Taking a look back at Groups C and D of the 2014 WCS America Season 1 Ro16, the most common predictions came true. Much like in Groups A and B, the Korean players stayed strong and managed to move on through their groups and into the playoffs bracket, where the first WCS America champion of the year will be crowned.
Group C
Group C had two of China's strongest players face off against Korean powerhouse and frequent tournament winner TaeJa, as well as the lesser known Protoss player Arthur. Although TooDming had a very good run, nearly defeating Arthur both of the times that he met him, he couldn’t quite cut it as the Protoss managed to take the third and deciding map both times, first kicking TooDming into the loser’s match and then finally qualifying over him. TaeJa managed to qualify with a clean sweep, defeating both MacSed and Arthur without dropping a single map - a demonstration of his incredible strength against Protoss.
Our pick: Arthur vs. TooDming
The Dinosaur Zerg
Not only did TooDming make a name for himself tonight with some incredible games, but he has been dubbed "the Dinosaur Zerg" in reference to his lucky charm:
Group D
Group D was widely referred to as the Group of Death. With some of the world’s best Terrans in the form of Bomber and Polt as well as Axiom Protoss CranK and the very consistent Chinese Zerg XiGua, the outcome was unclear, but everyone expected at least one of the Terrans to make it through. And so it happened, with Polt defeating both of his enemies in a stellar performance and not dropping a single map to either of them. It wasn't just Polt who made it though - Bomber, too, lived up to what was expected of him, and qualified for the Round of 8 after defeating the CranK twice.
Our pick: Bomber vs. CranK
The eight players that qualified this weekend - namely Oz, HyuN, Alicia, Revival, TaeJa, Arthur, Polt and Bomber - will face off next week (Thursday the 10th of April to Sunday the 13th of April 2014) to determine WCS America's first champion in 2014. Make sure to catch the action on ESL TV!