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Hard Knock Life
- FXOLeenock goes 2 - 0 and advances to the Ro8 in first place.

Well, that happened. Leenock in one night went from a backdrop character in the wild condensed season that is season five, to being the favorite to win it all. With his "worst" match-up ZvP only possible in the finals, the road seems mostly free of obstacles as tries to make it to his second November final. Maybe Leenock will be able to switch the story around from last year: Leenock won the last MLG of 2011 and then got second in GSL November. This time he placed second in the final MLG of 2012, and now has a chance to win his first GSL title in the fifth and final full season of the year.

In a group of ZvZ's, Leenock flexed his muscle by taking down TSL_Symbol in the first series, losing the first set in disappointing fashion, but coming back with two strong games to make up for a mid-week loss to the TSL Zerg in the NASL Open Tournament. While his ZvT has always been his most heralded match-up, having two iconic series with Mvp in Code S, most notably the November semifinals, and of course the final itself against jjakji, recent games say Leenock's ZvZ might be his strongest match-up. He did lose to Life at Dallas, but it took Leenock taking his foot off the gas pedal and blowing multiple leads in game seven to give his opponent the victory.

Heading into the winner's match, it appeared to would be a difficult one. Woongjin_Soulkey used his insane ling/bane micro to take out the defending champion Life with the spirit of the elephant stampede behind him. However, Leenock was not impressed with the newest Code S contender from KeSPA, and took two games in a row, sweeping the winners match to book a quarter-final match against another Zerg, MVP's Sniper. You can't say Soulkey got outclassed, but Leenock took care of business and moved on as the new favorite of the season with a ZvZ and ZvT awaiting him if he makes the semis.

Last November was the best month of Leenock's career, winning MLG Providence and making the Code S finals. This time around, he could make November his lucky month again, even doing better and finally hoisting the trophy that has eluded him the past two years.

- Defending champion ST_Life eliminated from Code S by Woongjin_Soulkey.

Woongjin_Soulkey at the group nominations looked like a dead man walking. It's not even that the strongest player in the world picked him, but he had a face of someone who was just sentenced to death row. During the group nominations, he would repeatedly raise his hand to be picked by someone else even after getting selected into Life's group. His ZvZ was strong during the MvP tournament, but it didn't look too particularly strong at Dallas, losing to TSL's Revival in the first round of the tournament. Was he just luring Life into a false sense of security, or did he really just think that he could go into more groups than one?

Then, Life got stomped by Soulkey. In the strangest season since last November's tournament, the best player in the world got smacked around by the Stars ace. There was always rumblings at the start of the KeSPA transition that Soulkey was the best player they had, but we never really saw it. During the KeSPA Invitational at MLG Anaheim, Soulkey wasn't bad, but he was surely not the best player there. Even Bisu, who has become almost the prime example of a top KeSPA failing to transition to the new game, had a better tournament than Soulkey, getting to the finals before losing to Flash. Zero, Shy and Flying were getting more notice on their games in SC2, and the rumors of Soulkey's godliness soon came to be nothing more than a myth. He didn't have a pretty first round this GSL, barely making it out against Hero and people more giving credit to the Zerg race than Soulkey's actual play.

Then last night happened. his was the first night where we could look at Soulkey's games and see that talent that his peers were talking about months ago when they first started playing SC2. His micro was insane, his macro was what you would expect from a top level KeSPA player, and he simply outclassed Life in every facet of the game. Life deserved some excuses in the first match, playing through a nose-bleed and looking a bit out of sorts as he slumped up drones for some devastating banelings bombs. However, when it came down to their rematch at the end of the night for the final Code S spot, Soulkey looked like the superior in every department.

He said in his winner interview that he only planned for Life and Life only. It showed, getting run over by Leenock in the winner's match, but being able to use his defensive style to take out the defending champion in four straight games. Who knows what would have happened if he had to take on the more late game oriented, more defensive style Symbol in the final match of the night. Everything worked out like Soulkey planned, getting Life twice and kicking his ass twice to make it to the quarter-finals. We will now see if he can game plan against his KeSPA comrade Innovation in the next round to get his ticket to Las Vegas.

