Only Room for One King – MarineKing advances from Group F while four time champion Mvp is eliminated in final Wings of Liberty season.
It's a rare occasion when MarineKingPrime can say he got the better of LG-IM_Mvp. No, the brackets didn't work out in a way that would see the two meet for the eighth time in the GSL, nor did MarineKing finally get his first official win over Mvp in the world's most prestigious StarCraft II tournament. But at the end of the day, MarineKing advanced to the round of sixteen, while Mvp was sent down to Code A. That's worth at least a victory by decision.
Instead of his arch-nemesis, it would be Samsung Zerg RorO who provided MKP with his toughest challenge of the day. The first game saw everything go wrong for MKP, as RorO held off a proxy-barracks bunker rush and then countered with a roach-baneling bust for a fast 1 - 0 lead. However, MKP would get back in the groove of things in game two. His early bunker rush was again thwarted, but he nonetheless pounded his opponent into submission with relentless attacks after RorO allowed a transition into a macro game. The third game ended up being a simple clean-up, with MKP's stim marine timing catching RorO completely off-guard.
In contrast, Mvp's initial series against MVP.KeeN started off well, but ended in disaster. Game one was a vintage performance from Mvp, as he turtled up on four bases and steamrolled Keen with battlecruisers in the late game. However, the following games saw Keen get the better of Mvp in two consecutive base trades, with Mvp playing Keen tightly before collapsing due to poorer execution.
With Mvp out of the picture, the rest of the night was smooth sailing for MarineKing. In game one of the winners match, MKP's quick proxy reaper-bunker-marauder rush made short work of Keen's fast expansion. In the following game, MKP's conservative build allowed him to easily defend against Keen's own proxy-reaper, and he counter-attacked to take an insurmountable advantage. With the 2 - 0 win, MarineKing made it six GSLs in a row where he had advanced to the Ro16, and took another step in his quest to win at least one GSL championship in the WoL era.
Meanwhile, Mvp was sent down to the losers match to face RorO for a second chance. While few players would want to face LG-IM_Mvp with his back up against a wall, RorO ended up playing his best games of the night against the four time champ. With both players facing elimination to Code A, RorO won a clean 2 - 0 victory by overwhelming Mvp at the hive stage of the game. Though it was a disappointing defeat for Mvp, he can still take solace in the fact that no matter what happens in the next two months, he is still indisputably the greatest player of Wings of Liberty.
– RorO stumbles once more, but manages to secure Ro16 spot.
After taking out Mvp, Samsung_RorO advanced to the final match of the night and encountered a familiar situation. In the previous season, RorO had also gone into the final match of his Ro32 group, where he faced off against Startale's Hack for the remaining Ro16 spot up for grabs. In that series, RorO looked poised to advance, holding an advantageous position in game three. However, he committed a horrible and fatal error, placing several Ultralisks in a nydus worm and forgetting about their existence. Missing a few dozen supply worth of troops, RorO was unable to match Hack in the deciding battles of the game, and was forced to GG out.
Twenty-eight minutes into RorO's first game against Keen, it looked like he was going to outdo his mistake from the previous season. After taking a large lead against Keen in a long game on Whirlwind, RorO gifted Keen an almost unbelievably large donation of infestors, corruptors, and brood lords. Had RorO ended up losing, there would have been something almost poetic about it. Alas, RorO had been so far ahead in the game that he could afford to lose so many troops, and he took the game after reinforcing with ultralisks and zerglings. With crisis averted, RorO went on to finish Keen off on Daybreak, holding off mid-game marine-tank attacks and cleaning up with a combined hive army. While Code A and the Up/Downs were not kind to KeSPA players, RorO's advancement makes it two elephants who are qualified for the Ro16 so far with Soulkey and Innovation yet to play.
After making a surprise final eight appearance last season, Woongjin_Soulkey will try to continue his momentum in the first Code S season of 2013. It's no secret that many considered the last season to be one of the flukiest due to the rushed format, reduced preparation time, and the large number of upsets that occurred through the group stages. Last season's top eight haven't done anything to silence the critics so far, with only MarineKingable to get past the Ro32 group stages in the new season. It's now up to Soulkey, and tomorrow Bogus, to try and save the credibility of 2012's Season Five.
