Florencio would have won Game 1. Hell, even I could have won it.

I don't get it. That's why you don't cannon rush Terran, isn't it? Yes, it could have been different if he locked the workers in, but that doesn't look easy to do anyway. He was lucky the rax wasn't in the main to begin with as well.

That begin said, he had a Stargate, I think he was going to go void rays to counter a tank from the factory, but Maru floated it out went cyclone instead.

Still, that was the right idea from prince as goofy said.

It was correct if Prince is normally a cheesy Protoss player. IMO, as opposed to goofy apparently, I think someone new to tournament level should stick with what got them there in the first place. If you're a cheesy player, keep cheesing. If you aren't, play your normal game (which is what Astrea did afaik and why I support what he did even if he's on paper the worst player in the group).

I think for players at the level we're talking about (barely qualifying level), it's best to just keep doing whatever it was that got you there. If you're typically a more late-game oriented player, and that's what won your qualifying matches, then do that. Even if, in a vacuum, a nice cheese would give you better odds to win, it's probably not enough in practice to overcome your natural tendencies. It seems to me that up and coming players, on average, are usually very stylistic (which makes sense IMO since being a 1 trick on ladder is more than enough to climb if you're good enough). At this level, no one is really expecting you to be as well-rounded as a championship-winning level player, so you might as well lean into whatever specific styles got you to this position in the first place. If I ever qualfied for WCS (LOL), you bet your ass I'd be making mutas every single game because that would be what got me there in the first place.

Coming back to Group E, Prince obviously decided cheesing was his best option to advance. But he also made very clear mistakes in every single game that suggests to me that maybe this isn't his normal play style. I don't know that for sure, having never seen a single game of his before this group, but his mistakes seemed to me the kind that an experienced cheeser would not make (hence why I think Florencio would have won G1 vs Maru, printf too probably). Certainly it's also possible it was just LAN nerves (which even though I do not suffer from at all (not so humble brag XD), are clearly a real thing), but again, doing what you know would mitigate that more IMO.

At the end of the day, it seems largely irrelevant because being a budget Parting or a budget Stats means you lose in both cases anyway, but I appreciate players who have their own ideas about the game and stick to them (this is one of the most important qualities for a player aspiring to win championships IMO). Whether or not Prince did that, IDK, but I think Astrea did it, and he has my respect for that (even if he's a Protoss player XD).

In other news, I'm surprised to see exactly 0 early pools by Scarlett over 6 ZvZs. I guess she was really confident against Armani.

2, range successfully balanced!

I thought it was kinda amusing that Scarlett got picked first, DRG got picked 2nd, and then TY used his trump card to get DRG in his group at the end.

Either TY has lots of faith in his TvZ and is gonna romp through his group, or we're gonna have to re-evaluate where we have Scarlett and DRG at as high-level Zergs.

drg has been playing pretty well but hes still newly back. he could be the 2nd worst player left. think scarlett wins that one by a lot, she hasnt looked good at all, besides winning some cheese, and even some she shouldnt have. easiest group by a lotttt imo

scarlett

Reynor is pretty good at this game.

Trap > HM
Reynor > Inno
Serral > TY
Cure > Maru

Reynor > Trap
Serral > Cure

Reynor > Serral

Reynor is a monster. So is Serral. Maru dodging Serral again LUL.

I can't wait for the salt when it's Reynor/Serral in the finals again, like they aren't the 2 best players in the world right now.

Korea just got Serral'd. Also, 6.5/7 on my predictions (right finals winner, wrong opponent).

Parting with a master class in PvT. Protosses just aren't beating Terrans these days and he looked very sharp defeating Bunny and Inno.

"He's going to cannon rush the hatchery in his main"

rogue is getting pretty wild

On the spectrum of Serral to NoRegret, Rogue has always been way closer to the NoRegret side. That's at least according to casters, who seem to never fail to mention how Rogue started out as a cheesy Proleague sniper (which I can't say I can confirm firsthand since I hardly followed the game during that era, but I certainly can believe it). But even in the time I have followed it, Rogue is definitely high on the list of players I would expect to pull out some crazy ****.

DRG 3-2 Inno
Rogue 3-0 Dream

TY 3-0 Parting
Stats 3-2 Trap

Rogue 4-2 DRG
TY 4-2 Stats

TY 4-2 Rogue