For Life, the dream of winning back-to-back seasons and securing his spot as player of the year over. Still, with IPL5 coming up with him only having to prepare for a single tournament, and then maybe even a surprise year end tournament from the GSL, he still has a chance to wrestle the award that is currently in Mvp's hands, with Rain, Creator and others vying for it with end of the year runs in big tournaments.

Oh, and TSL_Symbol played and didn't play well. He got thrown into a group of hell, and he was the sacrifice for the other three to pick up victories. He now gets the honor of possibly playing Flash in the third round of Code A. Good luck, Symbol.

Afternoon Games: 04:00 GMT (+00:00)
Note: All Code A games will be temporarily free due to technical problems caused by hurricane Sandy.

San vs. LG-IM_Happy

The Man is back. It has been almost two years, but he has finally returned to the GSL, hoping to impress enough this Code A season to get picked up by a foreign team. Happy will enter as the favorite, but San is someone you can not overlook. He was able to qualify for MLG Dallas by making it through the online qualifiers, a gigantic feat in itself, only losing one match through the entire process.

San's record at Dallas didn't look too strong, but if you look closer, he had terrible luck. After beating Vibe in the first round, he had to face Leenock, losing a close 2-1 series there. He would fall to the loser's bracket, going up against the winner of the MvP tournament winner hyvaa, losing another close 2-1 match thee as well. Dropping down to the championship bracket, he 2-0'ed the Code A Prelims King, First, and then got another unlucky match against Polt, losing 2-1 there as well. He didn't make the prize money at Dallas, but all three of his losses were extremely close against three players who were probably in the top ten of skill at the tournament.

Happy probably hasn't completely realized he's in Code A, stuck in a trance where he's still wondering how he lost a game where he went double proxy last against a guy going quick double hatchery before pool. His TvZ that was once among the best in Korea has now become nothing worth of note, and he has been relying more on his TvP to get him through rough patches. With wins over Rain, MC, and Terminator in recent history, the one match-up he can be confident in is his games vs. Protoss.

Thing is, San could actually be one of the best Protosses in the world [Editor's note: Writers are allowed considerable freedom]. He had a unlucky path at Dallas, he made it to the Ro16 of OSL and then lost to Flash, who've we found out is pretty good at Starcraft, and MC in a PvP. His Code A preliminaries for the past year have always been close calls, and San even saying that something always goes wrong when the qualifiers are upon him. You never think of San when talking about people revolutionizing the Protoss race, but he's friends with Parting, Genius and other top Code S players, sharing strategies and helping them practice for games.

Prediction: San 2 - 1 Happy


MaruPrime vs. LG_IM_LosirA

Here's a match-up with two players in redemption mode. Maru broke out earlier this year as the youngest Code S player around, showing confidence and a lack of fear that was startling for a player his age. However, his all around game was only middling in comparison, and he dropped out of Code S rather quickly. He's got the head of Code S player, and now he has to show he's got the skills to match.

Losira splashed back onto the scene after a lengthy slump following his loss to Nestea in the July GSL finals in 2011. Though he didn't make it his way back to Code S, he looked like a strong player in the GSTL again, and had some presence in Code A. However, he's regressed back to being an unremarkable player, making one wonder if he was more affected by the queen patch than a newly found devotion to practice.

Neither of these players will improve their reputation with a win here – it's the bare minimum they can do to stay in place and hope for more opportunities later. It would hurt Losira more to drop out here, as Maru is just starting his career while Losira has to catch up with all the youngsters to come. However, Maru won't want to waste any time, and Losira better buckle up as he begins his fight for survival against the new generation.

