It has been an eventful tournament so far, with upsets and controversy abound. As we brace for the finals, we look back on the games that should bring this incredible year for Starcraft II to a close. Ten players entered, but only one can become the Blizzard Cup champion.

Group Stage

The pool play kickstarted on day one with pretty understandable results for Group A. Mvp showed his skills against everyone as expected, but did suffer a loss against DongRaeGu's Roaches in what's arguably the best match of the night after attempting to go mech off cross positions in Tal'Darim Altar. On the other hand, DRG lost to Stephano's ZvZ style and exemplary defensive micro. Both of them qualify for the championship bracket with 3-1 each.

MC had a fairly shaky performance, beating HerO after scouting his former teammate's Nexus first build, then Stephano with brilliant control off his Forge fast expand in Dual Sight. The two-time GSL champion has been in and out of contention as of late, but he could still prove himself in the championship bracket.

Stephano took games off DRG and HerO, but lost the other two matches for a 2-2 like MC, but does not qualify to the next round due to technicality. The French player's performance did show what foreigners can do on Korean soil, but it wasn't enough to qualify for the Ro6. As far as foreign Zergs go, this will have to do until IdrA plays his matches in his new Code S spot.a

Liquid`HerO, a player that so many foreign fans have started to rally behind, wasn't able to show the play that got him the DreamHack Winter gold as he went winless in his group. Most of his game were played with fast expands into pressure, which would then be scouted early and defended against. Against DRG, he cannon-rushed after the Spawning Pool was finished. This was definitely not his best effort at all.

On day two, Group B had full of surprises and even some unsightly controversy. MMA, Leenock, and Polt were tied with 3-1, while three-time GSL champ NesTea is slumped with 1-3 and MLG Providence runner-up NaNiwa took a dismal 0-4. The top three players for Group B proceeded to play tie-breaker matches, with MMA coming out on top with 2 wins, Leenock second with 1 win, and Polt losing to both his opponents for third place.

For two of the biggest surprises in this group, the only win for NesTea, having lost to his other three opponents, was a worker rush from NaNiwa, who also had not won a single game. Knowing that he failed to qualify for the Ro6 due to the nature of group play, the Swedish player proceeded to essentially throw away the match to NesTea. What could've been a heated rematch for both players after the events of MLG Providence, NaNiwa instead takes a ton of flak for his behavior and GOM has revoked his Code S spot as a result.

He has not been banned from the GSL outright, but it was still enough for the whole SC2 community to debate rabidly over whose fault it was that such an unfortunate incident occured. Known for getting easily frustrated in offline tournaments, NaNiwa has drawn the ire of fans, players, and managers alike since his Warcraft III days. After his transfer from Complexity to Quantic, many speculated that his professional career was now over due to his slim chances of being picked up by another team. Fortunately for him though, Quantic was gracious enough to stand by their new player. Both Quantic Gaming and NaNiwa have issued apologies for the incident. 

Relegation Matches

With six players qualifying for the Ro6 on day three, the top players for their respective groups will get a bye each to the semifinals. That leaves MC and Leenock for the first Bo5, then Polt and Mvp for the second one. The best-of-5 format ensured that the best would come out on top through the initial stages of the bracket.

Leenock opted to go mostly ground unit composition, which were trounced by MC's micro like he did with countless other Zergs in the past, including IdrA. All but game 3 saw a Protoss victory that day as MC kept catching Leenock's forces off position. The Zerg was able to get one win with Brood Lords in Daybreak, having survived long enough to reach Hive tech. MC takes the series 3-1 and would face DongRaeGu in the semis.

In the second match, Mvp showed his superior TvT against Polt, who stood his ground well enough to give audiences some good games. The first two games saw Mvp beat Polt's attempts at victory; game 1 against a proxy Factory to Thor rush, game 2 with Mvp's mech army against Polt's full bio. The third game on Bel'Shir Beach did show that Polt was not yet outgunned after defending against Mvp's Banshee harassment, then capitalizing on his opponent's overextension in the midgame to finally break him with a tank volley.

In what became one of the best TvT matches in recent memory, Polt sought to seize the momentum in Mvp's choice of map, Calm Before the Storm. This is where Mvp seemed to prove Artosis right with his mech army constricting Polt's bio army. Power and cost effectiveness would topple the perceived mobility and versatility of bio in this display of TvT brilliance. Mvp went 3-1 and would play against MMA in another TvT.

Semifinals

DongRaeGu versus MC went all the way to game 5, after having played an entertaining ZvP in the group play. Seemingly having learned from his mistakes, MC would put up a hell of a fight against DRG, winning games 2 and 3 on Shakuras Plateau and Dual Sight respectively. However, DongRaeGu's ZvP shined through as he took over in games 1, 4, and 5, showing some variance in his play with tech switches and taking advantage of MC's mistakes. In the end, MC started making Carriers in the last game and showed a fellow Protoss how to really throw a game. DongRaeGu take a hard-fought 3-2 and advances to the finals.

In what seemed like a repeat of their face-off in Blizzcon, MMA proved to everyone that his GSL October win was no fluke. Showing off the SlayerS team's vice grip on the TvT metagame, he combined unpredictability with solid play against Mvp's safe and rigid style. A good example is the second game in Bel'Shir Beach, where MMA's 3-Rax with no gas went up against Mvp's standard 2-Rax and beats him with a well-timed all-in. MMA crushes Mvp 3-0 and gets the second spot in the finals.

THE RESULTS SO FAR

   oGs.MC

 

 

 

   oGs.MC

 

 

 

 

   FXO.Leenock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   MVP.DRG

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   MVP.DRG

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Slayers.MMA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Slayers.MMA

 

 

 

 

 

   TSL.Polt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   IM.MVP 

 

 

 

   IM.Mvp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finals Preview

The final match for the Blizzard Cup is a TvZ between two young guns, SlayerS_MMA and MVPDongRaeGu. There is a bit of a rivalry between the two as it was MMA who broke DRG's perfect ZvT streak in the GSTL. The former has GSL and MLG wins under his belt, while the young Zerg has a first place finish in IEM New York and second place in MLG Providence.

Tune in to GOMtv.net for the conclusion of the GSL Blizzard Cup on Saturday, December 17, at 4:10PM Manila Standard Time.