- 2012 GSL Season 5 Champion, Sniper has selected Huk (Chris Loranger) for his group. - 2012 GSL Season 5 Runner-up, HyuN has selected BBoongBBoong for his group.
All of these groups are so deathy, I guess the easiest would be D...maybe? HuK looks pretty dead, he has to play Sniper the fan favorite killer and the best TvPer in the world, plus the gumibear.
Sniper picked HuK and HyuN went with B4. No surprises there.
Creator got a really tough group. He draw Life as his tier 2, Symbol as tier 3 and ByuL as tier 4. Each one was pretty much one of the top players in their tiers.
On January 14 2013 17:47 Laryleprakon wrote: lol Sniper picked Huk
There is no picks at ro32. Just random
Incorrect. The 2 previous finalists can pick their first opponent. Sniper and HyuN could pick.
Okay, but others is random, right?
yes all the other groups are random but there are 4 tier systems. Tier 1 is top 8 previous system, and then 3 tiers of 8 based on points. you get 1 player from each tier in your group
On January 14 2013 17:47 Laryleprakon wrote: lol Sniper picked Huk
There is no picks at ro32. Just random
Incorrect. The 2 previous finalists can pick their first opponent. Sniper and HyuN could pick.
Okay, but others is random, right?
Sort of. The top 8 players from last season are tier 1. and then they are ranked by their GSL points from last season into tier 2, tier 3, tier 4.
The top 2 players get to choose 1 player from tier 4s (the bottom tier). Then the rest are random but each group gets 1 player from each tier. You can actually see the tiers from the way the players are put in group
Take the MKP/Mvp group
MKP (Top 8/Tier 1) Roro (Tier 4/Kespa player and not many GSL points) KeeN (Tier 3) Mvp (Tier 2/Most GSL points from last seaon)
So the order is always
Tier 1 Tier 4 Tier 3 Tier 2
And the first set of games is always Tier 1 v Tier 4, Tier 3 v Tier 2
in order, A - Life, creator B - Curious, Leenock (its curious and its ro32) C - Sniper, gumiho D - Hyun, squirtle E - Parting , byun F - MKP, keen G - Nestea , taeja H - DRG, bogus
On January 14 2013 17:59 Rioru wrote: Poor HuK. I wonder if there's any chance he could win in his group.
If Huk prepares incredibly well anything could happen. Given how he's been slumping lately ( outside of advancing from his up/ down group) it's possible his opponents will not actually prepare for him but only each other. Underestimating Huk has never been a good idea . I honestly don't think he'll get out of the group but anything is possible.
which group life is in? -> group of death everyone is sick of zvz's right now, even gomtvt days were better. so i am glad we have a lot of terrans in ro32, i hope some of them can manage to get into ro8 and maybe more.
On January 14 2013 17:59 Rioru wrote: Poor HuK. I wonder if there's any chance he could win in his group.
If Huk prepares incredibly well anything could happen. Given how he's been slumping lately ( outside of advancing from his up/ down group) it's possible his opponents will not actually prepare for him but only each other. Underestimating Huk has never been a good idea . I honestly don't think he'll get out of the group but anything is possible.
you have to factor in the opponents he is facing, he faces one of the scariest players in the world atm, who is flipping infamous for destroying hope and fun, then faces either 1 of 2 incredible TvP players
On January 14 2013 17:59 Rioru wrote: Poor HuK. I wonder if there's any chance he could win in his group.
If Huk prepares incredibly well anything could happen. Given how he's been slumping lately ( outside of advancing from his up/ down group) it's possible his opponents will not actually prepare for him but only each other. Underestimating Huk has never been a good idea . I honestly don't think he'll get out of the group but anything is possible.
Yeah, I think every player has a shot. But he is probably huge underdog against everyone in his group. Sniper and Bomber are vP specialist and GumiHo is also very good vP (althought historically, his vZ is better).
Wow, they put in a KeSPA map, although one of the more reasonable ones imo. There have been some pretty fun games on the map, and the lack of watchtowers is a really cool novelty compared to the other maps.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what Icarus looks like.
On January 14 2013 18:04 Joedaddy wrote: I doubted Huk in the up and downs, but I'm going to do it again. All you need to know is this:
Bomber TvP: 77% win rate in his last 10 games Gumihio TvP: 60% win rate in his last 10 games Huk PvT: 47% win rate in his last 10 games
Sniper ZvP: 65% win rate in his last 10 games Huk PvZ: 52% win rate in his last 10 games
Huk making it out of his group would be the SC2 equivalent of "The Miracle on Ice."
How do you get values like 52% and 47% out of the last 10 games? Last 10 games = 10%, 20%, 30%, etc.
I am thrilled with Mvp's group.
Mvp > MarineKing (always always always) Mvp has better TvT than KeeN Mvp's TvZ is weak lately, but RorO is no Life so Mvp should be fine
Hopefully, MKP can take out Roro for Mvp.
Depending on Mvp's condition, the number of new maps can be good or bad for him. He has always been one of the best players in terms of finding 'abusive' builds on new maps (Ohana double bunker vs Nestea, Embombed low ground bunker, Cloud Kingdom 3 bunker wall, etc). But if he can't practice much, then it can be an disadvantage to have that many new maps to practice.
And obvious, his loss to goswser (who did play well btw) will raise some concerns. Hopefully he was resting so that he can give his full attention to this last season of WoL.
C: Sniper, Gumiho (or Bomber if he's waiting until the ro16 to Bomber out :p)
D: Yoda, Hyun
E: Losira, PartinG
F: MVP, MKP
G: Taeja, Nestea
H: DRG, Stepahnooooo00ooooo (>_>)
Groups E and F have me totally stoked. The rest all have great players, but just not the matchups I'd want. Funny how the ro32 is almost always this way, lol. Gets good from ro16 onward though.
On January 14 2013 18:04 Joedaddy wrote: I doubted Huk in the up and downs, but I'm going to do it again. All you need to know is this:
Bomber TvP: 77% win rate in his last 10 games Gumihio TvP: 60% win rate in his last 10 games Huk PvT: 47% win rate in his last 10 games
Sniper ZvP: 65% win rate in his last 10 games Huk PvZ: 52% win rate in his last 10 games
Huk making it out of his group would be the SC2 equivalent of "The Miracle on Ice."
I think those are overall stats and not last 10? Don't think you can have 77% in last 10 games...
Yeah; im TLPD noob. I was just copy/pasting their win %'s and saw the last 10 games part. Didn't think that deep into it. One thing is for certain though, the probability of Huk making it out is slim to none.
Group A - Byul Life Group B - Leenock Curious Group C - Sniper Gumiho Group D - Yoda Squirtle Group E - Ryung Parting Group F - MVP Keen Group G - Soulkey Nestea Group H - Stephano DRG
Sorry Zerg haters. A lot of zergs are just favourite in their groups. Balance not even as a factor. Life, Leenock, Curious, Sniper, Nestea, Stephano and DRG are just kickass compared to the peers in their groups for the most part.
Only 4 Kespa this time too, I think Soulkey can make it out. The rest I'm far less sure about. And even then Soulkey got a hard group.
Stephano has got the best group he could have hoped for. Bogus looks bad in proleague and Hack is probably one of the three weakest players in Code S(he's still good of course). He can just not prepare against zerg, all in DRG if he faces him, and practice ZvT all day everyday and he should be able to take care of Hack and Bogus.
On January 14 2013 18:21 Waxangel wrote: how is stephano so lucky?!
HuK made it so Sniper took him as the default pick, and then I guess HyuN didn't want to take Stephano because of the old TSL connection?
Why do you say he is so lucky? If you have the opportunity to pick Stephano or Huk. To choose between an always volatile ZvZ or a more reliable ZvP, you pick HuK and the ZvP. About Hyun, I don't see why an old connection would help Stephano. On the other hand they trained together and their match were always close. I understand he picks someone else if he feels strong against him. Getting DRG, maybe top2 in the world right now is not being lucky. It's not bad but it's not being in Losira's or Roro's position.
On January 14 2013 18:21 Waxangel wrote: how is stephano so lucky?!
HuK made it so Sniper took him as the default pick, and then I guess HyuN didn't want to take Stephano because of the old TSL connection?
Why do you say he is so lucky? If you have the opportunity to pick Stephano or Huk. To choose between an always volatile ZvZ or a more reliable ZvP, you pick HuK and the ZvP. About Hyun, I don't see why an old connection would help Stephano. On the other hand they trained together and their match were always close. I understand he picks someone else if he feels strong against him. Getting DRG, maybe top2 in the world right now is not being lucky. It's not bad but it's not being in Losira's or Roro's position.
he's lucky that HuK made it for one
it's extremely unlikely BOTH sniper and HyuN pass him over without huk
Overall I feel that the groups are fairly even. Hard for me to pick a group of death. Aside from a few stars, its very difficult to predict a lot of these groups.
On January 14 2013 18:24 iKill wrote: Wax, these groups are random
no, winner and runner up of previosu season get to pick their opponent frmo tier 4
really? well shit, I stand corrected
last time I checked the Ro32s were random and the Ro16s were picked
Ro32's were never pure random, winner/runner-up always had a pick from tier 4
Not to mention that there is 4 tiers in Code S, Ro8 from last season is Tier 1, then Top 8 rankings after Ro8 from last season is 2, then 9-16th ranked players are Tier 3, and 17-24th is Tier 4.
Each finalist get's to pick 1 opponent from Tier 4, while the rest of the group is made up, with an example of Group A.
Group A Tier 1 - Creator Tier 4 - ByuL Tier 3 - Symbol Tier 2 - Life
On January 14 2013 18:31 skyyan wrote: Overall I feel that the groups are fairly even. Hard for me to pick a group of death. Aside from a few stars, its very difficult to predict a lot of these groups.
Group A looks strongest from top to bottom. But it is not really 'by far' the toughest group.
On January 14 2013 18:21 Waxangel wrote: how is stephano so lucky?!
HuK made it so Sniper took him as the default pick, and then I guess HyuN didn't want to take Stephano because of the old TSL connection?
Why do you say he is so lucky? If you have the opportunity to pick Stephano or Huk. To choose between an always volatile ZvZ or a more reliable ZvP, you pick HuK and the ZvP. About Hyun, I don't see why an old connection would help Stephano. On the other hand they trained together and their match were always close. I understand he picks someone else if he feels strong against him. Getting DRG, maybe top2 in the world right now is not being lucky. It's not bad but it's not being in Losira's or Roro's position.
he's lucky that HuK made it for one
it's extremely unlikely BOTH sniper and HyuN pass him over without huk
Look at Huk, or BBongBBong's group. It wouldn't change a thing for Stephano: one strong zerg, and two hard but beatable opponents
On January 14 2013 18:21 Waxangel wrote: how is stephano so lucky?!
HuK made it so Sniper took him as the default pick, and then I guess HyuN didn't want to take Stephano because of the old TSL connection?
Why do you say he is so lucky? If you have the opportunity to pick Stephano or Huk. To choose between an always volatile ZvZ or a more reliable ZvP, you pick HuK and the ZvP. About Hyun, I don't see why an old connection would help Stephano. On the other hand they trained together and their match were always close. I understand he picks someone else if he feels strong against him. Getting DRG, maybe top2 in the world right now is not being lucky. It's not bad but it's not being in Losira's or Roro's position.
he's lucky that HuK made it for one
it's extremely unlikely BOTH sniper and HyuN pass him over without huk
Look at Huk, or BBongBBong's group. It wouldn't change a thing for Stephano: one strong zerg, and two hard but beatable opponents
Kind of. But the order of play matters. Stephano gets to play a T first. So he cannot get knocked out by 2 ZvZs (it would have been possible if he was in HuK or B4's position).
