EPTTSL Zerg player RevivaL is one of the “faceless Koreans” playing this weekend at MLG Summer Arena that hasn’t gotten much screen time thus far on the premier tournament circuit, either in South Korea or abroad. We won’t see him this season in GSL or in the upcoming inaugural OSL.
It’s easy to assume that we haven’t seen him because he isn’t any good (at least not yet), but analyzing tournament results in detail can tell you an interesting story.
The bad beat in question is RevivaL’s last GSL appearance, in the previous season of Code A. GSL’s structure change late last year did a great job at addressing stagnancy in Code S and Code A, making it easier for a strong player to move up to Code S and doing a better job at quickly relegating Code S players who were no longer top tier material. However, in accomplishing this they’ve increased the burden of difficulty on players coming from the preliminaries. One unfortunate quirk specifically is relevant in this situation. Here is the explanation quoted from Liquipedia:
- First round (Ro48) consists of 40 qualified players and the 8 4th place finishers in the Code S Ro32 group stage.
- Losers in the first round lose their Code A status and must requalify for next season.
The second round (Ro32) consists of the 24 advancing players from the first round and the 8 3rd place finishers in the Code S Ro32 group stage. - Losers in the second round get a chance to acquire Code S by competing in the Up & Down Matches.
What this means is that eight unlucky new Code A players will be matched up against eight Code S players from that season, fresh off their losses in the initial group stage. The luckier ones will face off against those relegated in the Up & Down matches from the previous season. The first round of Code A is pivotal — win the game, and get two chances (the remainder of your Code A bracket and then, if you lose, your Up & Down group) to move up to Code S and a guaranteed slot in Code A next year. Lose the game and be forced to go through the preliminaries another time.
I know what you’re thinking. “So what? The Code S players are the ones who took 4th in their groups — they’re the worst of the bunch. No big deal.” Guess who RevivaL was paired against? DongRaeGu.
That’s right. Though he was the champion of the previous season, DongRaeGu lost to TheStC and TaeJa to take fourth in his group and earn the chance to ruin someone’s month. To add insult to injury, the games must have been very frustrating for RevivaL as DongRaeGu won the first game with a delayed one base speedling all-in and the second with a blind 10 Pool followed up with an offensive Spine Crawler. DRG would go on to win every series he played in GSL through his Code A bracket and the next season of Code S until the final four of the following season three months later.
This wasn’t the only time RevivaL’s been within an arm’s reach of making the next level. Last summer, he lost in the semifinals of the NASL S1 qualifiers; at the end of the year, he took second after Sound in the Korean HomeStory Cup IV qualifiers. Both times he was just a single match away from the trip abroad.
I was pretty happy to see RevivaL on the list for Summer Arena because his game against DRG broke my heart when I first watched it. Having lost in the most recent preliminaries for both OSL (Group J) and GSL (Group 4), he should have had plenty of energy to focus on this event. He also is a teammate of Symbol, fellow Zerg who took the silver medal at the previous Arena. Recently, TSL called him in during their match against NSHoSeo immediately after Symbol’s first loss. RevivaL was able to take two wins and close out the series 5-3. Hopefully he can perform just as well this weekend at MLG!
