Progamers are polite. Too polite, actually. In their insistence on being insipidly diplomatic toward each other, they rarely reveal their true thoughts on their peers.

This all changes at the GSL Code S Group Selections. There, they are given the power to select their opponents. With their tournament and career prospects on the line, the facade comes crashing down. Through their picks, progamers give us honest answers to the most intriguing question in StarCraft:

“Who’s good, and who’s bad?”

At the end of each ceremony, when all the decisions have been made, one player must stand alone. He has been undrafted and shunned by all others, and left with no say in his opponents or group. It’s a compliment. He is the scariest player in the world.

For over four years, the Code S Group Selections have been a uniquely entertaining and informative event in StarCraft 2. Banter and drama flow freely, as well as rare info on how pros rate each other. And when it's all said and done, one progamer gets the honor of knowing he was the most feared by others.

Of course, it’s far from an exact evaluation. It's not as simple as just drafting players in order of weakest to toughest. There’s plenty of other factors in play, such as personal grudges, team-kill considerations, politics. The best players are usually the ones seeded, and not available to be drafted at all. However, when tournament results, prize money, and win-loss record have been cited to death, the subjective opinions of players themselves offer a refresh take on the competition.

It all began in February of 2011. After holding four GSL tournaments, GomTV decided that foundations were sufficiently deep. Fans were familiar with the players, storylines had been established, and the GSL had started to have a history. It was time to bring the famed Group Selections of Brood War to StarCraft 2. Two weeks before opening day of Code S March, GomTV called all of the competitors into the studio.




The first player to earn the honor of being picked last in the GSL Group Selections was no other than... ...InCa. Yup, THAT InCa. The Protoss player who later became a legend at the Code S May finals by going 0-4 against Nestea with four disastrous Dark Templar rushes.


Even though InCa is most known for getting embarrassed by Nestea, that series also revealed why players were so loathe to face him. Sure, he might have flopped in the finals, but he had to play very well to get there in the first place. The fans wouldn't figure it out for a few months, but SC2 pros already knew in March that InCa could be a finalist caliber player.

Furthermore, when I asked former InCa teammate Jinro for his thoughts, he mentioned that InCa was known as a pretty cheesy player. Well, no shit. The guy Dark Templar rushed four times in a row in the FINALS. Still, it demonstrates that progamers were aware of the full extent of InCa's depravity long before the viewers at home.

Now, take into account that the Code S Ro32 format at the time was a best-of-one round robin, and things start to make a lot more sense. If I had to guess what was going through the minds of the championship contenders when they decided to pass on InCa, it would be something like this: "I'm probably a better player than InCa. ...But I have absolutely zero interest in testing that theory in a best-of-one."

You've just read two-hundred words on InCa and stuchiu didn't even have to hold a gun to your head.


Forget the championships HuK won at MLG, HomeStoryCup and DreamHack. He may not have received a trophy to put on his mantle, but getting taken last in Code S Group Selections might be the most meaningful indicator of just how good Chris Loranger was in his prime. Not only did he have top three control, but he was a top three scary-ass opponent, as confirmed by GSL pros.

Despite his noteworthy spot in the group draft, HuK had a disappointing GSL May that ended in first round elimination at the hands of InCa and July. However, a month later he proved that he was no fraud and that his fellow progamers were right to be wary of his skills. Flying to Sweden with Korean training under his belt, HuK defeated a pool of players that included MC, Bomber, and Moon to take home the DreamHack Summer '11 championship.




If you got into SC2 after 2011, it might be hard to understand the enormous amount of hype there was for Bomber’s Code S debut in July '11.

Back then, Code A was a full-size tournament that included some of the best players in the world. When Bomber entered the tournament, there was not much known about him except that he was an ex-Brood War pro who was lighting up the ladder.. He quickly made his presence felt in the GSL studio as well, dominating his half of the Code A bracket before earning a match against Mvp in the finals.


