The old era is dead. GomTV has long left its old home behind and established a new foothold in Gangnam. KeSPA has won, absorbing the founders of Korean StarCraft 2 into its mighty empire. The old legends have crossed the sea and faded into memory. Now begins a new age.
Ro32 Group A: Rain, Solar, herO, DongRaeGu
Countdown:
After three long months, Code S is back. WCS swallowed the GSL and spit it back out, leaving it forever changed but still bearing its proud name. Now, the new season of Code S starts off the WCS 2014 in earnest as hundreds of progamers around the world aspire to the title of World Champion.
The first group of the season is aptly headlined by two Protoss champions in SKT_Rain and CJ_herO. After months of constant adaptation and refinement, Protoss have started to emerge as a superpower in HotS. While they have remained the dominant force in Proleague, they have also become the most dangerous race in individual competition as well. The first two major events of the year, ASUS ROG Winter and IEM Sao Paulo, ended in PvP finals. Now, it's time to see if Protoss dominance will continue in the most difficult tournament in the world.
You could say it all began with Rain. He heralded in a new era as he won the 2013 Blizzard Cup over SoulKey in a convincing 4-2 final. As the exemplar of safe and steady play, Rain simply cannot be defeated with tricks or the dark arts when he is on his game. Only a player who is playing an even more powerful orthodox game could take him on.
However, we are receiving mixed signals as to what kind of Rain will arriving at the GomTV studio. His Proleague performances have been disappointing with two wins and three losses so far, and he has even surrendered the ace spot that was firmly his in the previous season. On the other hand, his awe-inspiring run through the IEM Cologne qualifiers suggest that he is still the one Protoss all others must bow to, with his Proleague stats being merely an abberation due to small sample size.
Should Rain falter in Code S, then there will be plenty of ambitious Protoss players ready to usurp him. One such player is herO, CJ's rising star and and the first player to ever win 2 consecutive IEM StarCraft 2 events at Singapore and Sao Paulo. As with Rain, herO's Proleague play contrasts with his play in individual competition. His 5-4 record is not bad by any means, but as his team's ace he was expected to do much better. Much of the blame for CJ's 6th place round 1 finish falls on his shoulders. herO will be looking to prove that the dominant Protoss we saw at IEM is his true identity.
Going against the Protoss players are two Zergs in Samsung_Solar andMVP.DongRaeGu. They are good players for sure, but they cannot help but seem slightly lacking in comparison to Rain and herO in their current form. After all, good usually loses to great. However, an important equalizer exists in the controversial map Daedalus Point, with its effectively unwallable choke point making it a death trap in PvZ. Without a veto system in place, the Protoss players will be almost guaranteed to play the map at least once per PvZ series.
Solar has abruptly and improbably become the new face of Samsung Galaxy Khan. Once just another Zerg bench warmer who was most known for beating Stephano and barely being fielded again, he quietly improved himself while playing a variety of online cups and qualifiers. His strong showing at the Numericable M-House Cup 3 should have warned us beforehand that he'd be a force in the new Proleague season, but no one fully expected him to break out the way he did. He opened the season with two wins against WCS 2013 champion sOs, and he ended the round with a 4-2 record. And to kill time, he also ran rampant over the last few ZOTAC NA cups before they ended. Solar may be the least experienced player in the group, but he has already proven that given the right circumstances he can beat anyone.
The last and oldest in the group is DongRaeGu. Though he is now and forever one of WoL's most hallowed champions, he has fallen on hard times in HotS as he struggles with the new mechanics of the game. This all seemed to change for him in one fateful GSL group last season where he met Innovation. At the time Innovation was nigh-unstoppable in TvZ, and had yet to ever lose a TvZ series unless his opponent resorted to cheese. DRG smashed him, becoming the first player to bring INnoVation back down to reality, dispelling his aura once and for all.
Unfortunately, that performance proved to be fool's gold as DongRaeGu was knocked out immediately in the next round. Ever since then, DongRaeGu has been unable to reproduce that kind of inspired, championshiop level play. Yet, his fans remain loyal to him as always. The win versus INnoVation was all the evidence they needed to keep hoping that he could one day win another GSL championship. And who knows? They may not be wrong.
Overall Predictions
Daedalus Point is getting fixed, but it won't be in time for the first week of GSL. How unfortunate for the Protoss players who have been scheduled to play! Even if herO and Rain are arguably better players than DRG and Solar, are they really good enough to beat them with the handicap of what some are calling the worst GSL map ever? Also, don't forget that herO will have the big jetlag disadvantage from what must have been a grueling flight back from Brazil.
