TeamLiquid's day by day GSL coverage resumes! First, a quick look at tonight's games.

ForGG's quest for redemption begins with a fairly easy test. We last saw cOre in the GSL one year ago in Code A January, where he dropped out 0-2 against Vanvanth. To qualify for this GSL, he went through the virtually unknown NSH_Fairy and run of the mill Code B player ZeNEXMushroom, not the most challenging opponents.

Even though ForGG has been massively disappointing by any measure – whether it be the enormous amount of hype given by Brood War fans or his own declaration that he would win Code S – he is still a formidable player. He made his Code A opponents look absolutely out-classed in the previous GSL, and did very well against the crème de la crème of Code S in his stacked RO32 group including Leenock, MC, and Supernova. At the very least, ForGG is a Code S class player, and cOre is unlikely to get in the way of his return.

Prediction: ForGG 2 - 0 Core




Through merit or necessity, Jjun has earned a place on ZeNEX's starting line up as their main Terran player. Unfortunately, he has not been very successful thus far. Like many of his ZeNEX teammates, we want to infer that his presence on a Korean pro-gaming team means something – but whatever it is, it probably doesn't suggest he has the ability to make it to Code S.

As for July, he's akin to fellow Golden Mouse winner oGsNada, in that he seems content to chill in the GSL while reminding people about a certain Elephant. Although July dropped out of Code S last season, it was only by narrowest of margins as JYP advanced past him due to a head to head tie-break rule. Though Code A will be tougher come the later rounds, the first match should be a cake walk for the God of War.

Prediction: July 2 - 1 Jjun



As a result of so many good players competing in Code A, a clash between two seemingly sure-fire Code S players is an unfortunate side effect. In the case of TheStC, it's doubly unfortunate as he faces a top class Zerg oppponent in the first round for the second tournament in a row. A former Code A winner (Curious), followed by a Code S finalist (Losira)? That's just life in the new GSL.

Statistically, it's a battle of worst match-up versus worst match-up (TheStC 56% vs Zerg, Losira 46% vs Terran), although I would like to say the stats are a bit misleading. In the last few months, TheStC hasn't really lost to anyone in TvZ in various online cups (where he spends most of his time as he contemplates why he can't get his Code S break). He lost 2 – 4 to Leenock, but every Terran who's name isn't MMA loses to Leenock as well, so all I can really say is he's outside the top 0.07th percentile of Terran players. As for Losira, his relatively poor record also stems from losses earlier in his career, while he has a pretty good ZvT record since November (11 – 5).

It's an even battle on paper, but I'll give the benefit of doubt to Losira. TheStC looked alright in last week's GSTL games, but he's going to have to live with the GSL choker tag until he proves it wrong at least once. Losira's been on a variety of big stages, and he's performed very well under all sorts of pressure.

Prediction: Losira 2 - 1 TheStC




The temptation is great to throw Clide under the bus once and for all, and say that the new GSL system has finally worked out and that mediocre players such as Clide have been weeded out of Code S for good. However, each time people have given up and Clide and declared that his long stay in Code S was only because he was lucky, he has always found a way to surge back and prove all those haters wrong.

Now that he's faced with elimination from Code A, I'm getting those vibes again. Yeah, he played bad in his Up-Down groups. Yeah, he played bad in GSTL. But good lord, SlayerS decided to play him instead of Ryung, Taeja, Ganzi, or Boxer - all players that we think are better than him? Not to mention the fact that they picked him up at all, considering their already deep Terran line. The only way I can explain it is to presume that Clide must be a god in practice. He's doing something behind the scenes that we're not seeing, and he just occasionally lets it shine through in GSL games as well. Sure, you can bet that this hidden Clide won't show up on the day of the games, but if he does...

In any case, it's hard to believe he'll lose to Sniper, whose most notable achievement so far has been to remind us of why we'd rather see Sase play PvT, not PvZ. Even with such an unpredictable veteran like Clide playing, it's hard not to take him over a player we've barely seen, and has been in disappointing in those appearances.

Prediction: Clide 2 - 1 Sniper




Wow, it's been a long time since we've seen Huk. For the first time in what seems like forever, Huk hasn't been flying to a new city every weekend, playing in a new tournament and then having to make a jet lagged trip back to Korea to participate in the GSL. Some might think that the lack of tournaments lately for Huk might be a bad thing, giving off a rust effect in his all important first round Code A match, but I'm positive about his chances to get past the first round.

