Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn was eliminated from Starcraft’s World Championship Series’ Challenger League on Jan. 24.

Although she displayed strong Swarmhost play and dominated Root Gaming’s Max “Astrea” Angel in the late-game, Hostyn’s efforts were undermined by catastrophic mistakes — like losing 12 Vipers in Game 3 — and questionable decision-making — such as her attempt to produce Swarmhosts off two bases after a hatch block in the ace match.

Because of this, she ended up dropping the series 3-2 in perhaps the greatest upset of the recent Challenger matches, marking the latest in a string of disappointing tournament results - a decline from a peak last year, following her victory at Red Bull Battle Grounds 2014 NA (RBBG NA) last July.

Once one of the best foreigners of all time, Hostyn’s declining form has manifested itself in some surprising upsets. From the heights of RBBG NA, where she took three straight matches off two time WCS America Champion, Choi "Polt" Seong Hun, she has proceeded to drop maps and matches to supposedly inferior players.

I think wcs may be my last tournament — Scarlett (@AcerScarlett) January 6, 2015

On top of her dual losses to Angel in WCS Qualifiers and Challenger, Scarlett has been defeated by other relatively unknown foreigners, including Diego “Kelazhur” Schwimmer, a Brazilian Terran player on team Try Hard, and Michael “Moosegills” Wolff, an American Zerg on comPlexity Gaming’s roster.

Hostyn’s lack of tournament success has added to worries amongst her Starcraft fanbase concerning her growing interest in Dota 2.

In a post to her fan page, Hostyn recounted how her interest in Starcraft had waned sufficiently that her practice —and in turn her results— were suffering. As her commitment to Starcraft deteriorates, her interest in Dota 2 seems to be growing.

A Dota player since the game’s first installment, Hostyn’s steady transition to Dota 2 seems to be affirmed by her elimination from one of Starcraft’s biggest tournaments. By now, a commitment to Dota 2, even a temporary one, seems all but certain.

With that being said, the longtime Acer member faces significant obstacles in her bid to break into the Dota 2 scene.

First and foremost is her own lofty goal of reaching a desired MMR rating of 6.5k that would put her among the top 20 Dota 2 players in North America, a remarkable feat for an essentially new player.

Hostyn herself seems confident in her abilities to reach that goal.

6.5k mmr by end of feb or i go back to sc2 — Scarlett (@AcerScarlett) January 24, 2015

Referencing the fact that she achieved Grandmaster rank in her first season of Starcraft 2, Hostyn argued on teamliquid.net that her previous experience with Dota would help her to attain her goal. If nothing else, her high standards demonstrate her dedication to excellence.

Hostyn’s second challenge may come from Dota 2 itself, a team-based multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game that differs significantly from a real-time strategy game like Starcraft 2.

While the veteran Zerg player may find success playing in the solo queue, it remains to be seen whether years of solitary play in Starcraft will put her at a disadvantage in a top-level team environment.

The move away from Starcraft comes at a chaotic time in the game’s history.

With major new changes both to WCS format, including region locking and a combined EU and NA tournament, as well as the Legacy of the Void expansion on the horizon, Starcraft 2 is set to experience major changes in its competitive scene.

The professional player base has responded ambivalently as several well-known foreigners, including Kevin “qxc” Riley, have declared breaks from the game. Similarly, Lee “Jaedong” Jae Dong, the Brood War legend who made a successful transition to Starcraft 2 failed to appear in any of the three major qualifiers this season, though he has stated his intention to return for Season 2.

Meanwhile, the competitive scene was rocked by the triumphant return of Johan “Naniwa” Lucchesi, the former Alliance Protoss player from Sweden. Lucchesi, one of the most controversial figures in Starcraft history, exploded back onto the scene with a clean run through qualifiers and a 3-1 triumph over Hostyn’s Acer colleague Artur "Nerchio" Bloch in Challenger to put the Swede back into Premier. With only a handful of Koreans left in the combined NA/EU WCS tournament, Lucchesi’s return could not be better timed for success.

Lucchesi’s dramatic departure from the scene in 2014 came just as Hostyn began the ascent to her peak. Now, if the “Queen of Blades” does in fact turn her back on the foreigner Starcraft scene, the “King in the North” seems poised to take up the mantle.

For now, it looks all but likely that the “Queen of Blades” will be looking for a new throne.

Christian Paas-Lang is an eSports journalist from Toronto with an interest in current events, arguments, and Starcraft. You can follow him on Twitter.