The Code S season has finally ended, the Code A qualifiers are wrapped up, and we are at that strange stage that's not quite season one, and not quite season two (although, for ticketing purposes...). Twenty eight hopefuls will be battling it out for the final ten spots in Code S and with players such as ForGG, Leenock and Ganzi in the mix, it's going to be a dog fight for whoever is able to make it out. Here's a quick run down of the players who will be participating in the first group tonight. To try something new, I'll be throwing my predictions on how the group will fare from bottom to the top (Editor's note: I ran the percentages for Fionn's predictions last season; not pretty). So without any further ado, let's start with the biggest underdog of this group.


6. coL.Heart

A very promising Terran player, Heart's big break in the GSL came when he was able to make it into Code A through the qualification tournament last season. He had the daunting task of facing former Code A champion and everything-but-Code S specialist Bomber in the first round. Already gigantic underdog going into the series, Heart got absolutely man handled in the first game, looking like he would be another player who made it through the qualifiers once, never to be seen again.

However, through a couple cheeky all-in rushes coupled with Bomber's overconfident lack of thorough scouting, Heart was able to pull off a gigantic upset. Busting out a 1/1/1 build in the second set and then a proxy tank rush in the deciding game, Heart completed Bomber's free fall from Code S to Code B. Heart wasn't able to keep up his Cinderella run in the next round against TvT master Ryung, where he also tried some of the same cheeses, only to lose 1 – 2. Coming into this group, he is the heavy underdog, but if the other players don't prepare for Heart's early timings and rushes, they might end up like Bomber and watch the Complexity player catch his first Code S break.


5. ZeNEXAvenge

An intriguing player in the group, Avenge is the only ZeNEX player left standing. With his team in dire straits, he is their hope to get into Code S and make the beleaguered team more appealing to those ever important sponsors. With Code S being the most prestigious Starcraft 2 tournament in the world, a player in Code S doing well might very well be the best way for a struggling team to find someone to invest in their squad. He isn't a favorite to make it out of the group, but his Code A performance was pretty good for a player in only his second GSL. He beat not only the American hope IdrA, but one of the best Zergs on Prime in Bumblebee.

He wasn't able to beat Oz – one of the best PvP players in the world – in the last hurdle before Code S, but he proved that he is GSL quality. His best match-up from his Code A performance would have to be his PvZ, where he was able to win both his matches this season. With two good, but not particularly consistent Zergs in his group, Avenge has a chance to make ZeNEX proud and be their first Code S player in a long, long time.


4.Slayers_YuGiOh

All hail the King of Code A! For once again, for the 8,035th time in the past year, YuGiOh was able to get past the first round of Code A before falling in the second round. Now he is back in the Up-and-Down matches for what feels like the thousandth time, wanting to make it back to Code S where he has been the last two seasons, thought he had disappointing results both times around.

YuGiOh is truly the middle point of this group. He is more proven and shown he can win in more situations than the two relatively new players below him, but he hasn't shown the potential to be an upper echelon Code S player like the three players I've ranked above him. This is his chance to make a statement by making it into Code S for a third season, showing that his skill level is gradually improving.


3. BBoongBBoongPrime

One of the most exciting up and coming Zerg players in the scene, B4 (because typing BBoongBboong over and over takes too much effort), is trying to get into Code S for the first time in his career. The difference between B4 and fellow never-Code S'ers Heart and Avenge, is that B4 has shown that he can semi-consistently hang with Code S level players through the GSTL and other team competitions.

The Prime team is on the upswing, becoming one of the deepest and most fearsome team competition teams in the world, housing Code S quality talents such as MarineKing, GhostKing, Creator, and Maru. With B4 as the anchor to those five players, Prime has been doing amazingly in team competitions, winning the most recent IPL Team Arena Challenge tournament over HoSeo with Creator leading the way and making it to the semifinals of the GSTL without dropping a single match so far.

B4's weakest match-up is Terran, so he rolled the right group, only having to play one Code S Terran the entire night. He is on a short four game losing streak, but with the losses coming against Zenio (who is amazing at ZvZ) and Alive (who is destroying absolutely everyone at the moment not named Genius), and San (who is... Protoss? Just kidding), I still have faith in his ability to make a good Code S challenge.


2. MVPKeen

Oh Keen. Before the first season of the year started, your play in online tournaments was amazing. You destroyed Slayers, including MMA, in an all-kill in the IPL Team Arena made me think you finally had arrived. For so long you were a player that, at times, showed the skill to be able to be one of the best Terrans in the world, but you also showed play that made you look impatient, inconsistent, and not Code S worthy. You did decently in Code A this season, having a reasonably easy time getting to the third round by beating MacSed and Ace, but you ran into Nestea at the final hurdle and got stomped.

Now, this is a group that Keen should get out of. No excuses. If he wants to be considered one of the top ten best Terrans in the world and one of the best players on MVP, this is a group that he really shouldn't have trouble getting out of. Heart's cheeses shouldn't be a trouble if Keen just scouts and prepares; Keen's TvP really should be good enough to take care of an untested Avenge; he's already beat YuGiOh in up-downs before; BBoongBBoong is a damn good up-and-coming player from Prime but his ZvT is his worst match-up. Squirtle, the other favorite in this group, should be his fiercest challenge, but by no means would it be an upset if Keen 5-0'ed this group and marched his way back to Code S.

He's coming for you, Nada.

1. Startale_Squirtle

Enter the favorite of this group. Squirtle's PvZ and PvP are statistically some of the best in Korea and his play recently backs that up. Squirtle got to the third round of Code A before falling to Taeja, one of the best young players in the scene. His PvT is his worst match-up, but again, like so many others in this group, he only has to play one top level Terran the entire round, that being Keen. Coming off a four kill against Incredible Miracle in the GSTL (albeit, it was their B-team), the Protoss player from Startale has his sights set on his first voyage to Code S.

Ever since his absolutely stunning set against IMMvp a year ago in the first ever GSTL finals, taking down the giant in one of the best games ever seen at the time in Starcraft 2, people have been waiting for Squirtle to make it into Code S. Alongside Seed, these were the two GSTL Protosses that people wanted to see in the GSL and transfer their skills from the team league to singles competition. With Seed's recent advancement to Code S, beating Leenock in the final round, it is now Squirtle's time to shine. If he plays up to his usual level in PvP and PvZ, he should be able to go through 4-1 or 5-0 in his group. The match against Keen will be the biggest one of the night. Keen is inconsistent, but has really good TvP, and Squirtle has been playing better than him lately, but his PvT isn't nearly as good as his PvP or PvZ.

But when push comes to shove, I have to rank Squirtle as the favorite in the group. His GSTL performance against Incredible Miracle and impressive wins against the Seal and Inca in Code A make have made him the player with the most momentum going into this Up-and-Down group. With Squirtle and Parting as their two Protoss stars, Startale has a bright future with their Aiur duo.