Season Two of the StarCraft II European World Championship Series is well underway as we prepare for the RO16, which is set to kick off on Monday the 9th of June. The RO16 is this season’s first offline event, from which only two players from each group will advance. Read on for exciting announcements concerning the lineup and a cool new way to get your hands on some free studio tickets!
The groups
The groups faced some scheduling challenges but have now been finalized and can be seen below. Upcoming Intel Extreme Masters Shenzhen superstar Jens “Snute” Aasgaard will be fighting for a spot in the RO8 against the likes of Kevin “Harstem” de Koning, Juan “VortiX” Moreno Duran and ESWC 2012 runner-up Park “ForGG” Ji Soo in Group A on Monday the 9th of June at 18:00 CEST.
Group A & C of #WCS Europe swapped days - here's the updated Ro16. Get your tickets at http://t.co/fzhLjPdlRO pic.twitter.com/VvvreoPBp4
— David Kugelmann (@ESL_Shawn) June 2, 2014
Commentators’ choice: Fantasy picks
Ahead of the competition, we caught up with commentators Shaun “Apollo” Clark, James “Kaelaris” Carrol and, for the first time in WCS history, Benjamin “DeMusliM” Baker to find out their favorites, asking them for their top three from the region to help you better decide who you'd like to have on your ESL Fantasy team.
| ReDeYe | ||
| Snute | MC | YoDa |
| Apollo | ||
| StarDust | First | MC |
| DeMusliM | ||
| First | Yoda | Snute |
| Kaelaris | ||
| San | First | Snute |
James “Kaelaris” Carrol said of his selections:
Then we have First, one of my favourite Protoss for a while since his fifth place during WCS KR S2 2013. Despite falling just short in the Intel Extreme Masters Shenzhen qualifier to Snute, I believe his approach to the RO16 and onward in WCS will be ferocious. Just shy of my two choices stands Snute, a guy who sits at the very pinnacle of non-Korean prowess right now. If only I could have three picks…”
Ticket quiz: free tickets for code crackers
As you may have expected, the World Championship Series Europe RO16 will take place at the ESL Studios in Cologne, Germany starting on June the 9th at 18:00 CEST. Tickets are available below via Eventbrite, with free tickets redeemable with promotional codes.
However, you’ll have to crack the code to get your hands on free tickets! One code has been created for each player in the RO16, for example if Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner taking part in the competition, his promotional code may have been “ESLOneFrankfurt” (taking into account recent announcements).
To refresh your memory, scroll up to take a look at who is competing and get guessing at possible memes, nicknames or past achievements that we may have used for each players’ promotional code. Each correct code will grant two pairs of tickets to see that player’s group live. So what are you waiting for? Get guessing!
Alternatively, for those unable to attend in person, all of the action will be broadcast live over Twitch with social media coverage available on Twitter and of course right here on ESLGaming.com!
