EPTWCS Korea Season 3
GSL Code S
Ro16 - Group D Preview
Maru, PartinG, Flash, Kangho
Brackets and standings on Liquipedia
Ro16 Group D Preview
by Waxangel
Things still seemed normal when
SKT_PartinG picked 
KT_Flash during the Ro16 group selections. The famously brash PartinG had a long history of making taunting comments, assembling groups of death, and generally embracing the idea of progamer-as-entertainer. His explanation of "I match up well against Flash's style" seemed to be a thin cover for his attempt to once again gather several championship candidates together in a single, explosive group.However, once the other players started talking, it became apparent that something was amiss. With Flash absent due to his flight to DreamHack Bucharest, no one seemed to mind speaking freely about the player called God in Brood War.
Super, Trap, and 
Sleep all expressed their disappointment at being unable to play against Flash, without any of them seeming to consider him a particularly difficult opponent. Wait, what? Players who had never gone above the Ro16 in their careers showing absolutely no fear for KT Rolster's ace and Brood War legend? Sure, Flash's showings in the Challenger League and Code S Ro32 weren't spectacular by any means, but they also weren't anything to make you forget that he was the player who won the most Proleague games last season. What the heck was going on?
Flash wasn't present in the GomTV studio to comment, but he would have a perfect chance to respond at DreamHack Bucharest. Facing the most difficult line-up of players in DreamHack history, Flash had an opportunity to respond to words with actions, and to make PartinG quickly regret his decision. Unfortunately for Flash, one could say he did the exact opposite of proving his doubters wrong. His very first match was a disaster, suffering a 0 - 2 loss against Challenger Leaguer
DIMAGA. Things did not get much better from there, and Flash ended his tournament in the Ro32, being sent out with losses to MMA and YugiOh. The doubters? They were right.You can imagine the pressure that's on Flash's shoulders going into this group. Not just the pressure coming from the outside, but the pressure of his own expectations. He has settled for nothing less than being the very best for the past five years, and we can only imagine how being merely "good" makes him feel. He may say that seeing his arch-rival Jaedong doing well in international tournaments gives him motivation, but looking at his tournament placements for the last few months should give him a different kind of fire.
It's been two weeks since DreamHack Bucharest. Depending on what player you talk to, that's a completely insignificant amount of time, or the time to make all the difference in the world. For a player of Flash's caliber and reputation, we all want to believe that two weeks will be enough. But reality has been harsh for Flash so far, and he may very well find himself falling short again in an extremely difficult group. All that's left for us to do is to wait and see.
Quick hits on the rest
SKT_PartinG: PartinG is in a surprisingly similar situation to Flash. He hasn't been a championship contender for all of HotS, but his past achievements give him an inflated reputation. It also helps that he's very entertaining and can talk a big game, making sure he's always receiving some kind of attention. While the death of the Soul Train due to the new HotS meta has been quite detrimental to PartinG's PvZ, his PvT has looked very strong on the rare occasions we get to see it. With great high templar positioning, engagement micro, and all-around play in the late-game, it's no surprise he was pleased to get this two-Terran group.
MaruPrime: You have to wonder how Maru feels about being duped by PartinG. He couldn't resist PartinG's calculated taunts (it was funny how clearly jjakji saw through PartinG's smack talk in comparison) and brought him over to the group. In return, he gets Flash, which could be a curse or a gift. Flash's TvT is strong when he can establish a macro game, but he seems a bit vulnerable in the early-mid game—perhaps a good match-up for a player with aggressive tendencies like Maru. Then again, who wants to play an angry Flash?All around it's an annoying group for the defending WCS Korea champ to prepare for, having to face opponents from all three races. His deflating performance at the WCS Season 2 Finals means we can't give him as much benefit of the doubt as we would for most other champions, but he should be able to fight evenly with the other players in this group.
IM_KangHo: Say hello to KangHo (aka Losira), the winner of the coveted "last player picked in group selections" award. Typically that means you're the scariest opponent left in the Ro16, but forgive me if I say that doesn't seem to be the case this time. The second Losira saw Maru-PartinG-Flash in a group together, he made up his mind that it was the group he wanted to be in. While other players would try to beg and plead to get into the group of their choice, Losira remained stoic and basically demanded that the other players acquiesce to his wishes. Somehow, this approach actually worked, and he got into the group of death.From the outside looking in, it's absolutely baffling as to why Losira would want to play this group. It makes no sense in terms of stats, as Losira's best match-up is ZvZ by a large margin, and there are no Zergs in this group. Perhaps it's one of those cases of live results matching up really poorly with what goes on in practice, and Losira really, really didn't want to play any Zergs.
Predictions:
PartinG > Maru
Flash > Losira
PartinG > Flash
Maru > Losira
Maru > Flash
PartinG and Maru advance.
