GSL 2013 Season 1 Code S

Ro32: Group E Preview
Ryung, Losira, Byun, Parting


Brackets and results at Liquipedia

by: Fionn

Group E: AX.Ryung, LG-IM_LosirA, ByuNPrime, SKT_PartinG

If you were to take a look at AX.Ryung's new life as an Axiom player, it's been a good few months. Though we only get limited glimpses at him through the GSL and what gets posted in the internet, we've seen him call out the Blizzard ability to balance the game, party like a rock star doing karaoke with his teammates, and look adorable playing with team owner Genna's son. On top of that he made the Code S semi-finals and became the undisputed ace of a team—not a bad turnaround for the former second son of SlayerS.

Unfortunately, with the long layoff between Code S seasons, Ryung has been somewhat lost in the shuffle. Other players have overshadowed him with their more recent accomplishments and made his semifinal showing at Las Vegas seem like a distant memory. Code S Season Five is already considered by many as the most volatile tournament in GSL history, and half of the top eight getting eliminated in the first round of this season (including the two finalists) hasn't done much to improve its reputation. Being overlooked and disregarded is nothing new to Ryung, but he's in danger of suffering his biggest snub yet. If he can't keep up his good form from last season, then it will be remembered more for the shot he took at Blizzard and Sniper in the semi-finals than the great games he played to get there.

When you look at the current hierarchy of Terran, this season is also a huge opportunity for Ryung. Mvp and Taeja are injured. Bomber, MarineKing, and Gumiho can play amazing, but haven't been a part of the GSL title picture for a very long time. Polt decided to leave Code S and become a college student in Texas. KeSPA Terrans have shown great potential, but none of them have shown consistency. Right now you'd have to say a hobbled Mvp is still the head of the Terran race, but almost every Terran seems to have a question mark over him at the moment. Ryung's is that he hasn't played a meaningful game in nearly two months, but he has as good of claim as anyone else to be called the best Terran in the world after his Code S heroics of last season.

Facing off against Ryung in the first round will be our old feline friend LG-IM_LosirA, who finally made it back to Code S after a lengthy sabbatical down in Code B with guys like BitByBit, Fnatic's Rain, and the entire HoSeo team. Losira made a Code S finals, people. Don't you remember that? It was the one where Nestea and Losira came out of Pepsi bottles, the master beat up the student, and we were all reassured by the fact that Zergs would never be good enough for us to have to tolerate another ZvZ final again (how foolish we were). Losira would never get back to that spot again, falling back to the bottom of the Code S mountain and dropping out not too long after, making us remember him as a very good player, but not one you'd rank as one of the greats in Wing of Liberty history. He outdid himself in the July season, got further than anyone expected, and met a rightful end by getting trounced by the more experienced and talented mentor in Nestea.

This is a season of redemption for the former finalist, wanting to prove that he wasn't a fluke finalist. Losira shot up through the various Codes, getting through Code A and then getting himself back in Code S, almost looking like Nestea's fall to Code B inspired him to return to his old ways. He was able to transition his skills from the ladder to the GSL for the first time since 2011, reminding us that before DongRaeGu and Life came onto the scene, Losira was the rightful heir to Nestea's throne.

Becoming the God of Zerg may not be in the cards with Life already holding two GSL crowns and countless foreign accomplishments, but there's no reason why Losira cannot return to being who he was before: a player who was always considered a threat to make it to the Ro16 and someone who could make a Ro32 much tougher to get out of. It's been a long, long time since July of 2011, and Losira can finally open a new chapter in his career.

When talking about the 2011 July season, we can go straight to our next competitor in this group. Back then, ByuNPrime knocked Bomber out of the Ro8 in one of the biggest upsets in GSL history. After heading into the semi-finals with a ton of momentum, ByuN was forced to learn exactly how Bomber had felt in the previous round, losing to Losira. Sadly that wouldn't even be the worst semifinal loss of Byun's career. That moment came one year later in 2012 Season Three when he threw away a 2-1 lead against Seed, choking away a huge advantage in the fourth game of the series.

Not to take anything away from champion Seed or runner-up MC, but Byun was the best player that season. His TvP was at its peak, he was playing like a man possessed after rolling through Nestea 3 - 0 in the quarterfinals, and he had the series against Seed locked up before he decided to take his entire SCV line and go for a random "am I going all-in or not, let me decide for a few minutes while I collect no income" attack to blow the game. While he might have showed the best overall skill, his nerves did not hold a candle next to Seed and MC, both who have shown time and time again they can keep their cool in pressure situations.

