StarCraft II competition today with the Open Bracket qualifiers. Sixteen players from all around the world rose to the challenge with only two able to make it through the double elimination bracket to the playoffs. Starting tomorrow, Ko "Hyun" Seok Hyun and Baek "Dear" Dong Jun will join the fourteen who've already qualified in the fight for the US$100,00 winner-takes-all prize purse.

Divided into Upper and Lower Brackets, the double elimination competition featured some excellent games throughout the day. The Upper Bracket saw the likes of Dennis "HasuObs" Schneider and Ko "HyuN" Seok Hyun pull out some great performances under extreme pressure, eventually meeting in the Upper Bracket Final. Here's an overview of all the games: 
 

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If there was ever a day to be thankful for a double elimination bracket it was today! As shown by later matches, the first round would have been far too early to see the likes of Lee "Leenock" Dong Nyoung sent home. Below an overview of the Lower Bracket where you can see how Dear fought for his qualification spot.  
 

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HasuObs: The unlikely foreign hope

In 2013, the German Protoss player won back-to-back ESL Pro Series titles, proving in front of the gamescom crowd that he was a force to be reckoned with. Today he reminded us of this fact by advancing to the Semifinals of the Open Bracket without dropping a single map, swiftly knocking the likes of Rafał "ParanOid" Kontowicz and Lee "Leenock" Dong Nyoung into the Lower Bracket. But then he met the Tyrant.
     
What was a series of quick maps turned into a three hour duel where Lee "Jaedong" Jae Dong pushed HasuObs to the limit. For all the VODs, be sure to check out the Intel Extreme Masters YouTube channel.    

HyuNbelievable: Qualified without dropping a map

Ko "HyuN" Seok Hyun genuinely did race through the Upper Bracket of the competition, defeating all his opponents without dropping a single map. Along the way he faced Kamil "Forte" Sudor, Artur "Nerchio" Bloch and Baek "Dear" Dong Jun, not slowing down even in the Final where he faced HasuObs on Heavy Rain and Frost.

The fall of the Tyrant

Jaedong fell just short of qualifying for the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship earlier this year at IEM Cologne, when he lost out to Team Liquid's "HerO" in the Semifinal. The Open Bracket presented the opportunity for him to undo mistakes made and secure a spot in the high-risk, high-reward US$100,000 tournament. However, it seems as though it wasn't meant to be. 

The Upper Bracket saw a rematch of DreamHack Valencia as Evil Genius teammates Jaedong and Park "JYP" Jin Young faced off against one another. Although struggling somewhat against JYP, he was able to pull off a convincing 2-1 win, only to have to face HasuObs in the next round. The German kicked Jaedong down into the Lower Bracket after an intense three hour series, where he'd eventually lose to Dear, who knocked him out of the competition in two quick games.  

Over the shoulders of a giant #IEM pic.twitter.com/RgkitET0Zg

— Shaun Clark (@ApolloSC2) March 13, 2014

His hopes of winning a season eight Intel Extreme Masters title might be over, but he's sure to be back next season!

Action continues tomorrow!

All VODs will be made available on YouTube, so don't forget to check it out. Tomorrow the competition continues with the following bracket as sixteen players battle it out for US$100,000:
 

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