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Posted on October 22, 2013, Ryan Visbeck State on StarCraft: WCS Season 3 Finals May Be All-Korean

State on StarCraft is a weekly column on Game Front by Ryan “State” Visbeck, a pro StarCraft 2 player. Each week State brings you his unique perspective on all things StarCraft, including tips, tricks and stories from the front line of competitive play.

NOTE: “State” is officially sponsored by Game Front.



The WCS Season 3 Finals takes place this weekend in Toronto, Canada. There, sixteen of the world’s best StarCraft 2 players will compete for $150,000 and a shot to play at BlizzCon, where the 2013 World Championship Series concludes in November.

The Season 3 Finals comes right on the heels of the American playoffs. Last weekend, fan favorite Polt decisively became the World Championship Series’ first-ever back-to-back champion. The Korean-born Terran player moved to the United States earlier this year to study at the University of Texas at Austin, a campus that has quickly become the center of collegiate eSports. With Sunday’s win, Polt climbed to 3rd in the WCS Global Standings, clinching his spot at BlizzCon.

A strong finish at the WCS Season 3 Finals could push several players past the Top 16 bubble, but the biggest story might be who they’re knocking out. The Swedish player NaNiwa—who currently stands 450 points above the Global Finals Cutoff—just might drop out of the Top 16 if Rain, Oz and soO come up big this weekend. Such a result would guarantee an all-Korean Global Finals, the first in the World Championship Series’ two-year history.

Regardless of the result, this promises to be the best Season Finals yet.

The race for Top 16 has been heated all year, but the Season 3 Finals will ultimately decide who’s competing at BlizzCon. The action kicks off at 10:00AM PDT this Friday on Blizzard’s official WCS portal. Live tickets to the finals at the Toronto Congress Center are available here.

I had an absolute blast at IEM New York last week! Playing against Flash—the best StarCraft player of all time—was an experience that I will never forget. Thanks to everyone who supported me! I’ll do my best to return to New York City for Red Bull Battlegrounds, and the IEM Singapore qualifier is just around the corner.

Here’s this week’s replay pack! It features a bunch of practice games from the Korean server.

Check back every week for a new State on StarCraft post from Ryan “State” Visbeck!