarineLorD disqualified)FireCake kicked off Legacy with a bang. 3rd at Dreamhack Winter, and 2nd at HomeStory Cup were laudable results; especially as he was the highest placed foreigner at both events. Since then, though, it’s been a little more shaky. An 0-3 Ro.32 exit to Serral at DH Leipzig was a shock, a 1-3 loss to Polt in the WCS Winter quarterfinals more understandable. His recent reversal over Polt at DH Austin was a step in the right direction, while his loss to MaSa clearly was not. It all adds up to a confusing few months for the Frenchman on LAN. Maybe a convincing display here could cement his status.: Top 4, EU Server QualifiersIn general, when a new strategy game is released, aggression is always superior to defence. That’s especially true in Legacy of the Void, where the punishing effect of worker harassment, new economies and wide variety of options gave zergs a litany of aggressive openers and all-ins. As the months tick by, and the game is worked out more and more, defensive macro plays become more and more viable as builds are refined and counters honed. Bly stood tall as the most aggressive, most unique zerg in the EU scene in the months after release. He was justly rewarded—a second place at DH Leipzig his best career result, alongside his similarly anomalous silver at DH Bucharest over three years ago. The only question is whether that aggressive style will continue to pay dividends. A 2-3 loss to Elazer at WCS Winter must have been a disappointment, and after admitting that he’s closer to the end than the start of his long career in esports, he’ll be wondering if he can cap it all off with one final triumph.: 9th-12th, EU Server Qualifiers (Clem disqualified)For better or for worse, you always know what to expect with Happy. The methodical Russian has been a stalwart in the EU scene for eternity, and he’s one of the most consistent foreign terrans of the WCS era. From 2013 to 2014, he never missed a Premier League, oscillating from the Ro.32 to the Ro.8. 2015 though, was a different story. While it began predictably, he failed to make Challenger in either Season 2 or 3. That general malaise has carried over to Legacy. WCS Winter is the sole LAN he’s attended in 2016, and a 2-3 loss to Hydra ended that run at the first hurdle. Online, he’s still the same old Happy, but without a significant result in over a year, time is ticking on.: 1st, French QualifiersThe spectre of BlizzCon still hangs over the Frenchman. Every lost game; every dropped series; every tournament without that elusive promised trophy. Even if he doesn’t feel the pressure of his statement last November hanging over him, it’s a shadow which follows him around, from the LR threads to twitter and reddit. He’s shown in the past that he can deal fine with pressure in-game—after all, he was the second foreigner after Sen to break the Korean hegemony in Premier titles—but this is a burden of a different sort. Six months after the Legacy launch, Lilbow’s still lacking any truly defining results—Ro.16 / Ro.32 finishes across the board. He’s still racking up results in qualifiers and online events—his 33-9 record in PvZ in the past two months is particularly noteworthy—but the clamouring for an offline win is growing louder and louder.: Top 4, NA Server QualifiersSomehow, someway, MaSa has actually become really good. Across his past three LANs, he’s beaten Neeb to prove that he’s up there with the best in North America, beaten Harstem and FireCake to prove that he’s beyond the constraints of the European-America barrier, and managed to give Snute a good fight in WCS Winter. Of course, his failures to both Hydra and Snute make it hard to get as excited for him as one could for Neeb, but he’s quite clearly one of the most promising North American players and should be watched going forward. Neeb might be the spearhead for the scene, but MaSa (and puCK) are the people who are here to prove that Neeb is part of a larger trend within the scene. He's held back by his lack of online consistency and the fact that he isn’t very proven offline, but a good run here will skyrocket him up without problem.: 2nd, NA Regional ChallengerQuietly, puCK has been one of the more consistent North American Protosses recently. He has flashes of remarkable grit in macro games and an unsung penchant for designing clever builds here and there. Having taken Neeb to five games in the quarterfinals of DreamHack Austin and reached the top 4 at WCS Shanghai, puCK looks to be formidable in every matchup, if inconsistent. If there must be one cliché "dark horse" at Tours, puCK might be it. Unfortunately for him, he's drawn one of the tougher portions of the bracket for the first few rounds with MaSa as his starting opponent and either Bunny or PtitDrogo should he pass that test.: 5th-8th, EU Server QualifiersFor years, Bunny was the only foreign terran who performed on LAN. Whether it was his consistently good performances in WCS, culminating in his dual semifinals last year, or his weekender success—notably winning Gfinity G3 over StarDust, TLO, Snute and HyuN in 2014—he’s certainly earnt enough credit for us to dismiss a few crummy events. Even so, there’s no denying that his Legacy campaign has been decidedly mediocre. Poor results at DH Winter and HSC at the end of 2015, and a first round exit at the hands