EPTGroup D for Death... no wait Destruction... no wait
DOOM AND OBLITERATION OF ALL LIFE
...Yeah that sounds about right.
Alright, sorry Fionn, I'm stepping in here.
Please mighty TL writers do not smite this lowly peasant who lives only to serve! Can't we mortals and cyber-gods live in harmony!?
1.0 Introduction
Yeah that's right, I'm going to tell all of you why if there's one RO16 match to see this year, this is going to be it.
I'd tell you first to take a look at the players, but if you're like me (and, in this regard, who isn't?) you've got your shrine to Nestea you pray to every morning so that one's covered. It’s also likely that you are familiar enough now with MKP due to your perfectly normal habit of cutting out your ex-girlfriends face from the photos of you and her and replacing them with the cutest being in the universe.
![[image loading]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/KxkDv2Z0Ls3uimvOF-p_XKg5dvo5u_rzj4RZnymmbR7XuzeX4GTKAUzVbAOYpTCBcVrHC2avqA-4LtOB0ChBTcftnVqwK9aCwPalEojNzSMKfVECbbA)
And *wink* we all know how familiar you are with DRG. (Don't worry, your perverted secret is safe with me bud).
So you know what? Lets let the TL writers talk about those guys and Genius, lets get on to what's really going on here.
Let me ask you a question?
Poll: Who's gonna make it out of this group?
No idea, enlighten us oh mighty Dougler. (63)
57%
It's obvious noob! Time to jerk it in celebration of my superior intellectual skills!! (47)
43%
110 total votes
It's obvious noob! Time to jerk it in celebration of my superior intellectual skills!! (47)
110 total votes
Your vote: Who's gonna make it out of this group?
(Vote): It's obvious noob! Time to jerk it in celebration of my superior intellectual skills!!
(Vote): No idea, enlighten us oh mighty Dougler.
Did you say "No Idea?" ...No? ... Oh, well that's cool, guess you're one clever cretin who clearly has some "business" to attend to so don't let me stop you, hop to it. For the rest of us:
You DID say "No idea," Fantastic! Don't feel ashamed, even I the powerful and all-knowing Dougler am stumped on this one. But what the heck, let's walk ourselves through it to understand why we're stumped.
2.0 The Terran Slayer
Ok lets say you're DRG. What's going through your thoughts right now? You have to train all three matchups, and your first match is against the best ZvZ player in the universe. Outch. Ok well lets chalk your first game up as a loss to Nestea, you should have no problem with the other two chumps right? Guess again! Genius JUST beat you 2-0 last week. On top of that, there's so much pride on the line. With Leenock knocked out of this tournament you're now fighting to see who is the best Zerg in the world. Not only that, but all three of your opponents are just now coming out of a slump, and are all recognized and revered as the dependable "Old Gaurd," compared to this “young upstart”.
Oh, and somehow I forgot to include this:
On January 25 2012 00:26 wklbishop wrote:
I think the fact that DRG has never really done well in Code S (despite doing well in special tournaments) should be mentioned here. Hell, he's been quite disappointing in Code S so far.
I think the fact that DRG has never really done well in Code S (despite doing well in special tournaments) should be mentioned here. Hell, he's been quite disappointing in Code S so far.
Boom. That's a lot of reasons why DRG might not be as favored as some would have you believe. The pressure is on DRG's shoulders here and that is a mighty hefty burden to bear.
3.0 The King of Marines
You know who the pressure is NOT on? This guy:
![[image loading]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7234/6918583070_e34d7e4766.jpg)
In the past few months, MKP has been known more for his personality than his play. His unfathomably awesome and magnificent play... Ahem! Sorry, I always get all whimsical thinking about MKP. You remember the last time Foxer was in the Code S RO16? No? Well don't be too hard on yourself, it was a year ago, and he made it to the finals. Of course, he also made it to the semifinals of the super-tournament. What I'm saying is, if MKP doesn't crumble in the opening round of a tournament he gets there. But even if he doesn't, who cares? MKP fans enjoy fun and aggressive MKP play, if it sees results fantastic, but we're not insanely attached to that now. Alright, so lets assume the worst, MKP gets 2-0ed by Genius you know what happens next? MKP's face turns to this:
![[image loading]](http://brandontylermark.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/joker1.jpg)
Win or lose that first match, MKP is now gunning for revenge against a pretty major rival of his. DRG just took him down in the Kings of Kong, but before that MKP beat him in the first Arena of Legends, and I'd need to check my sources I'm pretty sure MKP might've played Nestea before too. Now here's something I'll predict right now: one of MKP's games is going to be the highest voted of the night... nay, the entire RO16. MKPvZ is my favorite matchup to watch in all of starcraft.