Rain > Solar herO < DongRaeGu Rain > DongRaeGu Solar > herO DongRaeGu > Solar
herO is probably the best PvZ along with San considering he basically never loses in it. I think he'll get out over the zergs. 2nd spot is kind of up for grabs
herO could definitely beat DRG if he isn't jet lagged, but a rested and prepared Rain in a potential winners match? I don't think so. Rain and Solar my picks. GET HYPED
On February 05 2014 08:31 Shellshock wrote: herO is probably the best PvZ along with San considering he basically never loses in it. I think he'll get out over the zergs. 2nd spot is kind of up for grabs
I remember this one PvZ herO played. Can't remember the player but he was down 60+ supply against mass roaches. He managed to get out enough immortals/sentries and had a wrap prism then he ended up coming back and decimating the other player using ffs and general wrap prism immortal micro. The LR became very active after that lol. Either way, I think Rain and herO are the most likely to advance. herO is coming off his momentum at IEM and Rain if he plays defensively but cheeses when needed can definitely take out Solar and likely DRG.
On February 05 2014 08:31 Shellshock wrote: herO is probably the best PvZ along with San considering he basically never loses in it. I think he'll get out over the zergs. 2nd spot is kind of up for grabs
I'm still not sold on herO, I think his cred and aligulac are inflated by his (admittedly excellent) performance in "weekend" tournaments like IEM. From what I've seen of him in preparation-based play (GSL, Proleague) he always struck me as a solid but not "top" player. Even this season, he has a combined losing record in PvZ and PvT in SPL. That said, this is his chance to prove me wrong!
Hype Hype Hype! herO and Solar to advance although if Rain did it wouldn't surprise me either. Despite all that I will be rooting for DRG to have one of his random 2011/2012 flashback moments and make it through
Why the hell i can't imagine Rain out of this group? This aura of well-established champions is incredibly op sometimes :D
If herO beats DRG and Rain loses to Solar, then herO is definitely in Ro16. This smiley dude's PvZ is ridiculous. But if he gets Rain then everything can happen.
Rain and herO to advance, but everything can happen.
I say Rain SHOULD make it out, I mean we are talking about the guy who beat DRG to win his OSL and the only motherfucker on the entire planet who actually had perfect understanding of lategame wol pvp when everyone thought having more colossi would ensure victory.
The second person to advance is a lot harder to predict though. I want DRG to advance with all my heart and I really really want this guy to be top 3 zerg in the world again, BUT hero just won his second IEM and Solar has been on the rise lately. This group should be really really good, especially given that we are not yet super sick of pvz yet as this season has only begun.
On February 05 2014 08:31 Shellshock wrote: herO is probably the best PvZ along with San considering he basically never loses in it. I think he'll get out over the zergs. 2nd spot is kind of up for grabs
DRGs only win in Proleague came over herO
Yea. Crazy upsets happen every now and them. I guess that's why we play the games right?
On February 05 2014 08:13 DrPandaPhD wrote: Solar seem to play the kind of zerg I enjoy watching so keeping an eye on him. Hope he can show what he is capable of.
The hype video you're mentioning was not made by GOM, it was made by FeedMe, a fan entering their video contest. You can read more about it here: http://www.gomexp.com/en/gcc/about_gcc.gom
Rain is the best player, herO has been on a tear lately, Solar has done well in Proleague but not as well elsewhere, DRG has been meh for a while now. Rain and herO to advance!
herO takes first spot with Rain or Solar taking the 2nd spot. That's my prediction. HOPEFULLY I'M WRONG, cuz I want Rain to take 1st and DRG to take 2nd.
Does anyone else think that it's interesting that Rain (or Sun) can kill nerds like a champion (of the Parish (sorry, bad joke)) in individual leagues but somehow just not quite cut it during playoffs for SPL?
I don't even know what's happening anymore since one can't deny that he is one of the premier protoss players in the world. :S
Hope that GSL audience will just crush down cause of PvP ZvZ and Pvz saturation, that Blizzard will just realize how they're killing their own game with poor balance designers
Its actually pretty funny to think that if Daedalus point had been in the pool, any 2-1 victory would have potentially gone the other way.
Considering that zergs were just barely holding their own against protoss even with the map I'll be surprised to see an equal amount progress to the ro16.
A patch designed to nerf protoss will lead to their complete takeover of the ro16.
EPT
SKT_Rain and 
Samsung_Solar and 