Soulkey's biggest victory in his career so far was his major upset of Life last season in the Ro16, where he became known for his insane preparation and scouting of his opponent. The Woongjin player had Life analyzed perfectly, and defended beautifully against the aggressive genius to win four straight games and eliminate him from the tournament. While it didn't seem like such a big deal at the time, time would show that it was a huge achievement. During Life's reign of terror where he won Code S Season 4, MLG Dallas, the Blizzard Cup, and most recently Iron Squid II, Soulkey has been the only player to completely shut down Life in every aspect of the game and make the best player in the world look inferior. Unfortunately, Soulkey couldn't keep it up in the Ro8 against Innovation and got rolled over himself.
Soulkey's ZvZ is by far his best match-up—the only one where he has more than a 50% win-rate—and he'll be hoping for a date with the former king of ZvZ, Nestea, for the best chance at advancing. While his ZvT hasn't been excellent as of late, both Terran players in the group have gigantic question marks over their heads, and that might give Soulkey the edge in the group.
His first opponent will be MVP.Noblesse. If your memory is hazy on who he is, here's a list of the three notable things he has done in Wings of Liberty:
1) He beat his teammate DongRaeGu in Code A to make it into this tournament, pissing off many fans in the process (DRG got through the Up/Downs anyway).
2) Back in the middle of 2011, he made it into Code S only to be thrown into a group with three GSL champions in MC, Mvp and Polt. Not surprisingly, he did not make it out, losing to Polt twice and falling back into obscurity.
3) He lost to Maka in the 2011 Super Tournament when he got stuck in traffic and couldn't make it to the studio in time.
Now back in Code S for the first time in over a year, Noblesse is one of the biggest underdogs of the season. Even with his win against DongRaeGu in Code A, he still needs to prove that he isn't going to get bounced straight out of Code S the same way he was in 2011. His TvZ did look excellent against DRG, a good thing in a group with two Zergs who haven't had the best results against Terran lately. A TvT against Taeja, a player whose wrists might have entered the Mvp Zone, could also be good news for him when going into a long series.
Speaking of Liquid`TaeJa, what's up with him? We know that his wrists are not in good shape, and that he hasn't appeared in Proleague for about a month. Not playing in Proleague might just be a precautionary measure, as he wants to be as healthy as possible for his Code S matches. Even so, it's worrisome when you think about how other top Terran players like Flash and Mvp were pulled down by wrist injuries in the past (and in Mvp's case, it doesn't seem to be getting any better).
If Taeja is at 100%, playing like he did during the Summer of Taeja, crushing everyone in his wake, he is the easy favorite to take this group. Soulkey, Noblesse and Nestea are no pushovers, but a healthy Taeja should be good enough to get through these players with maybe one map loss and four victories. An injured Taeja, the one who lost to players he would usually beat at foreign tournaments and in GSL, is going to have trouble against three capable opponents. He's the biggest wild card of this season and could either make it all the way to finals, or he could go out without a single win and end up back in Code A with even more worries about his condition.
When talking physical condition, we have to talk about the oldest man still in the GSL, the three-time champion himself and former God of Zerg, LG-IM's NesTea. Falling to Code B and looking like it was time to shovel dirt on the legend, Nestea showed everyone why age doesn't really mean much when you're motivated and talented. Pulling himself out of Code B, Nestea rose up the ranks in a single season, making it back into Code S through the Up and Down groups and letting us dream that maybe, just maybe, Nestea has one more run in him to make another finals to close out Wings of Liberty.
If we're gauging his chances to win this season honestly, he doesn't have that good of a chance. He did get through Code B by the skin of his teeth, battled through Code A and topped his Up and Down group, but when looking at the competition that he will have to get through to even make his first semifinal in over a year, the task seems almost impossible. It would be easy to count out Nestea and say that he's simply too old and too figured out, and that he should switch to Heart of the Swarm Beta ASAP to try and master it before anyone else.
I'm pretty sure if anyone told Nestea that, he'd punch that person in the face. He doesn't care about age or who he should and shouldn't beat, and is more motivated to make his fourth final than possibly anyone in Code S. Some people care about money or fame, but Nestea is someone who has his eyes set on becoming an even bigger legend. He wants to stand on the finals stage, show the flawless play that inspired everyone in 2011, and take a fourth championship to tie his friend and rival, Mvp.