So MKP has a sadistic grin on his face going into his second match, getting a chance to showcase some of the world's most exciting TvZ, and pretty much looking like Rocky Balboa. The question is which Rocky? If he loses, it's the first one, which is a pretty great movie you gotta admit. If he wins then to many of us it's this:
Or rather the final fight against Drago... but come on, the montage is way more epic.
4.0 Tea Time
Plus, that's only assuming he's against DRG. Should the epicness-that-is-so-epic-that-I-won't-say-it-here-for-fear-of-Fionnitis occur then I am fully confident that MKP would FINALLY get his revenge. MKP's TvZ is better than ever, and the same can't be said for his opponent, though it still is FAR above average to say the least. Plus, you REALLY can't cheese MKP which worked for our professor of beverage in the RO32: which, like his namesake was a refreshing blast from the usual, normally he is a macro god. Still, early aggression is Foxer's wheelhouse and (lets call him) "Brisk" would do well to remember that.
In plain English, I think in the last few months MKP has improved far more than Nestea so this one is a real toss up for me.
Speaking of the mightiest of zegs, Nestea's gotta be feeling pretty good. Even with all I've written above, of all the terrans still in the tournament this is the one he'd probably want in his group. That said, ideally he wouldn't have ANY terran in his group... and actually Genius seems to have pretty good PvZ right now, and we all know how Nestea's ZvP has been looking recently. Nestea could win by taking out DRG twice in ZvZ, (and it's been brought to my attention that DRG's ZvZ is nothing to scoff at), or by beating one of the others in his group, but any way you look at it it's an uphill battle.
So what about Genius? Well I'm tired and it's late, and I've got important stuff to do tomorrow morning! (And by that I mean watch IEM Kiev). So, to round off this little blurb here's Mr.Frenchy, a newly reformed Genius fan.
5.0 Steven Hawkings in Protoss Form
I, like many others, had written Genius off as a gatekeeper to code S. Like Zenio and Clide, he was simply not good enough to be a real threat to top tier players, but was too skilled and consistent to drop to the purgatory of code A. His meager claims to fame are a 2010 Blizzcon Victory, sending IMMVP to code A in the up-and-down matches of GSL March, and being one of the only Protoss to maintain code S throughout most of 2011. Boasting a 53% win rate, evenly spread throughout the three match-ups, Genius is the prototypical solid player, known for his macro style and occasional effective cheese.
But something has changed. After a shaky AOL performance, Genius has won 11 of his last 13 games. He is currently on an 8 game win streak, including most recently 2-0 victories over teammates DRG and SC. Genius enters Group D as one of the hottest players in the GSL. He was the last player chosen during the group selection, an honour usually reserved for the feared MKP and last season’s champion Jjakji.
Genius is the dark horse of Group D, and in fact the whole tournament. The recent upswing in protoss victories shows that PvT and PvZ are becoming increasingly understood. Further, the majority of current code S players have maintained code S due to their skill against terran and zerg. The door is open for a protoss victory, and Genius could be the one to step through.
6.0 Conclusion
Are you somehow not slobbering with anticipation for this match yet!? Well luckily for you GOMTV has made GSL Open #1-3 available to the public! So if my words weren’t enough then head over here and behold:
The Greatest Series in GSL until MMA vs DRG. (MKP vs Kyrix).
Is it the crispest starcraft you've seen? Certainly not. Is it some of the most exciting? Hell fucking yeah. Just try counting how many times tastosis claims the game is almost over in game 5.
The Fall of Foxer (Nestea vs MKP)
Certainly not my favorite series... but it'll give you some insight into the back-story between these two.
There’s plenty of Genius goodness in those first three seasons as well, but I’m not really at liberty to reccomend any as none really ring a bell off the top of my head.
Hope you enjoy this short little pre-writeup. Look forward to TL’s write-up for a more formal, less MKP biased writeup of this group! Which will actually have write-ups of the matches rather than this long rant about each of the players.
[Off Topic]Also, feel free to let me know what you think about my writing style in this thread. It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea, and believe it or not I CAN write less colloquially, but writing this way is just a lot of fun for me so I'm wondering what the general population thinks of it.