On January 14 2013 18:21 Waxangel wrote: how is stephano so lucky?!
HuK made it so Sniper took him as the default pick, and then I guess HyuN didn't want to take Stephano because of the old TSL connection?
Why do you say he is so lucky? If you have the opportunity to pick Stephano or Huk. To choose between an always volatile ZvZ or a more reliable ZvP, you pick HuK and the ZvP. About Hyun, I don't see why an old connection would help Stephano. On the other hand they trained together and their match were always close. I understand he picks someone else if he feels strong against him. Getting DRG, maybe top2 in the world right now is not being lucky. It's not bad but it's not being in Losira's or Roro's position.
he's lucky that HuK made it for one
it's extremely unlikely BOTH sniper and HyuN pass him over without huk
Look at Huk, or BBongBBong's group. It wouldn't change a thing for Stephano: one strong zerg, and two hard but beatable opponents
Kind of. But the order of play matters. Stephano gets to play a T first. So he cannot get knocked out by 2 ZvZs (it would have been possible if he was in HuK or B4's position).
You have a point but I think it is debatable. Here I doubt DRG would lose one serie for example. With the GSL format, I'd rather play against the hardest opponent first. Otherwise, it may be like WCS where Stephano was 3-2 versus HerO but was eliminated.
A: Life, Symbol B: This one is completely open C: Gumiho, Sniper and Bomber all have good chances D: Hyun, Squirtle E: Parting, Losira F: Roro, MarineKing G: Taeja first, Noblesse or Soulkey second H: DRG, Stephano
On January 14 2013 18:21 Waxangel wrote: how is stephano so lucky?!
HuK made it so Sniper took him as the default pick, and then I guess HyuN didn't want to take Stephano because of the old TSL connection?
Why do you say he is so lucky? If you have the opportunity to pick Stephano or Huk. To choose between an always volatile ZvZ or a more reliable ZvP, you pick HuK and the ZvP. About Hyun, I don't see why an old connection would help Stephano. On the other hand they trained together and their match were always close. I understand he picks someone else if he feels strong against him. Getting DRG, maybe top2 in the world right now is not being lucky. It's not bad but it's not being in Losira's or Roro's position.
he's lucky that HuK made it for one
it's extremely unlikely BOTH sniper and HyuN pass him over without huk
Look at Huk, or BBongBBong's group. It wouldn't change a thing for Stephano: one strong zerg, and two hard but beatable opponents
Kind of. But the order of play matters. Stephano gets to play a T first. So he cannot get knocked out by 2 ZvZs (it would have been possible if he was in HuK or B4's position).
I think it is debatable and it depends. Here I doubt DRG would lose one serie for example. With the GSL format, I'd rather play against the hardest opponent first. Otherwise, it may be like WCS where Stephano was 3-2 versus HerO but was eliminated.
No, but it still opens up for the possibility. And why open with the hardest opponent first? It is always better to win your first match in the GSL format.
Maybe TheBB could crunch the numbers for if it was DRG v Stephano, Bogus v Hack setup.
A: Life, Symbol B: This one is completely open C: Gumiho, Sniper and Bomber all have good chances D: Hyun, Squirtle E: Parting, Losira F: Roro, MarineKing G: Taeja first, Noblesse or Soulkey second H: DRG, Stephano
A: Life, Symbol B: This one is completely open C: Gumiho, Sniper and Bomber all have good chances D: Hyun, Squirtle E: Parting, Losira F: Roro, MarineKing G: Taeja first, Noblesse or Soulkey second H: DRG, Stephano
On January 14 2013 18:21 Waxangel wrote: how is stephano so lucky?!
HuK made it so Sniper took him as the default pick, and then I guess HyuN didn't want to take Stephano because of the old TSL connection?
Why do you say he is so lucky? If you have the opportunity to pick Stephano or Huk. To choose between an always volatile ZvZ or a more reliable ZvP, you pick HuK and the ZvP. About Hyun, I don't see why an old connection would help Stephano. On the other hand they trained together and their match were always close. I understand he picks someone else if he feels strong against him. Getting DRG, maybe top2 in the world right now is not being lucky. It's not bad but it's not being in Losira's or Roro's position.
he's lucky that HuK made it for one
it's extremely unlikely BOTH sniper and HyuN pass him over without huk
Look at Huk, or BBongBBong's group. It wouldn't change a thing for Stephano: one strong zerg, and two hard but beatable opponents
Kind of. But the order of play matters. Stephano gets to play a T first. So he cannot get knocked out by 2 ZvZs (it would have been possible if he was in HuK or B4's position).
I think it is debatable and it depends. Here I doubt DRG would lose one serie for example. With the GSL format, I'd rather play against the hardest opponent first. Otherwise, it may be like WCS where Stephano was 3-2 versus HerO but was eliminated.
No, but it still opens up for the possibility. And why open with the hardest opponent first? It is always better to win your first match in the GSL format.
Maybe TheBB could crunch the numbers for if it was DRG v Stephano, Bogus v Hack setup.
Sure thing. According to "me," he's still favoured to get out in second place, but not nearly by as much.
The first round pairings can have a pretty big impact. You always want to open against the weakest opponents, because there's a chance the presumed strongest opponent can fail to win his game. Remember that the strongest opponent against you doesn't have to be strongest against others (since matchups matter).
On January 14 2013 18:21 Waxangel wrote: how is stephano so lucky?!
HuK made it so Sniper took him as the default pick, and then I guess HyuN didn't want to take Stephano because of the old TSL connection?
Why do you say he is so lucky? If you have the opportunity to pick Stephano or Huk. To choose between an always volatile ZvZ or a more reliable ZvP, you pick HuK and the ZvP. About Hyun, I don't see why an old connection would help Stephano. On the other hand they trained together and their match were always close. I understand he picks someone else if he feels strong against him. Getting DRG, maybe top2 in the world right now is not being lucky. It's not bad but it's not being in Losira's or Roro's position.
he's lucky that HuK made it for one
it's extremely unlikely BOTH sniper and HyuN pass him over without huk
Look at Huk, or BBongBBong's group. It wouldn't change a thing for Stephano: one strong zerg, and two hard but beatable opponents
Kind of. But the order of play matters. Stephano gets to play a T first. So he cannot get knocked out by 2 ZvZs (it would have been possible if he was in HuK or B4's position).
I think it is debatable and it depends. Here I doubt DRG would lose one serie for example. With the GSL format, I'd rather play against the hardest opponent first. Otherwise, it may be like WCS where Stephano was 3-2 versus HerO but was eliminated.
No, but it still opens up for the possibility. And why open with the hardest opponent first? It is always better to win your first match in the GSL format.
Maybe TheBB could crunch the numbers for if it was DRG v Stephano, Bogus v Hack setup.
Sure thing. According to "me," he's still favoured to get out in second place, but not nearly by as much.
The first round pairings can have a pretty big impact.
Thanks. Yes, it makes sense that it would only make a slight difference because DRG is big favorites over Hack and Bogus. So it is Stephano's most likely path would be beating Bogus and Hack anyways. But it does make a difference.
I think in cases where the racial strength of a player is very skewed (like previous JYP vZ, vT etc), and you have 2-3 players like that in one group. Then you will see huge variations due to order.
On January 14 2013 19:04 CloudMage wrote: HuK Fighting!!!! is it just me or are these groups seriously lacking in Protoss rep lol oh well terran OP zerg OP n all dat
Yeah. Only 5 protosses made it to Code S this season.
On January 14 2013 18:56 Mackus wrote: Did Hyun really pick BBoongBong? - Runners up get a pick too. Group H is obviously the most balanced of the groups
Really not liking the new Map pool - Antiga showed some really great games.
On January 14 2013 18:21 Waxangel wrote: how is stephano so lucky?!
HuK made it so Sniper took him as the default pick, and then I guess HyuN didn't want to take Stephano because of the old TSL connection?
Why do you say he is so lucky? If you have the opportunity to pick Stephano or Huk. To choose between an always volatile ZvZ or a more reliable ZvP, you pick HuK and the ZvP. About Hyun, I don't see why an old connection would help Stephano. On the other hand they trained together and their match were always close. I understand he picks someone else if he feels strong against him. Getting DRG, maybe top2 in the world right now is not being lucky. It's not bad but it's not being in Losira's or Roro's position.
he's lucky that HuK made it for one
it's extremely unlikely BOTH sniper and HyuN pass him over without huk
Look at Huk, or BBongBBong's group. It wouldn't change a thing for Stephano: one strong zerg, and two hard but beatable opponents
Kind of. But the order of play matters. Stephano gets to play a T first. So he cannot get knocked out by 2 ZvZs (it would have been possible if he was in HuK or B4's position).
I think it is debatable and it depends. Here I doubt DRG would lose one serie for example. With the GSL format, I'd rather play against the hardest opponent first. Otherwise, it may be like WCS where Stephano was 3-2 versus HerO but was eliminated.
No, but it still opens up for the possibility. And why open with the hardest opponent first? It is always better to win your first match in the GSL format.
Maybe TheBB could crunch the numbers for if it was DRG v Stephano, Bogus v Hack setup.
Sure thing. According to "me," he's still favoured to get out in second place, but not nearly by as much.
The first round pairings can have a pretty big impact.
Thanks. Yes, it makes sense that it would only make a slight difference because DRG is big favorites over Hack and Bogus. So it is Stephano's most likely path would be beating Bogus and Hack anyways. But it does make a difference.
I think in cases where the racial strength of a player is very skewed (like previous JYP vZ, vT etc), and you have 2-3 players like that in one group. Then you will see huge variations due to order.
Thank you for the stats. I'll also add the psychological side, but you may of course disagree. Let's say you and your opponent are about equal. If you win first match. And then lose in the winning serie, while your first opponent win in the loser's serie. When you face him again, I think he has a psychological advantage, because he is on a winning vibe but especially because he has adapted your play since you adapt better when you lose than when you win.
A: Life, Symbol B: This one is completely open C: Gumiho, Sniper and Bomber all have good chances D: Hyun, Squirtle E: Parting, Losira F: Roro, MarineKing G: Taeja first, Noblesse or Soulkey second H: DRG, Stephano
Im curious, how do you get these details?? Also if IMMvp wins, my heart, mind, soul and dick will explode from happiness XD
my predictions atm: Creator/Life Leenock/Curious (codeS reader!) Gumiho/Bomber Squirtle/Hyun (possibly Yoda "upset") Parting/Ryung (or Ryung/Byun if Byun goes uber TvP again and Parting is lacking storm) MVP/Marineking (MKP aint gonna beat MVP ever in gsl... poor him) Taeja/whoever brings his best games (possibly Taeja out if he doesnt bring his top-form like last season ) DRG/Stephano; Bogus if he remains innovator and comes up with 4 different timing attacks to beat the Z.
Im prolly only gonna get half of the right and most will be in the wrong order, but i like giving my predictions!
Happy with the groups that Leenock and Gumiho got. Leenock should be a certainty and it's time Gumi finally made it to another round of 16. Sniper will be tough, but Huk is basically a free win and he's really had Bomber's number in recent months.
A: Life, Symbol B: This one is completely open C: Gumiho, Sniper and Bomber all have good chances D: Hyun, Squirtle E: Parting, Losira F: Roro, MarineKing G: Taeja first, Noblesse or Soulkey second H: DRG, Stephano
Im curious, how do you get these details?? Also if IMMvp wins, my heart, mind, soul and dick will explode from happiness XD
On January 14 2013 18:21 Waxangel wrote: how is stephano so lucky?!
