WCS Europe Results (Group B)

Another set of Premier matches is in the books and Group B followed predictions precisely as jjakji and Nerchio moved on to the round of sixteen.  The VODs are up, although there weren't any great games in the group (unfortunately).  Just as an aside, I'm not a fan of casters cheering for particular players and while it doesn't happen that much in the SC2 scene (with the exception of Jaedong), I'd like it to disappear entirely.  I understand objectivity is an impossibility, but show a little more respect the other player during the match (they can fanboy all they want before and after).

Nerchio  2 ShoWTimE  0

The result was as expected as Nerchio won in straightforward fashion.  In game one ShoWTimE went for a four-gate zealot push, which Nerchio defended with roaches, so the Protoss player transitioned into an immortal-sentry attack; Nerchio scouted it, built a ton of units and crushed it to win the game.  Game two ShoWTimE went for a phoenix opener and Nerchio responded with hydras moving towards ultras; when the Polish player finally attacked he killed the army and the third and ShoWTimE tapped out on his next push.  This not a close series and as such not very engaging.

jjakji  2 LiveZerg  1

The result here was as predicted as well, albeit a little closer than expected.  In game one LiveZerg went for a roach/baneling bust, which caught jjakji completely off guard and won him the game.  In game two jjakji went for a cloaked banshee (which died without doing anything), while LiveZerg made a huge roach/hydra push; jjakji held off the attack while killing the third with a drop, and when his second attack failed LiveZerg tapped out.  In the final game LiveZerg went for a one-base baneling bust which jjakji scouted, just barely held off, and once he'd built a tank LiveZerg tapped out.

jjakji  2 Nerchio  1

 

The series had the expected result (Nerchio has never beaten jjakji in a multi-game series).  Game one both opened normally (muta/ling vs bio), with jjakji killing a ton of drones with just two hellions; Nerchio comically flew his muta flock right past a two-medevac drop without attacking them (he was distracted by another attack), but the next time jjakji did that Nerchio noticed and destroyed them; jjakji placed his turrets poorly on the gold base and it suffered from constant harassment, while Nerchio killed the fourth and jjakji was too far behind to come back.  In game two jjakji played the same way while Nerchio went for roach/ling intending to transition into ultras; Nerchio's attack did a lot of damage, but jjakji sent a drop while it was going on and did just as much (killing the roach warren, infestation pit, and one of his evolution chambers), killing the Polish Zerg when he rebuilt his army.  In the final game jjakji went for a proxy two racks which Nerchio scouted and went for the marines instead of the bunker and wound up taking a ton of damage; jjakji went up to four racks for a combat shield push which was scouted late and he rolled Nerchio over.

 

ShowTimE  2 LiveZerg  0

 

As predicted the German Protoss won the series.  Game one ShowTimE went for the gold as his second base, which LiveZerg tried to punish with a quick roach/ling push--he killed the robo and then the entire base; ShowTimE went immortal/sentry to secure his natural and then added two stargates while LiveZerg went for mutas; after the initial muta attack failed both players went macro, with LiveZerg transitioning to roach/hydra; ShowTimE killed the fourth and LiveZerg went for an attack himself--but his army wasn't well upgraded and didn't accomplish much; ShowTimE added colossus to his composition as LiveZerg tried to switch to swarm hosts, but the Protoss was far ahead and quickly ended the game.  In the final game ShowTimE went oracle, but LiveZerg scouted it and other than scouting it did nothing; LiveZerg went heavy ling (on his way to ultras) and cancelled ShowTimE's third; a period of passivity was broken as ShowTimE did a lot of damage with a warp prism, but not enough to prevent LiveZerg getting to brood lords; DT harassment did a bunch more damage and ShowTimE was able to one-shot the brood lords with tempests and then destroyed the army, ending the game.  This series was the closest of the group.

 

Nerchio  2 ShoWTimE  0

 

The re-match went the roughly the same way as the first, albeit the German played a little better.  Game one ShoWTimE went phoenix and Nerchio responded with muta/corrupter and just ran him over.  In the final game ShoWTimE went phoenix again as both players were very passive as they built up their compositions; Nerchio built brood lords and ShoWTimE was unprepared for them--he tried for a base trade, but just didn't have the units to make it work and tapped out.

 

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)