of Has at WCS Winter have been the only tournament results so far for Bunny. That said, his online results have been great (73% map winrate online in 2016), and he’s had a couple of great runs recently in the WCS Spring / HSC qualifiers.: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 StandingsAfter all the false predictions, it looks like 2016 might finally be the Year of Harstem™. Coming off a stay in Korea during the off season and his first premier tournament win at WCS Shanghai, Harstem may be in close to the best shape he could be to take a massive win at Tours. Although he suffered a disappointing reverse sweep loss to Namshar at DreamHack Austin, after which he expressed frustration with his abilities in PvZ, Harstem seems to be otherwise confident in his chances to win any tournament on the WCS circuit. If PvZ is really his only weakness, the bracket will play greatly into his favor. With only one Zerg opponent guaranteed in the second round, and then a second in the semifinals at the earliest, the Dutch Protoss may have enough time to work out the kinks and round out his play as the top contender from the second strata of players here at Tours.: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 StandingsComing in at #10 is the lowest ranked Korean in the competition. viOLet is certainly the least effective of the three KR stalwarts left in the WCS system, and his poor performance in 2015 led many to feel that his time had come and gone. Then, the format for WCS was announced. viOLet has always been a weekend warrior. Even in his 2012-13 heyday, viOLet was a far more effective player in some of the most stacked IEMs and MLGs and IPLs in history than in GSL or WCS, and the transition from league-based WCS to the WCS Circuit of 2016 should definitely be to his benefit. His PvZ so far in 2016 has been extremely good (38-7 in 2016 so far), and we’ve seen him clock up a couple of decent results—a top 4 finish at Leipzig over Welmu, Elazer and Serral; a top 8 at WCS Winter over puCK and MarineLorD. That said, if there’s anything like the same desire for glory remaining inside him that drove him to all those results in the past, he’ll still have higher ambitions.: Top 4, EU Server QualifiersVortiX is the biggest unknown in the whole WCS lineup right now. Historically, of course, he’s one of the very best WCS-era foreigners of all time. 2nd in WCS EU 2012 behind Stephano, a top 4 finish in WCS 2013 S3, and multiple top 8 finishes throughout HotS is a record that any foreigner would be proud of. That said, it’s been a whole 18 months since his last Premier tournament—he’s been to Heroes and back in the meantime—and it remains to be seen how he’ll deal with his second debut. He forfeited his spot last time round at WCS Winter, and hasn’t been able to attend any LANs in the meantime, falling to TLO and SortOf in the DH Austin qualifiers. That said, his online form has been solid for the most part (66% win rate online), and his WCS Winter / Spring qualifier runs in particular have been impressive. If there’s one pick on this list which is based more on the past than the present, this is it; he’ll need to deliver results to maintain his position.: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 StandingsFor quite a while now, Elazer’s been ‘that Polish zerg who’s not Nerchio’. He first broke out into the scene in 2015 with a pair of Premier league appearances, falling out in the first group stage both times (although Hitman’s forfeit gave him a reprieve in S3). Legacy’s been a distinct step up—top 12 at DH Winter, top 16 at Leipzig, and an impressive top 4 at HSC. His performance at WCS Winter was more of the same—wins over Bly and iAsonu, before losing to Hydra in the quarterfinals, while WCS Shanghai must have been a disappointment—losing to perennial nemesis Nerchio was understandable; losing to Scarlett perhaps a little more galling. In general, that’s where he’ll be looking to improve next. He’s reasonably consistent against the lower tier players he runs into, while he’s also equally consistent in losing to better players. For lack of a better word, he lacks the ‘X-Factor’ to take upsets over the bigger fish in the WCS pond, and that’ll be an area he’ll need to address to go far here.: Top 4, EU Server QualifiersMuch like some other players on this list, uThermal has been a quintessential ‘onliner’ throughout most of Starcraft 2. His career winrate offline of 61% is certainly impressive (with a jump to 68% so far in 2016), but it’s converting that into results at major LANs that’s proved to be the issue. Constant exits from WCS in Challenger or the Ro.32; low finishes in Dreamhacks, HSCs and IEMs. The skill that he demonstrates time and again from the comfort of his home simply doesn’t materialise nearly as often as required at major events, and he’s spoken in the past about his issues with nerves on stage.That all fell aside at Dreamhack Leipzig, where he stormed to a top 4 finish, beating Tefel, Harstem and ShoWTimE in the playoffs. It remains to be seen if he can keep that level up moving into WCS Spring—while his online form is as good as ever, he hasn’t appeared at a major LAN since—but if he arrives in the same mood, expect to see his unique brand of terran aggression.: 2nd, EU Regional ChallengerShoWTimE’s evolution over the past