WCS Korea - Round of 8

Code S Ro8 - Day 2 Recap
Symbol and Innovation advance.


Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

by stuchiu

Results from Live Report Thread by derez
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +

The Difference in Class
– STX_INnoVation crushes defending champion Samsung_RorO 3 - 0.

For the best Terran in the world, it was business as usual as he destroyed yet another championship Zerg on his path to the GSL Final. The third quarter-final of the GSL was a quick affair, as INnoVation took three quick and brutal games off Samsung_RorO. Game one had Innovation just play a standard macro game, constantly putting on pressure and picking off units until he was 50 supply and able to stomp through RorO's bases.

While game one was a standard steamroll, game two was a very unorthodox one – but a beatdown nonetheless. Innovation's double proxy rax opener led to an incredible battle of adaptation and on the fly thinking with players furiously trying to outsmart each other. RorO countered the cheese with a pool-first build after scouting, which was then countered by Innovation's mass-bunker contain, which was countered by a hidden base way off in the corner. Innovation noticed that there was a scouting drone still unaccounted for, discovered the hidden base, and diverted a portion of his forces to take it down. RorO used the diversion to bust down his ramp with banelings and took double expansions, finally giving the game a semblance of a normal macro-game. RorO decided he needed to cut corners and over-drone to get back in the game, but he just couldn't muster enough defenses in time to handle Innovation's first marine-medivac push out. With too much ground to cover with just ling-bane against Innovation's dropship micro, RorO GG'd out.

RorO seemed fed up in game three, as he opened with an extremely greedy triple hatch, only as a mask for a powerful roach-bane all-in. It did massive damage as it killed 43 SCVs, but Innovation used his high HPM (hellbats per minute) to stage a comeback. With hellbats and medivacs out against a severe lack of anti-air defense on the Zerg side, Innovation was able to cripple RorO's economy and then finish him off with a hellbat-marauder-medivac push.

Innovation looks stronger with each series he takes, and an Innovation championship seem more and more imminent as he has now beaten the best players in the world one after the other. His current list of victims in the GSL: Rain, Hyun, Flash, Life, Roro. While the other three semi-finalists are all incredibly strong in their own right, Innovation is without a doubt the one people expect to be kissing the trophy when it's all said and done.

– Azubu.Symbol shatters ST_Bomber's dreams to reach another semi-final.

Bomber Rule #2 (Bomber will only do well in an earlier round in order to cause a bigger disappoint later on) was in full effect last night as he crashed out of his first quarter-finals in over a year after barely putting up a fight. Bomber was unable to deal with Symbol's aggressive Roach bane style, as the Azubu Zerg finished Bomber off 3 - 1 in a series of short games. The only game Bomber won was the first, where he expected and defended well against an early roach bane attack. From there he macroed his way to victory, with Symbol only going through the motions after taking such an early disadvantage.

However, from game two on out it was all Symbol as he took the series by the horns and showed that if at first you fail, you really should try and try again. The second game started off looking an awful lot like a macro game, with both players getting up to three bases without incident. Symbol even got an infestation pit, which Bomber scanned. Unfortunately for Bomber it was a fake as Symbol had gone for a massive speed-roach bane attack off of three bases, which he did not see coming until it was far too late.

It wouldn't be a Symbol series without a Nydus worm (Symbol is 13 - 3 in GSL games where he has used nydus worms), and Symbol took a win with his signature strategy in game three. Bomber decided to go for the EU meta with hellbat drops, but was found out and had his drops thwarted after killing just three drones. While Bomber failed with his drops, he had vision of his entire base and a strong bunker defense at his front door. However, it just took some simple misdirection for Symbol to take the game, as he faked a frontal attack as a distraction while a the fatal nydus exit completed in Bomber's main.

The fourth and final game was a miniature repeat of game two, as Symbol once again broke Bomber with a 3 base Roach bane attack that Bomber couldn't hope to stop with just a handful of mines.

With this victory, Symbol is on the path to being the first runner-up to ever reach consecutive GSL Finals. Unfortunately for him he is going up against the strongest Terran in the world at present, who has yet to look the slightest bit mortal against any of his Zerg opponents in this GSL. If Symbol wants to win this, he will have to go into full Nydus mode, and hope his creative use of the unique Zerg unit can steal enough games off his fearsome opponent.

Writers: stuchiu.
Graphics: shiroiusagi.
Editor: Waxangel.