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The Ups and Downs of Zerg
– DongRaeGu, BBoongBBoong, Symbol, Sniper advance, Curious and Zenio fall to the wayside

With the lack of Zergs in the GSL, last night's games might bring some solace to the newly downtrodden masses. While it wasn't all good news, with Liquid`Zenio getting smashed by ST_Bomber and the experienced and proven ST_Curious losing to an untested MvPSniper, four other members of the swarm were able to make it through to the final round of Code A.

MvPDongRaeGu did not have the smoothest way through, dropping a map against ST_AcE to the surprise of everyone in the studio (including Ace himself). Making thousands of angry Zerg players write angry e-mails to Blizzard, Ace performed a sentry drop in DRG's natural and force-fielded off any chance for the GSL champion to save his tech structures. Not even trying to fight it out or even going for a base race, saved his energy and simply crushed Ace in the next game. Ace tried his best, but DRG was simply better mechanically and with his decision making.

BBoongBBoongPrime performed as expected, no more and no less. He was solid, didn't make any major mistakes against the always unpredictable coL.Heart, and when given the opportunity, capitalized on all the blunders his opponent made. B4's first run in Code S wasn't very smooth and showed that he had some things to learn (in particular, ZvP at a Code S level), but he picked up valuable experience this season from his losses and has the talent to be a regular in Code S.

TSL_Symbol continued to impress and didn't let the pressure of hype or jet lag get to him. LG-IMSeed played well, bringing some unorthodox builds not often seen in PvZ, but Symbol responded well enough to come through. In particular, his drop play was brilliant against Seed's greedy 6:30 triple nexus in the final game of the series. Symbol has already passed his two big tests this season by beating sC and Seed, and if he can beat Jjakji in the final round, then talk of a royal road and new Zerg hope would not be out of place.

MvPSniper, like the three other Zergs who advanced, was also impressive in his play. He was the underdog going up against the more experienced and never shaken ST_Curious, but he came through in straight sets to move to his second consecutive Code A RO24. Bomber will be waiting for him there, but if anyone expects Sniper to lay down for him and meekly retreat into the Up and Downs, they have another thing coming. Sniper is solid, plays with the best Zerg in the world and is looking better with each GSL win.


Gut Check
– Alive, Jjakji, Gumiho and Bomber try to answer questions as they advance to the final round

FnaticRC aLive

The question: Can he overcome his disappointing 4th place finish at Iron Squid, beat the jet lag, and build on his momentum from IPL4?

Answer: Yes, but just barely. Hack was able to win the first game against Alive and put him in a position where he could have folded. With some good play in the second game and being able to out-position his opponent in a war of marine-tank vs. marine-tank, Alive was able to win the second set. Then, well, in the third set...uhm...things got sloppy. Both players running marines to their death into siege tank fire; flying medivacs straight into vikings for no reason reason; rallying marine after marine into a Planetary Fortress for no other reason but to color the grass red; leaving siege tanks unmanned in the middle of the map and letting stimmed marines take them out without any fight.

I don't think either would say game three was one of their better games or even an average game for them, but Alive won due to one thing and one thing only: his multitasking. If Alive dropped in Hack's main or any of his other bases, it would take up to 30 seconds for Hack to respond and clear it up. If Hack dropped Alive anywhere on the map, Alive already had units at the ready, stimming in and taking down the drop without losing too much. Before too long, Hack was trying to kill Alive's drops with his dwindling supply of SCV's and had to finally gg after a long 35 minute marathon.


ST_Bomber

The question: How good is Bomber?

Answer: Pretty damn good, when he wants to be. Zenio isn't the best Zerg, but he isn't a bad one either. If you were looking to see how good Bomber is against a high Code A/low Code S-caliber Zerg, these were the games to watch. He played well, running his opponent all over the map with double and triple pronged attacks with his impressive mulitasking with dropships. There really isn't much to discuss here; no one will ever doubt that Bomber has confidence and the skills to become a Code S champion, but can he continue to be consistent throughout a whole season? You can play a great series here and there, but when you want to be a Code S champion, you need to play every night like it's a final and bring your very best. If Bomber can do that, he can become a GSL champion, but if his inconsistency continues, we'll probably be asking this question forever.


FXOGuMiho

The question: Was his semifinals run last season a fluke?

