After another round of intense games, we're left with last 8 players making it that far in the Visible Cup. Last round didn't bring any upset - though we've seen surprising results. 7 out of 8 highest seeded players made it to Ro8, the only exception is Hoang as seed 3 who was eliminated already in Ro32 and his spot is taken by K4SVA (seed 14). Before taking a look at the matchups awaiting in the QuarterFinals, I'd recommend taking a short look at the brackets: Bracket. The seeding is taken from there, I'm also using current 1v1 rating from: ratings.
QuarterFinals is the last round played as Bo5 (Semis and Finals will be Bo7) with 1st game Arabia followed by Home Maps from HC3 Mappool, Hidden Pick Civ, no repeat.
Match 1: _Barles_ (seed 1, rating 2044, rank 31) vs DracKeN (seed 8, rating 2057, rank 29)
Barles as seed 1 had a very playable bracket so far, he didn't loose a single game untill Ro16 and I didn't expect him to face issues advancing further over seed 16 DemonSheep (my guess was 3:0). That turned out to be completely wrong, DemonSheep was very ahead in game 1, when the game crashed and Barles gave an AW for the first map. After that both players were confidently winning their Home Maps untill game 5 - Islands (DemonSheep's HM). Barles was on the edge of elimination, despite not having wood left to take on his island against opponent who still had a lot to take + 3 relics, Barles managed to take way better fights in late imp and it won him the game and the match 3:2.
I had a very tough match in Ro32 against Running which went to game 5 and I was expecting similar result in Ro16 against Nili, I did see myself as a slight favorite. Nili played after long stream which potentially influenced him as he didn't bring his A-game against me. First two games were straightforward, game 3 was very intense 1 hour game on Slopes where Nili showed his level and despite being behind since the start he almost took the game.
For our matchup against Barles I'm a slight favorite once again, for myself speaks the practice, shape and results so far in Visible Cup. Barles is a great meta player though and he mostly had the upper hand in our rated games during last 3 - 4 months. I expect Barles to perform well on Arabia and his HMs, but I predict 1:3 for me.
Match 2: saymyname (seed 4, rating 2013, rank 43) vs PROject_Belgium (seed 5, rating 2016, rank 39)
Saymyname faced gkt_cloud in Ro16 and he had to play all 5 games. He managed to win both of his home maps and together with winning g1 Arabia it was enough for him to advance. He seemed a bit unprepared though, on cloud's HMs he didn't stand a chance.
Same as Barles PROject_Belgium didn't loose a game untill Ro16, but unlike Barles he didn't face much of issues advancing into QuarterFinals. Bugum took 3 games against Sobek in a convincing fashion, only dropped 1 game on his way.
Saymyname and PROject_Belgium played each other in the Fair Civs Cup 3 months ago and Bugum won 0:3 there, I'd not be surprised to see him repeating this result, but 1:3 is more likely, saymyname beating Bugum would be a surprise.
Match 3: VIK_Vinchester (seed 2, rating 2170, rank 9) vs St4rk (seed 7, rating 2163, rank 11)
Vinchester was almost eliminated in Ro32 pulling a big comeback against StonePlease in game 5, he had to make another comeback - this time against Sitaux - in Ro16. Vinch lost very long and intense game 1 Arabia, but he didn't struggle from game 2 on, confidently winning his own HM and then both HMs of Sitaux he took 3:1 win.
St4rk lost 1 game in Ro32 and I was expecting him to have a very close and challenging match against seed 10 AngelinaJolie in Ro16. That didn't happen, St4rk took a very convincing 3:0 win.
This match will be one of the peaks of the tournament, both players are in a very solid shape lately and they're showing it on 1v1 ladder. I can't figure out who do I see as the favorite, Vinch is surely the more skilled player and I think his style might work against St4rk, but he's inconsistent and he also uses a questionable civ picks. St4rk is a strategy mastermind and he usually performs very well in tournaments. As I said, this matchup is literally 50:50 for me and it will likely be a must-watch match.
Match 4: K4SVA (seed 14, rating 2016, rank 40) vs CiCa_Zhou (seed 6, rating 1964, rank 54)
K4SVA is the player who did profit from seeding the most so far. He had a tough match in Ro32 against Vodka (seed 19) which ended 3:2, but then he took straight 3:0 win against Hallis (seed 35) in Ro16. He's the player who plays the most out of all remaining Visible Cup players though and it would be a big mistake to underestimate him.
Straydog is a very aggresive player and he showed it once again in Ro16 against Janik. In first 4 games, twice his aggresion paid off and won him the game, twice Janik managed to defend and outplay Straydog. Janik took a big risk in game 5 (Hideout) picking Burmese and he ran into the perfect counter civ - Britons.
Janik tried to play the famous double castle arambai push, managed to snipe many vills, but in the end Straydog's defence was on point and he won the game and the match 3:2.
