Finally, BlizzCon (or at least, opening weekend) has arrived. After a long year of tournaments, and more than a few bumps along the way, one Liquid player has reached the pinnacle of the game: Snute. While his qualification for the year-end tournament has been a foregone conclusion for the past few months, Snute did not let up as the tail end of the season approached. In fact, many would argue that he's peaking at the right time, with his biggest win of the year coming in the last "WCS" tournament of the year, at WCS Copa Intercontinental in Mexico City.

Fans that followed Snute throughout the year know about his fluctuations in form, but a quick examination of his WCS results reveals just as much. After placing 2nd in WCS Winter, Snute struggled in the next two installments of the WCS tournament circuit. However, Snute found success in other tournaments such as Gold Series International and WCS Copa Intercontinental. It was his big win in Neo Star League 2016 International that prompted his latest surge in confidence, and he has gone from strength to strength leading up to the Global Finals.




With a tally of 4405, he is the 4th seeded WCS player entering the tournament. What sets him apart from other WCS players, however, is his history and experience competing with the best players in the world. The likes of ShoWTimE, Elazer, and even viOLet recently, have yet to prove that they can knock of elite Korean competition. Only Nerchio and Neeb possess a similar stature, but the two have only recently set the world alight. Snute has been doing it for years, and now he has the biggest stage of all to do it again.



Despite his enviable ranking, he falls into a very difficult group. Leading the pack is the highest ranked player in Korea and overall, Dark. His honor roll is impressive, to say the least: 1st in SSL Season 1, 2nd in the Season 1 Cross Finals, 2nd in SSL Season 2, and 1st in the Season 2 Cross Finals. As the most consistent player in Korea, Dark is by far the favorite to take the crown at BlizzCon. Behind him is Stats, who was no slouch himself in 2016. He took silver in SSL Season 1, 1st at the Cross Finals, and reached the semi finals of the KeSPA Cup. The other foreigner in the group, PtitDrogo, crawled into the tournament due to 2 different forfeitures. While he should count himself lucky to be in Anaheim for the tournament, he is still a dangerous Protoss to face.



Despite a difficult group, Snute has a very good chance of advancing to the main event at BlizzCon. While the man himself insists that he has had trouble in ZvP, many of his trademark wins have come against the strongest Protoss players in the world. Who could ever forget his double whammy against Rain and Classic—both defending GSL and SSL champions at the time—at IEM Shenzhen in 2015? His latest series against ShoWTimE at WCS Copa was also a masterstroke in the matchup, which came after demolishing two other Protoss in Neeb and Has. With two Protoss in Group A, Snute should be delighted.

His first opponent will be Stats, perhaps the most consistent Korean Protoss in attendance. Of course, that has never really intimidated Snute, and in fact plays into his hands. The Norse wonder has always found a second gear when facing Korean Protoss Champions, and the Season 1 Cross Finals champion should beware. Snute actually has an enviable record against Korean Protoss in LotV with 28 wins and 8 losses, 14-2 in matches. However, they have never faced each other, and most of those wins have comes against TAiLS, though he does posses a 3-0 win versus Zest from Kung Fu Cup Season 1. Stats' recent loss to Neeb at KeSPA Cup also shows that Stats is not invulnerable towards foreigners, and Snute should take advantage of Stats' solid but predictable style.

Against PtitDrogo, Snute has both history and form on his side. The Asgardian is 6-1 in matches against Drogo, though he did suffer a 0-2 loss in their most recent face-off at the KeSPA Cup qualifiers. Still, Drogo has not been in peak shape over the past few months, and Snute's domination of the Frenchman should continue.

Snute's greatest challenge will be upsetting Dark. While the Korean Zerg champion has his frailties—a loss to Pet in KeSPA Cup comes to mind—he has proven himself time and again throughout the year. Snute does have an even record against Korean Zergs (33-32 in games, 10-11 in matches), though many have come against lesser lights such as HyuN, viOLet, Hydra and Symbol. Dark will likely look at TRUE's recent dominance of the Liquid player for reference, but an upset here would show Snute's credentials against the best player in the world.

Overall, Snute has a very good chance of advancing from Group A. His fortunes will rest largely on his ZvP, and if his recent form in the matchup is any indication, Drogo and Stats should beware.

Top 5 Snute Games and Series of the Year

Snute vs Hydra on Dusk Towers and Ruins of Seras

Snute vs Major on Lerilak Crest

Snute vs TLO on Orbital Shipyard

Snute vs Neeb at WCS Copa Intercontinental

Snute vs ShoWTimE at WCS Copa Intercontinental

Liquid`Snute