Could it possibly be? Is a foreigner actually favored in a match versus a Korean? Sen showed that his 65% international ZvZ win rate meant something in Korea as well, earning an impressive victory over IMTrue in the previous round. Now he goes up against MVP's Sniper, a player who is 0 – 5 in ZvZ so far. Things seem to bode well for our Taiwanese hero.

That said, five games is an awfully small sample that's not always indicative of the future. For instance, FXO_z started his career with a 0 – 8 PvT record, and now he's pretty damn good at the match-up. Then again, there are players like oGsInCa, who started with a 0 – 10 PvZ record, which improved to... 11 – 20 (2 – 15 in GSL). When you consider that Sniper's last recorded tournament ZvZ was in September, who knows where his ZvZ could be at now?

Altogether, the bits and pieces we have still suggest that Sen is ahead. Sen's a tried and true ZvZ gosu, while the most Sniper has going for him at the moment is "you never know." Thanks, I'll take the known quantity here.

Tangent: The winner of this match gets to challenge for a Code S spot against IM-f***ing-Mvp (the ID he should have used between July and November of last year). I'm sure both Sen and Sniper would appreciate the opportunity to get into Code S, but realistically I imagine they're already thinking about their Up/Down matches. Basically, this match matters as little as possible, without actually being entirely irrelevant. It makes you wonder, should the GSL system be revamped to reward the winner of the Code A RO32 match with a slight advantage in the Up/Downs? Or is it reward enough to get an extra shot at Code S in the first place?

Prediction: Sen 2 – 1 Sniper




With the recent rise of SuperNoVa, the departure of NaDa, and the disappearance of TOP and his hipster glasses, this is the match that could decide who truly is the second best Terran and overall player on the oGs team. Fin, ForGG, The Pretender, the future Code S champion, or whatever you want to call him, came into his first Code S season with high goals. He didn't only want to make an impact, but he wanted to win it all in his first try, becoming the first ever Starcraft 2 Royal Roader and putting himself in history forever. Well, sorry for all the Elephant in the Room fans, but that didn't come to be. He wasn't even able to get out of the first round, losing to both former teammate SK_MC and previous runner-up FXOLeenock.

We all know Fin is a really good player and his run through Code A against ST_July, NSH_Sage and TSL_Polt was impressive, but his quick fall from Code S also showed us he might not be ready to take the world by storm just yet. In Code A, he showed specific builds that he had down pat, and those were able to dispatch of the players put in front of him. But when he had to go up against Leenock, one of the best ZvT players in the world, and MC, one of the most unpredictable PvT players in the world, he just couldn't reproduce his Code A results.

If Fin doesn't come in with his best builds, he might be in trouble because his teammate, TheStC, will be up to the challenge. TheStC might actually be the best player to never make Code S, almost making it in all the way back at MLG Orlando, only to fall at the final hurdle against MC. TheStC has already left his mark on this tournament, beating Losira in the first round and kicking the former GSL finalist all the way back where he started in Code B.

Both these players know each other well, so I would expect to see some trickery from these teammates. Fin might be the more talented of the two due to his Brood War background, but TheStC has been one of the best Terrans since the beta and it feels like this could finally be the GSL where he makes it to Code S. Both of these players have the talent to make it into Code S, but only one will make it through to the final round of Code A, while the other must try his luck in the Up-and-Downs.

Prediction: TheStC 2 – 1 Fin




Going into this series, Seed should be the slight favorite. Not only was he able to dispatch a pretty strong Code A-caliber Zerg in MVPMonster, but he got through without dropping a game and looked dominating in his first time out in the GSL. He was able to gain fans, most notably Tasteless, with his GSTL performances a year ago, but unlike some other GSTL Stars, Seed was able to make it past the first round of Code A. He wasn't able to carry his momentum of his Code A first round win into the present GSTL, where he lost to the impressive Symbol from TSL, but the sky is still the limit for this young player. With Protoss doing much better lately, he could be the surprise player to make it into Code S, much like SlayerS_Brown from last season.

Facing Seed is the Emperor, Boxer, who I say would be the favorite in this match if it wasn't for the fact it seems like he is taking more of a backseat when it comes to playing. Now the head coach of his team Slayers, you would have to guess that his practice time has gone down and he is more focused on helping his team get ready for their match against oGs-TL in their next GSTL bout. Even with him taking more of a coaching role on the squad, you can't count him out.

Truthfully, Boxer should have made the round of sixteen of Code S. In the deciding game against the defending champion NSH_Jjakji, Boxer had him in a checkmate situation, but threw away a huge lead and squandered a chance to get out of the group with his teammate GanZi. In the past few months, this seems to be a common occurrence with the Emperor, who also threw away a big lead against MarineKingPrime in the final round of Code A in a game that would have given him a direct seed into Code S. This should be a close series, but Seed is a hungry rookie looking to make a big splash and Boxer is edging more into the management side of Starcraft 2 with his taking over of SlayerS coaching duties.

