Clock Mon, 20 May 2013 22:18:26 +0100

MLG Summer Arena: Day 2
@ Spotlights channel

So what did Day 1 have in store for us at Summer Arena? Let's take a brief look back at what went down and what we should expect as we watch Day 2 and head into Day 3.

Huge props to R1CH at Team Liquid for providing the amazing photos. Day 1 is over with at Summer Arena, despite my computer having a shit on me and the connection being fried for the better part of the day. In the end, I was able to catch a few games and it's safe to say that there were a fair share of upsets and intense series. We saw Alicia take out Sasquatch, an American that many of us thought would really be a breakthrough at this tournament having been personally sponsored by the new Complexity Academy, a semi-pro program meant to improve skills over time. I suppose the hype was just that: hype.

Rain, a player for Fnatic.

RevivaL took out Illusion, something of a surprise seeing how much attention the young American/Korean has been receiving for his famous "bunker rush" video that has been going around the Starcraft 2 scene as the new harass to try against Zergs. Grubby dominated Tefel but later on fell to Rain in a close series of timing attacks and quick expands.

Although viOLet started off very strong with a 2-0 against Rain, he lost 1-2 against Oz after dropping two straight games. After dropping to the lower bracket, he's gone 4-0, 2-0'ing both Cytoplasm and RevivaL as he prepares himself to move further in the tournament.

Somewhat of an upset we saw SaSe, one of my favorite foreigners to place Top 5 at the tournament, lose to PuMa in a convincing 2-0, directly after his loss on Friday to LosirA, the Zerg player that has been making waves since his hiatus for the last 6 months or so. LosirA looks in tip top shape and has been proving himself to be one of the top Zergs yet again as he returns to the MLG circuit.

LosirA, one of the players to beat here.

Stephano fell to Oz in an incredibly economic-driven series which lasted the full 3 games, forcing himself to drop to the lower brackets as Oz moves on in the tournament in hopes of becoming the next arena champion tomorrow. Oz's Protoss play is one of the best and most unique in the world right now, and his strange openings throw off his opponents mentally, allowing him to break through in the mid-game, complimenting his late game pushes that have proved to be devestating.

HerO has just lost a 90 minute game to Alicia in a series that ended 2-1, meaning that he will face viOLet for a Top 16 spot and fighting for his tournament life to stay into the tournament. We've transitioned into that part of the weekend where winner advances, loser goes home. Can HerO edge out viOLet or will the Zerg player engulf the Protoss player's units?

Can the crowd's favorite foreigner Stephano come back?

So far the event has been going great -- many very interesting matchups and new strategies have been revealed by players, just showing how complex a game like Starcraft 2 is, even if its life is slowly coming to a close as Heart of the Swarm is set to release later this year (let's not count on Blizzard's promises).

MLG has proven to stepped up their game, as mentioned they should be willing to do in my last event review, and have implemented interactive replay analysis after each and every game, something that adds depth and personality to the stream itself and connects the viewers more to the tournament. As we head into the later hours of Day 2 and wait on Day 3, we see players with a more serious look on their face and a hunger for victory. Expect even more high level matchups tomorrow that will require the most unique of strategies and perfect execution of strategies to come out on top.

WANT MORE SUMMER ARENA COVERAGE? CLICK HERE!


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// Jeff_Kim
Posted 10 months ago: Sat, 21 Jul 2012 22:49:08 +0100

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