At the time, Mvp was a two-time GSL champion and the consensus top-Terran player in the world. Facing him was the most daunting challenge for any StarCraft 2 progamer in the world, but Bomber didn’t seem fazed at all. Instead, he used it as an opportunity to announce his Code S arrival in the most dramatic way possible. Not only did he defeat Mvp 4-2, but he defeated him in macro TvT -- a match-up and style where Mvp had previous been considered to be invincible.¹

Thus, despite being a total newcomer to Code S, Bomber was considered a top championship contender by fans, pundits, and fellow players alike. To absolutely no one's surprise, he went last in the Group Selections. Of all the last-picks in GSL group selection history, Bomber in July '11 may have been the most obvious choice.




Unbelievable as it may be to the casual fan and Artosis alike, this actually happened. Genius got picked last in a group selection

By August 2011, almost all of the luster had faded from Genius' 2010 BlizzCon win. He was still a consistent performer in Code S, having qualified for all eight tournaments held up to that time. Yet, from a fan's perspective, there was little to suggest that he was a real championship contender. How could the pros have made such a seemingly irrational series of decisions to let Genius get the last pick?

Well, the answer is that the pros probably weren't wrong. But for the reasoning behind that to become apparent, we're going to have to look at a few more group selection results. Just bear with me here.





I never expected to find aLive's name on the list of last-picks in the Group Selections, but I wasn’t surprised at the slightest when I did. Of course the IPL4 champion, the WCS Global finalist, the 32nd highest prize money earner of all-time would have yet another achievement everyone just happened to forget.²


In standard aLive fashion, he was completely overshadowed by some silly foreigners.


Due to HuK's participation at a foreign tournament, teammate and friend Jinro came to the selections in his place. When it was HuK's turn to pick, Jinro jokingly plucked SuperNoVa's name off the board and into HuK's group. Though all three players were on different teams by that time (Evil Geniuses, Old Generations, and Team Liquid), they were still close friends from their days in the TL-oGs partnership.

It was clear that Jinro was joking. However, when he attempted to withdraw his joke pick and make his actual selection, GomTV organizers interjected by saying that all picks were final.

The response from Jinro was to instantly switch gears from 'relaxed and casual' to 'completely-goddamn-serious' and drop the now infamous "I'm not going to fuck over a friend." In turn, GomTV responded by thinking to themselves 'Yeesh, this is awkward' and allowing Jinro to re-pick.

In retrospect, it's hard to tell if Jinro had to be so aggressive in his situation. GomTV may very well have reversed their decision if he had reasoned with them in a more calm way. Yet, in light of GomTV's harsh enforcement of rules on previous occasions³, perhaps Jinro had no choice but to go all-out for his friends.




Before soO made a determined run at the throne in 2014, MarineKing reigned as the absolute, undisputed King of Kongs. He was a true pioneer in finding new and creative ways to collapse when the stakes were the highest, earning three runner-up finishes in GSL before the tournament was even a year old.

Although MKP was frequently mocked for his failures, there was no denying the incredible skill that had earned him three finals appearances. That feat was only matched by Mvp and Nestea at the time, and they were considered the two greatest players in the GSL.

Not only did MKP have amazing mechanics -- he had top-tier macro that was just slightly behind his transcendent micro -- but he had no qualms about using those mechanics to execute the deadliest cheese rushes in the game. In other words, he was an opponent who made more stuff than you, controlled that stuff much better than you, and on top of all that, was dirtier than you.

MKP was simply too good not to win a title eventually, and he would go on to win dual MLG titles in early 2012. But a few months before that, the crownless king's peers already recognized that he was championship class.



WHAT? Genius was the last pick in not one, but TWO GSL Group Selections?

Heading into the first GSL season of 2012, Genius' last major tournament result had been a disappointing top-16 finish at DreamHack Winter. Prior to his elimination at the hands of PuMa at that tournament, Genius had even suffered an upset loss against little-known Swedish Protoss Seiplo in the group stages.

