WCS Global Finals Odds & Prediction

• The 2019 StarCraft II World Championship Series comes to an end with the Global Finals beginning on October 24th
• The Global Finals consists of 16 players who qualified by either winning a major tournament or earning enough WCS points
• Serral opens as the favorite after leading the WCS Circuit in points

Another season of the StarCraft II World Championship Series comes to an end as the Global Finals begin on October 24th. The Global Finals is the final event of the year and it consists of the top 16 players from the WCS Circuit and WCS Korea. Serral looks to defend his spot on the throne after he made history just one year ago.

WCS Global Finals Odds

*Odds taken 10/21/19

The Returning Champ

Serral already has a place in StarCraft II lore. Just last year, he did what no one had previously accomplished. He became the very first non-Korean player to win the Starcraft II World Championship Series.

His win signaled the end of an era of Korean dominance and leaves the door wide open for anyone to win the 2019 edition of the Global Finals. Of course, Serral doesn’t want to leave his throne just yet. On the WCS circuit, Serral has been a force in every tournament he’s been in.

He finished first at both WCS Spring and WCS Fall on way to leading the entire circuit in points with over 10,000. He’s also finished in the top three of every WCS Circuit event that he’s been a part of.

Although Serral has shown to be among the best in the WCS Circuit, the real test will be how he fares against the Korea players. All we’ve really seen this year was at Assembly Summer 2019 where he finished third after a loss to Stats. Although it was a close best-of-5 that went the distance, it leaves a question mark as to whether Serral can still hang with the best that Korea has to offer.

The Young Phenom

The only player to really test Serral in the WCS Circuit was Reynor. At only 17-years-old, Reynor has pushed Serral to the limits and has repeatedly defeated him over the course of the year. The young Italian won WCS Summer and WCS Winter Europe with wins over Serral.

Of course, just as often Serral returns the favor with wins over Reynor. It’s blossomed into a rivalry that should make both of these players better as they continue to get older.

At +2000, Reynor is an intriguing bet as he’s challenged Serral for the title of ‘best player outside of Korea’. The only issue is that he isn’t very proven when going head-to-head with Korean players. Of all the betting lines, Reynor offers the best longshot value. Even if he doesn’t get it done this year, it won’t be long until Reynor is on top of the StarCraft II world.

Rogue’s Inflated Odds

Rogue enters with the second-highest odds to win the tournament after he won GSL Season 3 over the likes of Trap and Dark.

But most recently, Rogue is coming off a very shocking result at the AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 2. He was eliminated in the very first match of the bracket by Stats. Rogue has been inconsistent all year long and although his win at GSL Season 3 was impressive, it doesn’t support the odds of +400. That line is way too rich.

The Most Reliable Korean Pick

Instead of Rogue, Dark is the Korean zerg player to put your money on. He led the WCS Korea in points and won two big events in 2019. Aside from those two wins at Super Tournament 2 and GSL Season 2, he also has multiple top-three finishes to his name in 2019.

In every tournament he enters, he’s a threat to win and it’s unlikely that he’ll have a surprise early exit. Of all the Korean players, I think Dark is the best bet to win the Global Finals, and I’d even take him over the likes of Serral or Reynor.

Pick: Dark (+550)