EPTSBENU GSL
Season 2 Code S
On the Way Back
Rogue, Trust, FanTaSy, soO
Brackets and standings on Liquipedia
On the Way Back
by munch
Last season’s seed reset for the GSL brought about dramatic changes to the makeup of Code S. However, while it was exciting to see new stars rise to the surface, and old challengers return from their battles in the West, we also had to bid farewell to some stalwarts of 2014. A trio of protoss champions in Classic, sOs and Zest fell hard in the qualifiers, while DongRaeGu’s long Code S tenure was finally brought to an end. However, the failure that was most shocking of all was
soO’s.Even now, removed from his last failure by half a year, it’s difficult to truly comprehend the magnitude of soO’s trials and tribulations over his long battle for dominance of Code S. We all know his results, but looking at the player behind the numbers initially reveals nothing particularly of note. He’s neither a flashily aggressive zerg like Life; nor one of the late game swarm host turtlers that rose to prominence prior to the latest patch. It was only when you dug deeper that you truly understood what makes him special—his understanding of the game; his ability to plan extended series; his ability to flow flexibly from style to style. From what we’ve seen in Proleague Round 2, as well as his routs over Super and Seed in the preliminary league rounds this season, soO has firmly shaken off his new year’s malaise. It’s crazy to think now that back in early 2014, people were still questioning who soO was when he made his second GSL final. Well, we all know his name now. Time to put it on a trophy.
At this point in time, it’s fair to say that the great KeSPA foreign adventure has been less than a resounding success. While Hydra is currently reaping the rewards of mining foreigner gold, other big names have fallen short of desired results—SoulKey and Rain in particular seem to have regressed since their departure from SKT. Of all the players to profit from a move, though, their ex-stablemate
FanTaSy was one of the least expected. One of the last big names to transition over from Brood War, FanTaSy was once thought to be in prime position to profit from the switch to the new game. But while the past three years have given us plenty of moments of brilliance (typically whenever he comes across TRUE), it’s been all too rare that they’ve been strung together. From being the shining jewel in SKT’s crown, to an unnecessary B-Teamer on the road to their second place finish in Proleague 2014, it was clear that an illustrious relationship was coming to an end. Far from a death knell, though, it's been a wake-up call. His recent games have shown a renewed hunger to succeed, and following his recent runners up medal at Copenhagen Games, he’ll be full of confidence in this group tonight.For quite a while now,
Rogue has been stealthily creeping up on the ranks of the best zergs, but he’s been unfortunate to have been eclipsed at every turn. In 2014, he was one of the best performers on Jin Air, but it was his teammate TRUE’s flashier style that took all the plaudits. In Season 1 this year, he took career best top 8 finishes in both starleagues, only for Life to go even further. In Round 2 of Proleague, he was on course for a perfect round—5-0 in the regular season, a 3 kill in the playoff finals—only for ByuL to comprehensively one-up him. Rogue has shown that at his peak, there are few players who can touch him. It’s maintaining his level at that peak that he’s found difficult, and he's typically suffered from nerve issues when the business end of the season looms. In the past two months, he’s been playing the best Starcraft 2 that we’ve seen from him; this season will show if he can push himself further. Trust Code A to save its biggest surprise for last. While MC is no longer the favourite for every tournament he enters, his jovial persona still belies a battle-hardened competitor, capable of dismissing an unsuspecting challenger through experience and sheer force of will alone. It was a big scalp for CJ Entus’ little protoss
Trust, granting him a return to Code S after his debut last year in Season 3. On that occasion, he was knocked out immediately by soO and DongRaeGu; this time round unfortunately, things aren’t looking any rosier for him. Ultimately, little has changed since we wrote about him for Code A, save for his impressive display against MC. Those games showed a smart protoss at work; often gaining advantages through build orders and mind games, and he need to pull off all those tricks again if he’s to avoid another Code A pitfall next season.Predictions
It’s difficult to predict anything other than a 1st place spot for soO here; his solid ZvT should prove enough to take out FanTaSy, while outside of an aberrant loss to Solar at Dreamhack, the mirror matchup has always been his favourite. Unfortunately for Trust, he’s found himself in another group where he’s simply outclassed, and the final spot should come down to a Rogue-FanTaSy showdown.
Rogue > Trust
FanTaSy < soO
Rogue < soO
Trust < FanTaSy
Rogue < FanTaSy
soO and FanTaSy to advance.