Yet, upon his return to Korea, Genius churned out a string of eight consecutive wins across all competitions and advanced from his Code S Ro32 group in first place. The SC2 community was split. Some saw it as a once great player coming back into form, showing play worthy of the 2010 BlizzCon champion. Meanwhile, haters (like me) saw it as a fluke—a string of exceptional games by a solid-but-limited player who had a knack for performing Void Ray all-ins.

Genius and his fellow progamers quickly ended the debate about his true nature. The progamers took Genius last in the Ro16 group draft, and Genius’s great play continued as he made a run all the way to the grand finals.

As someone who still couldn't cast off his skepticism three years later, I decided to get a professional, retrospective opinion. Thanks to superfan neoghaleon, I got a few words from DongRaeGu, Genius' former teammate and finals opponent:

"He was very good at the time, I had no doubt we would advance from the Ro16. Genius was very good on ladder, that's why everybody knew he was good."

Ah, well.




In 2012, Squirtle finally qualified for Code S after spending over a year mired in Code A/B. Though he had been around the scene for over a year, he had no achievements of note except a forgettable top-three finish at IEM. Squirtle created some initial buzz in the GSL with a strong, 4-0 performance in the Up/Down matches, but it was still questionable as to whether or not he truly belonged in Code S.

Before Squirtle could make his Code S debut, however, he would have a different chance to prove his worth. GomTV had partnered with IPL to hold the GSTL Season 2 finals at IPL4 in Las Vegas, and all the players on the GSTL finalist teams were to be entered into IPL4. Contributing two wins in Startale’s 5-3 victory over Team MVP in the GSTL semis, Squirtle helped earn himself and his teammates a last-minute trip to America.

IPL4 came at the height of a tournament arms race in the US, when an obscene amount of money was being spent to fly in the best talent in from Korea, stacking tournaments with talent to the point of bursting. With six former GSL champions and over half the current Code S players in participation, IPL4 was set to be the toughest tournament ever held outside of Korea.

Squirtle was not intimidated. Squirtle assumed control at IPL and turned it into “Squirtle’s preview of the ass-kickings to come in the GSL.” Over the course of four days, Squirtle recorded an insane 12-3 series record (28-16 in maps), defeating the likes of Nestea, MMA, MKP, Bomber, PuMa, and MC. Even though Squirtle faltered in the very end, losing to aLive in the grand finals, it was a rare case where the runner-up earned more admiration and respect than the champion.

Squirtle’s warpath didn’t stop in Las Vegas, as he took out MMA and HerO in his GSL Ro32 upon returning to Korea. When it came time for the Ro16 Group Selections, it was merely a formality that Squirtle’s name was even on the board.




NesTea: a player so legendary, GomTV named a fucking award after him. How did it take twelve tournaments and nearly two years for the other players to honor him as the final pick in the group draft?

Well, for one, Nestea typically placed so high in the GSL that he was one of the players with a seed, picking in the first round. On the two occasions where he was available as a pick, he was drafted earlier due to peculiar circumstances:

GSL May:⁵ In a group selection where the one of the central themes was how everyone was terrified of playing Nestea, Clide made a noble sacrifice and took Nestea with the fourth-to-last pick. While Clide had every right to take a less formidable opponent, picking Nestea was the only way to prevent a clusterfuck of team-kills for the players in other groups. For his honorable deeds on that day, Artosis bellowed an extra long CLIIIIIDDDDEEEE!!!!!

GSL October: In the prime of his career and having already beat Nestea in the previous season, MMA went for a swag-pick on the three-time GSL champion. Somehow, both players managed to save face. Nestea punished the youngster’s insolence by smashing him in their Ro32 match. As for MMA, he proved his confidence was very much warranted by going on to win the entire tournament.