HuK made it so Sniper took him as the default pick, and then I guess HyuN didn't want to take Stephano because of the old TSL connection?
Why do you say he is so lucky? If you have the opportunity to pick Stephano or Huk. To choose between an always volatile ZvZ or a more reliable ZvP, you pick HuK and the ZvP. About Hyun, I don't see why an old connection would help Stephano. On the other hand they trained together and their match were always close. I understand he picks someone else if he feels strong against him. Getting DRG, maybe top2 in the world right now is not being lucky. It's not bad but it's not being in Losira's or Roro's position.
he's lucky that HuK made it for one
it's extremely unlikely BOTH sniper and HyuN pass him over without huk
Look at Huk, or BBongBBong's group. It wouldn't change a thing for Stephano: one strong zerg, and two hard but beatable opponents
Kind of. But the order of play matters. Stephano gets to play a T first. So he cannot get knocked out by 2 ZvZs (it would have been possible if he was in HuK or B4's position).
I think it is debatable and it depends. Here I doubt DRG would lose one serie for example. With the GSL format, I'd rather play against the hardest opponent first. Otherwise, it may be like WCS where Stephano was 3-2 versus HerO but was eliminated.
No, but it still opens up for the possibility. And why open with the hardest opponent first? It is always better to win your first match in the GSL format.
Maybe TheBB could crunch the numbers for if it was DRG v Stephano, Bogus v Hack setup.
Sure thing. According to "me," he's still favoured to get out in second place, but not nearly by as much.
The first round pairings can have a pretty big impact.
Thanks. Yes, it makes sense that it would only make a slight difference because DRG is big favorites over Hack and Bogus. So it is Stephano's most likely path would be beating Bogus and Hack anyways. But it does make a difference.
I think in cases where the racial strength of a player is very skewed (like previous JYP vZ, vT etc), and you have 2-3 players like that in one group. Then you will see huge variations due to order.
Thank you for the stats. I'll also add the psychological side, but you may of course disagree. Let's say you and your opponent are about equal. If you win first match. And then lose in the winning serie, while your first opponent win in the loser's serie. When you face him again, I think he has a psychological advantage, because he is on a winning vibe but especially because he has adapted your play since you adapt better when you lose than when you win.
I think it works both ways. The winner of the first set can also feel "Well, I beat him the first time, I can do it again.". And I am not sure about the adapting either. If this was the case, we wouldn't have Mvp vs MKP and Rain vs HerO, etc.
On January 11 2013 02:24 eviltomahawk wrote: Mr. Chae probably did a fist pump upon seeing Huk advance haha. But it would be kinda funny if we got a Huk vs Stephano team-kill in the first round lol.
However, I wish Fantasy advanced, but alas, we'll see that in due time.
No, what will happen is Sniper will pick Huk for his group and snipe him! :p
On January 14 2013 19:04 CloudMage wrote: HuK Fighting!!!! is it just me or are these groups seriously lacking in Protoss rep lol oh well terran OP zerg OP n all dat
Yeah. Only 5 protosses made it to Code S this season.
Seems like time to get sad zealot club going again..
...Planet S? Am I the only one that finds it funny that GOM is using the map that was modified/name-changed to promote Proleague's sponsor? Wonder if they'll change it back, or to something else...
On January 11 2013 02:24 eviltomahawk wrote: Mr. Chae probably did a fist pump upon seeing Huk advance haha. But it would be kinda funny if we got a Huk vs Stephano team-kill in the first round lol.
However, I wish Fantasy advanced, but alas, we'll see that in due time.
No, what will happen is Sniper will pick Huk for his group and snipe him! :p
Whilst Huk did great getting through the U&D's, he's clearly the worst player in Code S. No surprise to see Sniper pick him.
A: Life, Symbol B: This one is completely open C: Gumiho, Sniper and Bomber all have good chances D: Hyun, Squirtle E: Parting, Losira F: Roro, MarineKing G: Taeja first, Noblesse or Soulkey second H: DRG, Stephano
The only Protosses I'm predicting to advance are PartinG and Squirtle. Creator.. extremely tough group, but if he plays well he might be able to get out. HuK and MC.. I really can't see MC advancing over Leenock and Curious, and HuK.. both GuMiho and Bomber are really strong, not to mention Sniper the champion.
The maps tho.. eliminating Protoss favoured map Entombed Valley and Terran favoured map Antiga Shipyard while keeping Zerg favoured maps like Whirlwind and Bel'shir Vestige surely does not help stem the Zerg overflow in GSL.. I'm looking to see how the new maps will pan out in race balances.
On January 14 2013 17:45 DisaFear wrote: Stephano meets good ol DRG again :O Poor HuK!
Lucky Creator, just has to practice his PvZ
Stephano would be luckier if he landed in Creator's spot, he would have to practice only ZvZ ^^ I have a group for Ro16 for him in mind, Sniper, Life, Symbol Stephano, I so love ZvZ with good players
I was thinking group of death is group A first, but so much zerg with only one zerg above 50% wins vs zerg is kinda random if you ask me. The scariest looking group is G really. Soulkey and Taeja are just obviously scary, Nestea has done really well lately and Noblesse is looking strong. So yeah, G.
On January 14 2013 19:51 CycoDude wrote: sick groups, although i wish there was more protoss players. i guess we can look forward to plenty of ZvZ, TvT and TvZ.
also, i wish the op will post screenshots of the new (or revised) maps in the OP when those are available.
if anyone has a korean account, then whirlwind and bel'shir vestige SE should be uploaded already. search their korean names. same for planet S haha
hahaha Huk is gonna get rolled so hard. Sure he got out of his group but you can't even compare the two. He's not going to take a map and I would bet money on that.
New maps: I like it mostly, but I would've liked to see Neo Bifrost instead of Akilon Flats.
Groups: TaeJa has a managable group, Mvp too, Ryung's gonna have to work hard to get out of there, Stephano has an interesting match against Bogus and HuK is gonna get crushed.
Oh man HuK. His PvZ is bad, Snipers is awesome Bomber maybe is the best TvP Terran AND if this is not enough, Gumiho is better in TvT than Bomber.
HuK going 0-4. All the haters are damn right this time. =( Even if he plays very good, he still can end up with a 0-4....sad for him after a good performance in U&D...
Stephano has a Chance, he has to beat 2 Terran with Zerg, thats possible. But Hack is a beast against Zerg... DRG easy in RO 16.
So what I see out of this is I feel bad for MKP drawing MVP into his group yet again. Parting, Taeja and Stephano have a good chance to get out and Sniper has a chance to kill yet more fun things.
On January 14 2013 20:08 Proxan wrote: Stephano got a really easy way through the first group. 2 terrans he can just zerg over. He will advance for sure.
On January 14 2013 20:08 Proxan wrote: Stephano got a really easy way through the first group. 2 terrans he can just zerg over. He will advance for sure.
hack has scary TvZ, bogus made ro4 last season......
On January 14 2013 17:45 DisaFear wrote: Stephano meets good ol DRG again :O Poor HuK!
Lucky Creator, just has to practice his PvZ
Stephano would be luckier if he landed in Creator's spot, he would have to practice only ZvZ ^^ I have a group for Ro16 for him in mind, Sniper, Life, Symbol Stephano, I so love ZvZ with good players
best ZvZ group imho would be Life, Leenock, Sniper and DRG/symbol
On January 14 2013 17:47 Laryleprakon wrote: lol Sniper picked Huk
Pretty happy with Mvps group ^_^
Lots of new maps, hopefully they are more creative than what we have seen lately.
Is anyone surprised? I would have put money on it
Although Sniper did beat Huk 2-0 last time they met (IPL 5), those games were anything but one-sided (IIRC game 1 was a little one-sided in Huk's favor until he threw it away).
On January 14 2013 17:47 Laryleprakon wrote: lol Sniper picked Huk
Pretty happy with Mvps group ^_^
Lots of new maps, hopefully they are more creative than what we have seen lately.
Is anyone surprised? I would have put money on it
Although Sniper did beat Huk 2-0 last time they met (IPL 5), those games were anything but one-sided (IIRC game 1 was a little one-sided in Huk's favor until he threw it away).
Huk is still easily the weakest player in Code S on paper and PvZ is his worst matchup while Sniper has good ZvP
On January 14 2013 17:47 Laryleprakon wrote: lol Sniper picked Huk
Pretty happy with Mvps group ^_^
Lots of new maps, hopefully they are more creative than what we have seen lately.
Is anyone surprised? I would have put money on it
Although Sniper did beat Huk 2-0 last time they met (IPL 5), those games were anything but one-sided (IIRC game 1 was a little one-sided in Huk's favor until he threw it away).
Well, Sniper was also not practicing his vP since he had vT and vZ for Code S.
On January 14 2013 17:47 Laryleprakon wrote: lol Sniper picked Huk
Pretty happy with Mvps group ^_^
Lots of new maps, hopefully they are more creative than what we have seen lately.
Is anyone surprised? I would have put money on it
Although Sniper did beat Huk 2-0 last time they met (IPL 5), those games were anything but one-sided (IIRC game 1 was a little one-sided in Huk's favor until he threw it away).
Huk is still easily the weakest player in Code S on paper and PvZ is his worst matchup while Sniper has good ZvP
GuMiho is worse than HuK if he repeats last season's performance.
On January 14 2013 20:40 The_Masked_Shrimp wrote: ahah poor mkp, will he overcome his mvp curse?
Probably. It doesn't take much to beat Mvp these days at the top level because of his wrists... :\
That is if they even meet... Mvp could go 0-4 and MKP could go 4-0 for all we know.
It doesn't matter how MVP is feeling. MKP is yet to defeat him in a series, which is pretty funny given how good MKP is and the people MVP sometimes loses to.
But yeah. Would actually be pretty funny if they didn't even meet.
Poor HuK...he got two amazing Terrans and the fun-killer himself. His only chance of making it out is for Bomber to disappoint (highly likely) or for Gumiho to remember that he's bad at GSL.
On January 14 2013 20:27 Gladiator333 wrote: If the protoss players are lucky maybe one of them might reach ro8, but not more than that.
I really hope more than one player makes it out of the groups. I like watching Protoss.
Well Parting looks to be in a good group. - Shaky Byun - RyungvP
LosiravP will be his biggest threat, though it didn't look half as amazing as it used to in up and downs.
MC hasn't looked good enough lately, and has 2 great zerg players in his group. Creator has a shot with 1 MU plus other factors such as Byul being new to Code S and Symbol being teamless potentially affecting their play. HuK has no chance. Sniper, Bomber, Gumiho? If HuK advances, even in an ugly fashion, I'll be so impressed. Squirtle is a maybe. He just left the teamhouse though so =S And Hyun + Yoda at the top of their game will beat the current Squirtle we've seen.
So chance wise: Parting > Creator > Squirtle > MC > HuK I'm with the sentiment that I'll be happy if one makes it all the way to Ro8. I think only 2 will make it to Ro16.
On January 14 2013 20:56 smashlloyd20 wrote: Poor HuK...he got two amazing Terrans and the fun-killer himself. His only chance of making it out is for Bomber to disappoint (highly likely) or for Gumiho to remember that he's bad at GSL.
On January 14 2013 20:27 Gladiator333 wrote: If the protoss players are lucky maybe one of them might reach ro8, but not more than that.
I really hope more than one player makes it out of the groups. I like watching Protoss.
Well Parting looks to be in a good group. - Shaky Byun - RyungvP
LosiravP will be his biggest threat, though it didn't look half as amazing as it used to in up and downs.
