Starcraft 2 news » WCS - China Nationals Recap

The StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) China Nationals brought together the top sixteen Chinese StarCraft II players for the 2012 CCG EXPO in Shanghai, Friday, July 13-15. The top ten earned spots to represent China at the WCS Asia Finals and compete with players from Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.

Day 1

Day one started with a protoss vs. zerg match between Xiang “MacSed” Hu and Lei “XiGua” Wang from the Consolation Bracket, with the loser being eliminated from competition. With solid protoss strategy, MacSed obtained a 2-0 victory against his teammate XiGua – the winner of the 2011 Battle.Net China Invitational – and eliminated him from the competition.

Macsed deep in concentration

XiGua wasn’t the only veteran who took a fall: Junfeng “LoveCD” Li (younger brother of Sky) met a similar fate when he lost 0:2 against a protoss rising star Ying ‘XluoS’ Song. This same fate waited for Ying ‘LoveTT’ Liu who was defeated by Huiming ‘ToodMing’ Huang with an identical score of 0:2.

By the end of day one, two players had secured their spots to the Asia Finals: Xuwen ‘Infi’ Wang and ToodMing. 

Day 2

Day two kicked off with a close match between veteran Chinese player Yifeng ‘F91’ Sun and XluoS. F91 failed to react properly when his base was infiltrated by Dark Templar, which led him to his defeat.

Although sent to the Consolation Bracket by the strong zerg player Hui ‘Comm’ Shen, the 17-year-old Jinhui ‘Jim’ Cao showcased both skill and confidence in his previous matches. On the other side of the bracket, the event’s biggest surprise — Tao ‘Top’ Hu, a player with no previous major accomplishments who defeated the famed  Yi ‘Loner’ Dai in a 2-0 victory during the previous week, continued his miraculous run by defeating another top terran player, Yao ‘Xy’ Xiang, and earned a spot in the Upper Bracket Finals.

At the end of the second day, two additional matches took place to determine the final two spots in the Asia Finals. F91 and the young Ash persevered over Loner and LoveTT to round out the Chinese representatives.

Top poses with a Ghost.

Finalists:



Spider.Comm

ToodMing

Phenix.ToP

Tyloo.Jim

iG.Xy

iG.MacSed

Tyloo.Infi

iG.Xluos

Spider.Ash

Phenix.F91

Day 3

The final day proved to be an epic end to the China Nationals for all Chinese StarCraft II fans. The final match was between the Upper Bracket champion Comm and ToodMing, who had fought his way back from the Consolation Bracket.

Comm rode a wave of victory along the way to the Grand Final, only losing once to Jim. By contrast, his opponent ToodMing, is the player who will be remembered for his strong will and determination. On his way back to the Finals, ToodMing succeeded in exacting revenge on Jim, who had sent him to the Consolation Bracket, then went on to overcome Xy and Top in back-to-back matches.

Prior to the Grand Final, China Managing Director Alex Tai, on behalf of Blizzard Entertainment, announced that the Battle.net World Championship event -- the culmination of the over 30 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) tournaments, and home to the upcoming World of Warcraft Arena global finals -- would take place Saturday, November 17 and Sunday, November 18 in Shanghai, China.

Everything was in place for an exciting Grand Final between two of the best zerg players in China. After finishing his previous best-of-three games over a very short period of time, it was obvious that ToodMing wanted to finish the remaining matches as quickly as possible. He chose to use an early pool rush in both games against Comm’s solid, economical openings. By perfectly stacking his drones, Comm held the rush with a defense so solid that it impressed even Artosis. In the end, Comm proved to be unbeatable – and his victory earned him the coveted title of Chinese National Champion.

Congratulations to Comm and the nine other players who move on to the Asia Finals. This victory also guarantees Comm a spot in the Battle.net World Championship in Shanghai, China later this year.

Videos of the Matches

Shoutcasters: Dan “Artosis” Stemkoski, Rob Simpson and Xueyan “SnowKiss” Wu

Winners Bracket

Round 4 - Match 1: Spider.Comm Vs. TyLoo.Jim Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 4 - Match 2: iG.Xy Vs. Pheonix.Top Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Winner's Bracket Final: Spider.Comm Vs. Pheonix.Top Game 1 | Game 2

Lower Bracket

Round 3 - Match 4: iG.XiGua Vs. iG.MacSed - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 4 - Match 4: WE.Loner Vs. iG.MacSed - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 5 - Match 1: TyLoo.Infi Vs. ToodMing - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 5 - Match 2: iG.XluoS Vs. iG.MacSed - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 6 - Match 1: TyLoo.Jim Vs. ToodMing - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Round 6 - Match 2: iG.Xy Vs. iG.MacSed - Game 1 | Game 2| Game 3

Lower Bracket Semi-Final: iG.Xy Vs. ToodMing - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Lower Bracket Final: Pheonix.Top Vs. ToodMing - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Grand Finals

Spider.Comm Vs. ToodMing - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Additional coverage:

Liquipedia

WCS China Nationals mini-site