• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 19:37
CEST 01:37
KST 08:37
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall9HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0TL Team Map Contest #5: Presented by Monster Energy6
Community News
Flash Announces Hiatus From ASL50Weekly Cups (June 23-29): Reynor in world title form?12FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event16Esports World Cup 2025 - Final Player Roster16Weekly Cups (June 16-22): Clem strikes back1
StarCraft 2
General
The SCII GOAT: A statistical Evaluation Statistics for vetoed/disliked maps Esports World Cup 2025 - Final Player Roster How does the number of casters affect your enjoyment of esports? Weekly Cups (June 23-29): Reynor in world title form?
Tourneys
RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series [GSL 2025] Code S: Season 2 - Semi Finals & Finals $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo) FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event HomeStory Cup 27 (June 27-29)
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
[UMS] Zillion Zerglings
External Content
Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome Mutation # 478 Instant Karma Mutation # 477 Slow and Steady
Brood War
General
Help: rep cant save Flash Announces Hiatus From ASL BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ [ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall Player “Jedi” cheat on CSL
Tourneys
Small VOD Thread 2.0 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL20] GosuLeague RO16 - Tue & Wed 20:00+CET The Casual Games of the Week Thread
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile What do you want from future RTS games? Beyond All Reason
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Trading/Investing Thread The Games Industry And ATVI
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread NBA General Discussion Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Blogs
Culture Clash in Video Games…
TrAiDoS
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
Blog #2
tankgirl
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 629 users

Code S RO8 Preview: TY vs PartinG, Trap vs Stats

Forum Index > SC2 General
11 CommentsPost a Reply

Code S RO8 Preview: TY vs PartinG, Trap vs Stats

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
July 31st, 2020 18:59 GMT

2020 GSL Code S Season 2 - Round of 8 Day 1

by Wax

Start time: Saturday, Aug 01 4:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)

This season of Code S has been all about upsets, and the first quarterfinal match delivered the most surprising one of all as DongRaeGu defeated INnoVation in an emphatic 3-0 sweep. Will defending champion TY be the next player to be swept away in this strange cosmic current? Or will he restore some semblance of normalcy to the GSL as it heads into the semifinals?

[image loading]
More info: GSL Code S Season 2 on Liquipedia

Quarterfinals Match #3: TY vs PartinG

If revenge is a dish best served cold, DongRaeGu dined on the most sumptuous, dry-aged morsels last Wednesday, winning his 6-year rematch against INnoVation to reach the Code S semifinals.

Revenge will be a theme again on day two of the quarterfinals, but this time the events that led to the grievance are more fresh in mind. Last season, PartinG was the player in DongRaeGu's position, having made a remarkable run to the semifinals when many fans doubted that he could ever return to pre-retirement form. While it was a fantastic accomplishment to just reach the semifinals—by beating Maru in the quarterfinals, no less—he was reality-checked by eventual Code S champion TY who served him a bitter 4-2 loss.

Now, just a few months later, fate has brought these two players together again for a rematch.

While TL.net writers have often called upon their imaginations to create stories about what progamers might be thinking, PartinG spared us the trouble. After a going out for a few (or a lot of) drinks following his semifinal loss, a tearful PartinG started an emotional stream to express exactly how disappointed he was in his performance. Recently, in his post-RO16 interview, PartinG explained himself in more sober terms. While he had accepted his loss to TY, what he couldn't accept was how poorly he played and how he hadn't been able to really show his skills.

Indeed, looking back the match, PartinG was little more than a practice dummy while TY got to show us the full breadth of his abilities. In many of the games, TY caught PartinG off-guard with early game attacks, seizing the advantage or winning outright. To wrap things up, TY also showed his great theoretical understanding of turtle-Terran, splitting the map and letting PartinG impale himself on the Terran defenses. Still, one has to think what pains PartinG most was his mistakes. In one game, he straight-up lost because he forgot to get Warp Gate upgrade against Hellions. In the aforementioned turtle game, his chances of winning evaporated alongside a huge chunk of his army when he move-commanded through a choke-point where several Siege Tank cannons were aimed. In short, he was a far cry from the player who had scored an incredible 3-2 upset against Maru in the quarterfinals.



