by Fionn

Consolation Match #1: TSL_Polt vs. Slayers_Miya

It's simple: either Polt wins and is the Terran Hope maybe for the entire WCS tournament, or he loses and there will be no Korea Terrans at WCS Asia or the WCS Global Finals. You'll probably have some pretty strong Terran competitors at the Global Finals like Thorzain, Major, and Lucifron, but after looking at all the Terran players left in the WCS, Polt is the one you would consider with the strongest chance to actually go far, and challenge the Korean Protoss empire and Global PatchZerg alliance.

On paper and looking at poll results, people are expecting Polt to win this 2-0 and cruise to Shanghai. Miya isn't the strongest player, has a terrible case of nervousness issues, and has never been a consistent player in the GSL. Polt has multiple championships, is a GSL champion, and was on a 25-8 winning tear before losing to Seed and Hero. Thing is, Miya has already taken out one of the best Terran players in the tournament, Fnatic's Alive, with a score of 2-0 and is considered by his peers to be one of the strongest ZvT players in the world, at least when he's playing behind closed doors.

Miya's ZvP and ZvZ have shown to be pretty weak, but with a 2-1 over Hack and then his big 2-0 victory over Alive, he is most confident in the match-up against Terran. Polt is no slouch when it comes to TvZ either, having recently taken out DongRaeGu, Hyun, and Shine in offline tournaments, but may still be reeling from his four straight losses against Seed and Hero. In both series on the first map, Polt was in a position to take the lead and move forward in the tournament, grabbing his WCS Asia seed. Then he made blunders with his medvicas, fell behind, and played flat the rest of the series.

For the sake of WCS and Terran everywhere, Polt should win this series. He is the more accomplished player and has been showing show TvZ since his long standing rivalry with Stephano started in early 2012. Miya, if his nerves permit it, will put up a good fight and might even pull off the upset to eradicate all Korean Terran from WCS Asia, but Polt, if he doesn't throw away four full medivacs, is a Terran you could count on.

Prediction: Polt 2 - 0 Miya

Consolation Match #2: Startale_Curious vs. Slayers_Puzzle

Puzzle and Curious are pretty much the same player, but with a different race. Both won Code A, when Code A was still an actual tournament a player could win, and both in dominating fashion. They both had big expectations on their shoulders as they ventured into their first Code S seasons. Puzzle was supposed to become the next big Protoss, and be the player to finally end the drought of Protoss futility in the GSL. With his insane micro, APM, and move to Slayers, the sky was the limit and people expected a championship or bust from a player who astounded in his Code A season.

Curious was the same. He entered Code A, killed everyone, won the tournament without dropping a single map, and got into Code S by beating Oz into the ground with a 4-0 score. At a time when people were still looking for the next Zerg bonjwa, Curious' strong run in the GSL mirrored and drew comparison's to Nestea's perfect season in GSL Code S July. He was on a strong team in Startale, had good players to practice with, and a cold demeanor that made you believe he wouldn't choke under the high tense situations he would get into in Code S.

Sadly, both haven't realized the potential that they had coming out of Code A. Curious has a very high ELO ranking and got far in TSL4, but still hasn't even cracked the quarterfinals of Code S. Puzzle has made it to the quarterfinals of Code S twice, but hasn't been able to get past the hump into the semifinals. Both still searching for a defining moment in their career, they will try to seize the day by getting to Shanghai for the WCS Asia Finals.

Both have the skill and determination in takes to go to WCS Asia, get into the top six and make the Global Finals, but only one will be getting a ticket's to next month's tournament. If you check past results between the two, Curious has the edge with four wins to Puzzle's two, but they are pretty much even when it comes to their PvZ/ZvP match-ups. Puzzle has the slight edge with a 60% win rate against Curious 55%, but either way tonight's series goes, it should end up going to a third game.

Prediction: Curious 2 - 1 Puzzle


The Grand Finals: Startale_PartinG/CreatorPrime vs. Startale_Squirtle

Squirtle is the best PvP'er in the world, might be the only Protoss that is truthful when he says PvP is more about skill than luck, and there is no chance in the world that Parting or Creator will be able to beat him in two Bo3 PvP series when both have already lost to him 2-0 this past week.

Seeing as I am obligated by TeamLiquid law to preview these finals even if it is going to be ten minutes of heart pumping laser beam action, I might as well breakdown the three players left and tell you why winning WCS Korea would be important for them. All three are distinct, different players in style, personality, and what it would mean to become the champion of South Korea.

