Results from Live Report Thread by Seeker.

Squirtle 4 - 0
BBoongBBoong 3 - 2
Keen 2 - 3
YuGiOh 2 - 3
Avenge 2 - 3
Heart 1 - 3

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Squirtle <Entombed Valley> YuGiOh
Heart <Crossfire SE 1.1> Keen
BBoongBBoong <Dual Sight 1.1> YuGiOh
Avenge <Antiga Shipyard 1.2> Keen
BBoongBBoong <Crossfire SE 1.1> Squirtle
Heart <Metropolis> Avenge
Keen <Antiga Shipyard 1.2> YuGiOh
BBoongBBoong <Dual Sight 1.1> Heart
Squirtle <Daybreak> Keen
Avenge <Entombed Valley> YuGiOh
BBoongBBoong <ESV Cloud Kingdom> Keen
Squirtle <Bel'Shir Beach Winter> Avenge
Heart <ESV Cloud Kingdom> YuGiOh
BBoongBBoong <Bel'Shir Beach Winter> Avenge
Squirtle <Metropolis> Heart

The Evolution of Squirtle

The MVP of the Night would have to go to the GSTL superstar now turned Code S player Squirtle. He showed us not only that he could play an extremely lengthy and hard fought game against YuGiOh in the very first set of the night, but he could pull off efficient rush builds like his six gate rush that caught Keen completely off guard in the middle rounds of the Up and Down group. Combined with a standard PvP where he defended perfectly against Avenge's aggression, and a cheeky cannon rush that ended up with hallucinated zealots and an all-in versus YuGiOh, and we learned that Squirtle could play any type of game and come out on top.

With Parting and Squirtle, Startale might be home to the strongest Protoss duo in Korea, and with both of them in Code S next season, we might see the load shift from former one-man-team Bomber to the Protoss Duo. After a year of waiting, Squirtle has finally evolved from the rookie we saw taking down the king Mvp in a memorable GSTL final match to a full fledged Code S player who has all the tools to make a deep run come April.


The Commander Reverse Killed

Well, if you ever wanted the story of Keen's career, this night showcased it all in five games. What seemed started out as a statement performance from Keen ended in a nightmare. He started the night with two absolute dominating performances, crushing both Heart and Avenge in predictable fashion. All he really needed was one more win in his last three games, and he would more than likely make it back to Code S.

Then he lost to YuGiOh in a long game where his multitasking wasn't up to par against the King's relentless creep spread.

Then he lost to Squirtle in a short game where the Protoss went for for a 6-gate all-in that was unscouted, where he couldn't build the extra bunkers in time to survive against force fields and stalkers. You could see the disappoint on his face after the game, as he felt the almost assured Code S medallion slipping through his fingers.

Finally, against B4, in the final game, he...he went for an all-in with hellions. When he saw that B4 already had spines and a plethora of queens already at his disposal, ready to take on an early attack from his opponent, Keen decided to pull his SCV's and throw everything into one final push. He tried his best, throwing his marines, SCV's and hellions into the Zerg wall, but it didn't even make a dent, with reinforcing lings cleaning everything up.

Now, in a blink of an eye, Keen is stuck in Code A for next season and must fight his way all the way from the bottom to get back. Where did it go wrong? His talent, when at it's best, is Code S level, but last night, his inconsistency was on full display. If he could have regained his composure after getting cheesed by Squirtle and beat B4, he could have advanced, but he went for an all or nothing roll of the dice and it failed.

Nada in Code S. Keen in Code A. So close, but so far away. How can they stand being apart?


BBoongBboong's Fairytale

While Keen went 2-0 to start the group and ended up losing three in a row, B4 did the opposite. He started the night in terrible fashion, going 0-2 and was on the brink of elimination. Even if he won his third match against Heart, his chances of advancing were next to none. Everything would have to go perfect for him to make it to Code S and he would have to win three straight matches against Heart, Keen and then Avenge to even have a prayer.

He destroyed Heart and started his comeback. He followed that up by taking on a desperate Keen looking for a final chance to savor a golden night that turned sour. Not only was he able to dispatch of Keen, but he slapped down the all-in that came out against him and eliminated the Terran from the group. He still had a long shot to make it through, but his chances had improved from what seemed like pure fantasy, to something that resembled reality.

With Squirtle defeating Avenge to get out of the group first with a 4-0 score, putting the ZeNex player at also a 2-2 score, things started to fall into place. For B4 to make it into Code S, his dreams all rested on the shoulders of Heart, a player who had, to be perfectly honest, had played awful all night. He had played three games and got rolled in each one. YuGiOh, if he was able to defeat Heart, would eliminate B4 from contention and have a shot himself at going to Code S.

