EPTWCS Korea - Round of 8
Ro8 Day 1 Recap
Soulkey and sOs advance
Code A Final Round
Flash, MKP, Creator, Life, and more!
Brackets and standings on Liquipedia
Ro8 - Day 1 Recap
Results from Live Report Thread by WigglingSquid
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
Soulkey vs. PartinG
Soulkey <Red City> 
PartinG
Soulkey <Daybreak> PartinG
Soulkey <Atlas> PartinG
Soulkey <Akilon Wastes> PartinG
Soulkey <Star Station> PartinG
Soulkey wins 3-2 and advances to RO4!
sOs vs. KangHo
sOs <Whirlwind> KangHo
sOs <Bel'Shir Vestige> KangHo
sOs <Atlas> KangHo
sOs <Red City> KangHo
sOs <Daybreak> KangHo
sOs wins 3-2 and advances to RO4!
Soulkey <Red City> PartinGSoulkey <Daybreak> PartinGSoulkey <Atlas> PartinGSoulkey <Akilon Wastes> PartinGSoulkey <Star Station> PartinGSoulkey wins 3-2 and advances to RO4!
sOs vs. KangHo
sOs <Whirlwind> KangHosOs <Bel'Shir Vestige> KangHosOs <Atlas> KangHosOs <Red City> KangHosOs <Daybreak> KangHosOs wins 3-2 and advances to RO4!
Woongjin's Stars Shine
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Soulkey and sOs defeat PartinG and LosirA to set up team-kill semi-finalAfter overpowering the competition in the Proleague, Woongjin Stars now have their eyes set on the GSL as well. Soulkey and sOs emerged victorious in two, hard-fought Ro8 series, setting up a semi-final date between Woongjin's two aces and guaranteeing that a Stars player will play in the Code S finals. Victory did not come easily, however, as both Soulkey and sOs only narrowly topped their opponents with 3 - 2 victories.
–
Woongjin_Soulkey weathers SKT_PartinG's comeback and takes 3 - 2 victoryThough both series ended by the same scoreline, Soulkey's bout against PartinG was by far the more dramatic one. The series started with Soulkey showing off great all-around play, racing ahead to a 2 - 0 lead with a roach-hydra timing in game one, and a suffocating swarm host-corruptor-viper push in game two.
Adversity seemed to bring out the best in Parting. Facing elimination in game three, he went for a daring, fast third-base, followed by a mass +2 blink-stalker all-in to recover a point. However, PartinG's true power under duress came to light in game four. PartinG looked destined to suffer a slow and painful death after his greedy gateway expansion was punished by Soulkey's mass speedlings, but through composed, near-flawless play, he was able to manufacture an improbable comeback. Seeing that his opponent was playing his lead slowly, setting up a late game victory from behind a sea of spine crawlers and locusts, PartinG assembled a large force of stalkers, sentries, colossi, and templars for a desperate attack. It was an attack that could only work for a player with perfect execution, and unfortunately for Soulkey, PartinG was that kind of player. Jaws were left hanging as PartinG cut through more and more layers of Soulkey's defenses, before he finally reached the exposed heart to extract the GG.
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/WCS2013/Korea_1/soulkeyparting.jpg)
PartinG breaks through Soulkey's defensive line.
In a steep contrast from his great play from behind, PartinG fell apart once things were even again at 2 - 2. He opted for a colossus based all-in off two bases, but fatally allowed an early overlord scout to detect his plan. Realizing the gig was up, PartinG seemed to become flustered and indecisive, missing pylons and banking over 1200 minerals before finally deciding to go through with an all-in nonetheless. In the meanwhile, Soulkey simply teched up to mutalisks, which ended up being all he needed to cinch game five and progress to the semi-finals.
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Woongjin_sOs outdoes LG-IM_LosirA in a battle of unorthodox buildsIn contrast to his teammate's epic series, sOs ended up playing a very bizarre one. Both sOs and LosirA decided against textbook play in favor of trying to outsmart their opponent, leading to some strange games that ended in a 3 -2 victory for sOs.
