ESC, mYinsanity and aAa join the SC2ITL playoffs behind AT Gaming.

Group A of the SC2ITL was exciting until the bitter end - a loss to ATcm solidified ESC in second place while a 4-0 stomp from mYi.Balloon against Spectre saw mYinsanity secure the third place spot and against All authority the fourth. We have a small introduction to each of these teams to get you ready for the SC2ITL S2 Playoffs!

When I say small introduction, I mean small! Well, do we really need anything larger for mYinsanity? We know who they are, they are our reigning champions. We know they have the strongest roster on paper with a powerful pack of Koreans alongside some well tested foreigners & academy members. Hopefully this Skype log will summarize mYinsanity's thoughts upon entering the playoffs for you all : 

[26/06/2014 21:49:41] Jonathon Ward: ^^
[26/06/2014 21:49:46] Jonathon Ward: Congrats on playoffs
[26/06/2014 21:49:50] Stefan "PengWin" Mott: you mean
[26/06/2014 21:49:52] Stefan "PengWin" Mott: on winning sc2itl
[26/06/2014 21:49:53] Stefan "PengWin" Mott: right?

Nothing but confidence from the reigning champions.

ESC barely need an introduction either - their front-line of GoOdy and Showtime are a strong duo and as with any team who makes it this far they have a wide selection of players who can come out and deal some damage in a build up to the two monsters of their team. You may not recognize all of the players who come out to play for ESC - but they are all pretty damn good and they brought them this far with an 8-3 scoreline in the groups.

For aAa we have Only - the manager from Nuit Blanche in Season 1 who has now transferred to coach in aAa - who has had a small chat with us to tell us a bit more about the team. While aAa will only finish in 4th they have had an incredible season - after qualifying through the open qualifier they dominated the groups with a +16 map score after all games played it shows that their losses have been close games and this is what secures them this early entry to the playoffs while other teams scramble on the same match score but with only +6 to+10 map score.

The following interview was done just before the final games of the season were played.

It's a close fight for playoff spots but you have secured yours with a fantastic map score (+16). This will place you 3rd or 4th in the group, pitting you against either Vega Squadron or Alien Invasion, any preference on who you play?

It's a close fight for playoff spots but you have secured yours with a fantastic map score (+16). This will place you 3rd or 4th in the group, pitting you against either Vega Squadron or Alien Invasion, any preference on who you play?

Did you expect to make it to the playoffs? In the first weeks you were winning a match then losing a match, but in the final games you have won a few in a row - was there any point you were confident in making it to the top 4?

We were the only team who managed to defeat AT Gaming this season, so I'm confident on the fact that we are able to beat anyone. However, we are also able to lose anyone ! :D We entered in this league with the qualification bracket and we succeeded to playoffs, so I'm already very happy of our route. Until the last moment, I wasn't sure we will do it, we needed a perfect in the 4 last matchs against great teams and I was stressed on each clan war, but finally we did it !

Which players should we be looking out for in the playoffs?

We have a very homogeneous line-up, however at the moment I think that DnS and MiNiMaTh are our very best players, when PsiOniC cannot play much. Nevertheless, players like Chubz or Etidrood can also do amazing things, they proved it.

It's a tough path ahead - what would winning the league mean for the team? Best of luck in the games - any final comments?

We really don't expect to win the league, so it will be a very big surprise first of all ! I will also be very proud and very happy to success in a league with such strong opponents and one of the most popular in the scene at the moment.

Thanks to you for this league and the work on it. I did the previous season with an other team, and I always enjoyed playing it. Then, thanks to my players for the victories, and thanks to our sponsor, Roccat. GLHF to everyone in playoffs !