EPTCode A, Week 2:
Thinking Back, Looking Forward
Waxangel
Before I move on to this week's games, here's a few thoughts I had as I watched the first week of games:
- The first week of Code A was largely devoid of surprises, with the favorites going through for the most part. The only real shock was a hitherto unknown Startale_PartinG defeating former silver medalist oGs.TOP, knocking him down into Code B.
But even that was not so much of a surprise, because it's been proven that being the GSL runner-up is a pretty crappy gig. TOP is now the fourth GSL runner-up to get stuffed all the way back to Code-B, joining some pretty dubious company (current GSL status wise) such as Rainbow, Rain, and Inca. That's a pretty long way to fall for someone who was considered an elite Terran player just two months ago. - Tree.Hugger's crazy theory that strats get invented in Europe and perfected in Korea seems to be holding a little water. Alongside Stephano's upgraded ling-festor in ZvT (no, I don't care that Nestea used it in three games in the past), Mutalisks are gaining popularity in Korean ZvZ a few months after they became common in the Western scene. Playing on macro friendly maps like Calm Before the Storm and Daybreak, Minseok and YuGiOh rushed ahead towards the Lair stage to get their fliers. And just like in the Western scene, one guy decided to stick with Mutas for too long after Infestors were out and lost; go figure?
- Seriously, I can't believe that Boxer is still good. Yeah, you can call me faithless. Watching pro Brood War religiously taught me this much: when people slump, they usually don't come back. Boxer's been through at least three major phases where he started to suck, took some time to reinvent his game, and became relevant again. It's absolutely mind-blowing that a guy who's been in the business for so long can put in that level of effort. I don't know if Dream is old enough to fully appreciate it, but that 90 degree bow he gave Boxer after their games was entirely appropriate.
- While we're all raving about how great the new GSL system is because it gives everyone more opportunities to get into Code S, we've overlooked one, KIND OF CRUCIAL point. The gates into Code A are still locked tighter than MLG's prize purse. The situation might be nicer for the guys in Code A, but there's still great players like BbongBboong, Annyung, Puma, and Line among others who are fighting it out in Code B. Anyone who can come up from the preliminaries is deadly, and players like PartinG and CrazymoviNG proved as much. We should remember that going into the next few weeks, looking at match-ups with with supposed unknowns.
- Oh yeah, the race balance. I don't know about you guys, but I enjoy watching ZvP without having the nagging feeling of "Why are you fighting each other? You should be allied against the common enemy." With seventeen Protoss, sixteen Terrans, and fifteen Zergs, this Code A Season has achieved near golden race balance.
Anyhow, the recent resurgence of Protoss in Code A/S makes me wonder if the 1.4.2 patch is going to send Protoss beyond balanced, and push them over the top. All but one Protoss player has made it through to the next round in GSL so far, and we might even see a full seven out of eight Protoss players make it through to the next round in the next week of Code A games. Stay tuned guys; we're gonna see what kind of effect 1.4.2 really had.
With that in mind, let's look at week two.
dignitas.SeleCT vs 
NsHS_Tassadar: It's great for SeleCT that he's been playing on the Korean ladder for the last few months. Even though he is an amazing TvP player, good enough to completely dismantle SlayerS_ Alicia after barely a month in Korea, I would have been deathly afraid for him against cheesy, all-in adept Tassadar (and when I say that, it's no insult. I appreciate players who win games – especially those who win important games – no matter what they have to do). While the dominating macro wins are easier to remember, one can't forget that Koreans have made careers on punishing greedy, unaware foreigners with a variety of precisely calibrated cheese-rushes. Tassadar can play a pretty good standard game, but his all-ins are what make him particularly dangerous. If SeleCT has experienced his fair share of cheese in Korea, and doesn't let his guard down, then he should have a good chance.oGs.Ensnare vs 
