EPTWith GSL Code A matches set to go, SSL underwent their qualifier with many upsets and one sided matches.
Starting off the morning session, Group A had two house hold names advance with relative ease in Bbyong and sOs, each dropping only two games. Among the casualties we saw TRUE, TANGTANG, PenguiN and Choya unable to make it into the top four. Meanwhile, Horror showed decent form coming up in fourth, and MC just couldn’t take down the Kespa giants and took third.
Next group saw many recognizably strong players fall including MVP’s most reliable player YongHwa, and ex-SKT1 poster boy Rain. Dark expectantly dominated the group without dropping a single map, while Soulkey, the man whose spot he replaced on SKT1, was able to close out a second series versus Gumiho to qualify.
In Group C, Classic demonstrated his strength versus Terran, not dropping a map in qualifying, while Symbol took down Stork, MyuNgSiK, Center, and sKyHigh to secure his spot in Season 2. RagnaroK, jjakji, Patience, and aLive all fell through early on, followed by the takedown of FanTaSy and TY.
Closing off the morning session, PartinG closed Group D with the last perfect run of the qualifiers, taking down TerrOr, DRG, and soO. soO was able to come back in the last match to defeat DRG. Bomber also went out in the first round, losing to Check, showing he’s still not at the top of his game.
Afternoon Session
Group A started off the second half of the qualifier showing strong Protoss dominance with relatively unknown players Kan and Zoun making their way to semis. They were soon eliminated, having faced off against Hurricane and herO, not being able to take a game off either of them.
Group B was jam packed with fan favourites. Both Axiom’s Impact and Liquid’s TaeJa went out in the first round. The top four consisted of HyuN, Creator, Trap, and MMA. Trap took down MMA and HyuN convincingly, going 2-0 against both of them. Creator was able to eliminate MMA in a 2-1 series, but was later shut down in a rematch against HyuN. Trap and HyuN advance.
The last group before the Wildcard had ByuL and Flash dominate, with Bunny, KeeN, Seed, Pigbaby, and State all eliminated. Bunny and Seed showed the most surprising results taking down some notable players, seemingly looking more in form than results may indicate.
Finally we have the Wildcard, where the 3rd place of each group had a chance to qualify. MC decided not to participate; with a “bye” in the first round, Creator was the only player who was able to win more than one series, taking down Zoun and sKyHigh, qualifying as the only Prime player to advance.
Source: OMW Productions
