[Cute]

by Cute

Fifty teams signed up for the first ever SEA Clan Cup. Let that sink in for a bit. Fifty. For a server that "no one plays on lol", a weekly league of this scope and grandeur seemed but a figment of our wildest imaginations not even a year ago. But blood, sweat, tears and a love of Starcraft have prevailed once more, and here we find ourselves approaching the semi finals of the SEACC, where only four teams remain in the running for the $200 first place prize...

When you throw this many teams into a bracket together, it's almost impossible to tell exactly how everything will pan out. This season's had it all, ranging from the expected (Xeria and inFi tearing through the competition) to some rather huge upsets (aLt falling to New Zealand's Iris). At the end of the day however, we find ourselves with four stalwarts of the community left in the semi finals. All of these teams are potential winners, and trying to pick a champion at this point is damn nigh on impossible. But still, we speculate, argue and hurl obscenities at one another, because, dammit, that's how we roll.

Xeria Gaming's season couldn't have started any better. Getting seeded straight into the second round, xGKing's new recruit Pokerface proceeded to 4-0 FaDe's BSG Ballers and then Team EVE. Pokerfaces streak would finally be ended at 9 by nRv's korean powerhouse HavoC, who then proceeded to put the hurt right back onto Xeria, chewing through iaguz and Bielsko to force the series back to a final game (not an Ace match, but let's not go there, hey?). With everything on the line, Mafia finally made his SEACC debut, taking down HavoC and securing his team's place in the semifinals.

Team Supreme's run to the round of four has far more rocky than that of Xeria's, though in fairness the competition that they have faced has been a level above that of their semi final opponent's. The pressure was on early when SPR found themselves 3-3 against STARSOC in the second round. The universally beloved Balloon (his english is cuter than these Sailor Moon banners) was able to clinch the last game over KayZ, taking the win in a series that was far closer than most spectators would've predicted. The progressive weeks saw SPR faring better. iSt took the first game over MiTH's jump before the most recent addition to Korean pro team ZeNEX, Ryoomak, closed out the series. Soulman went on to all kill Herocraft the following week, defeating Timber, mOOnGlaDe, Shuffle and tgun in the process.

Next week, each team finds themselves going head to head against perhaps their most difficult opposition yet. This match should come down to the wire, and if either team brings anything less than their A game, they may very well see their finals chances slipping away.

Prediction: SPR 4:3 xGKing

Australia's most lovable clan, Terror Australis, find themselves in a somewhat awkward position. They've made it to the round of four, but have only actually played one match. Being seeded straight into the second round, TA were awarded the walkover as their opponents never showed. The same happened in Round 3, but to be fair, the starter for Zerocraft was supposedly drunk or something, which is pretty awesome in it's own right. A huge 4-0 showing from an in form Voices against Mineski was all it took for TA to be facing off against inFi next week.

Excluding TA's two walkovers, Team inFinity have had the easiest road up until this point yet, not having to have played a single Tier 1 team on the path to the semi finals. This is no reason to count them out. inFi are currently sitting fifth in the Sharn Kemp Premier League, only a single win behind top team Xeria. Revenant and Jokes were quick to put down Singaporean clan iRL in their first match. TargA showed ToT All SB just what was up with a 4-0 sweep the next week. Rev and Targa fell to Satu and Lucien respectively, before Jokes scored another three kills in Round 4 to carry inFi home against SPR's Tier 2 team (Interesting note: SPR is the only clan to have two teams make it to the round of 8).

Both teams have had a relatively coasty journey so far, with TA fielding a grand total of one player all season, while inFi have only needed three. Next week should see a longer series featuring a few more big names (EdgE, Pinder, Rossi, iceiceice and Roz are still yet to make an appearance this season, among others)

Prediction: TA 4:2 inFi



Be sure to tune in to all the action as it goes down next Wednesday. Grab some popcorn, tune in to a livestream and cheer on South East Asia's superstars. Be sure to thank tournament admins and sponsors too, as without them, this event would never be possible. #SEASPORTS (it'll catch on, I swear)

SC2SEA Thread	SEACC Brackets	Team Liquid Thread	Stream
Round One Results	Round Two Results	Round Three Results	Round Four Results

Quick Comments

	Snx.FigJig:	great write up!
	Stallion:	very cool :)
	TCPLemminks:
	Maynarde:	FIGHTING EVIL BY MOONLIGHT
	iSt:
	crAzerk:	IMBA
	x5.Revenant:	Dafuq?! Sailor moon?! LOL.
	Frogmite:	the banners are cute, hey no they are made by cute, but cute too
	nirvAnA:	fantastic hype
	ROOTPetraeus:	cuuuuuute
	Nemo:	Haha, nice
	Dox:	SAILOR MOON UP IN THIS BITCH
	VB_Blake:	:D