EPTBack to the Top
by Destructicon, Gemini and munch
FanTaSy vs Pigbaby
Both FanTaSy and Pigbaby were large beneficiaries of the 2014 Korean migratio because it gave them opportunities they would not have had at home. However, the tides have changed, and they have been forced to come crashing right back to Korea and into each other.
In 2014
FanTaSy's career was going nowhere. He was barely being fielded in Proleague and his individual results were nonexistent. And just like MMA, his results didn't immediately show; but now, after an extended period of time its clear that the move to team Dead Pixels has been helpful. In the first season of 2015 he qualified for both GSL and S2SL, and though he did not make it far, it was the best result he has had in a while. Shortly after that he managed to qualify for IEM Katowice and shocked everyone by defeating his former team mate Rain in a one sided series. He then went on to play in the final of the Copenhagen Games 2015, demolishing all his adversaries before losing to PartinG in the final. And most recently FanTaSy was able to qualify for the 2015 KeSPA Cup. Momentum is clearly on his side; however he has shown weakness to strange strategies and all-ins, and he'll need to be on his guard as Pigbaby was all about protoss bullshit.
Pigbaby's tale on the other hand was much more explosive. After barely being fielded by Jin Air in Proleague and struggling in GSL, he made the bold move to switch to WCS NA. After qualifying for Season 2 he made a beeline towards the final, taking down everyone in his path, including a still in form TaeJa, HyuN and then Bomber in the final. Pigbaby had walked the Royal Road, using his own brand of excrescent strategies such as mass observers and one base tempest defense. However just as quickly as he had risen Pigbaby also fell. He qualified for the WCS AM Season 3 but was this time stopped in the Ro8 by Bomber. Even after his exploits he had no luck in finding a team and was forced to move back to Korea and return to Jin Air where he has yet to make another splash in individual leagues. He lost in both GSL and S2SL season 1 qualifiers and he lost his only game in Proleague against DeParture, a player that by most accounts he should have beaten. To his credit he did qualify for GSL Season 2, but his qualifier run wasn't the most impressive.Prediction
FanTaSy should be the favorite to take this. He has performed admirably in his recent showings and despite losing in a one sided finals to PartinG, it is forgivable given the form PartinG is on right now. Pigbaby on the other hand has had a very unimpressive year so far and while I know he's capable of planning really interesting series on a good day I'm not sure this will be the day for that to happen.
FanTaSy 3 - 1 PigbabyTerminator vs HerO
"Wait, did herO leave CJ? Wait wait, there’s a Liquid hero too?" The days of old when
HerO was a dominating international powerhouse are over. Whenever his name is brought up, the responses are no longer "Yeah, he's such a good player and he's doing so well." Questions about his existence are more likely heard today because the Liquid protoss has been struggling for some time. The shift over to WCS Korea hurt him in season 1 as he failed to qualify for either the GSL or S2SL. Confidence is definitely not something that he has had lately. Everytime it looks like he's about to get back on his feet again, he gets shoved back down in the most demoralizing way possible. Just last week he was having a great run in the Gfinity qualifier, beating Patience 2-0 and Panic 2-1. He then met San in the qualifying match only to lose a rough 2-3 series where every lost game could have easily been a win with the change of one simple mistake. He has chance for redemption now, but the match will be less about HerO's skill in PvP and more about his mentality. People always bring up that HerO is an emotional player, and it's become a redundant trope that's repeated even when it doesn't apply. However, with his season on the line, that mentality will be put to the test more than it has been in the recent past. HerO isn't so much playing against Terminator as he is playing against himself.Terminator is such an odd player, of course. For the most part he will look like absolute trash, but sometimes out of no where he’ll pull a 2-0 vs herO in GSL Code S. Terminator has to be one of the most underrated and unexpected dark horses in Korea this year. No one expected him to qualify last season for both NSSL and GSL, let alone beat TaeJa to make it into the main NSSL event. Then even LESS people expected him to 2-0 his GSL Code S group and then knock Dark out of the Ro16 before losing himself. Needless to say, this guy seems to bring it when no one else thinks he’s going to win. Unfortunately for him, he remains inconsistent as ever. Since his wins are so sparse and fairly random it’s hard to say with certainty what his odds are of beating specific players. He could still very easily lose to lesser players while at the same time beating much better players. He also only plays in the main Korean leagues. There is no other study material besides the few games he has played in NSSL and GSL, so figuring out this guy's play style is basically not going to happen. Anything and everything will be pulled to get a win in this match.Prediction
Terminator may as well be a blank state, which means HerO's preparation will count the most for this coming match. His PvP has been his most consistent matchup in recent times, so he lucked out in that rehard. He has also shown that he is willing to bring out whatever it takes to win, no matter how dirty. Whether it be proxy stargate, fake blink with hidden DTs, proxy gateways or normal macro play, HerO has shown that he has a large repertoire up his sleeve. As mentioned earlier, HerO has more to prove and more to earn from this match than Terminator, and he should come motivated. He longs to go back to the glory days when he was considered one of the best protoss in the world. He will surely bring the skills necessary, but we'll see whether he can keep his composure.
HerO 3 - 2 TerminatorSoulkey vs Creator
It’s a signal of
Soulkey’s early excellence that 2014 was dismissed as a disappointing year. While continuous appearances in Code S are hardly the worst of possible fates, his contemporaries have now passed him by. First it was soO with his astonishing streak of GSL results last year; then Life returned to the top of the rankings after Blizzcon; finally Dark recently began his precipitous rise, which has made him the Zerg en vogue. After initially establishing himself in a world of struggling Zergs, where mere consistency established him as the best, Soulkey is now surrounded by comrades capable of elevating their play beyond his own. Speaking of consistency, provided he qualifies for Code S tonight Soulkey will collect the
NesTea award. However, an even greater accolade awaits. If he manages to pass through the Ro32 group stage, it will mark the first time that a progamer has earned 10 consecutive Ro16s (PartinG is also on course to achieve the same feat this season). While this would be an astonishing feat of endurance, one has to ask: would this satisfy SoulKey? Would a former champion be happy to receive an award that amounts to a exceptional example of dotting i's and crossing t's? Once the chosen hero of Protoss, the end of WoL shoved Creator off the upper echelons of the race. It’s been two years since he last qualified for Code S, and the same amount of time since he last played in a meaningful LAN tournament. With limited opportunities Creator has been forced to reside in various online cups, as well as attempting the herculean task of carrying a ramshackle PRIME squad in Proleague. Much like 2014, the pressure of those demands got to him after a promising Round 1. Winless after 4 attempts in Proleague Round 2, there seems to be little hope for Creator in his worst matchup. He has a winrate of 40% in offline PvZ over the past year, and none of his victims come close to Soulkey in terms of quality. Unfortunately for the PRIME ace, this should mark his second failure in an individual tournament in the last week.
Soulkey 3 - 0 Creator
