With only the IEM World Championship Grand Finals between Trap and Zest remaining, here are a few highlights from Saturday's quarterfinal and semifinal play.

Favorites fall in the Round of 8

Today’s quarterfinal matchups were full of surprises, with many of the tournament’s most prestigious players being eliminated in upsets.

In the upper bracket, CJ Entus’ Terran ace Bbyong eliminated his teammate herO who's known as the “King of IEM.” Showing a stunning knowledge of herO’s preferred style and build orders, Bbyong took a convincing 3-1 win over his Protoss opponent.

KT Rolster’s Zest, meanwhile, surprised many by defeating SKT T1’s INnoVation 3-2 in a close-fought series. The Terran was unable to deal with Zest’s aggressive and unorthodox play.

While he was able to hold of Zest’s cheeses in the relatively quick Games 2 and 4 to tie the series, Zest switched it up with greedy play in Game 5. With a strong army with good upgrades, Zest was able to easily hold off INnoVation’s SCV pull. INnoVation, who was hailed as the favorite to win the tournament after he defeated his nemesis Life, was unceremoniously eliminated form the tournament.

Perhaps the most surprising and dramatic upset of the day was the 3-0 dismemberment of Jin Air’s Maru by SKT T1’s Dark. Continuing his stellar play in his first major event, Dark’s superior macro and unique Corruptor style overcame Maru’s traditionally superb control. Going into the series as a firm favourite — at least going by results — Maru was visibly shaken by his thorough defeat.

Trappings of a Champion

Jin Air’s Trap has shown throughout this tournament that he is able to convert his success outside of IEM, with a brilliant 84.62% (22-4) record in 2015 prior to the tournament, into dominating play at Katowice.

In Day 3 of the IEM World Championship, Trap defeated Dead Pixel’s FanTaSy, the Terran fresh of 3-0 win over Rain and proceeded to take a decisive 3-1 victory over Dark.

Trap, who has had a relatively quiet career, has surprised many with his play at the IEM World Championship. While he very clearly relied on all-ins and cheese to take out Flash in the Ro16, Trap incorporated far more standard build orders in his quarterfinal and semifinal matches.

Against FanTaSy, Trap used everything from his now trademark Oracle control to Dark Templar play to unbalance his Terran opponent and take the series. Dark, meanwhile, tested Trap’s macro to the limit in several long, messy games. In a dramatic base-race conclusion to Game 4, Trap was able to destroy Dark’s last hatchery and remaining army units to clinch his spot in the finals.

Trap’s hot streak has brought him straight to the IEM World Championship final, where he will face off against Zest. This is Trap’s chance to make a name for himself as a champion, but first he will need to overcome one of the best.

The Return of Zest

When Zest dropped the first two maps of his Ro16 series against Hydra, it seemed as though the most dominant Protoss of 2014 would cap off a long decline with an ignominious defeat. Then, of course, Zest pulled himself together and took three straight maps off of Hydra to break into the quarterfinals.

On Saturday, he used his momentum from the Ro16 to take a close 3-2 win off INnoVation, the Terran then hailed as the favourite to win the tournament. Employing a diverse array of strategies —from Dark Templar rushes to Colossus drops — Zest prevailed because of his ability to shift quickly between full-blown aggression and cautious defense.

With his 3-1 win over Bbyong to secure his spot in the finals, Zest showed that the mentality that allowed him to take so many victoryes in 2014 was not shaken by his recent slump in results. As he did in Game 4 against INnoVation, Zest refused to be tilted by his surprising loss in Game 3 and took a solid win on Catellena to close out the series.

Zest showed that the man who won a GSL title and two other premier-tier championships in 2014 is still there, and that when the stakes are highest, he rises to the surface.

Zest proved that he was best against Bbyong, but a PvP final against Trap is a different animal entirely. In a matchup that is alternately volatile and heavily dependent on impeccable control, Zest will need to bring his best to take down a red-hot Trap.

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