Quarterfinal #3: Zest vs Dear

by Destructicon

- TL_Destructicon


The third quarterfinal match features two champions of yore clashing in the pursuit of new glory. Both Zest and Dear are past their days of unbridled dominance, but have somehow managed to survive two rounds of group stages against some of the hottest players of the times. Unfortunately, only one player will be allowed to continue their run of resurgence. Both players have looked shaky throughout the year, and reaching the semifinals alone wouldn't proclaim their return to previous form. However, they deserve a ton of credit for slowly and steadily climbing back up the ranks. At the very least, they've proved they have plenty of fight left in them.

Protoss vs Protoss is a match-up that Zest has historically excelled at, but surprisingly, he lost his first PvP series of the tournament to Trap in the RO32 (Zest kept his composure to defeat SortOf and make it to the RO16). He then faced the ignominy of being selected to be a part of Maru's "group of life" in the RO16, and was forced to contemplate elimination after he lost his first series to SOlar. He rebounded by soundly defeating Patience and even ran circles around Solar in the rematch. With all Zergs now out of the tournament, this is the most favorable tournament bracket Zest has seen in a long time.

Dear had a bit of a cleaner, and in some ways, far more impressive GSL run. He got stuck in a group with Maru in the RO32, and while he was unable to defeat his old rival, he instead trashed Bunny in two series. Dear got to really shine in the RO16, where he defeated not only soO—one of the most consistent players we’ve seen across the years— but also present #1 Zerg Rogue. In those games, we saw glimpses of his past magnificence.

While Dear is the clear winner in terms of overall form, it's a lot harder to determine who is actually the better player in terms of PvP. Dear’s Aligulac.com stats over the past two months includes only a 2-0 against the Taiwanese player Nice. Zest on the other hand has played 57 PvP games, but the vast majority of his wins are padded from online cups and facing weaker players. His only notable recent opponents were Patience in the GSL and herO in some online cups.

Overall, I am going to give my nod of confidence to Dear, because he has shown the steadiest and most notable improvements this year. Given enough preparation he can even defeat a PvP expert like Zest, especially in his diminished form.

Prediction: Zest 2 – 3 Dear

Quarterfinal #4: TY vs GuMiho

Our second Ro8 has two of the strangest Terran players facing off against each other. While their approach to the game is quite different in terms of styles both TY and GuMiho have one thing in common: they both try to harness the primordial forces of chaos.

TY is much more calculated in his use of chaos (as paradoxical as that may sound), employing devastating early pushes followed by frantic, multi-front attacks. It might just be scientific precision masquerading as chaos—all of TY's multi-tasking seems to serve a long term plan of dissecting and tearing his opponent apart. GuMiho, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to follow a specific pattern. He cheeses, he macros, he mechs, and he drops, all in a near infinite spectrum of colors. None of it has a greater purpose than confusing his opponent. He values chaos for chaos' sake.

TY’s RO16 elimination from the previous GSL, as well as his other lackluster results seems to have served as a wake-up call for him. He was cautious and clinical in the RO32, advancing in first place after defeating Impact and Cure. The players showed their respect for TY’s skill in the group nominations, seeing him being one of the last picks. TY quickly proved why, defeating Trap easily in the RO16, while even giving top PvT player Classic a real run for his money.

GuMiho had a smoother road to the quarterfinals, first cruising past his RO32 group by defeating both Losira and Scarlett. In the RO16 GuMiho, faced off against his Protoss counterpart in chaos, sOs. While the Trickster went up a map, it was the Prince of Chaos who would win the series. GuMiho then had no issue defeating ByuN to punch in his ticket to the RO8.

Both players are adept at preparing for series and bringing unpredictable builds, making it extremely hard to determine who should win. Looking at their respective TvT records, however, the results seems a lot less random. TY tones down his online tournament activity during the GSL, and his only notable opponents in TvT were KeeN, Cure, Bunny and GuMiho himself. Against them, he put up a modest 58.33% win rate. GuMiho, on the other hand has faced INnoVation, Cure, ByuN, Ryung, aLive, KeeN and TY, and has a more impressive 66.67% win rate.

Given GuMiho's TvT prowess, the quality of the opponents he has faced, and the victories he has earned against TY himself, it seems likely that GuMiho will be the one who continues to marshal the forces of chaos in the GSL.

Prediction: TY 2 - 3 GuMiho