So, how do I expect the rematch to go?

PartinG didn't seem quite confident after winning his RO16 group, saying that during practice he had noticed his skill-level had gone down. But even if PartinG's self-appraisal was harsh, you had to be impressed with his 2-0 victory against INnoVation. He won largely on the strength of his great improvisational skills in unusual situations, as the games spiraled into chaos following aggressive openers. Even if PartinG says he's somewhat out of practice, he clearly has a great fundamental understanding of the PvT match-up.

Also, PartinG might be able to take a bit of solace in the fact that TY isn't looking too hot lately. Since winning the Code S championship, TY has been noticeably poor across all competitions, putting up a sub 60% win-rate in both map-score and match-score. In our RO16 preview, we gave TY a pass, saying a lot of those losses came in smaller online tournaments, and predicted he'd show us the class of the defending champion when it was time to play in Code S. Instead, he put in a disappointing performance in his hand-picked group, advancing in second place after losing to DongRaeGu. Even though DRG proved he is a much stronger player than anyone ever expected, it still gives us reason to be concerned about TY's ability to mount a credible title defense.

During one of the many GSL video packages, I was amused to hear SpeCial say that he and TY were players with slow hands who made up for it with their big brains. I imagine TY would object to anyone calling his hands slow, but I have to agree with the overall gist of SpeCial's statement. Carefully crafted strategies were far more important to TY winning the championship last season than his prodigious mechanics. If he's to defeat PartinG and defend his title, he's going to have to bring the same kind of strategic brilliance he used to beat PartinG the last time around.

I should note that the two did play a head-to-head recently in the group stages of the DreamHack Masters Summer Finals, with TY winning 2-1 in a rather cheesy series. I can't read into it too deeply, since the match took place a few days before PartinG's GSL RO16 group, and PartinG admitted he was hiding builds and focused 100% on the GSL. Still, even if neither player brought their A+ builds to the match, I think the cheesy flavor will carry through to their upcoming Code S bout. While both players are quite capable macro players, they're at their best when they can use aggressive strategies to gain an early advantage. Thus, I think there's a chance this ends up being a wonky, coin-flippy series as both players blindly pull out early-game gambits against each other.

Despite TY's shaky form, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt once again. No matter how poorly TY has played in other competitions, a BO5+ series with preparation time is the absolute best scenario for him. No disrespect to PartinG here, but I have to go with the defending champ playing in his 'home court' environment.

Prediction: TY 3 - 2 PartinG

Quarterfinals Match #4: Trap vs Stats

Protoss vs Protoss is one of the harder match-ups to hype, but what if I told you this match is the unofficial championship bout for the title of best Protoss in the world? Trap is the present holder of that title, having placed runner-up in the recent DH Masters Summer finals and having been the most consistently excellent Protoss player for about a year and a half now (with two GSL finals appearances in that time). It's a title that Trap took way from Stats, who used to be the living embodiment of consistency in 2017-2018. Then, in 2019, Stats suddenly morphed into a radically different type of player, one more suited to making red-hot runs in weekender tournaments than surviving the grind of Korea's GSL. This feast or famine version of Stats arguably had higher peaks than Trap (you know, beating Serral in Finland and all), but was also incapable of escaping the Code S group stage.

While Trap fans would have hoped this would be the permanent state of affairs, Stats has rediscovered his passion as of late. In the month of July, he's put up an absolutely mind-blowing 46-6 match record across all competitions, which are numbers that make even online-Cure look like a chump in comparison. In fact, he actually defeated offline-Cure and Rogue in the RO16, earning his return to the Code S quarterfinals for the first time since 2018. Sadly, the impetus for Stats' summer surge seems to be his approaching military service (more specifically, soO's impending military service reminding him of his own career mortality, as revealed in his post-RO16 interview), and he's now looking to make another splash in GSL Code S while he still has a chance.

