[GSL] Code A Ro16 Day 1 - Page 3

Today's Code A games are exciting for many reasons.

1. All winners will advance to the Up/Down matches.

2. We've got some of the up-coming Terran beasts in the form of MMA, Bomber and to a lesser extent Ryung. MMA and Bomber are cited as the two future Top Terran players. MMA for his recent MVP (the award, not the player or the team) performance in GSTL March and Bomber has been hailed as the next best thing since the end of 2010. Can these two win, obtain a spot in the Up/Down matches and meet in the Ro8 for an epic match - which btw is a rematch of their GSTL encounter where Bomber miraculously pulled off a huge comeback win.

3. Boxer. He's been on a roll recently, with victories in the TSL, NASL and GSL (yes I'm aware of the HasuObs loss) after a huge slump in form and many people have been looking at Boxer's quick return to Code S.

However let's not overhype those players less HUGE upsets happen. Let's have a look at their opponents.

1. Hyperdub, has been a long-time GSL veteran. In fact believe it or not, he's been in every single GSL, which is quite a feat indeed. He's also best known for losing TvTs in epic fashion (vs TLO on Xel'naga Caverns, vs Boxer on Shakuras Plateau, vs MVP on Metalopolis. However, he's still not someone you can discount, despite the fact that compared to the newer up-and-coming Terrans, he hasn't really evolved his playstyle much.

2. Nuts pulled a small upset over Ganzi in a rather unimpressive series. However, it did show that he had some level of PvT skill to be afraid of, so you can't really say Bomber's an insta-win. However let's just hope he doesn't pull a JJUN and go for 3 cheesy all-ins in a row.

3. Creator beat Leenock, in what I would probably consider a massive upset. Leenock is IMO probably Code S material and had terrible luck recently losing to the eventual winner Losira in last year's Ro4 and meeting Nestea and MKP in his Up/Down matches. Yes, sure Creator won because of Leenock's mistake of being too greedy, but to be someone of Leenock's calibre will put you on people's radar.

4. Alive has been a proverbial borderline Code A/Code S player who's twice now made it to the Ro16 only to lose to an eventual finalist (TOP and Supernova). He's always impressed me and choosing between him and Boxer is difficult. In fact, Alive probably is not the underdog here. Is this finally Alive's time to finally break through the Ro8 barrier which has so far eluded him?