Alex “Neeb” Sunderhaft took home the championship in the recently concluded Starcraft II World Championship Series Winter Finals for the Americas. The win gives Neeb $12,000 and 1,600 WCS Circuit Points.
The tournament started in February with 32 different competitors. Neeb was in Group H and finished on top of the division. In the round of sixteen, he was placed in Group C and again took the top position for a guaranteed spot in the next round. In the round of 8, Neeb won six matches and only lost to Li "TIME" Peinan. He ended Group Stage 3 in the second seed behind Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn. The seeding meant that Neeb was guaranteed at least a third place finish.
While a lot of people were expecting a match between Neeb and TIME in the playoffs, Canadian player Maru “MaSa” Kim got the win against TIME. MaSa managed to enter the competition after a number of players were disqualified on allegations of collusion. However, Neeb would prove to be too much for MaSa, with the former getting a 3-1 win in the Semifinals.
This meant a Finals match between Neeb and Scarlett. This was not a surprise with Juan Carlos “SpeCial” Tena Lopez being eliminated in Group Stage 2. SpeCial was considered by many as a strong contender to the two icons of North America’s Starcraft community.
While expected, the match between Neeb and Scarlett was also highly anticipated among fans. A total of 38 matches have been played between the two, with 23 wins going to Neeb. During the Group Stage 3, for example, Neeb won against Scarlett 2-1. However, an upset by TIME against Neeb would give Scarlett the top seed.
In the Finals, Scarlett took first blood, winning the first match. However, Neeb was able to take the next two matches to lead the series. Despite a Double Stargate Phoenix Strategy from Neeb, Scarlett managed to adapt and tie the series 2-2. That would be her last win as in the fifth game, Neeb was able to shut down Scarlett’s Nydus-Swarm Host strategy. In the sixth game, Neeb went for the early Glaive-Adept attack and then followed it up with Zealots, Immortals, and Archons to get the GG and the championship.
The runner-up finish gives Scarlett $8,000 and 1,100 WCS Circuit Points.
