EPT
A Fresh Start
by hexhaven![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/bird_blue_16.png)
- thehexhavenGSL’s third season starts up with two groups in the Ro32. SSL’s second season starts the Premier division, and VSL will culminate in the semifinals on Wednesday, and then the grand finals on Friday. We’re going to take another look at the VSL finals later in the week, so make sure to keep your eyes open for that.
It feels like a first for SPOTV, but this time around they’ve kept the same format for SSL. The Premier division will again have a pennant race, just like it did last season. The top four will advance to the post season to compete for the title, while the rest are left to bide their time. The player to top the score board gets a direct seed to the grand finals, while the other three will have to duke it out among themselves.
INnoVation starts the league defending his title. He was the undisputed champion last season, and there’s no reason to think he’s not capable of the same feat again. We have three new Protoss faces in the league: 
Classic, herO and Dear, who all made it through the Challenge division to have a shot at the title. The three newcomers are replacing three Protoss players, with Zest, sOs and Patience unable to cater to the format’s peculiarities. The league rewards consistency, and every win is crucial on the way to the post season and the glories it will bestow upon those fortunate enough to reach it.The big storyline in Code S is of course the record amount of foreigners who made it through the qualifiers. The first two groups already have
Scarlett and Elazer, the latter making his Code S debut. The most iconic individual league of the scene is notoriously difficult and has historically been a graveyard for foreign hopes bar very few exceptions, so it remains to be seen how they perform this time around. Both MajOr and Scarlett bombed out in the Ro32 last season, but with so much foreign talent pouring into Korea this season, maybe there’s a sliver of hope now. It’s been almost a lifetime since Jinro’s runs to the semifinals in Wings of Liberty - a record unbroken to this day - and maybe we’ve waited long enough.The other thing to note is the surprising absence of a group of death in the opening round. While all groups certainly have skilled players, there doesn’t seem to be one utterly stacked group that we’re used to. Maybe this time around we’ll have to wait until the Ro16 to see something like Dark’s infamous SKT brawl or 2014's classics.
Elazer will be facing KeeN, Rogue and the current champion GuMiho. The rising Polish star has his work cut out for him, but he’s been doing well on the international circuit, so maybe there’s a chance we’ll see him in the Ro16. It’s a long shot, there’s no doubt about that, especially after the monstrous TvZ shown by GuMiho in the grand finals. Obvious picks are GuMiho and Rogue, but it seems these days nothing is truly set in stone. GuMiho is still enjoying his title from the previous season, and Rogue still seems to be one of the most underrated Zerg players in Korea right now, despite being highly rated by anyone who plays Korean ladder. Scarlett will be going up against Ryung, Hurricane and INnoVation. Things are likewise looking grim for the Canadian Zerg, and especially facing INnoVation’s utterly ruthless TvZ will be a daunting task. On the other hand, Hurricane and Ryung are both mortals compared to The Machine, and we just might see Scarlett finally reach the Ro16 after two seasons of knock-outs.Finally, the youngest sibling to the two established leagues, VSL’s second individual league will conclude this week. The semifinals will pit
soO against Super, and INnoVation against Leenock. The grand finals will be played the following day, and destiny would dictate that we’re going to see INnoVation against soO in finals for the third time.Weekly Schedule:
Monday - SSL Premier: Day 1
Tuesday - Olimoleague: June Finals
Wednesday - GSL Code S:
GuMiho, Elazer, KeeN, RogueThursday - VSL Semifinals:
soO vs Super, INnoVation vs LeenockFriday - VSL Grand Finals
Saturday - GSL Code S:
Ryung, Hurricane, Scarlett, INnoVation
The Here and Now
by mizenhauer - MizenhauerWhen GuMiho won Season 2 of this year’s GSL just a few weeks ago, it was the culmination of a career long journey. As much as GuMiho, like all players, dreamt of a championship, there must have been moments where it seemed unobtainable. The arc of GuMiho’s career is largely inexplicable. After years lying fallow he took up a mad charge that brought him all the way to the mountain top. He stands triumphant upon those heights, but his peers are eager to usurp him.
His is not a position without privileges, though. For his hard fought victory, GuMiho earned the right to chose his initial opponent in Group A. OnlysoO shared this honor, but GuMiho got first pass. In his recent interview with TeamLiquid, GuMiho said that TvP was his best match-up, so Trap, Hurricane and Hush must have been attractive options. He’s shown exemplary TvT for years, making KeeN, Forte and TIME all viable candidates. Among the Zergs were familiar faces Leenock, Curious and newcomer NoRegreT. None of them interested GuMiho. He went for a higher profile name, one that fans of foreign StarCraft have come to love - Elazer.
So what’s to be made of this move by GuMiho? If he were going for the easiest opponent, it appears on paper that he failed, for there were less skilled and accomplished players in the field than Elazer. If it was familiarity, he failed on all fronts. He’s only played two matches against Elazer over the course of his seven year career and hasn’t beaten him since 2015 (losing to him in June of this year). GuMiho is a veteran of Korean StarCraft and has logged a lifetime's worth of matches against a veritable who's who of domestic titans past and present. He knows them inside out and, as shown by the finals against soO, has no reason to fear any of them.