oGs.Cezanne: Unfortunately for oGs, two of their old guard must face off in an elimination match where one player will be sent back to Code B. Considering the fact that Ensnare has spent practically every GSL season in Code S, you can't help but imagine that he'll find a way to heartlessly defeat his teammate as he claws his way back up. While I said before that anyone who can make it out of the deadly Code A preliminaries is a threat, we just haven't seen enough of Cezanne lately to go any further than that.MVP_Genius vs TSL_Symbol: To be quite honest, I don't really know what separates the members of the first generation of Protoss players. While the new kids on the block inject some flair into the way they play, not much distinguishes Genius going for a seven gate +2 blink all-in from Tester, Killer, HongUn, San, Ace, or Squirtle (and the list goes on) doing the same. While their determination to slowly and safely gather a 200/200 deathball might serve them well in PvT, I'm always a bit scared for those solid, workmanlike Protoss players when they go up against the more dynamic Zerg players that are proliferating as of late. NsHS_Sage vs oGs.fOrGG: Well, there's karma. After I made countless snarky remarks about how GSL must have rigged the brackets for Boxer during the early seasons, now it looks like GSL is determined to prove that the brackets are entirely random and impartial by throwing two of the most anticipated players against each other in a first round elimination match. May I never make a negative remark about GSL again.Now, to be serious, I haven't seen much of ForGG so far that has particularly impressed me. He was pretty good in the few ESV.TV weekly games I saw, but he was good within the normal boundaries for Starcraft II. He's another very good macro Terran from what I can tell, and not some harbinger of doom from the cult of Brood War, who will provide a glimpse of the unfathomable terror and ruin to come. That said, very good macro Terrans are pretty f***ing terrifying in their own right, dominating Code S for the last few seasons. Sage really has his work cut out for him here, and it's a shame that one of the two will be eliminated so quickly.
HongUnPrime.WE vs oGs.Luvsic: Alongside Zenio, Luvsic (aka J) is an oGs Zerg player who is highly regarded by everyone in the oGs-TL house but has failed to get results on the big stage. HongUn is almost the opposite; a player everyone seems to underestimate but is capable of deep tournament runs nonetheless. Though I'm tempted to predict that HongUn is at the end of his luck, it's so hard to argue against his ability to cause upsets. While he's nowhere on the level of the logic-defying, reality-warping White-Ra, HongUn is on the same spectrum. Against someone as shaky as unproven, I have to go with the Code S veteran.TSL_JYP vs QxG.SaSe: It's like Sage vs ForGG, but it's an even worse dilemma somehow. Not only are we guaranteed to lose one of our Protoss hopes, but a foreigner might go crashing out as well. I wish both of these guys could do well, but if I had to choose, I would have to lean ever so slightly towards Sase. When a guy drops everything, ignores the fact that he doesn't have a team, flies to a foreign country with the attitude of "f*** it, I WILL make this work," it seems downright wrong to root against him. FXOLucky vs coL.NaNiwa: How unlikely! A direct rematch from the first round of last month's Code A. In October, Naniwa showed that his one month of Korean training was not quite enough, going down 2-0 against Lucky. Now, some people are holding the fact that Lucky used a roach-ling timing heavily in his IPL3 silver medal run against him. I think that's a bit silly, when you could as easily say he is a player who can analyze his opponents and use proper counter-builds to ensure a deep tournament run. Naniwa is in for a tough battle, and he will really need to have made the most of his time in Korea to advance here.oGs.NaDa vs SocceR: If the barely masked insinuation from MLG's Slasher is correct, then Nada has received his military summons and cannot delay his service much longer. It would definitely make Nada's poor form for the last few months make sense, as the prospect of being your country's indentured servant for two years can take the wind out of anyone's sails. While Soccer was absolutely abysmal for F.United in the GSTL, he came out of nowhere to earn a Code A spot through the preliminaries this season. As mentioned before, that makes him a noteworthy opponent for even the most hardened veteran, and this could very well be Nada's last stand.Interview with FXOLucky
Waxangel
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Waxangel/GSL/Nov11/fxoluckysmall.jpg)
Though Stephano stole the show at IPL3, there was another Zerg who made his presence felt. FXOLucky went on an incredible run to the finals, taking out three Slayers Terrans, even defeating the formidable SlayerS_MMA 3-0. Now he will attempt to reproduce his good performance in the Korean scene, as he has been seeded into the November Code A tournament. After making it as far as the up-down matches last season, Code S is his goal this time around.
Could you introduce yourself briefly?
Hi, my name in Lee In Soo, and I play Zerg for FXO under the ID FXOLucky.
Well, we can't start without talking without your second place finish at IPL3. Now that you've had some time to look back on it, what kind of experience was it for you?
