A stand-off between Western and Asian StarCraft is going on. A premier-ranked SC2 tournament called Dreamhack Masters 2020 Fall concluded a few weeks ago and it’s gifted us with a good old rivalry between the best of the best in this business. The tournament was held online and viewers were able to observe their idols through the web-cameras.
Group Stage
A group stage concluded on September 15-18 and contained 16 players from Europe and South Korea. There was only one player from the US, Canada, and Australia, yet all of them were eliminated during the group stage. Those include a Canadian female Zerg-player Scarlett who faced a Corean Terran Innovation in Group D, and was defeated by him with a score of 1-2. Australian Protoss Probe lost to Rogue (Korea), and an American Protoss Astrea lost to a Korean Terran TY.
Playoffs
Thus, we’ve got 5 Koreans and 3 Europeans in the playoffs. An Italian prodigy Reynor met in the Grand Final with Korean Protoss-legend Trap, who defeated Innovation in the semifinals with a score of 3-1. The competition between these two regions’ favorites was fierce. On September 20 there were 7 games in total between Zerg and Protoss.
Grand Final
The first two games on Ever Dream and Eternal Empire were taken by Reynor. In the subsequent three sets, Trap got a grip and won all of them (Submarine, Ice and Chrome, Deathaura). Reynor made it even by defeating a Korean on Pillars of Gold. The final 7th game was played on Golden Wall.
Trap opened by the multiple Oracles while Reynor wasn’t in a rush and took some time to set the stable mining on three bases. Harassing from Trap wasn`t quite successful thanks to Queens, and Reynor`s economy kept growing rapidly. Trap produced a few Templars and three Immortals trying to counter Reynor`s Roaches (later morphed to Ravagers). Not a single successful move was conducted by Trap in the final game. It’s mainly thanks to Reynor’s absolute focus and readiness.
What `Toss couldn’t predict was a Nidus dropping a dozen Locusts who gradually destroyed Trap’s economy. At first, they eliminated drones on his natural, then Zerg did the same on the second base built behind the wall. Reynor ends up with the five bases while Trap had no formidable army and could only mine on his main. No options left for Trap rather than to type “gg wp”. Masterfully played by Reynor.
Conclusion
Despite all the reluctance from Trap, Reynor eventually managed to outrun him and prove that European StarCraft is not only as good as Korean, but it can actually beat a dominant force in this e-sport. Very unfortunate for Trap, cause he`s already lost the Dreamhack Masters: Summer. Ironically, Trap also lost to Zerg, played by Reynor’s eternal rival Serral.
Also, you can read Team Vitality is going to add a sixth player.
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