DH Masters Fall: predogled/povzetek 3. tedna (EU/NA/CN)

Evropa
Serral neporažen v skupinah

Severna Amerika
Neeb v ospredju

Kitajska
TIME spet zmaga

Razpored in lestvica naprej Liquipedia

avtor Vosek

Drugi teden jeseni DreamHack Masters Fall ČAS osvojil svoj osmi zaporedni naslov na kitajskem prvenstvu in znova potrdil svojo popolno prevlado v regiji. V evropski in severnoameriški regiji so tudi tradicionalne elektrarne prevzele vodstvo v prvenstveni dirki, s Serral končal skupinski del EU z neporaženim rezultatom 14-0, medtem ko je Neeb skoraj dosegel ta podvig z rekordom 14-1 v Severni Ameriki.

Regionalna tekmovanja DHM Fall se bodo zaključila v tretjem tednu, ko bosta Evropa in Severna Amerika okronala svoje prvake. Kombinirani finale sezone, vključno s šestimi igralci iz GSL, bo potekal od 9. do 12. septembra.

Evropska regionalna

Končnica se začne na Torek, 10. avgust, 3:00 GMT (GMT+00:00).

Serral opozoril Evropo med skupinskimi fazami in postavil odličen rekord 7-0 v serijah in 14-0 na zemljevidih. Čeprav RO32 ni popoln napovednik končnice, je vsekakor Napaka kot da bi videli dosledno prevladujočega Serrala iz starih časov.

Samo v nepričakovanem zasuku HeroMarine matched Serral’s 7-0 record (with an impressive 14-2 map score), his best performance yet in the European group stage. Looking to be in great form, and with a bracket draw that avoids both Reynor and Serral until the upper bracket final, this season is a fantastic opportunity for Big Gabe to grab his first top three (or higher) European finish in the EPT era.

Po drugi strani pa Clem fans might have reason to be concerned about his placement in HeroMarine’s side of the bracket. The French Terran has yet to conclusively dispel the doubts about his TvT and TvP (losing to goblin’s Phoenixes in the group stage didn’t help), and the next few matches will be an important test. Who knows—even the resurgent MarineLorD could be a difficult challenge in his initial match.

Reynor also gave up a loss headed into the playoffs, losing 0-2 to ShoWTimE in the final week. While Reynor still clinched the #1 seed out of Group A due to his superior map score, one has to wonder if he’s not yet 100% locked in like he was during the Summer Season Finals. Of course, if Reynor is indeed playing at his best, he could easily rampage through all of the other title contenders and reclaim the European crown.

Tudi končnica je precej zanimiva zaradi manjkajočih igralcev, tako kot obeh Lambo in Elazer izpadel v skupinskem delu (Elazer je izgubil neznosno tesno izenačenje proti PtitiDrogo pri zapisu ena na ena). Z dvema najnevarnejšima nadomestnima znakoma na turnirju sta izginila – zlasti v igri Zerg vs Zerg – se zdi verjetnejša kot kdaj koli prej uvrstitev Serrala/Reynorja/Clema/HeroMarinea med najboljše štiri učbenike.

Kljub temu bi to lahko bila tudi priložnost za koga novega, da se prebije med prve štiri. Čas za predstavo has had an unusually hard time since the switch from Blizzard’s WCS to ESL’s DreamHack Masters, but his overall skill level in online competition suggests he’s due for a top four finish at some point—remember, he beat Reynor 2-0 in the final week of groups. From the new guard, MaxPax could pose a threat to the established order. The young Danish Protoss looked out of his depth playing BO5’s in TSL7 and DHM: Summer, but now he has those experiences under his belt and seems to only have improved since. While one should be wary about expecting linear growth from a player, MaxPax, too, seems on pace for a breakthrough tournament.

The group stages also gave us a couple of surprise second place finishers, though one has to be a bit less optimistic about their chances against Europe’s elite. Vanja je končno unovčil svojih na stotine vzklikov iz RotterdaM za rekord 6-1 v skupini C, s čimer si je prislužil svoj prvi nastop v zgornji kategoriji. V skupini D se je zdelo, da je polje široko odprto za vsakogar, ki bi zasedel mesto tik pod Serralom, in MarineLorD ended up clinching it with a strong 6-1 performance. Of the two, MarineLorD does seem to have a better chance of shaking things up. He already defied expectations in 2020 by making a run to the top four, and this time around he could capitalize on Clem’s vulnerability in TvT.

Severnoameriška regionalna

Turnir se začne dne Torek, 10. avgust, 8:00 GMT (GMT+00:00).

V severnoameriških skupinskih delih je šlo kot običajno, z Neeb (+13 razlika zemljevida), Scarlett (+12) in Astrea (+11) locking in the top three group stage results without much incident. While Scarlett managed to beat Astrea 2-1 to secure first place in Group A, previous DHM tournaments have shown that this isn’t always an indicator of who will win in the playoffs. With Aligulac.com’s rating system having all three title contenders closely packed in the 2600’s, fans can look forward to another tight, three-way battle for the NA crown. It does seem like Scarlett will begin with a small advantage, however, as Astrea and Neeb have drawn a 1v1 off the bat.

Tudi Severna Amerika ima prostor za nekaj nepričakovanih rezultatov na robu. V skupini B smo videli Namshar zmagati v bitki honorarnih članov in pridobiti 2. nosilca iz svoje skupine. V skupini A, MaSa, član severnoameriškega triumvirata pred Astrejo, se je prebil nazaj v končnico, čeprav je upokojen. Given how tenuous retirement can be in the SC2 scene, perhaps this wasn’t really that much of a surprise. Given MaSa’s knack for being a big tournament player who can steal maps without much practice (proxy-Barracks playing a large role), he may have the best chance out of the entire NA field at causing an upset.

Kitajska regionalna: ČAS spet zmaga

ČAS osvojil svoj peti zaporedni regionalni turnir DreamHack Masters China (in osem v liniji WCS/EPT), s čimer je ohranil svoje mesto daleč nad preostalo svojo nacionalno sceno. Kot se je pogosto zgodilo, je TIME že na začetku pokazal kanček ranljivosti v TvP, da bi se vrnil in prevladoval v velikem finalu.

Tokrat je bilo tako MacSed ki so na kratko ogrozili TIME in v polfinalnem obračunu izgubili tesno z 2-3. Ko mu je bilo dovoljeno vzpostaviti močno gospodarstvo in stabilno infrastrukturo, je veteran Protoss lahko premagal TIME z roji Gateway enot. Vendar se je na koncu izkazalo, da je TIME veliko premočan v skupini in je v povratni tekmi velikega finala z močnimi napadi na začetku igre premagal MacSed s 4-0.

Once more, the only relevant question headed into the next Chinese regional seems to be “Who can beat TIME?”

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