Answer: Who knows? Vines did two wacky all-ins, Gumiho showed his experience by not falling for said all-ins, and took the series comfortably. Let's return to this question next week when he faces July and gets baneling busted game after game.


NSH_Jjakji

The question: Was his GSL November championship a fluke?

Answer: No? I guess not? It might depend on semantics of what defines a "fluke." Even Jjakji would say that his championship run up to the finals required a lot of luck. Supernova botched a game that could have eliminated Jjakji on the first night of Code S; Coca, someone who was on an absolute tear, forfeited his spot in the round of sixteen and gave Jjakji a free win to advance in second; Oz and Puzzle didn't play their best, and Jjakji only barely got past Oz in the semifinals. But, when people were expecting for Jjakji to get beaten down in the finals against Leenock, he was able to win his title in one of the better played finals we've seen in Starcraft 2 and make a name for himself.

Still, it's not like a win against JYP is going to retroactively make a win back in November look that much better. It will take another deep Code S run for fans to modify their memories and start saying "yeah I always believed in Jjakji, even during Code S November!" His games against JYP weren't the prettiest, but he was able to finally beat him in a three game series. After bungling what seemed like an automatic win in game two with a botched three rax all-in, Jjakji was able to get some clutch EMP's in game three against JYP's high templar and seal the deal. Up next is Symbol in what could be one of the best matches we see all season in Code A or Code S.

oGsLure vs SlayerS_YuGiOh

Since Lure defeated teammate Inca in a mirror match-up in the previous round, we're still left with very little information ahead of his match with Yugioh. The best we can scry about the youngster from oGs is that he didn't lose to InCa's DTs, so we can put him somewhere between Puzzle and Nestea in intelligence.

On the other hand, there's no player we've seen more of in Code A than YuGiOh, who's competed in all eleven Code A seasons thus far. Every season he seems to come back a little bit stronger, and now the title of “King of Code A” has become far less of a joke, and more of a compliment to his incredible consistency. While we must wait to see if YuGiOh's slow upward progress will eventually result in a departure from Code A in aspiration of a loftier kingdom, it's not hard to see that for now, he will make short work of new challengers running unchecked through his lands. Sure, Lure could be an exceptional talent in the making, but why question the King?

Prediction: YuGiOh 2 – 1 Lure


GhostKingPrime vs. FXOTree

I want to tell you about Tree and hype him up for you, but I can't. Yeah, he was able to beat Brown, but do we even know how good Brown is? He made Code S that one time, totally fell apart and then vanished into Code B like it was all a weird dream that we really don't want to remember. So besides those two wins against Brown, he's never won anything else of note except a single win against Startale_Tiger about five months ago. FXO says that he is a really good young player and they expect a lot from him, but he's playing GhostKing.

GhostKing is a former Code S semifinalist, someone who eliminated Nada from the GSL like it was nothing and is on a road to redemption that he said won't be complete until he returns to Code S. This tree might one day grow to be strong and tall, but GhostKing doesn't care about potential and will be hacking it down without mercy.

Prediction: GhostKing 2 - 0 Tree


Slayers_Puzzle vs. CreatorPrime

They both have similar win rates in everyone's favorite match-up PvP, are around the same skill range, and neither really has more momentum than the other. So let me go grab my coin and flip it to see who is going to win this.*

Give me a second.

Alright, got it.

Prediction: Creator 2 -1 Puzzle

*Squirtle vs HerO is coming up, so there will be at least one real PvP preview this month.


LG-IMHappy vs SlayerS_Ryung

If nothing else, we all know that Ryung is an excellent TvT player. We also know that with some luck, expertise in one match-up can take you quite a long way in Starcraft II. Ryung was a Code S regular during the Terran golden age in 2011, and things are falling his way again one year later. Going up against Happy in the RO32, and with ForGG the favorite to triumph on the opposite side of the bracket, we could very well see Ryung in another Code S.

Happy looked like he would be another one of those specialists for a while, boasting a fearsome mech and bio based TvZ that looked nigh unstoppable. Unfortunately for Happy, his overall skill seemed to drop off quite considerably after a brief period in the limelight, and he didn't even draw the match-up he needed while he was a contender. Now he's fallen behind Yoda on the LG-IM depth charts, and he's in terrible danger of being mired in Code A unless he can rediscover whatever spark he had in the past. TvT was Happy's worst match-up even in his prime, making this prediction an easy one.

