EPTFamiliar Faces
by Destructicon, munch and lichter
Hack vs Bbyong
At first glance this looks like a phenomenal mismach of skills.
Hack's 2015 has been less then stellar: he has only 4 appearances to his name in Proleague with a single win under his belt, he failed to qualify for IEM Taipei and IEM Katowice and failed to make it into the S2SL. His biggest highlight would be his success in the Kung Fu Cup 2015 Season 1, and his ability to qualify for 2015 GSL Season 1. So why not write Hack off just yet? For one, Hack has this intangible ability to just dance with the best and barely not make it. He showed glimpses of that back in 2012 when he denied 
RorO advancement into Code S in a long and scrappy game on Entombed Valley. In 2014 he still showed some of those sparks by defeating 
Squirtle and FanTaSy and barely losing to PartinG in the Global Starcraft 2 Championship 2014. Secondly his TvT has remained fairly reliable over the years, still at a 61% record on Aligulac. And the final ingredient to spice this up, Bbyong was actually one of his most recent victims in the Kung Fu Cup.On the other hand
Bbyong seems to be the exact opposite, a mostly strong and dependable Terran. He has frequently participated in Proleague, sometimes as the ace, and he has scored important victories over players such as Life, Dream, MarineKing and Solar. He has done well in qualifiers, making it to the second season of S2SL and GSL. Abroad Bbyong also performed admirably at IEM Katowice, defeating Solar and his team mate herO before losing to Zest, the eventual champion. In general when you look at Bbyong you see a lot of success, so what could possibly go wrong? Well, Bbyong has this intangible and inexplicable ability to suddenly lose games against opponents he shouldn't have trouble against. It manifested itself in losses to ABomB and MajOr in his first IEM, a loss to DynaMite in the IEM Taipei qualifier. All the years of training have made these seemingly random losses happen less frequently, but the recent loss to Pet in Proleague serves to remind us that its still very much a part of Bbyong's identity and could manifest at any moment.The chaotic and unpredictable clash between Hack's inexplicable ability to over perform and Bbyong's tendency to under perform, makes this prediction impossible to get right, so I'm just gonna flip an invisible coin.no one ever got famous making tame predictions.
Hack 3 – 1 Bbyong
YongHwa vs ByuL
For such an unpredictable, volatile scene, Starcraft manages to maintain its fair share of constants. It’s crazy to think that YongHwa is still yet to progress past the initial group stages of an individual league. No matter his form, the hero of Code B will always be back for another run. A 3-10 record in Proleague 2014? It was business as usual in the GSL, with 2 appearances in Code S, and a single failure in the final stage of Code A. A 6-1 PL record this year? Same results as ever. Time after time, we end up thinking that this must be the time for YongHwa to make a deep run, and time after time he ends up falling short.
Similarly to YongHwa, ByuL is another player whose individual exploits haven’t necessarily matched up to his teamleague prowess. With the sole exception of his runner up placement in WCS NA in 2013, he has failed to progress past the initial group stages at each time of asking, culminating in his painful 0-3 loss to Super in the NSSL. Much like YongHwa again, though, ByuL seems to have stepped it up a notch this year. His 10-5 record in Proleague is tied for 2nd place, and he seems to have grown into his role as a senior member of the CJ Entus squad.
So in the battle of two consistent underperformers, who will come out on top? The similarities between the two are uncanny. Both are ex teammates from their Incredible Miracle days, and both have transitioned strongly, carving out ace spots on their new teams, and placing near the very top of the PL rankings. Neither player has played an offline televised PvZ in a while, and it’s interesting that the matchup proved to be kryptonite for both in the first season of the NSSL. Their symmetric 0-3 losses must surely still sting, and they both hunger for redemption here.
YongHwa 3 -2 ByuL
Panic vs Trap
If we had done a Power Rank last season of all the Code S players, there would have been a good chance that Panic would have found himself at the bottom. While he had an impressive qualifying run—defeating HyuN, Cure, and Hack—he was massacred in the booth in a painful 0-4. Rain and GuMiho both outclassed him, giving fans the opportunity to conclude that he was nothing short of lucky. The fact that he was riding the pine on a bare MVP roster suggested as much, and he did little to change our minds whenever he was given a chance in televised games.
Fortunately, our memories are short. All it takes is one big run or a set of impressive games to change our minds. Sometimes, all it takes is a funny strategy or a heartwarming interview. Panic should therefore be glad that the Code S format for 2015 was refreshed—he only has to win 1 series to make it back to Code S. If he wins, it will go a long way towards improving our perception of the young protoss. With a career winrate of 47.69% in PvP, he's up against it. He is 4-8 for the year, and he hasn't even had to face many elite players bar Rain. That drubbing was his single televised mirror in recent memory, and his prospects look slim.
The opponent Panic faces has a rosier outlook, yet he shares the desires to change perceptions. Right now, Trap looks like another weekend warrior unable to handle the scrutiny of weekly tournaments. However, in his element, Trap must be considered one of the hottest players of the past 6 months. He lifted himself out of the doldrums with a win at MLG Anaheim, then followed that up with a semi final finish at Red Bull Washington. That should have been the start of his accession, but he then failed to qualify for either Starleague in 2015. Then, at his next weekender, he placed second at IEM World Championships. It was impressive, but now he is haunted by the uncanny reputation of only being good at gauntlet events. In fact, in his last 4 weekenders dating back to WCS S3 Finals 2013, Trap has never failed to reach the semi finals. It's a curious record for someone that has failed to even reach the bracket stages of a Korean weekly, and a backseat to sOs on the Jin Air roster has denied him the chance to prove himself in Proleague.
Now, things are starting to turn around. He opened Round 2 of SPL with a double victory, surprisingly appearing as ace to down both Hurricane and Dear. He smashed the mirror to reach Code A over Daisy, Sora and Patience, and he has carried his momentum from Katowice back to Korea. He now has two chances to reach the main stage, and one has to believe that Trap realizes this is his opportunity to cement himself as one of Aiur's aristocrats. While PvP has never been his specialization, he has not lost a series against a player not named Zest since the beginning of February. He is 21-13 in 2015 PvP, and his upward momentum appears unstoppable. Only a Code S return will satisfy Trap, and he's unlikely to fall to a minnow like Panic.
Panic 0 – 3 Trap
