If you missed it, we wrote a preview post for the WCS Playoffs where we had Aligulac predict the results, in addition to gathering a lot of statistics and facts about the competitors and putting them in info-graphics and spreadsheets for your convenience!

Well, now that the group stages have completed we’re back again to give you a look at the tournament heading into BlizzCon which is starting this Friday on November 4th.

The only predictions Aligulac failed on were Zest advancing over TRUE in Group B, and Elazer advancing over Nerchio in Group D.

While these results came as a surprise to Aligulac, they didn’t surprise us as much. Zest was widely considered undervalued by Aligulac and at the time of our post we predicted he would likely advance.

As for Elazer, while we didn’t predict that specific result we did mention how we though at least one the three lowest WCS Circuit Players (PtitDrogo, viOLet, Elazer) would surprise players and upset predictions. While both Drogo and Elazer pulled some upsets, we’re not too surprised out of the three underdogs it was Elazer who managed to pull off the biggest upset and make it out of his group. While it was still a fantastic and incredible achievement, it feels winning some surprising ZvZ’s was a more likely path for Elazer than viOLet beating players like Byun or PtitDrogo besting Dark and Stats.

As for other results, while it did predict ShoWTimE to advance it didn’t predict he would advance without losing a single map. In fact, it predicted ShoWTimE would advance second place, not first place. ShoWTimE is the only player who has not yet dropped a single map.

This is the first year since Naniwa in 2013 that non-Korean players will be playing on the stage in front of BlizzCons massive crowds, and the first time ever foreigners made it to the quarterfinals of a Global Finals.

This shares some similarities with our initial bracket prediction in that it predicts Byun vs a non-Korean Protoss in the finals, the main difference being ShoWTimE gets an easier bracket and Neeb gets a harder one.

Overall I think Aligulac underestimates TY and Zest while overestimating Byun and ShoWTimE, but at this stage in the tournament almost any player seems capable of taking the whole thing.

ShoWTimE vs Elazer:

On paper this match looks the least close with ShoWTimE’s dominant performance in his group and Elazer considered the weakest player in the quarterfinals.

But this match is closer than it looks. We’ve seen neither player play a PvZ this tournament so we don’t know their form in this match-up and the last three times Elazer and ShoWTimE fought, Elazer won. When this tournament began nobody could have predicted Elazer would be a semi-finalist, yet that is a possibility here.

Dark vs Neeb:

For a lot of people this is the msot exciting game of the quarterfinals: Neeb is a fan favorite, and Dark is the Zerg hope. It’s a close match with fan-favorite players.

I expect this will look similar to the Zest vs Neeb series: It’ll be very close, but either because of nerves or small mistakes Neeb will lose out in the end. But as a Neeb fan, let’s hope I’m wrong!

TY vs ByuN:

Initially I was sad the two sole Terrans at BlizzCon had to kill each other in the quarterfinals, but the more I think about it the more I’m excited for this match. First, despite how few Terrans the tournament had it means we’ll still  be able to see an incredibly high level TvT, and TvT can be an amazing match-up to watch. Secondly, despite having to eliminate each-other at least it guarantees a Terran for the semi-finals. Lastly, despite ShoWTimE’s victory over ByuN I feel all of the foreigners are afraid of fighting these top Terrans, so by placing them together at the opposite end of the bracket it gives us higher chances for a non-Korean in the finals.

ByuN’s incredible control vs TY’s wit and clean play: this is going to be an absolutely legendary TvT.

Zest vs Stats:

We’ve had so many exciting PvP series in this tournament, yet this one might be the best yet. Not only are both players incredibly skilled, the stakes are also higher than ever. To top it all off, with so many prior PvP games (including series from both these players) and a longer series, we might see out-there builds or unexpected cheeses and desperate base-trade. The normal games will probably look similar to previous series, but I almost gaurentee you that at least one of the games will end with some unforgettable engagement or nail-biting base-trade.