Maybe more of the same was what he was trying to avoid when he selected the Polish Zerg. Barring a couple losses toSolar (and one against Elazer), GuMiho has looked pretty unbeatable in TvZ as of late. A few months back Serral tried to bust out the trendy ling/bane/swarm host composition, only to discover that 3/3 thors counter everything. Elazer doesn’t have the luxury of going up against elite Terrans on a daily basis and his 2-2 mark against Korean Terrans during 2017 is impossible to infer anything from. A player like NoRegreT doesn’t have the chops that Elazer does, but he’s had far more opportunities to log games against elite Terrans like INnoVation or Maru. Is GuMiho gambling that Elazer doesn’t have the tools at his disposal to prepare for the reigning champ? GuMiho doesn’t seem like much of a gambler, though. He’s more of a mad scientist whose erratic experiments usually leave his opponents holding the fuse. Elazer has looked supremely capable at times, but if soO couldn’t, how can one expect Elazer to contain GuMiho’s special brand of chaos?
GuMiho’s entire life led up to the night on which he won his GSL title. Prior to that match he was quoted as saying, “If I win the GSL this time...I can't picture it right now, actually, but I think I will feel elated. And also the next season is beginning right away, so I'll be able to start the new season on a high note, like a new beginning in my career.” Well, he won and he’s gotten that new beginning. But if that’s the case, he has a long way to go to return to the recently departed heights. Will he be able to retain his motivation or stumble as returning champs often have. GuMiho was a player commonly thought to be mired in the past. Elazer represents the future and greatness yet to be realized. Despite their differences, what they were or could be, they’ll have to focus on the present as they clash in the inaugural match of the 2017 GSL Season 3.
GuMiho won Season 2 of this year’s GSL just a few weeks ago, it was the culmination of a career long journey. As much as GuMiho, like all players, dreamt of a championship, there must have been moments where it seemed unobtainable. The arc of GuMiho’s career is largely inexplicable. After years lying fallow he took up a mad charge that brought him all the way to the mountain top. He stands triumphant upon those heights, but his peers are eager to usurp him.His is not a position without privileges, though. For his hard fought victory, GuMiho earned the right to chose his initial opponent in Group A. Only
soO shared this honor, but GuMiho got first pass. In his recent interview with TeamLiquid, GuMiho said that TvP was his best match-up, so Trap, Hurricane and Hush must have been attractive options. He’s shown exemplary TvT for years, making KeeN, Forte and TIME all viable candidates. Among the Zergs were familiar faces Leenock, Curious and newcomer NoRegreT. None of them interested GuMiho. He went for a higher profile name, one that fans of foreign StarCraft have come to love - Elazer. So what’s to be made of this move by GuMiho? If he were going for the easiest opponent, it appears on paper that he failed, for there were less skilled and accomplished players in the field than Elazer. If it was familiarity, he failed on all fronts. He’s only played two matches against Elazer over the course of his seven year career and hasn’t beaten him since 2015 (losing to him in June of this year). GuMiho is a veteran of Korean StarCraft and has logged a lifetime's worth of matches against a veritable who's who of domestic titans past and present. He knows them inside out and, as shown by the finals against soO, has no reason to fear any of them.
Maybe more of the same was what he was trying to avoid when he selected the Polish Zerg. Barring a couple losses to
Solar (and one against Elazer), GuMiho has looked pretty unbeatable in TvZ as of late. A few months back Serral tried to bust out the trendy ling/bane/swarm host composition, only to discover that 3/3 thors counter everything. Elazer doesn’t have the luxury of going up against elite Terrans on a daily basis and his 2-2 mark against Korean Terrans during 2017 is impossible to infer anything from. A player like NoRegreT doesn’t have the chops that Elazer does, but he’s had far more opportunities to log games against elite Terrans like INnoVation or Maru. Is GuMiho gambling that Elazer doesn’t have the tools at his disposal to prepare for the reigning champ? GuMiho doesn’t seem like much of a gambler, though. He’s more of a mad scientist whose erratic experiments usually leave his opponents holding the fuse. Elazer has looked supremely capable at times, but if soO couldn’t, how can one expect Elazer to contain GuMiho’s special brand of chaos?GuMiho’s entire life led up to the night on which he won his GSL title. Prior to that match he was quoted as saying, “If I win the GSL this time...I can't picture it right now, actually, but I think I will feel elated. And also the next season is beginning right away, so I'll be able to start the new season on a high note, like a new beginning in my career.” Well, he won and he’s gotten that new beginning. But if that’s the case, he has a long way to go to return to the recently departed heights. Will he be able to retain his motivation or stumble as returning champs often have. GuMiho was a player commonly thought to be mired in the past. Elazer represents the future and greatness yet to be realized. Despite their differences, what they were or could be, they’ll have to focus on the present as they clash in the inaugural match of the 2017 GSL Season 3.