Losira took the first point with a mass speedling build off one base, which ended up being somewhat of a blind counter to sOs' greedy, gateway-first build. sOs may have saved himself with better scouting, probe micro or a less adventurous mothership core, but instead he had to surrender the first set. Game two ended up being the more standard game of the series, with sOs trampling over Losira's too-late mutas with chargelots and archons.
The unorthodox play resumed in game three, as sOs went for a gateway expand into fake four-gate, masking his true intent to go dark templars. The plan nearly worked out for sOs as he entered Losira's base before detection was present, but poor DT micro prevented him from doing nearly as much damage as he could have. sOs tried to follow-up with another chargelot-archon attack, but his composition did not fair nearly as well against Losira's mass roaches and he GG'd out.
sOs went for a similar gateway expand into four-gate fake in game four, except he followed it up with double stargate instead of DTs. This time things panned out much better for sOs, as he used phoenixes and voidrays to put Losira behind while assembling a deadly late game combo of void rays, templars, and archons. Even better for sOs, Losira inexplicably decided to attack into a well defended Protoss position in one of the worst engagements ever seen in StarCraft II, bringing the game to an abrupt end as the Zerg army melted away.
To no one's surprise, the final game began with some more unordinary play, as sOs went for an utterly hopeless cannon rush against Losira's hatch first (given how the series had played out up to that point, it was hard to tell if it was intentional from sOs or not). This transitioned into sOs taking a risky third base and fast air tech, while Losira decided to go for a large ling-roach bust. Somehow the scenario actually ended up playing out sOs's favor as Losira didn't do nearly enough damage with his risky attack, allowing sOs to safely macro up on three bases. Losira's decision to switch to mutas didn't fare so well against sOs's triple stargate, and he conceded defeat after a huge force of void rays, archons, and chargelots swept through his bases.
Woongjin Stars are now in great position to win their first GSL title, and first major StarCraft title in nearly six years.
GGplay's victory at the 2007 Daum OSL was the last time Woongjin Stars tasted individual gold, and with either sOs or Soulkey going to the finals, they must feel confident no matter who comes up from the other side of the bracket. But Korean domination isn't the only thing Woongjin can look forward to. By reaching the Ro4, both sOs and Soulkey have claimed berths in the WCS Season 1 Finals, where they will take on the best players from Europe and America. For Stars, an unprecedented triple-crown of GSL, Proleague, and WCS is now in play.![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/WCS2013/Korea_1/ro8bracket1.png)
Code A: Final Round
Afternoon Games: 04:10 GMT (+00:00)
KT_Crazy vs. Woongjin_FlyingOn one hand we have Crazy, the KT sniper for ZvZ. On the other hand we have Flying, the craziest Protoss player Kespa has produced, always coming out with a wacky build tailored to his opponent. While Crazy has acquitted himself well so far in Code A, Flying seems to be a more complete player in the matchup, having a plethora of unique builds while also having a strong late game.
Prediction: Flying 2 - 0 Crazy
STX_hyvaa vs. 
LG-IM_YoDaHyvaa is an interesting player, who is becoming famous for all-ins and aggressive play despite the fact that he is still quite capable of playing and winning macro games. Unfortunately for him, he has not had much success in winning long macro games against the Terran race. So this match will come down to two questions: 'Can hyvaa concoct an all-in that can kill Yoda?', and 'will Yoda play up to his usual level or will he show the same abyssmal form he had during the ro16?'
Prediction: Yoda 2 - 1 hyvaa
CreatorPrime vs. Azubu.SuperNovaCreator, what happened to you?! Once in the running for top 3 Protoss in the world, ever since the switch to HotS Creator has fallen hard. His famed PvT took the biggest hit as it seems like he just can’t deal with Terran aggression anymore, and he has time and time again been run over by bio medivac timings. This bodes badly for him as Supernova has returned from the dead in HotS. After almost getting a Nestea award, he was quickly banished out of the GSL and decided to use his time in Code B to only play the HotS beta. Since then, his form has returned and he is back on the rise having taken out DRG in his second round. He looked like his old self in the match, forcing DRG to multi-task heavily on defense with unique, aggressive builds. While he still lacks the macro and fine control to back it all up, once Supernova gets the ball rolling, his rapid fire attacks are often too much for his oponetn to handle. Because of the their recent strengths and styles, I have to go with Supernova here.