"The Kong" Squirtle - Stuck firmly in the Kong Line after his back-to-back silver medal finishes at IPL4 in Las Vegas and Code S Season 2 in South Korea, this is Squirtle's shot to finally win the big one. While some people might not classify WCS Korea as the same caliber of tournament as a Code S or IPL, a win for Squirtle would still do him good to wipe away at least partial of the Kong name from his reputation. Being so close to two major titles and then losing must have been hard on one half of the Startale Protoss Duo, but he's fought back with tremendous play this tournament.

When looking at the other members of this new Protoss Empire that has taken over Seoul, Squirtle might be overlooked in different ways. He is no Genius, Seed, MC, or even his teammate and partner Parting when it comes to ceremonies and personalities. He might do a Nexus ceremony here or there, but instead of a ceremony or smack talk, you'll see Squirtle's apathetic, relaxed face every time he slays another foe. He doesn't have the international community support that Hero has from being on being one of the most beloved teams in the world. Even when compared to Creator, he doesn't have the whole wow-this-kid-is-sixteen-and-already-godly story going for him.

What Squirtle is is a solid, innovative and possibly the strongest player in the world when he is playing at his maximum potential. His micro and decision making are superb, and he is strong in all three match-ups. He has even done the impossible and made PvP look skill based when he plays. A title for Squirtle would quiet the Kong Line talks and settle him right up there with Taeja and Seed as the favorites for next season's Code S.

"The Storm" Parting - Wherever Parting goes, something amazing will occur. Be it his games, ceremonies, post game interviews, or even his participation in a group ceremony, if Parting is there, you know it will be entertaining. From his royal road bid in the first season of the year, to his iconic dropped game against MarineKing during the GSTL Finals in Las Vegas, Parting has had great game after great game. Just by himself, excluding the Mvp vs. Squirtle series, he's had the best PvT series of the year against MarineKing, Polt and jjakji.

Even last week during the OSL group ceremonies, where you had Flash, Mvp, MC and the biggest names in Starcraft 2, who came out of it as the biggest star? Parting. His new found rivalry with Baby and charismatic was of talking have even made him popular with the Brood War crowd who came to only see their favorite players. The newly turned eighteen-year-old is simply entertaining. Since breaking onto the scene, there has never been a dull interview or game with Parting involved.

The only thing left is a championship. With big words come big expectations. He was predicted by most to make his first Code S finals in the second season, but he got beat by the much more experienced Mvp. Parting came in with big words, said he could never be beat by the injured Mvp, and then had to eat those words when he lost the series 3-1. While his words and games might engage anyone who watches him, he still needs that championship to turn him from a boastful guy with nothing to back it up into a charismatic champion.

A championship for Parting would mean a lot. It would not only back up his ceremonies and talks of being the best Protoss in the world, but he would get to show everyone that he, and not Squirtle, is the best Protoss and player on Startale. Squirtle upstaged him by getting to the finals of GSL and putting on one of the best series of all-time against Mvp. Since then, Squirtle has been seen by many as the better between the two. If he can come back after losing already 0-2 to Squirtle and beat his teammate twice, he will get the last laugh and the trophy."The Storm" Parting

"The Wunderkind" Creator - You can compare Creator to a minor league baseball player. Last year when he almost upset Mvp in the first round of the Super Tournament, he put a seed in everyone's minds that while he might not be ready yet, in a few months or a year he'll be someone to keep your eye on. Watching him mature has been a fantastic ride. He wasn't able to do well in qualifying for Code A, but he was the backbone for Prime in their runs to back-to-back GSTL championship finals.

He showed composure beyond his years, being able to bring his team back from a gigantic hole in the GSTL finals against TSL and get them to the finals. MarineKing and Byun might have taken over as the bigger names in more recent team league seasons, but Creator was one of the main reasons why Prime was so successful in team leagues offline and online. Finally, after a year of maturing and growing, he qualified for Code A, made a big statement by taking out Polt in the first round, and gaining steam all the way into Code S.

Exactly like the other two Protoss in this final three, Creator also had the hype of being a royal roader. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get as far as Parting and Squirtle, and unexpectedly fell in the first round, losing to Nestea and Naniwa. It might have been a setback for Creator, but he has been nothing but phenomenal in this tournament and his current unbeaten run in TSL4. As the favorite to take the whole tournament in TSL4, he could double up and win two big tournaments in a short time.

Now, in the final three of this tournament, he might have the longest shot to win it all. His PvP hasn't been as strong as Parting's or even close to as solid as Squirtle's, but you can never count Creator out. Starting out as a fourteen-year-old who almost made history by taking down the Terran King, he is now only three series victories away from being the sixteen-year-old Korean champion.

Prediction:

Parting 2 - 1 Creator

Squirtle 2 - 0 Parting

Squirtle still wins.