[WCS] Global Finals 2014 Day 1 - Page 523

INnoVation

INnoVation, the once best Terran in the world, didn't show as much consistency throughout the year as our other players, but instead he had a strong peak at the end.
In fact he spent most of the year below 30% chances, he didn't even make it above 40% once until the end of September when he beat Cure in the GSL semifinals. But now could he be making a comeback to become the best Terran in the world again? There are many strong Terrans to contend with for that title at Blizzcon, but first let's see how he got there.

Chances January
(No WCS Points graphs for January since I wasn't saving the data back then)

Because INnoVation was already seeded into Code A from last year, he started off around 30 % Blizzcon Chances. However that would change as he played in an incredibly hard Code A group.
On January 22nd, INnoVation lost to herO and Zest, advancing in last place. This brought him from ~ 29.4 % down to ~ 1.1 %, keep in mind this was before I had the full year of WCS simulations in though.

Chances February
WCS Points February
(The blue line is minimum WCS Points, the black line is the median.)

In February he went to IEM Cologne, hopefully making up for his loss in Code A.
On the 15th he beat HeRoMaRinE and MC in the ro16 groups. Then on the 16th he lost to Liquid HerO 0-3 in quarterfinals, bringing INnoVation down to ~ 0 % with just counting the first season.

On the 26th I added full year of WCS simulations, bringing INnoVation up to ~ 8.3 %. Considering he wasn't qualified for GSL at all this seems like a fair starting point.

Chances March
WCS Points March

In the GSL qualifiers on March 26th, he beat Bulldozer, lost to ByuL, and beat Sorry to qualify for GSL, going up to ~ 9.4 %, with a minimum WCS Points of 350, and a median of 650.

Chances April
WCS Points April

On April 6th I added the GSL Global Championship and 5 DreamHacks, bringing INoVation up to ~ 11.2 %.

On the 9th in Code A, he beat Dark and Sora, going up to ~ 16.3 %, 450 minimum WCS Points, and a median of 1100.

INnoVation finished April with DreamHack Bucharest.
He advanced to the bracket stage on the 26th after beating Ancestor, MorroW, HuK, and Snute, putting him at ~ 20.1 %.
On the 27th he beat Welmu in the round of 16 and Bunny in quarterfinals, going up to ~ 25.4 %.
Then he lost to Life in the semifinals, going down to ~ 20 %, a minimum of 825 WCS Points, and a median 1525.

Chances May
WCS Points May

May 23rd, Innovation won his Code S round of 32 group, first losing to herO, then beating Squirtle and Leenock, going up to ~ 29.5 %.

Chances June
WCS Points June

On June 6th INnoVation lost in a tough Code S round of 16 group, losing to Zest again, beating Shine, then losing to Soulkey, going way down to ~ 13.37 %, with a minimum of 1025 WCS Points, and a median of 1475.

Chances July
WCS Points July

July 17th in the IEM Shenzhen round of 16, INnoVation won his group beating TRUE and Snute.
Then on the 19th he lost in the quarterfinals to Solar 0-3, going down to ~ 10.2 %, with a minimum of 1275 WCS Points, and a median of 1625.

Now all INnoVation had left was the last season of GSL. From this point in time it was expected that a 2nd place in Code S would only put him at ~ 15.6 % Blizzcon Chances, while a 1st place would put him at ~ 99.8 %. He really needed to win the whole thing.
With only 1275 WCS Points before his Code A match on July 23rd, he was way behind. For comparison, on July 22nd, Zest had 3150 WCS Points, Jaedong had 2550, Snute had 1625, and sOs had 2300.

On July 23rd in Code A, INnoVation beats Hurricane and Ruin to advance from his group 4-0, going up to ~ 12.7 %.

Chances August
WCS Points August

Now in Code S, on August 7th he advanced from his round of 32 group, losing to Myungsik, then beating Paralyze and Myungsik, going up to ~ 17.7 %, with a minimum of 1425 WCS Points, and a median of 1975.

Chances September
WCS Points September

In September is where INnoVation really turned it on.
First in his Code S round of 16 group on September 3rd, beating Stats and Parting, going up to ~ 18.8 %, 1725 minimum points, 1975 median points.
On the 17th in the quarterfinals, he beat DongRaeGu 3-0, continuing his rise to ~ 29.2 %, 1975 minimum points, and 2225 median points.
Then in the semifinals on the 26th beating Cure 4-3, going up to ~ 58 %, 2225 minimum points, and 3225 median.

If INoVation would've lost the finals against soO, he'd have gone down to 0% Blizzcon Chances.
On Oct 4th, INnoVation finally won a GSL, beating soO 4-2, and going up to ~ 92.1 %, with his final 3225 WCS Points.

Now if Bunny/ForGG wins WCS EU AND HerO/Pigbaby/Scarlett wins WCS AM, then Innovation is out. If Jaedong had beaten Solar at Dreamhack Stockholm, then any 1 of those players winning would've knocked Innovation out.

Shortly after INnoVation won the GSL, he was secured his place when both Bunny and ForGG lost in the WCS EU quarterfinals. And with that, INnoVation was the 2nd to last player to secure his spot in the WCS Global Finals, with the last player being Jaedong. INnoVation is the #15 seed, and will be facing the #2 seed HyuN in a best of 5 in the first round of the WCS Global Finals. Can INnoVation prove himself to be the best Terran in the world, or will he lose in the first round like last year?


Come back tomorrow for the next retrospective!

Here are the chances and WCS Points graphs in super-wide form for the full year.
Super Wide Overall Chances Graph http://i.imgur.com/yYy9iM1.png
Super Wide Overall WCS Points Graph http://i.imgur.com/SbGhwY8.png
And here's INnoVation's page where you can zoom the graphs as you please http://sc2.4ever.tv/?page=player&player_id=48