Is Stats going to prove that he merely let Trap hold onto the best-Protoss-in-the-world title belt for a while, and now take back his rightful property? Or will Trap prove that he took that title from Stats fair and square, and put the old man back in his place? Alright, a single BO5 PvP match certainly won't answer that question, but it sure does provide some compelling narrative framing.

There are great stats-based cases to make for both players (no pun-intended). Stats is back, but he's mega-f***ing-back in PvP. Ever since the 4.12.0 patch (the Battery Overcharge patch) went live, Stats has put up an overwhelming 28-2 match record in PvP with a 63-17 map score. Presently, he's on a sixteen-match winning streak in the Protoss mirror (thirteen, if you want to lump some of his BO1 War Chest Team League wins into a single series). I guess it's no surprise that giving a player nicknamed the "The Shield of Aiur" an incredibly powerful, new defensive tool would make him even better.

What's the rub? Trap accounts for one of those two losses Stats gave up, and is the last player to beat Stats before the start of the streak. The victory actually came in a somewhat meaningful match, with Trap sweeping Stats 3-0 in the finals ESL Weekly Korean Cup #27 (VOD). Honestly, it's a bit hard to interpret this result, as all three games were relatively quick, and could be chalked-up to being build-order losses for Stats. It made me think about what Trap said in his post-RO16 interview, where he felt like he had been the #1 PvP player before the 4.12 patch, but now PvP feels more random than before. Wait what? Wasn't one of Battery Overcharge's specific goals to the reduce randomness in PvP? Regardless of his statement, Trap has been no slouch in post-patch PvP, putting up an excellent 9-2 match record. That's not completely bonkers like Stats' record, but it's impressive nonetheless.

One final bit of Aligulac.com diving before we move on to the prediction: the head-to-head record actually favors Stats heavily in 2020, with Stats leading 6-1 in matches. Before that ESL Weekly Cup game, Stats had prevailed in every single clash. Is it meaningful that all of Stats' win were pre-patch, and that Trap got his first win against Stats this year after 4.12? Or is that just random statistical noise, as is often the case in competitive SC2?

All in all, it's hard to see this as anything but a dead-even match between two top-tier Protoss players. As is often the case in PvP, this match could easily end up being a 3-0 in either direction, and it wouldn't really tell us who's the better player. I'm giving Trap the slight edge just because he's been the more consistent player for quite some time now, and won't have any Code S playoffs rust to shake off like Stats.

Prediction: Trap 3 - 2 Stats


Credits and acknowledgements

Writers: Wax
Images: AfreecaTV
Statistics: Aligulac.com and Liquipedia

Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
yubo56
Profile Joined May 2014
687 Posts
July 31 2020 20:03 GMT
#2
I imagine TY would object to anyone calling his hands slow

I actually think TY makes this kind of comment a fair bit, though some of it could be his usual disarming modesty and not his actual thoughts. I remember him saying during his NationWars vote-farming stream that he thinks he has pretty bad micro, and he generally seems not to feel like his mechanics are absolutely top tier, at least compared to the likes of Maru/Inno. Maybe not "slow," but I don't think he prides himself on his mechanics compared to other pros anyhow.

I'm worried for TY, even though I'm a huge fan of his, I said it last time and I still think so: I think PartinG matches up well against him. 3-1 PartinG.

Stats 3-1 Trap, want to see the old man get some work done before service
Jung Yoon Jong fighting, even after retirement! Feel better soon.
mikedupp
Profile Joined May 2020
233 Posts
July 31 2020 20:17 GMT
#3
I believe the "slow hands" comment was the other way around. With TY on special's stream saying they are slow.

