EPTThe Wrecking Byul
by munch
You’d never know it from the constant uses of the dreaded ‘slump’ word, but last season TY quietly put together his best individual league runs in Starcraft 2. After two years of failure in the initial group stages, he finally breached the Round of 32 barrier in the S2SL, before going one better with a playoffs berth in the GSL. His games against SoulKey showed TY at his very best; a whirlwind of drops and multitasking—a surgical dissection of the once famed Iron Wall of Korea. However, as ever with the KT Terran, nothing comes for free. Famed for his consistent inconsistency in Starcraft 2, his Starleague runs have come at the cost of his Proleague performances. While his 17-12 record in 2014 was heavily influenced by his perfect record in Round 1, it still shows that he was a core influence behind KT’s eventual victory. In 2015, however, he’s found himself firmly planted on the bench with a mediocre 3-5 record, and he had no opportunities in the regular season after Life usurped his spot. That rejection, though, could be the making of him. There’s no stronger emotional manipulator than the desire to prove people wrong. TY has served tirelessly on Proleague teams for nearly ten years now; it’s time for him to earn his own glory.
After more than two years, HerO is finally back in the GSL. Ever since his triumph at IEM Cologne last year, the Liquid Protoss’s performances have been declining. Of course, there have been exceptions—the runner up spot at Dreamhack Summer was a brief return to form—but it’s mostly been disappointment for a player with higher ambitions. 2015 has seen HerO trapped in stasis. Failure in the individual league qualifiers in Season 1, combined with disappointing performances in Proleague, has seen HerO’s opportunities dwindle—of the 155 maps he’s played this year, 83% have been played online. However, slowly, he’s begun to rebuild. His spate of runs in the Olimoleague this year may have whetted fans’ appetite, but it was the confidence on display in Code A that’s got people (well, Gemini and Olli) excited again as his cerebral play tore Terminator apart. As ever, while it’s impossible to discount HerO fully here, it’s also impossible to back him for success.
After a breakthrough 2013, when he finally realised his potential by claiming the OSL title, 2014 must have been a disappointment to Maru. At times, it seemed as if he stood alone for Terran in the face of the blink menace (with the greatest of respect to Polt), and just when the meta shifted back in his favor, his form deserted him. The WCS standings told the full story—a year on from placing in the top four at Blizzcon, Maru was stranded outside the top 30 in the rankings, well adrift of a place at the Global Finals. Perhaps that explains the determination that has driven him to success again in the early part of 2015. Maru has been playing like a man possessed. Some of the old weaknesses persist—his absent mindedness in Taipei gifted Life the title, while his perennial rivalry with PartinG is turning more and more one-sided with every occurrence. Most recently of all, ByuL’s struck back with a vengeance—after Maru embarrassed him with a five-rax reaper build in Proleague, the CJ Zerg’s triumphed in their last two encounters. Outside of those exceptions though, Maru is looking more and more like the world beater we were promised two years ago.
On 5 January, ByuL reached his nadir. A promising start to the season was suddenly rendered completely moot, as TerrOr picked up his sole Proleague victory in 12 attempts. Oh how we laughed. Perhaps that’s why ByuL’s been criminally underrated so far this year—if there’s a prime opportunity for a joke, someone’s always going to take it—and people have been hammering him for that failure for months now. However, even as the mirthful mockery echoed around the scene, ByuL was putting it all together, and recently we've seen the CJ zerg at the peak of his powers. Since the start of March, his win rate stands at 71%; a fact that only gets more ridiculous when you examine the list of players he’s wrecked. In the recent KeSPA cup, he showed again that his victory over Maru in Proleague was no one-off, while Life yesterday was the first zerg to take a map off him for two months. The Wrecking ByuL is on a roll, and it doesn't look like he’s stopping soon.
Predictions
Frankly, while I’d love the two underdogs to raise their game here, it’s impossible to look past the favorites in this group. Maru has looked on a completely different planet to his terran brethren in TvP and TvT recently, while CJ’s monster is looking equally unstoppabyul.
TY < HerO
Maru < ByuL
HerO < ByuL
TY < Maru
HerO < Maru
ByuL and 
Maru advance.
