Iron Squid - The Iron Squid Grand Final preview

Le Grand Rex, its hushed atmosphere, comfortable chairs and reputation of being a mythical place, welcoming film makers and other theatrical plays, is a very prestigious place. Saturday, May 5th, as much cozy as the place might be, its walls will tremble. For the first time in the history of the Rex, its doors will open at 10am to make way for eSports. Gone are the days of LANs in the cellars, the stereotype of geek apart from society, Saturday will be in Le Grand Rex. While it is too early to raise the esport to an art, esport being an allowed entertainment in a place like le Grand Rex. After the Bataclan, Pomf & Thud along with their team tr their luck in a place even greater, and once again it is sold out. 2700 StarCraft II fans will be attending that exceptional day that will see the crowning of the champion of the first Iron Squid. After months of fierce competition on the internet, the last four survivors arrive in Paris to play two series. Common point for the four title contenders, they all come from Korea, which is not a surprise in itself when we know the quality of the country representatives. Two mirrors matches will start the day giving place two TVZ for the bronze and the grand finale.

 

aLive, the quiet force

It won’t be said often enough, alive is a discreet player. However, the more he plays the more he reveals himself as the “silent assassin”. The Terran is very used to deep runs in most of the tournaments he enters, and with the IPL4, he showed he has what it takes to be a champion. Leaving TSL for Fnatic, alive sought to live a new experience that would allow him to go big. Clearly, he succeeded. Just transferred from Fnatic, the player reached the semifinals of GSL before winning his first title in Las Vegas. aLive might not be the most anticipated of the four, but his chances are really reasonable, especially if we look at his records from last months of competitions. Except for a very bad day that saw him finish dead last in his group of GSL and dropped to Code A, aLive is on a roll, and this Iron Squid will attest. If he has not played against Symbol, aLive faced his other two opponents quite recently. He beat MMA in the quarterfinals of GSL Season 1 and Nestea in the final of the winner bracket at IPL4 which was a rematch as the Zerg had got the better of him in the group D of Iron Squid. He admits it himself, aLive is not the most spectacular player, but it is awfully good. He is one of the archetypes of the Korean "macro Terrans" sending army after army until their opponent collapses. With the presence of two GSL champions, aLive will not be favorite on Saturday morning, but the audience better not look down on him as he will fight till the end and might end up as the victor.

 

MMA, the crowd’s favorite

MMA comes to Paris with a huge list of achievements, GSL Code S, Blizzard Cup, MLG, IEM (in Kiev) ... and also to win a new title, he is still yet to win anything in 2012. Taking all factors into account, MMA probably is the favorite for this tournament. Extensive experience in oversees events, used to the pressure of the crowd under which he thrives and above all no Protoss to block his way to the title. With the incredible quality of his TVZ, everything suggests that he will either end first or third. Although he lost to aLive last time they faced, MMA showed that it us tie fir revnegr when he defeated PuMa in the Ro8. Whether in the bronze match or grand final, the TVZ MMA is particularly spectacular to watch, just as it was in the game of anthology he delivered against DongraeGu in the final of the Blizzard Cup. The SlayerS’ Terran uses his spectacular style to conquer the audience, over 2500 souls will cheer for his every move, enough to motivate him to play his maximum.told the audience draw its strength, the 2500 Grand Rex souls should be loud enough to play at its maximum.

 

 

NesTea, the god of Zergs

The only man who managed to win a GSL without losing even just a map, yet his international gold records remains empty. It's a bit embarrassing for the Zerg legend to be in such a situation when his peers have won MLG, WCG or IEM. If the abroad appearances of Nestea are rare, the Zerg announced his will to become more international. Nestea has changed his attitude in 2012, he qualified for the first MLG Arena, played the IPL4 where he reached the podium and of course accepted the invitation for Iron Squid. After failing near the goal in Las Vegas, this time, the Zerg comes in Paris just two games away from happiness. NesTea said that having to play a lot of games in a row affects his skills and being part of the very old guard of progamers, it sounds quite legit. The conditions of Iron Squid are fairly similar to GSL: he knows his first opponent, and the second one’s race. He can prepare his way, to face Symbol at first and then a macro Terran. While Nestea has always been imperial ZvZ, Symbol will surely give him a run for his money. The LG-IM player should be particularly careful if he doesn’t want to share the same fate as MKP. Nestea is a favorite in any ZvZ, his semi-final will not be an exception, the ZVT has often been a hindrance, but in his defense he often ran into teammate on his way to the title. Iron Squid may be the trophy that fans crave to see NesTea to win.

 

Symbol, the epic story

Unknown to many at the start of the tournament, Symbol is conquering glory with his mouse and keyboard. The Zerg had to go through the first qualifying tournament, and was rewarded by a group that included MC and Mvp. In the group stage, Symbol has not really managed to spring a surprise, he was beaten by the two group favorites and managed to win against both foreigners, IdrA and ThorZaIN. But fate was on Symbol’s side, Mvp just completely collapsed when he played IdrA and thanks to a better roundaverage Symbol was through. The Zerg is in the Ro8 and hardly anyone would have bet on him before facing a MarineKing who had just won his 2^nd MLG title. Symbol didn’t only win, he literally stomped the Terran winning the Bo5 in roughly 30 minutes. Even after this amazing series, he arrives in Paris as the underdog surrounded by three monsters of StarCraft II. Symbol is ambitious and wants to use Iron Squid as a way to show his talent. If he manages to take a Bo5 to NesTea, he will join a very elite group and access the grand final. Symbol has nothing to lose in Paris, being this far in the tournament is already a success and his status of ousider will surely gain him a lot fans as French crowd are known to route for the “little ones”.

Whoever wins, be ready for the show!