EPTCode A, Week Three Quick Look
By: Fionn and Waxangel
The complaining about Protoss all-ins and the OP of force fields has grown quite loud as of late, even more so than usual. It's a funny thing, because nothing actually changed about Protoss. Perhaps it's a trend of Protoss players getting better with their FF micro, or just a general realization that two base all-ins are pretty good, and that perhaps they should be performed more often.
This is quite an interesting backdrop against which Tassadar is playing, as he has been the underground face of the Protoss all-in for some time now. However, despite his being an avid all-iner, no one really complained about Tassadar IMBA in the past. I'm not sure if that means the recently rising players are just better at all-ining than Tassadar, if Tassadar simply couldn't mix in a strong enough standard game to go alongside, or if the strength of Protoss all-ins has been ridiculously exaggerated by other races.
As for Bboong2,who has the best/worst name in progaming, he's a player who I've been eagerly awaiting to show up in the GSL ever since he landed the first blow that would destroy the myth of Nestea's invincibility, by knocking him out of the AoL II tournament with a 2 – 0 victory. He had decent success in a variety of online tournaments after that, which suggest he could be a solid Code A player at the least – which is what Tassadar is now.
Overall, I would say it's quite even. However, with Crossfire placed as the third map, I'll have to favor Bboong2 by a slight margin.
Prediction: Bboongbboong 2 – 1 Tassadar
From what we've seen of XiGua's play, which included a very disappointing IEM Guangzhou performance and a contrastingly exciting WCG 2011 run, I think it's safe to say he's a very good foreigner, but still 'just' a foreigner until he proves himself in the GSL. It's a bit over-convenient to ignore all achievements outside Korea and simplify the appraisal like that, but that approach hasn't proved to be incorrect so far, with the only real exception being Stephano.
In a rather strange reversal of roles, the Korean player is more enigmatic than the one from China. Following a rather mediocre performance in the up-down matches last December, Killer disappeared from the face of the earth (minus the occasional tweet advertising his services to non-Korean teams). Without any tournament games played for over a month, and without a team to practice with, it's hard to tell how Killer has changed as player since last year. It's not so much that the team house itself is conducive to practice – most SC2 pros retain good enough relationships with their colleagues that they can always find practice partners – it's just that it represents a commitment to improving and practicing (again, not a foolproof indicator). In this case, at least, with the various rumors circulating around TSL and the many members departing the team, Killer's departure might not mean anything for his skill level at all.
Considering the fact that XiGua is a foreigner, I'll er on the Korean side of uncertainty and go with Killer to win this one.
Prediction: Killer 2 – 0 XiGua
HerO is in quite a peculiar place since DreamHack Winter in November of last year, where he briefly achieved #1 Protoss status by virtue of being the only Protoss player in the world to actually win a major tournament. Since then, his racial compatriots have not only stopped sucking, but gone so far as to collect imba complaints from the other races. Add his recent tournament troubles at IEM Kiev and HSC4, and he's quickly getting overshadowed by rising stars like Parting and resurgent players like Genius and MC.
Despite this, I believe he's largely the same player he was at DreamHack. HerO has always been an inconsistent player, due to a combination of nervousness and a tendency to take risks. A year and a half of pro SC II has shown that consistently amazing tournament performances are only possible for two or three elite gamers in a given period, and other championship caliber players are going to struggle with ups and downs. As long as the quality of HerO's play doesn't start to suffer, a few bad tournament results won't change the fact that he's an excellent player.
Of course, he could still lose to Line. While the recent ZeNEX team culture has been to lose, and Line is no exception, he's still a very dangerous ZvP player. He uses the mutalisks and back door attacks very well, and you could even say he's a mutalisk hipster who made them the focus of his ZvP before everyone else started doing it as well.
As usual, HerO's consistency will be the main factor in this match. The maps seem to favor him, as he's drawn Entombed, Daybreak, and Antiga Shipyard. If he can stay calm and collected, he should be able to go through.
Prediction: HerO 2 – 1 Line
It turns out that Brown was a decoy set up so Parting could avoid the mass hype bomb for as long as possible. Beating Losira in Code A was the impressive achievement that made every think Brown could be a Protoss star, but it turned out that his PvT was lacking at the Code S level. Meanwhile, Lure comes in as a representative of the newly formed Rising Star team, which we could probably call "team ZeNEX insurance" for its timely founding at the start of the GSTL season.
How is any of this relevant to the match ahead? It's not. There's zero pertinent data regarding a PvP match between these players, as neither of them has played a viewable PvP game in over eight months. Basically, I was just trying to fill space. Well, might as well take the Code S player over the Code B.
Prediction: Brown 2 – 0 Lure
The two main things going into this game are as follows:
1. Morrow is the last non-Asian hope left in the GSL. With Idra and Huk both banished to the shadow realm that is Code B, the Infested Terran is the only hope left for the Europeans to have a dog in the GSL fight. He hasn't been able to show his best results in Korea so far, not doing very well in a tough GSL January Up-and-Down group featuring the erratic Bomber and Code S quarter-finalist Gumiho. This is his shot to put his name right up there with the best foreigners in the world by trying to be the first non-Korean since Huk to get through Code A all the way to Code S.
