EPTSBENU GSL
Season 3 Code A
Revenge of the Widow Mines
Trust vs jjakji
Bbyong vs Super
Life vs Trap
Brackets and standings on Liquipedia
Revenge of the Widow Mines
by Brindled, lichter and banjoetheredskin
Trust vs jjakji
Trust is one of those Korean players that occasionally makes Code S only to do little, before getting the axe a season later. These players show some potential in their infrequent Proleague appearances or online qualifiers, but rarely do much to stand out. But isn't this how most great rises to fame start out? This was what we were saying about Dark and Dream before 2015. Yet what separated those two players from the rest of the hopefuls was a defined strength that continued to grow. For Dark, it was his ability to mix atypical compositions (like ling bling corruptor) into his standard play. For Dream, it was his electrifying movement across the entire map. Many up-and-comers lack a defining trait that sets them apart from other wannabes, but it's more than that. These strengths often develop over time because of the tournament opportunities that they grant. Trust, unfortunately, has yet to truly define himself through his play.
jjakji on the other hand is a known quantity. Unfortunately, that really counts for little now. Yes, he did have a small resurgence in 2014 culminating in a spot for BlizzCon, but many argued he didn't deserve to be there. He failed to win anything throughout the year, and many of his WCS points came at weak events like IEM Sao Paulo and DreamHack Moscow. When the calendar turned, jjakji all but disappeared. The SBENU terran has only qualified for one tournament all year—KeSPA Cup Season 2—and he was swept out of it by herO. It hardly looked close, and the myth of jjakji winning a tournament when no one expects it is all but dead. He did it once and never again, and 4 years later seems about time to put that myth to rest. While it seems extremely critical to say that jjakji's big adventure should be stored away, he still has every opportunity to write a sequel. He has qualified for Code A for the first time since the end of 2013, but it should be remembered that he when he fled for Europe he placed 6th in Code S. He obviously has the ability, but somehow the inscrutable magic he once had seems to have left him. Those clutch widow mine shots; those 2 hour mech comeback games; those suicide doom drops; how long has it been?. Yet we can't keep holding jjakji back with the same old storyline, because it's time he played without the burden of four year old expectations. It's up to him to add another chapter before we close the book.
Predictions:
jjakji builds widow mines as part of his mid game composition
Trust 2 - 3 jjakjiBbyong vs Super
Looking to join teammates ByuL and sKyHigh back in Code S, CJ.Bbyong makes his return to Code A against the KT Protoss Super. Stylistically, these players will likely clash so strongly that the result is a one-sided stomp. Bbyong favors a TvP in which he can split the Protoss army up with heavily committed medivac drops, utilizing widow mines to soak up zealot buffers. Super displays excellent army control, however, particularly with compositions influenced by Wings of Liberty. Mass blink stalkers and colossus sounds like a very strong counter to how Bbyong may look to play out this series. However, Bbyong can just as easily confuse us with various forms of early rushes and harassment and then just pull the boys. Despite these distinct tendencies, neither player has been able to compete at the top level in the matchup. With two folks in the middle of the road, we know that the hype can either be at an all-time high for some evenly matched, scrappy players, or an all-time low for some extremely poor play from both sides. So let's not worry about that, and just have some fun with series predictions.- Bbyong will attempt dozens of widow mine drops, most of which do almost no damage, except for one that will be absolutely game-ending
- Super will do three variations of a blink build, because that's pretty much all he does
- Bbyong will build barracks close to Super's base in one game
- Bbyong will fly four medivacs full of units to their death without realizing at least once
- Super will not get storm this entire series
- Bbyong will attempt mech one game and it will fail miserably
- Super will out-micro a SCV pull, but Artosis won't be there to relate his euphoria
Predictions:
Mostly unrelated to those predictions:
Bbyong 3-1 SuperLife vs Trap
At the beginning of the year,
Life was on top of the world. With 1st place finishes at IEM Taipei and GSL Season 1 plus Semi-Finalist finishes at S2SL and KeSPA Cup, Life was off to the start of another great year. Then he got knocked out of the Round of 16 for GSL by Bomber. Since then, Life has not had the best year with the exception of some good showings in Proleague. His ZvP, while good, isn't the stand out best nor very consistent. He has beaten people like Classic, Dear, and even
Trap himself, but has lost to Liquid`HerO. His most recent ZvP was lost 0-2 to Sora. Who's Sora? Exactly. Not very consistent. I'm not saying that Life is on a slump. He's still one of the best players in the world and one of the best players, if not the best player in this season's GSL. But there is a crack in Life's armor that could potentially end his GSL run this season here.This year, Trap has been known for great PvZ play. In fact, Trap has not lost a single PvZ match since May. That's matches, not individual games. But with games:
Yeah. Trap has lost a grand total of ONE map in PvZ since the end of May. This kid's PvZ is solid and it shows. They weren't against chumps either, including soO who just won KeSPA Cup. Funnily enough, Life was the last person Trap lost a PvZ set to. So, either Trap will continue his PvZ tear this year and march right along into the next Terran player which will end his GSL run, or Life will beat the odds by stomping over Trap and making it all the way through to another GSL Finals. Yes I'm calling it here.
Predictions:
Life has a knack for losing the first game in a series, only to come back and win the rest. If I were a betting man, this is what I predict will happen. I'll go with 3-1 in favor of Life, but with a caveat: if Life loses a second game, Trap will win the series.
Life 3-1 Trap