MC hasn't looked good enough lately, and has 2 great zerg players in his group. Creator has a shot with 1 MU plus other factors such as Byul being new to Code S and Symbol being teamless potentially affecting their play. HuK has no chance. Sniper, Bomber, Gumiho? If HuK advances, even in an ugly fashion, I'll be so impressed. Squirtle is a maybe. He just left the teamhouse though so =S And Hyun + Yoda at the top of their game will beat the current Squirtle we've seen.
So chance wise: Parting > Creator > Squirtle > MC > HuK I'm with the sentiment that I'll be happy if one makes it all the way to Ro8. I think only 2 will make it to Ro16.
I agree with you mostly. I just think HuK has the right mindset at the moment and I think he'll go into these games very well prepared. I actually think he's got a shot at advancing and there's always hope that MC will pull some sort of miracle like he always does. He's constantly underestimated. With that in mind, I would still agree with your order of likeliness to advance. It's a bleak outlook for Protoss fans this season.
On January 14 2013 20:56 smashlloyd20 wrote: Poor HuK...he got two amazing Terrans and the fun-killer himself. His only chance of making it out is for Bomber to disappoint (highly likely) or for Gumiho to remember that he's bad at GSL.
bomber never dissapoints in tvp
Maybe Bomber is setting you up for the biggest disappointment yet?
On January 14 2013 20:56 smashlloyd20 wrote: Poor HuK...he got two amazing Terrans and the fun-killer himself. His only chance of making it out is for Bomber to disappoint (highly likely) or for Gumiho to remember that he's bad at GSL.
Few Kespa players New Maps dayum it's about time ! Daybreak and Cloud Kingdom still in the map pool ? sucks eventhough CK is very balanced Gogo MKP, this GSL is for you !
On January 14 2013 20:56 smashlloyd20 wrote: Poor HuK...he got two amazing Terrans and the fun-killer himself. His only chance of making it out is for Bomber to disappoint (highly likely) or for Gumiho to remember that he's bad at GSL.
On January 14 2013 20:56 smashlloyd20 wrote: Poor HuK...he got two amazing Terrans and the fun-killer himself. His only chance of making it out is for Bomber to disappoint (highly likely) or for Gumiho to remember that he's bad at GSL.
Group A is pretty sick! Also, are there still people out there that think Zerg isn't pretty strong *cough imbalanced* right now? I predict an all-Zerg RO4!
On January 14 2013 20:56 smashlloyd20 wrote: Poor HuK...he got two amazing Terrans and the fun-killer himself. His only chance of making it out is for Bomber to disappoint (highly likely) or for Gumiho to remember that he's bad at GSL.
bomber never dissapoints in tvp
No matte what qualifiers you put before or after this statement, saying it makes you the most wrong person on the internet.
Bomber ALWAYS disappoints. Sometimes he appears not to disappoint, but actually he's just going to disappoint you even more a bit later.
On January 14 2013 20:56 smashlloyd20 wrote: Poor HuK...he got two amazing Terrans and the fun-killer himself. His only chance of making it out is for Bomber to disappoint (highly likely) or for Gumiho to remember that he's bad at GSL.
bomber never dissapoints in tvp
No matte what qualifiers you put before or after this statement, saying it makes you the most wrong person on the internet.
Bomber ALWAYS disappoints. Sometimes he appears not to disappoint, but actually he's just going to disappoint you even more a bit later.
He got a point when speaking about TvP. Last months he had been totally dominating protoss after protoss, no matter who it was.
If there's one player that I'd love to see win one GSL, even if it's "only 1"..it's MKP. The joy and emotion he would give after the final game, would be beyond spectacular. It would give tears of happiness to all the kittens in the world - and everyone would be 25% happier. Seriously though, I'd love him to win it. Sidenote: if this isn't possible, then for the love of God, let him at least beat MVP
2nd choice ftw: Leenock. My favourite Zerg who has yet to win a GSL ^_^
On January 14 2013 20:56 smashlloyd20 wrote: Poor HuK...he got two amazing Terrans and the fun-killer himself. His only chance of making it out is for Bomber to disappoint (highly likely) or for Gumiho to remember that he's bad at GSL.
bomber never dissapoints in tvp
No matte what qualifiers you put before or after this statement, saying it makes you the most wrong person on the internet.
Bomber ALWAYS disappoints. Sometimes he appears not to disappoint, but actually he's just going to disappoint you even more a bit later.
He got a point when speaking about TvP. Last months he had been totally dominating protoss after protoss, no matter who it was.
It actually looks like his units are doing double damage to protoss armies sometimes.
On January 14 2013 20:56 smashlloyd20 wrote: Poor HuK...he got two amazing Terrans and the fun-killer himself. His only chance of making it out is for Bomber to disappoint (highly likely) or for Gumiho to remember that he's bad at GSL.
bomber never dissapoints in tvp
Maybe Bomber is setting you up for the biggest disappointment yet?
Nah.
Bomber make the biggest throws in TvZ and TvT.
Bomber TvP is solid as hell. His best match-up by far.
I don't recalled Bomber making super huge blunders in TvP.
LG-IM - 5 players in Code S StarTAle - 4 players in Code S MVP - 4 players in Code S Prime - 3 players in Code S FXO - 2 players in Code S EG - 2 players in Code S Axiom, SKT, Samsung, Woonjin Stars, TL and STX Soul - 1 player in Code S
KeSPA teams - 3 players in Code S Foreigners - 2 players in Code S "Foreign" Teams - 4 players in Code S (EG, Axiom, TL)
On January 14 2013 21:38 nimdil wrote: LG-IM - 5 players in Code S StarTAle - 4 players in Code S MVP - 4 players in Code S Prime - 3 players in Code S FXO - 2 players in Code S EG - 2 players in Code S Axiom, SKT, Samsung, Woonjin Stars, TL and STX Soul - 1 player in Code S
KeSPA teams - 3 players in Code S Foreigners - 2 players in Code S "Foreign" Teams - 4 players in Code S (EG, Axiom, TL)
Pretty sure KeSPA has 5
PartinG, Baby, Bogus, Roro, Soulkey
Also missing T8, SK as a team that has 1 player.
And 4 teamless players in Symbol, Squirtle, B4, HyuN
So Huk picked Bomber? That's pretty surprising, maybe someone else remembers that link to the wesbite where the guy has done all the statistical analysis on SC2 games, but in it Bomber's TvP rating was so ridiculously high that he was like 70-30 over players like PartinG. Obviously its just a mathematical model but it shows how solid Bombers TvP has been since forever.
Bogus/Innovation picking Stephano is the most obvious Korean pride pick ever, there are definetly Zergs in code S with worse ZvT than Stephano. I hope Stephano crushes him so he gets left with less pride than he started with and a spot in the first round of code A.
On January 14 2013 21:48 Eufouria wrote: So Huk picked Bomber? That's pretty surprising, maybe someone else remembers that link to the wesbite where the guy has done all the statistical analysis on SC2 games, but in it Bomber's TvP rating was so ridiculously high that he was like 70-30 over players like PartinG. Obviously its just a mathematical model but it shows how solid Bombers TvP has been since forever.
Bogus/Innovation picking Stephano is the most obvious Korean pride pick ever, there are definetly Zergs in code S with worse ZvT than Stephano. I hope Stephano crushes him so he gets left with less pride than he started with and a spot in the first round of code A.
Nope, this is Ro32 (not Ro16). The 2 finalist from last season got picks from Tier 4 players, the ones with the least GSL points (Sniper -> Huk, HyuN -> B4). The rest was random draw with each group getting 1 player from each tier.
On January 14 2013 21:48 Eufouria wrote: So Huk picked Bomber? That's pretty surprising, maybe someone else remembers that link to the wesbite where the guy has done all the statistical analysis on SC2 games, but in it Bomber's TvP rating was so ridiculously high that he was like 70-30 over players like PartinG. Obviously its just a mathematical model but it shows how solid Bombers TvP has been since forever.
Bogus/Innovation picking Stephano is the most obvious Korean pride pick ever, there are definetly Zergs in code S with worse ZvT than Stephano. I hope Stephano crushes him so he gets left with less pride than he started with and a spot in the first round of code A.
Nope, this is Ro32 (not Ro16). The 2 finalist from last season got picks from Tier 4 players, the ones with the least GSL points (Sniper -> Huk, HyuN -> B4). The rest was random draw with each group getting 1 player from each tier.
Hopefully a lot of the protosses make it through to keep it interesting squirtle and parting have the best chance. Hopefully creator and MC can make it too. Huk... I'm just sorry.
New maps announced: Whirlwind SE 이카루스 (Icarus?) Akilon Flats KeSPA Neo Planet S Bel'Shir Vestige SE
Returning: Cloud Kingdom Daybreak
No Entombed Valley No Atlantis Spaceship 5 new maps I dont know if this is really great....
Well, Whirlwind and Bel'Shir are just tweaks. So I don't think it will be too bad. Planet S seems like a T map (at least most teams sent out Ts on it in Round 1 in PL)
New maps announced: Whirlwind SE 이카루스 (Icarus?) Akilon Flats KeSPA Neo Planet S Bel'Shir Vestige SE
Returning: Cloud Kingdom Daybreak
No Entombed Valley No Atlantis Spaceship 5 new maps I dont know if this is really great....
Atlantis was an awful map and hasn't been in the mappool for a while, and entombed was becoming an awful map. I'm not sad to see them both gone. Now just to do away with Daybreak and give CK a reskin and i'm happy :3
Actually... i think NesTea might be able ro advance. Even though His ZvP is was better than his ZvT, but at least one of the Terrans in his group isn't terribly scary.
Group B is close as hell, group A terribly strong (Life's not really the luckiest guy on earth, tbh oO Didn't he get a somewhat strong group last season as well? :-/
Oh man, KeeN's pretty much got the dream group. TvT is his best matchup and although MVP and MKP are strong, I believe he can take 'em on a good day. Gotta hope the 2rax gods are with him if he has to face RorO.
On January 14 2013 22:01 Swisslink wrote: Actually... i think NesTea might be able ro advance. Even though His ZvP is was better than his ZvT, but at least one of the Terrans in his group isn't terribly scary.
Group B is close as hell, group A terribly strong (Life's not really the luckiest guy on earth, tbh oO Didn't he get a somewhat strong group last season as well? :-/
Life got the 2nd easiest group last season ro32, he got an easy group 2 seasons ago in ro32 as well (the season he won)
New maps announced: Whirlwind SE 이카루스 (Icarus?) Akilon Flats KeSPA Neo Planet S Bel'Shir Vestige SE
Returning: Cloud Kingdom Daybreak
No Entombed Valley No Atlantis Spaceship 5 new maps I dont know if this is really great....
Atlantis was an awful map and hasn't been in the mappool for a while, and entombed was becoming an awful map. I'm not sad to see them both gone. Now just to do away with Daybreak and give CK a reskin and i'm happy :3
daybreak makes for the best games ever with whirlwind
New maps announced: Whirlwind SE 이카루스 (Icarus?) Akilon Flats KeSPA Neo Planet S Bel'Shir Vestige SE
Returning: Cloud Kingdom Daybreak
No Entombed Valley No Atlantis Spaceship 5 new maps I dont know if this is really great....
Atlantis was an awful map and hasn't been in the mappool for a while, and entombed was becoming an awful map. I'm not sad to see them both gone. Now just to do away with Daybreak and give CK a reskin and i'm happy :3
daybreak makes for the best games ever with whirlwind
Daybreak is over a year old right now and has been played to death in literally every tournament in existence. Yes it is the greatest map sc2 has seen thus far, but it's time to let it die.
