As the qualification period for the second edition of King of the Desert just finished, and the brackets – along with the seeding methodology – were revealed live on Memb’s stream, it is time to start making plans and bold predictions about what will happen (only to be proved completely wrong as the first upset is pulled).
The line-up
Like last year, 32 players will take part in this new edition of King of the Desert, a single elimination bracket played on Arabia with bold new civilizations rules that should favor the underdogs in their early matches.
Out of these 32 players, 21 (66%) already participated in the first edition of last year. Perhaps worth mentioning, with the inclusion of Melkor, Vinchester, Twigg, USR/Whoop and Spring, who signed up for the event but did not make the cut, this brings us to 26 (81%) of last year’s participants willing to clash again on the sands of Arabia. Inversely, the only player who had signed up last year, did not make the cut, but successfully qualified this year is Daniel/DLam.
The 11 new additions to the line-up are (seeding in parenthesis):
Hera (#8)
Nicov (#10)
BlackMamba (#18)
RiuT (#19)
Zuppi (#23)
PROject_Belgium (#25)
yinghua (#27)
Daniel (#28)
chart (#30)
Tia_Harribel (#31)
BL4CK (#32)
The highest rated players to enter the tournament for the first time are Aftermath members Hera and Nicov. Nicov had originally signed up for the first edition but withdrawn a mere days before the tournament started. Though he had played the SY Nations Cup with Canada last year, Hera was not as active as in 2018.
Old TyRanT member RiuT also makes an appearance in the tournament, after playing on and off during the year, but notably performing in T90Official’s Hidden Cup where he took out Yo in a hard-fought best of 5 that went to the fifth game. Among the “old timers” coming back are also the SY legend yinghua/Lovecheng, very active since the start of ECL and the highest rated ever polish player Tia_Harribel/PL_Barles, who recently made a comeback on the 1v1 scene and took part in multiple events.
The rest of the list includes solid players such as BlackMamba/StrayDog and Zuppi, neither having signed up for the first edition of the tournament, and some of the most improved players of 2018: PROject_Belgium, Daniel, chart and BL4CK.
The 11 players who had participated in KotD 1 and won’t play this year are (past result in parenthesis):
JorDan_23 (r2)
Hearttt (sf)
Edie (r1)
Janik (r1)
Vinchester (qf)
Whoop (r1)
Melkor (r2)
Spaden (r1)
Spring (r1)
Twigg (r1)
MetalRTS (r1)
(Underlined players had signed up but did not make the Elo cut)
Hearttt is the player with the best result in the first edition of King of the Desert not signing up for the second edition. With a current rating of 2449 on the 1v1 ladder, he is also the highest rated player not to sign up to the tournament. Other notable absents include the old legend JorDan_23 who fell inactive during the second half of 2018 and 2017’s quarterfinalist Vinchester, barely missing the cut.
The cut of the 2017’s King of the Desert edition was set at 2166 Elo points on the ladder, with TheMax at 2300 being the 19th seed. In 2018, all 32 players qualified for the tournaments are above 2300! Even accounting for the rating inflation (only Liereyy was rated above 2500 last year while 8 players exceed that threshold today), it feels that, overall, the line-up of this year’s edition of King of the Desert is even stronger than it was last time!
Seeding
Last year, the seeding in King of the Desert was made using only a combination of the current and highest achieved 1v1 ratings by the players. With this year’s edition including new rules supposed to give a better chance to the lower rated players against their first-round opponents, it was important to get the seeding as well as possible. Featured on Memb’s stream, the calculation for the seeding this year included:
Players losing spots on the seeding list are those either whose highest rating is the same as their current rating (losing spots to players rated just behind them, but with a much higher “highest ever” rating) or without any prominent recent tournament result. For example, Hera has the 2nd highest current rating, but loses 6 spots on the final seeding list. Zuppi (-6), BlackMamba (-5), PROject_Belgium (-5) and yinghua (-5) also lose a few spots.
