by Destructicon
- TL_Destructicon

We've passed the halfway mark in the GSL Code S RO32, and only six more RO16 spots remain to be played for. Besides the shock elimination of 2017 Global Champion Rogue, there have been few serious upsets so far in the RO32. Will that trend sustain itself through the remainder of the group stage, or will we see another championship contender make an unexpected exit?

Three out of four players in Group F have championships under their belt, but those victories are starting to feel like ancient history. It's up them to prove that they're still in contention for the Code S championship, or be swept away by the ebb and flow of time.

The first player is one of the most consistent pros in LotV, and one with immense star power. Yet, despite his great results over the years—including a championship in 2016 SSL S1—Dark still feels like a silver surfer. That aforementioned SSL win is his only major championship thus far. On the other hand, he has five silver medals accumulated over the years, alongside numerous RO4 and RO8 finishes. Dark seems to have hit a similar wall as soO, reaching the highest tier of StarCraft skill, yet mysteriously falling short in the most important matches. Still, his recent form has been consistent as usual. He played well in IEM qualifiers, and took second place in WESG Asia. Dark should move onto the Ro16 as long as he stays wary of the unconventional tactics his group opponents are likely to bring.

Unlike the other players in the group, Trust doesn’t even have an ancient championship to his name. Before the end of Proleague, he found some playing time for CJ as a Sniper, but found it hard to break into the line-up once he moved onto KT’s star studded squad. Trust has not distinguished himself in individual leagues either. His best results were RO16 in thethe 2016 SSL's and a RO8 at IEM Gyeonggi. With his first opponent being the powerhouse Zerg Dark, Trust will need to pull out some incredibly insidious tactics if he hopes to make it out of the group.

Trap is one of the weirdest players in the GSL and one of the hardest to predict. At his best he can slug it out with the highest caliber players in the world and win championships. At his worst he looks utterly clueless. Like Trust, Trap made a name for himself as a sniper player in SPL, and like Trust he also had trouble translating his team league performances to individual league success. But Trap’s potential was always evident in the quality of his games. He wasn’t just a one-off cheeser meant to surprise the other team's ace—he was capable of playing long drawn out macro games and overwhelming opponents with multitasking as well. Eventually his hard work paid off with a win of MLG Anaheim 2014. Ever since further victories have eluded him however he’s still been able to make deep runs, most notably at the 2015 IEM World Champiosnhip and 2016 KeSPA Cup. How he does in this group depends less on his opponents and more on which version of Trap decides to show up.

ByuN is the most recent champion compared to his group opponents, but he's also the one who has fallen the furthest from grace. While his late 2016 run to win BlizzCon was the stuff of legends, he has been hit hard by major patches and meta changes. More and more it seems like ByuN has been reliant on the element of surprise and his superior micro to defeat his opponents. This most recent patch hasn’t helped, weakening his beloved widow mine drops even further. ByuN’s recent form has been poor, and he's dropped series to Dear and even Creator in the IEM Katowice qualifier. ByuN will need to either bring new early game strategies that will allow him to take advantage of his mechanics, or show up with significantly improved mid and late game play.

Predictions

Overall Dark should be the favorite to make it out of this group, as historically none of the design changes in LotV have been able to shake him. The second spot out of the group is up in the air. Despite ByuN's fame, his recent poor form against Protoss makes it likely that we'll see another former Global Champion suffer "surprise" elimination.

Dark 2 – 1 Trust
Trap 2 – 1 ByuN
Dark 2 – 0 Trap
Trust 2 – 1 ByuN
Trap 2 – 0 Trust

Dark and Trap advance.

Group G is defined by how mercurial its players are. Together, the four players represent just about every stage in the success and decline cycle, and their play in Group G might yet again change their career trajectory.

2017 was definitely Stats’ breakout year. After a slow and consistent build-up over the many years Stats finally tasted sweet victory in the GSL S1. Afterwards he’s earned multiple RO4 and RO8 finishes and earned another gold medal in the 2017 SSL S2. Stats entered the 2017 WCS Global Finals with a well-deserved #1 overall seed, but was unceremoniously dumped out in the group stages. Patch 4.0.0 seems to have also not helped his case as he has been slumping ever since, losing to Dear, sOs, Zest and even Leenock in the IEM qualifiers. It’s clear at this point that Stats does best when the game is more figured out. Stats might still slog his way through the RO32, but he may need to wait for a more settled meta to be a championship class player again.

Impact is unfortunately a player with a pretty hard history behind him. Originally a Woongjin Stars player in Brood War, he was saved by Axiom when Woongjin decided to disband. Under Axiom he’d go on to have the best results of his career, a second place at Dreamhack Bucharest 2014. Despite showing a lot of promise, he was never able to replicate that result—not even after joining SKT T1. However, his recent form suggests that he might finally be turning his career around. He qualified for IEM Katowice in impressive fashion by beating soO, sOs and herO back to back. In the GSL qualifiers, he defeated Maru to earn his Code S spot. Whether it's the result of hard work or a favorable patch, this is the best version of Impact we've seen in a very long time.

While other old Terran players from WoL such as GuMiho and ByuN have played the best StarCraft of their careers in LotV, jjakji has yet to hit his stride. The former GSL champion has failed to develop a unique, successful style like GuMiho, nor has he been able to exploit the meta like ByuN. As a result, despite being a regular fixture in tournaments, jjakji has had no notable results to speak of in recent years. Even with the design patch as a wild card, jjakji's chances of advancing seem exceedingly slim.

Classic has quietly been one of the most successful Protoss players in the post KeSPA age. He rose through the KeSPA ranks quickly to get his first GSL win in 2014's GSL Code S Season II. He followed that in 2015 with championships in SSL and IEM. Ever since then he’s been constantly lurking around the title picture, but has been unable to make that final push. However, early results in 2018 suggest Classic will be back to the GSL finals sooner than later. In his IEM qualifiers runs he’s beaten players such as soO, INnoVation, GuMiho, Stats, Solar, herO and sOs. At the WESG Asia Finals, he defeated Maru (3-0) and Dark (3-1) to win the $18,000 first place prize. Overall he’s at an insane 79.55% win rate in post-patch games, and is one of the low-key favorites to win Code S in this early season.

Predictions
Given Stats’ poor recent results, Classic should be favored to take first place. In fact, Stats has been so unconvincing lately, that we may even see him knocked out in an upset.

Stats 1 – 2 Impact
jjakji 0 – 2 Classic
Impact 0 – 2 Classic
jjakji 1 – 2 Stats
Impact 2 – 0 Stats

Classic and Impact advance.

WED – GSL Code S — 09:30 GMT (+00:00)
RO32 GROUP F
Dark vs Trust
Trap vs ByuN

SAT – GSL Code S — Saturday, Jan 27 4:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)
RO32 GROUP G
Stats vs Impact
jjakji vs Classic