Even though he's had a long break, can you really say a little rust is so much worse than his previous schedule where he spent half of his time in airports and airplanes? Let's say this fresh, non-exhausted HuK practiced for half a week before this match. That would be the best conditions he's had going into a GSL match since summer of 2011.

Looking at his opponent, Terious is no slouch, definitely showing the potential of a player who could be one of the best Zerg prospects we've seen come through Code A in quite a while. The only problem for Terious is that he has shown nerves in the booth before, and if he wants to get past Huk, he will need to put those fears behind him and play his best games.

In the end, Huk should be the favorite. It was not too long ago that Huk was considered one of, if not the best, Protoss in the world, had gotten to the quarterfinals of a Code S and won MLG Orlando over MC. With the rest that he has gotten over the past month, he should be ready to take on the Zerg from Prime and give a good show for his fans in his 2012 season opener.

Prediction: Huk 2 - 1 Terious




From recent interviews, Idra continues to take the stance that Zerg cannot beat Protoss. Luckily(?) for him, he gets to prove this theory correct against ZeNex's Avenge in a match to see who will live on in the GSL. This match has huge importance for Idra, who was given a sponsored seed into Code S and was quickly bounced, ending up 4th in his group after losing to Nestea and Lucky. If he loses here, he will be out of the GSL entirely and have to qualify the hard way to get back in.

Not only did Idra say that Protoss cannot lose to Zerg, but he also commented that his opponent Avenge is nothing special. After his performance against Vines and TheStC in team league, Avenge didn't look like a world beater by any means, but he will be no pushover for Idra. A lot of people are looking forward to Huk and Idra destroying their Korean counterparts in the first round and meeting in the second round in an epic clash of former rivals turned teammates, but if Idra isn't confident in his ZvP, Avenge isn't the type of player that can be looked down upon.

Prediction: Avenge 2 - 1 Idra




Sen, like his sponsored seed partner Idra, didn't have a good run in Code S. He landed in 4th while being unable to take a game against either Jjakji or Boxer. He had Boxer on the ropes on different occasions, but Sen would fall apart in the late game and not be able to find the right composition of units to end the game with. It always feels like that Sen can get into a good position in the mid game against tough Korean opponents, but when it edges toward the end, Sen ends up committing some fatal error. Whether it's investing too much into Brood Lords at the cost of supporting troops, or losing his infestors due to a misclick, there's always some way for his well laid plans to fall apart.

Even with that, you cannot say Sen isn't a very good player. He has the talent to beat people in Code A and even a few of the stragglers in Code S. I don't believe, at the moment, that he could be a force in the main league, but his ZvZ is top notch. IMTrue isn't the same as facing Nestea or even Losira. True is a ladder warrior, almost always showing up on other popular progamer streams in Korea, and from what I've seen, he's really good part of the time, but can also fall apart in the late game as well.

This should be a close game between two players trying to prove they belong in the GSL, but I have to give it to Sen in this one. He will be extra focused after falling out of Code S in embarrassing fashion, and he will be allowed to play his best match-up. Seeing as this is True's first time in GSL singles competition, the nerves could be a factor as well.

Prediction: Sen 2 - 1 True




A year ago, in the first ever GSTL, Tasteless fell in love with a Protoss player. Tasteless believed that this Protoss player would go onto to do great things. He would follow in the footsteps of his teammates MVP and Nestea, becoming the power house Protoss that Incredible Miracle needed to become an unstoppable force. With such an impressive showing in the team league, this player looked like he had an amazingly bright future.

Now, almost on the anniversary of his first appearance in the GOM Studios, Seed has arrived and he is ready to unleash a year's worth of pent up aggression on every nerd's ass in Code A. It took him a long time to finally get into Code A, but now that he is here, we will finally see if the Protoss that Tasteless (not Artosis) hyped can become the real deal against Monster from MVP.

Both players have great practice partners to work with. Seed obviously has Losira and Nestea while Monster can work with Genius from his squad. Monster's a good player, but the real player to watch out for in this series is Seed. How good is he? A year ago during GSTL, he was an absolute beast, but since then he hasn't appeared much in the team leagues and hasn't been able to qualify for Code A until now.

The seeds have been planted and it's now time to see if either a beautiful Protoss flower will emerge, or another over-hyped Protoss disappointment.

Prediction: Seed 2 - 0 Monster