2022 GSL Code S Season 3 - Round of 20

by Ziggy

Writing tournament previews for TL.net comes with the exclusive perk of being asked to predict the unpredictable, but, thankfully, sometimes the universe throws you a bone. The final round-of-20 group of Code S Season 3 is slightly easier to project, with surprise participant Prince joining the mighty trio of Dark, Cure, and Solar in Group E.

Group E Preview: Dark, Prince, Solar, Cure

Start time: Thursday, Sep 08 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00)

Let's take a quick butcher's at Dark's 2022:

• Runner-up - GSL Super Tournament
  
• Top 4 - GSL Code S Season 1
  
• Champion - DreamHack: Valencia
  
• Top 4 - GSL Code S Season 2

Add to that a Code S championship in Season 2 of 2021, and you'll understand why I'm going to keep this section concise. Dark embodies the 'my opponent is a superficial variable, it's entirely up to me if I don't feel like winning today' approach to StarCraft, making any attempt at circumstantial analysis seem pointless. As one of the three if not two most influential Korean Zergs of all time, the outcome of this group is entirely up to him, and I don't feel comfortable even suggesting that isn't the case.

Cure enters the group as the #3 seed, but he could very well be the second best player in the group. He's won a Code S championship within the last year and was the undisputed #2 Terran in the Korean scene for quite a while until Bunny came knocking lately. In any case, one would be hard pressed to predict that he doesn't make it out of this RO20 group.

Cure excels in playing a metagame that evolves in a clear, logical, and (perhaps most importantly) a gradual manner. The current map pool introduced allows just that, while also incorporating certain maps that facilitate a unique approach. Overall, it exactly fits Cure's range as a player who enjoys playing both a variety of aggressive and defensive styles in the same series. If Cure doesn't get too carried away with going for cute openers, he should by and large get out of this group unscathed—though probably not in first place.

Third, we have Solar, who has an infamous, years-long streak of failing to reach the Code S RO8. What's even funnier (or sadder) is that he's never made it past the RO8 the few times he's been there.

Now, the Super Tournament? He's placed top four or higher on four occasions (S3 2022, S1 2020, S2 2018, S1 2017). He's also a three-time DreamHack Open champion, SSL champion, and a champion at a mid-major tournament called MSI back in 2014. He has a litany of high, non-championship finishes as well, placing runner-up at another MSI, IEM, HSC, Assembly, NeXT, WCS Korea, and the SSL.

But Code S? Nu-uh. Can't do it. As the 8th ranked South Korean player on Aligulac at the time of writing, that doesn't make much sense. So under normal circumstances Solar should and will remain one of the top contenders, but, considering the unusual historical curse at hand, there's a good chance we'll see another premature exit on Solar's part. Because it's Code S.

Contrasting with the above three, we're left with Prince who's making his second ever appearance in Code S. After his 2020 debut, Prince has been racking up minor online cup wins for them sweet, sweet Liqui(no D)pedia medals, coming up short of qualifying for a premier tournament in just about every qualifier (he was one series away from qualifying in Season 1, and one MAP away from qualifying in Season 2). Having made it back after over two year of absence, Prince has landed himself in what is possibly the worst group to have been placed in if you're as clear of an underdog as he is. Firstly, PvZ is not necessarily a matchup that allows for many upsets unless your all-in deception works perfectly, and secondly, all three other players are relatively consistent. So, given the toolset and the circumstances, I don't see Prince taking a single map in this group.

Predictions:
Dark > Prince
Solar < Cure

Dark > Cure
Prince < Solar

Cure > Solar

Dark and Cure to advance to the RO10!

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