Really even groups imo, I can't really see a big stand out as a group of death nor is there a easy group where everyone should have gotten bottom 16. Group E was the one that stood out the most to me. Losira looking strong again, Byul and Ryung impressed me recently and the best player in the world, Parting.
On January 14 2013 21:33 LaO-Tyros_Reffa wrote: If there's one player that I'd love to see win one GSL, even if it's "only 1"..it's MKP. The joy and emotion he would give after the final game, would be beyond spectacular. It would give tears of happiness to all the kittens in the world - and everyone would be 25% happier. Seriously though, I'd love him to win it.
This! And if not MKP then Stephano, he is a guy that media could sell to the public in order to popularize eSports.
On the other news: not much of a hope of seeing protoss advance to ro8 or beyond, so stacked groups and really scary opponents.
Also I'm really glad to see new maps, especially now after Blizzard announced thier intentions of incorporating more tournament maps to ladder pool.
On January 14 2013 23:31 IsraeL wrote: Tier 1 and 2 look the wrong way round!
Well, Tier 1 is the Top 8 from last season. Tier 2 is players with most GSL points from last year. So Tier 2 players AN look stronger than the tier 1s.
On January 14 2013 23:33 Sea_Food wrote: Wait HuK got a seed? Why didnt they give the seed to someone like thorzain instead? He atleast won some games during the past 6 months...
Guess they are catering for the NA viewers.
HuK won his group in Up & downs...
Actually it seems that he was 2nd, but still. Check Here
On January 14 2013 23:33 Sea_Food wrote: Wait HuK got a seed? Why didnt they give the seed to someone like thorzain instead? He atleast won some games during the past 6 months...
On January 14 2013 22:56 Karpfen wrote: why is Sniper famous for being evil and not allowing fun? seems fun to know.
he plays an incredibly boring but very strong style and defeated countless fan favorites on his way to victory, he also made a girl cry, and he also looks very evil
On January 14 2013 23:33 Sea_Food wrote: Wait HuK got a seed? Why didnt they give the seed to someone like thorzain instead? He atleast won some games during the past 6 months...
Guess they are catering for the NA viewers.
HuK got an up/down seed, the fact that he qualified from the up/down to code S semiproves that he deserves code S (he got the easiest up/down group tho and i think he has 0 chance in code S)
On January 14 2013 23:33 Sea_Food wrote: Wait HuK got a seed? Why didnt they give the seed to someone like thorzain instead? He atleast won some games during the past 6 months...
Guess they are catering for the NA viewers.
HuK got a up/down seed and managed to secure his Code S spot, so I wouldn't count him out. He is also one of five protoss players, so I was very impressed by his performance.
On January 14 2013 23:33 Sea_Food wrote: Wait HuK got a seed? Why didnt they give the seed to someone like thorzain instead? He atleast won some games during the past 6 months...
Guess they are catering for the NA viewers.
Funny you would say that after HuK got 2nd in his Up&Down group straight-up. No Code S seed.
On January 14 2013 23:50 Polygamy wrote: It's going to be pretty great when Huk 3-1 out of his group.
Don't think you can 3-1 in this format. Or any other format involving 4 man groups...
Yea you need to win 2 matches or 4 games minimum to advance in this format.
Also Huk got second in his U/D @ the guy that thought he got a direct seed. No one did this time around (Stephano didn't even get one, just replaced Polt).
Huk will get stomped unless he does some wacky gateway all-ins that nobody does in Korea anymore
Stephie would have a decent shot even at winning a gsl if there were no zergs besides him. in this current state he has basically 0% chance to achieve anything.
I'd love if Bomber, Gumiho, Creator, Byun, Taeja, Parting or MKP would win a gsl because I love those guys and at a certain point i felt like they deserved to win the gsl but they got stopped. but let's face it, it'll be probably some zerg that will be the last wol champion after some long and hard zvz series;)
On January 14 2013 23:33 Sea_Food wrote: Wait HuK got a seed? Why didnt they give the seed to someone like thorzain instead? He atleast won some games during the past 6 months...
Guess they are catering for the NA viewers.
HuK got a up/down seed and managed to secure his Code S spot, so I wouldn't count him out. He is also one of five protoss players, so I was very impressed by his performance.
I dont like the foreigner seed stuff, but at least it wasnt a code S seed, up and downs isnt too bad, and he did win there. I would pretty much count him out though looking at his group, hes got last seasons champ, Bomber whos TvP has been looking good recently, and Gumiho whos on a 7 game win streak. Would be nice for Huk to do well, i just cant see it happening.
On January 15 2013 00:12 totauksz wrote: Huk will get stomped unless he does some wacky gateway all-ins that nobody does in Korea anymore
Stephie would have a decent shot even at winning a gsl if there were no zergs besides him. in this current state he has basically 0% chance to achieve anything.
I'd love if Bomber, Gumiho, Creator, Byun, Taeja, Parting or MKP would win a gsl because I love those guys and at a certain point i felt like they deserved to win the gsl but they got stopped. but let's face it, it'll be probably some zerg that will be the last wol champion after some long and hard zvz series;)
All these groups seem roughly the same to me when it comes to difficulty. Can't really pick a proper group of death. Group C is kinda tough though, considering it has the reigning champion, Huk and two of the best Terrans around right now.
Are people picking group A as the group of death just because it has the most Zerg in it? Seriously, group H has the most talented players that are going to eliminate each other.
On January 15 2013 00:24 LOLItsRyann wrote: People are saying Sniper picked HuK? How does the group picking work? Does the champion get to pick one person to be in his group then?
On January 15 2013 00:12 totauksz wrote: Huk will get stomped unless he does some wacky gateway all-ins that nobody does in Korea anymore
Stephie would have a decent shot even at winning a gsl if there were no zergs besides him. in this current state he has basically 0% chance to achieve anything.
I'd love if Bomber, Gumiho, Creator, Byun, Taeja, Parting or MKP would win a gsl because I love those guys and at a certain point i felt like they deserved to win the gsl but they got stopped. but let's face it, it'll be probably some zerg that will be the last wol champion after some long and hard zvz series;)
Then you should cheer for Losiracat!!!
yea i like ze Losira, no idea how he plays now though, didn't manage to catch his games.
if he's the zerg who never makes broodlords i'll support him for life lol
On January 14 2013 17:59 Rioru wrote: Poor HuK. I wonder if there's any chance he could win in his group.
If Huk prepares incredibly well anything could happen. Given how he's been slumping lately ( outside of advancing from his up/ down group) it's possible his opponents will not actually prepare for him but only each other. Underestimating Huk has never been a good idea . I honestly don't think he'll get out of the group but anything is possible.
Huk looked incredibly weak during his up and down group as well.
Just did typical Huk all ins and flopped everywhere else.
Seriously, if his opponents just play super safe Huk won't take a single game off anyone. Even if they put themselfs behind on econ Huk will never beat them.
On January 15 2013 00:24 R3DT1D3 wrote: Are people picking group A as the group of death just because it has the most Zerg in it? Seriously, group H has the most talented players that are going to eliminate each other.
Maybe if Bogus was still in his Ro4 GSL form. But his performance in PL have been pretty bad lately so his stock has dropped a lot.
On January 14 2013 23:33 Sea_Food wrote: Wait HuK got a seed? Why didnt they give the seed to someone like thorzain instead? He atleast won some games during the past 6 months...
Guess they are catering for the NA viewers.
Funny you would say that after HuK got 2nd in his Up&Down group straight-up. No Code S seed.
But he got a seed.
The guy didn't say Code S seed or anything to that effect.
That said, I think HuK has a small, but good chance of beating Sniper. His PvZ style depends on unpredictability at the most random timings and bad scouting so it just might work with all these new maps. Though I don't think he has any chance of getting past either Gumiho or Bomber...
Hmm... Interesting. HuK has his work cut out for him what with those three.
I hope Soulkey makes it through to the finals. GO KESPA!!!
I think this is my favorite Code S so far. The new giants meeting with the legends of yesteryear. Epic battles between the champs of today and the pioneers of SC2 are bound to happen. Even if I am a Kespa fan, a Nestea vs. Mvp final would only be fitting for the last WoL GSL Season.
Honestly none of these groups look that spectacular. Some of them have 1-2 really great players, but none strike me as the "group to watch." HuK is almost definitely fucked, and I guess group H looks the most interesting.
I'm optimistic about HuK I think he has a good chance to get through, it's often the obvious wins I find that can hurt him. I think with his preparation we could see a ro 16 huk, at least I hope!
On January 15 2013 00:53 Mortal wrote: Honestly none of these groups look that spectacular. Some of them have 1-2 really great players, but none strike me as the "group to watch." HuK is almost definitely fucked, and I guess group H looks the most interesting.
HuK's group looks very interesting to me, even though GuMiho and Bomber always seem to meet. But I'm happy I'll see their crushing TvP and maybe Gumiho's TvZ again, that's always awesome to watch.
And Leenock's group could be kinda cool as well, depending on which version of Curious, MC and Baby shows up, haha. They're all so inconsistent, it's crazy.
Creator kind of lost his edge just a little bit... He was actually eliminated from the Asia Starcraft League round of 32 loser's bracket by a Taiwanese pro known as YoeIMJoJo.
I think a lot of people are underestimating HuK. He plays his own very unique style where if he loses he "looks" like a player that is not of Code S caliber and I feel he does not deserve the flack he gets just because he has very specific yet odd timings that win him some of his games. I hope HuK and Stephano do both go through although I think HuK will have a much harder time considering his group. Saying this, almost every Code S group is stacked and I think it will be very hard to determine who advances at all in any of the groups.
Well, Sniper is very very good but I wouldn't be most worried about him for HuK. If I'm HuK I'm shitting my pants against Bomber, the best player vP in the world statistically.
On January 15 2013 00:53 Mortal wrote: Honestly none of these groups look that spectacular. Some of them have 1-2 really great players, but none strike me as the "group to watch." HuK is almost definitely fucked, and I guess group H looks the most interesting.
... and maybe Gumiho's TvZ again, that's always awesome to watch.
Overall, these just might be the hardest groups to predict ever. Stephano has a pretty decent chance at advancing but Huk is going to have to be playing at a Parting level of PvZ and PvT to get out. As a Parting fan I'm feeling pretty good about his group . Hoping to see Mvp, Nestea and MC advance as well!
Why do we never see a "The most entertaining/exciting group" poll? Group A is the group of death but also has the highest chance to be the least enjoyable group to watch due to the chance of many ZvZs, unless you enjoy that MU of course!
Stephano should be able to advance from his group, but i fear for HuK :/ been watching his stream abit lately and his pvt seems abit off.. Group F will be fun to watch
On January 15 2013 01:23 Nuclease wrote: Well, Sniper is very very good but I wouldn't be most worried about him for HuK. If I'm HuK I'm shitting my pants against Bomber, the best player vP in the world statistically.
Well, before he got 3-0 by PartinG in Blizzard cup. Sniper was on a 10-0 ZvP streak with wins over Seed, Shy, PartinG and Rain.
rofl, finally huk doesnt luck out with the groups.... i really dont see him advancing there. particularly not given the way he has been playing lately. taeja's group on the other hand looks very doable. stephano's group is tough as well, but pretty much all groups are.
oh, and mvp lucks out because his bitch MKP is in his group. at least one free win.
