|
4 Posts
It's become a custom in Code S that the champion of the previous season opens the Ro32 of the next, with the advantage of being able to pick his opponent. In his pre-game interview, Classic seemed calm and composed as he answered questions regarding his plans for this season. He mentioned that he had chosen EffOrt because he had wanted to face zerg, which he thought would be a cakewalk. With two zergs in the group, many believed that he was about to stroll into the Ro16.
The first match of the last season of Code S for 2014 pitted the defending champion, Classic, against a former Brood War champion and Code S debutante EffOrt. In the first game, EffOrt's 13 pool was ineffective against Classic's nexus first. It looked like Classic was going to get into the mid game with a sizable advantage, but he was unable to make most of his lead. The game stabilized from there, and despite Classic's warp-prism and blink harass, EffOrt's choice to switch from roach ling into mutas was able to keep Classic in his base for what seemed like an eternity. By the time the CJ zerg had 50 mutas, Classic had no choice but to attempt a doomed base trade. As the cloud of mutas blanketed the sky, EffOrt had his first ever Code S victory. EffOrt showed no signs of playing reactively on the next map as he went for an even earlier spawning pool on 9 supply. It managed to destroy Classic's nexus, and the zerg was able to cement his lead with uncontested 4 bases. After bracing against wave after wave of maxed armies, Classic was pummeled into submission and down into the losers' match.
In the 2nd set $O$ was looking to get revenge against Shine for his premature exit from Code S last season. On Nimbus, Shine's mass burrowed roaches almost broke through sOs's defenses after some late force-fields, but sOs was able to defend thanks to a hidden dark shrine. It played a role in his offense as well, when sOs was able to infiltrate all of the zerg's bases for drone and queen kills. This forced Shine into an ultimately ineffective base trade, as he ran out of hatcheries and overseers. Shine was able to take a game back on Overgrowth, when sOs' choice of getting 3 bases off one stargate ended in disaster. Shine attempted a noncommittal roach attack to try and pressure, but sOs' lack of warp gate technology at 9 minutes meant he had paltry defenses available. A poor peek from his natural by his sentries gave Shine the opportunity to surround them, and Shine simply rallied units until sOs had enough. In the decider Shine lived up to his name by going for a 10 pool, and sOs showed his value by taking absolutely no damage. sOs followed up with 4 gates off of 2 bases, and his attack with mass zealots chopped every zergling that Shine could muster.
This trend of zergs blind countering the current metagame of protoss taking early expansions continued in the winners' match. In the first game, EffOrt decided to add in early ling speed. Stopping at 13 drones, EffOrt created a constant flood of speedlings that jumped between sOs' probe line and the natural nexus. Though the protoss was able to hold on to his expansion far longer than expected, it was at the cost of far too many probes. Eventually, the nexus was lost, and sOs was forced to concede the first game. The CJ zerg then switched things up with a hatch first on Deadwing, and both players took relatively fast third bases. EffOrt attempted a 13 minute roach ling max, but it was held off from behind a wall of gateways. Although EffOrt's feigned muta switch was able to force an overreaction from sOs, it ultimately didn't matter as he was pushed down that alleyway eventually. After several inefficient engagements and folding to all the zealot harassment, EffOrt surrendered. With a place in the Ro16 on the line, EffOrt once again opened with hatch first, but this time it was to delay sOs' natural. After normalizing from EffOrt's curveball, sOs built two stargates and started amassing a phoenix and voidray army.  EffOrt was able to counter his plans perfectly with an early hydra timing right as the phoenix were out on the map, and sOs had no choice but to immediately tap out. Despite having to play his worst matchup twice, the old dog learned enough tricks to get out in first.
Down in the losers' match, Classic was in a tussle against the unpredictable Shine. A loss here would be an embarrassment for the defending champion, and it could not have been against a more dire opponent. To start things off, Shine chose to go for a 6:30 lair for the sake of extra quick swarmhosts. Shine was able to break Classic's third base and defend all the attempted counterattacks. A switch into mutalisks gave him a tool for harassment, and as he consumed more bases around Catallena, he was able to swarm his way into victory. This meant that Classic was one loss away from his worst nightmare, and he fought back to take Nimbus. He was given the gift of a failed roach ling attack which barely didn't kill the third nexus. While both players worked towards a maxed out army, Classic's superior tech of colossus and storm incinerated Shine's roach hydra army, giving him a lifeline. Both players were not one loss away from being the first person eliminated from Code S, and one could see the desperation on their faces. Shine opened with a 4 hatch before pool (one hatchery to block Classic's attempted nexus first) before sending a roach ling timing just before Classic's gateway explosion was complete. It was able to kill 7 sentries, and the lack of forcefields spelled the defending champion's doom. The last defending champion to fall in the Ro32 was Sniper, and we all know that's a player Classic does not want to replicate. It's still too soon to tell, but his double defeat in his favored matchup dampens any hopes of him becoming a regular fixture on top of Code S.
