SBENU GSL
Season 3 Code A

The Roughest Year
Bomber vs First
Symbol vs Hurricane
Sacsri vs Cure
FanTaSy vs San

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

by XXTN, munch and lichter

Bomber vs First

Tonight’s first match features a classic PvT between SBENU.Bomber and KT.First, two old schoolers cut from the same cloth. Last year, these two former eSF players achieved tremendous success abroad, but now, just like much of tonight's Code A roster, they have had a rough year against the new crop of talent in Korea. Bomber and First are names that are widely known and well respect in the SC2 community, but both have yet to taste gold in 2015. Entering the year’s final season of GSL, Bomber and First are determined to prove they still belong amongst Korea’s best.

Competition in Korea is currently the fiercest it has ever been, given the combination of talented KeSPA players and the influx of returning Koreans. In past years, Bomber and First would have been considered shoo-ins for any Korean premier tournament. Now, it is not uncommon for them to fall in qualifiers. Neither one has qualified for an SSL or KeSPA Cup, or traveled to a single international LAN event. Bomber was the guy who won three premier titles and held the #1 seed in the Global Standings last year. Since joining SBENU. Bomber has been eliminated from numerous qualifiers by the likes of Journey, Zoun, PenguiN, and DynaMite - players he was heavily favored against once upon a time. First, who had five top-8 finishes in 2014, has also faced similar struggles since returning home. Coincidentally, their only successes came from GSL. Bomber made it as far as the Ro16 in S2 while First only managed to reach Ro32 in S1. Recent results suggest that neither has much hope to get very far in this final season, but those who have followed Bomber and First since WoL know that stats don’t tell the whole story.

The last of the five SBENU players to compete for a spot in Code S, Bomber is hoping to join his teammate MMA for the ride. At 27-years-old, Choi Ji Sung has had one of the most decorated yet turbulent careers in SC2 history. He has a reputation for playing out of his mind in one tournament only to crash and burn in the next. In previous years, one Bomber slump lasted around 3-4 months. This time, he has been struggling for more than half a year with no imminent signs of recovery. So is Bomber’s career finally nearing its end, or is this all just a prelude to an explosive return? This final GSL season may very well be Bomber’s swan song.

When First won IEM Katowice in 2013, many saw the new IM kid as the next protoss savior. Of course, he never lived up to those expectations. Sure, he troubled foreigners during his brief stint in Europe, but he has yet to pose a major threat to the top KeSPA Koreans. Despite being acquired by KT Rolster early in 2015, First hasn’t made many noticeable improvements, and he has only been called upon once in Proleague. That being said, the KT Protoss has gone 10-2 in PvT over the past two months, including a 2-0 win over Bomber in a KeSPA Cup qualifier. As long as he keeps his guard up and prepares for any terran shenanigans, First should have a decent shot to advance.

Predictions:
Both players are very evenly matched, and both are hungry for a Code S seed. So even though neither is currently at his strongest, I still except this series to be tightly contested and maybe even a little crazy. Bomber will likely opt for some unorthodox builds, especially since this series is Bo5. He will try to take control of the tempo and apply unrelenting pressure with his trademark macro. Therefore, it will be up to First to disrupt Bomber’s game plan and put him on tilt. If First can force some ill-advised SCV-pulls, then he has a solid chance to come out on top. However, with Bomber’s confidence, experience, and 7-4 all time record against First, I would have to favor the SBENU Captain.

Bomber 3 - 2 First

Symbol vs Hurricane

It’s been a long road down to the bottom for Symbol. When he first emerged from the depths of the TSL teamhouse in late 2011, he was a player who seemed to have the world at his fingertips. Consistent performances in 2012 saw him establish his spot as a zerg to be feared, and a player who seemed destined to join the ranks of the GSL champions. But like many of the old guard, the release of HotS saw a precipitous decline in his fortunes. In the year following his first appearance in Code S in June 2012, he placed in the top 8 of GSL five times out of six; in the years that have followed, he has failed to progress beyond the round of 32 at every opportunity. Of course, consistently maintaining a spot in Code S is a laudable achievement for most, but for a player who once held much loftier ambitions, the lack of any visible progress over the past two years must be vexing. Symbol comes to Code A today fresh off a pretty poor showing at Dreamhack Valencia, and if losing to a 15 year old foreign amateur playing 1 base protoss isn’t enough to earn him a lengthy stay in KeSPA jail, I don’t know what is.

While we’re pretty confident that Symbol’s form has been trending down for quite a while now, we still have no idea what sort of player Hurricane is. For much of his career, he’s lived in the shadows between Code A and Code S; never quite falling out of the picture, while having very little effect on anything of importance. Which is why his breakout result last season was such a shock. Matched up against one of the most impressive zergs of the year in Rogue, Hurricane came out of the blocks flying, smashing the Jin Air zerg in a rapid 3-0. Especially notable was his focus on warp prism play, whilst strong blink timings brought him the win in the two games he ended early on. After such a notable result, it’s perhaps a shame that his momentum was brought to an end in the next round, losing to Maru and Zest, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can bounce back strongly in the final season of the year.

