Alexander - Atging

Alexander is a zerg player with a heavy econ, drone heavy style. Against weaker opponents Alexander will often opt for a roach rush to end the game quickly, but more often than not he'll fast expand for a quick harvester lead while making just enough units to defend. Your best bet versus Alexander will be to hit him with a strong early-game timing attack before his powerful macro and mechanics overwhelm you late-game.

If you leave him alone, he'll most likely 2-base muta harrass you while he expands all over the map. Afterwards he'll pop a ton of broodlords or broodlords and run you over while he laughs maniacally. This style is very idraesque where he builds up a monster economy and uses his saved larva to pop tons of units at once and turn tides.

Derrick - Deezer

At platinum Derrick is the highest rated player in the Michael and Alexander Invitational. Derrick plays a basic terran style with great success. You can count on Derrick to have sound strategy-game fundamentals and play very conventionally. Lack of recent play might make Derrick vulnerable to the newest early-game builds, but lack of information will Derrick a hard player to prepare for. This top-seeded player remains a mystery and no tournament result would be surprising despite very un-surprising play.

Kevin - Laticus

Kevin is a bronze league Terran player. Despite the low ranking, be careful not to underestimate him because he'll send a rogue cloaked banshee into your mineral line when you least expect it! In recent weeks Kevin's macro has been steadily improving and his biomech play is pretty decent. Kevin's play style is a pretty typical terran style with a good mix of units. He favors tanks for setting up strong defensive positions and a MMM+banshee combo for harrass and poking. When playing against Kevin be absolutely certain to get detection up because more than likely he'll be hitting you with a banshee or 2 at some point during the game.

The key to beating kevin will be strong pressure (but avoid his tank lines) and solid macro play. Kevin's early game timing for buildings is pretty crisp, but he begins to falter more as the game goes on, so I'd recommend opening very safe and trying to outproduce him late game.

Michael - Tyranus

Michael has almost as much experience as the rest of the players combined. Certainly the most familiar in 1v1, Michael's terran play will present challenges for all players. Capable of a variety of builds, Michael will put a strong army in the field every game. The games of seven minute cloaked banshees are uncommon, preferring drop play Michael is very adept at bio builds. All of the usual terran weaknesses apply here, however. Lack of creativity and unfamiliarity with the other two races will make TvP and TvZ the most challenging matchups for Tyranus.

Rebecca - Naiad

Rebecca is a korean protoss player. Her experience 1v1 is limited because she avoids ladder, however, she often practices in team games or against AI. Rebecca loves winning and hates the stress of a long game, don't be surprised to see cannons inside your base early. Her 4-gate is her strongest tactic and you will often find her chronoboosting her warpgates quite early. Rebecca gets stressed out by early pressure and once famously ragequit after getting her gas stolen. If you leave Rebecca alone you will eventually find yourself surrounded by stalkers and zealots while she reinforces using the proxy pylon she built in your mineral line.

William - WarriorPoet

Opponents should not be surprised to see protoss or terran across the stars when facing this Starcraft II beta veteran. Training often with local legend Esseim, WarriorPoet is capable of a very strong showing. A recent drop-off in playtime might doom William in the early rounds of the tournament, but when able to execute his very powerful build orders William will be able to upset the top-rated players in the Michael and Alexander Invitational.