2025 GSL Code S Season 2

RO8 Group B Preview: herO, Bunny, Zoun, Classic

Start time: Thursday, Jun 12 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00)

by Wax

The three Protoss players of Group B come in having already shedded the burden of EWC qualification, while Bunny still faces the pressure of winning a ticket to the world championship event. Will that desperation work to his advantage, or will he crumble under the weight of the moment?



Bunny may not be the most well known or highly touted player in Group B, but he's definitely its main character.

Expectations were low for Bunny headed into this season of the GSL, with his second-to-lowest Aligulac ranking (20th place) among the roster underlining his drab results in the previous months. With RO12 opponents GuMiho, ByuN, and SHIN having done far more to distinguish themselves in their recent matches, a quick RO12 exit seemed to be the safe prediction for Bunny.

Instead, Bunny gave a performance that reminded us of why GSL Code S is such a special league. Having spent his flight back from Dallas racking his brain for a way to overcome TvT masters ByuN and GuMiho, Bunny decided the answer was an unusual build that had availed him in the past: a 3 Factory mech-Raven push. The unorthodox strategy completely shell-shocked ByuN and GuMiho, and despite Bunny using it repeatedly, they simply could not find an answer in time. In the end, Bunny advanced in first place from the group, winning every single one of his maps with his carefully crafted build.

There are times when GSL's reputation as a 'preparation-style' tournament can feel more like fan mythos than reality, with players leaning toward standard macro with a few off-the-rack all-in's mixed in. Performances like Bunny's are far and few in between, but when they do happen, you know that there's no other league in the world where you could have seen it happen. Now, headed into the RO8, Bunny will be forced to try and put on another, even more magnificent strategic performance.

The odds were bad for Bunny in the RO12, but the situation looks even more dire in the RO8. In a meta that's widely being called Protoss favored, he now faces Korea's top three ranked PvT players according to Aligulac.com (#1, #4, and #5 in the global rankings). Running the group through Aligulac's predictive formula, Bunny only has around a 14% chance of advancing.

Is there a way for Bunny to defy the odds again? Well, due to Bunny's fantastic showing in the RO12, I'm obliged to try and concoct the most favorable advancement scenario for him.

First off, let's consider TvP all-ins. Cure showed us last season that going all-out with all-ins can be a winning formula, even if your opponents can totally see it coming. Considering that Cure curated a curdy cupboard of cheese in less than two days' time, I have to expect that Bunny will have brainstormed an even more beasty bevy of builds in the two weeks he's had to prepare for this group. Seeing how successful his carefully crafted opener was in the RO12, I have high hopes for what Bunny will bring to the table, even if it's in a totally different match-up.

The other factor working in Bunny's favor is the power of sheer desperation. herO, Classic, and Zoun have already clinched their spots in the Esports World Cup, while Bunny is still fighting for that precious ticket. After winning Code S Season 1 and becoming the second player to clinch an EWC spot, herO said that he could sit back a munch on popcorn while he watched how qualification played out for everyone else. Even though he clearly said it in jest, I have to think that at least on a subconscious level, none of the three seed-holders will be quite as focused as Bunny.

As mentioned in the Group A preview, the minimum prize money for EWC qualification is actually higher than winning Code S itself, from at least a financial perspective, this is even more important to Bunny than playing in a Code S finals. After advancing in first place from the previous Group A, Rogue actually said that he had prepared for the RO8 as if it were a final. I think it's likely that we'll see the best possible version of Bunny in the studio, whereas his three opponents might be just a touch below their top level.

Putting our protagonist aside, there will be funky mirror-match dynamics at play between the Protoss trio in the group. Prior to the 5.0.14 patch, there was a period where PvP might have actually been the most predictable and macro-friendly match-up (at least at the high pro level; I don't know what you clowns on NA ladder up to). However, the new patch has pushed PvP closer toward its original state of primordial chaos, and in the process, herO has usurped MaxPax to become the new #1 PvP player in the world. Of course, in a more volatile meta, being #1 doesn't mean quite as much. Case in point, Classic has had herO's number in their last handful of meetings, despite clearly being a lesser PvP player overall. While Classic is content to play the most boring and abusive macro Protoss possible in the other match-ups, his ability to embrace chaos in PvP is letting him punch above his weight class.

Unfortunately for Zoun, I don't know if he can harness the cheesiness of PvP the same way. The mirror was already a weakness for him during his pre-military career, and it's largely persisted since his comeback. One especially embarrassing low point came during March's BGE Stara Zagora qualifiers, where he somehow lost 0-2 to Maru's off-race Protoss (which looked god-awful against GuMiho, if you recall). While Zoun's PvP has been on a slight upswing in recent weeks, I'm not sure if it's actual improvement or just a momentary hot streak. Zoun might be playing fantastic PvT and PvZ as of late, but he may not get any more chances to demonstrate those skills in this tournament.

Predictions

I don't think it's a coincidence that Group A saw EWC hopefuls Rogue and GuMiho advance over the already seeded Maru and Solar. Their interviews revealed that they clearly took this more seriously than a normal RO8, playing with the kind of desperation typically reserved for the RO4 and beyond. I'm going to say Bunny manages to join them in the RO4, making the competition for the EWC seed go down to the wire.

herO 2 - 0 Zoun
Bunny 2 - 1 Classic
herO 2 - 0 Bunny
Classic 2 - 1 Zoun
Bunny 2 - 1 Classic

herO and Bunny to advance.