With five Protoss and one Zerg locked into the quarterfinals, it seems appropriate to focus on Terran hope INnoVation in this final round-of-sixteen group.
INnoVation's 2019 has been—for the lack of a better expression—f***ing hilarious. Initially, it looked like another year lost to playing League of Legends when he was embarrassed by getting quickly eliminated in Code S Season 1 (RO16) and IEM Katowice (RO24). Then, just weeks after IEM Katowice, INnoVation defeated WCS Global Champion Serral to win the whopping $150,000 grand prize at WESG. Just as 'INnoVation is back!' narratives started to pop up, he dumpstered them by failing to qualify for Super Tournament #1 (losses to PartinG and sOs) and narrowly escaping from his Code S Season 2 group in second place (loss to Patience in initial match).
Still, the funniest indictment of INnoVation's erratic form came when Patience picked him fifth during the Code S group nominations, deciding he'd rather play the PvOGPAT (One of the Greatest Players of All Time) match-up over PvP. That's right—a player who had never made it beyond the Code S RO16 and didn't even qualify for 2/3 Code S tourneys in 2018 basically gave INnoVation an 'eh, he's aight' rating.*
*Granted, there was a mitigating factor in Patience being unable to pick Impact due to him being "reserved" by #1 seed Classic.
Is Patience justified in thinking so? On one hand, he did beat INnoVation in their RO32 match, where his 'proxy-everything' approach allowed him to cripple his opponent early on. Patience even defeated Maru with more proxy-shenanigans later—you can see why he'd be confident in his ability to prepare for such a match.
On the other hand, INnoVation has looked pretty strong in the online matches I've checked out. Sure, his PvT record since the last balance patch (March 25—Protoss upgrade time patch) is a mere 38-23 (62% win rate). But going eye-test on recent his BO5+ victories against top Protoss players Stats, Trap, and Classic, it felt like everyone else should have copied Patience's cheesy approach. Given a lead, INnoVation looked just like his old self, brute forcing his way through Storms with unrelenting waves of infantry. On top of that, he still had deadly two-base timings to keep Protoss on their toes.
Also, let's not overlook INnoVation's comments from the group nominations, where he said "TvP is bad too, but it's still comparatively okay" and also stating "Games have been going well lately." Anyone familiar with INnoVation-speak and his history of exaggerating Terran weakness will know that translates to "You're all gonna die."
INnoVation vs. Stats - Olimoleague May Finals
In contrast, INnoVation said the state of TvZ balanced is "collapsed," and insinuated Dark was the main reason he didn't want to end up in Group D. That's curious, considering that INnoVation's TvZ has been slightly better than his TvP since the last balance patch at 29-13 (69% win-rate), and it being the match-up where he took two high-profile wins off of Serral earlier this year. Sure, Dark does have a seven-match winning streak (BO3+ matches) going against INnoVation since late 2017, but I don't think it will have much bearing on their potential match here. Dark's vaunted late-game play was good-but-not-great in his Super Tournament match against GuMiho, and he even committed an unbelievable throw in game five to blow the series. Dark's Roach-Ravager timings and Nydus all-ins are probably the more deadly parts of his arsenal at the moment, with macro games favoring the machine-Terran.
Predictions
There's a side of me that's rooting for two Protoss to advance. After all, who doesn't like to stare into the hypnotizing, garish light of a dumpster fire? However, I'm not going to be duped by INnoVation's crocodile tears and cries of imbalance. Watch as he grates his opponent's cheeses to dust and strolls into the RO8 with glorious macro.
Dark 2 - 1 Patience INnoVation 2 - 0 Stats INnoVation 2 - 1 Dark Stats 2 - 0 Patience Stats 2 - 1 Dark
quickly eliminated in Code S Season 1 (RO32) and IEM Katowice (RO24).
Nitpicking, but Inno went out in the Ro16 of Season 1, not the Ro32. Incidentally, he's never been eliminated in the Ro32; Inno either makes it to the Ro16 or he fails to qualify altogether. They mentioned that during group selections when they gave him the "GSL Immortal" award.
Poor Dark, Stats, and Patience barely get a mention. Though the dark-horse-Inno narrative is pretty compelling, I admit.
