GSL Season One
Code A

Group K Preview
Symbol, Billowy, Trap, Hitman

Group L Preview
MyungSiK, Fantasy, Leenock, Emotion

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

Partial VODs on YouTube

Thanks to SuperNoVa's performances in last night's Code A groups, we managed to avoid having a second straight Code S season with a record low three Terrans. As we head into the last night of Code A, here's how the Code S roster has shaped up so far:

Hot6ix Code S Season 2 Players

Protoss: Zest, Rain, sOs, herO, TAiLS, Classic, ParalyzE, YongHwa, Ruin, Stork, Squirtle, PartinG
Terran: Maru, INnoVation, Bbyong, SuperNova
Zerg: soO, Life, Dark, DongRaeGu, Solar, ByuL, Soulkey, RagnaroK, Rogue, Hydra, Shine, TRUE

Who will the final four competitors be? Find out as Code A Season 2 concludes tonight!

Group K: Symbol, Billowy, Trap, Hitman

Countdown:

by Waxangel

So far, Code A has been kind to the players left teamless after Azubu Korea's dissolution. Both SuperNova and RagnaroK were able to top their Code A groups and make it into Code S (guaranteeing a minimum prize of $1400), which should console them as continue their search for new teams. Now it's time for Symbol, the old Azubu ace, to prove himself as well.

Like any other teamless Korean player, we've seen little of Symbol since the last Code S Season. There just isn't anywhere for a Korean player to compete outside GSL and Proleague, and an early elimination in Code S means you're going to fall off the radar for at least a couple of months. Still, even without having seen Symbol play in a long time, I get the feeling he'll go through. He's made Code S/OSL in eight consecutive seasons so far, and he hasn't done anything to make me believe he's abruptly fallen off. At the very least, we know that Symbol has been doing decent in online competitions, even if he failed to qualify for both Lone Star Clash 3 and the GSL Global Tournament. Given that both SuperNoVa and RagnaroK came into Code A with poor online records and rocked their groups anyway, I'm putting my faith in Symbol to advance alongside them.

However, he'll face a potentially dangerous first opponent in MVP.Billowy, one of the breakout stars of Proleague Round 2. After scoring two PvP wins in the round-robin portion of the tournament, he went nuts in the playoffs by all-killing a KT Rolster line-up of Stats, Zest, TY, and Flash. Now, if you look at his achievements very cynically, you could say he's a PvP specialist who lucked out with all-ins against Flash and TY. If you want to be more optimistic, then you could see him as a hyvaa/Shine type player who is capable of having sustained success with a cheesy style. In any case, we know he's not lacking for effort, saying he practiced hundreds of games for his single Proleague match against KT. If he prepares for this Code A group with the same intensity, then he could very well make it to Code S.

On the other side of the bracket we have IM_Trap, who is arguably the best player in the group. With a top 16 finish in the previous Code S season and a 4-1 record in Round 2 of Proleague, he clearly has the best recent results among the four players. Yet he's also somehow the player who seems the least interesting, an unfortunate side effect of being yet another good Protoss player in a country that has all too many of them. As harsh as it is, with so many Protoss champions in the GSL, winning a title of your own seems to be the only way to stand out in the crowd. Sorry, Trap. At least we're predicting you to go through!

Rounding out the group is underdog KT_hitmaN, a player who has played exactly 1 streamed game in the last 9 months. In KT Rolster's previous Proleague campaign, he wasn't used very often but was effective in his limited appearances. This season, he has become almost completely frozen out of the line-up, only earning his first appearance last week (he lost to RorO). My guess is that he'll finish last, but I wouldn't mind if he lived up to his ID by bringing some crazy builds to the group.

Predictions:

Symbol > Billowy
Trap > Hitman
Trap > Symbol
Billowy > Hitman
Symbol > Billowy

Trap and Symbol advance.

Group L: MyungSiK, Fantasy, Leenock, Emotion

Countdown:

by Waxangel

The main focus of Group L has to be SKT_FanTaSy, the last remaining Terran in Code A. If he can advance, the Terran count in Code S will be raised from four to a slightly-less-embarrassing five. Surprising as it might seem, things actually look positive for Fantasy in a StarCraft 2 tournament. He's upped his game considerably in 2014, finally earning some Proleague appearances and winning games as well. He advanced in both the Code A and Global Tournament qualifiers, defeating players like Yonghwa, Hack, and Swagger along the way. No, they're not exactly the most difficult opponents to beat. But then again, this isn't the most difficult Code A group.

Fantasy's first opponent will be KT_MyuNgSiK, yet another one of KT Rolster's marginalized players in Proleague. Yet, he's still had more individual league success this year than Flash*, managing to qualify for Code S last season. While MyungSiK falls into the generic category of good-but-not-great Protoss players of which there are many in Korea, he at least plays an interesting style. He really loves to make phoenixes, whether it's in PvP, PvZ, or even PvT. While I can't say that will be enough to see him to a second straight Code S appearance, it will at least make his games interesting to watch.

The other star of the group is yoeFW.Leenock, who could become the first player on a Taiwanese team to play in Code S since Sen in 2012. It's clear that Leenock has declined significantly after the release of HotS, and it's hard to call him a championship contender anymore. Even Code S qualification, which was a given for Leenock in the past, is now uncertain. He had to slog through two close, bloody battles with BrAvO to make it to Code S last season, after which he was eliminated in the Ro32. Even so, Leenock is still a decent mid-tier Zerg, and this group doesn't present him with the toughest of challenges.

Like Hitman in Group K, Samsung_eMotion rounds out Group L as the player I want to have an opinion about but don't have much to go on. The most notable thing he's done in Proleague this season is give Mvp his one win, after which we haven't had a chance to see him play. It's one thing to not earn starts on KT and SKT -- those rosters are STACKED. But to not play for Samsung, the team that finished 7th place in Round 2? It's not very encouraging.

*The cheapest of cheap shots

Predictions:

Fantasy > MyungSiK
Leenock > eMotion
Fantasy > Leenock
MyungSiK > eMotion
MyungSiK > Leenock

Fantasy and MyungSiK advance.

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