6. Woongjin_Flying

Flying, what's happened to you? You used to be one of the best StarCraft II players KeSPA had, even having an 8 - 1 record against other elephants at one point. But with the events of the Hybrid Proleague looking less and less relevant by the week, I guess it's no surprise that some of its stars are having a hard time in the 100% SC2 world. Flying is 0 - 6 in his last games, losing every single one of his Proleague games while going down 0 - 2 to Mvp in Code A as well. If his play doesn't pick up, he might regret making those dishwashing jokes. The play of other KeSPA players in this season of the Up/Downs hasn't been impressive at all, and if that's anything to go by, it's hard to see Flying making it out of this group.


5. EG.HuK.RC

HuK, what's happened to you? You used to be one of the best StarCraft II players the international scene had, even winning multiple major tournaments and playing in Code S for multiple seasons. Now, you don't seem very different all the other guys we call foreigners. HuK lack of results in the second half of 2012 was making us paint a very gloomy picture indeed, but he went on a good run at IPL5 which should encourage foreigner fans who hope HuK will turn things around in 2013. Though HuK lost to two GSL champions in Sniper and Life, he beat Korean like Hwangsin, Ryung and YoDa to tie for best foreigner finish at T-16. It means all that much more when you consider that the two players he was tied with, Snute and XiGua, received seeds into the third winners round.

Still, if the recent example of Grubby says anything, foreign tournament momentum doesn't mean much when you're in the GSL. Rather than his IPL5 results, the most encouraging thing for HuK might be that he's had a long, uninterrupted period to prepare for this match, longer than he's had in a very long time.


4. LG-IM_NesTea

Nestea, what happened to you? You used to be the best StarCraft II player in the world, period. Alas, the creator of the universe hasn't played on that level since 2011. Nestea was a very average player in 2012, with a 48% win rate on the year. He beat Heart and lost to Bbyong to make it into the Up/Downs, which is a very unexciting result. The award for Code S consistency might be named after Nestea, but he may need the help of HotS to make it back in.

One thing to consider is the LG-IM resurgence that's been going on in the Up/Downs, with YoDa, ByuL, and Losira all making it through with great performances. Perhaps they held some of the most epic training sessions ever over the winter break? Old school fans can only hope Nestea will ride his team's momentum.


3. Center

Center is one of those players that's fun to hype up because he's a new face that's doing well, but when the chips are down we'd rather go with the established vets. With wins over Seed and ByuN in his Code A run, Center definitely looks to be Code A quality, and maybe he's Code S quality as well. He was stopped in the final round because he lost to PartinG, but that's PartinG we're talking about, and a loss to him doesn't tell us much about what Center's ceiling could be. This Up/Down season has been all about surprising underdogs, and Center could fill that role perfectly.


2. MVP.finale

Finale aced his previous Up/Down group, going 4 - 0 in a group with Terminator, Heart, Sparta, and Happy. While on the whole we'd say this group is a little bit harder, finale still looks like a strong candidate to get through. He's not the sexiest name in this group, but he's the only one who comes in as a recently proven Code S player. Every other group has seen at least one player with recent Code S experience advance, and considering Nestea's weakened state, I'm giving that spot to finale.


1. SKT_Fantasy

The previous four groups have taught us that Proleague is one thing, GSL is another. Flash, sOs, Bbyong, and Trap were all eliminated, with only Jaedong somehow getting through into the wild card matches. Fantasy's 8 - 3 record in Proleague looks good, but Flash and sOs were performing at that level as well when they bounced down to Code A. So, why pick Fantasy to get through? A few reasons.

1) This is the easiest group. Flash had a tough group and narrowly missed out and sOs had the hardest overall group of the entire Up/Downs. All the other groups had players who had high Code S finishes or international tournaments, while the most accomplished player in Group E is finale. (Nestea's accomplishments were too long ago to reflect his current skill)

2) Fantasy has had more time to prepare than the other Proleague players. This one's simple. The other KeSPA guys had to juggle Proleague matches at the same time as their Up/Down matches, sometimes even playing on the same day. On the other hand, Fantasy has had a solid two days to prep for this group. SKT is known to make players prioritize their Proleague practice over individual pursuits, but the extra time is still a boon for Fantasy.

3) Fantasy looks better every single time he plays. This is more subjective, but Fantasy has been one of the most exciting KeSPA players to track. He plays an aggressive, multi-task and harassment style that's quite entertaining, and he refines it and makes it more effective every time we see him. Occasionally atrocious macro holds him back, but optimistically he could be a Gumiho-like player in the near future (and even better down the line, if you continued with the optimism).