Yes, he's twice Life's age, and doesn't look to be anywhere near the level that once saw him go unbeaten in an entire season, but he's still one of the smartest and experienced players in the world. Mvp won Season 2 last year solely with his smarts and experience, so why can't Nestea do the same? He got 3rd place at Iron Squid, almost beating DongRaeGu and then sweeping MarineKing in the bronze series, so it's not like he can't stand on even footing with the other title contenders. When a player like Nestea is involved, it's okay to dream.
I thought Taeja would get out for sure initially upon seeing the groups, but considering he hasn't even made a PL appearance since his wrist treatment, I dunno.
I want Nestea and Taeja but I would be fine with Nestea and Noblesse as well, with Noblesse giving us the perfect underdog-story. And I really want to hear updates on Taeja's condition. I hope everything is working out fine for him, would be sad if wrists bring him down after he has shown such a huge potential.
I think Taeja takes first place easy. Hero sad his wrist is getting better at his stream and not playing in pl for a month is gonna work in his favor beacuse he has had more time to focus on code s and the other players cant study him as easily
I really hate the negative connotation towards nestea. One more run? No way, there's no stopping him. He slowed down a bit, but he is by NO MEANS down and out.
On January 31 2013 00:32 GhandiEAGLE wrote: I wish I could say I expect Taeja to advance, but I think not being put in proleague for an entire month is a bad sign
I'm hoping though!!!!
I always imagine that he just went into a secret training room and now comes out of it more gosu than ever and on top of that with indestructible wrists.
I strongly hope that Taeja is healthy enough to play to his best. It would be a shame if his wrists were to hinder him, as Mvp's wrists have hindered Mvp. A healthy Taeja is a joy to watch
On January 31 2013 00:38 Waxangel wrote: all blessings upon elitist-hipster fan favorite of the season, Noblesse
Oh no, I'm an elitist-hipster! Can I think Noblesse will progress and still not be an elitist-hipster?
And to echo others, who is the other elephant in the ro16? Parting is the only one that could even be considered an elephant, and that is if you use elephant = plays on a kespa team.
With Mvp dropping out of his group, I am now 100% rooting for NesTea. The only potential problem with him winning is the distinct possibility of another ZvZ finals. -__-
On January 31 2013 01:54 dinosrwar wrote: Nooooooooooooo Fionn whyd you have to pick Nestea? I wonder who is stronger. The creator of the universe, or the Fionn curse.
Wow, you really don't know the power of your God, to ask question like that.
Voted for Nestea and Soulkey. While I'm not sure to what extent Taeja's wrists are problematic, my gut feeling tells me that he's not in top shape at the moment.
Also, anti-hipster here and believe Noblesse to crash and burn. Feel like he's the only player in Code S that doesn't belong there. Would usually say the same about BboongBboong, but he performed very well in his up&down group, so it'd be a bit unfair to say he didn't deserve Code S.
As much as I would predict TaeJa to fail in any other group, this one is the best he could have hoped for with an total hipster choice, and Soulkey who always seems like one of those guys relying on grid luck, while having mediocre results in PL and not a single chance against a veteran Code S player.
Creator of the Universe to revenge Mvp
TaeJa to follow him, making people wonder how an handycapped GSL terran can still advance in a group in Code S.
I really hope NesTea will advance, but somehow I don't expect it. Im pretty sure Soulkey's gonna win against Noblesse and he'll definitely win against NesTea in a ZvZ (Because that's by far his strongest matchup). If Noblesse is somehow able to defeat Soulkey, everything changes of course - in this case I'd expect NesTea and Taeja to advance, with NesTea taking 1st.
You know what I'd love to see? Ending WoL with a Nestea/MKP finals. Not sure if it's possible for the brackets to work out this way, and they might not be the best games, I just think it would be a great way to end the WoL season with a rematch of the open season 2 finals. :D
And for a third time Noblesse gets shafted when it comes to his Code S group lol. Will be interesting to see how well he performs this time around, he was looking mighty promising during his Code S debut in August 2011 and then kinda fell off the map completely, nobody questioning whatever happened to him.
