The first day of Code A RO24 games saw Seed as the sole Code A player to break into Code S, as Mvp, Oz, and Curious kept their spots. Seed took out Leenock to secure his spot in the GSL's top competition, sending the former Code S runner-up to the Up-Down matches. As the specter of jet lag loomed, the results were inclusive, with two of the four players who had competed at MLG Winter Arena making it through.
After an early hiccup, Mvp recovered and defeated Sniper, securing his place in next season's Code S.
It looked like perhaps the extended travel and jet lag were having a real effect after Mvp got crushed in game one. He was unable to cause Sniper any kind of discomfort, and the underdog Zerg player built up a monster economy to destroy Mvp with ease.
However, it was business as usual from game two onwards. In game two, Mvp used one of his customary cheese rushes, something you always expect to see at least once in an Mvp best of three. It worked like a charm, and Mvp evened up the score. The final game was an archetypical Mvp game, with his mechanical army of doom able to destroy everything Sniper could throw at it.
Curious built on his recently immaculate Code A record with a 2 – 0 victory over TheStC, improving to 19 – 1 since September of 2011.
He fended off a proxy barracks rush easily in game one, and followed with a large roach-baneling bust to seal the deal. The second game saw Curious fall behind for periods of the game, but a huge muta-ling-bane attack on a Terran army on creep swung the momentum solidly back in Curious' favor. Curious was able to build on that lead, and overwhelmed TheStC with a strong economy and superior army.
The stats did not lie, as former GSL runner-up Leenock dropped further below the .500 line in ZvP. Seed secured his entry into the Code S scene as another Protoss prospect at a time where complaints about the race are growing.
The first game saw the return of laser-toss, with Seed using void rays, colossi, and stalkers to defeat Leenock. Leenock was able to destroy Seed's expensive units, but took too much damage to withstand the masses of blink stalkers that followed. Leenock tried to recover with a nydus assisted hydralisk attack in game two, but Seed thwarted the attempt with good scouting. He the put together a force of colossi and stalkers to take an easy victory.
Oz showed that his 0 – 2 loss to HuK at MLG was but a minor setback, and returned to his winning ways in PvP with a 2 – 0 victory over Avenge.
The first game on Daybreak was a three base vs three base, max-out affair, similar to the game the two played in the GSTL just weeks ago. Just like that game, Oz managed the max-out battle far better than Avenge, and won by a landslide. Oz showed he could win in a fast game as well, using 3 gate pressure to damage Avenge's economy, following up with Dark Templars for an easy victory in game two.
Games of Note
Oz vs Avenge, Game One: There were no great games on the night, but this one was probably the most entertaining of the bunch, considering we haven't seen too much late game PvP in the GSL lately. It appears that will change soon, however.
Sniper vs Mvp, Game One: The third game in as many days where Mvp's bio TvZ lost to a player who was inferior on paper (Ret handing him two losses at MLG).
Seed vs Leenock, Game One: The return of laser-toss! Well, not quite, but it was interesting to see colossi and void rays in a combination again.
"Manner Mule" by Fishuu
Writer: Waxangel. Graphics and Art: Meko and Pony Tales (disciple and Lip the Pencilboy). Editor: Waxangel
Seed's play was actually pretty fascinating, it really got me thinking about all the shenanigans you can pull with hallucination, hopefully leenock will make it in the up and downs, but i have to say, i am looking forward to seeing what seed can do in Code S.
I love how you threw in the "complaints about the race are growing" regarding Protoss. I'm sick of protoss players acting all persecuted when both Zerg and Terran players are complaining about imbalance(both top Pro's as well as you're typical Diamond/Masters). Enough about my own whining, but I'm glad a writer actually pointed this out.
Anyways, glad my favorite player, Mvp, is back in Code S. Kick some ass.
On February 28 2012 23:43 TheTurk wrote: Nice writeup. Hope we won't have to see MVP back in Code A for a while.
Unfortunately going to Code A is quite easy these days and even though he is the only player I cheer for, I'm not to sure if he can restore his dominance with his shabby wirsts.
Seed secured his entry into the Code S scene as another Protoss prospect at a time where complaints about the race are growing.
Really? Implying this because Leenock lost a Bo3 in his by far worst MU while being jetlagged? Or are we talking Idra quotes here?
The complaints are coming from TvP, not ZvP, as late game Protoss is very hard for terran to deal with right now. Still I would hesitate before calling imbalance, as the meta game needs time to change
I was so excited when Sniper took the first game off of MVP, as I thought that his slump lately might be more serious than just a slump. I think the game is ready for a new best player in the world.
Glad to see Curious still has it in him. Hopefully one day he'll take that Code A awesomeness and transform it into Code S "spectacularness."
Seed secured his entry into the Code S scene as another Protoss prospect at a time where complaints about the race are growing.
