I think players in this world cup are more skilled than ever, and can only continue improve to make future world cups even more exciting. It seems every team that is competing now all have really strong players who have the potential to perform really well in the tournament - and maybe force some upsets!
As for the viewers, I feel like this is a great tourney to watch, for experienced players, but also those who are newer or are just watching the twitch stream for the first time (wow they click so fast!). I feel like the new score system does promote a much more exciting viewing experience, and the presence of commentators can only add to the hype (
https://www.reddit.com/r/osugame/commen ... ng_system/)
Even though there have been problems in previous world cups I feel like this one has been mostly hassle-free (at least to this point in time), and it's definitely come a long way with increased publicity, player skill and prize pool. Would like to commend tournament management for their efforts in improving the world cup year by year (it seems we're even getting a team video on youtube this year?) and good luck to all teams!