Wtf the preview only took the perspectives of two of the players, it barely mentioned Dark and Stats. Disappointed we didn't get any Ro4ark or Shield of Aiur comments
On May 31 2019 12:11 Cricketer12 wrote: I have a feeling we are going to see double toss advance
Yeah, we will have 2 Protoss advance. And then it will be 7 Protoss out of 8 players in the Round of 8, just like the last GSL Super Touurnament,
Doubt that neither Dark nor Innovation will not advance. I personally predict Stats & Dark based on the fact that Inno's PvT isn't top shape and Dark is Dark, but maybe Inno will show us some fancy builds
On May 31 2019 12:11 Cricketer12 wrote: I have a feeling we are going to see double toss advance
Yeah, we will have 2 Protoss advance. And then it will be 7 Protoss out of 8 players in the Round of 8, just like the last GSL Super Touurnament,
Doubt that neither Dark nor Innovation will not advance. I personally predict Stats & Dark based on the fact that Inno's PvT isn't top shape and Dark is Dark, but maybe Inno will show us some fancy builds
Innovation is an online TvP monster atm and he even seemed quietly confident in the matchup during the group nominations so I think his chances are pretty decent. Has he even lost a TvP since GSL Ro32? His games have been impressive for sure.
Dark could have a potential "easy" road to the Ro8 if he avoids Stat, which is possible if Innovation brings his online TvP form to the GSL studio. Innovation doesn't seem confident in TvZ and Dark is Dark, so I could see this playing out.
I'm not even going to try and predict what will happen regarding Patience in this group.
On May 31 2019 12:11 Cricketer12 wrote: I have a feeling we are going to see double toss advance
Yeah, we will have 2 Protoss advance. And then it will be 7 Protoss out of 8 players in the Round of 8, just like the last GSL Super Touurnament,
Doubt that neither Dark nor Innovation will not advance. I personally predict Stats & Dark based on the fact that Inno's PvT isn't top shape and Dark is Dark, but maybe Inno will show us some fancy builds
Innovation is an online TvP monster atm and he even seemed quietly confident in the matchup during the group nominations so I think his chances are pretty decent. Has he even lost a TvP since GSL Ro32? His games have been impressive for sure.
Dark could have a potential "easy" road to the Ro8 if he avoids Stat, which is possible if Innovation brings his online TvP form to the GSL studio. Innovation doesn't seem confident in TvZ and Dark is Dark, so I could see this playing out.
I'm not even going to try and predict what will happen regarding Patience in this group.
Several times we saw that ladder form is not a Code S form. Maybe vs. Stats who's usually as standard as it gets(on the Has - Rain scale he's probably the closest Protoss player to Rain we have currently). It really comes down to what the players will show. IMO both Stats and Patience will have the nastiest PvT builds because they don't have to hide them anymore as Inno is the only Terran left. While Inno in theory can think about hiding his best TvP builds because reasons
On May 31 2019 12:11 Cricketer12 wrote: I have a feeling we are going to see double toss advance
Yeah, we will have 2 Protoss advance. And then it will be 7 Protoss out of 8 players in the Round of 8, just like the last GSL Super Touurnament,
Doubt that neither Dark nor Innovation will not advance. I personally predict Stats & Dark based on the fact that Inno's PvT isn't top shape and Dark is Dark, but maybe Inno will show us some fancy builds
Innovation is an online TvP monster atm and he even seemed quietly confident in the matchup during the group nominations so I think his chances are pretty decent. Has he even lost a TvP since GSL Ro32? His games have been impressive for sure.
Dark could have a potential "easy" road to the Ro8 if he avoids Stat, which is possible if Innovation brings his online TvP form to the GSL studio. Innovation doesn't seem confident in TvZ and Dark is Dark, so I could see this playing out.
I'm not even going to try and predict what will happen regarding Patience in this group.
Several times we saw that ladder form is not a Code S form. Maybe vs. Stats who's usually as standard as it gets(on the Has - Rain scale he's probably the closest Protoss player to Rain we have currently). It really comes down to what the players will show. IMO both Stats and Patience will have the nastiest PvT builds because they don't have to hide them anymore as Inno is the only Terran left. While Inno in theory can think about hiding his best TvP builds because reasons
I'm not talking about ladder though, I meant actual tournaments with money on the line. I'm not saying offline form = online form but Innovation has crushed every TvP series recently and these were Bo5s and Bo9s against the best protoss players on the planet, plus he's more confident in this matchup than TvZ, something he said himself. I don't think that guarantees him to get out of this group, but his play HAS been good recently, and that has to count for something. I've watched the majority of the games too and he looked really good.
On May 31 2019 12:11 Cricketer12 wrote: I have a feeling we are going to see double toss advance
Yeah, we will have 2 Protoss advance. And then it will be 7 Protoss out of 8 players in the Round of 8, just like the last GSL Super Touurnament,
Doubt that neither Dark nor Innovation will not advance. I personally predict Stats & Dark based on the fact that Inno's PvT isn't top shape and Dark is Dark, but maybe Inno will show us some fancy builds
Innovation is an online TvP monster atm and he even seemed quietly confident in the matchup during the group nominations so I think his chances are pretty decent. Has he even lost a TvP since GSL Ro32? His games have been impressive for sure.