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See you during BlizzCon!

BlizzCon runs November 4-5th, this Friday and Saturday. Don’t miss it, not just for the WCS Global Finals but announcements from Blizzard about upcoming changes to StarCraft II.

Happy Halloween!

- Sc2replaystats.com staff

 Post written by Justin “TheSkunk” Purdy

Snute vs Polt

This week’s replay comes from our Event’s page, where you can view statistics on replay packs from tournaments like the 2016 WCS Circuit: Summer Championship or our Test Map KotH.

This week’s replay comes from the Guantlet Season 1 Global Finals:

This replay is game three of the semi-finals between Snute and Polt. You can download the replay or view statistics about it here: http://sc2replaystats.com/replay/3612058

Setting the Pace

Polt opens with a standard double Medivac stim drop followed by double engineering bays into a third, but Snute quickly researches Pneumatized Carapace and scouts the opener.

With his Queen-heavy opening,  Snute has plenty of creep tumors (and a few well placed Overlords) giving him plenty of map vision around his base so his units are always in the right position to drive off the double Medivac drop, while a few Zerglings delay Polt’s third.

Safe from any early aggression, Snute is able to power up to 4 fully saturated bases and start massing Roach Ravager Infester.

But Polt’s been busy on his side of the map, too, amassing Siege Tanks to keep himself safe from any attempted Roach Ravager pushes.

A Terrifying. . . Mid-Game?

Yes, that’s right: At only 12 minutes into the game, Polt’s first big push runs headlong into 5 Brood Lords. Unperturbed in the early game, Snute was able to quickly reach Hive  and begin constructing the ultimate Zerg army.

Polt’s instincts kick in fast: two Star Ports start instantly, and two Medivacs split off to buy Polt time. Meanwhile, his main army still threatens and pushes back creep, making use of the Brood Lord’s slow speed.

But Polt, either over-confident or desperate, pushes too far on creep with his Vikings balled up — and suffers the cost, losing all of his Vikings and subsequently his now defenseless ground army.

Not to say he’s in a bad position. With 5 mining bases vs Snute’s one, Polt is economically ahead. But with that much of an army supply deficit, the danger of losing to an immediate counter-attack is always present.

An equally terrifying Late-game

Luckily, Snute opts not to counter attack with the slow speed of Brood Lords on cross-spawn Frost.

But Polt’s worries aren’t over.  Although he put himself in a good position by avoiding Snute’s army, he’s yet to find an army that can actually beat Snute’s head-on, and as Snute begins to amass enough Brood Lords to cover multiple areas at once, avoiding his army becomes more difficult.

And the clock is ticking as a wave of creep, riddled with Spore Crawlers, pushes toward’s Polt.

Polt’s almost pure-Viking army is decimated by Fungal Growth, Parasitic Bomb, Corrosive Biles, and a hail of Queen spines. Polt has plenty of bank to rebuild with — but what? 

Polt’s choice: Battlecruisers.

Sadly, we don’t get to see much of them: Even though Polt has a bank, he doesn’t have time. He tries to buy some with a drop again, but this time Snute just ignores it and goes for the kill. It takes Snute down to only one mining base, but this time that’s more than Polt.

Submit your very own replay!

As always, we love spotlighting community content, so send one of your own replays for us to spotlight next in the comments, or send a suggestion to us on FaceBook or Twitter!

I hope you’ve been enjoying our Replay Spotlights!

- Sc2replaystats.com staff

 Post written by Justin “TheSkunk” Purdy

To start things off, we’ve received a lot of messages, emails, and tweets asking us what happened to the ladder challenge for Season 4. While we’re thrilled the ladder challenge helped so many people improve their skills and climb the ladder, but unfourtunatly the ladder challenge is indefinitely delayed for Season 4.

But this comes with good news! The cause of this delay is a major website upgrade.

