Cheeseadelphia 8 produced the first major upset of the WCS 2019 pre-season as American prospect Future ran a gauntlet of WCS Circuit veterans including Special, MaSa, and puCK to claim the $3,500 first-place prize. The sixteen-year-old Terran player was not the only one to challenge the NA StarCraft scene's reputation for being oppressively top-heavy, with fan-favorite MCanning eliminating 3-time WCS Circuit champion Neeb in the round of 16.
Future had previously competed in the open bracket for WCS Austin and WCS Montreal during the 2018 season, but had been eliminated in the group stage #2 (RO48) at both tournaments. "I really wasn't expecting much coming into this but I guess I've really improved my LAN performance." said Future in a post-finals interview. "I'm able to think clearly and I'm thinking through everything I'm doing. Hopefully it's good for WCS."
I am still in blown away by his performance. I was already hoping he'd have a good run, maybe top 8 or top 4, but taking the whole tournament is incredible!
I am most impressed with Mcanning here. He showed up, came after Neeb, and held it together even when things weren't going his way. An incredible performance.
What an amazing event Future has been putting in a lot of work so it is great to see it pay off with the last major event of 2018 I was so glad to be able to be apart of this event to help on coverage hopefully 2019 I can help out more!