2026 GSL Code S Season 2

RO12 Preview

by Wax

With barely any time to process herO's Code S third title, SHIN finally getting over the hump against Maru, and all the other stories from Code S Season 1, we're already moving on to the second Code S tournament of the year.

All of the top players are back in the fray for Season 2, and they're even joined by a very highly anticipated visitor—top European Terran Clem! Yes, Clem's schedule seems to have finally aligned in a way that he can commit to playing in the offline finals (should he make it), making him the latest and perhaps most dangerous 'foreigner' to take on the GSL challenge.

But before we can get to Clem, we must begin in the round-of-12 with the first pair of group stage matchdays.

Group A: Cure, sOs, SHIN, ByuN

Start time: Wednesday, May 20 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00)

One of the quirks of the condensed GSL schedule is that the previous season's top four were not directly seeded into the following event. Instead, they were forced to go through the qualifiers like everyone else—all while Season 1 was still ongoing! That's how we've come to see Season 1 runner-up SHIN and semifinalist Cure in the RO12, as their qualifier performances did not earn them a bye into the next round (at least they weren't eliminated).

While that must certainly have been quite annoying for the duo, I have to think it's worked out to be a mild competitive advantage. Both players are likely coming off a period of intense
practice for last week's final four, and they probably have some unused strategies left in the bag. With their latest GSL performances showing that they're in good form—especially in the case of SHIN who finally overcame his jinx against Maru—you have to peg these two as the favorites to advance from the group.

Still, you can't count out ByuN, who just barely missed out on making the RO4 himself last season. In hindsight, he was quite unlucky to get put in an RO8 group with both finalists in herO and SHIN, with playoff qualification coming down to one single map between him and herO. ByuN actually gave herO his greatest challenge last season, going 1-2, 2-1 against him across two series for a 3-3 total map score. SHIN would be a tough draw considering the fact that ByuN has lost the majority of matches against him this year (not to mention how strong SHIN looked against Maru), but a match against Cure would be a total toss-up.

Unfortunately for nostalgic fans, I can't give sOs much of a chance to advance from the group. Considering how disappointing he's been since his official return to SC2 play, I'm surprised he made it through the qualifiers at all. Still, this is one the better group draws he could have hoped for, as PvT is the match-up where he can still get the occasional win against high-level players. He even managed to beat ByuN himself during his qualifier run, which makes it hard to dismiss his chances entirely. Regardless, he's still a huge underdog in this group, and fans should keep their expectations low.

Predictions

Cure 2 - 1 sOs
SHIN 2 - 1 ByuN
SHIN 2 - 0 Cure
ByuN 2 - 0 sOs
ByuN 2 - 1 Cure

SHIN and ByuN to advance

Group B: Classic, Solar, GuMiho, Zoun

Start time: Thursday, May 21 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00)

My personal theme for Group B is that of redemption, as it features three players who I felt didn't get to show what they're really capable of last season.

Let's start with Classic, who I thought entered Code S Season 1 as one of the stronger title contenders. What ended up happening was that he couldn't handle cheeses and two-base timings from Cure and Maru, and he ended up getting bounced from the RO8 in third place. If he had just managed to hold against Maru's 2-base all-in during the RO4 decider match, he would have drawn a favorable match-up against SHIN in the semis and faced off against herO in a very winnable cheesefest finals. Yes, I realize you can't put too much weight into hypotheticals, but it does feel like Season 1 was a missed opportunity for Classic.

I wasn't quite as high on Solar given his form in recent months, but I also think his RO12 elimination last season didn't do him justice. Solar went out after two 0-2 losses to Zoun, where none of his aggressive strategies were able to break Zoun's defenses. Granted, his play has become a bit predictable over time, but if you watch other tournaments, it's rare that his bag of Zerg tricks will strike out three times in a row against any opponent. Solar is really a player we should be seeing in the RO8 and above, and I anticipate a rebound performance from him here.

As for Zoun, we got the usual bag of highs and lows from him last season. As mentioned above, his high mark was two thorough beatdowns of Solar to make it through his RO12 group. Then, in the RO8, he gave a listless performance that included an expected PvP loss to herO (even typical herO brainfart couldn't save him), and a bad loss to SHIN where he managed to lose to a mine-through all-in on 10000 Feet despite having it completely scouted. Maybe redemption isn't the right concept for Zoun considering that wildly varying performances from him are basically expected. Instead, this season will be about finding the consistency to perform at a high level for at least two matchdays.

Like sOs in Group A, Group B has its own designated underdog in GuMiho. While plenty of Terrans have complained about the balance changes of the last two patches, there probably isn't a single player who was more adversely affected than GuMiho. TvP has become an almost hopeless match-up for him, and I'm shocked that he somehow beat Trigger and Krystianer to make it through the qualifiers. As much as I'd love for GuMiho to rise from the ashes and give us one more memorable GSL run, it's hard to see him getting out of a group with two Protoss opponents.

Predictions

Classic 2 - 1 Solar
Zoun 2 - 0 GuMiho
Classic 2 - 0 Zoun
Solar 2 - 0 GuMiho
Solar 2 - 1 Zoun

Classic and Solar to advance