The definition of group of death is changing in GSL Used to be more like "most code S players would rather not to be in that group" More and more its going to be like "Nobody would want to be in that group .... even if 3 players would advance"
On January 15 2013 01:30 trucido wrote: Hopefully Ryung can get out of his group, but probably not though
Hopefully Ryung still has his solid TvT, which might make him favored over Byun. Losira is good, but this was his first solid performance in months, so the only major opponent where Ryung is the underdog is Parting
new maps are cool. but why FFS leave Daybreak in the pool??? jeeez
anyway, stephano can go through, if he wins 2 zvt (drg will roll him unfortunately). Huk on, the other hand, is fucked :/ But he did well making it into Code S anyways.
Lots of good groups and good games, its nice that all the 4 toss are not in the same group. Im hoping MC or parting can make it thru. the only real group of death is A for the soul reason that it has 3 good zergs. Other grrops (like G) are really hard but its a safe guess who will make it out.
All the protoss are in crazy hard groups, I wouldn't be shocked if every single one is eliminated this round and its a pure terran/zerg affair afterword. Please god Huk WIN.
A new set of maps is awesome. I am much more likley to turn in this season. Daybreak is still the worst thing ever, however. I have had enough "quick 3 bases and then I take that base in the middle and pressure my opponent" games.
Glad to see Huk, MC and MKP in there. I miss 2011.
Wow the groups are so solid. Somehow it just feels right that these players, will be battling it out for the final Season of Wol. If i could i would trade Hack, and Soulkey for Hero and Rain.
Betting against the odds for some groups but my guesses : A - Creator, Life B - Leenock, Curious C - Bomber, Gumiho D - Hyun, Yoda E - Ryung, Byun F - MarineKing, Keen G - Nestea, Taeja H - DRG, anyone else (got no clue on this one)
My guesses: A: Life, Byul Life should be clear, and between Byul and Symbol it is very close. I think Byul has the edge, as he has more momentum and Symbol's ZvZ wasn't all that convincing (plus he has a team to actually train with). Creator's PvZ looked bad lately, I don't think he has a chance. B: Leenock, Curious Leenock again should be pretty clear, then it is a toss up between Baby and Curious, in which I give in to the consistency that is Curious. MC made it out of Up&Downs by the slimmest of margins and I think our President, while he has been improving lately, is not yet again at a spot where he really can compete with the other powerhouses. A well planned all in or a quicker recovery than expected might let him upset though. C: Sniper, Gumibear Sniper steals all the fun and wins the group, Bomber meanwhile turns from being genius to being bad again. Gumibear takes it and Huk fails to take a single game (not even close - prove me wrong please, I'll be pleasantly surprised). D: Hyun, Squirtle Hyun is pretty good, I wouldn't be surprised if he is a championship contender again this season, despite TSL's demise. I hope Squirtle edges out ahead of Yoda, so we can have at least two P in the Ro16, though I wouldn't be surprised at all if Yoda made it. B4 is strong as well, hm. E: Parting, Byun Parting should win this ezpz, Byun has been strong lately. Losira made a recovery, but isn't at Code S level yet again. Ryung might beat Byun, but Parting is just plainly better than him, and he has issues in TvZ, so I don't see him advancing. F: MKP and MVP I go for the classics, sorry Keen and Roro (who sucked big time in PL lately). G: Taeja, Soulkey Taeja should comfortably make it, I think he is almost back at his summer high again, even his TvZ slump seems to be behind him since the latest patch. Sulky was impressive at times in PL, though Nestea might also make it. I'd be happy to see Nestea make some progress in GSL again, that'd be awesome. Noblesse can be happy he made it into Code S I feel, mediocre T. H: DRG, Bogus Steph and Hack don't match up to those two (at least lately Stephano has had very bad ZvZ, and I still trust Major on Bogus).
A - Life, ByuL B - Leenock, MC C - Bomber, Sniper D - Yoda, Squirtle E - Parting, Byun F - MVP, MKP G - NesTea, Taeja H - DRG, Stephano
I actually think Roro and Keen have a great shot of making it out of group F, but the mkp and mvp fanboy in me just has to root for those two. This GSL is also the GSL that Bomber makes it far, he'll probably play god-mode til Ro4 then just crash and burn with a 0-3 or something lol.
On January 15 2013 03:32 Jepsyn wrote: I really dont think HuK is guaranteed dead at all. Sniper is good sure.. but is he mini drg or is jjakji... IMO the jury is still out on that one
tbh Huk has no chance against Bomber either (most protoss don't) and Gumiho is really fucking good as well...
On January 15 2013 03:32 Jepsyn wrote: I really dont think HuK is guaranteed dead at all. Sniper is good sure.. but is he mini drg or is jjakji... IMO the jury is still out on that one
tbh Huk has no chance against Bomber either (most protoss don't) and Gumiho is really fucking good as well...
vouch. probably the worst group one can imagine for a toss.
sure, he might win against one of these three. but win two bo3 series against this opposition? no way.
On January 15 2013 03:32 Jepsyn wrote: I really dont think HuK is guaranteed dead at all. Sniper is good sure.. but is he mini drg or is jjakji... IMO the jury is still out on that one
On January 14 2013 23:33 Sea_Food wrote: Wait HuK got a seed? Why didnt they give the seed to someone like thorzain instead? He atleast won some games during the past 6 months...
Guess they are catering for the NA viewers.
Funny you would say that after HuK got 2nd in his Up&Down group straight-up. No Code S seed.
But he got a seed.
The guy didn't say Code S seed or anything to that effect.
That said, I think HuK has a small, but good chance of beating Sniper. His PvZ style depends on unpredictability at the most random timings and bad scouting so it just might work with all these new maps. Though I don't think he has any chance of getting past either Gumiho or Bomber...
"He atleast won some games during the past 6 months" implies that he has not won games over the last six months. That rules out Up&down seeds since you'd have to have to win games to qualify.
On January 14 2013 23:33 Sea_Food wrote: Wait HuK got a seed? Why didnt they give the seed to someone like thorzain instead? He atleast won some games during the past 6 months...
Guess they are catering for the NA viewers.
Funny you would say that after HuK got 2nd in his Up&Down group straight-up. No Code S seed.
But he got a seed.
The guy didn't say Code S seed or anything to that effect.
That said, I think HuK has a small, but good chance of beating Sniper. His PvZ style depends on unpredictability at the most random timings and bad scouting so it just might work with all these new maps. Though I don't think he has any chance of getting past either Gumiho or Bomber...
"He atleast won some games during the past 6 months" implies that he has not won games over the last six months. That rules out Up&down seeds since you'd have to have to win games to qualify.
Except people were relatively baffled at Huk getting a UnD seed specifically because he hasn't had any real results in a long time.
Nestea told me the results of the groups he set up for the most entertaining final season of Wings of Liberty. This has been set in stone since the Big Bang.
A- Creator, Life Life is in top form as we know, Creator also in good form and just solid - standard good play. (symbol looks terribly slumpy lately from recent games - i'm not impressed and don't see him advancing. Byul I could swap out for Creator potentially so we'll see...
B- Leenock, MC
Leenock I think has a chance to win the entire thing this season. With back to back GSTL wins, MLG wins, 2nd places etc. I think he's confident and what would any Pro SC2 player want more than a GSL championship in the final season of WOL. Nothing. MC is MC. He will muscle his way through this group in 2nd. Well that or he'll fail miserably but more than likely I think MC will come out.
C- Sniper, Bomber
If Sniper wasn't a fluke which I don't believe that is possible he will pretty convincingly beat out the Terrans in this group and secure 1st place.
Oh is there a Huk in this group, no worries. It would take a miracle for Huk to win. If he does i'll return to fandom and eat my words and root for him again like in the past.
I see the return of top form Bomber in 2nd or even possibly first. He is pretty damn amazing in positional TvT and has beat out the likes of Leenock, Lucky and plenty of other amazing Zergs.
D- Hyun, Squirtle
Hyun is just a favorite in my head, I don't believe his stats reflect his true skill in each of the match-ups. If he's been practicing hard since the last GSL finals he should be just fine. Squirtle... what to say about him. He has been a FAVE of mine forever. The brainchild for Parting's builds as they call it. He literally put out the MOST EXCITING GAME EVER against MVP and certainly the best series. I figured it was just a matter of time until he was owning it up again. I'm more excited to see Squirtle than almost anyone in this season of Code S. The round of 32 should really let us know what kind of all around shape he is in.
E- Parting, Ryung
Perhaps the easiest group of all to predict.
Parting. hmmm. Parting. Just say it with me. Parting. It sounds just like WIN to me. SKT1 Parting. FTW.
It's not so much that i've got a feeling for Ryung than I have a feeling and intuition about Losira and Byun. I don't even know how Losira pulled it off but good for him. If he ever decides to play 2013 starcraft instead of 2011 strategies he could mayyyyyybe do well. I don't think so though. Byun wont beat out Ryung when we talk about TvT or just who is the better player.
F- MVP, MKP/RORO - can't figure it out.
MVP should have an edge in general and I think he must want this season more than most anybody. Putting on a 5th pin in WOL would cement him even further in the history books of SC2.
It depends which MKP shows up. RORO is strong and could easily do well even though ZvT isn't his best match-up. He has been doing considerably well in it lately. Pretty excited for this group. Keen, well that would be a cool story if he did well. Just imagine if Clide-Burns was in this group. Artosis would have a nerd-fit.
G- Taeja, NesTea!!!!!!
NesTea will win this GSL. I'm calling it here. All the other predictions of who wants it the most and who has chances, does not stand up to the fact that NesTea made these groups, slumped all the way to Code B just to make his return all that more glorious. Teaja will make it out of the group easy enough but who cares when NesTea already won the GSL.
H- Bogus, DRG
I have strong confidence in DRG and hope Stephano can take 2nd. But realistically I think Bogus will show up some great play. He is amazing TvT and if he really buckles down and practices his TvZ he could definitely take 2nd place. If not I think Stephano might make it to the round of 16.
I think group H is group of death. Life is obviously going to advance from A and second place is just a tossup between who plays better that day. However in H if everyone is playing their best it's pretty hard to tell who will take it.
Actually now that I think about it DRG did just 3-0 Stephano in Iron Squid.. so who really knows.
On January 15 2013 04:23 Empirimancer wrote: Anyone who's seen Huk's game in Proleague knows he doesn't stand a chance.
Stephano's group... could be worse, I guess. Only one other Zerg.
i think thats a bit harsh on HuK, he chose the wrong build in proleague and got destroyed. in a best of 1, that will happen. he didnt do too badly in his up and down group though. that being said, i think he'll put up a fight but wont advance
Pretty balanced groups overall, but there are obvious favorites in each group.
A: Life, Creator (Life is an obvious pick, while Creator has been looking better than Symbol or ByuL) B: Leenock, Curious (Leenock is the best player here, and Curious is more consistent and solid compared to MC or BaBy) C: Sniper, GuMiho/Bomber (Sniper is still a top three Zerg, and GuMiho has been playing better than Bomber, but if the Law of Bomber takes place, Bomber has a chance) D: HyuN, Squirtle/YoDa (HyuN should dominate everyone here, and Squirtle has been playing nicely, but YoDa as well) E: PartinG, ByuN/Ryung (PartinG tops the group overall, while ByuN and Ryung have been strong recently. Still not bought on LosirA being a Code S player) F: MKP, RorO (MKP is the best player here, and RorO has some pretty strong ZvT. Not sure on whether KeeN is even very good recently, so will take the safer route) G: TaeJa, Soulkey/NesTea (TaeJa has been adapting better recently, and Soulkey is an excellent preparer. NesTea has been really strong recently as well) H: DRG, Bogus/Stephano (DRG has been the most consistent and best playing in the group, and Bogus still has his timing attacks and macro. Stephano can sneak out because Bogus isn't playing at Ro4 level now, neither has Hack)
On January 15 2013 05:05 BretZ wrote: But really the question is, is a Nestea vs MVP final possible? That'd be the PERFECT way to end WoL.
technically it's possible since there is a group selection in the round of 16 and the bracket could end up working out in a way where they wouldn't meet before the finals (if they make it thorugh the ro32 first).
it would indeed be epic as fuck, but i don't think it's very likely =/
Bomber vs Parting in the finals, showing why he shouldn't have left startale. I'm kidding, but I would love to see MVP win. It sucks HerO isn't in the last season
interested to see this new whirlwind...original whirlwind had such a great concept just a few flaws that made it SO much worse than it should have been. also...akilon flats? C'mon man. Alas - Should be a sick season, aside from no flash/jd in code s
A Life and Creator B Leenock Curious (Would love MC to make it through though) C Bomber & The 'Ho (Sniper pulls a Jjakji/Seed) D YoDa Squirtle E Parting Ryung F Mvp Keen (just a guess) G Taeja Soulkey H DRG Bogus (think Stephano can do it though)
On January 15 2013 06:12 k3n705 wrote: I can't follow this, who was chosen last?