By mid-2012, Nestea was nearing the end of his time as a real championship contender in the GSL. When he was playing at his best, he was still equal to the best players in the world. Unfortunately, his game-to-game consistency had declined significantly over time and the legendary Nestea of 2011 had become a rare sighting. Heading into Season 3, it had been nearly a year since Nestea placed in the top four of the GSL.

Yet, the 31 year old still maintained an incredible aura of mystique. The comeback victories, the innovative builds, the three GSL championships: they all weighed heavily in the minds of players and fans alike. Nestea’s frequent bouts of dozing off at the group ceremonies—something that would have been a comical trait for any other pro—further accentuated his status. He was more than just a peer to the other GSL competitors, and he was stooping to even be sitting there with them.

One by one, the players passed on Nestea. One by one, until the legend was the only name left on the board.

Season 3 was the last time Nestea reached the top 16 of the GSL, and thus it was the last time he ever participated at the Group Selections. Though the other players didn’t know it at the time, they had paid Nestea their final respects.




Life had been on the radar since 2011, when he was known for both his young age (14 years old at the time of his first tournament match) and strong performances in online competitions. Back then, no one knew what the kid would amount to but it was undeniable that he had quick hands and uncanny game sense.

In 2012, Life's potential finally began to "explode," to use the Korean expression. A 9-2 run in the GSTL signalled that Life was finally ready to show his online skills in live competition, and soon after he made it through Code A and the Up/Down matches to enter his first Code S. Any lingering doubts about Life’s ability to perform in the GomTV studio were soon wiped away, as he cleared his Ro32 group with perfect sweeps over veterans JYP and Nestea.

It was clear that Life was at the bare minimum, a very good player. And at best? Who knew what was possible for a player who looked stronger with each tournament match? Life wasn’t a championship favorite yet, but he had the ‘dark horse’ vote locked up completely. Add to that an unorthodox style that favored early-mid game aggression, and Life made for one hell of a wild card.

The final two picks at the Group Selection came down to Life and MKP. Life’s Startale compatriot Curious opted to avoid the team-kill and gave his young teammate the compliment of being the last pick.

Once again, the Group Selections turned out to be an accurate predictor of future success. Only this time, that success was much more immediate and dramatic. Walking the Royal Road, Life ascended to the top of the GSL, defeated the living-legend Mvp, and won the GSL championship in his debut tournament.




There's a reason we have to keep reminding people about the tragedies of the past and force them to relive bygone horrors. If we don’t, there’s the chance that one day, future generations might begin to think "Eh, things couldn't really have been THAT bad."

We must never allow that to happen to Brood Lord-Infestor. It was a horribly broken and imbalanced unit composition that was allowed to exist for so long that it actually did significant damage to the health of StarCraft 2. If you lived through those times and still find yourself forming a thought that's in any way pleasant or nostalgic, consider literally knocking some sense into yourself by bashing your head against a table repeatedly.

The BL-Infestor disease started to afflict the GSL in 2012’s Season 3, but it wasn’t until Season 4 that it had mutated into a truly revolting form. By Season 5, BL-Infestor had fully enveloped the GSL with its tainted embrace. The Group Selections were a testament to its evil, with none of the non-Zerg players picking a Zerg opponent by choice.

It didn’t matter a great deal which of the six available Zergs—Curious, Symbol, Leenock, Sniper, HyuN, or Soulkey—went last, as all of them were neck-and-neck in foulness.

Still, Symbol receiving the last pick made the proceedings at least tiny bit more dignified. Before BL-Infestor, Symbol had already achieved—Ah, fuck it. You know what? I was going to write something nice about Symbol here, but then I remembered he played this game:





In the spring of 2012, KeSPA and Blizzard finally worked out their differences resolved an ugly, five-year long IP rights dispute.⁶ This brought Korea’s biggest and most storied teams into the StarCraft 2 fold, and by the 2013 several KeSPA pros had completed their adjustment to a new game and earned spots in Code S.

