SBENU GSL
Season 3 Code A

Back in a Flash
Hack vs Dream
Flash vs Impact


Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

by Shtanjel and munch

Hack vs Dream

It was 2013 and Hack had just finished in the top 6 of a stacked WCS America, securing a spot in that season's Global Finals. After finding himself stuck in limbo between Code A and Ro32 for a long time, it seemed that all his hard work has finally delivered the desired results. Flashing forward to 2015, we find that his anticipation was premature. Back in his home region, Hack is yet again pressing against the glass ceiling. Besides a Code S spot in Season 1 and Code A in Season 2, he has accomplished nothing worth mentioning. This season, he failed to qualify for both KeSPA Cup and SSL, making Code A his last shot at a premier Korean tournament this year. However, the entry barrier for Code S may be too difficult to break through. Hack has been very confident in his TvT in the past and he currently sits at a 50% winrate in the matchup in 2015, but although his list of recent victims include MarineKing and Ryung, Hack seems to falter against top Terran players. He is, however, prepared to try proxy shenanigans against players deemed better than him, as he proved against Bbyong in last season's Code A (unfortunately to no avail). This may be useful as he might need to resort to that kind of trickery again.

If this preview was written a couple of months back, I would proceed to say Hack is lucky to get a mirror match against Dream. In the past, Dream had shown moments of weakness against fellow Terrans, so Hack's scrappy playstyle could have garnered him a fortunate win. However, Dream's TvT has drastically improved since then. Among his most recent victims are renowned TvTers like Flash, Cure and INnoVation; furthermore, he emerged victorious against Maru during the KeSPA Cup, gaining a measure of revenge for his loss during SSL Season 1 finals. With two back-to-back SSL finals, two GSL Ro16s and great performances in both KeSPA Cups under his belt, he is now challenging Maru for the title of best Terran. The only thing he requires to confirm his new-found status is a championship title.

Predictions:

We see one cheese from Hack that goes sour.

Dream 3-1 Hack

Flash vs Impact

It’s taken a while, but last week saw Flash's first top 4 finish since HomeStory Cup X last November. For most of the year, his play seemed mediocre, predictable, and very much reminiscent of the caricature that his detractors present him as. The same tendency to die to early all ins and the same tendency to pull SCVs into the welcoming embrace of protoss lasers still existed. KeSPA Cup, however, has shown us a Flash who might be rising again, nearly a year after his triumph in Toronto. He showed a willingness to mix things up—presenting us with the dirtiest build we saw all weekend on Moonlight Madness in his match against soO—while his wins over Classic and Curious were his first series victories over quality opponents in their respective matchups in quite some time.



In fact, a look at his offline results for the year shows that while his TvT remains strong (63%) and his TvP is relatively healthy (59%), his TvZ stands at a pretty abysmal 43%, and so his 3-0 demolition of Curious must have been a welcome confidence boost. That said though, PooH is a complete unknown, while B4 was practically retired at the time, leaving his wins over Curious and ByuL as the worrying outliers in a sea of losses for the year. In Code A, with an entirely different map pool, he won’t have any gimmicky terrain features to help him.

While Flash has gone through his fair share of troubles this year, Impact has equally fallen pretty far from his peak performances in 2014. The new SKT recruit has struggled to make any impact on the scene so far this year. He’s routinely failed in qualifiers, and his Code A smashing from GuMiho represents his best league result all year. His successful qualification for KeSPA Cup was, as a result, somewhat of a surprise—with the caveat that his bracket was relatively easy—and he was perhaps unfortunate in getting Maru in the first round, although the tournament was so stacked that he was always going to be the underdog no matter who he drew.

To be blunt, despite all of Flash’s failings, we simply haven’t seen enough of Impact to think that he’s got a chance here. That 2nd place finish at Dreamhack Bucharest more and more seems to be the exception that proves the rule, with no remotely similar results happening since then. Impact's still yet to qualify for a single Code S, and it’s probable that he’ll be going back to the SKT factory for more work after tonight.

Predictions:

Flash opens CC first three times and doesn't get punished.

Flash 3-0 Impact

Writers: Shtanjel, munch.
Editors: Jer99, The_Templar
Graphics: shiroiusagi.
Photo: GOMeXP.
Stats: Aligulac