Prediction: Ryung 2 – 0 Happy


MvPKeen vs. LG-IMNesTea

These two played in last season's Code A and Nestea, after looking pretty weak and in a slump beforehand, turned back into the GSL champion we once knew and made Keen, a former Code S quarter-finalist, look like a low level Code A player that was lucky to even play against Nestea.

This time around, Keen should be better prepared and with his demon Nada finally eradicated from the GSL, he might finally be able to become the consistent player that everyone believed he would become last year. Nestea, who was upset by Symbol in the semifinals of Iron Squid, but found redemption by beating Alive in the third place match, cannot be happy seeing MVP only two series away from getting his 4th title before him.

There are a lot of variables in how this game will turn out. If Nestea and Keen both bring their absolute best, it's going to be a nail biter of a series and one of the better played ones we've seen this season, but Nestea should edge it out. If either of them doesn't bring their A-game while the other does, we could see an unusually humiliating beat down for the losing player.

Prediction: Nestea 2 - 1 Keen


SlayerS_MMA vs ZeNEXLine

Thank god ZeNEX has found 'the THING,' because they could use any kind of good news as they take a pounding in the GSL. Avenge dropped out quietly in the first round after getting defeated by Sniper, and now Line has unpleasant task of trying to defeat the best TvZ player in the world (sorry MKP fans, it's still MMA in our books).

The jet-lag factor is definitely in play for MMA, but it shouldn't really matter. Line is a player who looked good over a year ago during the super tournament, while MMA has based a large portion of his career on mercilessly destroying Line's race. If PartinG can fly back from IPL4 and steamroll Polt and Fin 30 hours later, then I don't think MMA should have much trouble with Line.

Prediction: MMA 2 – 0 Line


TSL_Polt vs. coL.GanZi

Polt must desperately want to beat Ganzi. Back in the November season of the GSL, Polt was one of the most consistent players in the league. He had been in Code S for seven straight seasons, had won the Super Tournament and almost made a second finals in August before losing in the semifinals to TOP. Then, after beating Leenock in the first game of the night and being a game away from making the Ro16, Polt met Ganzi.

Polt was in a good position in the early part of the game, but after throwing away most of his army in a battle that he didn't need to take, he fell in a game where he couldn't make up for his early mistake. After this game, the once consistent Polt felt into a gigantic slump. Losing to Leenock in the final game of the night, he fell to Code A before dropping even further to Code B last season. Luckily for Polt, his foreign success was able to grant him another chance in Code S, but he wasn't able to carry that success into the GSL and fell back into Code A as 4th place in his group.

He was able to finally get his first big win in the GSL since November against Sound in the first round, but he'll finally get that rematch against Ganzi to see if he can get one step closer to being back into Code S. A lot like Polt, Ganzi has also been trying to find his place back into Code S after being making a surprising semifinals run in October. Neither has had much GSL success lately, most making their names and money in foreign events, but one of them will get a chance to face MC to make it back into Code S without going into the Up and Downs.

It should be close, but having already spent a week practicing solely TvT for his match against Sound, Polt might finally get his revenge tonight against Ganzi.

Prediction: Polt 2 - 1 Ganzi


coL.Killer vs oGsForGG

With new stars popping out of every possible corner, and old veterans finding themselves not just revitalized but growing even stronger, there's never been a better time be a Protoss player. That makes it all the stranger that a handful of the old stalwarts of Code S can't seem to find their rhythm in this new day and age. Alongside HuK, Killer looks weaker than he was in the autumn of 2011, and will have to fight hard to get into Code S in his current form.

On the face of it, he should be easy pickings for ForGG, a player who always looks far too good to be in Code A or the Up/Downs, despite continuously falling flat in Code S. He's on his way to becoming an upgraded version of Virus or Ensnare (able to survive in the revamped 2012 GSL system), but that's hardly where his goals are after making grandiose proclamation during his debut.

Though one would think that Killer's death-balling abilities from 2011 would serve him well in the PvT environment of 2012, defeating an opponent of ForGG's caliber will require a degree of finesse we see too rarely from Killer.

Prediction: ForGG 2 – 1 Killer