Sc2replaystats.com Version 3

This website update is going to completely relaunch Sc2replaystats.com with a new look, new infrastructure, and tons of new features and improvements.

Please note this is work-in-progress and subject to change.

The new dashboard page for your profile and it’s new look.

The new ladder page, which will show your entire SC2 division and where you stand among it.

The new clans page, where you can view statistics about your clan as well as all of the players.

We’re super excited with the future of SC2 and our website. We loved Blizzards reveal of Legacy of the Void and we’re excited about making the Sc2replaystats.com website as awesome as ever as we continue into the third SC2 expansion.

We’re sorry we couldn’t bring you a ladder challenge for this season, but we hope you enjoy the off time and the amazing dream pool as much as we will — and our website is still here to offer cool statistics on your replays.

Season 3 Summary

279 players participated in last season’s ladder challenge, playing 107322 games! 

Winning challenge player!

We have a tradition of giving lifetime Elite Membership to whoever “wins” the ladder challenge by playing the most games. Here are the top five players:

Congratulations on your victory, ChanKiM! However, ChanKiM won the ladder challenge last season and earned lifetime elite membership then, so this time around the award goes to second place: Antilchrist. Enjoy your lifetime Elite Membership, Antilchrist!

Winning challenge clan!

A similar prize was handed to the winner of the Season 3 Clan Challenge — the winning clan of the Clan Challenge gets three months of Elite Membership for fifty different members.

Congratulations The Art of Warfare for the second win in a row! Will a clan ever arise that can challenge their position?

Final Statistics

Top Replays from the entire season:

Chattiest replay Summer vs MrZergling

Faan vs BucketheaD Siege Tank with 205 kills  (No locusts)

Faan vs BucketheaD Widow Mine with 190 kills (No locusts)

Bodzio vs Xiphos Ghost 148 kills (No locusts)

Replay with the most downloads (92) HTOMario vs Barcode

Ever wonder how many of each unit has been built over the course of a Sc2replaystats.com ladder challenge? This table will tell you that, and more.

Units Built -- Season 3 Ladder Challenge

Want to know which race you should complain about being overpowered? Here are the matchup win-rates for Season 3 Ladder Challenge!

Want to validate your dislike for a certain map? Here are the map win-rates for Season 3 Ladder Challenge!

We had a great time with the ladder challenge — hopefully, you did too. We can’t wait until we can run another one!

Thank you all for supporting Sc2replaystats.com!

– Sc2ReplayStats.com Management

Written by Justin “TheSkunk” Purdy

The Training Center has a new look and we’ve added aggregated statistics. Now you can see your overall weakness from the past 30 days of ladder replays.

Next, we’ve added unit stats to your profile. Fan of the hero units in the ladder challenge updates? Now you can see how many kills your hero units have, as well — and whole load of other stats!

Lastly, we just wanted to let you know that the replay list on your accounts page now only shows replays from the account you have filtered. This means by default it will show replays from your main account only. To see your other replays, just choose a different account filter at the top of the page.

- Sc2replaystats.com staff

If you are new to the ladder challenge, learn more here or sign up!

Raffle Winner

Every week, a random challenge participant who has played at least 20 games wins the weekly raffle!

Congratulations, drumhead and iMarine, this week’s winners! You both win one month of Elite Membership!

Progress Update

208 players participated, playing 5008 games — an average of 24 games per player. Level two had the exact same number of participants  as last week, and only two more games played!

Top 5 players for this week  are:

Congratulations FisterRoboto for taking first place!

Clan Challenge Update

Every week, dozens of players battle in the Clan Challenge to represent their clan. Visit the clans listing and see how well your clan is doing! If you’re not in a clan, try contacting one of the clans on the top 5 and see if they’ll let you join!

Good job FisterRoboto for keeping FWB in the top 5 clans all by himself!

Statistics

This week we’re looking at average supply by the 15 minute mark, per league, to see how much of a supply advantage higher league players have.

