EPT
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Things went according to plan for
INnoVation as he barely had to break out a sweat to make it back to Code S. Three straight 2-base SCV pulls earned him his first three victories over Hurricane in the initial match and Ruin in the winners' match, but he showed he was more than just a one trick pony by playing a macro game to end his work day early. His use of mines in conjunction with his bio and ghosts ensured that no amount of zealots would matter and pinpoint EMPs wiped out any hope of Ruin landing any sizable storms. Despite losing in his first set of the evening, Hurricane rose from the losers' match to advance in second place. He scored 4 straight wins to make it to Code S, but he did appear a distant runner up to the Acer Terran. Against hyvaa, Hurricane was able to gain small advantages in the opening stages of the map, first with a cannon rush and next with a defense of hyvaa's speedling rush. The highlight of the series was Hurricane's sneaky forcefield at the ramp while his army distracted hyvaa at his attempted fourth. There was no way for the zerg to hold his lair, and it was a routine dismantling from there.
The final match of Group A pitted two players that had demolished hyvaa but had failed against INnoVation. However it would be Ruin's greed that led to his downfall. In game one, a quick 3rd base after a reasonably successful oracle gave Hurricane an opening to pounce with one colossus. He didn't miss his timing and punished Ruin's lack of units. On Nimbus, Hurricane once again caught his opponent trying to do too much, hitting with a blink attack right before Ruin had transitioned out of a stargate and into a robo. In an evening of 2-0s, Hurricane had the last one in the bag.
To the surprise of many, Jin Air's captain
Terminator advanced from Group K in first place without dropping a map. Terminator got aggressive twice in a row against Leenock with early-game all-ins, hitting an oracle-supported gateway attack in game one and a late immortal push in the second. Leenock's scouting seemed off in the first game as he was completely caught off guard by the attack. All in all the series was an easy 2-0 for the Jin Air protoss. He fell back on two long macro games against 
EffOrt who once again showcased that ZvP is by far his weakest matchup. After a bizarre basetrade that EffOrt could probably have won - he still had drones and enough money for buildings at the end, yet was eliminated - Terminator finished the series with a strong deathball of colossi, stalkers and sentries to advance to Code S unbeaten. SuperNova and Leenock both gave everything to stay in the competition. A hellbat push with banshee followup put Leenock at a disadvantage, but he came back on the next two maps with clever tech switching against SuperNova's mech, matching him against EffOrt to decide the second player to advance. Unfortunately, Leenock could not carry the momentum to another win. A failed speedling attack in game one left him at a huge disadvantage in drones and tech, which EffOrt had little trouble turning into a victory for himself once roach speed kicked in. Game two reversed their roles, with EffOrt going on the offensive with a large speedling attack. The strategy worked out a lot better for him however as he ended up killing Leenock's freshly hatched roaches, a number of drones and queens as well as his opponent's third base. With roach speed, +1 range attack and a third base of his own, all EffOrt had to do was walk across the map and finish Leenock off, securing his spot in Code S.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/DarkLordOlli/code_a_results.jpg)
Hot6ix Code S Season 3 Players
Seeded from Season 1 (8):
Classic, ParalyzE, ZestMarusoO, TRUE, Solar, SoulkeyCode A Winners (16/24):
Avenge, PartinG, MyuNgSiK, Dear, Rain, Hush, Hurricane, TerminatorDongRaeGu, Dark, Shine, EffOrtCure, TY, Flash, INnoVation
so sad about that. Same to Ruin.
