EPTWCS Korea Season 1 - GSL
Code S Ro16 Group C
Preview: TaeJa, Shine, sOs, Bomber
Brackets and standings on Liquipedia
Code S Ro16: Group C Preview
*Ro16 groups will be played in the order of C - B - A - D
1.
Woongjin_sOsEven amidst a sea of Korean Protoss players, it's hard to make a case that sOs isn't the king. Yes, PartinG has the championships and money and Rain is the ace of the most popular team, but sOs has been the best player on by far the best team in Proleague. With an incredible 18 - 8 record (he would have more wins, but Woongjin rarely has to play an ace match), he has lead Woongjin Stars to an almost insurmountable lead atop the standings leaderboard, over ten games up on the second place teams. 8 - 4 in Heart of the Swarm so far, the player formerly known as Shy has continued his rapid pace of picking up wins in Proleague and has established himself as not only one of the very best players in KeSPA, but the entire Starcraft 2 scene.
Heading into the group, sOs' biggest challenge will most likely come in his first series against Bomber. While the Startale captain hasn't been able to make the quarterfinals since the summer of 2011 (yeah, it's really been that long, Bomber fans), Bomber's TvP is still widely regarded as the best in the world. sOs is also very strong at PvT, and will be able to test it out in the series against the Startale Terran.
sOs has disappointed before in Code S, qualifying for the first season when KeSPA was eligible only to drop straight out with a miserable performance in the Ro32, but that was over half a year ago, and this is a shot at redemption. With more experience under his belt, a strong team to practice with behind him, and an entire race rooting for him, sOs has the best shot of escaping this group and heading into the knockout rounds to make a run at the WCS Korea title.
2.
ST_BomberYes, I am picking Bomber to advance in second. Yes, I know this is a terrible decision and there is almost a 99.99% chance that he will fail me and the rest of his loyal fans, but this is one of the better groups Bomber could have asked for. He dodged the all Zerg group that could have given him lots of trouble, and he was able to keep himself out of Group B (Flash, Innovation, Life, Parting), which all the other eleven players beside Bomber can also be thankful they didn't get drawn into.
His first match is against a Protoss, which bodes well for his chances at getting into the winners match. sOs is an extremely tough opponent, and he might very well be the best Protoss in the world, but Bomber would most likely prefer to take the best Protoss in the world over a mediocre Terran or Zerg any day of the week. His TvP has always been his calling card, and if he wants to break the curse and make it into the quarterfinals after a two year hiatus, beating sOs is almost essential. Bomber is capable of beating all three players in his group, but his inconsistency and disappointing play in the deeper rounds of the GSL gives you the feeling of dread every time he enters this stage of a tournament.
Can Bomber make it out of this group? Yes. Should Bomber make it out of this group? Yes. Could he, if he makes it out of this group, even go all the way to the finals? Yes. Will Bomber more than likely get destroyed by sOs in his first match, drop down against Shine and then lose to two baneling busts in a row? ...Yes.
3.
Liquid`TaeJaI still have no idea where to rank Taeja. He has the most question marks of any player this deep into the tournament. He's being used sparingly in Proleague, coming out once and a while to make a cameo performance and pick up a clutch win for his team. His wrists will always be a talking point in wondering how far he can go in this tournament, but they seem to not have caused him too many problems in the past few months, and he's made it to the Ro16 for the fifth time in a row.
There is also the issue of Taeja technically being a WCS American player who just happens to be playing in WCS Korea for one season. The Challenger League qualifying list has been posted and Taeja is on the list, confirming that he will be switching over to WCS America in the second season and leave Korea behind. So, hypothetically, Taeja could run the table, surprise everyone and win WCS Korea, but fail to qualify for WCS America Challenger and be in Code B of America next season, despite having won the hardest tournament of all three WCS regions. That would certainly be something to see, but it's highly unlikely to happen.
Winning GSL/WCS/Premiere League/Code S/Whatever you want to call it would be nice for Taeja and finally accomplish a goal many thought was coming in the summer of 2012, but his main focus could really be on qualifying for WCS America, knowing that whatever happens in Korea, he will be in the American region come season two. Taeja's track record tells us that he will advance and Bomber will fail, but I am going to do the stupid thing and bet for the opposite.
4.
Samsung_ShineShine makes no excuses for how he plays the game. He says he will deliver one strike per game and the entire match will come down to if that one strike can knock out his opponent or not. It's not the style that will gain him millions or fans or awards at the end of the year when we're trying to decide who had the best matches of the year, but it's a way of playing that is able to upset many players considered better than him.
You have to rank Shine at the bottom of the table when it comes to predicting the group, but I'm sure even Shine would say the same. He is technically the weakest out of the four players, but he has one shot per game to kill his opponent and gain victory. He was able to do this in the Ro32, taking out Squirtle and Keen in succession, beating players considered to be better than himself and confirming that his 'one hit KO' mantra is able to take out some of the better players in Korea.
On paper, Shine is dead. He should go 0-4 in his group, go down to Code A and maybe make it back to Code S if he gets favorable match-ups. In reality, all it takes is four games of his hail mary knock out punches to steal a quarterfinal spot from one of the three players in the group. He could surprise us all and put on a great night of macro battles against three players who are all capable of going deep into the late game, but Shine knows what he does best, and he will be revving up for that one punch that could knock out any player in the world.
