EPTAlthough two days and one playday too late, I will still cover Code A with predictions and forecast.
First of all, the most important thing for this season is that the majority of the one base wonders from season 1 and 2 have been sorted out and, as the mappool has been drastically revised, will have a hard time to come back, so the general attitude of the players will be more towards macro which most likely will provide more exciting games than last season.
With these words said, lets try to predict the outcome of the first round of Code A. I will also predict the matches that have already happened, because I only partially have seen them and so are only semi-biased.
Predictions
Losira(Z) vs LegalMind(P)
Generally being a fan of LosirA since Season 1, I expect him to take this. LegalMind has done better than I expected in general so far, but I still see LosirA in front here.
August(T) vs Loner(T)
I haven't seen that much from August so far to really judge him perfectly, but on the other hand Loner played really convincingly last season, even when he was ill, so my believe in our chinese friend is he will carry this away.
Curious(Z) vs HuK(P)
I am not the biggest HuK fan in the world until now, but fact is he is amongst the top in Korean ladder, and hasn't lost significant official matches apart from PvP in quite a while, so I would say he is well prepared for this game and will take it easily.
RevivaL(Z) vs ButterFlyEffect(T)
Shame on my, but I know nothing about RevivaL. Therefor, although people that make it through the crazy hard procedure of qualifying for Code A have my deepest respect, I would pull BFE here.
Virus(T) vs Moon(Z)
Tough call here. Virus played really well in GSTL, while Moon almost made it into Code S, and, other than public oppinion, I even thought he deserved to. Hard to say what happens here, but I give Moon the edge due to his performance and the new maps.
GanZi(T) vs Haypro(Z)
Games with Haypro are so hard to predict as he is almost non-existing from a spectators point of view. But who saw the performance of Ret on Assembly, which indicates how well he practices with Haypro, and this will be the same for Jinro, I expect him to be prepared for this game and pull it out, but rather close, if not even 2-1.
Coca(Z) vs Ace(P)
I have never heard of Coca, and Ace was impressive at GSTL, so I call Ace here easily.
YuGiOh(Z) vs Leenock(Z)
You can say about Leenock what you want, but he potentially belongs into Code S, so I see him ahead here for this reason, without taking away anything from YuGiOh, which, apart from his dumb nick, is very valid.
Rain(T) vs Yeah(Z)
Regarding the super hard way to make it into Code A from the qualifiers, and how I don't like Rains playstyle neither am impressed of it, I will call Yeah here in doubt.
Destination(T) vs mOOnGLaDe(Z)
Man, thats a hard name to write. Nevertheless, I believe in my Ozzie mate to pull this through and advance due to lack of information on Destination.
Junwi(Z) vs Alicia(P)
Junwi not performing to the level many expected from him, I at least believe in him being Code A material, so he will move on after a close 2-1 here.
Cute(T) vs Maka(T)
I don't know anything about Cute, and I liked Makas play lately, so, I will predict Maka winning this in a 2-1.
SuperNova(T) vs Squirtle(P)
Poor SuperNova. In fact poor everyone in the way of Squirtle, this boy is on fire, if you haven't watched GSTL, you missed something. Easy pick, Squirtle will win this 2-0.
Alive(T) vs Cezanne(Z)
This is another really tough one. I like Cezannes style, although Alive really impressed me lately with his improvement, so I see him slightly ahead here in a 2-1
Jjob(T) vs Ret(Z)
The match of the round. The almost-reserve-all-killer Jjob against the shortly crowned Assembly Champion Ret, what a match.
Against many others, I would say Jjob will win, but Ret made such an impressive appearance at Assembly, and practices with Jinro really hard I imagine, so he will win this, but in a hard battled 2-1.
Killer(P) vs JookTo(Z)
Killer has done well lately and I am not hugely convinced of JookTo, so I would see Killer winning this.
Summary
+ Show Spoiler +
Losira 2-1 LegalMind
August 1-2 Loner
Curious 0-2 HuK
RevivaL 1-2 ButterFlyEffect
Virus 1-2 Moon
GanZi 1-2 Haypro
Coca 0-2 Ace
YuGiOh 1-2 Leenock
Rain 0-2 Yeah
Destination 1-2 mOOnGLaDe
Junwi 2-1 Alicia
Cute 1-2 Maka
SuperNova 0-2 Squirtle
Alive 2-1 Cezanne
Jjob 1-2 Ret
Killer 2-0 JookTo
