Arnor looks like we predicted the exact same top 2 from each group! Hi 5!
Well people are going to have different predictions from each other, its just like having different views on a forum - its hard to arbitrarily say some are wrong.
So lets see more predictions people! Someone set up SEABet already!
I'm known (not really) for making predictions that most would consider somewhat out there. It actually usually turns out well for me. At one point I was Rank 4 on Liquibet (out of a pool of thousands, that's pretty impressive, no?) but those glory days are long behind me. Is it because I've been watching less SC2 than usual? Have I fallen out of touch with these players? Perhaps, but I damn sure want to make some great predictions here to redeem myself. However, as with every bet, I will be prioritizing cheering my favourites over cheering somebody just because I predicted them to win.
ST.PartinG 2-0 (4-0)
Quantic.Illusion 2-1 (4-2)
LG-IMFenix 1-2 (2-4)
aTn.Socke 0-2 (0-4)
Illusion has historically had super good TvT, such as when he took out TvT master Ryung at IPL3. PartinG in a group full of Terrans and a mediocre Protoss? Yeah, I don't see him dropping a game in this group. Socke is a weirdo. One day he's taking out DongRaeGu, the next day he's losing to HayprO or something. Fenix has been under the radar for a long time. However, in his last real televised tournament appearance he beat the shit out of oGs (including MC) and I'm a fan of him in general, that's why I'm picking him over Socke.
I don't know enough about Comm to feel qualified to comment on him. However, ViBE is a rising star in NA with great ZvZ. Suppy took out Mafia at MLG and has great ZvZ himself. These two vs VortiX could go either way because VortiX is also a talented ZvZ player. I pretty much flipped a coin here.
Sen is just plain better than the other three in the group. KiLLeR has never impressed me, so I'm picking him for last. HuK vs Grubby could go either way, opted for HuK.
While it's possible for Mafia to advance, dealing with the Korean trained State and ever creative BabyKnight will be a big challenge. Rain has, IMO, showed a weakness vs Zerg lately, but Mafia isn't good enough to capitalize on that. State, as I said, has had Korean training, but it isn't enough to beat Rain, the best Protoss in the world, or the incredibly underrated BabyKnight. I really feel like BabyKnight can make a big splash at this tournament. IIRC he's got insane PvP skills and combined with his creative builds, I'm calling it now, he gets a 2-1 over Rain.
One of the two groups of death. IdrA's strength mostly lies in his ZvT, and there are no Terrans in this group. RorO's strength is mainly in ZvP, but he's got mad ZvZ chops to strut as well. Stephano vs HerO is interesting, and usually if there's a close 2-1 series and say, Stephano wins, due to the closeness, I'll usually have HerO win the rematch in my predictions. Not the case here. Stephano schooled HerO so hard the last time they played (which is still NASL to my knowledge) that I have to pick him twice, albeit the games should be very close.
I haven't watched herO play much so I'm not really qualified to comment. I'm aware of all the players he's taken out, but TitaN and MajOr are just so ******* good! That's right, I'm still on the MajOr hype train. This could be considered my real out there prediction of the groups I guess, but herO last in this group. Curious is super good as well and he should be 1st no matter what. TitaN vs MajOr is again ridiculously close, but I went with MajOr after flipping a coin.
This group makes me sad, because really, compare it to the one directly below. I don't think anyone except Brazillians know if Levin is actually any good. I'm going to assume that he isn't for the sake of simplicity. LucifroN is a beast and in this relatively easy group he should have no problems going 4-0. Insur has very good PvT, but LoWeLy is Zerg, and a very good one at that.
**** this group. Unfair that two of these players have to go out. I'll explain my entire prediction for this group.
Nv.mOOnGLaDe 2-1 Acer.Scarlett
Scarlett did indeed win their last meeting, but as mOOnGLaDe said in an MLG interview, he learned a lot from it and I doubt he'll repeat the same mistakes. Still, it's a close series and could go either way (that can be said about literally every combination of players in these groups though).
Acer.Nerchio 2-0 CreatorPrime
PvZ is Creator's weakest match-up, contrasting Nerchio's best. Now, best match-up vs worst match-up doesn't mean anything if there's a significant difference of skill between the players, but there isn't. MC and YongHwa, two players with better PvZ that Creator, really got schooled by Nerchio.
Nv.mOOnGLaDe 1-2 Acer.Nerchio
mOOnGLaDe's ZvZ is good, but Nerchio's ZvZ is like, top 5 in the world.
Acer.Scarlett 2-1 CreatorPrime
Scarlett took out HerO, who again, is a stronger PvZ player than Creator. Even if her victory over HerO was mostly due to broodlord/infestor (or so the TL mods say) just the fact that she almost took out Oz when Oz was in his prime as one of the best Protosses around should favor her over Creator. Creator is a top 3 Protoss in the world but I really just don't feel that his PvZ can stack up, particularly with the current struggle Protoss faces against Zerg. If Scarlett can hold off all-ins, she wins, I feel.
Nv.mOOnGLaDe 2-0 Acer.Scarlett
Rematch. Again, turning around my typical rematch rule due to SEA bias. 2-0 this time because I don't know, why not?
I like it when people shit talk my predictions because it usually makes matches more exciting. Being able to say "Ha ha ha ha ha ha! I was right and you were wrong!" is great. Of course, it can backfire too.
___________________________________ The Transformer Zerg, Jadron Burgerman @Soundwave
Last edited by syfSoundwave; Mon, 12th-Nov-2012 at 5:47 PM.
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