Jens "Snute" Aasgaard took down Tobias "Showtime" Sieber 4-2 to take the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) Copa Intercontinental title this weekend. The field was stacked with championship hopefuls, with four players among the top-8 in the StarCraft II World Championship Series Circuit (WCS) standings.
The favorite coming into the match was Millenium's Showtime (second in the WCS standings), a veteran German Protoss player. Other familiar contenders included Alex "Neeb" Sunderhaft (third in the WCS standings), Snute (fifth in WCS standings), Shin "Hydra" Dong (sixth in WCS standings), and Marc "uThermal" Schlappi (11th in WCS standings). The bracket results were deceptively one-sided on the surface because of the blowouts in the quarterfinals. Each player advanced with a 3-0 score despite the thin margin between each victory; only four series went beyond the minimum amount of games, including the grand finals.
The grand finals between Snute and Showtime was not lacking in star power, with Snute a consistent top player with three grand finals appearances this year. Showtime, however, was the favorite player to take it all. And while these players were also considered the best in Europe, the grand finals was a battle of adaptations. Showtime countered Snute's slower pace with greedier compositions and late-game technology. Snute shored up his bases and defenses to out-micro Showtime's ability to quickly change army types.
There were plenty of player-specific strategies from both players. Showtime showcased an immortal all-in to counter Snute's nonexistent pressure game, adept pushes, aggression and even a carrier armada to control the skies. Snute countered with his unique base configurations and queen positionings to prevent Showtime's aggression, roach counter plays and surprise mutalisk rush. In the end, it was Snute's complete play that allowed him to dominate the competition and continue a magical year.
The third place match was the Neeb show. Despite uThermal's best efforts to come back and bridge the gap between the early game, it was too large a mountain to climb. Neeb wasn't necessarily the better mechanical player, but his macro in the early game provided enough of a cushion to overlook the stalemate in microplay. Because uThermal's playstyle was mostly on the defensive side, the ending of every game was up to Neeb's execution and ability to close out. What was a strong matchup on paper ended in a fizzle for the third place standing.