Looking only at the players who took part in the tournament last year and will compete again this year, the biggest mover is TheMax, last year’s semifinalist, who was seeded 19th and climbed 15 spots to be granted the 4th seed in 2018. Big movers also include ACCM (+8), LaaaaaN (+8) and St4rk (+7). slam and Lyx both lost 6 spots from last year, while F1Re and Liereyy are the ones whose seedings are the closest to their 2017 rank (-1).
Bracket overview
Having TheViper and Liereyy as the top two seeds means they cannot meet before the final. Yo and St4rk were originally scheduled to meet each other in the first round, which would have been the only rematch of last year’s first round, but with the correction of seeding, the rematch was avoided. Only two first round matches feature players who passed the first round of KotD 1: CL (r2) against ACCM (qf) and St4rk (r2) against TaToH (r2).
Link to brackets: https://challonge.com/KOTD2
Close-up per seeds:
1. TheViper
In every single interview of a top player conducted by Memb before the tournament, when asked who the top 5 players in the world were, TheViper was always the first given answer. Viper is the reigning KotD champion, the reigning NAC champion, the reigning Hidden Cup champion, the record holder of the highest 1v1 rating ever reached and unanimously considered to be the best player in the world. Although he suffered a few defeats in recent team game events and seems to be unfortunately lacking motivation with the current state of the game, he remains the overwhelming favorite of the event.
His first-round opponent is BL4CK, currently the second highest rated Argentine player and rapidly improving. Should he prevail, he would take on the winner of the CL - ACCM match before clashing potentially with Hera or TaToH in the quarterfinals.
Projected path to the title: BLACK – ACCM – Hera – TheMax – Liereyy
2. Liereyy
A year ago, Liereyy was the top seed of the first edition of the tournament. He honored that rank by successfully reaching the final in which he faced TheViper, pushing him to the decider in an epic best of 9 final. Although he ultimately fell short, he remains one of the last players to have eliminated TheViper in a 1v1 event (in the first Escape Gaming Masters). He suffered a few unexpected losses this year, losing to Frantic members vivi and Tim in the ECL events and to miguel in the Hidden Cup. His consistency in 1v1 rated games and his ability to step up his game in big events make him still one of the most formidable players.
His first round could be tricky; he is facing Tia_Harribel aka PL_Barles who came back to 1v1 events only a few months ago and took out PROject_Belgium and ACCM in the NAC 2 second qualifier. He could face Villese or BlackMamba next, with a potential clash against fellow aM’ members Nicov or MbL in the quarterfinals.
Projected path to the title: Tia_Harribel – Villese – MbL – Fat_Dragon – TheViper
3. Fat_Dragon aka vivi
The Fat Dragon has become a fan-favorite in 2018 with his all-in super aggressive style which earned him the 1st place in the 1v1 ladder over the course of the year. He was, perhaps unexpectedly, knocked out in the first round of last year’s edition by ACCM, but finally achieved results more in accordance to his ranking in 2018, reaching the final of the first ECL 1v1 event beating Liereyy on his way. He also won the bronze medal in Legacy of the Huns, beating TheViper to it.
Vivi is facing chart aka RiskyDice in the first round of the tournament. The winner of the all-brazilian clash between F1Re and RiuT would be his second-round opponent, with F1Re beating him in the Hidden Cup and RiuT having one of the most impressive tournament pedigrees. DauT and his teammate Tim are looming around and could meet him in the quarterfinals.
Projected path to the title: chart – F1Re – DauT – Liereyy – TheViper
4. TheMax
Another fan-favorite, TheMax has always been known as a formidable team-game player before showing impressive form in last year’s edition of King of the Desert, successively beating Lyx, MbL and slam before ultimately losing to TheViper in the semifinals. He seemed to have improved even more this year and was in a impressive run of form lately, almost reaching 2600 on the ladder and winning the ECL East Asia 2v2 tournament as well as the 2v2 World Cup – both time beating TheViper.
TheMax faces GKT_Cloud in the first round and could meet BacT or Lyx (in a rematch of last year) in the second round that promises to be tricky. Yo or slam could then be his quarterfinal opponents.