Prediction: Supernova 2 - 0 Creator
Evening Games: 09:10 GMT (+00:00)
Samsung_Shine vs. FXOHurricaneIn a battle between one of the eSF's most promising Code A talents and KeSPA's one hit knockout specialist, the edge in the late game goes to the eSF player. Hurricane, formerly Tear, is a player that should have been in Code S long ago, showing strong play in the GSTL, but never capitalizing on his chances in individual leagues. Alongside Gumiho and Leenock, Hurricane represents the Protoss side of the FXO Triforce, hoping to finally surpass his past faults and make it into Code S for the first time. Shine, who is more like the guy you meet on ladder that goes, 'YOLOSWAG ALL-IN GOTTA GO FAST', is a specialist at cheese and aggressive openings. While Shine is the player coming down from Ro16 of Code S, Hurricane should be the favorite here if he can withstand the one hit power of Samsung's xXxYOLOAllInMaster69xXx.
Prediction: Hurricane 2 - 0 Shine
CJ_EffOrt vs. STX_TrapEffort really sucked against against Protoss in Wings of Liberty. Any time you saw Effort get matched up against a Protoss, you could pretty much turn off your stream and come back ten minutes later to see him distraught in his booth. He has been better in HotS, going 2-0 in his first two Proleague matches against Protoss, but I'm not convinced. Effort should be one of the stars of KeSPA in SC2, being a former OSL champion and considered one of the best mechanical and talented players in Brood War, but none of that will ever happen if he can't fix his match-up against Protoss. Trap, servant to Lord Innovation at the STX mansion, is a decent player, holding a 16-8 record all-time against Zerg in WoL and HotS. Effort is probably the much more skilled player than Trap in terms of mechanics and decision making, but did I mention he really sucks against Protoss?
Prediction: Trap 2 - 1 Effort
KT_Flash vs. ST_AvengeI'm sure GOM would say they love all their players the same, and that the outcomes of games really don't matter as long as the games are good and the fans are entertained. But, when it comes to Flash vs. Avenge, you better bet that Mr. Chae is holding an Avenge voodoo doll in his control room, hoping that he doesn't beat Flash and further dent the image of his God persona. Losing to Innovation and Parting in the Ro16 of Code S is perfectly fine. Both are world class players and two of the most popular figures we have in the Korean scene. Avenge, on the other hand, is a relative unknown Protoss from Startale who has been doing very well of late in GSTL. Flash is the favorite, and he really should beat the inexperienced Avenge, but this isn't going to be a cake walk. Flash is an extremely talented player, but he is by no means unbeatable or at the same God level he was during the end days of Brood War. Parting and Innovation might have taken some of the glimmer off the hype of Flash, but a loss to Avenge might destroy it entirely.
Prediction: Flash 2 - 1 Avenge
ST_Life vs. MarineKingPrimeIf MarineKing saw Life and Mvp hanging from a cliff, both lunging their hands out for MKP to save them, who would the Prime Terran save?
He'd probably let both fall. Life and Mvp have been the bane of MarineKing's existence in SC2, stopping him from winning or challenging for GSL titles over and over, countering MKP's style in TvT and TvZ. Mvp's stonewall defense was too much for the uber aggressive MKP in TvT, and Life's uber-ling aggression in TvZ is too much to handle for MKP who likes to play extremely greedy against Zerg.
For MKP to win this, he's going to have to bring out something new. He has to play differently and learn from all the previous matches he had against Life. If he tries to play like he has the previous times Life has crushed him, the outcome will be the same if Life is anywhere near average condition. A MarineKing victory would be one gorilla off his back, with only a BoX victory against Mvp still needed before he dies, but Life is simply the paper to MarineKing's rock until seen otherwise.
Prediction: Life 2 - 0 MKP