After the 20 supply jump from Bronze to Silver, it increases by approximately 10 supply each league.

Additionally, we have Most Produced Units This Week:

Marauders have both the best kill ratio and the best survival rate.

We also have Highest Kill Ratio Units:

Unsurprisingly, Swarmhosts have the best kill ratio and survival rate — but it may surprise some of you to see the Thor so high on the list!

Featured Replays

Remember to tweet your replays to @sc2replaystats on twitter if you want them featured in this post!

Chattiest Replay

Chattiest replay was Goblin vs HTOMario. 

A snippet:

Read the rest here!

Comeback

In Phlogiston vs Metalix a one-base Protoss all-in turns into a lengthly, close, back-and-forth match.

Believe it or not — the Zerg survives this!

Thanks to this 40-kill Immortal, this replay could also qualify for Hero Unit of the week! A very tense game, with every warp-in and every hatching egg changing the tide of the battle one way or another, leaving you guessing who will win to the very end.

If you are a producer of video content and would like to assist sc2replaystats.com by creating a promotion video for next season of the ladder season, get in touch with us at contact_us@sc2replaystats.com!

If you have any suggestions for what statistics you would like to see next time, let us know! Tweet @Sc2replaystats or send an email to contact_us@sc2replaystats.com!

- Sc2replaystats.com staff

If you are new to the ladder challenge, learn more here or sign up!

Raffle Winner

Congratulations, kashrut! You win one month of Elite Membership!

Remember, every week you have a chance to win 1 month of Elite Membership if you play 20 games!

Clan Challenge Update

The stats below are only the statistics for this week of the ladder challenge. Visit the clans listing and see the overall clan rankings!

In addition to changing to per-week statistics instead of all-time, we’ve added average games per player. Now you can see which clan has the most dedicated laddering members!

Progress Update

This week, no players were able to reach the highest level!

This week we’d like to ask what you think of the rival system we introduced. Do you ever check on how your rival is doing? Does it motivate you to play more? How do you think we could improve the rival system?

Top 5 players for this week  are:

Statistics

This week we’re taking a look at the fastest upgrade timings. How fast can a Terran research Stim? How quickly can a Protoss Chrono out Psi Storm? Do Zergs ever rush to Chitinous Plating? However, surprisingly most of the fastest research times were from Gold league players!

• Fastest Psi Storm: Completed at 8:20 (Replay – Gold League)
• Fastest Stim: 6:30 (Tied: Masters, Gold)
• Fastest Chitinous Plating: 14:00 (Replay – Gold League)

We’re thinking a more interesting way to look at this would be to check the average completion time of an upgrade for a specific match-up, per league. For an example, we could look specifically at the average upgrade times of Stimpack in TvZ. Let us know what upgrade and what matchup you would like to see this statistic for next week!

Special Replays

Remember to tweet your replays to @sc2replaystats on twitter if you want them featured in this post!

Chattiest Replay

Chattiest replay is chatty Mario again! Read the chat log and watch the GM level Mech TvP here: http://sc2replaystats.com/replay/704001

I have no idea what this was about!

Hero Units

By request, this week we’ve chosen the Raven as the Hero Unit — with 28 kills! In this brutal TvT, Pastorn was often down by as much as 80 supply, but managed to hold on for a long time with the power of Ravens, landing countless devastating seeker missiles, like this one:

Limbs fly everywhere, bringing the Hero Raven’s kill count up from 15 to 28!

Watch the replay here: http://sc2replaystats.com/replay/704056

Base-trade Replay

Find out who wins by watching this cut-throat TvP base-race: http://sc2replaystats.com/replay/698465

If you are a producer of video content and would like to assist sc2replaystats.com by creating a promotion video for next season of the ladder season, get in touch with us at contact_us@sc2replaystats.com!

Keep climbing the ladder with the SC2replaystats.com ladder challenge! !

- Sc2replaystats.com staff