Dreamhack Valencia

The 1^st Dreamhack invitational is still one of my favorite tournaments conducted so far in the competitive Starcraft II scene. While the finals were a heartbreak, White-Ra was up 2-0 against MC but loses the next three games to 4 Gates and Proxy Zealots, the whole tourney delivered in entertainment and production. The 2^nd installment looks to be as of high-quality, with a list of invitees of all champions. Not only are though the top players in the scene right now, there are actually quite of few storylines between some of the participants. Such as:

Thorzain vs Huk- they just played each other in the Evil Geniuses Master’s Cup Series, with it going to a tense 3^rd game on Shakuras Plateau. The map was split, and Thorzain showed such great army control that teared apart Huk’s late game plan. Can Huk get his revenge in Spain?

Rain vs Naniwa- Rain nuked Naniwa at the 9 minute mark during MLG Raleigh, I pretty sure Naniwa will not let that happy again.

Huk vs Idra (Worse enemies now best friends)

Hero vs Thorzain (Slayers trained Thorzain versus the protoss hope)

And what I am looking forward to the most, and my personal prediction for the finals is DRG vs Hero. Hero eliminated the beastly zerg from Code A qualifiers couple months ago, but DRG got his revenge in the GSTL when he 3 killed OGS (Who are struggling in that league despite their numerous Code-S level players). Their next encounter was at MLG Raleigh, where they played in the Losers Championship Bracket in an extended series, and DRG had a 2-0 lead from pool play. Hero fought valiantly back, but the Zerg from MVP edged him out in a game 7, and advanced in the tournament far enough to secure 3^rd place and a Code S spot. Hero, who is known as Mini-Bisu because his PvZ is deadly just like the legendary protoss from Brood War, is looking for redemption for his debut in Raleigh. Liquid’s newest recruit is amazing, but I think DRG will take the whole shebang, ending out Hero in a close 3-2 series in the finals.

The tournament starts later today!

Naniwa vs. Thorzain

TSL3 had a lot of memorable moments. Huge upsets, great strategies, but by far my favorite moment is captured in the video below.

Huk

I should be sleeping but instead I'm half doing work and half watching the Homestory Cup 3.
I just saw Naniwa defeat Huk 3-2. This is LiquidHuk after his loss while watching the replay of the match. In a final match of a PvP he went Dark Templars which failed miserably as Naniwa did a Robotics Bay build and left his observer at his ramp with his units. Don't have much sympathy for Huk as he crushed miserably my favorite player July in the Summer Dreamhack 2011 earlier this month. Although I can always admire and recognize the skill of even players I don't like or care about, part of the enjoyment of esports is the pettiness automatically hating all who are against those you want to win.

I wish I could watch the next rounds as Huk goes up against oGsMC, but I'm getting sleepy and I'm supposed to wake up early tomorrow and work out.

Naniwa's Amazing Run

Naniwa won MLG dallas this past weekend, coming through the open bracket and going undefeated until the finals. This was 12 Best-of-3s, and did not even drop a single game. Naniwa's ability to read opponents is his greatest strength according to himself after winning a TSL open. In his stage interview, when asked about his flawless record, his attitude was something to be seen.