EPTReturning to Form
by Destructicon, munch and lichter
Heart vs sOs
The changes to the WCS system hit most of the Koreans from abroad very hard and
Heart was one of them. He had grown his brand in WCS AM with scintillating TvZ, and he was knocking on the door of contendership in the later half of 2014. Yet he had to return to Korea, and it was anything but glorious or triumphant with losses to 
HyuN in the S2SL qualifier, and 
Super and Solar in the GSL. Thus Heart was forced to retreat to the shadows and play in online cups and team leagues to hone his craft. Despite mild success on that front he has yet failed to make a splash in individual leagues, losing in the group stage of Gfinity Masters 1 and the qualifiers of IEM Katowice. His one avenue back into WCS—through the Chinese qualifiers while he studied there—was shut down due to miscommunication. This defense of his GSL spot represents one of the rare opportunities he still has to keep himself in the hunt for glory. His first test could either be a blessing or a curse, as his opponent is one of the most inexplicable players on the planet.The Mad Scientist of Proleague,
sOs finally gets a chance to return to the GSL after being judged and found wanting by Curious in last season's qualifier. Despite having innumerable experiments spontaneously combust in his face in Proleague, his most recent qualifier runs have looked good. Most importantly his PvT, which was once deemed his Achilles' Heel, has now become a position of strength. Wins over Dream and Flash in Proleague as well as wins over Ryung, KeeN, Dream, jjakji and Cure in qualifiers show that he's no longer vulnerable to terran's assortment of tools. And lets not forget that sOs won the 2014 Hot6ix cup off the back of his PvT, defeating INnoVation, sKyHigh and MarineKing in a clinic of stone cold savagery. He's even begun to pick things up in Proleague, though a 3-3 record in Round 2 is still below his standards. Fortunately, he is still capable of planning a series and dancing with the best terrans, but he will have to be on his guard for the possible shenanigans that Heart can throw at him. On the other hand, sOs might be the one with naughtiness planned—his series against MarineKing still makes terrans cry around the world. Heart likely won't fall for the same trickery, but I predict he won't last much longer.Prediction:
sOs 3 - 0 HeartPenguiN vs Symbol
Not much has changed since we last wrote about
PenguiN. Since his successful qualifier run for the first season of GSL last December, PenguiN has only managed to pick up a single series win in all competitions. As ever, that qualifier run wasn’t televised, so our information on what style he prefers is still limited. He was the very first player to drop out of the Round of 32, with successive 2-0 defeats to Rogue and MC, and frankly, was little more than a punchbag on his big breakthrough night.However, his opponent for tonight will be less of a challenge than those two. GSL has given us its fair share of one hit wonders, but PenguiN may well prove to be greater than the sum of his results so far. In the downtime between seasons, he crossed the Great Telecom Divide, signing with KT. It says a lot that two of the most prestigious teams in KeSPA have seen enough in him to warrant development; let’s see if he can justify the faith.
For all the players who benefited enormously from the release of Heart of the Swarm, there were just as many for whom the expansion signaled the end of an era. Three years ago, Symbol stood at the forefront of the TSL Roach battery farm. His performances week after week in the GSTL seemed to foreshadow the rise of another great zerg as NesTea’s talents finally began to wane. But his incredible run to second place at the Iron Squid finals would prove to be an unfortunate portent of his future. Time and again he fell short of the top prize, and as the years rolled by, Symbol slipped further and further down the food chain.
Off the back of a humbling 0-3 defeat to herO in the S2SL last night, it’ll be interesting to see if Symbol can pick himself up in time. Much like PenguiN, Symbol’s current form in ZvZ is a complete mystery, and you actually need to look all the way back to April 2014 for his last offline televised victory. While experience is usually key in these high pressure scenarios, Symbol has looked mediocre for too long, and I expect to see a breakthrough victory for the young KT Zerg.
Prediction:
PenguiN 3 – 1 SymbolFirst vs MyuNgSiK
It's one of the hapless realities of being a bench player: when one departs another one takes his place. Most of the time, it's a like for like replacement. Having a well stocked roster of various races and playstyles is advantageous for practice and for Proleague, and it's important to have options in the world's best team league. If you're KT Rolster, however, do you really need more protoss?
That's the question that
MyuNgSiK asked himself as he labored on the end of KT's bench last season. He only appeared a handful of times, and even a trip to IEM Shanghai failed to convince anyone that he was worth more playing time. After all, the spot behind Zest and Stats is a hard place to be, and 3 straight Code S appearances did little to raise his stock. So, he abandoned the comfortable life in KT for the struggling Prime. While this still seems like a baffling move, it was certainly a bold one. If he could cement himself as Prime's new protoss ace and as a legitimate Proleague player, then he would have furthered his career more than he would have over on his old team. It was a risk worth taking on a stagnating career, yet it hasn't quite worked out completely.After his switch, MyuNgSiK has floundered as one of Prime's starting players. He is a mere 3-7, and his games have not looked pretty. He did manage to qualify for the NSSL main event, defeating Reality, Trap, TRUE and San in a clean sweep. It appeared as though that momentum would be carried into the main event, but after another 2-0, this time against Rogue, he was clobbered by Dear and outwitted in the rematch with the Jin Air zerg. Just when he earned himself a shot at fame, he stumbled at the last step. With Prime's dearth of talent, however, he'll keep getting his chances.
KT didn't mourn his loss, as they quickly replaced him with
First, who used to be on the Rolster roster as anyppi. The homecoming was met with much fanfare, as he was considered a significant upgrade over the stylistic MyuNgSiK. While his 2014 wasn't quite as successful as his 2013, his year competing in multiple foreign tournaments still had some highlights. His match against Life at IEM Toronto Ro8 was one of the year's best, and he had multiple bracket placements in some of the year's hardest tournaments. He did not taste victory while he was on TCM Gaming, however, but his year traveling seemed to have satisfied his wanderlust. A return to Kespa from a foreign team often suggests a renewed desire for the highest level of competition, and it's likely that First wants to recapture the magic he experienced in the latter years of Incredible Miracle.Curiously, First has also struggled since his return to his old home. He is a middling 12-17 in all matchups since January 13, and he lost his lone Proleague appearance to Dream. His qualification for Code S in Season 1 was back in December before rejoining, and he's yet to qualify for anything since his return. Whether this is just an adjustment phase for First or a mismatch between his comfort zone and his new team is impossible to infer, but history is on his side.
MyuNgSiK is a measly 4-7 in PvP in 2015, and it has never been his best matchup. Despite his love of phoenixes in other matchups, it has never been a successful tech path for him in the mirror. He's only won against mirror dunces Alicia and HerO, while he's lost to every decent PvPer this year. On the other hand, First has always been considered a PvP maestro, and his career 71.66% winrate is astonishing. However, he has only played 3 such series this year, and his 3-5 record does not look impressive. The last of those games was way back in January though, and it's silly to expect that he hasn't righted his ship with KT's mindbank.
Prediction:
First 3 - 1 MyuNgSiK
