Announced in January 2020, the ESL Pro Tour for Starcraft II offered the community a more structured approach to competition compared to the previous WCS system for three years to come, placing $4 million on the line for the 2020 season alone. IEM Katowice 2020 served as the community’s first taste of ESL’s spin on the competitive scene – expectations were set high, just like the prize pool of $400,000 and the event needed to be a huge success to push forward the remainder of the season. Taking place from the 24th of February to the 1st of March, the Starcraft II community held its breath for what would turn out to be a phenomenal event and the reason why you should keep reading this StarCraft 2 IEM Katowice Recap article
What Starcraft II has always embraced compared to other esports, is the sheer amount of competitors at every event following an Open Qualifier format – 76 players flew out to the ESL Arena, eager to advance into the multiple stages. Split up into 4 double-elimination brackets, the top three from each bracket would make it to the main tournament group stage, cutting the total down to 24. No clear favorite stood out until this point, but a considerable improvement was noted in the production value involved when covering the plethora of match-ups.
On the mainstage, the remaining 24 individuals were then split up into four groups of six for the round-robin to commence. Every BO3 would count, with first-place acting as a gateway to the Quarterfinals while second and third would enter the Round of 12 with the rest becoming history. It’s here that we can take a closer look at the players which made it so far, most notably in the form of “Rogue” who placed first in his group and is the number one player according to the EPT Korea and Pro Tour rank; making him the clear favorite. However, bearing in mind the new season, nothing was for granted: the likes of “Dear”, “Serral”, and “Maru” headed the other groups and were geared for any encounter.
Following the Round of 12, the Quarterfinals took place as follows through BO5s:
- Serral vs INoVation (3-1)
- Dear vs Zest (1-3)
- Rogue vs Dark (3-0)
- Maru vs sOs (3-1)
That left only four teams left to secure the majority of the $400,000 prize! Securing the first win of the season is an ideal way to kick-off any season. The largest threat to “Rogue”s potential victory stood in the form of “Zest”, sitting right under the favorite as the second-ranked player according to the EPT Pro Tour rank. If anyone was going to stand up to the tyranny, it would have to be him. The semi-finals took place as follows:
- Serral vs Zest (2-3)
- Rogue vs Maru (3-2)
Both merely winning their BO5s, the match everyone had been waiting for would conclude the entire tournament. Gearing up for another legendary BO7 Starcraft II final, with “Rogue” representing Jin Air Green Wings and “Zest” for RYE Gaming, the crowd’s anticipation was tangible.
“Zest” kicked off the final by stealing the first map of Ephemeron off of the favorite, however, this would be his only taste of victory. “Rogue” would rise to his first-place rank and to the opportunity to display his dominance, stringing together the remaining four maps to take the series and rightfully earn the crown as the best Starcraft II player in the game as of right now.
Enjoying a seed in the Global Finals, 1,200 points and $150,000 of the prize, he’ll have to bear in mind that the scene is now a league, and the opposition will be set onto his heels to close the gap. IEM Katowice was a major step forward for Starcraft II – the future of which seems brighter than ever. Stay tuned on esportsguide.com to not miss any future tournament!
