It’s finally time for the StarCraft II WCS Global Finals! The year 2018 has so far been one of the most exciting years to be a StarCraft II fan. Serral has been dominating the WCS Circuit all year, winning hearts and minds across the globe along the way. Meanwhile, Maru has had quite the reign of terror over in South Korea. Maru claimed first place in all three seasons of GSL Code S. This makes him the first player in history to win three GSL in a row!
However, both of these players have to climb out of the group stages before they can meet on the big stage at Blizzcon. After long deliberation, the Daily Esports StarCraft team has constructed our list of predictions for Group A and Group B. The matches started just this morning, so there’s no time to waste. Let’s get to it!
Group A
- TY
- Neeb
- Lambo
- Maru
Alex: In Group A I think the Korean Terrans, TY and Maru, are the dominant players. Maru is a huge favorite to win the whole thing, and TY is close behind him. Not only that, but Korean Terrans are hard to prepare for because their play style can be so incredibly weird. Neeb and Lambo are no slouches, and I’m hoping for some great games from them, but ultimately I know what I’m expecting here.
Tyler: I feel so bad for Lambo. He qualifies for Blizzcon but gets thrown into a group with three of the finalists from GSL Code S Season 3. Talk about bad luck. Neeb will put up a good fight, but I think it’s hard to argue against Maru and TY advancing out of this group. Both players, especially Maru, are playing some of the best StarCraft II we’ve ever seen.
Group B
- Zest
- HeRoMaRinE
- sOs
- Serral
Tyler: I’m going to make a super brave prediction here: Serral is going to advance out of this group. He’s a bit of a dark horse, but I have faith.
Just in case my sarcasm didn’t translate well over the internet, Serral has been dominating the StarCraft II scene all year. He is absolutely expected to make it out of this group alive. There’s a pretty good chance we’ll see him in the Grand Final as well. The real competition is going to be for the second place of Group B. Zest and sOs have been fairly evenly matched over the years. In fact, both players have an almost identical rating on Aligulac right now. HeRoMaRinE is an excellent player, but not quite up to the caliber of the rest of the group. I’m going to pick Zest as the other advancing player because, after all, “Zest Is Best.”
Alex:Â This group is going to be crazy. Serral makes me want to talk about the other foreigners as “non-Serral foreigners” because he’s in a totally different league. I absolutely believe that Serral is going to move on, but sOs and Zest are also both amazing. sOs is one of my favorite players by far. He’s scary good and I want him for my top four, honestly. But he’s against Serral so I know who I think is going to win that. Zest is being pushed down the list just because he’s not sOs, but he’s still incredibly talented. I feel guilty talking about how great everyone but HeRoMaRinE is in this category. HeRoMaRinE is a very good player, but he’s going to be competing against Zest, and I just can’t imagine Zest not winning that matchup. sOs and Serral are my picks for this round, and this one is mostly just because I really want it that way.
More to come!
Be sure to stay tuned to Daily Esports for more WCS Global Finals coverage! We have predictions for Groups C/D and the rest of the tournament as it develops. We can’t wait to see if Serral can put a perfect end to his dominating year, or if Maru will take him down.
