The Go4SC2 series is run by ESL as an ongoing monthly tournament ladder for StarCraft2 players who are looking to challenge themselves by competing against some of the best players on the ladder. Every month the sixteen players who won the most Go4SC2 points are invited to the monthly €600 Go4SC2 Finals. You can count on most of those invites to go to established professional players, but here we would like to highlight the underdogs, the dark horse contestants who slip under the radar despite the epic play that qualified them to compete against Europe's best.



souL

It may be a bit of a stretch to call Piotr "souL" Walukiewicz an underdog, given his vast amounts of experience in the Go4SC2 tournaments, but anytime you're being matched up against the likes of True , Snute , KeeN and Bly the term seems applicable.



That being said, souL is certainly not green behind the ears. The Polish Terran has Qualified for WCS twice, in 2015 and 2016, had an impressive run through HomeStory Cup XIII, and has outright won two Go4SC2 events in the past. Consistency has been souL's strong suit, and it is reflected in his Third Place standing in



souL is part of a wave of upcoming Polish talent, ranked as the nations Nerchio , MaNa , Elazer and Guru (whom souL beat out for top Polish player in Go4SC2 points in August).



With other rising stars such as Rodzyn ,ArT , Senin and Ziggy , souL has taken a spot among the nation's best StarCraft2 talents.



He made the Go4SC2 July Finals last month, and the month before that, and before that... all the way back to March 2016. So this will be souL's sixth consecutive appearance in the pinnacle Go4SC2 tournament, a testament to his ability and consistency of quality play. His chance to finally claim a monthly Championship will come on Tuesday, 13th August 2016 at 19:00 CEST (10:00 PDT).



Now let's take a look at the performances that gave souL his top three Go4SC2 ranking this month.



Go4Sc2 Cup #597: A Polish Rivalry

souL began August's first Go4SC2 Sunday tournament in the Round-of-Sixty-Four and battled all the way to the semi-finals, notably eliminating SpaceMarine before matching up against his fellow countryman Guru .



The first game between these two Polish prodigies saw souL deploy a Marine/Mine/Medivac composition with a Tank-heavy follow up. Initially defended by a handful of queens, our Terran hero eventually broke the Zerg position, thanks to King Sejong Station being OP for Terran, a point not lost to an observant Guru...





Game 2 saw both players elect for early pressure stratagies, but Guru came away with the advantage. Marine/Mine/Medivac with Tanks deployed again by souL forces Guru into a heavy air composition. Unfortunately, the Zerg Swarm eventually overran the Terran positions on Apotheosis.



Guru looked to button things up quickly in Game 3 with a baneling bust. His attempt was held off despite breaking through souL's wall. A similar game to the previous match ensues, with Bio/medivac/tank/liberator taking on ling/bling/muta. The war of mobility slowly went in the Zerg's favour, with constant aggression disrupting the Terran macro. In the end souL just could not keep up with Guru's economy.



→ Catch the semi-final action on YouTube: casted by maralekos



Go4Sc2 Cup #599: Going the Distance

The next Sunday, August 14th, souL again fought his way through from the Round-of-Sixty-Four. Making his way through SolO , DnS , and ArT without dropping a single map got souL to the Finals against Bly .



The finals started on Dasan Station, and if you know anything about Bly, then you probably have an assumption about how this game played out. Surprisingly it was souL who took initiative, with early reaper harass followed up by some Tank-Drop shenanigans and bio pressure. Despite clearing out Bly's main base, mutalisks turned the tide temporarily, resulting in a drawn out back and forth game that souL was eventually able to win.



Unfortunately Bly shut down souL's hellion harass and countered hard with an undetected Nydus Worm Queen/Roach attack in Game 2. Bly poured on the aggression in Game 3, not allowing souL to take his natural base early on and quickly going up to three-base spire. No amount of Marine/Mediva/Tank harass could get our Polish Terran back on even footing, and the mutalisks arrived to soon to be defended. Game 4 was given to Bly after souL failed to hold his wall against an early zergling harass, an unfortunate anti-climax to a stellar run.



→ Catch the action packed Finals here: cast by maralekos



Go4Sc2 Cup #601: Battle for Top Spot

A similar story to the past weeks, souL plowed his way through to the semi-finals from the round-of-sixty-four, taking out his fellow countrymen Radek and Matiz , amongst others. In the semi-finals he met KeeN , and whoever advanced would accumulate enough Go4SC2 points to rank #1 for August.



The players employed almost identical styles against each other, but the small variations in the TvT mirror match would give Keen the advantage and the win in the series. Some effective hellion harass gave the Korean Terran the edge he needed in a massive fight in the center of the map that decided Game 1, and the decision to go for Liberator harass while souL went cloak-Banshee again gave KeeN the small advantage that would make his follow up Bio-Tank drop attack impossible to defend.





souL has been the paragon of consistancy in the Go4SC2 tournaments for the majority of 2016. Although he only captured one weekly title this year, his experience and stability in play-style have made him a perennial contender in the Go4SC2 Monthly Finals, a testament to his ability and dedication.



While there is a rising tide of Polish players in the StarCraft2 scene lately, there is no doubt that souL will continue to remain among the top tier of his countrymen, and we can expect to continue to see him in Go4SC2, WCS and other major competitive events.