Projected path to the title: GKT_Cloud – BacT – Yo – TheViper – Liereyy
5. Yo
Seeded 2nd in last year’s edition of KotD, Yo was on the receiving end of what was arguably “the” upset of the tournament, losing his opening match the the 31st seed St4rk. Having been ranked consistently in the top 5 of the world for the most part of 2018, he seems even stronger than last year and is motivated to do better.
Yo faces the newcomer Daniel/DLam in the first round, who greatly improved over 2018. His second-round opponent could be the Secret team member slam or the always dangerous saymyname/Yellow, before a potential quarterfinal match against TheMax, BacT or his teammate Lyx.
Projected path to the title: Daniel – slam – TheMax – TheViper – Liereyy
6. DauT
Arguably the most popular and recognizable figure in the community, DauT is finishing 2018 on a strong note with a new highest rating, reaching the grand final of the second qualifier for NAC 2 and the final of the latest ECL 2v2 event. One of the top 4 seeds of last year’s KotD, DauT was knocked out by Hearttt in the fifth game of their quarterfinal BO5. Many fans probably already dream of seeing him upset TheViper in an epic final for the title…
DauT has arguably one of the toughest first round match-up, facing against yinghua aka Lovecheng who came back on the competitive scene at the start of the ECL qualifiers. Should he win, he could meet another fast player in the second round in Tim before facing off with the Fat Dragon in the quarterfinals or potentially his old teammates F1re or RiuT.
Projected path to the title: yinghua – Tim – Fat_Dragon – Liereyy – TheViper
7. MbL
Third seed of last year’s KotD, MbL was upset by TheMax in an epic best of five that famously ended in a game where MbL failed his trademark move, laming his opponent. He is arguably one of the “hottest” names in the world right now and one of most serious contenders for the title. He greatly improved in 2018, getting tournaments achievements under his belt: 3rd place in NAC, 2nd in the Hidden Cup and 1st in Legacy of the Huns.
MbL also has a tricky opponent in the first round – highlighting the incredible density of that line-up – facing against the talented Miguel, who took out Liereyy in the Hidden Cup. He could next meet his teammate Nicov before a potential clash with yet another teammate, Liereyy, in the quarterfinals.
Projected path to the title: Miguel – Nicov – Liereyy – Fat_Dragon – TheViper
8. Hera
One of the young guns in the draw, Hera was once known as one of the best “Arabia-Huns” players in the world. Having greatly improved in 2018 and recently just reached the third highest rating ever just behind vivi and TheViper, Hera seems in excellent shape. He is the highest seed to have not taken part in the first edition of KotD.
Hera will be facing PROject_Belgium, also a first-time KotD player, in a first-round clash of francophones. Should he win, he would meet either TaToH or St4rk, two experienced players, in the second round, before most likely meeting TheViper in the quarterfinals.
Projected path to the title: PROject_Belgium – TaToH – TheViper – TheMax – Liereyy
Best potential first-round epics
Considering the incredible density of the draw, even first-round matches of KotD 2 could oppose players with extraordinary skills and experience. Here is my subjective top 5 of matches I am really looking forward to seeing:
Nicov vs Zuppi – two of my personal favorite players, I’m only sad one of them must lose so early!
DauT vs yinghua – super tricky first round for DauT, one of the highest potential for an upset
BacT vs Lyx – Lyx hasn’t played a lot recently but he is an always dangerous player, while BacT has been in top shape in recent tournaments, should be a great match!
miguel vs MbL – another clash between two super strong players, Miguel is facing against a norwegian machine for the second straight year and had a great run against Viper, it should be amazing to watch
Hera vs PROject_Belgium – I’m not sure many of you will agree with me, but the trash talk on Bean’s discord between these two has been promising and I’m already getting the popcorn ready for this.
What are yours?
Post ahead and Happy New Year!
The line-up
Like last year, 32 players will take part in this new edition of King of the Desert, a single elimination bracket played on Arabia with bold new civilizations rules that should favor the underdogs in their early matches.