When I went to IPL3, it was my first time abroad so I went thinking about getting experience more than winning. But as I played, I had some luck, and the games went well, so I got a good result that was above my expectations. It was so fun I still think about IPL3 even now that it's over, and it's a great memory for me.
You said you went to gain experience, do you think you gained anything that will help you in your up-coming Code A games?
This is my third Code A tournament now. On my second try, I was confident, but I had nothing to validate my confidence. But after beating some really good players on a big stage like IPL3, I'm confident that I can beat anyone I face in Code A.
So how have you been preparing for Code A? Do you think you're better than last time around?
I wasn't able to show a variety of play in the last Code A tournament, so I practiced more varied plays. As I played, I felt myself getting better little by little, and I'm having fun practicing.
Your first match is against the same opponent as the previous tournament, Naniwa. You won relatively easily that time, are you confident you can win again? Also, how would you compare Naniwa now to one month ago?
Though I haven't been able to show good games against Protoss, it's the race I'm the most confident against in practice, and I did beat Nanwia 2-0 in the RO32 last season, so I'm very confident. I saw Naniwa play at Blizzcon, and it looks like he has improved since we last played, so I'll have to practice harder.
Your group contains Naniwa, Soccer, and the last place player from Code S Group F. With this kind of line-up, do you think you can get through your group and take a direct Code S seed? Any opponents that would be tough? (Besides your teammate Oz).
After seeing the groups, and the new format that makes it easier to get into Code S, I think I should be able to get into Code S directly. For difficult opponents, I think Nada will be the toughest. He was a great player in both Starcraft 1 and 2, and he's always been good in Code S, so I think he will be a hard opponent.
You lost to SlayerS_Taeja in the previous Up-down matches, don't you want to have another shot at a SlayerS Terran four-kill?
I lost to him in the last up-downs, so the player I want to meet the most group F would be Taeja. And yes, I would personally like to try for the Slayers Terran four-kill.
As long as we're talking about beating Slayers Terrans, you defeated their reactor-hellion expands with a roach-ling push several times at IPL3. Was that something you had prepared beforehand, or was it just improvisation?
Because a lot of Slayers Terrans were competing in IPL3, I thought about it a lot at the team house. My teammate FXOLeenock was winning a lot of games against the reactor-hellion double expand with the roach-ling push, so I learned the build him and ended up winning a lot of games with it at the tournament. So I'm really thankful to Leenock.
The GSL Format has changed to make it easier to gain a Code S spot, and in reverse much easier to lose a Code S spot. What do you think of this change?
Because of the changes, I think players will try even harder to for the Code S spots, and there will be more fun games in the GSL as a result. Also, because there are more spots for for Code B players going to Code A, and from Code A to S, I think Code B players will try harder because of the increased opportunities.
There will be two direct foreigner seeds into the up-downs this season. They've been very good against Koreans in tournaments lately, so do you think they will be able to do well in GSL?
I think foreigners perform a lot of new, different plays from Koreans. So I think Korean players are losing to those new plays in foreign tournaments as of late. I think if they can prepare a lot of new plays before they come to Korea, then they should be able to do well in the up-down matches and get into Code S.
If you had to play Idra in GSL, or maybe get a rematch against Stephano, do you think you'd be able to win?
I received quite a shock after losing 0-4 to Stephano in the IPL3 finals, and I practiced a lot of ZvZ after I returned to Korea. At IPL I had beat HayprO and Ret already in the bracket, so I was confident in my mirror-matchup, but I really panicked after going 0-4 to Stephano. If we can play again, I'd like to have some fun games in Korea.
Do you plan to go to more foreign tournaments? DreamHack Winter and MLG Providence are coming up in November...
Personally I would love to play at DreamHack or MLG Providence, but our team's foreign tournament participation works through a rotation system, so I won't be able to compete this time T_T. But when it becomes my turn again, I would love to go abroad.
Any words for the foreign fans you met at IPL3?
I really want to thank you for watching my games, and cheering me on. I'll try my best to play entertaining games for the people watching me.
Any last comments or shout-outs?
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this interview. Thanks to FXO's owner Josh, head coach Choya, and Slog who helped me go to IPL3. Also, thanks to Razer, and my teammates who stayed up all night to help me practice and watch my games.
Art by Fishuu
Writer: WaxAngel
Graphics and Art: Fishuu, Meko and Pony Tales (disciple and Lip the Pencilboy).
Editor: WaxAngel