Like a flashback of last season (and just earlier that night) Shine was once again in a position to knock out sOs in the round of 32. Not wanting to repeat history, sOs chose to go for a blink stalker sentry build which denied Shine's third base. Shine's counter aggression was able to kill 2 nexuses but he bled out too much army in the process and the counter-counter attack put him out of his misery. In a night of games that had already lasted 4 and a half hours sOs opened up with a cannon rush. While Shine handled it relatively well, sOs transitioned into a stargate and oracles, which initially did little damage. He followed up with an 8 gate attack right into Shine's main (using the same pylon he had used for the cannon rush) and the timing hit right before Shine could get a critical mass of roaches. Shine was forced to tap out, and  sOs was able to exact his revenge for last season while making it back to the Ro16.
Players in the Ro16 (2/16):
sOs
EffOrt
Next: Code S Group B
ParalyzE vs  Cure
MyuNgSiK vs INnoVation
|
Kinda figured this was going to happen....Good job EffOrt !! Not really surprised at sOs getting through....guy is a mastermind Protoss.
|
classic has to prepare for proleague as well  its unfortunate he was knocked out
|
<3 effort
It's your turn Cure!
|
Too busy with Proleague? The Curse is real!
|
FruitDealer
MC
Mvp
DongRaeGu
Sniper
and now, Classic.
|
Grats to Effort and sOs.
I feel a lot worse for Shine than I do for Classic.
|
Classic losing was really predictable... Seed welcomes him
|
Classic case of choking. Or maybe he's just not as good as his title suggests/the GSL is extremely even in talent these days. I'm more impressed with soO making it to three straight championships than a guy winning and then dropping out in the ro 32...
|
Seeing Effort doing well in SC2 just makes my heart sing:D
I just hope the championship Classic shows up for PL finals though.
|
EffOrt looked very strong in this group (especially against Classic). Hopefully he can keep playing on this level and show us more amazing play :D
|
On August 07 2014 12:22 Circumstance wrote:
FruitDealer
MC
Mvp
DongRaeGu
Sniper
and now, Classic.
Jjakji? or is my brain failing me.
|
United States97276 Posts
ZvP has really been the matchup holding EffOrt back in SC2 from what I remember. If he's really fixed that he might be heading into this season with a decent shot to make a run
|
On August 07 2014 12:40 Dracover wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2014 12:22 Circumstance wrote:
FruitDealer
MC
Mvp
DongRaeGu
Sniper
and now, Classic. Jjakji? or is my brain failing me.
I think Jjakji only won Code A. But I could also be wrong.
|
Effort played amazingly vs $O$
|
On August 07 2014 13:37 Mistakes wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2014 12:40 Dracover wrote:On August 07 2014 12:22 Circumstance wrote:
FruitDealer
MC
Mvp
DongRaeGu
Sniper
and now, Classic. Jjakji? or is my brain failing me. I think Jjakji only won Code A. But I could also be wrong.
he beat leenock in one of the best gsl finals
|
|
|
On August 07 2014 13:37 Mistakes wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2014 12:40 Dracover wrote:On August 07 2014 12:22 Circumstance wrote:
FruitDealer
MC
Mvp
DongRaeGu
Sniper
and now, Classic. Jjakji? or is my brain failing me. I think Jjakji only won Code A. But I could also be wrong.
Wait you know he's a GSL Champion right?
|
Fiddler's Green42661 Posts
Jjakji won what I still consider to be the best finals ever played.
|
Seeing early greed getting punished is so beautiful.
|
On August 07 2014 14:35 stuchiu wrote:
Jjakji won what I still consider to be the best finals ever played.
Better than MMA vs DRG?
|
Fiddler's Green42661 Posts
On August 07 2014 16:07 skdeimos wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2014 14:35 stuchiu wrote:
Jjakji won what I still consider to be the best finals ever played. Better than MMA vs DRG?
yes. All 6 games of Jjakji vs Leenock were good. MMA vs DRG g1-g6 sucked.
|
Good bye, Classic, you are just another Protoss that I used to know.
|
On August 07 2014 13:37 Mistakes wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2014 12:40 Dracover wrote:On August 07 2014 12:22 Circumstance wrote:
FruitDealer
MC
Mvp
DongRaeGu
Sniper
and now, Classic. Jjakji? or is my brain failing me. I think Jjakji only won Code A. But I could also be wrong.