In the round of 32 there are only 2 "choices" and they go to the previous season's finalists. Sniper was 1st so he gets 1st pick. HyuN was second so he gets 2nd pick. The players are broken into 4 tiers (1st tier previous season top 8, tier 2 8 highest GSL points, tier 3 next 8 in GSL points, tier 4 bottom 8 in GSL points). The 2 previous finalists can choose a tier 4 player only. Then the rest of the groups are randomly selected with 1 player from each tier so that the first games are Tier 1 vs Tier 4 and Tier 2 vs Tier 3.
HuK picked into a group with the best vP in the world, and 3 of the top 11 vPs, all of whom are playing really well lately(although for Bomber that means a massive fall is imminent =p)... there's unfortunate and then there's that.
On January 15 2013 06:12 k3n705 wrote: I can't follow this, who was chosen last?
In the round of 32 there are only 2 "choices" and they go to the previous season's finalists. Sniper was 1st so he gets 1st pick. HyuN was second so he gets 2nd pick. The players are broken into 4 tiers (1st tier previous season top 8, tier 2 8 highest GSL points, tier 3 next 8 in GSL points, tier 4 bottom 8 in GSL points). The 2 previous finalists can choose a tier 4 player only. Then the rest of the groups are randomly selected with 1 player from each tier so that the first games are Tier 1 vs Tier 4 and Tier 2 vs Tier 3.
Oohhh, got it thanks. I must have been confusing round of 32 and 16.
On January 15 2013 06:12 k3n705 wrote: I can't follow this, who was chosen last?
In the round of 32 there are only 2 "choices" and they go to the previous season's finalists. Sniper was 1st so he gets 1st pick. HyuN was second so he gets 2nd pick. The players are broken into 4 tiers (1st tier previous season top 8, tier 2 8 highest GSL points, tier 3 next 8 in GSL points, tier 4 bottom 8 in GSL points). The 2 previous finalists can choose a tier 4 player only. Then the rest of the groups are randomly selected with 1 player from each tier so that the first games are Tier 1 vs Tier 4 and Tier 2 vs Tier 3.
Oohhh, got it thanks. I must have been confusing round of 32 and 16.
Yeah Round of 16 is where they pick each other all the way until the end.
so many people to doubt MVP, i recall the last season counted him out... there are some epic finals possible but i hope MVP or another terran wins it (MVP for G5L throphy)
On January 15 2013 06:37 Koerage wrote: so many people to doubt MVP, i recall the last season counted him out... there are some epic finals possible but i hope MVP or another terran wins it (MVP for G5L throphy)
Yea but hes also been injured for so long now and hasn't taken off time to recover. So I think most people are skeptical for this reason and are rightly so justified. If he was in as much pain as it sounded like he was during last season I can't imagine its any better this season.
Hey Byul welcome to code S! Damn creator symbol life, that's tough. All other IM players have ok to good shots of making it I think.
On January 15 2013 06:44 LimeNade wrote: Yea but hes also been injured for so long now and hasn't taken off time to recover. So I think most people are skeptical for this reason and are rightly so justified. If he was in as much pain as it sounded like he was during last season I can't imagine its any better this season.
More of this please, the more MVP doubt we can muster the better chance he gets. When he has no chance, he owns parting, squirtle and rain, when he's favored, he dies to life and MMA.
Really stacked and a good choice of players for the last ever SC2 season. Even if I would have liked some KeSPA guys not to be there instead of deserving players.
Good that Taeja got a pretty late group so he can fully recoup from his treatment.
On January 15 2013 05:05 BretZ wrote: But really the question is, is a Nestea vs MVP final possible? That'd be the PERFECT way to end WoL.
technically it's possible since there is a group selection in the round of 16 and the bracket could end up working out in a way where they wouldn't meet before the finals (if they make it thorugh the ro32 first).
it would indeed be epic as fuck, but i don't think it's very likely =/
MKP vs MVP with a 7 game series would be the perfect way to end WoL I think.
Or MKP vs Nestea with MKP winning.
Honestly there's plenty of good possibilities, I'd love to see Keen take the whole thing and do a ceremony
Honestly I think group D is a lot stronger than a number of the other groups, can't see why it's got the least votes. But then again I don't really follow the pro scene as much as everyone else
On January 15 2013 07:09 Grobyc wrote: Honestly I think group D is a lot stronger than a number of the other groups, can't see why it's got the least votes. But then again I don't really follow the pro scene as much as everyone else
Remember, people, while Sniper is a top Zerg, his ZvT is his worst match up. He did win the GSL last season, but his vT record in that season was 2-2, losing to MKP and Bogus but beating Polt and Ryung (EDIT: this was worse than his vP (3-0) and vZ (2-0)). IPL 5 did show us another side of him, too. He crushed through ZvZ and ZvP, with a terrifying 12-1 record, but he got knocked out by Terrans - twice. He lost to TheStC 2-0 in his first match (really? StC played well but he's not even Code S) and then to Polt 0-2. He did take out TaeJa, but he dropped a game there, too. TLPD also suggests it's his worst matchup; 56.10% winrate, compared to his ZvZ (60.38%) and ZvP (65.00%).
Sniper's ZvT isn't necessarily bad, but with GuMiho and Bomber being two of the best Terrans (save maybe MKP), it is going to be nowhere near as easy as everyone made out. It does some like HuK will be a pushover, but that may not be enough for the Code S champion to stay in Code S. He does have a fairly high chance of making it through, but if he wins his group the Round of 16 could look easy compared to this group.
On January 15 2013 07:09 Grobyc wrote: Honestly I think group D is a lot stronger than a number of the other groups, can't see why it's got the least votes. But then again I don't really follow the pro scene as much as everyone else
People are underrating B4 and YoDa probably
I agree, group D is actually one of the better groups out there, it just lacks the star power. Probably one of the closest groups out there (except for HyuN who is the outlier). YoDa shows glimpses of brilliance every once in a while, and B4 is a fairly strong ZvT'er and occasionally good at every match-up. Squirtle is solid in every match-up and rarely gets flustered or lost.
On January 15 2013 07:17 Mariosatr wrote: Remember, people, while Sniper is a top Zerg, his ZvT is his worst match up. He did win the GSL last season, but his vT record in that season was 2-2, losing to MKP and Bogus but beating Polt and Ryung (EDIT: this was worse than his vP (3-0) and vZ (2-0)). IPL 5 did show us another side of him, too. He crushed through ZvZ and ZvP, with a terrifying 12-1 record, but he got knocked out by Terrans - twice. He lost to TheStC 2-0 in his first match (really? StC played well but he's not even Code S) and then to Polt 0-2. He did take out TaeJa, but he dropped a game there, too. TLPD also suggests it's his worst matchup; 56.10% winrate, compared to his ZvZ (60.38%) and ZvP (65.00%).
Sniper's ZvT isn't necessarily bad, but with GuMiho and Bomber being two of the best Terrans (save maybe MKP), it is going to be nowhere near as easy as everyone made out. It does some like HuK will be a pushover, but that may not be enough for the Code S champion to stay in Code S. He does have a fairly high chance of making it through, but if he wins his group the Round of 16 could look easy compared to this group.
Sniper has an advantage in that he plays Huk first. I just can't see him losing to Huk. From there even if he loses to Bomber or Gumiho once, he gets a second shot. If he just wins one bo3 against either Terran, he's through. In the unlikely event that Huk miraculously makes it from the loser's match instead of Gumiho or Bomber, it becomes even easier for him.
Sad and mad that Whirlwind continues to be in the pool, that map is so ridiculously good for zerg. Other than that new maps are good. Sniper, as predicted, has to be the joykiller. Hoping for the 1/99 chance that HuK goes godlike and destroys Sniper so that we can have one less zerg in the tournament
On January 15 2013 07:09 Grobyc wrote: Honestly I think group D is a lot stronger than a number of the other groups, can't see why it's got the least votes. But then again I don't really follow the pro scene as much as everyone else
People are underrating B4 and YoDa probably
I agree, group D is actually one of the better groups out there, it just lacks the star power. Probably one of the closest groups out there (except for HyuN who is the outlier). YoDa shows glimpses of brilliance every once in a while, and B4 is a fairly strong ZvT'er and occasionally good at every match-up. Squirtle is solid in every match-up and rarely gets flustered or lost.
B4 is on a long losing streak in ZvZ, and lost 2-0 to Hyun at IPL5, who he has to play first. His ZvT is his only matchup over 50%, and barely at that. He 2-1'ed his way to Code S directly from Code A playing only ZvT, but didn't really look convincing doing it. I don't think it's underestimating him, to say that he's one of the few players this season, who really doesn't feel like he belongs in Code S.
On January 15 2013 07:41 xAdra wrote: Sad and mad that Whirlwind continues to be in the pool, that map is so ridiculously good for zerg. Other than that new maps are good. Sniper, as predicted, has to be the joykiller. Hoping for the 1/99 chance that HuK goes godlike and destroys Sniper so that we can have one less zerg in the tournament
Whirlwind isn't a good map for zerg. It's one of the few maps that T/P can actually abuse Broodlord immobility on because it's so huge. It's only good for zerg for the early and mid game. Broodlord/Infestor pretty much isn't viable on whirlwind and that's the main thing people complain about.
I hope both Gumiho and Bomber make it out of that group, I want them both to have deep runs this season because they are way too good to be placing where they have been.
On January 15 2013 08:14 TheBB wrote: Well, I ranked the groups too.
Group A: Creator, Byul, Symbol, Life (2325)
Group B: Leenock, Baby, Curious, MC (2281)
Group C: Sniper, Huk, Bomber, Gumiho (2272)
Group D: Hyun, BBoongBBoong, Yoda, Squirtle (2215)
Group H: Innovation, Stephano, Hack, DRG (2203(.25))
Group G: Soulkey, Noblesse, Nestea, Taeja (2203)
Group E: Ryung, Losira, Byun, Parting (2151)
Group F: MarineKing, Roro, Keen, Mvp (2103)
Tl;dr: People are way overrating group F and underrating group B.
It's impossible for a group with MVP to be overrated.
you have seen Mvp's play recently right? Keen's best mu is TvT iirc, MKP is hot as hell right now, and if Mvp cant take a map off Goswser, how will he come close to RorO?
It seems, Mvp has no chance, but then again, this is the GSL so i guess he does.
On January 15 2013 08:14 TheBB wrote: Well, I ranked the groups too.
