WCS Korea Season II - Up/Downs

Up/Down Group F Preview
Keen, Crazy, Yonghwa, sC, Avenge

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

by Waxangel

*Groups are being played out of alphabetical sequence because of scheduling considerations, Groups D and E will be played later.

The Up/Down are always a safe bet to watch if you like nerve-wracking matches and edge-of-your-seat drama, and Group F could be the best group out of all six. Not only are the five players all very good, but they're extremely close together in skill. There is no prohibitive favorite or consensus weakling in this group: if you played it out ten times, you'd probably get a very different result each time around.



Let's start out with KT_Crazy, the player who has the worst PR of the five. People might be counting him out since he's just a rotation player for KT Rolster in the Proleague (and he fell out of the line-up almost entirely during the round 5), but he's shown a strange aptitude for advancement in individual leagues. He's a bit reminiscent of fellow KeSPA Zergs soO and Shine in that they don't seem like Code S material, but nonetheless find a way to grind out wins against more illustrious opponents.

LG-IM_YongHwa is kind of the opposite of Crazy. His exploits in GSTL, foreign tournaments, or in just about any setting that isn't the GSL suggest he has the skill to be a Code S regular, but that couldn't be further away from reality. He's simply cursed when it comes down to Code A and the Up/Down matches, getting eliminated for reasons both in and outside of his control. While we can say he tripped himself up in some of his earlier attempts to leap over the Code A/S wall, other times he was just miserably unlucky, like drawing Life just before his breakout season, having to forfeit due to a scheduling conflict with IEM, or coming down with a serious eye infection just before his Up/Down group (that's the time he went 0 – 5). Due to his almost supernatural jinx, I think he's the one player in this group we can say has a slight disadvantage.

Almost every group has a player who you could call the Code S regular, and here it's MVP's KeeN. While he's had a few seasons where he was mired in Code A, overall he's been one of Code S' more regular figures with eight appearances so far. Keen is known outside the game for his entertaining ceremonies, but inside the game he's somewhat generic, being skilled and well-rounded but not exceptional. As far as we can tell, there won't be any ceremonies to look forward to from Keen in the Up/Downs, as he seems to be determined not to think about out-of-game celebrations until he can reach the higher rounds of Code S. That mindset is admirable in some aspects, but he risks falling into YoDa territory if he doesn't give us something to keep remembering him for.

While Keen brings stability to the group, ST_Avenge brings unpredictability. The term 'wild card' is too weak to describe the ex-ZeNEX player, who spent much time being overshadowed by Squirtle and PartinG before finally getting a chance to shine in HotS. He's been a revelation for Startale in the GSTL, getting wins over players like Leenock, DongRaeGu, and MKP, and he's been kicking ass in Code A as well, defeating Hydra and Fantasy before falling to Flash. The reason why we're not hailing Avenge as the next big thing is because we still ahve a few reservations about his gameplay. All-ins have been a big part of his success so far, and we haven't seen him play all that many macro games. Also, he's looked rather inconsistent, sometimes showing remarkable finesse and attention to detail, and at other times losing because of sloppy play. With the potential to show marvelous play or crash and burn, Avenge is the second most interesting player headed into this group. Why just the second? Because of the next guy.

If any player could be called a 'prodigal son, it's FXOsC. Starting off as one of the most exciting Terran prosects on team fOu (the predecessor to FXO Korea), he swapped teams to Team MVP before swapping games entirely to League of Legends. After being humbled by spending much time in the hinterlands of the Korean Solo Queue, sC decided he would return to the game and the team where he had found the most success, coming back home to FXOpen. For his choice, sC has been instantly rewarded. He has already all-killed for FXOpen in the GSTL, and he defeated a slew of Code B players in the brutally difficult Up/Down Qualifier tournament to earn his spot in this group. Sorry SeleCT! Reaching Grandmaster within a week of returning to StarCraft is pretty cool, but you've been outdone here. If sC could return to Code S in his first season back, it would make this already great story even more remarkable.

Prediction: sC and Avenge advance.

sC's story is just too good to root against. 'The young prodigy, having great success at the age of sixteen, took everything for granted and left to seek greater fortune. Older and wiser, and humbled by the cruelty of the world, he returns to his old home in search of redemption." Someone make this a TV miniseries already.

Of the remaining players, I'm most partial to Avenge, especially since Keen stopped doing ceremonies on air. If I'm not being entertained outside the game, I may as well root for Avenge to entertain inside of it with his slew of all-ins.

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