couple of years has been a bit of a rocky road. Starting off as a rather average protoss in Heart of the Swarm, he emerged as a major threat at WCS 2015 Season 1. WCS at the time was suffering from a lack of true macro protosses after NaNiwa’s quasi-retirement; ShoWTimE’s top 4 finish in Poitiers came at a time where no other protoss finished in the top 8. Strong in all three matchups, his PvZ was a particular highlight, blending sharp gateway timings with more traditional defensive lategame play. Then, it all fell apart. Elimination in WCS Challenger in S2 by Elazer; falling to Sen in the group stages in S3. From being the standout protoss of Season 1, to being usurped by a whole host of rising stars at the year’s end.Legacy came at an opportune time for him, and proved to be the shot in the arm that he needed. A brilliant losers’ bracket run at DH Winter drove him to a 4th place finish; top 8 finishes at HSC and DH Leipzig seemed to suggest that this was not another flash in the pan. Elimination at the very first stage of WCS Winter will have been a huge disappointment, but perhaps the fact that he was seeded against Nerchio makes that loss somewhat excusable. Since then, he’s been quiet—no attempts to qualify for either WCS Shanghai or Dreamhack Austin—although he’s been dominating the German scene along with HeRoMaRinE. It’s probable that all efforts have been focussed on WCS Spring, and hopefully this time, he’ll manage to push on in the second half of the year.: 1st, NA Regional ChallengerOK Neeb, time to stop now. You’ve had your fun. Online winrates of 70%+ in all three matchups in 2016 (81% in PvP). Regular wins over the American-Korean contingent (7-3 Hydra in 2016, 8-5 Polt, 3-1 viOLet). Consistent domination of his region’s qualifiers, be that DH Austin (10-2 run), WCS Spring NA Regionals (12-4), or his carousel of wins in the regular weekly cups dotted around the schedule. You’re not seriously saying that NA actually has a shot at a Premier title, are you?Well, everything points in that direction actually. The big wins have come steadily, one by one, week by week, while his silver medal at DH Austin was the culmination of a promising, but unsuccessful patch of LAN appearances. Finally, he’s found success offline, and maybe the nerves that he frequently speaks of will be that much calmer next time he’s sitting in the booth playing for the big prize. During his precipitous rise over the past six months, Neeb has ticked all the boxes one by one—capable of beating the best players in WCS; capable of winning online; consistent beyond reproach. The only thing left to do is raise the trophy.: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 StandingsHydra was the champion that was promised. The Korean champion, sent to foreignerland to cleanse the masses with his KeSPA training and superior genes. While that’s true to some extent—he certainly was the best performing player of WCS 2015—he’s still been (whisper it) somewhat of a disappointment. Since he moved to the USA and Root Gaming, there’s still a sense of ‘not quite’ about the ex-CJ Entus star. His aforementioned WCS title and 3-4 Season 1 loss to Polt were certainly impressive achievements, but everything else has been a bit below par—a resumé littered in Ro.8s and Ro.16s.A loss to Snute in the Winter Championships semifinals last time round had been the closest he’s been to those twin season triumphs, until last week’s win in Austin. Dominant play in all 3 matchups drove him to his first title in a year. 3-0 Guru, 3-0 Bly, 3-2 Elazer in ZvZ; 3-0 MaSa in ZvT; 4-2 Neeb in ZvP. His online play is as effective as ever—a map winrate of 72% since WCS Winter. For the first time since WCS Season 2 last year, the threat of Korean domination of WCS is rearing its head. Hail Hydra indeed.: 1st, EU Regional ChallengerIn the Starcraft world, there’s always been a dichotomy between players who excel online, and those who win the big competitions. Obviously, it’s true that the best of the best find a way in both, but there are a select few who’ve struggled to convert success from the comfort of their home or teamhouse to success in the booth. Clearly, the stigma of the online bonjwa isn’t one that can be attached to Nerchio historically. Wins at HomeStory Cup and Dreamhack Bucharest; high placements at tournaments from Wings of Liberty to Legacy. He’s one of the most proven offline competitors in foreigner Starcraft history.That said, it’s been a curious six months of Legacy so far for the Pole. On the one hand, he’s cut a swathe through the online EU scene. An online map record of 681-243 (83% match win percentage) is stunning, even considering the lower calibre of player that he often +runs into in the weekly cups that he frequents. Qualifying for WCS Spring by taking first place in his Regionals bracket is just a small example of the consistency he exerts on the rest of the scene, day in, day out.On the other hand, though, it’s been six months without a signature result. Before WCS Winter, there were encouraging times (Top 6 at DH Winter, Top 8 at HomeStory Cup) and disappointments (Ro.32 exit at DH Leipzig). After WCS Winter, there was a sole appearance at WCS Shanghai (top 8). WCS Winter itself was the closest he’s been to the title he craves, but Polt in fine form swept him with ease in the