EPTGSL Season One
Code S
MMA vs TY
The Return of the Prodigal Son
Solar vs PartinG
I Get What I Like =/= I Like What I Get
Brackets and standings on Liquipedia
The Return of the Prodigal Son
by stuchiu
By the end of 2012,
MMA had hit rock bottom. He’d lost it all: his form, his team and his Code A spot. It was at that point MMA contemplated retirement and who could have blamed him? With his failures in-game and the turmoil affecting him within the teamhouse, there was very little motivation for MMA to continue playing. In many ways a retirement at that point was a smart choice, a safer choice. Any time spent as a pro-player in Korea, no matter how successful, is ultimately borrowed time. At the end of almost every pro-gamer’s life lies military service and among those that have taken the high road, only a handful returned to become successful full-time gamers. It would have been a smart choice but it was not MMA’s choice. A retirement at that point was the same as surrendering the dream. MMA did not want his career to end in such a distraught way. So he joined Acer and moved to WCS EU. He decided to expand his horizons and see if he could recreate his early success. Perhaps he could reinvent himself as a top player again in another region.
If there is one thing you can take away from MMA’s career, it is that he is a fighter. MMA has thrown punches and taken hits for every scrap of success; his personal motto is “Better to shed blood today than tears tomorrow”. It is his work ethic, his dedication and his thirst for victory that sets MMA apart from other "great" players and makes him a champion. During that slump from the latter half of 2012 to the end of 2013, MMA thought about and played SC2 24/7. He played SC2, he ate SC2, he dreamed of SC2 and kept grinding.
And while he was no longer in Korea, the results of his practice showed. He won WCS Europe twice and qualified for both 2013 and 2014 Blizzcons, reaching second place in the latter. Now in 2015 he has finally returned to Korea, where he has made it to his first GSL quarterfinals since the beginning of 2012, nearly 3 years past his prime. For MMA, this is more than just one more step to the GSL Finals. It is a badge of honor, a testament to his hard work and dedication as he once more threatens to take SC2’s most prestigious title: the GSL Championship.
TY, Trapped in Perpetual Stasis
At the age of 20,
TY is one of the youngest players in the pro SC2 scene. Oddly enough, he is also technically one of its veterans as he has been playing professionally since he was 12 years old. Yet it wasn’t until 2010 that he had made an impact in the BW scene as good enough to play in the big leagues. TY had always played under crushing expectations. Players and fans alike believed he had the mechanics, builds, work ethic and time to become one of the greats. Yet it never came to pass. He had a few all-kills and qualified for OSL multiple times, often losing out in the group stages; once he fell to Flash in the quarterfinals of the Korean Air OSL. He ended his career as a player who excelled in team leagues, but could never bring that same level to individual showings.TY has been playing SC2 for three years and in many ways, his SC2 career has mirrored his BW career. His play is consistent as he usually contributes to his team’s victories and remains a key member of the roster. Even more than that, his play is fun to watch. He is a player that has wild strategies, aggressive tactics, multiple one-off builds, and excellent micro with strong macro to ground his play. This lethal combination makes him one of the most entertaining players to watch in team leagues. He uses both mech and bio, often paired with fast aggressive moves all across the map. He loves to abuse map design, putting tanks in very annoying yet secure locations. TY's aggregate skills are incredibly suited to the Proleague format, as a Bo1 every week gives him time to focus and come up with highly tailored answers to opponents.
Perhaps this is why his individual play suffers. In a Bo1, there is no adaptation to a surprise. If a strange build works the enemy dies or has to dig themselves out of a hole. In a Bo3 they can adapt and find holes in your play as the series goes on. TY is dangerous in a Bo1, but he's proven inflexible in longer formats. He can’t handle players that morph their play to counter his plans. Beyond that his series planning has been fairly lackluster and his mental fortitude is weak. For whatever reason he can’t seem to elevate his play like he sometimes does in Proleague.
Because of those reasons, TY has been stuck in perpetual stasis since 2010. Here is a player that has all the right combination of aspects to make a great player: great strategies, solid macro, excellent micro, a hard to deal with aggressive stance and a unique style of play. Others have ridden these qualities to stardom. But TY lacks the vision and drive to fix the problems getting in his way. He has been left as a station attendant. For the last 8 years he has watched other players surpass him by to win title after title, wondering if he will ever raise one above his head.
The time is now. For the first time in his entire SC2 career, TY has finally made it to the GSL quarterfinals. And while he still has many problems in his overarching series planning, his play has been hitting its stride. In the group stages he outpaced the competition with hyper-aggression; in the rare cases he couldn't overwhelm the opponent, he matched and reacted accordingly to their play. Were the latter instances aberrations or the start of an evolution in TY’s play? We only know this is TY’s best chance for a Korean title, one has he been searching for for his entire SC2 career. He cannot let it slip away now as he had so many times before.
