WCS Korea Season 1 - GSL

Code S Ro32 Group C
Recap: sOs and soO advance


Winner Interviews
sOs and soO


Code S Ro32 Group D
Preview: TaeJa, Fantasy, TRUE, Losira


Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

by Waxangel

Results via Live Report Thread by opterown.
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +

Not So Shy
- KeSPA players sOs and soO advance from Group C

It's a great time to be a KeSPA fan. RorO won the last GSL, EG-TL's revival is bringing foreign eyes back to the Proleague, and three groups into Code S, four of the six players qualified for the Ro16 hail from The Association. Wednesday night proved to be another big triumph for KeSPA, with Woongjin_sOs and SKT_soO knocking both MarineKingPrime and ST_Curious down to the Challenger League (formerly Code A). Both MKP and Curious are stalwarts of Code S with countless GSL seasons under their belts, and their elimination at the hands of relative neophytes from KeSPA will have doomsayers declaring that the Day of the Elephant is finally at hand.

Starting Matches: Curious vs. soO and MKP vs. sOs

The first series of the night turned out to be an odd ZvZ bout, with Curious and soO playing a muta-less series. It ran counter to mutalisk-heavy ZvZ metagame inHotS, though it was hard to tell if their series was a sign of a changing meta-game or just a result of the rush oriented strategies used by both players. The very first game saw soO crush Curious with a roach-bane bust before Curious could hatch mutalisks, and the second game saw Curious hold off a roach timing with ling-infestor to tie the series. The final game was also devoid of mutas, with Curious losing to a roach-nydus attack after his ling-bane bust failed to break soO's defenses.

MKP vs. sOs was a series notable for the Woongjing Protoss' use of slightly unorthodox strategies that are becoming more popular in HotS, and he was rewarded with a 2 –1 victory. In game two in particular, he countered MKP's reaper-triple orbital with a very fast triple Nexus of his own. While sOs did lose his third Nexus to a bio-timing by MKP, he killed enough troops for it to be worthwhile trade. This led into sOs just rebuilding his nexus and patiently building up his army and tech, crushing MKP in a slow and steady manner that was reminiscent of Rain or Creator in Wings of Liberty. The other strategy sOs brought to the table was a DT drop after expanding (not the super-fast version used by TAiLS or Flying). While this led to sOs getting fleeced by MKP's medivac drops in game one, he got the better of the drop vs. drop exchange in the deciding game, allowing him to win in a macro game later down the line.

Friends by Association

The all-KeSPA winners' match between soO and sOs ended with a result you might have expected from looking at the two players' respective Proleague stats, with the 18 – 8 sOs rolling over the 12 – 9 soO. The first game saw sOs go for a bit of trickery, hiding a stargate away in a corner and to quickly pump out three oracles. soO didn't realize something was fishy until it was too late, and the oracles devastated his queens and drones. After that, it didn't take much effort for sOs to follow-up with an immortal-sentry attack for the victory.

The second game saw sOs go for more air based trickery, making two stargate phoenixes. While soO sniffed out the attack and defended himself without taking much damage, it didn't bring him any closer to winning. sOs simply transitioned into a regular game, and put together an unusual but effective immortal and high-templar composition. SoO got caught in an unenviable spot where he was forced to go hydra-roach-viper forever, unable to tech switch for fear of immediate death, but still doomed to lose eventually due to the weakness of his composition in the late game. Even with an almost 270 degree surround on sOs' army, soO was ravaged by what seemed like infinite storms from sOs, and he tapped out of the series.

Soo... What's Next?

Down in the losers' match, the inter-federation match of Curious vs. MarineKing ended up being about as one-sided as the inter-association game between soO and sOs. The first game on Daybreak saw MarineKing get crippled by a speedling runby for what seemed like the twelfth time in the past few months, though perhaps it wasn't a surprise considering Curious is teammates with Life. MarineKing was able to play better in the second game on Star Station, but looked decidedly lackluster as he fell to Curious' ling-muta-bane composition.

With that, the final match of the night was determined as a rematch between Curious and soO for the final Code S spot. The two players seemed to have used all their tricks in their first series, and their rematch played out more like a standard HotS ZvZ with both sides putting on moderate ling-bane aggression as they progressed to a muta war. At that, soO proved to be superior, taking the first game after winning the crucial air fight. The second game was slightly more complicated, with both players finding the breathing room to add infestors to their compositions. The difference was that soO had his infestors in the right place, at the right time during the crucial battle of the game (and just simply MORE of them), starting to chain fungals on Curious' army before Curious could return the favor with his own infestors. This led to a crushing air victory for soO, and a GG from Curious that soon followed.