semifinals. Granted, he’s been stopped on each occasion by impressive players (ShoWTimE at DH Winter, MMA at HSC, Lilbow at Leipzig, Polt at WCS Winter, Snute at WCS Shanghai), but if you want to win, you’ll have to beat the best in the competition. For one of the big hitters of the EU scene, it’s time to start to deliver.: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 StandingsSlowly, Snute is creeping towards his goal. For years, he was a solid European, capable of pulling off the odd upset. During HotS, he morphed into a protoss killing machine, taking games and matches off pretty much every player in the world. sOs, Rain, Classic, herO, MC; five of the absolute best players in Starcraft history. All beaten, all on LAN. Since mid-April 2014, he holds a 36-24 map record against Korean protosses offline; a 15-7 record in matches played. PvZ was the matchup that catapulted him into the big leagues; the matchup that made him one offoreign hope in the lean years of HotS.It’s strange to see then, in this time of his greatest success, that it’s the matchup that’s abandoned him. Compare and contrast a winrate of 52% in PvZ to 68% in the other two combined in offline LotV. Three of his past four tournament exits have both come at the hand of protosses—Neeb in the DH Austin semifinals, Harstem in WCS Shanghai, herO at IEM Taipei. As he himself states , the matchup is one that is causing him some trouble.While that weakness may be an issue, it shouldn’t distract from the consistently impressive results he’s put up since Legacy launched. Since losing to Polt at WCS Winter, he’s added a second silver from WCS Shanghai, followed by a top 4 finish at DH Austin. His online form’s not too shabby either—notably taking out Zest 3-0 days before the GSL Finals. There’ve been small missteps, such as being dumped out of EU Regionals by LucifroN and Bunny, or of the DH Austin qualifiers by Guru and MiNiMaTh, but that’s nothing compared to the peaks he’s scaled offline this year. With two silvers and a top four in the bag, it’s time for Snute to push one step higher.: Invite: Top 8 WCS 2016 StandingsIt’s been a long time since we’ve seen the best of Polt. He did take the trophy home from the first post-KR WCS Season, but only made the semis and quarters of the next two seasons. Sure, only Polt could call the Ro.4 / Ro.8 ‘disappointments’, but in tandem with his limited appearance at foreign LANs during the year, 2015 was definitely not a vintage year for the ex-CM Storm terran.Swap to 2016 then, and once more history seems to be repeating itself. A smattering of decent online results were neither here nor there when it came to assessing his transition to Legacy of the Void, and were tempered by a poor performance at his sole LAN appearance at IEM Taipei. He arrived in Katowice for the WCS Winter Championships with little fanfare. The respect he was given was purely down to his reputation—three time WCS champion, GSL Super Tournament champion, regular antagonist at MLGs and Red Bulls and ASUS ROGs—and less to any observable results. Then, the tournament kicked off. Wins over Lambo and Dayshi were to be expected; his top 8 run, including convincing wins over FireCake, Nerchio and Snute, perhaps not. At the end of the WCS Winter Championships in Katowice, Polt was once more the king of WCS.So, what now? Polt’s been relatively quiet in the weeks between WCS Season events. His online form has been merely ‘good’, and in particular it seems that a weakness to zerg has crept in. Since WCS Winter, he’s 16-17 in the matchup, dropping series to Rogue, Nerchio, Cham and XiGua. Most recently, of course, there was the loss to FireCake at Dreamhack Austin, where he couldn’t pick a flaw in the Frenchman’s roach / ravager / infestor turtle to ultralisks strategy.Then again, if there’s one thing we know about Polt, it’s that he’s at his best when he’s weakest. Famed for his ability to comeback in games when down and out, it’s also true of his general approach to Starcraft. Polt’s shown time and again that he’s one of the very best in the world at fixing his flaws. He’ll be horribly shown up at an event, and blitz his way through the next, having ironed out all the kinks in his strategies. There’s a select band of players in Starcraft history who’ve beaten the odds enough that you simply have tothat they’ll arrive in form, and Polt is certainly one. He may yet repeat the trophy-less latter half of 2015, but for now, the king still sits on his throne. Credits:

Writers: Soularion, munch, banjoetheredskin

Editors: munch

Graphics: shiroiusagi.

Photos: Helena Kristiansson, TeSL,

Stats: Aligulac

Writers: Soularion, munch, banjoetheredskinEditors: munchGraphics: shiroiusagi.Photos: Helena Kristiansson, TeSL, TheOneAboveU Stats: Aligulac

It's only been a couple of months since the WCS Winter Championships, but it's already time for 32 further WCS hopefuls to join up for another crack at the title. $35,000 is up for grabs for the winner, along with a prize that's might be just as valuable to some—a seed to the Global Playoffs this November. So before everything kicks off on Saturday, join us for a breakdown of the contestants. As with last time, this Power Rank was done solely by, although a couple of us have done some contributory writing, so once more shout at him if you disagree with the rankings.