ESFI World

The city of Jönköping served as the backdrop of DreamHack Winter, the world's largest computer festival and the culmination of this year's DreamHack Sapphire AMD Championship. Tens of thousands gathered together, live from the Kinnarps Arena or through Twitch TV streams, to witness e-sports action at its finest. We were thrilled, we were entertained, and most importantly of all, we were surprised over the course of the tournament.

The community buzzed with high hopes and expectations coming into DreamHack Winter. Would HuK take home another 2011 DreamHack title, except this time for his new team Evil Geniuses? Would Liquid`HayprO continue an ascent from his slump to find the DreamHack success he once enjoyed in his Brood War days? Would Europe's beloved heroes, such as TtE.White-Ra, mouz.ThorZaIN, and QxG.SaSe, finally claim victory on the arena stage in Jönköping? In short, with sincerest apologies for the spoilers... No.

Standing in the way of these household superstars were three players, lesser-known, unexpected, and downright ready to overturn the upper echelons of the competition.

Comeback King: Santeri "Naama" Lahtinen

For some of you, this might have been your first encounter with Finnish player Naama, while for others, you might remember him from his victory at DreamHack Winter 2010. Though he showed much promise to thrive and succeed in the European scene that year, Naama slowly faded away in the following months due to team problems and a lack of motivation.

In October 2011, Naama re-emerged by joining Team eSahara. He received an invite to compete at DreamHack Winter 2011, where he would astonish everyone by finishing second in his first group stage over HayprO, who had just finished seventh at the MLG National Championships the previous weekend. Naama continued his run the next day by eliminating top Terran players ThorZaIN and Dignitas.meRz, again finishing second in his group stage below Liquid`Ret.

Reliving his DreamHack Winter success seemed almost tangible for Naama as he defeated White-Ra in the Round of 16 in the playoffs. Unfortunately, his run was brought to a close by Fnatic NightEnD. Though he was unable to secure the title for a second year, Naama has proven to players and fans alike that he's back and is unquestionably a force to be reckoned with.

Wins: KenZy (2-1), HayprO (2-1), ThorZaIN (2-1), meRz (2-0), White-Ra (2-1).
Losses: Nerchio (0-2), Ret (1-2), NightEnD (1-2)

Fanatic Fnatic: Silviu 'NightEnD' Lazar

At the mentioning of the name NightEnD, many may recall his accomplishments in WarCraft 3. However, like other pros, the Romanian Protoss player made the switch to StarCraft 2 and has found some success in several online tournaments. He did not receive international renown until defeating mouz.MorroW (3-2) in the TeamSpeak TL Open 14 Finals, proving himself as one of Europe's strongest Protoss players.

Early in November 2011, NightEnD qualified for DreamHack Winter by winning the Balkan Regional Qualifiers over Shmi (3-0). In his first group stage, NightEnD would finish second under EG.PuMa, knocking out Team Acer's Ocho and Korean Protoss player NaRa. NightEnD would go on to finish a respectable first in his second group stage, sweeping Empire.Kas and mouz.MaNa, losing only to RoXKIS.Titan.

In an interview with his team Fnatic before the tournament, NightEnD admitted, "If I go to DreamHack, my goal will only be to win it. I never play in any kind of tours, cups or anything for less than winning... I will only be truly happy if I win, and that will always be my goal." It seemed as if NightEnD would see this goal into fruition as he beat SaSe in the Round of 16 and Naama in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, he would lose once again to PuMa, falling short of the finals by a single round. But with such drive and iron resolve, we can be sure to see NightEnD compete once again in the international scene to show that he is indeed Europe's best.

Wins: Ocho (2-0), NaRa (2-1), MaNa (2-0), Kas (2-0), SaSe (2-0), Naama (2-1)
Losses: PuMa (0-2), TitaN (1-2), PuMa (1-3)

Cinderella Man: John "Seiplo" Seipel

If you were to tell me earlier this week that Seiplo would eliminate former champion HuK from DreamHack Winter in the Round of 16, I'd be hard-pressed not to doubt you. HuK is known for a highly unpredictable play style and keeping his opponents on edge, but he found himself at the other end of abuse on Saturday. With each denial of HuK's harassment, whether it was Dark Templars or early pressure, Seiplo had an answer, swaying the balance of every game entirely into his favor, surprising all. He outplayed HuK completely.

Seiplo had already been on a fairy tale run since the start of the tournament, sending home big names like Liquid`TLO in the first group stage and defeating MvP.Genius in close games to finish at the top of his second group stage. Coming into the playoffs, Seiplo had high hopes for top eight, admitting that his only obstacle was Zerg (his weakest match-up). But in the quarterfinals, Seiplo had to further prove his PvP dexterity against Liquid`HerO. He lost in two games, and if it is any consolation, it was to the 2011 DreamHack Winter champion.

An aura of mystery still surrounds the Swedish Protoss player of Team Alien Invasion, who is relatively unknown in the StarCraft 2 competitive scene. He began turning heads at the start of the year by winning several online cups and placing fairly well at offline tournaments such as the Copenhagen Games (where he was knocked out by MC in the Round of 16) and Assembly Summer 2011 (where he was knocked out by Stephano in the Round of 8). It is clear that Seiplo has a tremendous amount of talent, which was once underappreciated before DreamHack Winter.

The question is, will we see Seiplo fare against the top pros at another major tournament? Will his improbable upsets be regarded as flukes or will he gain the recognition he deserves? What the future holds for the Swede is still a mystery, but it is undeniable that Seiplo has made a name for himself at DreamHack Winter 2011.

Wins: TLO (2-0), StjarNaN (2-0), Genius (2-0), SarenS (2-0), HuK (2-0)
Losses: HerO (1-2), DeathAngel (1-2), HerO (0-2)

Emily "NyxRose" Tran

Emily Tran is a StarCraft 2 reporter for ESFI World. Follow her on Twitter at @NyxRose. » ESFI Profile   » Twitter