RorO—a solid but unremarkable player in Brood War—quickly discovered that he was a Brood Lord-Infestor savant (this is akin to your mom telling you your father was actually satan and you’re the antichrist). Developing an unparalleled mastery of the loathsome composition, RorO ascended the dark throne and became the lord and master of all PatchZergs.

There's not much to say about the result of the Group Selection. In the era of PatchZergs, the greatest PatchZerg went last. If WoL had continued uninterrupted, RorO would have won the next four titles. That, or at least as many he wanted before he got bored. Sadly for RorO, and thankfully for everyone else, the HotS beta was already well underway at the time of the tournament, and the StarCraft 2 scene was more than ready to move on.




While I love GuMiho for being an extremely entertaining player who plays a truly unique style, I can't give him that much credit for being picked last in this group selection. Yes, Gumiho had been on an upswing and fell into the tougher half of opponents at the time. But for him to be taken dead last, some crazy things had to happen.⁷

Due to what we can only assume was a growing, malignant tumor in his brain, #4 seed PartinG decided he would take it upon himself to create the nastiest GSL group of death in history. He started things off by taking Life, who had just returned from winning his second MLG and was broadly considered the best player in the world. PartinG then proceeded to corrupt Life’s young and impressionable mind, convincing him that it would be a good idea to add INnoVation (3rd place at MLG) to the group. It wasn't hard for PartinG to sway a player as confident as Life, and the fast-rising INnoVation joined the group.

It's not clear how PartinG persuaded the famously stoic INnoVation to go along with his plan, but apparently madness is contagious even to machines. Saying he wanted to keep the theme of the group going and make it fun for the fans, INnoVation went along with the chaos and picked Flash (the runner-up at MLG) as the fourth member of the group. The final piece of Exodia had been played.

PartinG seemed all-too pleased with the chaos he had wreaked on the GSL, while Life and INnoVation sat by sheepishly after playing their parts in the mischief. Meanwhile, Flash looked on with his best ”You know, I could be making a LOT more money if I was streaming Brood War on Afreeca” expression on his face.⁸


Thankfully, PartinG was not rewarded for his misdeeds. Though he was able to escape the group of death, he was eliminated by eventual champion Soulkey in the quarterfinals.

While PartinG received his punishment, the story would not end there. Guaranteeing that two of the top draws in the tournament would fall out in the Ro16 would have repercussions further down the line.




If we look at the last picks so far, we can see that they’re a good predictor of future success. It’s no shock that progamers know best when it comes to who the scariest players are. Even the most baffling selections are usually vindicated in time, with the last picked player going on to achieve great success within a couple of months.

There are only a few notable exceptions: Genius in May of ‘11, and Losira (Kangho) in Season 3 of ‘13. The Losira pick is hard to reason through, even with the benefit of hindsight. He was a good and consistent player for sure, having made top 16 in four consecutive GSL/WCS tournaments. However, his GSL games did not make him look like a championship contender, nor did he play an unorthodox style that was tough to prepare for. And still, no one wanted to face him.

Given the track record of the pros, you have to give Losira the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he was invincible on the ladder. Maybe the beatings he gave his IM teammates in closed door practice were so severe, the news spread to all the other teams.

It’s also possible that this was just a freak occurrence, and eleven consecutive poor decisions led to Losira falling through the cracks and being selected last. But it seems more likely to me that that Losira was indeed an amazing player in September of 2013. We just never got to see it.




GomTV dropped a bombshell on the SC2 community at the start of their 2014 circuit, as they announced the Group Selections would be removed in favor of a random draw.

No public explanation was ever given for the cancellation of the popular event. However, it’s not hard to deduce that it was because of the hyper-group-of-death debacle back in 2013. Fuck you, PartinG. This was all your fault.






(Okay, maybe it was because GSL didn’t want to pay for the studio hours)




After two seasons of cancelled group ceremonies, GSL realized the error of their ways and brought back the popular event.