Out of these 32 players, 21 (66%) already participated in the first edition of last year. Perhaps worth mentioning, with the inclusion of Melkor, Vinchester, Twigg, USR/Whoop and Spring, who signed up for the event but did not make the cut, this brings us to 26 (81%) of last year’s participants willing to clash again on the sands of Arabia. Inversely, the only player who had signed up last year, did not make the cut, but successfully qualified this year is Daniel/DLam.
The 11 new additions to the line-up are (seeding in parenthesis):
Hera (#8)
Nicov (#10)
BlackMamba (#18)
RiuT (#19)
Zuppi (#23)
PROject_Belgium (#25)
yinghua (#27)
Daniel (#28)
chart (#30)
Tia_Harribel (#31)
BL4CK (#32)
The highest rated players to enter the tournament for the first time are Aftermath members Hera and Nicov. Nicov had originally signed up for the first edition but withdrawn a mere days before the tournament started. Though he had played the SY Nations Cup with Canada last year, Hera was not as active as in 2018.
Old TyRanT member RiuT also makes an appearance in the tournament, after playing on and off during the year, but notably performing in T90Official’s Hidden Cup where he took out Yo in a hard-fought best of 5 that went to the fifth game. Among the “old timers” coming back are also the SY legend yinghua/Lovecheng, very active since the start of ECL and the highest rated ever polish player Tia_Harribel/PL_Barles, who recently made a comeback on the 1v1 scene and took part in multiple events.
The rest of the list includes solid players such as BlackMamba/StrayDog and Zuppi, neither having signed up for the first edition of the tournament, and some of the most improved players of 2018: PROject_Belgium, Daniel, chart and BL4CK.
The 11 players who had participated in KotD 1 and won’t play this year are (past result in parenthesis):
JorDan_23 (r2)
Hearttt (sf)
Edie (r1)
Janik (r1)
Vinchester (qf)
Whoop (r1)
Melkor (r2)
Spaden (r1)
Spring (r1)
Twigg (r1)
MetalRTS (r1)
(Underlined players had signed up but did not make the Elo cut)
Hearttt is the player with the best result in the first edition of King of the Desert not signing up for the second edition. With a current rating of 2449 on the 1v1 ladder, he is also the highest rated player not to sign up to the tournament. Other notable absents include the old legend JorDan_23 who fell inactive during the second half of 2018 and 2017’s quarterfinalist Vinchester, barely missing the cut.
The cut of the 2017’s King of the Desert edition was set at 2166 Elo points on the ladder, with TheMax at 2300 being the 19th seed. In 2018, all 32 players qualified for the tournaments are above 2300! Even accounting for the rating inflation (only Liereyy was rated above 2500 last year while 8 players exceed that threshold today), it feels that, overall, the line-up of this year’s edition of King of the Desert is even stronger than it was last time!
Seeding
Last year, the seeding in King of the Desert was made using only a combination of the current and highest achieved 1v1 ratings by the players. With this year’s edition including new rules supposed to give a better chance to the lower rated players against their first-round opponents, it was important to get the seeding as well as possible. Featured on Memb’s stream, the calculation for the seeding this year included:
- A 50-50 combination of current and highest achieved ratings (average)
- A bonus for the winner (MbL) and runner-up (Yo) of Legacy of the Huns
- A bonus for achievements in the two ECL 1v1 events, mostly benefiting the winners (TheViper and BacT)
- A bonus for matches won in the first edition of KotD 1, which mostly benefits TheViper and Liereyy, but also led to a lot of small changes in the hierarchy, 25 points being awarded for a first round victory, which adjusted the ratings.
Players losing spots on the seeding list are those either whose highest rating is the same as their current rating (losing spots to players rated just behind them, but with a much higher “highest ever” rating) or without any prominent recent tournament result. For example, Hera has the 2nd highest current rating, but loses 6 spots on the final seeding list. Zuppi (-6), BlackMamba (-5), PROject_Belgium (-5) and yinghua (-5) also lose a few spots.