Prediction: Maru 2 - 1 Losira


NSH_jjakji vs. BBoongBBoong

Jjakji has returned and saved the NSH team from being a completely missing entity in this season of GSL. With NSH falling out of the team league early, Jjakji has been completely off the radar making it hard to know as to what form he is in now. So this will be a good test for him as he plays against B4. B4 has always been one of the weaker Code S/Up & Down players who has done fine in Code A, but never had a good run in Code S. On top of that, B4 is in a similar situation to Jjakji, being the sole representative of TeamMJ and if he falls here, I doubt anyone will even remember that the team exists. With B4’s ZvT being his strongest match-up, Jjakji will have to show better form than when he did when he played against Shy last season if he wants a chance to move on.

Overall, I’m going with Jjakji here. He’s always left a bigger impression on me than B4 and is his team’s Ace player. B4 on the other hand was Prime’s ex 5th-member who was easily replaced by the combination of Classic/Terius. This could be an entertaining match as both players’ survival in the GSL is the only thing keeping their respective teams on the map.

Prediction: Jjakji 2 -1 Bboongbboong


mTw.SuperNova vs. LG-IM_First

This is an interesting contrast in styles. On one hand we have Supernova. He’s stylistic in all of his match-ups, but particularly in TvP as he’s one of the few players that likes to mix-in some tanks in his composition and pull out apart his opponents with smart calculated multi-pronged attacks. On the other hand, we have First, one of the many players Nestea shepherded across from the red waste known as Code B. First is a strong solid macro-style protoss that really made his name in MLG’s this year.

An interesting fact is that this will be the third Code A First has qualified for. This will be the third time he will have faced a Code S level Terran (The other times he played against Alive and Bbyong). The other two times he’s lost in the ro48 2-1, and being a big believer in curses, I can’t help but feel First will drop out here 2-1 as well.

Prediction: Supernova 2 - 1 First


Evening Games: 09:10 GMT (+00:00)

Genius vs. STX_hyvaa

As much as the whole eSF vs. KeSPA situation might fascinate and divide, this facet of the meeting between Genius and hyvaa might for once be a secondary factor. In short, this might be Genius’ last hurrah in the GSL. The time since losing to DRG in the Code S finals of season one has not been kind to the former MVP and SlayerS player. Not only has he failed to live up to his promise as a Code S mainstay, he left the former team behind to experience the downfall of the most famous Korean non-KeSPA team. It is very hard not to feel sorry for him. Genius always set himself apart from his peers, not only in terms of early success and distinctive game play, but also through his careless, playful character; a mixed blessing for an aspiring StarCraft professional at best. It is either fortunate that he seemed to retain these traits through the SlayerS period or it might simply be viewed as a cruel twist of fate to bring someone so off beat into the situation not begin with.

Both players, it should be noted, display variance in their play in the matchup. Genius is in fact rather known for it, having gone through periods of looking like the Parting of his era on two base, a strong three base macro player during another but always retaining a fascination with the non-standard. The STX Soul Zerg meanwhile seems a mix of all things. He shows no fear of relying on early pressure, but his late game might be his best weapon. On one side, hyvaa is unpredictable, usually following easy to pinpoint archetypes, drawing from a large selection of builds rather than deviating from a stock build into something not seen before. On the other side, Genius is far more prone to deviate into something no-one else really does. With his continued GSL existence on the line, this might be the worst time to try something crazy, but with Genius one rather gets the feeling that the situation gives him even more incentive to show the world that the two base, two Stargate into mass carrier style should be feared.

Prediction: Hyvaa 2 - 1 Genius


ST_Sparta vs. SKTelecom_Fantasy

Oh Sparta. You should be familiar with the feeling of going up against someone near infinitely more famous than yourself in Code Around of 48. Last season, your word was Nestea’s fall from the heavens, but that was almost expected given the state of Nestea’s play at the time. Still, it is a good way indeed to make a name for yourself, exiling the famous from Mokdong altogether. This time around, the opponent is Fantasy, and while the name might not hold a torch up to that of Nestea in terms of SC2, it is one of the most iconic from the later stages of Brood War.

