There were two major upsets in the qualifiers leading up to Blizzcon, the first of which shocked the international scene as Happy went through the upper bracket in style dropping only 1 map to make Blizzcon. The other surprise came from the American tournament in which Nilknarf after a year of inactivity bested a tournament field of players like Yane, Kiwikaki, Shriek and apm, also only dropping 1 map the entire tournament. However Nilknarf is not attending, and North America's best Orc player Kiwikaki will be playing instead.

The tournament being double elimination certainly makes things more interesting and with bigger possibilities for a few upsets.

Player check

Check has played well in WC3L this season, and he had a very good performance in the Asia qualifiers coming from the lower bracket to beat Lyn, however he has been somewhat inconsistent, and sometimes his lower apm has seemed to hurt his play.

Check - top 2 in Anaheim?

He does have a favorable first round for him and he should have a good chance of winning the tournament, but I wouldn't call him a heavy favorite by any means.

Happy shocked everyone by dominating the European qualifier and I expect him to have some rollover effect of that. Even though he does not have steady international exposure like many of the other players do, he seems to be in top shape, and as the only Undead in the field, he should have a good chance. I think he'll win a few matches, and a small chance to win the tournament.

Sonkie had some trouble getting into this tournament. In the American qualifiers he lost in the Upperbracket Semi-final to Kiwikaki and had to fight through the lower bracket beating Kiwi again and coming from the lower bracket to beat Nilknarf in 2 best of 3s. A very strong performance, but it has me worried about his inconsistency again. He had a very favorable group at ESWC and could not capitalize on it. He is still America's best player, but now, what does that mean? Sonkie will have to come into this tournament with a purpose if he is to do well.

SaSe doesn't ever appear in the list of top European players or top Elves in the world, but people better start respecting him because in the past 6 months he has improved more than almost any other player.

Lyn - the man for gold?

I expect SaSe to do really well here, following up his solid ESWC performance. If he plays consistently he should make at least top 4.

Lyn had a great first half of the year, but the summer months were dominated by WhO, who seemed to have passed Lyn as the best Korean Orc player, but now it's Lyn's chance to shine once again. Lyn seems to have gotten a bad seed as he finished 2nd in the Korean qualifier, but only gets a #5 seed, it doesn't seem right for him to be lower than SaSe. However, Lyn seems to have strong overall matchups, particularly against Elf, which will help him with 3 NE in the field.

It doesn't make any sense to me why Remind feels this is the most important tournament, but it seems every year Remind is in the Battle.net Season finals. Season 3 Champion, 4 Champion, 5 Runner up. This is Remind's tournament, and I'd be crazy to count him out, but he is going to have a very tough road in order to get top 2 in his tournament again.

Lucifron surprised quite a few by advancing through European qualifiers, but has been a solid player for quite some time. Though he has a very low seed here, that didn't stop him before, and I don't expect him to be out quickly. He may not do as well here as he did in Spain, but he should still make some noise.

Kiwikaki has been one of North America's most consistent and talented players, and been in several strong international squads. He played well in the qualifier for this event, beating Sonkie in the upper bracket. Though Kiwi is probably the weakest player in the qualifier, he still has had periods where he has played above his normal capabilities. He is capable of putting together the type of upsets Lucifron and Happy did in the European qualifier.

The seedings

The seedings in this tournament don't exactly conform to normal standards, and it may have some effect, but in the end because this is double elimination, I think the best players will prevail.

Lyn has been playing so well recently that I think this is his tournament to lose, but it will be close. Even after losing to Grubby in NGTV, Lyn played incredibly well in the tournament. I think Check's good NE mirror strategys will do him well here, and his DoTTs should fair well against Kiwikaki and Lyn as well as Lucifron should he meet him in the lower bracket or final. His UD strategies could throw off a few players that are used to the more conventional dryad / bear strategies. Remind always seems to do well here, and I think that will continue, but his tournament performances this year haven't been stellar. I would not count out Sonkie, Lucifron or especially Happy as he has been hot as well.

Top 3 prediction

1st - Lyn
2nd - Check
3rd - Lucifron

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