Scarlett pulled all the strings at Battle Grounds © Cameron Baird / Red Bull Content Pool

Sasha "Scarlett" Hostyn has a way of winning tournaments even when she doesn't make the final. Not only is she the current standard-bearer for North American StarCraft, but she has a way of making tournaments more exciting than anyone else. Even when she doesn't end up with the trophy, she converts a new legion of fans to her side and makes an indelible impression.

Take Battle Grounds New York, for example. She may have finished in third place, but it wasn't Kim "sOs" Yoo Jin or Won "PartinG" Lee Sak that people were talking about after the tournament. It was Scarlett, and her unforgettable, magnificent final game against Choi "Bomber" Ji Sung. It was the signature win of her career to date, and perhaps the single most exciting game of StarCraft 2 in all of 2013.

Some players are icy mercenaries, and others are studious, almost bookish professionals. Scarlett, for all her seeming reticence in the spotlight, is one of the game's best entertainers. Win or lose, her matches are the furthest thing from boring.

A Year of Struggle

2013 was a breakout year for Scarlett. She stunned Maru at the WCS Season 2 Finals, and her third-place finish at Battle Grounds (and second-place finish behind Lee Jae Dong at Northcon) seemed to promise great things for 2014.

But most players' careers have a series of peaks and valleys, and Scarlett's explosive finish to 2013 was followed by a lackluster start to 2014. She went out in the first round of WCS America Season 1, and then shocked everyone when she lost three straight games to Henry "hendralisk" Zheng and failed to qualify for Premier League in Season 2. Something was wrong, and she said as much.

However, Scarlett started to show signs of life over the summer, making it to the semifinals of HomeStory Cup. Even better, she created a new personal highlight when she went to MLG and left everyone speechless by picking Protoss in a series against Park "DongRaeGu" Soo Ho. It was one of the craziest things ever to happen in a StarCraft match, a pro-player opting to go off-race in an elimination series.

Scarlett risked looking like a troll or a fool and came away with another chapter added to her growing legend legend. This weekend at Battle Grounds Washington, she has a chance to create one more.

Trouble is, she's got a lot of enemies at this tournament.

Scarlett always plays her best when pressured © Marv Watson/Red Bull Content Pool

Ghosts of Rivals Past

Scarlett qualified for Battle Grounds Washington by winning Battle Grounds North America, but it was a victory that involved some back-room conniving in addition to in-game play. She was able to get her rivals to turn on Choi "Polt" Seong Hun while she flew under the radar, and then blindsided Polt with three-straight series wins.

But Scarlett is going to have to face Polt again at Battle Grounds, along with Bomber and DRG. They've all been shown-up by Scarlett in the last year and, in Polt's and DRG's cases, her victories were so overwhelming and flashy that she ended up making fools of them.

While Scarlett has put on some remarkable shows for fans, those three players (some of the very best in the history of the game) may not appreciate being relegated to the role of hapless victim in Scarlett's personal highlight reel. They've also made some big strides since hitting rocky patches of their own, as Polt finally shook off his slump with a victory at Battle Grounds Detroit, Bomber triumphed in Atlanta, and DRG won his first tournament in over a year at Battle Grounds Global. Scarlett may find them more difficult opponents now than they were when she faced them before.

Scarlett herself may be on the rise, however. The winter and spring doldrums that seemed to sap her momentum seemed to be dispelled over the summer. One thing seems pretty sure, however. One way or another, we'll be dissecting her games this weekend just like we did last year.