Betting on TaeJa and SoulKey to make it through though. Hwaiting~
I really wanted a situation that previous legends can finish off WOL with a bang. Sadly Mvp did not make. I'm rooting for Nestea to do the closing act :D
I think the writer underestimates Nestea's current shape.
Saying that it's almost impossible for him to go to the ro4 is harsh. Everyone in code S except Life is not expected to go to the round of 4 since code S equals variance. But Nestea has about the same odds as anyone else except the zerg genius. He beat Parting, Marineking and lost to DRG by the slimmest margin recently. Besides, he showed a dominating form.
I'll repeat that code S is the tournament with the most variance so it'll be stupid to say "Nestea ezpz", but he is one of the current best players here.
During Life's reign of terror where he won Code S Season 4, MLG Dallas, the Blizzard Cup, and most recently Iron Squid II, Soulkey has been the only player to completely shut down Life in every aspect of the game and make the best player in the world look inferior.
During Life's reign of terror where he won Code S Season 4, MLG Dallas, the Blizzard Cup, and most recently Iron Squid II, Soulkey has been the only player to completely shut down Life in every aspect of the game and make the best player in the world look inferior.
During Life's reign of terror where he won Code S Season 4, MLG Dallas, the Blizzard Cup, and most recently Iron Squid II, Soulkey has been the only player to completely shut down Life in every aspect of the game and make the best player in the world look inferior.
During Life's reign of terror where he won Code S Season 4, MLG Dallas, the Blizzard Cup, and most recently Iron Squid II, Soulkey has been the only player to completely shut down Life in every aspect of the game and make the best player in the world look inferior.
Snute, IPL5.
Soulkey had to do it twice.
Doesn't change what I said...
Rematches are an aspect of the game. Beating someone that now has a bead on how you like to play is an important factor. Though in Snute's case he never had to play Life twice so the point is moot.
During Life's reign of terror where he won Code S Season 4, MLG Dallas, the Blizzard Cup, and most recently Iron Squid II, Soulkey has been the only player to completely shut down Life in every aspect of the game and make the best player in the world look inferior.
Snute, IPL5.
Soulkey had to do it twice.
Doesn't change what I said...
Rematches are an aspect of the game. Beating someone that now has a bead on how you like to play is an important factor. Though in Snute's case he never had to play Life twice so the point is moot.
I'm not saying Snute's performance equals to Soulkey's, and I won't, cause it's not, and what you're saying is right. I'm just saying that what I quoted was wrong, cause Snute did that too, even if it was only in one Bo3.
I'm really hoping marineking can get to the finals...and lose ...just hoping terran and protoss will be able to defeat some of the crazy zerg numbers in the next round...
During Life's reign of terror where he won Code S Season 4, MLG Dallas, the Blizzard Cup, and most recently Iron Squid II, Soulkey has been the only player to completely shut down Life in every aspect of the game and make the best player in the world look inferior.
Snute, IPL5.
Soulkey had to do it twice.
Doesn't change what I said...
Rematches are an aspect of the game. Beating someone that now has a bead on how you like to play is an important factor. Though in Snute's case he never had to play Life twice so the point is moot.
Snute also didn't make Life look inferior, he won with a smart nydus gamble.
On January 31 2013 04:12 Soan wrote: You know what I'd love to see? Ending WoL with a Nestea/MKP finals. Not sure if it's possible for the brackets to work out this way, and they might not be the best games, I just think it would be a great way to end the WoL season with a rematch of the open season 2 finals. :D
any bracket is possible so far, we won't know bracket possibilities until the group selection is done for ro16
Though it was a disappointing defeat for Mvp, he can still take solace in the fact that no matter what happens in the next two months, he is still indisputably the greatest player of Wings of Liberty.
On January 31 2013 04:42 Thurken wrote: I think the writer underestimates Nestea's current shape.
Saying that it's almost impossible for him to go to the ro4 is harsh. Everyone in code S except Life is not expected to go to the round of 4 since code S equals variance. But Nestea has about the same odds as anyone else except the zerg genius. He beat Parting, Marineking and lost to DRG by the slimmest margin recently. Besides, he showed a dominating form.
I'll repeat that code S is the tournament with the most variance so it'll be stupid to say "Nestea ezpz", but he is one of the current best players here.
