Given the title I've chosen for this column, you might be expecting an investigation into the TeD disqualification this past weekend. Maybe you're hoping I managed to dig up some dirt; perhaps the smiley-est man in esports was late because someone was putting the smile on his face.

Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not that kind of column.

Maybe you're hoping for an analysis of Moon's performance. After all, it was his first tournament win for five months.

That's closer to the mark, but still not quite right. Even with a gap of almost half a year between drinks, Moon winning an event is never really much of a story. To quote a horrendously overused cliché, "dog bites man isn't news."

ToD

No, for me, the biggest thing to take out of IEF was ToD's return to form. Forget Moon, forget Sky, forget smiler. Those guys doing well (or courting controversy) is not unusual, or even interesting.[1]

The Frenchman has been off the radar for quite a while now, but this weekend's event reminded the viewing public just what Merlo is capable of. His performance was a flash of brilliance in a tournament of few surprises and it ended in a perfectly appropriate "almost" fashion.

It has been nearly two months since Merlo finished third at the ESWC Masters of Athens, with two 8th place finishes in the mean time. But IEF was a real return to form, and not just in terms of results.

He knocked out the most successful player of the year in fairly convincing fashion on his way to third place, but it was the way in which got there that was impressive. Love it or loathe it, the tower rush is still here if Lyn vs ToD is anything to go by and Merlo executed it perfectly. The Orc managed to hold out for a long time, but the result was inevitable from the moment the first guard tower was completed.

Luck

His only losses came against the eventual winner and the runner up but, against Sky in particular, he was very unlucky. One could easily argue that it's unlucky to be drawn against Sky in the first place – the man is insanely good at Human mirror. But, losing purely because of a level six panda has to be infuriating. Admittedly, Sky played it well, saving the ultimate spell until it could end the game, but it was a cruel way for the Frenchman to be knocked out.

With 2008 effectively over in terms of solo competition, ToD will look back on a year of inconsistency. The calendar began with a 2nd place at the Extreme Masters finals where he lost to the richest player of the year, Lyn. However, the list of events attended is brief, and combined with a couple of 5-8 finishes, this tells of a lack of motivation – something which Merlo has been known for in the past.

Future

Still, if this year taught us anything it's that WC3 is an ever-changing game. 2008 will definitely go down as the year of the Orc, but if ToD can maintain his form and his momentum, we could be seeing a lot more of le drapeau tricolore in 2009. As is so often the case in esports, it's a question of motivation and enthusiasm. After coming so close at IEF, this is the make-or-break time in his career. If it spurs him onto greater things, then there is no question that he has the talent to back it up.

[1]Okay, the TeD thing was interesting, but two out of three ain't bad.

The world's first and only weekly esports column, the Zechs Files, returns next Tuesday.