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Code S RO24 Preview: Dark, Creator, TaeJa, Zest

Forum Index > SC2 General
14 CommentsPost a Reply

Code S RO24 Preview: Dark, Creator, TaeJa, Zest

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
September 2nd, 2020 02:43 GMT

2020 GSL Code S Season 3 - Round of 24

by Orlok

The most interesting thing about this season of Code S so far were the promotional images, where we find ourselves shifting from boy band white (which should really be its own Pantone color) to a more "gamery" feel this week. Hopefully the quality of the games will pick up as well, as we move on to what could be a surprisingly competitive group.

More info: GSL Code S Season 3 on Liquipedia


Group B Preview: Dark, Creator, TaeJa, Zest

Start time: Wednesday, Sep 02 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00)

Wrist pain and poor form be damned, Dark is still unquestionably the alpha dog of this group. Yes, he found himself being bopped out in the RO16 last season. Yes, he lost to sOs and Taeja in this season's qualifiers, and earned his spot by squashing tomato cans like Zoun, LunaSea, Hyeok and the now-retired Rookie. Yes, he got wiped out in the group stages of NeXT Summer, which was the only major tournament he had to play in after being eliminated in GSL. Yes, he even dropped a map to the aforementioned LunaSea, a player you're probably hearing about for the first time, in the Gold Series Team Championship. BUT, Dark’s overall body of work and history of consistency makes him impervious to any doubt or second guessing. There's no point to trying to predict when his shocking first round elimination is going to happen, because it's NEVER happened (at least not in LotV). Despite Dark's questionable form, and despite the dangerous opponents in this group, Dark gets the benefit of the doubt when we're predicting who will advance.

Speaking of dangerous opponents, we can probably say Creator isn't one of them. If you had to pick a single entity within Starcraft II that has endured the most torment, it's probably Creator. One can't help but feel bad for a player who has committed himself to StarCraft II for so long, but has so few results to show for it—save a dreamlike 2012 when he was one of the best players in the world. Despite not making it past the group stages of Code S since 2012, he's been hurling his body up against the playoffs wall ever since, hoping that it might one day fall and give way to that bygone glory. In LotV, the Jin Air environment eventually brought out the best in players like Trap and Rogue, but it hasn't at all helped Creator rediscover his long-lost potential. Perhaps he's more of a Cure than a Trap, someone who might actually need the change of scenery to be the best version of himself. In any case, given Creator's history in Code S, it's hard to expect much from him in this group, even as we hope that he'll get a rare day in the sun.

Lone Terran TaeJa comes in looking as mercurial and perplexing as ever. His game-to-game form has varied wildly since his return from military service, but if you connect the disparate data points, they form a gradual upward trend. He hit his peak back in 2020's Code S Season 1, where he actually pushed Dark to the brink of defeat in the RO16. Unfortunately, TaeJa hasn't been able to play winning StarCraft when he's outside his comfort zone. TaeJa's best games were the ones where he was able to seize the initiative and grind opponents down with constant waves of bio—that's how he made Dark fear for his RO16 life. However, TaeJa has been poor when he's the one defending against multi-front pressure, with his defensive multi-tasking looking much diminished from his prime. The TaeJa we've seen so far is definitely a rung below other returnees like Dream and DRG, so we're curious to see if he's shored up his weaknesses ahead of this campaign.

Another mercurial player in Zest rounds out this group, who's current in a rut after his high of beating Serral back in March's IEM Katowice semifinals. He’s been knocked out of the group stages in the two previous Code S tournaments this year, and though he did lose to players like Rogue and INnoVation, they're the kind of players he has to beat if we're to take him seriously as a title contender. However, outside of the GSL, Zest's third place finish in the Douyu Cup with wins over INnoVation and Trap tell us that the legend of online Zest is alive and well. In the past, Zest's online form hasn't always been correlated with his offline form (in recent Code S tournaments, he's looked weak against the outside-the-box strategies that only get used in the GSL), so it will be interesting to see how Zest performs in this group where he's favored to advance on paper. While it's more likely Zest won’t ever recover the impeccable combination of macro and micro from his prime days, he could still reasonably muster enough fight in him to advance in first place.

Predictions

Code S 2020 has been surprisingly upset prone, but we're not going to be picking TaeJa or Creator to continue that trend. TaeJa can be brought to his knees by a simple speedling run-by or zealot warp-in, while Creator's history of poor GSL results just speaks for itself. Dark and Zest should eat them up for lunch, unless this is the exact day on which they fall into a massive slump. Given their history of at least making it out of the first round most of the time, it’s more likely than not the underdogs will give way.

Dark 2-0 Creator
Taeja 0-2 Zest
Dark 2-1 Zest
Creator 0-2 Taeja
Zest 2-1 Taeja

Dark and Zest to advance.




Credits and acknowledgements

Writer: Orlok
Images: AfreecaTV
Statistics: Aligulac.com and Liquipedia

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TL+ Member
rrrzzz
Profile Joined February 2016
48 Posts
September 02 2020 03:09 GMT
#2
poor taeja. This group is indeed difficult for him.
Terra1
Profile Joined June 2018
Philippines312 Posts
September 02 2020 03:16 GMT
#3
Dark and Zest will advance.