Similar to Janik, K4SVA is a player who likes to play defensive meta and it will be interesting how well he can deal with Straydog's aggression. The match doesn't have a clear favourite for me, I'd give a very little edge to Straydog though and I predict 2:3 for him, but I'd not be surprised by a clear sweep on either side.
QuarterFinals is the last round played as Bo5 (Semis and Finals will be Bo7) with 1st game Arabia followed by Home Maps from HC3 Mappool, Hidden Pick Civ, no repeat.
Match 1: _Barles_ (seed 1, rating 2044, rank 31) vs DracKeN (seed 8, rating 2057, rank 29)
Barles as seed 1 had a very playable bracket so far, he didn't loose a single game untill Ro16 and I didn't expect him to face issues advancing further over seed 16 DemonSheep (my guess was 3:0). That turned out to be completely wrong, DemonSheep was very ahead in game 1, when the game crashed and Barles gave an AW for the first map. After that both players were confidently winning their Home Maps untill game 5 - Islands (DemonSheep's HM). Barles was on the edge of elimination, despite not having wood left to take on his island against opponent who still had a lot to take + 3 relics, Barles managed to take way better fights in late imp and it won him the game and the match 3:2.
I had a very tough match in Ro32 against Running which went to game 5 and I was expecting similar result in Ro16 against Nili, I did see myself as a slight favorite. Nili played after long stream which potentially influenced him as he didn't bring his A-game against me. First two games were straightforward, game 3 was very intense 1 hour game on Slopes where Nili showed his level and despite being behind since the start he almost took the game.
For our matchup against Barles I'm a slight favorite once again, for myself speaks the practice, shape and results so far in Visible Cup. Barles is a great meta player though and he mostly had the upper hand in our rated games during last 3 - 4 months. I expect Barles to perform well on Arabia and his HMs, but I predict 1:3 for me.
Match 2: saymyname (seed 4, rating 2013, rank 43) vs PROject_Belgium (seed 5, rating 2016, rank 39)
Saymyname faced gkt_cloud in Ro16 and he had to play all 5 games. He managed to win both of his home maps and together with winning g1 Arabia it was enough for him to advance. He seemed a bit unprepared though, on cloud's HMs he didn't stand a chance.
Same as Barles PROject_Belgium didn't loose a game untill Ro16, but unlike Barles he didn't face much of issues advancing into QuarterFinals. Bugum took 3 games against Sobek in a convincing fashion, only dropped 1 game on his way.
Saymyname and PROject_Belgium played each other in the Fair Civs Cup 3 months ago and Bugum won 0:3 there, I'd not be surprised to see him repeating this result, but 1:3 is more likely, saymyname beating Bugum would be a surprise.
Match 3: VIK_Vinchester (seed 2, rating 2170, rank 9) vs St4rk (seed 7, rating 2163, rank 11)
Vinchester was almost eliminated in Ro32 pulling a big comeback against StonePlease in game 5, he had to make another comeback - this time against Sitaux - in Ro16. Vinch lost very long and intense game 1 Arabia, but he didn't struggle from game 2 on, confidently winning his own HM and then both HMs of Sitaux he took 3:1 win.
St4rk lost 1 game in Ro32 and I was expecting him to have a very close and challenging match against seed 10 AngelinaJolie in Ro16. That didn't happen, St4rk took a very convincing 3:0 win.
This match will be one of the peaks of the tournament, both players are in a very solid shape lately and they're showing it on 1v1 ladder. I can't figure out who do I see as the favorite, Vinch is surely the more skilled player and I think his style might work against St4rk, but he's inconsistent and he also uses a questionable civ picks. St4rk is a strategy mastermind and he usually performs very well in tournaments. As I said, this matchup is literally 50:50 for me and it will likely be a must-watch match.
Match 4: K4SVA (seed 14, rating 2016, rank 40) vs CiCa_Zhou (seed 6, rating 1964, rank 54)
K4SVA is the player who did profit from seeding the most so far. He had a tough match in Ro32 against Vodka (seed 19) which ended 3:2, but then he took straight 3:0 win against Hallis (seed 35) in Ro16. He's the player who plays the most out of all remaining Visible Cup players though and it would be a big mistake to underestimate him.
Straydog is a very aggresive player and he showed it once again in Ro16 against Janik. In first 4 games, twice his aggresion paid off and won him the game, twice Janik managed to defend and outplay Straydog. Janik took a big risk in game 5 (Hideout) picking Burmese and he ran into the perfect counter civ - Britons.
Janik tried to play the famous double castle arambai push, managed to snipe many vills, but in the end Straydog's defence was on point and he won the game and the match 3:2.
Similar to Janik, K4SVA is a player who likes to play defensive meta and it will be interesting how well he can deal with Straydog's aggression. The match doesn't have a clear favourite for me, I'd give a very little edge to Straydog though and I predict 2:3 for him, but I'd not be surprised by a clear sweep on either side.