By that time, Flash’s lack of GSL success had become one of StarCraft 2’s most famous running jokes. Yet, for all of Flash’s troubles in the GSL (eleven straight seasons without making it past the Ro16), there remained a lingering feeling that the God of Brood War would one day reveal his true form in Code S.

A lengthy slump in the first half of 2014 threatened to crush such hopes for good, with Flash failing to even qualify for Code S for two seasons. However, Flash came roaring back with a vengeance in the summer. He made up for weeks of lackadaisical Proleague performances with clutch play in the playoffs, going 3-1 as KT Rolster took their first ever StarCraft 2 title. Flash’s individual league performances improved as well, as he made a 14-1 run from the bottom of Code B into the Ro16 of Code S.

Without a strong showing in Code S, maybe it wasn’t quite enough to make one think “Wow, Flash is back!” Yet, Flash’s fellow pros sensed something was up. Even if they weren’t quite repenting their sins in the light of the savior, the fear of God had been put in them. They made sure to give Flash a wide berth in the Group Selections.

Just a week later, Flash went to Canada to compete at IEM Toronto. Entering the tournament as a darkhorse, Flash left IEM with his first major championship of StarCraft 2 and a title he hadn’t possessed in nearly a year: GSL title contender. With wins over players like Scarlett, MC, TaeJa, and Zest, the slumping Flash had gained instant redemption. The wisdom of the Group Selections had been proven once again.

Well, kinda. Sadly for Flash, the story in Korea stayed the same despite his triumph in Toronto. Losses to soO and DRG—who both just happened to play out of their minds on that day—sent Flash out of the GSL, for the twelfth time before the quarterfinals.





As I've mentioned prevously, the group draft order isn't always determined by player skill. While the best progamers are generally avoided and left until the end, there can be other factors involved such as team-kills and outside-the-booth relationships. In the first group selection ceremony of 2015, the final pick of the group draft was decided by an unprecedented turn of events.

Picking second to last, Dream faced an extremely tough decision between PartinG or herO. The pair was widely considered to be the top two Protosses in the world, and it was highly contentious as to which one was #1. Dream himself judged it to be a toss-up, rating both players as equally difficult opponents. However, the other progamers in the Ro16 had more clear cut opinions on who they would rather face. PartinG and herO made their preferences known as well, with both desiring to enter Group D (Maru, MC, Solar) rather than play with Dream in Group C (Dream, Rain, Rogue).


Unable to come to a decision himself, Dream came up with unique solution: he put it to a vote. The entire studio audience and the 13 other players in the Ro16 were invited to determine the fates of herO and PartinG. In the end, the decidedly pro-herO crowd voted in favor of the CJ Protoss, granting him his wish by making him the final pick and placing him in Group D.⁹





In June of 2011, Bomber was picked last in the GSL Group Selections. Four years and one month later, Bomber left the Group Selections knowing that he still commanded the respect and fear of the best progamers in the world.

Many GSL players had left to play in the WCS NA/EU regions when the doors opened up in 2013 and 2014. Many of them were mocked for running away from the toughest competition in the world. Bomber was not one to take such insults lightly, and he quickly got to work on shutting up his doubters when he returned to Korea. Not only did he qualify for Code S straight away, but he re-joined his old team StarTale/SBENU to enter the fray in Proleague as well. Game after game, Bomber showed that he was very much alive and kicking.

At the Season 2 Group Selections, some veterans players self-sorted themselves as being 'washed-up' and banded together. Not Bomber. Halfway through the ceremony, he won the pro-gamer poll for "best macro" by a landslide. When it all came to close, Bomber was the final pick.¹⁰

Unfortunately for Bomber, his GSL journey ended the Ro16. But from what we know about the GSL group ceremonies and last picks, we'd be wise to keep our eyes open for what is yet to come.

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