There is something magical about stylistic players. Sometimes we all feel like we have seen everything before, the standard builds du jour not quite capturing the magic of the game any longer. But then you meet a player whose game is so in tune with himself that seeing him play almost lets you know his nature. Fantasy has that feeling, containing a brilliance that is uniquely his own. These last two seasons have let us see some fantastic TvT play, MMA vs. Mvp from last, Ryung vs. Flash form Up and Downs and Innovation vs. Polt coming to mind. In all of these, we got to see styles, habits and the philosophy of the game shine through; the first set being a stylistic clash iconic of Wings of Liberty in general. The second had was about positional play versus macro and engagements, the last about Polt being Polt while Innovation got to showcase his immaculate pre-fight positioning and army movement. If Fantasy realizes his potential, he becomes another Terran that one will always love to see play for these reasons.

Sparta is still a decent enough player. The question is whether Fantasy has come far enough to have surpassed him already and whether this will show on the day. There are very few tangible factors that would favor Sparta, but Fantasy remains an unknown quantity. However, there are few unknown quantities in the world of StarCraft quite as intimidating.

Prediction: Fantasy 2 - 0 Sparta


Woongjin_BrAvO vs. SK_MC

There really isn't much to talk about this match since Bravo (formerly known as Hon_Sin) has barely played any SC2 matches. He's played two on television so far, winning both against the Terminator and Snow. He got through the qualifiers with 2-1 victories over the Zergs 587, Effort, and finally Monster to make it into his first Code A season. What does this tell us about Bravo? He knows how to barely win against Zerg, he won against Terminator who has shown to be terrible at PvT, and Snow, a guy who changed his race from Protoss to Terran in SC2.

Two things we can talk about is his name change and appearance. First off, while every other KeSPA player to change their name during the transition has been bashed, I would like to praise Bravo on his change. He wasn't well known in Brood War, had a name with an underscore, and it wasn't the easiest to remember. BrAvO, while still with annoying capital letters, can simply be typed as Bravo and will remind you of the Cartoon Network classic Johnny Bravo, making him already ten times more memorable to the foreign community.

Looks wise, in the Pokemon evolution that is Leenock to Julyzerg (since we all know it's going to occur), Bravo is the missing middle link. I hope one day that Leenock, Braco and July can all be in the same room so that we can see the process of evolution right before our eyes.

To the games themselves, Bravo just has too limited information to get the nod over a former two-time champion. MC has had trouble with Terran lately, and he is in a mini-slump of sorts, but he wouldn't be the GSL champion you would believe most likely to fall to Code B this season.

Prediction: MC 2 - 1 Bravo


FXOSirius vs. 8th_Jaedong

Sirius was in a similar situation last season, finding himself in the round of 48 against a fellow Zerg to see just who would survive the gruelling first round of Code A. He was able to dispatch with Prime’s Salmosa with nigh pitiful ease, showing that the there exists a gulf not only between a and b-teamers, but very much so between b-teamers alone. However, while Salmosa predictably did not turn out to be a genuine threat last season, this time Sirius finds himself facing the most iconic Zerg in all of StarCraft.

Jaedong had his first taste of GSL competition receiving one of the two first Code S KeSPA seeds. However, he lost out to MC and MKP and then met his maker in finale in Code A. This time around, he has qualified through nothing but his own merit, making it out of the preliminaries beating Shuttle, Shine and Puma. Beating Shine seems rather important in terms of the match against Sirius, as Shine is a talented and GSL tested Zerg from a team known for developing good Zerg talent and ZvZ players particularly. On the other hand, what is more important is that it is Jaedong. Perhaps together with Flash, he remains the largest figure of seeming inevitability. Given time and given motivation, he will be one of the best players in the world.

In terms of style, Sirius seems a very generic ZvZ player. He sometimes goes for early pools, but defaults to standard roach infestor play. Jaedong seems fittingly more prodigal, and it almost seems wrong to not see him go into mutalisk play. However, neither player is exactly mapped out. One might expect Sirius to rely at least in part on early aggressive play, but saying that about a ZvZ relays no great insight. Jaedong is a favorite mostly due to being Jaedong, but he has yet to prove himself as anything more than fleetingly brilliant.

Prediction: Jaedong 2 - 1 Sirius