Regardless this rematch should be great. Hope PartinG is physically in a good condition later so we get a fun series.
Alucen-Will-
Profile Joined October 2014
United States4054 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-07-31 23:38:08
July 31 2020 20:57 GMT
#4
It's odd now that the strategic nature of TY's game is taken to somehow imply that he lacks mechanically. From what I remember, TY had been known among Korean progamers for a long time for his excellent multi-tasking skills. Personally, watching his career in sc2 almost since the beginning he was one of the Terrans to really abuse the distinctive mobility of the speed medivacs early on in HOTS for multi-pronged harassment styles; particularly against Zerg players when the parade pushes were the standard play-style. Listening to the drone of Artosis over the years you'll hear him continually discuss TY's multi-tasking abilities as a strength, and if you watch TY's Code S games he tends to set up attacks by targeting 2-3 locations at once if possible.

Nevertheless I think people tend to look to one aspect of someone's play to somehow imply a deficiency in the other aspects, even if that deficiency doesn't really exist

As for the series though, I think it's 3-2 Parting. Returning to season 1, three of the four victories for TY were the product of build order trickery, mind-games and unorthodox play from TY. Holding TY and PartinG equal in more vanilla games I think PartinG is a favorite.

Alucen-Will-
Profile Joined October 2014
United States4054 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-07-31 23:39:09
July 31 2020 23:38 GMT
#5
Posted the Aliguilac here:

    (2972) PartinG  0-0  TY (2867)         
-------------------------------------------
16.31% 3-0 0-3 9.34%
22.19% 3-1 1-3 15.30%
20.14% 3-2 2-3 16.72%
-------------------------------------------
58.64% 41.36%

Median outcome: PartinG 3-2 TY

Estimated by Aligulac. Modify.

(Wiki)PartinG is 33-9 in "Form" vs Terran at the moment and 25-21 alltime against (Wiki)TY
Cricketer12
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
United States13973 Posts
August 01 2020 00:23 GMT
#6
TY Trap huh? TL Writers Curse don't fail me now!
Kaina + Drones Linkcro Summon Cupsie Yummy Way
AxiomBlurr
Profile Blog Joined November 2012
786 Posts
August 01 2020 03:29 GMT
#7
I have Parting 3 - 2 and Stats 3 - 1.

Parting knows that his losses to TY previously was due to TY taking control of the games' direction early. This is Parting's expertise, taking initiative and forcing the game to be played on his terms. There is another factor also, Parting is HUNGRY, so HUNGRY for this win, TY wants to win, but not like Parting. I give TY 2 here as I respect his intelligence greatly.

Stats will handle Trap by deflecting his aggression and going for larger mid game armies that will either finish Trap or lead into late game compositions that will stomp Trap. I give Trap 1 here as PvP is number 2 (behind ZvZ) in terms of volatility.
Fango
Profile Joined July 2016
United Kingdom8987 Posts
August 01 2020 03:41 GMT
#8
Yeah, TY beating him in Dreamhack the other week doesn't mean much given context. The match was played at like 3am and you can kinda tell they just wanted to get it over with (the match went proxy thor, DT rush, then proxy 2 rax into one-base 3 gate allin).

If PartinG brings his A-game then TY should lose here. Even last season (when was in twice the form he is now) PartinG had to lose in the first five minutes throw shockingly hard.
Zest, sOs, PartinG, Dark, and Maru are the real champs. ROOT_herO is overrated. Snute, Serral, and Scarlett are the foreigner GOATs
gpanda
Profile Joined December 2017
36 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-08-02 16:06:44
August 01 2020 10:41 GMT
#9
+ Show Spoiler +
Now TY 3:1 Parting, Stats 3:0 Trap



User was warned for this post
yubo56
Profile Joined May 2014
687 Posts
August 01 2020 15:02 GMT
#10
On August 01 2020 05:57 Alucen-Will- wrote:
It's odd now that the strategic nature of TY's game is taken to somehow imply that he lacks mechanically. From what I remember, TY had been known among Korean progamers for a long time for his excellent multi-tasking skills. Personally, watching his career in sc2 almost since the beginning he was one of the Terrans to really abuse the distinctive mobility of the speed medivacs early on in HOTS for multi-pronged harassment styles; particularly against Zerg players when the parade pushes were the standard play-style. Listening to the drone of Artosis over the years you'll hear him continually discuss TY's multi-tasking abilities as a strength, and if you watch TY's Code S games he tends to set up attacks by targeting 2-3 locations at once if possible.