Looking only at the players who took part in the tournament last year and will compete again this year, the biggest mover is TheMax, last year’s semifinalist, who was seeded 19th and climbed 15 spots to be granted the 4th seed in 2018. Big movers also include ACCM (+8), LaaaaaN (+8) and St4rk (+7). slam and Lyx both lost 6 spots from last year, while F1Re and Liereyy are the ones whose seedings are the closest to their 2017 rank (-1).
Bracket overview
Having TheViper and Liereyy as the top two seeds means they cannot meet before the final. Yo and St4rk were originally scheduled to meet each other in the first round, which would have been the only rematch of last year’s first round, but with the correction of seeding, the rematch was avoided. Only two first round matches feature players who passed the first round of KotD 1: CL (r2) against ACCM (qf) and St4rk (r2) against TaToH (r2).
Link to brackets: https://challonge.com/KOTD2
Close-up per seeds:
1. TheViper
In every single interview of a top player conducted by Memb before the tournament, when asked who the top 5 players in the world were, TheViper was always the first given answer. Viper is the reigning KotD champion, the reigning NAC champion, the reigning Hidden Cup champion, the record holder of the highest 1v1 rating ever reached and unanimously considered to be the best player in the world. Although he suffered a few defeats in recent team game events and seems to be unfortunately lacking motivation with the current state of the game, he remains the overwhelming favorite of the event.
His first-round opponent is BL4CK, currently the second highest rated Argentine player and rapidly improving. Should he prevail, he would take on the winner of the CL - ACCM match before clashing potentially with Hera or TaToH in the quarterfinals.
Projected path to the title: BLACK – ACCM – Hera – TheMax – Liereyy
2. Liereyy
A year ago, Liereyy was the top seed of the first edition of the tournament. He honored that rank by successfully reaching the final in which he faced TheViper, pushing him to the decider in an epic best of 9 final. Although he ultimately fell short, he remains one of the last players to have eliminated TheViper in a 1v1 event (in the first Escape Gaming Masters). He suffered a few unexpected losses this year, losing to Frantic members vivi and Tim in the ECL events and to miguel in the Hidden Cup. His consistency in 1v1 rated games and his ability to step up his game in big events make him still one of the most formidable players.
His first round could be tricky; he is facing Tia_Harribel aka PL_Barles who came back to 1v1 events only a few months ago and took out PROject_Belgium and ACCM in the NAC 2 second qualifier. He could face Villese or BlackMamba next, with a potential clash against fellow aM’ members Nicov or MbL in the quarterfinals.
Projected path to the title: Tia_Harribel – Villese – MbL – Fat_Dragon – TheViper
3. Fat_Dragon aka vivi
The Fat Dragon has become a fan-favorite in 2018 with his all-in super aggressive style which earned him the 1st place in the 1v1 ladder over the course of the year. He was, perhaps unexpectedly, knocked out in the first round of last year’s edition by ACCM, but finally achieved results more in accordance to his ranking in 2018, reaching the final of the first ECL 1v1 event beating Liereyy on his way. He also won the bronze medal in Legacy of the Huns, beating TheViper to it.
Vivi is facing chart aka RiskyDice in the first round of the tournament. The winner of the all-brazilian clash between F1Re and RiuT would be his second-round opponent, with F1Re beating him in the Hidden Cup and RiuT having one of the most impressive tournament pedigrees. DauT and his teammate Tim are looming around and could meet him in the quarterfinals.
Projected path to the title: chart – F1Re – DauT – Liereyy – TheViper
4. TheMax
Another fan-favorite, TheMax has always been known as a formidable team-game player before showing impressive form in last year’s edition of King of the Desert, successively beating Lyx, MbL and slam before ultimately losing to TheViper in the semifinals. He seemed to have improved even more this year and was in a impressive run of form lately, almost reaching 2600 on the ladder and winning the ECL East Asia 2v2 tournament as well as the 2v2 World Cup – both time beating TheViper.
