by stuchiu

5. SKT_ParalyzE

Why couldn’t you be just a little better Paralyze? With that afro, happy go-lucky attitude, that afro, SKT1 tag and that glorious afro, you could be one of the most beloved players of all-time. Instead you are a goofy protoss player with a great hairdo, but just can't stick around long enough to make a real impact. As it stands now he is our last ranked player in the group, as I couldn’t justify placing him any higher considering his last game in GSL he lost by forgetting to make a cybernetics core in PvZ and died to a ling attack. Please prove me wrong Paralyze, become the afro that we want, not the afro we don’t care about.

4. ST_Curious

Curious is back. For those wondering where he went in the first place, this weekend he went off to France to play in the Numericable M-House Cup #2 (sort of a mini-homestory) where he got the chance to stop his ex-teammate Squirtle from ever getting the chance to say he got 1st place in anything. Unfortunately ForGG robbed him of that pleasure by beating Squirtle in the semis, leaving Curious no other choice but to stomp ForGG 4 - 0 for a cool 3,000 Euros. Beyond that, we don't know much about Curious in Heart of the Swarm. Like every eSF player, there just isn’t much chance to see what form they are in if they drop out early in the Ro32 of Code S. While he certainly has the talent and skill to compete with any of the players in the group he has yet to really show he has reached that form again in HotS, so I’ll err on the side of caution and place him at 4th.

3. CJ_EffOrt

EffOrt is one of the most famous KeSPA players for a reason. He's the Zerg that reverse swept Flash in the OSL Finals. He was the once unstoppable ace of CJ Entus in Proleague. Or, on a less positive note, he was known as the only Zerg to have had worse ZvP than Jaedong during WoL. He, too, could not bring himself to understand the boring, win-at-all-costs mentality of broodlord infestor. Luckily for him, HotS came out and since then he has improved himself drastically from a horrid 5-16 to a more even 5 - 4, even taking out strong Protosses like Parting. Unfortunately for him his TvZ went the reverse direction, going from being one of his best matchups, to his absolute worst. While he does have a small chance against Byun, his real chance of advancing here will be his two ZvPs. If he can win against both Super and Paralyze, then he will have a good chance of advancing.

2. ByuNPrime

ByuN is the new, de facto ace of Prime, which also makes him the saddest ace in all the world (first place going to Jjakji). Despite constantly being in team leagues and playing a decent amount of games in the GSL, not much has really been shown about his gameplay beyond his TvP. The last TvZ he played was 2 months ago and he has a total record of 2 official games played. 1 win against Symbol, 1 loss against Life. Still, his TvP is excellent as long as he can end the game before Protoss gets to 4+ bases. And his gameplay has looked sharper and more on point than the three players below him, making him one of the favorites to advance out of the group.

1. MVP.Super (Vampire)

Coming in first is the Super Vampire. He became one of team MVP's two new aces after DRG's fall, finding new life in the HotS expansion. While he has yet to make a splash in the individual leagues, in the team leagues he has helped MVP win games in both the ATC and the GSTL. He has all killed FXO and has been clutch for MVP as one of their go to aces. On top of that, he doesn’t seem to have any weakness in any matchup, racking up impressive wins in PvP, PvT and PvZ. And while he did eventually fall to Hurricane in Code A, the only Protoss he has to play here is Paralyze. Because of that, I’m giving him the best chances of making it out of this group.