Group A: Creator, Byul, Symbol, Life (2325)
Group B: Leenock, Baby, Curious, MC (2281)
Group C: Sniper, Huk, Bomber, Gumiho (2272)
Group D: Hyun, BBoongBBoong, Yoda, Squirtle (2215)
Group H: Innovation, Stephano, Hack, DRG (2203(.25))
Group G: Soulkey, Noblesse, Nestea, Taeja (2203)
Group E: Ryung, Losira, Byun, Parting (2151)
Group F: MarineKing, Roro, Keen, Mvp (2103)
Tl;dr: People are way overrating group F and underrating group B.
It's impossible for a group with MVP to be overrated.
you have seen Mvp's play recently right? Keen's best mu is TvT iirc, MKP is hot as hell right now, and if Mvp cant take a map off Goswser, how will he come close to RorO?
It seems, Mvp has no chance, but then again, this is the GSL so i guess he does.
No chance
Mvp is in the same group as MKP, 2 TvTs on his home turf... no chance it seems
On January 15 2013 08:14 TheBB wrote: Well, I ranked the groups too.
Group A: Creator, Byul, Symbol, Life (2325)
Group B: Leenock, Baby, Curious, MC (2281)
Group C: Sniper, Huk, Bomber, Gumiho (2272)
Group D: Hyun, BBoongBBoong, Yoda, Squirtle (2215)
Group H: Innovation, Stephano, Hack, DRG (2203(.25))
Group G: Soulkey, Noblesse, Nestea, Taeja (2203)
Group E: Ryung, Losira, Byun, Parting (2151)
Group F: MarineKing, Roro, Keen, Mvp (2103)
Tl;dr: People are way overrating group F and underrating group B.
It's impossible for a group with MVP to be overrated.
you have seen Mvp's play recently right? Keen's best mu is TvT iirc, MKP is hot as hell right now, and if Mvp cant take a map off Goswser, how will he come close to RorO?
It seems, Mvp has no chance, but then again, this is the GSL so i guess he does.
On January 15 2013 07:41 xAdra wrote: Sad and mad that Whirlwind continues to be in the pool, that map is so ridiculously good for zerg. Other than that new maps are good. Sniper, as predicted, has to be the joykiller. Hoping for the 1/99 chance that HuK goes godlike and destroys Sniper so that we can have one less zerg in the tournament
Whirlwind isn't a good map for zerg. It's one of the few maps that T/P can actually abuse Broodlord immobility on because it's so huge. It's only good for zerg for the early and mid game. Broodlord/Infestor pretty much isn't viable on whirlwind and that's the main thing people complain about.
No. WW is a great Zerg map. You always see zergs picking it when they can. And you have stated the reason. It is so good for Zerg is the early mid game with ling bling muta or ling infestor. It is a myth that zergs NEED BL/infestors. Maybe if the Zerg is on similar Econ, the infestor/BL is much more cost effective.
On WW, the Zerg should have such a big lead from the early and mid game that they should be able to finish it off with more bling ling muta or switch to Ultras. If Zerg comes out of the mid game even, then they have already been outplayed.
On January 15 2013 08:14 TheBB wrote: Well, I ranked the groups too.
Group A: Creator, Byul, Symbol, Life (2325)
Group B: Leenock, Baby, Curious, MC (2281)
Group C: Sniper, Huk, Bomber, Gumiho (2272)
Group D: Hyun, BBoongBBoong, Yoda, Squirtle (2215)
Group H: Innovation, Stephano, Hack, DRG (2203(.25))
Group G: Soulkey, Noblesse, Nestea, Taeja (2203)
Group E: Ryung, Losira, Byun, Parting (2151)
Group F: MarineKing, Roro, Keen, Mvp (2103)
Tl;dr: People are way overrating group F and underrating group B.
Curious and Baby havent had breakout performances yet, and Leenock just doesnt get attention. Which is why group B is so underrated. They are all extremely good, but they havent had their season yet. Meanwhile MKP and MVP at their primes looked incredible and because of their performance and revolutionary play are burned into our minds as some of the all-time great players. Then Keen and Roro are both really solid performers too, which contributes to group F being so highly praised.
Besides, group f will probably be really interesting. The three T's all have pretty different playstyles and are all really good at TvT
Looks like a great lineup, though I do wish a few more Protoss made it through. I can't wait for groups C, G and H, though they all look like they will be highly entertaining. Hopefully this season we can see some of the big names in the later stages of the tournament. Also hoping Huk or Stephano can pull a Naniwa and show they can make it far.
Huk got a hard group, all vs P specialists. Stephano could very well make it though, but he's very easily studied and I'm afraid the terrans will make some kind of early timings against him.
Since when was Stephano easily studied? Haven't people been saying that since october 2011? And hasn't he been beating everyone ever since then? Maybe I'm missing something, but I feel like we're just passing along a cliche here....
group A it would surprise me if anyone else but Creator/Life advance. think Symbol has almost no chance to advance
in group B I am really looking forward to see BaBy play, from what i've seen of him he is really really good, don't expect much from MC, although he seems to play much better recently. my prediction is Leenock/BaBy advance.
group C I dont see Sniper not advancing and 2nd player should be GuMiho, maybe Bomber. I think HuK has the least chances to advance out of any player
group D would be cool to see Squirtle advance as there is a lack of good protoss players this season. will be hard for him though as all the players seem to be pretty close in skill except HyuN might be 1 step ahead of the others currently.
group E looks very interesting, I think this is the group where no matter what happens it wont be surprising. looks very hard to predict. it also looks like the strongest groups along with group A and H although all are very close.
F is the one I am least interested in tbh, but I would like KeeN to have some success as he always underperformed for how good he always was. RorO looks like one of the stronger Kespa players and I can definitely see him winning easily, dunno what to expect from Marineking.
in group G it will be interesting to see Noblesse play for me as I haven't seen his play in a while for some reason, TaeJa and Soulkey will probably advance
and the last group will be very cool to see aswell especially for tvz fans, will definitely be very high level and I hope to see Stephano and Hack come out on top.
overall too much terran and zerg sadly :/ but at least we get to see Squirtle, PartinG and Creator. Would have loved to see players like Oz and Rain in this season but oh well.
Looks like thisisgame released an article about the new map pool. The images are fairly low-res, but it's still interesting to get an early glimpse of Icarus.
Some guys on Reddit gave us a rough translation of a few details.
New Maps: GSL Icarus Kilron plains KeSPA Neo Planet S GSL Bel `Shir Vestige (Added destructible rocks,place for overlord to sit in front deleted, the second expansion in the region extended from the plains of the central area road downhill - uphill terrain has changed.) GSL Whirl Wind (Possible destruction of the second expansion area and every one of rock was added.) GSL Cloud Kingdom (Unchanged) GSL Day Break (Unchanged)
just a few things GSL Icarus (there are gold minerals in the back-natural but they only have 1500min per patch) Akilon Plains (basically the ladder map but the watchtowers are set to disappear after the first 7min and rocks to the 3rd adjusted to 1000hp) KeSPA Neo Planet S (Now with slightly wider attack routes)
I would like to hype up my new protoss favorite Creator. Those who haven't already, check out his series v. DRG in Iron Squid last week. Watch his FFs. Most amazing FFs that I have seen with no exaggeration. The speed, precision, and effectiveness were simply magical. I won't spoil the results but the series was nail-biting.
If Creator doesn't go deep in this season's GSL, toss has little hope. Parting is, well, partying with his new-found wealth, and Squirtle is being disgruntled by jealousy. MC/Huk will do their thing.. which means _______ (insert your own thoughts). I am betting large on Creator this season. The dude deserves as much attention from the community as Leenock does.
]GSL_Whirlwind (SE): Destructible rocks are added to the 2nd expansion
Seems like they will take away that super fast 3rd option for zerg on this map. Will be interesting to see how this will affect the game play.
The rocks aren't to block the 3rd, but to make the ramps narrower, from what I can tell from the small pictures. It's probably meant to buff Protoss by adding more chokes.
On January 15 2013 14:21 usethis2 wrote: I would like to hype up my new protoss favorite Creator. Those who haven't already, check out his series v. DRG in Iron Squid last week. Watch his FFs. Most amazing FFs that I have seen with no exaggeration. The speed, precision, and effectiveness were simply magical. I won't spoil the results but the series was nail-biting.
If Creator doesn't go deep in this season's GSL, toss has little hope. Parting is, well, partying with his new-found wealth, and Squirtle is being disgruntled by jealousy. MC/Huk will do their thing.. which means _______ (insert your own thoughts). I am betting large on Creator this season. The dude deserves as much attention from the community as Leenock does.
sry but leenock > creator, he also lost to DRG anyway......
On January 15 2013 12:13 ajxPurpleRain wrote: Since when was Stephano easily studied? Haven't people been saying that since october 2011? And hasn't he been beating everyone ever since then? Maybe I'm missing something, but I feel like we're just passing along a cliche here....
He's been studied since he became prominent.
EXP. MVP had him in his blizzard cup 2011 group and had his girlfriend record stephano streaming so he could study it. He then used a perfect mass BFH build to crush stephano who was always opening heavy upgraded ling back then.
Korean terrans like polt and MKP had a tendency to do marauder hellion pushes to kill him back when he refused to open with roaches in ZvT. They then started doing banshee timings to counter another style he switched to which was weak to it ( was mentioned by commentators when mma did it at ipl 4)
Nestea won a game against him at IPL 4 in zvz by abusing his knowledge of stephano's playstyle and using a build that countered how stephano tended to open. ( nestea won the series but it was the first game that was based on counter style play)
There are plenty of examples of Koreans and foreigners alike beating Stephano by executing builds meant to counter how he's been playing at the time. It doesn't make him a lesser player nor take away his accomplishments in any way but he is indeed a well studied player. The fact that he wins as much as he does despite being under such heavy watch is a testament to his skill.
I was having so much fun watching the up & downs I almost forgot I'd have to watch MKP play again. And to boot he's in the softest group of all. Hopefully he gets owned first round this time. Death to the hipster terran!
This is the first time in a long time that Liquid only had one player in Code S, right? At least, I can't remember the last time that happened.
Groups luckily aren't completely outrageous for HuK and Stephano, which I'm happy to say. I think a Round of 16 appearance for HuK might be what he needs to get another fire lit under him.
G will be cool to watch mainly to see which Taeja shows up, and Group A is definitely the "Well duh" group of death. There are other hard groups, sure, but Group A is crazy.
On January 16 2013 15:01 Mauldo wrote: This is the first time in a long time that Liquid only had one player in Code S, right? At least, I can't remember the last time that happened.
Groups luckily aren't completely outrageous for HuK and Stephano, which I'm happy to say. I think a Round of 16 appearance for HuK might be what he needs to get another fire lit under him.
G will be cool to watch mainly to see which Taeja shows up, and Group A is definitely the "Well duh" group of death. There are other hard groups, sure, but Group A is crazy.
wasnt it only 1 player last season? there was also only 1 player in blizzcup
On January 16 2013 16:47 Foolishness wrote: The highest voted "group of death" is the one with the most zergs in it.
hmm.....
It has Life, the best player in the world. Creator, a contender for best Protoss. Symbol, who can make a strong showing, and ByuL, who is well, an IM Zerg who is fairly decent... It is definitely in the running for GoD at least, it has some of the best in GSL.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://img.gomtv.net/imgdata/76661.png)
Creator
ByuL
BaBy![[image loading]](http://img.gomtv.net/imgdata/76660.png)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/403_Icarus.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/e/e7/Icarus.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.myfacewhen.net/uploads/5351-kill-yourself.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BAluDRrCYAAn-R5.jpg:large)
![[image loading]](http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3817/kruemelmonsteryn0.gif)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/qmWtr.jpg)
