Written by: Cyniko, Nydra, Procyonlotor Editor: Nydra
IEM Katowice Coverage Hub
Group A: Moonglade, Grubby, Snute, Dream
High on their end of 2012 successes, GRUBBY and Snute come as the undisputed spotlight players of Group A with the Dutchman in particular already baptized in the Singepore fires, where he walked a thorny warpath to the second place, fighting like a beast for every series and every set. The rollercoaster that was Grubby’s run featured a 19-14 in sets (rarely an impressive scoreboard), miraculous comeback, epic five-set series and hanging on the verge of elimination more times than the human psyche can possibly endure. It was a harrowing that Grubby gladly survived, though, and one that was much worthy of his persona. If the power of this emotional momentum is still with him, unaffected by the recent GSL performance, Grubby has all he needs to step out of this group.
On the other hand, SNUTE comes as someone who did quite a lot of bottom-kicking towards the end of 2012 considering he came out of virtually nowhere. While his successes at THOR Open, Campus Party and ONOG i2 didn’t exactly make him the new zerg messiah, they certainly got people talking, essentially preparing them for what came at DH Winter and HomeStory VI. For a man from the North, Snute is likely the hottest player in this group, not to mention the extra responsibility coming from donning that magically imbued Team Liquid shirt which has turned some teammates of his into killing machines.
All this kind of puts both MOONGLADE and DREAM in the shadows where underdogs usually dwell. Australian’s last IEM experience delivered him just enough losses to throw him out of the competition after the group stage but if he is good enough to beat Bomber maybe he’s not automatically out of it yet. As for Dream, he’s a 50/50 wild card much like his international record and he’s here by the power of Maru’s young age. Channeling of the characteristic for Koreans “I will fight hard to prove I deserve the spot I shouldn’t have gotten” will be necessary to overcome the competition, no doubt.
Group B: Parting, Lucifron, Bly, Siphonn
In the words of my ever-wise colleague hattfatt, SIPHONN comes as the third best protoss in a group of two because Parting easily counts as two at that moment. In fact, the American might be the unluckiest player in the whole tournament. If sharing a group with “the best protoss in the world” is not enough to bring you down (though usually it is), there’s also Lucifron who’s lost just two of his last ten TvP matches and Bly who is known to be very destructive in the match-up. Then again, Siphonn could pull off a “Monchi” and come out ahead…
If classify the aforementioned stunt under “Myths and fairytales”, however, this group is very much straightforward with PARTING on the top - condescendingly looking down at the competition from the position of a double world champion and SK Telecom representative - and with everybody else fighting for the other two spots. Additional weight is furthermore put onto the shoulders of LUCIFRON and BLY both of whom have a lot of "coming out of the shadow" to do: the former is once again competing with his more successful younger brother while the latter is surely tired by that point to be labeled the third best zerg on Team Acer.
Lastly, considering how players like Ret, Mana, TLO and BabyKnight are likely to come from that direction, Group B will potentially end up the least fluctuating group in terms of skill level stratification.
Group C: Nerchio, Socke, YoDa, JookTo
Fresh off of his 4-1 performance in the 2013 GSL Season 1 Up&Downs, LG-IM’s Yoda is poised to take this group without too much standing in his way. On his way back into Code S, he slaughtered EG’s new star Jaedong along with the protosses SKMC and his teammate Yonghwa. With no terrans in his path, it’s hard to imagine Yoda dropping a single game in this group, but if he does I’d have to put my money on Nerchio.
Yes, Nerchio may not be the foreign zerg powerhouse that Stephano is, but just six months ago he did take HSC V away from players such as SKMC and first place spot from LG-IM’s Yonghwa in a convincing 4-1. It shows Nerchio isn’t afraid of Koreans, especially on his home continent. If Nerchio is left with his nerves untouched and his mind rested, he is still one of the scariest zergs out there.
That leaves us with Socke and JookTo, two players who we haven’t too much of lately. Socke is still a strong macro toss who has plenty of steady results across the broad, but has yet to break through and place high in any major tournament lately. He typically prepares very nice builds for PvZ, even taking games off of Dongraegu back in MLG Spring Arena 2, but he’ll still have his plate full trying to take down Nerchio and Yoda.
JookTo on the other hand is a bit harder to read. Now a part of Clarity Gaming, his practice schedule is relatively unknown, and his results are sparse at best. However, as a former member of oGs and with multiple performances in the GSL (code A mostly), there’s no doubt that he could surprise us all with a few strong wins. But then again, JookTo has never really stepped up to the plate in the past, so this group doesn’t suggest anything different. My money is on Yoda and Nerchio to get out of this oddball of a group.