The August finals will allow souL to take on some quality competition, including:



Snute , Lillekanin , KeeN , Bly ,

Guru , TaiLS , Kas , Strange and True



→ You can find souL here on



Catch the Go4SC2 Europe August Finals live:

Tuesday, 13 September 2016 at 19:00 CEST (10:00 PDT)

Go4SC2 Europe August Finals



Qualified Players and Preview

Date: Tuesday, 13 September 2016

Start: 18:00 CEST (10:00 PDT)

Size: 16 Players

Structure: Single Elimination

Prizes: €600 Prize Pool

Coverage: ESL TV Poland - TaKeTV - magiKbaby - Pughy - VikingTV - Maralekos



GGs this month souL, GL and HF in the future!



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Your ESL Staff

Follow @Troy_SC2 Today's spotlight is on:It may be a bit of a stretch to call Piotr "" Walukiewicz an underdog, given his vast amounts of experience in the Go4SC2 tournaments, but anytime you're being matched up against the likes ofandthe term seems applicable.That being said,is certainly not green behind the ears. The Polish Terran has Qualified for WCS twice, in 2015 and 2016, had an impressive run through HomeStory Cup XIII, and has outright won two Go4SC2 events in the past. Consistency has been souL's strong suit, and it is reflected in his Third Place standing in August's Go4SC2 Monthly Rankings is part of a wave of upcoming Polish talent, ranked as the nations fifth best player according to Aligulac . He trails notable talents such asand(whombeat out for top Polish player in Go4SC2 points in August).With other rising stars such asandhas taken a spot among the nation's best StarCraft2 talents.He made the Go4SC2 July Finals last month, and the month before that, and before that... all the way back to March 2016. So this will be's sixth consecutive appearance in the pinnacle Go4SC2 tournament, a testament to his ability and consistency of quality play. His chance to finally claim a monthly Championship will come on Now let's take a look at the performances that gavehis top three Go4SC2 ranking this month.began August's first Go4SC2 Sunday tournament in the Round-of-Sixty-Four and battled all the way to the semi-finals, notably eliminatingbefore matching up against his fellow countrymanThe first game between these two Polish prodigies sawdeploy a Marine/Mine/Medivac composition with a Tank-heavy follow up. Initially defended by a handful of queens, our Terran hero eventually broke the Zerg position, thanks to King Sejong Station being OP for Terran, a point not lost to an observant Guru...Game 2 saw both players elect for early pressure stratagies, but Guru came away with the advantage. Marine/Mine/Medivac with Tanks deployed again byforces Guru into a heavy air composition. Unfortunately, the Zerg Swarm eventually overran the Terran positions on Apotheosis.Guru looked to button things up quickly in Game 3 with a baneling bust. His attempt was held off despite breaking through's wall. A similar game to the previous match ensues, with Bio/medivac/tank/liberator taking on ling/bling/muta. The war of mobility slowly went in the Zerg's favour, with constant aggression disrupting the Terran macro. In the endjust could not keep up with Guru's economy.→ Catch the semi-final action on YouTube:The next Sunday, August 14th,again fought his way through from the Round-of-Sixty-Four. Making his way through, andwithout dropping a single map gotto the Finals againstThe finals started on Dasan Station, and if you know anything about Bly, then you probably have an assumption about how this game played out. Surprisingly it waswho took initiative, with early reaper harass followed up by some Tank-Drop shenanigans and bio pressure. Despite clearing out Bly's main base, mutalisks turned the tide temporarily, resulting in a drawn out back and forth game thatwas eventually able to win.Unfortunately Bly shut down's hellion harass and countered hard with an undetected Nydus Worm Queen/Roach attack in Game 2. Bly poured on the aggression in Game 3, not allowingto take his natural base early on and quickly going up to three-base spire. No amount of Marine/Mediva/Tank harass could get our Polish Terran back on even footing, and the mutalisks arrived to soon to be defended. Game 4 was given to Bly afterfailed to hold his wall against an early zergling harass, an unfortunate anti-climax to a stellar run.→ Catch the action packed Finals here:A similar story to the past weeks,plowed his way through to the semi-finals from the round-of-sixty-four, taking out his fellow countrymenand, amongst others. In the semi-finals he met, and whoever advanced would accumulate enough Go4SC2 points to rank #1 for August.The players employed almost identical styles against each other, but the small variations in the TvT mirror match would give Keen the advantage and the win in the series. Some effective hellion harass gave the Korean Terran the edge he needed in a massive fight in the center of the map that decided Game 1, and the decision to go for Liberator harass whilewent cloak-Banshee again gave KeeN the small advantage that would make his follow up Bio-Tank drop attack impossible to defend.has been the paragon of consistancy in the Go4SC2 tournaments for the majority of 2016. Although he only captured one weekly title this year, his experience and stability in play-style have made him a perennial contender in the Go4SC2 Monthly Finals, a testament to his ability and dedication.While there is a rising tide ofPolish players in the StarCraft2 scene lately, there is no doubt thatwill continue to remain among the top tier of his countrymen, and we can expect to continue to see him in Go4SC2, WCS and other major competitive events.The August finals will allowto take on some quality competition, including:→ You can findhere on Twitter , and check out his team True eSport Catch the Go4SC2 Europe August Finals live:GGs this month, GL and HF in the future!If you have any feedback - bad or good - about anything we are doing in StarCraft II then please let us know in the forum Good luck, have fun,Your ESL Staff Troy , Tuesday, 06/09/16 08:13