Though TaeJa could have shot on beating Dark considering he did took a map from Dark in the first season and Dark is having wrist issues recently and I'm pretty sure he can beat Creator.

Problem is he has lost to Tosses in the past 2 seasons (except Hurricane) because of his weird choices (especially that Dear vs TaeJa where he just went full proxy and lost in a 2-1 series). I don't see him winning over Zest on this one.
Wrathsc2
Profile Joined March 2011
United States2025 Posts
September 02 2020 03:29 GMT
#4
gogo taeja
A marine walks into a bar and asks, "Wheres the counter?"
sudete
Profile Joined December 2012
Singapore3054 Posts
September 02 2020 04:01 GMT
#5
Bet Dark loses to Taeja if they meet. They probably won't, though
Year of MaxPax
EzioAs
Profile Joined September 2017
235 Posts
September 02 2020 04:12 GMT
#6
TL guys, the link on the homepage is wrong. It links to the preview article for Group A
花は桜木人は武士
CloudCat
Profile Joined May 2011
Singapore158 Posts
September 02 2020 04:26 GMT
#7
wonder what happened to the white themed boy band pic
rooting for taeja
though im feeling really bad for creator. languished in code a for so long to get.. here.
catplanetcatplanet
Profile Blog Joined March 2012
3829 Posts
September 02 2020 04:35 GMT
#8
Get in there creator god damn it
I think it's finally time to admit it might not be the year of Pet
Niravroh
Profile Joined August 2020
165 Posts
September 02 2020 06:01 GMT
#9
Hey props to Jinair for being so loyal to Creator even with his lack of results. Comparing him to the rest of their lineup, they could have dropped him with nobody batting an eye.


I'll be happy with any result here. Dark always makes for fun games. Zest is cool, but has been having a rough time recently. Taeja is an old legend everyone wants to see succeed. Creator is the perpetual underdog.

I do have to say though, Dark and Zest are the big favorites, with Taeja capable of an upset, and then Creator in last place with the least likely chance to move on.
StarcraftSquall
Profile Joined December 2018
United States196 Posts
September 02 2020 06:09 GMT
#10
I would argue Zest is in better form than Dark overall for the year, seems like Dark has really fallen off form since his world championship. It feels similar to Maru: he WAS at the top of his race; but he isn’t currently. The rankings I have back this up.

Either way, I think we all know one thing for sure: Artosis is going to spend the entire broadcast telling us how good TaeJa is and how he should win the group; but most of us know better. He certainly CAN get out; but he’s by no means a favorite to.

This post might age well and it might not. :-)

Current Overall Point Rankings (this includes all EPT competition and HSC participation since November 21)
5. Zest
14. Dark
T-37. TaeJa
50. Creator

Well, anyway, time to sleep. If I want to see both DreamHack and then the GSL VOD tomorrow I need it! (As a west coast American, it’s about the only way to view both events and remain on a decent schedule - we rarely can watch the Korean events live without really screwing with our sleep system.)
Drfilip
Profile Joined March 2013
Sweden590 Posts
September 02 2020 06:13 GMT
#11
I wanted to see more of the strange hair and white clothing. It looked like they just got out of the shower at an institution of some kind.
Additionally, Zest looks very thin. Has he stopped working out completely? Is he eating right? There is a precedent of Zest slumping and not looking as healthy as usual. Is his mental state ok? I can't help but worry about him.

Yes, [Dark] lost to [...] Taeja in this season's qualifiers

[TaeJa] hit his peak back in 2020's Code S Season 1, where he actually pushed Dark to the brink of defeat in the RO16

I think I see a pattern in TaeJa vs Dark. Looking at their 2020 head to head, they are quite even. Three bo3, all ending 2-1. Dark won 2 and TaeJa won 1, the most recent one. Take into account the recent results vs each other's race and we have TaeJa quite favoured. ZvT is Dark's worst match up at the moment, with a losing win rate. TvZ is also TaeJa's worst match up, but he has at least got a clean 50%.
Should TaeJa ever face Dark it looks like TaeJa might win, even if this is TaeJa's worst tournament format.
Random Platinum EU
Edpayasugo
Profile Joined April 2013
United Kingdom2214 Posts
September 02 2020 06:52 GMT
#12
Think anyone could advance from this group
FlaSh MMA INnoVation FanTaSy MKP TY Ryung | soO Dark Rogue | HuK PartinG Stork State
swarminfestor
Profile Joined September 2017
Malaysia2449 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-09-02 08:08:21
September 02 2020 08:06 GMT
#13
While Zest should has no problem to advance, I wont mind to trade Taeja with Dark. Dark just need to stay rest for the time being to fully recover his wrist illness and claims back the Best Zerg player's throne from Rogue in future.
Rogue & Maru fan boy. ^^
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33347 Posts
September 02 2020 08:44 GMT
#14
I have a slinking bad feeling about Dark (the recent results are really quite bad), but I still trust him to go 100% all-out when it's GSL time
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Elentos
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
55511 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-09-02 09:49:50
September 02 2020 09:01 GMT
#15
On September 02 2020 17:44 Waxangel wrote:
I have a slinking bad feeling about Dark (the recent results are really quite bad), but I still trust him to go 100% all-out when it's GSL time

I don't know that he can go 100% all that well but considering how strong his 100% is he shouldn't need it in this round.
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