GSL Season One
Code A

Opening Night Preview
Rain, Solar, herO, DongRaeGu

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

VODs on Twitch

by Waxangel

With the balance fix to Daedalus Point coming through just before the night's games, there was no chance for the Zerg duo of Samsung_Solar and MVP.DongRaeGu as they went up against elite Protosses SKT_Rain and CJ_herO.


Coming in from Brazil straight off his second consecutive IEM championship, herO showed no signs of being hampered by jet lag as he took first place with commanding play. Though herO lost his first map of the night against DongRaeGu and his well-calculated fast gold base strategy on Habitation Station, the CJ ace rallied back to take four games straight. herO handled DRG's swarm host play with aplomb to take that series 2-1, and scouted out Rain's hidden buildings to take the winner's match 2-0 (though that series was not without controversy).

Despite losing easily to herO, Rain was able to take out Samsung's super-rookie Solar twice in a row to take the second place spot in his group. Rain was able to show off his signature style, using excellent phoenixes harassment followed by strong macro play to overpower his inexperienced opponent. At the same time, Rain also continued his efforts to diversify his play, incorporating a 7-gate all-in and super-fast blink stalker all-in into his plans as well.

Miscellaneous Notes

• DRG was heavily committed to trying to make a swarm host turtling style work, showing some slick transitions and highly optimized play. It's a style we've been seeing more and more often lately, with RorO abusing it particularly well in Proleague. When San says PvZ is going to end up like late WoL PvZ in a few months, I'm pretty sure this is what he's referring to.
  
  Ah, Stephano. Ahead of your time even in retirement!
  
  
• The new Daedalus Point didn't seem so bad for PvZ, though that may have been because it was a top tier Protoss in Rain playing both games.
  
  
• We call PvP the coin flip match-up, but there's usually one or two players for whom it really seems like a matter of skill. PartinG held that crown for several months, but it's clear that he must now cede that title to herO. While PartinG is winning merely 53% of his PvP games since December, herO has a whopping 70% winrate. That should serve him especially well in these Protoss dominated times.

Ro32 Group B: Trap, Zest, Leenock, SuperNoVa

Countdown:

by lichter

As one of the only two groups featuring every single matchup, Group B might end up as the most interesting and exciting group of the Round of 32. It also happens to be one of the most evenly matched, as there isn't much separating these four players. Any of them could make it far in the tournament with a little luck and momentum.

First out of the gate is IM_Trap who makes his individual league debut for Incredible Miracle. Though he may be overshadowed by many of the other Protosses in Code S this season, he's coming in with plenty of momentum. His GSL results have gradually improved over time, and he achieved a surprising 5th place finish in the previous season. That earned him a trip to Canada for the WCS Season 3 finals, where he continued to surprise by reaching the top four.

Trap's trajectory is decidedly upward, and just like last season he will be a sleeper pick to do some damage. The one thing standing his way is his spotty PvP record, and we all know that's going to be an important matchup this season. That comes with a caveat though, as he has often had to face the cream of the crop in PartinG, Dear, sOs and Rain. Against Zergs, Trap should be considered one of the tournament's top players. Once known as a 2-base savant in PvZ, he has gradually become one of the best all-arounders in Code S. Now all he has to do is bring some of that unabashed trickery to his PvPs.

Unfortunately for Trap, his very first match is against KT_Zest, a player who was once famed for his impenetrable PvP. He began HoTS with an 11-2 record in the matchup, but 6 straight losses after that have dropped him down to 60%. Alongside TY, Zest was one of the Proleague heroes that inexplicably kept falling to Code B. It didn't matter if he was Wooki, P7GAB or Zest; it seemed like he'd never find his rhythm in individual leagues, just like everyone else on KT not named Flash. This season, however, KT has experienced a reversal of fortunes as Flash was unceremoniously dumped down to Code B, while Zest, Stats, and MyuNgSiK all found their way into Code S. It's Zest's first shot at glory under his own name, and he'll be playing a matchup that he once had dominion over; don't expect him to waste this opportunity.

The other two players in the group have struggled lately despite their long tenures in SC2. yoe.Leenock and SuperNova have been with us since the beginning, and they have found it difficult to remain relevant in a saturated scene. Once considered the heir to JulyZerg, Leenock has fallen sharply to being a fringe Code S player. For over a year now, he's failed to make it past the Ro32 of Code S. His 6-11 record in ZvP since last year's final Season 3 hardly inspires confidence (the record is even padded with 2 wins vs iNcontrol), but it's hard not to root for Leenocktopus. With an aggressive style that's one of the most entertaining to watch when it's working, he could be the player who lends a spark to this PvZ-fest of a tournament.

With 2 series wins against BravO in Code A, Leenock will hope to at least make it to the Winner's Match with a win against fellow old-timer SuperNova. When SuperNova surprised everyone with his 6th place finish in OSL 2013, some observers thought that perhaps SuperNova had turned a corner. It was his first time finishing higher than 8th, which he accomplished twice in his 10 Code S appearances. He looked to be at his cunning best, combining his famed build-crafting ability with the most refined mechanics we had ever seen from the five year veteran. Unfortunately he had the bad luck of running into Dear the very next season, who dumped him out in the Ro32. It's not exactly a bad thing to lose to the season's champion, but it did halt SuperNoVa's momentum and exposed his over-reliance on prepared builds. He will have to come up with even more devious strategies still if he wants to make it past the Ro32.

Predictions: Two players struggling against Protoss against two players that are well above average in non-mirrors. It doesn't look good for Leenock and SuperNova, but they get the benefit of Trap and Zest having to face off first on the night. If one of them can find a way to overcome a Protoss in a single series, he'll have a good shot at being in the Round of 16. But with Trap now in a proper team and Zest finally making it to Code S, would you really bet against them?

Trap > Zest
Leenock > SuperNova
Trap > Leenock
Zest > SuperNova
Leenock < Zest

Trap and Zest to advance.

Writers: lichter and Waxangel.
Graphics: GomTV, shiroiusagi.
Editor: Waxangel.