Dark could have a potential "easy" road to the Ro8 if he avoids Stat, which is possible if Innovation brings his online TvP form to the GSL studio. Innovation doesn't seem confident in TvZ and Dark is Dark, so I could see this playing out.
I'm not even going to try and predict what will happen regarding Patience in this group.
Several times we saw that ladder form is not a Code S form. Maybe vs. Stats who's usually as standard as it gets(on the Has - Rain scale he's probably the closest Protoss player to Rain we have currently). It really comes down to what the players will show. IMO both Stats and Patience will have the nastiest PvT builds because they don't have to hide them anymore as Inno is the only Terran left. While Inno in theory can think about hiding his best TvP builds because reasons
I'm not talking about ladder though, I meant actual tournaments with money on the line. I'm not saying offline form = online form but Innovation has crushed every TvP series recently and these were Bo5s and Bo9s against the best protoss players on the planet, plus he's more confident in this matchup than TvZ, something he said himself. I don't think that guarantees him to get out of this group, but his play HAS been good recently, and that has to count for something. I've watched the majority of the games too and he looked really good.
We'll see, I still don't trust him vs Stats and Patience is Patience
On May 31 2019 12:11 Cricketer12 wrote: I have a feeling we are going to see double toss advance
Yeah, we will have 2 Protoss advance. And then it will be 7 Protoss out of 8 players in the Round of 8, just like the last GSL Super Touurnament,
Doubt that neither Dark nor Innovation will not advance. I personally predict Stats & Dark based on the fact that Inno's PvT isn't top shape and Dark is Dark, but maybe Inno will show us some fancy builds
Innovation is an online TvP monster atm and he even seemed quietly confident in the matchup during the group nominations so I think his chances are pretty decent. Has he even lost a TvP since GSL Ro32? His games have been impressive for sure.
Dark could have a potential "easy" road to the Ro8 if he avoids Stat, which is possible if Innovation brings his online TvP form to the GSL studio. Innovation doesn't seem confident in TvZ and Dark is Dark, so I could see this playing out.
I'm not even going to try and predict what will happen regarding Patience in this group.
Several times we saw that ladder form is not a Code S form. Maybe vs. Stats who's usually as standard as it gets(on the Has - Rain scale he's probably the closest Protoss player to Rain we have currently). It really comes down to what the players will show. IMO both Stats and Patience will have the nastiest PvT builds because they don't have to hide them anymore as Inno is the only Terran left. While Inno in theory can think about hiding his best TvP builds because reasons
I'm not talking about ladder though, I meant actual tournaments with money on the line. I'm not saying offline form = online form but Innovation has crushed every TvP series recently and these were Bo5s and Bo9s against the best protoss players on the planet, plus he's more confident in this matchup than TvZ, something he said himself. I don't think that guarantees him to get out of this group, but his play HAS been good recently, and that has to count for something. I've watched the majority of the games too and he looked really good.
He still got dumpsterd 2-0 by Stats in the most recent olimoleague weakly. And that was online Stats, god knows how he'll fair against offline Stats. Also, Inno always complains about how poor he is in TvZ, I remember him complaining about how he was bad at it when he had a 75% win rate at the back end of 2017 and went on to win GSL S3.
Inno loses to Dark but smashes Patience to get out of the group. Dark tends to make really bizarre and poor decisions when it matters, so I'm going to go with Stats to take him out.
''Also, let's not overlook INnoVation's comments from the group nominations, where he said "TvP is bad too, but it's still comparatively okay" and also stating "Games have been going well lately." Anyone familiar with INnoVation-speak and his history of exaggerating Terran weakness will know that translates to "You're all gonna die."
The chances of a non-protoss advancing depend 100% on what shenanigans Patience brings, if he can top Dark he will most likely go through but I have my doubts as PvZ isn't as much of a dumpster fire as PvT. I don't think Inno is favored against anyone here, hes at least even with dark.
On May 31 2019 21:14 Morbidius wrote: ''Also, let's not overlook INnoVation's comments from the group nominations, where he said "TvP is bad too, but it's still comparatively okay" and also stating "Games have been going well lately." Anyone familiar with INnoVation-speak and his history of exaggerating Terran weakness will know that translates to "You're all gonna die."
One of the best things ever written here.
The funny thing is, he always seems to win championships after complaining about ladder. "I lose 99/100 to zerg" and then smash soO or something.
TeamLiquid StarLeague 5 in 
EPT