If you don't watch Byun closely, take a look the next time a match is about to begin. A lot of times you can see Byun holding his hand over his heart, or you might see him look like he's about to throw up in the booth with his entire body shaking in anticipation. Seed, jjakji, and Sniper might always be remembered as the "irrelevant" champions, but there's a reason why those three have GSL titles and players like MKP, HerO and Byun, ones who might be considered better overall than those champions, are usually looking distraught by the time their GSL season is done with. ByuN is one of the best Terran players when on his game, but so far, his nerves have always held him down.

Money. Cash. Bucks. Bills. Dough. Gold. Gravy. Bank. Green. Simply put, these words can all describe SKT_PartinG heading into 2013. When 2012 started, Parting was a relative nobody. I jumped on his bandwagon early simply due to his fashionable glasses, but almost every new Protoss at that time was getting hailed as the new hope of Aiur. Alicia, Brown, Puzzle, and many others were getting put up on a pedestal before they accomplished anything of note. Everyone wanted a new MC or someone with even half of his ability. MC was the only Protoss to win a championship in the first two years of GSL, and everyone was searching for his successor who could one day surpass him.

While Parting didn't win a GSL championship in 2012, he became the Protoss that people had been waiting for to one day follow in MC's path. Winning two world championships in 2012, Parting raked in over $125,000 in only a few short months, ending the year by almost winning his first GSL (the Blizzard Cup) and only losing when having to face his former teammate Life in the finals. Rain might have won the OSL, and Seed might have grabbed the second GSL for Protoss, but Parting was the best Protoss of 2012, being the only member of Aiur to stay in Code S throughout the five seasons. He excelled in foreign and Korean competition, always keeping himself a threat in every tournament he entered.

With 2012 ending and his contract with Startale up, Parting had a decision to make. He could either stay with on the team where he had become a star, which would mean less money but more freedom, and staying with the people who had been his family. Or he could return to KeSPA where he was once a B-teamer, make the money he deserved as one of the best players in the world, at the cost of a much stricter practice schedule and less freedom. In the end, Parting went to the team with the money, putting himself up for a lottery and getting picked up by SK Telecom T1 when everything was all said and done (the similarly wealthy KT Rolster also bid for his services, and lost).

A lot of people will say that Parting is a traitor and should have stayed with Startale, the team that brought him into prominence, but you know what? Parting does not care. He is going to make around $70,000 in an eight month period, fly around the world to foreign tournaments all the same, and sleep soundly on pillows stuffed with a therapeutic combination of Dollars, Euros and Won. Family and loyalty can only go so far, and Parting made the choice to go for stability and money. We've seen plenty of great players fall from grace before they could cash out, and PartinG made sure to avoid that fate.

Parting is a young and very exciting player, but this might be the peak of his worth. His personality made him stand out in 2012, his skills are world class, and he is the first prominent ESF player to return back to KeSPA after making a name for himself in Starcraft 2. You hear all sorts of rumors of players moving back to KeSPA, but none of them will get the deal PartinG did. He had the smarts to cash in while he was worth the most, before there were any candidates to compete against, and is now sitting pretty on his throne of dough. Last time PartinG hit the jackpot by winning the WCS Finals, he bought pizza for the GSL audience. Now that he's signed with SKT, it's time to go a step further and make it rain.

Overall thoughts and predictions:

This is one of the best groups in terms of skill if all four can play to their absolute best. Byun has nerve issues, but he's a monster when focused. Losira might have been gone from Code S for a long while, but his online results and ladder record show that he's still a force to be reckoned with. Ryung might have lost some luster from his final four showing with the long break and how the two finalists fared in the Ro32, but he's one of the only Terrans in Code S you could say is consistent at the moment. Parting, well, win or lose, he's going to be making some good money this year and traveling across the globe as SKT T1's new star with his newly colored hairdo.

Ryung > Losira
Parting > Byun
Parting > Ryung
Byun > Losira
Byun > Ryung

Parting and Byun advance.

Writers: Fionn.
Graphics: Meko.
Frontpage Photo: silverfire
Editor: Waxangel.