Group D: Golden, Vortix, Kas, First
First, let’s talk about First. The LG-IM protoss hasn’t seen much public exposure compared to the rest of his teammates, but there’s no doubt in my mind that he has the potential to take the entire tournament. With recent all-kills in the IPTL against both TL and Prime, he has shown that he can have dominating performances. However, it’s clear that his strongest matchups are PvP and PvT, and with two strong zergs in the group, it’ll be a test of his PvZ knowledge.
Golden is the other big Korean name in the group, and could prove to be just as scary. Recently joining StarTale, he’s been a solid zerg for quite some time, and has taken 1st place in qualifiers for Iron Squid and the NASL S4 Open Tournament. It could go either way, but given how strong Golden could be in this tournament, it’d be foolish to overlook him.
And then there are the two “foreigners”, Vortix and Kas. Vortix is a separate story entirely, proving that he deserves to be recognized as a top foreign zerg by just recently taking down Liquid’s very talented and brand spanking new pickup Snute in the THOR Open 2012 3-0. It means that Vortix is here to play, and ready to showcase his incredibly good ZvZ against Golden. Also, obligatory mention of the rivalry he has going on with his older brother Lucifron who is going to have a hell of a time getting out of Group B.
And that leaves us with poor Kas. A great macro terran in the EU scene, there’s no doubt his mechanics are always solid, but unfortunately he may be a bit outclassed in this group. The underdog by a pretty far margin, he’ll have to showcase some incredible TvZ if he wants any chance of getting out of this group alive, because First will decimate him. First and Golden, albeit obvious, are my picks to come out of this group.
Open Bracket
The chopping block is a good metaphor for any kind of competition, but this is especially true for the open bracket, where the process of elimination is less about spectacle and more about trimming the verge. Katowice will see less participants than, say, the usual MLG, a sign of the event’s more provincial tone. That isn't to say we won’t get a decent show out of it. More importantly, there is greater room for those who never made it through the qualifiers - but also more risk of embarrassment should they fail to get through the brackets.
Here are the players we will be looking at this weekend.
TLO has been waiting for a big win since the start of his Starcraft 2 career. Despite many good showings and even greater fan favor, the German darling has never shone as much as his fame seemed to warrant. IEM Katowice will not be easy on him - there are many projected paths to prize, some tougher than others, but virtually all are significant hurdles. TLO is good, but not that good.
On the other side of the bracket there is DieStar, one of many European players who never broke through but always hung around, not exactly chickenfeed, but not really a reason for excitement either. And yet here is the problem with Europe’s best: never discount them, for they will one day take you by surprise. DieStar is, after all, playing on home turf.
Ret is coming into Katowice at the lowest point of his SC2 career. While TLO is on the rise, Liquid’s Dutchman has never been less threatening, and frankly we have never been less certain of his potential. While we have always noted his ability to make magic happen - provided the right conditions presented themselves - for the first time we doubt he will summon up the titan’s bearing he once possessed.
For many Daisy’s first splash was winning the first Korean TSL4 qualifier, proving once again that many great Korean players remained undiscovered, and that, GSL was an even poorer and more difficult gateway into the scene. He has since faded from public view, but he has never been rightly forgotten. This weekend he may remind us all of his skills.
Tarson is no stranger to LAN events. A native of Poland, he should feel right at home at Katowice, though little can be said whether he’ll look forward to meeting Daisy and Ret tomorrow. And like DieStar, he is one of those constant Europeans who make up the broader pool of competition but never its top echelon.
Adelscott is likely to be pleased that BabyKnight will miss this IEM. Although with only BabyKnight as the bracket’s other contender, he already had a reasonable chance of advancing to pool play almost by default. This has now become a near-certainty, and would have been one of three Millenium players likely to advance to pool play - had Tarson remained with the team.
Representing the same category of underachievers, Tefel will be competing against DieStar, Tarson and other mid-tier Europeans for some of the spotlight this weekend. It’s essentially impossible to declare one a winner over the others - all are so notably together in not achieving stardom that it is difficult, if at all possible, to establish any sort of ranking.
Lastly there is MaNa, young Polish hopeful and owner of a Dreamhack trophy. In 2012 we saw MaNa struggle to show his potential, still tied up with school, then break out to win his first major tournament. 2013 will be an even more critical year for him, deciding whether is going to explode like Stephano or go the way of HuK or NaNiwa.
The first tournaments of the year are also those that are most easily forgotten, but it is often overlooked how important even a single event can be in the life of a pro. Whether the symbolic power of ‘starting right foot forward’ holds any sway with viewers or not, come 2014 we will be looking back to Katowice to see how the year began - and how Wings of Liberty ended. If we believe that a player’s history can be drawn partly from his tournament results, then it behooves us to recognize in IEM Katowice the start of a new cycle. This one begins this weekend.