2. Maru was born in 1997. Think about that for a second, people. At the tender age of fourteen, Maru returns to the GSL with a second chance at becoming the 
BaBy of Starcraft 2. His first trip to Code A didn't end all that well, where he showed the nerves of a recently fourteen-year-old player against FruitDealer. He didn't micro well, made some glaring mistakes, and wasn't able to handle the pressure. This time around, he is a few months older, has more practice under his belt and will know what to expect going into this match.
This is a hard match to call. Maru hasn't been seen a lot in clan wars and such due to his young age and not practicing full-time in the Prime house. So, really, this game is a gigantic mystery. For all we know, Maru might come walking into the studio looking like a Code S player and absolutely crush Morrow into smithereens. But there is also an even better chance that Maru, who was good enough to qualify through the Code A qualifiers, is still a fourteen-year-old who will be plenty nervous playing in front of a live audience and thousands of people at home.
Prediction: Morrow 2 - 1 Maru
Sase MacSed is one of the Chinese foreigners invited to play in Code A this season and his first round opponent is a tough one. Keen has all the abilities to be one of the best Terrans in the world, and has shown it in online tournaments that he can crush anyone from MMA to Bomber if he's on his game. Sadly, for him, he cannot beat Nada, and his valiant but futile attempts to get over that hump have effectively crippled his Code S career so far. In yet another sad, sad Code S season for Keen, he lost to Nada by a score of 2-1 and then basically fell apart in his next series against Puzzle, looking far from the player who ran through Code A last season without dropping a game.
MacSed, on the other hand is a big unknown. He was able to take a victory from MVP at the WCG Grand Finals, which is impressive, but watching his Sunday Night Showdown against Select, where he lost by a score of 4-1, he looked like a player that shouldn't be anywhere near the lion's den that is Code A. If he plays like he did against Select when he faces a fully prepared Keen, then MacSed should be rolled over. No question. Keen is a former GSL Code S quarter-finalist and has won various online tournaments, even all-killing an MMA-led Slayers team in the IPL arena.
If I was MacSed, I would put on my Nada mask and cross my fingers.
Prediction: Keen 2 - 0 MacSed
Since the Super Tournament, when Alicia was the last Protoss remaining and people truly believed he would be the successor to MC's Protoss throne, nothing about the Slayers player has changed. Alicia is still trying to do what he did all the way back in June; get two bases, make army and go. If you can stop Alicia's army and can grab a third, then Alicia is dead. If Alicia's timing attack doesn't work, then he starts to flounder around, looking like a fish out of water that has no clue what he's doing on dry land.
Alicia has good micro and it is the reason why he became so well known in the first place, but while players like MarineKing have matured and adapted to the changing environment, Alicia is still the largely the same player you saw seven months ago with the same exact style of play. It could be possible that this time could be different and he might use builds that aren't all-in or straight up timing attacks, but only time will tell. With his above average micro, if Alicia could only learn how to vary up his builds and macro better, he could return to being one of the top ten Protoss in the world. At the moment, he's just a player that could be washed away with the times.
asd on the other hand is just a rock solid player. Like his partner on FXO, Gumiho, he's not a flashy player, but he gets the job done. He knows how to scrap out a win and is able to play a number of different styles. From cheese to macro, asd has it in his arsenal and that is why he should be the favorite in this match. Alicia might have the better micro of the two, but none of it will matter if asd knows that all he has to do is make it into the late game.
Prediction: asd 2 - 0 Alicia
And now time for the best of the first round of Code A alongside TheStC versus Losira. You have one of the best TvPers in the entire world, Polt, going up against his former teammate and one of the most hyped up young players currently in the scene, the second-in-command on Prime, Creator. The stats show that Creator isn't the best versus Terran, but he's shown countless times in online tournaments and from the GSTL, that he is a young player that cannot be looked down upon. MVP looked past Creator in the first round of the Super Tournament and nearly got knocked out in the first round, only getting past Creator due to the young Protoss' inexperience in the booth.
Polt, on the other hand, is at a crossroads in his career. Look at the players who are falling down to Code B this season: Clide, Losira and Bomber. All players that were considered some of the best in the world when Polt was truly at his most elite level between his championship in June and his GSL semifinalist appearance in August. Since then, he's been on a downturn, falling out of Code S and not doing well in the GSTL. He has done well in online tournaments, beating ForGG, MarineKing and July in the FXO Invitational recently without dropping a game, but those wins won't mean much if he falls into Code B.
We might see Polt fall to the wayside alongside players like Losira and Bomber, catapulting Creator into the spotlight and maybe helping a future star in the process. Or, Polt will be able to turn his career around, shut up the haters once again and make Creator trudge through Code B for another shot at Code A. One story line in this match that could be important is that Polt has been sick lately, showing it in his GSTL match against Sculp, floating 2,000 minerals during the game and not playing to his optimum level.
Can he get past his sickness, fight through and be able to survive in the GSL, or will we see another former top Terran fall into obscurity while another new Protoss shining star breaks through the glass ceiling?
Prediction: Polt 2 - 1 Creator
![[image loading]](/staff/fishuu/muleQueen2.png)
"Manner Mule" by Fishuu
Writer: Fionn and Waxangel.
Graphics and Art: Meko and Pony Tales (disciple and Lip the Pencilboy).
Editor: Waxangel
