EPTVeritably Volatile
by Destructicon and munch
Dark vs Ryung
The Starcraft scene is notoriously fickle. Time after time, we've seen fresh talents rise up only to be beaten down by established stars, or to stall under the pressure of their own hype. Right now it's too early to dismiss
Dark as unreified potential but dual Ro16 exits last season, combined with a 7-5 record in Proleague, point to a player who has not fully earned his plaudits. Sure, he has looked extremely impressive in some of his wins, but he would hardly be the first player whose flashy play conceals an unstable core. After a quick exit to 
Trap in S2SL, Code A represents his sole chance to impress in a Korean league for quite some time. Luckily for him, his opponent won’t be a Protoss. His struggles against Trap reflected a general struggle against the race; his ZvP winrate of 52%, while more than acceptable for less acclaimed player, stands in stark contrast to his solid ZvT and stellar ZvZ. Failure in the early stages of both starleagues would bring the hype train to a screeching halt; it’s time for Dark to start living up to his reputation.At the end of Wings of Liberty,
Ryung was one of the most successful Terrans at softening the blow of Broodlord/Infestor. The key strength of his play—a preternatural sense of positioning combined with slow, methodical opportunism—meshed well with the meta of the time. However, he arrival of HotS rendered most of Ryung’s strengths null. Marine/tank, once the definitive staple of the TvZ matchups, gave way to faster, more aggressive options like 4M. Those options reward daring pushes and swift tactical strikes reminiscent of a shock-and-awe approach, not the slow accumulation of advantages which brought Ryung such success. His early success in WCS NA proved to be a false dawn, and it’s been almost two years since he was in the premier stages of an individual league. Ryung’s not one to back down though, as the GSL admin team can attest to, and a semifinals spot at the Copenhagen Games was one of his top placements in years. Unfortunately, no one he beat there is anywhere close to Dark's level, and he'll have to dig deep for inspiration if he wants to stand a chance.Dark 3 – 0 Ryung
GuMiho vs Impact
GuMiho is a rare breed of player. Most thrive in a controlled and highly regimented practice environment that shaves away their individual foibles; the nine tailed fox flourishes with no master to reign in his instincts. As soon as GuMiho left CJ his results in online cups skyrocketed. He has taken part in and won countless Leifeng cups and Olimoleagues. GuMiho was also a beast in team leagues, notably going 8-0 in GSTL finals and carrying FXO to its only two titles. But because of his very nature, success in individual leagues has eluded GuMiho, he doesn't seem at home in the gentleman's duel that is a long preparation series. Instead GuMiho thrives on chaos on the ebb and flow of unpredictable and short series where the enemy can't adequately prepare for him or in the rapid fire weekender format. It is true that GuMiho has made a couple of deep runs in GSL, most notably a RO4 in 2012 GSL Season 1, however he seems much, much stronger in the group stages then the actual playoff bracket. For GuMiho to advance to Code S again he'll need to recreate that chaos again, and fortunately for him his vast experience in online tournaments have enriched him with a whole plethora of strategies, including all-ins, standard macro, bio and mech.Impact is a relatively new player to the scene. He made his debut only 2 years ago under the tutelage of Woongjin Stars, garnering a 3-3 record in Proleague. Like most younger players he is still gathering experience (which he will hopefully transmute into poise via alchemy). Impact has shown enough promise to believe the continuation of his journey will be worth watching. After Woongjin Stars disbanded, Impact joined Axiom and became one of their core assets in both their Acer TeamStory Cups runs; he reached the finals of Dreamhack Bucharest last year, losing to Life in a rather lopsided series. In Korea he has yet to make a splash in either S2SL or GSL, neither reaching the quarterfinals of the former nor advancing through Code A. With the GSTL and ATC defunct for the time being Impact has been quiet, only participating in online cups and qualifiers. This is his first opportunity in a long time to remind people of his potential, and he surely wants to take advantage of it.I'm not sure if Impact has the necessary experience to tackle someone of GuMiho's caliber. To stand a chance he'd need to have pristine scouting and proper reactions to everything he sees. Given GuMiho's enormous bag of tricks, I just don't see it happening in this initial encounter.
GuMiho 3–1 Impact
Super vs Flash
For most of his career
Super has been a middling Protoss competitor. He used to be reliable for MVP in team leagues, notably all-killing FXO in 2013 and Millenium during the first Acer TeamStory Cup. However, only now is he leaving a lasting mark in individual leagues. 3 months ago Super won Hey, Look, Koreans! in a surprise upset, notably defeating Soulkey 4-2 in the finals; more recently he earned his best individual result, hitting the Ro8 of S2SL through ByuL, FanTaSy and Terminator. Maybe the move to Invasion eSports was just what he needed, a change of scenery that allowed him to reestablish focus (sadly for Invasion, this new-found burst of inspiration was accompanied by a yearning for Proleague). Whatever the case, he'll need all the concentration he can muster right now. He was eliminated from the current season of S2SL by soO, and a loss tonight means he drops out of the Korean premier circuit altogether.The struggle still remains for the man we once called God. Despite a strong rebound in Proleague,
Flash has not reclaimed his former status in individual leagues. He already wasted his S2SL season 2 qualifier run with a shocking 3-1 loss to Leenock. Similar to past failings, Flash's downfall came down to a matter of greed. Leenock elected to do all-ins and Flash stubbornly refused to neutralize them, opting for more economically focused builds. It would appear that Flash still hangs onto his stubborn ways like a remora on a shark's belly, and he must be periodically reminded of his mortality by daring adversaries. If Flash wants to capitalize on his second life and go deep in this tournament, he'll need to revise his current thought process and prepare adequately for his opponents.I believed his losses in Proleague and last season's qualifiers were going to be a rude slap in the face for Flash; they would undoubtedly snap him out of his strategic apathy and spur him to reinvent his approach. After watching Leenock roll over him. I was clearly mistaken. Super only has to analyze that series and copy Leenock's methodology. If he also prepares for the strong possibility of SCV pulls,he ought to have this series in the bag.
Super 3–0 Flash