Prediction:
For MMA, this is his celebrity return. In 2012 he left Korea with nothing but the ambition to once more become the final boss. Here in 2015, he is close to fulfilling that promise once more. For TY this is the chance to break the cycle. He can finally fulfill his potential and become more than just a team league contributor, to become a threat to take the title.
MMA 3-1 TY
I Get What I Like =/= I Like What I Get
by CosmicSpiral
Just as we started to double down on the ragging and second-guessing,
Solar decided he had enough of our storyline. Schomus pocus, what were lack of confidence and Proleague failures but words gratuitously hurled into the TL ether for clicks? As it turns out, all he needed to reverse his trajectory was time. No matter how many hair tufts he cost FPL fans, eventually Solar would run into a worse Proleague opponent. And then we’d laugh at that poor fellow. It’s been a long time since a player’s shortcomings in one area have had zero effect on his other ventures. While Solar haphazardly stumbled to and fro in the team league, he’s been the bee’s knees in GSL. Besides a lopsided loss to
INnoVation, which was completely expected before the group began, Solar has looked like the dream tantalizingly suggested back at Dreamhack Stockholm and MSI Beat IT: a solid, flexible Zerg who could fill the void once occupied by Soulkey.Such a comparison is apt even if its promise is somewhat diminished. Back when Solar won his first major tournament, there was almost no stability within the Zerg race. The group was a hodgepodge of up-and-comers with a lack of results, established veterans going through unreliable phases, and decent performers getting one or two high placements. Internal ranks were as transient as autumn leaves in the wind; every new event would crown a future contender just by virtue of bracket finishes. He doesn't court danger as insanely as
TRUE. He can’t defend as effortlessly as Soulkey. He doesn’t exploit flaws as ruthlessly as Life. He doesn't dare to experiment with the unknown as often as Dark. But one can’t claim he is meretricious. Solar wouldn't be here if his entire act was smoke and mirrors. His day will come again. Butter in the Works
PartinG seems to defy description these days. Is he a slightly foppish fellow who has embraced MC-esque preening and posturing, becoming a true entertainer of the people? Does he remain a solid levelheaded contender who wishes to recapture the glory of his late 2012 run, where he was unquestionably a top 3 Protoss? How much has PartinG evolved past the haughty, good-humored savant who secretly yearned to prove himself at every opportunity? Or is he all these things at once?Part of the problem lies in PartinG’s scatter-shot results. No man can be reduced to a single label, but consensus pigeonholing points to a dominant trait that defines a player. PartinG is consistent when it comes to winning tournaments over time, not consistent enough to be an established threat for every tournament; he is inconsistent when it comes to placements, not inconsistent enough for any result to be dismissed as a fluke. Unlike
TaeJa or MMA, he has no verified hunting ground which he can mine for results. Unlike MC or Mvp, he hasn't radically changed the dynamic of any matchup in an ironclad way. He may have popularized the Soul Train back when Zergs played the waiting game, but he squeezed more out of it due to his excellent control. His templar-oriented playstyle in PvT was neither instantly adapted nor the first instance: it was preceded by San and imitated by others in the early stages of HotS. Such stress has undoubtedly played havoc on PartinG’s mentality. Throughout all the highs and lows of his career, PartinG has always struggled to reach the GSL finals. After his amazing strides in the early part of 2012 (which included a Ro4 finish), he has repeatedly ran into the quarterfinals like Wile E. Coyote into a painted brick wall. This is his 4th time he’s faced the challenge, and there’s a hint of desperation in the air. Reaching the height of his powers on StarTale didn't allow him to break the barrier; being on SKT T1 and entering his dream environment didn’t provide that extra spark. Facing someone who doesn't look completely settled, this should be PartinG’s night to shine. But after all those defeats in the past, can he really have unshakable confidence at the moment?
Prediction:
Instead of engaging wits, PartinG prefers to play tricks in PvZ. His tolerance for macro games extends as far as he can keep engagements bound to the surface; as shown several times in the preceding weeks, PartinG’s grasp of skytoss is shaky at best. He looks considerably more comfortable managing a ground army, where he can put his multitasking to good use with templar drops and errant zealot runbys. No matter which strategies PartinG elects to use, he will want to incite haywire scenarios that prevent Solar from getting comfortable. Stagnant games are not PartinG’s forte and it’s hard to bully an opponent when no one is daring enough to throw a punch. From this perspective Solar has a more lenient approach. He and PartinG have traded several series over the last six months, all of them featuring early aggression. If he’s watched PartinG’s games over the last two months, Solar will know he has some leeway. As long as he has mastery over lategame ZvP, all instruments in the toolbox gain additional deadliness.
Solar 3-2 PartinG