Prediction: Seed 2 – 1 Boxer

BumblebeePrime vs. ZeNexAvenge

More than the players, this game is might really be about the teams themselves. ZeNex and Prime really aren't all that different when it comes to how they were a few months ago. Both lost major players that sculpted their team's image; for Prime, they lost Polt, their only GSL champion, and many iconic players of their team, including Maka, HongUn, and Check. ZeNex lost the only player to win a GSL title for them, their Code A champion Puzzle, and others such as CoCa, Byun and Hack. Both teams were left without sponsors; Prime used to have World Elite and Sabasaba Chicken as their sponsors, but they lost both of them and were left without nothing.

Now, at the start of 2012, the teams are now radically different. ZeNex is severely struggling, still looking for a sponsor and only having one player left in the GSL with Avenge. Prime, who didn't have a sponsor, went on to make their own clothing store and turned their players into models, picking up more sponsors along the way and now looking in a little bit better financial shape than before. When it comes down to the players, ZeNex has tried to replace their old stars of Coca, Byun, and Puzzle, but they haven't succeeded. In the case of Prime, they have some of the best young players in the world, including the 14-year-old Maru who recently six-killed (yes, six-killed) Startale in a KSL match, including a victory over Bomber. They also have Creator, their much hyped Protoss who was able to eliminate Prime's former OptimusPrime, Polt, into Code B with a 2-1 score. While ZeNex looks like a shell of their former self, Prime has turned a bad situation around and are now one of the deepest teams in Starcraft 2.

Bumblebee is another one of Prime's strong prospects. He was able to take down foreigner favorite EG.HuK in the first round and has advanced to the second round of Code A with three other of his Prime teammates, looking to get to the Code S for the first time. Avenge, who was able to defeat EG.IdrA 2-0, is a solid Protoss, but isn't someone I would expect to be able to beat Bumblebee. Idra went into his match against Avenge with the mindset that Zerg couldn't beat Protoss, and Bumblebee is unlikely to emulate that unique brand of futility.

This match is a tale of two teams. One, trying to dig itself out of a hole with only one player left to carry their flag in the GSL, and the other, bustling with talent, excited to continue their uprising into the ranks of Code S and prove that the Old Generation of Prime is gone and the New Prime Generation is here to stay.

Prediction: Bumblebee 2 – 0 Avenge




For a match-up between a Brood War legend and a player largely touted to be his spiritual heir, there's not much excitement. To be honest, the better "duel" for these players would for them to challenge each other to bust through progressively harder and harder Terran defenses, with the player who makes it furthest being the victor. These two guys are represented by their ZvT play, so a ZvZ duel is just not as interesting.

On the whole, Leenock just looks like a superior ZvZ player. Not only do the numbers favor Leenock (12 – 7 vs 5 – 10 records), but you can just see that Leenock has so much more finesse in his play than July has at this stage in his career. Though both players have a successful aggressive philosophy and good sense of timing, Leenock does so little things with well microed, small groups of units that helps him accrue advantages through-out a game.

Interestingly enough, July did upset Leenock 2 – 1 in the recent FXO invitational, so it's not like a victory is out of the question. However, I still have to go with Leenock, he just seems like he's playing better.

Prediction: Leenock 2 – 1 JulyZerg




Back in the middle of 2011, Ryung really had things going. He made it to the quarterfinals of the Super Tournament before losing to friend, teammate, and rival SlayerS_MMA in a relatively close series, and then followed it up with a second quarterfinal appearance in August where he lost to July. He was able to make it to another round of sixteen in the next tournament, October, but since then, he's been on a gigantic downward spiral, falling to the edge of almost being knocked out of the GSL. Luckily for Ryung, AnnYeongPrime, the player he played in the first round, might have been the most wasteful player in the GSL, throwing banelings like they cost nothing. Ryung was able to escape with a 2-1 score, but he didn't look impressive in victory and is still looking to prove himself.

There is good news, though. Ryung is still one of the best TvT players in the world when he's in his top condition, and he's been given his match-up in the second round of Code A. His TvP might be some of the worst in the GSL currently, but when it comes to long macro games that involve tanks, Ryung has proven that he can prevail against the best of the best. His showing last round wasn't very good, but this is his best match-up in which he has always impressed.