We all make mistakes :p
|
Shine How's going to allin on a allin after an allin now
i love this guy
|
On August 07 2014 16:11 stuchiu wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2014 16:07 skdeimos wrote:On August 07 2014 14:35 stuchiu wrote:
Jjakji won what I still consider to be the best finals ever played. Better than MMA vs DRG? yes. All 6 games of Jjakji vs Leenock were good. MMA vs DRG g1-g6 sucked.
Agreed. Every game had something unique and interesting, even the short one. Still the best in terms of the actual games.
|
On August 07 2014 14:35 stuchiu wrote:
Jjakji won what I still consider to be the best finals ever played.
wtf????????? nestea vs inca????????
I personally never felt that many feels for the jjakji vs leenock finals. It was a really good finals, no doubt about that. personally, I just wasn't feelin it enough much to classify it as the best
maru vs rain > leenock jjakji imo, but that might be cause of #primefaith and fuck protoss
mvp vs squirtle too
just my opinion.
And although this doesn't make something to be the best finals, I just had to mention it since I'm talking about sc2 finals. People have forgotten the oGsTOP vs IMMvp game 1 on daybreak. TOP was literally playing on mvp's level (at mvp's fucking prime form #thekingofwings) then fell short at the end.
|
1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
that was the thor mech doom drop game, and it was naassssty
|
Fiddler's Green42661 Posts
On August 07 2014 21:40 lichter wrote:
that was the thor mech doom drop game, and it was naassssty
with miltiple pdds into 4 nuke drop
|
On August 07 2014 20:09 asdfOu wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2014 14:35 stuchiu wrote:
Jjakji won what I still consider to be the best finals ever played. maru vs rain > leenock jjakji imo, but that might be cause of #primefaith and fuck protoss .
That was an OSL final, not a GSL final.
|
Didn't we have a thread for best GSL finals, anyone can link?
|
1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
|
On August 07 2014 20:09 asdfOu wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2014 14:35 stuchiu wrote:
Jjakji won what I still consider to be the best finals ever played. wtf????????? nestea vs inca???????? I personally never felt that many feels for the jjakji vs leenock finals. It was a really good finals, no doubt about that. personally, I just wasn't feelin it enough much to classify it as the best maru vs rain > leenock jjakji imo, but that might be cause of #primefaith and fuck protoss mvp vs squirtle too just my opinion. And although this doesn't make something to be the best finals, I just had to mention it since I'm talking about sc2 finals. People have forgotten the oGsTOP vs IMMvp game 1 on daybreak. TOP was literally playing on mvp's level (at mvp's fucking prime form #thekingofwings) then fell short at the end.
Maru vs Rain was OSL, bot GSL.
|
On August 07 2014 14:35 tomastaz wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2014 13:37 Mistakes wrote:On August 07 2014 12:40 Dracover wrote:On August 07 2014 12:22 Circumstance wrote:
FruitDealer
MC
Mvp
DongRaeGu
Sniper
and now, Classic. Jjakji? or is my brain failing me. I think Jjakji only won Code A. But I could also be wrong. Wait you know he's a GSL Champion right?
Apparently I didn't. Lol. Was that one of the finals where all the expected names fell out early and it was a 1 month long GSL?
|
On August 08 2014 01:24 Xoronius wrote:Show nested quote +On August 07 2014 20:09 asdfOu wrote:On August 07 2014 14:35 stuchiu wrote:
Jjakji won what I still consider to be the best finals ever played. wtf????????? nestea vs inca???????? I personally never felt that many feels for the jjakji vs leenock finals. It was a really good finals, no doubt about that. personally, I just wasn't feelin it enough much to classify it as the best maru vs rain > leenock jjakji imo, but that might be cause of #primefaith and fuck protoss mvp vs squirtle too just my opinion. And although this doesn't make something to be the best finals, I just had to mention it since I'm talking about sc2 finals. People have forgotten the oGsTOP vs IMMvp game 1 on daybreak. TOP was literally playing on mvp's level (at mvp's fucking prime form #thekingofwings) then fell short at the end. Maru vs Rain was OSL, bot GSL.
i wasn't specifically talking about gsl, i just said finals. hence "best finals ever played"
|
Best game was Scarlett beating DRG as Toss... not a finals, but still.
|
If I want to see 2nd and 3rd maps, I can only subscribe on twitch and pay ?
|
Nevermind I found the korean vods
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Meru/2014/GSL/GSL_CodeS.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/lichter/code_s/2014/season3/codesr32grpa.jpg)