Nevertheless I think people tend to look to one aspect of someone's play to somehow imply a deficiency in the other aspects, even if that deficiency doesn't really exist

As for the series though, I think it's 3-2 Parting. Returning to season 1, three of the four victories for TY were the product of build order trickery, mind-games and unorthodox play from TY. Holding TY and PartinG equal in more vanilla games I think PartinG is a favorite.


I think maybe different people read his play differently. I'm a huge fan of TY, so please don't take anything I say the wrong way.

He multitasks a lot, but he doesn't do it very cleanly. He plays to force mistakes rather than to play his best (compare e.g. to innovation on a parade push, where his only goal is to pick a good position and out control the opponent). You saw this today against PartinG, where he had the 8 marine runby in the last game. It was very obviously shift clicked, since the marines walked behind the mineral line before attacking. I see this a lot in TY's play, his control on his harassing units is consistently worse than e.g. Maru or ByuN or Inno.

Instead, he plays the game itself, rather than the units, and relies on good decisions and smart army movement to win the game. It doesn't require he control his attacks well, just that he attacks at the right times in the right places, in as many places as is necessary. It makes you feel like his entire game is always balanced on knife's edge, since it always feels like he's falling apart a little bit, but on good days he accumulates enough advantages that suboptimal trades on a few fronts are okay.

For comparison, I think Maru's best days look like TY's best days with uniformly better micro, on all drops and all pushes. That's what I think the bar is when I think of "Korean Terran mechanics." TY's play is way smarter than his mechanics show, and in that sense I think people can call him a "less mechanically perfect Terran." And I honestly find that even more impressive, since in a long line of Korean Terrans that have just straight out controlled and out played their opponents, TY manages to out think them, in an inimitable way.
Jung Yoon Jong fighting, even after retirement! Feel better soon.
gTank
Profile Joined January 2011
Austria2557 Posts
August 01 2020 20:19 GMT
#11
Ty for this :D
One crossed wire, one wayward pinch of potassium chlorate, one errant twitch...and kablooie!
muhtshim2
Profile Joined August 2020
2 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-08-06 07:51:45
August 06 2020 07:48 GMT
#12
--- Nuked ---
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 23m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 220
UpATreeSC 115
NeuroSwarm 59
CosmosSc2 37
StarCraft: Brood War
Artosis 750
Aegong 53
League of Legends
JimRising 702
Counter-Strike
taco 1330
Stewie2K893
Foxcn306
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox308
Other Games
summit1g7299
FrodaN1811
fl0m1094
shahzam1076
Day[9].tv546
ViBE208
Pyrionflax139
Mew2King137
PPMD40
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV39
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• davetesta50
• Hupsaiya 20
• sooper7s
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• intothetv
• IndyKCrew
• Kozan
StarCraft: Brood War
• Diggity8
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Doublelift4753
• Jankos1733
• masondota2768
Other Games
• imaqtpie867
• Day9tv546
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
23m
RSL Revival
10h 23m
herO vs SHIN
Reynor vs Cure
OSC
13h 23m
WardiTV European League
16h 23m
Scarlett vs Percival
Jumy vs ArT
YoungYakov vs Shameless
uThermal vs Fjant
Nicoract vs goblin
Harstem vs Gerald
FEL
16h 23m
Korean StarCraft League
1d 3h
CranKy Ducklings
1d 10h
RSL Revival
1d 10h
FEL
1d 16h
RSL Revival
2 days
[ Show More ]
FEL
2 days
BSL: ProLeague
2 days
Dewalt vs Bonyth
Replay Cast
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-06-28
HSC XXVII
Heroes 10 EU

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
BSL Season 20
Acropolis #3
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Championship of Russia 2025
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters
CCT Season 2 Global Finals
IEM Melbourne 2025
YaLLa Compass Qatar 2025

Upcoming

CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
K-Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
SEL Season 2 Championship
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.