In Conclusion:

sOs: While sOs looked like the strongest player on the night by advancing in first place, he didn't seem so pleased with his own play. In the post match interviews, sOs said that looks were deceiving, and his play was not up to his standards. For a player who already looks like one of the top Protosses in the world, the thought that he has even more room to improve should be downright terrifying to his GSL Ro16 opponents.

soO: For soO this wasn't the most convincing way to qualify, especially considering his erratic performances in the Proleague. He definitely looks like the weakest player advancing into the Ro16 so far, but the 2~3 weeks until his next game could see him improve.

Curious: Curious made look MKP look foolish with speedling runbys and then lost two ZvZ's to get knocked out of Code S, adding further proof to the theory that he is slowly absorbing Life's essence.

MKP: HotS has not been kind to MarineKing at all. While the death of infestor-BL allowed players like MMA and jjakji to extricate themselves from their graves, somehow MarineKing – a player who was still pretty good at TvZ even during the height of BL-infestor – looks even worse in the new expansion. Hopefully he will perform better in the GSTL and Challenger League matches.

Winner Interviews

Woongjin_sOs

Q: You advanced in first place, how you feel?
A: When I saw the group I didn't think it would be easy, but I feel relieved I advanced in first place.

Q: It LOOKED easy to us.
A: The other players prepared to play the way they usually do, but I put in a lot of thought and changed things up from the norm, so I was able to play the way I wanted.

Q: So everything went the way you wanted?
A: Against MKP, how shall I say it, my settings weren't right? I couldn't manage my minerals so I got hurt by the first reaper and lost... I got my bearings after that, and I focused more.

Q: You seemed to have good builds and series strategies, how did preparation go?
A: vsT I just did what came to mind, Free suggested me a build to use against Zerg in the first game and I modified that slightly. The second game I just played the way I typically would.

Q: You won a really one-sided victory against soO on the second map, how did you do that?
A: When soO came in for an early poke, I showed him a colossus and he went for hydra-roach-viper. But the colossus was a fake, and I was going for an immortal and HT based composition so it was easier for me. I kept winning fights when it was the time for him to go swarm hosts, and I think he couldn't switch because he felt he was in danger of losing.

Q: You're the ace of Woongjin, and you've really grown a lot. How do you feel about your progress?
A: I don't have a title worth showing people yet, so I'm not pleased with myself, so I need to work harder in the future.

Q: Anyone you want to meet in the Ro16?
A: If possible, I'd like to face a weaker player.

Q: Any final comments?
Q: I'm happy I advanced. It could have looked like I played well, but I wasn't happy with my play. I will try to show better play in the Ro16. Thanks to my fans who cheer for me and my parents. I want all the KeSPA players to do well!


SKT_soO

Q: How do you feel about reaching the Ro16?
A: When I got to Code S, that was my first goal, and I'm glad to reach it. I'm a bit disappointed that I won only ZvZ's to advance.

Q: How was it competing in your very first Code S?
A: Getting all the way here from the first round, there being no best of one, it's quite tiring.

Q: How are the booths here?
A: They helped me concentrate. They're good because they're very neat, and optimized for gaming.

Q: You said you were disappointed to play just ZvZ. Why was that? Did you want to play other match-ups?
A: I like ZvT, and I expected to play it. I was disappointed I didn't get the chance.

Q: You won easily in the final match. What did you think of your own play?
A: Curious prepared well, so I wasn't able to adjust that well myself. I think both of us didn't play so well.

Q: ZvZ is a muta war these days, why were there no mutas in first series against Curious?
A: Mutas are so good these days, and people try to lead the game towards muta fights. Both of us expected mutas, and both of us prepared builds that would beat mutas.

Q: After you lost to sOs, did you feel like you were in danger?
A: Because there was T or Z left, I felt confident about my chances.

Q: ZvZ is now more like Brood War, do you like that?
A: I wasn't confident when HotS started because I wasn't good at muta ZvZ in WoL, but I thought about the the way I used mutas in BW so I think it helped some. It was more fun when we had roach wars.

Q: So who do you want to play in the Ro16?
A: Who's in it?
Q: Bomber, YoDa, RorO, Flying.
A: Whoa, they're all good. I think a lot of toss players will come up, so I have to prepare ZvP. I want to avoid them if possible, but I think a lot of them will advance. I want to pick Prime players if they come up.

Q: Why?
A: They just seem easy, the Prime team.

Q: Any final comments?
A: Thanks to those who helped me. And thanks to HyuK who always comes to take care of me.

Writers: Fionn and Waxangel.
Graphics: Shiroiusagi
Editor: Waxangel.