The third event of the World Championship Series (WCS) 2018 Circuit finished last week in Valencia with many of the best StarCraft 2 players on the globe competing to earn a berth at the global finals.
Oceania and Southeast Asia sent two players to represent the region, but neither of the Australian Terrans were able to win a match on the world stage. That doesn’t mean the region’s chance to perform on the international stage this year is over, though. The final WCS Circuit event, WCS Montreal, is coming in early September, and qualifying for it begins this month. The OCE/SEA open qualifier is scheduled for Aug. 12, in just under one month, meaning competitors will have some time to prepare and learn from the aftermath of Valencia.
Two of the favorites to advance to Montreal will be the OCE/SEA representatives at Valencia.
Sheldon “Seither” Barrow won the last two WCS qualifiers in his region this year and reached the finals of the first, making him easily the region’s top StarCraft player this year. While he managed to take a match in Austin, Texas, beating Norwegian Zerg Jens “Snute” Aasgaard, he couldn’t replicate that feat this week in Valencia. Seither has the potential to reach the knockout round at Montreal, but he’ll need to learn to be more comfortable on the big stage. The experience gained at Valencia could help him reach a higher level in Montreal, but he’ll have to get there first.
Seither’s teammate, Nicholas “HuT” Hutton, was OCE/SEA’s other representative at Valencia, but HuT couldn’t replicate the magic that saw him win a comeback match to qualify for the big event. HuT’s part of a big group of OCE/SEA talent who seem to be one step behind Seither this year, and he’ll be hard pressed to win a spot in Montreal.
It’s back to the drawing board for both players as they ready for the qualifier next month, but they’ll face stiff competition from the rest of the field, and an even tougher challenge should they return to the international stage in Montreal.