Really? Implying this because Leenock lost a Bo3 in his by far worst MU while being jetlagged? Or are we talking Idra quotes here?
The complaints are coming from TvP, not ZvP, as late game Protoss is very hard for terran to deal with right now. Still I would hesitate before calling imbalance, as the meta game needs time to change
Uh people are most definitely complaining about ZvP
On February 29 2012 04:51 People_0f_Color wrote: The new TL website format made the spoilers impossible to avoid since the little blurbs underneath the massive images announced all of the results:
"IM.Mvp, FXO_z, and ST_Curious defended their Code S spots, but FXOLeenock's ZvP proved to be a liability once more as IM.Seed took his place."
please remedy this situation.
-A frustrated fan
you can check the spoilers button at the bottom and remove the spoilers cant you?
On February 29 2012 04:51 People_0f_Color wrote: The new TL website format made the spoilers impossible to avoid since the little blurbs underneath the massive images announced all of the results:
"IM.Mvp, FXO_z, and ST_Curious defended their Code S spots, but FXOLeenock's ZvP proved to be a liability once more as IM.Seed took his place."
please remedy this situation.
-A frustrated fan
you can check the spoilers button at the bottom and remove the spoilers cant you?
I think the mention of balance complaints against toss was simply meant to point out that the korean scene has put forth some complaints against toss, not that waxangel has any strong view on the balance subject. On a different note TheStC played like shit, super dissapointing as Ive been a fan of his since beta and was really hoping hed make it to code S this time.
Doesn't any of the TL writers actually know the truth about why Mvp has been playing badly lately? You'd think that the people who write this stuff would actually follow the interviews etc. :p Same with the casters talking about being tired and jetlagged when clearly the problem is in his wrists.
On February 29 2012 01:21 Sumahi wrote: I was so excited when Sniper took the first game off of MVP, as I thought that his slump lately might be more serious than just a slump. I think the game is ready for a new best player in the world.
Glad to see Curious still has it in him. Hopefully one day he'll take that Code A awesomeness and transform it into Code S "spectacularness."
Is it fair to call it a "slump"?
From the interviews, it appears to be more of an injury.
On February 29 2012 04:51 People_0f_Color wrote: The new TL website format made the spoilers impossible to avoid since the little blurbs underneath the massive images announced all of the results:
"IM.Mvp, FXO_z, and ST_Curious defended their Code S spots, but FXOLeenock's ZvP proved to be a liability once more as IM.Seed took his place."
please remedy this situation.
-A frustrated fan
I love the new spoiler format. That's what I want to see when I hit TL home page. A nice big picture of MKP grinning the biggest grin ever, Polt throwing his arm in the air in victory. Love it!
Seed secured his entry into the Code S scene as another Protoss prospect at a time where complaints about the race are growing.
Really? Implying this because Leenock lost a Bo3 in his by far worst MU while being jetlagged? Or are we talking Idra quotes here?
The complaints are coming from TvP, not ZvP, as late game Protoss is very hard for terran to deal with right now. Still I would hesitate before calling imbalance, as the meta game needs time to change
Uh people are most definitely complaining about ZvP
who are these people? What I find weird, since nothing particular about the races have changed in months besides the ghost snipe..What exactly is different from 3-4 months ago?
Seed secured his entry into the Code S scene as another Protoss prospect at a time where complaints about the race are growing.
Really? Implying this because Leenock lost a Bo3 in his by far worst MU while being jetlagged? Or are we talking Idra quotes here?
The complaints are coming from TvP, not ZvP, as late game Protoss is very hard for terran to deal with right now. Still I would hesitate before calling imbalance, as the meta game needs time to change
Uh people are most definitely complaining about ZvP
who are these people? What I find weird, since nothing particular about the races have changed in months besides the ghost snipe..What exactly is different from 3-4 months ago?
Well patches aren't the only thing that affect which races win more.
But still, do zergs think protoss is imbalanced? Obviously some do because there are always players of every race who think everything is slanted against them, they're called balance whiners, but I do not get the impression that ZvP is a match up in dire straits like a lot of people think TvP is right now.
Was it really necessary to separate the recap from the preview? Having them on the same page saved link space on the sidebar. I feel there needs to be modifications to the featured news sidebar or allow twice the amount of links there because at this pacing everything feels like it's spammed down. Those that don't frequent the site daily will miss out.
mvp vs. sniper was decent- so was curious vs. thestc (especially the final set). my personal highlight though was leenock vs. seed. seed has a really interesting style of playing, doing a lot during the game (especially faking out his opponents). i feel like he is getting back to the level that he had last year during his first gstl appereances. haven't seen oz vs. avenge yet, oz is a beast (sometims^^).
EPT
IMmvp 2 – 1 
MvPSniper
IMSeed 2 – 0 ![[image loading]](/staff/fishuu/muleQueen2.png)