TheMax faces GKT_Cloud in the first round and could meet BacT or Lyx (in a rematch of last year) in the second round that promises to be tricky. Yo or slam could then be his quarterfinal opponents.
Projected path to the title: GKT_Cloud – BacT – Yo – TheViper – Liereyy
5. Yo
Seeded 2nd in last year’s edition of KotD, Yo was on the receiving end of what was arguably “the” upset of the tournament, losing his opening match the the 31st seed St4rk. Having been ranked consistently in the top 5 of the world for the most part of 2018, he seems even stronger than last year and is motivated to do better.
Yo faces the newcomer Daniel/DLam in the first round, who greatly improved over 2018. His second-round opponent could be the Secret team member slam or the always dangerous saymyname/Yellow, before a potential quarterfinal match against TheMax, BacT or his teammate Lyx.
Projected path to the title: Daniel – slam – TheMax – TheViper – Liereyy
6. DauT
Arguably the most popular and recognizable figure in the community, DauT is finishing 2018 on a strong note with a new highest rating, reaching the grand final of the second qualifier for NAC 2 and the final of the latest ECL 2v2 event. One of the top 4 seeds of last year’s KotD, DauT was knocked out by Hearttt in the fifth game of their quarterfinal BO5. Many fans probably already dream of seeing him upset TheViper in an epic final for the title…
DauT has arguably one of the toughest first round match-up, facing against yinghua aka Lovecheng who came back on the competitive scene at the start of the ECL qualifiers. Should he win, he could meet another fast player in the second round in Tim before facing off with the Fat Dragon in the quarterfinals or potentially his old teammates F1re or RiuT.
Projected path to the title: yinghua – Tim – Fat_Dragon – Liereyy – TheViper
7. MbL
Third seed of last year’s KotD, MbL was upset by TheMax in an epic best of five that famously ended in a game where MbL failed his trademark move, laming his opponent. He is arguably one of the “hottest” names in the world right now and one of most serious contenders for the title. He greatly improved in 2018, getting tournaments achievements under his belt: 3rd place in NAC, 2nd in the Hidden Cup and 1st in Legacy of the Huns.
MbL also has a tricky opponent in the first round – highlighting the incredible density of that line-up – facing against the talented Miguel, who took out Liereyy in the Hidden Cup. He could next meet his teammate Nicov before a potential clash with yet another teammate, Liereyy, in the quarterfinals.
Projected path to the title: Miguel – Nicov – Liereyy – Fat_Dragon – TheViper
8. Hera
One of the young guns in the draw, Hera was once known as one of the best “Arabia-Huns” players in the world. Having greatly improved in 2018 and recently just reached the third highest rating ever just behind vivi and TheViper, Hera seems in excellent shape. He is the highest seed to have not taken part in the first edition of KotD.
Hera will be facing PROject_Belgium, also a first-time KotD player, in a first-round clash of francophones. Should he win, he would meet either TaToH or St4rk, two experienced players, in the second round, before most likely meeting TheViper in the quarterfinals.
Projected path to the title: PROject_Belgium – TaToH – TheViper – TheMax – Liereyy
Best potential first-round epics
Considering the incredible density of the draw, even first-round matches of KotD 2 could oppose players with extraordinary skills and experience. Here is my subjective top 5 of matches I am really looking forward to seeing:
Nicov vs Zuppi – two of my personal favorite players, I’m only sad one of them must lose so early!
DauT vs yinghua – super tricky first round for DauT, one of the highest potential for an upset
BacT vs Lyx – Lyx hasn’t played a lot recently but he is an always dangerous player, while BacT has been in top shape in recent tournaments, should be a great match!
miguel vs MbL – another clash between two super strong players, Miguel is facing against a norwegian machine for the second straight year and had a great run against Viper, it should be amazing to watch
Hera vs PROject_Belgium – I’m not sure many of you will agree with me, but the trash talk on Bean’s discord between these two has been promising and I’m already getting the popcorn ready for this.
What are yours?
Post ahead and Happy New Year!
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