Going into day two of StarCraft II action in Katowice, groups C and D were referred to as the groups of death, promising some pretty spectacular games. While some matchups seemed more predictable than others on paper, the second day had some aces hidden up its sleeve and the surprises served were of jaw-dropping proportions.
In the end, it was Polt and Lilbow who joined Petraeus and Zanster, thus reserving their seats in the round of eight.
Group C
Group C kicked off day two with a massive bang as underdog Elazer showed everyone he had what it takes to keep up with - and even beat - reigning champion Hydra. Going in strong and winning round one, Elazer proved he was up for the challenge. Hydra responded firmly with a safer play in round two and efficiently fended off Elazer’s frequent attacks. Successfully managing to stay on top of his reactions despite some misplays, Hydra kicked the scoreboard back to a draw. However, Elazer wasn’t going to back down, seizing every opportunity given in round three. Boom! Elazer won 2-1.
Next up were old friends and once housemates Polt and viOLet. Despite the statistics falling ever so slightly in Polt’s favour, viOLet took round one. However, something happened in round two and viOLet completely deflated, allowing Polt to build up his army supplies and eventually take over.
After beating viOLet 2-1, Polt was matched against Elazer in the winners’ game. Elazer held Polt back but Polt persevered, which put the fairytale of the replacement player swooping in and crushing champions on pause.
Group D
If group C had proved to be nerve wrecking, it was still nothing compared to what was about to go down in group D.
First up was the big game between Jaedong and Lilbow. The matches really treated the fanbase with some beautiful plays - Jaedong was looking confident after game one, but Lilbow went from clarity to clarity and in the end completely tore Jaedong apart in round three.
In the second game of group C, ForGG did what he does best against iaguz. The Korean rolled out his tanks and the Australian crumbled under the pressure, giving ForGG a 2-0 win.
That meant Lilbow was up against ForGG in the winners’ game of group D - and the three rounds played proved exhausting for everyone! Lilbow took a clean-cut win in the first round, but ForGG stomped back in round two. In the final and deciding round, Lilbow showed off some defensive plays that can only be described as out of this world. This gave him the advantage he needed to mow down ForGG’s Terran army and ultimately secure the Kraków ticket.
Join us tonight for the elimination rounds! Who’ll get a second chance and who’ll go home? Tune in here at 16:00 CEST and follow @ESLSC2 on Twitter for all the latest updates! For more information about the WCS, visit the tournament series’ official website.