Oh, congratulations on joining Complexity, Heart! Secondly, we have to say congratulations for pulling the biggest upset of the first round, taking out the former Code A and MLG champion ST_Bomber in a three game series. Even so, we can't talk about that win against Bomber without saying it might have been one of the luckiest in GSL history. No, it's not Heart's fault that Bomber played the way he did, but when it comes down to it, Heart was only able to win the series because of one thing: BOMBER DID NOT SCOUT.

If Bomber scouted either of the all-in builds from Heart in game two or three correctly, Bomber would have laughed in Heart's face, stomped him like he did in game one and moved on to get revenge against Ryung who had beaten him before in Code S. For some strange reason, maybe over-confidence or nerves, Bomber didn't scout correctly in either of the last two games. In the second game, when Heart was going for a variation of the 1/1/1 all-in build against him, Bomber carelessly walked eight plus marines to their death, basically ending the game due to not having enough reinforcements back at home to stop the tank, banshee and marine push that was coming. If Bomber had been more meticulous about scouting, he would have been able to bunker up and more than likely have held.

Heart has a lot of potential, but this is a series where both players need to prove themselves. Ryung didn't look good against Annyeong and Heart beat Bomber with some neat all-ins that would have failed if scouted correctly. Going on past performances, Ryung should win this series, but Heart showed that he's an unpredictable and dangerous player in the previous series. Heart will expect Ryung to have watched his games, so there will be another layer of mind games available to him as well.

Prediction: Ryung 2 – 1 Heart




The last time these two faced off was in last season's Up/Down matches, where JYP came out victorious. This ended up being the difference between Code A and Code S for the two players, and HerO has spoken of his eagerness to avenge the loss.

HerO hasn't played much tournament PvP lately, despite being very active in online competitions and live tournaments. Besides a for-granted win against Agh in NASTL, the last PvP of significance he played was against Mill.Feast, where he suffered an upset defeat that played a large part in his elimination from IEM Kiev. The result was more due to Feast's good play than HerO's shortcomings, but it casts a shadow on the upcoming match. HerO has complained about how PvP just hasn't been going well for him in recent days, and he might be a bit frustrated with the match-up.

JYP has been more active than his buddy, looking sharp against TypeReaL, d.BlinG, and SK_MC at HomeStory Cup 4, coming within an inch of making the final against MC. In general, his PvP has played a big role in keeping him afloat in Code A and S so far – which it really had to, considering his PvT record.

It's hard to call this game, with PvP being as a coin-flippy as ever if players desire to take the game that way. Both players are also excellent at the small army micro that's a key part of match-up, which makes it even tougher to know who will go through. However, JYP just has a better history of being successful in PvP, and in the GSL in general, so we'll give him the edge.

Tangent: I have a theory that EG will slowly acquire all of HerO's friends in a plot to eventually go after Liquid's Protoss star. Why go after JYP, when they already had a Code S level Korean in Choi HuK, and Code S players like Polt and Alive were possibly on the market? Look for EG to add FXOSirius and FXOasd in the near future, who in addition to Puma and JYP, will create an irresistible incentive for HerO to switch teams once his contract is up.

I'm kidding, of course. We all know the real EG plot is to destroy TSL.

Prediction: JYP 2 – 1 HerO




There's a little bit of history here. Four months ago, Lucky went to IPL3 in Atlantic City and took down a SlayerS Terran trio in Boxer, Ryung, and MMA on the way to the finals. A few weeks later in the GSL Up/Down matches, Lucky had a chance to make it 4/4 as he went up against Taeja, but Taeja proved to be more than up to the task of putting down the threat. Since then, Lucky has lost to Ganzi, but picked up a win against Clide, making him 4/6 overall against the SlayerS Terran line.

Going into the rematch, it's going to be awfully tough for Lucky to avenge his previous loss and take his fifth head. Taeja's best match-up is TvZ by a huge margin, with a 68% win rate. Though it's a bit inflated by playing against primarily Code A and B level competition in ESV Weekly tournaments, he dominates his Zerg opponents so handily in terms of in game content, that you know he's really a special player in that match-up. I know Zerg players will find it hard to believe, but yes, some Terrans are more skilled at the 3-base macro-steamroll than others.

The quality of Lucky's play suggests that his ZvT is better than his 48% win rate would indicate (he's faced a lot of very hard opponents), but it still doesn't appear to be on Taeja's level. His recent games against IMMvp in Code S seemed to be a pretty good snapshot of his ZvT ability: Lucky played very well and made good late-game decisions to defeat Mvp's 200/200 mech in one game, but he also lost four other games in the one-sided fashion you'd expect from an Mvp TvZ.

Though Taeja has had some trouble dealing with pressure situations in Code S, he's usually played close to his potential in Code A and Up/Down matches so far. Lucky could make it difficult, but Taeja should go through here.

Prediction: Taeja 2 – 0 Lucky