Team expert's "ByuN" Hyun Woo took down the World Cyber Arena premier event in Yinchuan, China and over $21,000 in prize money, continuing his torrid run through 2016.
The Terran monster, a month removed from winning the WCS Global Finals, dominated yet another event and established himself as the man to beat in StarCraft II. He qualified into the tournament through the Asia Spring Qualifier and stomped through the group stage with a 4-0 matchup score and an overall record of 8-2. For the entire tournament, ByuN only lost a grand total of three matches (14-3) and was the clear superstar. He proved that regardless of the build or the deficit, superior control and pinpoint micro ability could pull off the most miraculous of comebacks. This was a warning shot to the rest of the StarCraft world: bring the best macro game or watch your armies burn.
Patience vs. ByuN
The two Koreans in the tournament ended up in the finals of the World Cyber Arena after they swept through the group stage and won their semifinal match.
ByuN showcased his patented early timings and aggression with pinpoint control over his bio units and Patience showed up with signature defense and the surprise adaptability to play a macro or a cheese game. Although most games went down to mobility and timing pushes, ByuN's micro edge ultimately crushed through evenly-matched fights in terms of unit composition. Patience attempted to deter the momentum with unique builds and an overall stronger macro game, but ByuN's aggression and his decision to counter cheese with cheese itself proved to be better.
ByuN was just too good. Whether it was a standard timing push or proxy barracks for a cheese strategy, every match was an example of how to kite and control the mobility of Protoss units. In the end, he took down the grand finals with a 3-1 victory.
Diversity in the final four
The small eight-player field at the World Cyber Arena provided entertaining matches and a strong mix of countries and cultures represented. Although the two South Korean players, ByuN and Jo "Patience" Ji Hyun were the top two placers, it was a victory to see the contrasting styles between the Chinese professionals and the other two international players. The best showing outside of the South Korean players came from Brazil's Diego "Kelazhur" Schwimer. The ROOT Gaming Terran player finished second in his group after ByuN and almost pulled off the upset over Patience in the semifinals. He ended up placing third with a 3-1 victory over China's Hu "Jieshi" Jiajun from RYE E-SPORTS.