Predictions

Hurricane opts for a 1 base immortal all in once just to fuck with Symbol.

Symbol 1 - 3 Hurricane

Sacsri vs Cure

It’s testament to the strength in depth of Korean Starcraft that a player can have more appearances in Premier tournament finals than in Code S, but Sacsri’s career so far has been far from standard. After an unsuccessful stint on SKT following his transition over from Brood War, Sacsri joined the ambitious mYinsanity roster in 2014 with instant success, beating the overwhelming favourite MC in the finals of Dreamhack Valencia to claim the title in his very first Premier event. While that may have catapulted his name into the public consciousness, further success wasn’t quite as forthcoming. There’s yet to be a follow-up title, and it took a whole year until this past season of GSL for him to finally claim a spot in Code S. It seemed that the wave of hype was slowly wearing itself out.

This past month has changed all of that though. His play at HomeStory Cup XI was superb as he stormed towards to finals, where he was beaten by his teammate Rain. In particular, his playoff victory over PartinG deserves special praise; gambling his way to a win on Rain’s advice. A year on from his breakout tournament, Sacsri seems to have all the momentum again rolling into this season of Code A. Hopefully this time he can push on to greater success.

Speaking of players who have failed to push on in quite the way we’d expect, Sacsri’s opponent tonight is Cure. The Jin Air terran’s rise and fall has been so rapid that it’s easy to forget that merely a year ago he was one map away from making the GSL finals. There’s been a strange symmetry to his career so far, and his great Season 3 showing last year remains his sole Code S appearance, sandwiched between multiple appearances in Code A and the SSL Challenge. Cure is rightly lauded for his fantastic macro ability, but perhaps the lack of precision he shows at times lets him down. Pure macro may be enough to beat EU opponents off 400 ping after a 25 hour qualification marathon, but on current evidence a little more elegance may be required for a repeat of his run last year.



Predictions

Cure to bulldoze his way to a couple of wins, but Sacsri to take the series.

Sacsri 3 - 1 Cure

FanTaSy vs San

FanTaSy and San have had a weird 2015. On the one hand, neither is considered a contender for titles and cups. On the other hand, the two players somehow keep qualifying for events where other stronger players fall. Whether it's down to dumb luck or some strange comfort in qualifiers, these two players keep reminding us that they still have something in the tank after rollercoaster careers.

For FanTaSy, his shift to Dead Pixels after departing SKT T1 proved a masterstroke. The change in scenery has revitalized his career, with 1 SSL and 2 Code S appearances so far this year. He also qualified for both KeSPA Cups as well as IEM WC. Still, FanTaSy continues to frustrate as often as he amazes. He has these moments of battle hardened brilliance, such as his 3-0 thumping of Rain at IEM WC or his close 2-3 defeat at the hands of Dark at KeSPA Cup S2. His best games lead us to believe he still has what it takes to conquer the world, but at his worst he can still seem clueless and narrow minded in his game plan. That these moments occur at about a 60/40 rate is the reason why he's pretty good, but not great. And every season we wish that it could be the season where he breaks out of his shell, but we're still waiting.

That may be an odd thing to say for someone who should be nearing the twilight of his career, but that was the case for San before 2014. He was supposed to be done, a player at the end of his wits. He showed nothing in 2012 to suggest he had what it took to make it back into Code S, but his spotty 2013 showed that maybe, just maybe, he could elevate his play. With some refined play (and the Sangate) he appeared in three straight WCS EU semi finals, culminating in a finals loss in S2. He won ASUS ROG Winter and placed well in IEM WC, GSL GC, and DreamHack Summer. He earned his shot at BlizzCon, and it was a year that few expected from San.

Yet, could that be it? While San has managed to qualify for a KeSPA Cup, 2 Code A's and an SSL Challenger, his play seems bereft of the cutting edge he displayed last year. The sloppy San is back, while the San of 2014, the one that hit the crispest timings and the tightest deadlines, has gone back into hiding. We now know that resting inside that unassuming husk is a potential world beater, but now all we see is that husk going through the motions. If San can rediscover that sense of timing, he could still prove himself in Korea one last time.

San's 2014 should serve as an inspiration for FanTaSy. If he can clean up his play and develop a better sense of "when", he has all the tools to go further than his Ro8 glass ceiling. He's proven before that he has what it takes to terrorize entire tournaments and there's no question that he still has that special quality necessary to win. You have to believe that it's just a matter of when.

Predictions:

No FanTaSy gg timings in the series

FanTaSy 3 - 1 San

Writers: XXTN, munch, lichter.
Editors: lichter
Graphics: shiroiusagi.
Photo: GOMeXP.
Stats: Aligulac