Underestimate NesTea's shape? Well... NesTea has a terribly weak late game against terran, that's a fact. He screws up every time with his Broodlords and Infestors (That's why he does not use them most of the time). I agree that NesTea seems to be in a pretty decent shape, but on the other side I wouldn't really be surprised if he dropped to Code A without winning a single map tomorrow, just because his style doesn't really seem to be as solid as the "normal" zerg style nowadays.
(The same goes for Life's style, who does not play the standard (boring!) zerg style as well - but Life's just insanely good at what he's doing. I'm not sure if the same can be said about NesTea right now ;-) )
On January 31 2013 01:00 rrwrwx wrote: I really hate the negative connotation towards nestea. One more run? No way, there's no stopping him. He slowed down a bit, but he is by NO MEANS down and out.
theres only one WoL season left its the last one for everyone ^^
Why do you have to predict NEstea will make it through, he has no chance now. In all honesty I might wake up at 5AM just to hear the call of NESTEAAAAAAA one more time in WoL.
So much faith and so much hope for Nestea. Its amazing and quite rare to find such an inspiring figure. I think that part of that effect is the fact that most of the fans undestand how in credibly hard is for Nestea to get back or even close to his former glory but its something worth hoping for.
Though it was a disappointing defeat for Mvp, he can still take solace in the fact that no matter what happens in the next two months, he is still indisputably the greatest player of Wings of Liberty.
THIS
Yes, that is true. Mvp will forever be known as the King of Wings of Liberty.
Still, I wish he would have won the last Wings of Liberty GSL and cemented that position.
On January 31 2013 04:12 Soan wrote: You know what I'd love to see? Ending WoL with a Nestea/MKP finals. Not sure if it's possible for the brackets to work out this way, and they might not be the best games, I just think it would be a great way to end the WoL season with a rematch of the open season 2 finals. :D
Considering how Nestea utterly destroyed MKP in Iron squid i don't know if that would be the best final tbh.
On January 31 2013 00:32 GhandiEAGLE wrote: I wish I could say I expect Taeja to advance, but I think not being put in proleague for an entire month is a bad sign
I'm hoping though!!!!
Na the proleague shows nothing, Taeja is five times better than Puma even when he is in bad shape, so the proleague is something up to the coach of EG-TL which in my opinion shouls send more often Stephano, JD HerO and Taeja if he actually wants to win more matches. Revival is another good one. In proleague u have to use the best players, is not a playground where Puma HuK and all of them should practice in.
I am strongly rooting for MKP and DRG this season. Either of them winning the last WoL GSL will make a great story line. Of course one could dream of MKP vs Nestea final.. XD
I hope Taeja does not incite anything from his wrist injury by playing. NesTea I have confidence will make it (he is a god afterall). Taeja will make it if he is able to play unhindered. Otherwise, I predict Soulkey.
Sucks seeing MVP go down. But honestly I think he should take some time off and have medical treatment for whatever this injury is. Perhaps he needs surgery and rehab, perhaps he needs rest. But he just didn't look like himself in these games. I would hate to see him push it too hard and make the injury worse.
Im very bitter right now. Incoming zvz finals, I wish vegas had odds on these things. Im taking a drg v life rematch that will be incredibly exciting and also incredibly disgusting for all non z players. Id hedge on parting making it with pure won powers as well. If this post is too balance negative (like I said super bitter) please only divine upon me punishments that will spare my fantasy proleague team, which is half decent at the moment.
During Life's reign of terror where he won Code S Season 4, MLG Dallas, the Blizzard Cup, and most recently Iron Squid II, Soulkey has been the only player to completely shut down Life in every aspect of the game and make the best player in the world look inferior.
well at least taeja still beat noblesse... speaking of, that last game between them was one of the the most entertaining tvts I've seen. + Show Spoiler +
Taeja just dominating, I love watching one player just straight up outclass another
During Life's reign of terror where he won Code S Season 4, MLG Dallas, the Blizzard Cup, and most recently Iron Squid II, Soulkey has been the only player to completely shut down Life in every aspect of the game and make the best player in the world look inferior.
EPT
MarineKing <Cloud Kingdom> 
RorO
SK_MC
...just hoping terran and protoss will be able to defeat some of the crazy zerg numbers in the next round...