Straight out of a storybook, Heart, the massive underdog, already eliminated, and having absolutely nothing to play for except his pride as a progamer, defeated YuGiOh and gave B4, for the first time since going down 0-2, sole control of his destiny. With Avenge and B4 tied at 2 - 2, whoever won their head to head duel would get the Code S spot. On Winter Bel'shir, a great game unfolded, the ZeNex Protoss going for a strong void ray assisted gateway timing that pushed B4 to the brink.

But, in what was possibly one of the closest holds in GSL history, the Prime player was able to barely survive, sacrificing countless queens, roaches and hydras, but surviving nonetheless. Finally, he was able to push back the attack and stabilize. With the attack against him over, B4 was allowed to take advantage of his better economy and end the game a few minutes later, thrashing the final push from Avenge and gaining a Code S spot.

In the history of the Up and Downs, we might never see another player go from being so close to death, to advancing straight into Code S. Every single game had to go BboongBbong's way, and they actually did. He pulled himself out of a gigantic hole, won three straight games against tough competitors, while everything fell into place around him. Now, he joins his teammate and friend MarineKing in Code S, trying to continue the Prime Revolution that has has begun in the Team Leagues around the world.

Game of the Night

Startale_Squirtle vs. Slayers_YuGiOh

The first game of the night was also the best. The game went back and forth, with both players escalating the arms race until they both had high tech weapons of mass destruction. YuGiOh had with broods, corruptors, infestors, and banelings while Squirtle went with a mothership, colossi, blink stalkers, a few archons and some high templar. When the final battle occurred, storms made the difference for Squirtle, and the mothership was able to vortex enough of the broods to allow his blink stalkers to pick them off unprotected when all said and done. It was a close game, and a must-see for its climactic final battle between the two fully loaded armies.

5. ST_AcE

Like his old school Protoss compatriots, San, Genius, Inca, Killer, etc., AcE is riding the recent wave of Protoss Power and having a nice little revival. Though he's not exactly making GSL finals, AcE is finding playing time on a Startale team that includes both Parting and Squirtle, an respectable feat in itself. Combined with his run through Code A last season where he beat Luvsic and lost to Keen, that makes him a pretty solid Code A level player. Not a bad place to be after spending the last four tournaments out of the GSL!

Alright, that's all the good news we have for today. Solid Code A level player, not Code S. The Up/Downs is where the difficulty really ramps up, and sadly, AcE just isn't at the level to win it yet.


4. MvPSniper

If we forgive Sniper's poor record from last year, and just look at the reborn Sniper of 2012, he actually has been pretty good. Let's pretend this is GSL school, and grade his performances this year: He took out PuMa to make his way into Code A (A), and then went on to defeat Clide (B) and Sen(B) in that tournament. Sniper did fall to Mvp at the last hurdle, but he played a very nice game to go up 1 – 0 before Mvp went no-nonsense mode and thrashed him (B+). That's a really nice string of results, but unfortunately, I don't think it's enough to put faith in him just yet.

First off, it's still a small sample size, and it would take two or three more good showings for me to be convinced. Second, he's behind Monster in the MvP depth chart for team leagues. Monster is a good player who would definitely have an outside chance to get through this group, but I wouldn't say he's a favorite. It's not a perfect comparison, but if I wouldn't rank Monster so highly in this group, then why would I rate Sniper any higher?

I would love for Sniper to surprise me, and everyone else by continuing his streak of good results and creating a stir in this group, but I feel comfortable playing it safe and placing him at fourth.


3. FXOLeenock

The brief stretch where Leenock placed first at MLG Providence and smashed through some of the best players in the world to take second place at GSL November might possibly be the best single month any pro-gamer has had in the history of SC II. So impressive, in fact, that we got a little ahead of ourselves. The heir to Nestea's throne? Top five player in the world? Well, maybe he was for that one month, but now let's get back to reality.

Like the DRG of summer 2011, the main problem is that his ZvP is a huge liability. It was good enough to take down a variety of mid-tier foreigner Protosses at MLG Providence, while NaNiwa's epic tilt allowed him to make it past one of non-Korea's very best. Considering that he faced HuK in the midst of one of his downswings, that leaves Oz as the only fully powered, Korean level Protoss player Leenock had to beat during that run. Similarly, the only Protoss player Leenock had to face during his Code S run was HuK, being allowed to play his absolutely insane ZvT for the majority of the tournament.

After that? Leenock got knocked out of the Blizzard Cup by MC, out of the next Code S by MC again, then got knocked out of Code A by Seed. At MLG Winter Arena, consecutive losses to Oz and NaNiwa sent him out of the tournament.

So, with GanZi as the only Terran player in the group, and at that, a Terran player who parallels Leenock in having lopsided TvZ ability, I'm going to say our GSL November runner-up barely misses the cut.


2. oGs.InCa

Don't believe it? You'd better. I'm taking Inca over Leenock to make it into Code S this season. Hear me out here.

Playing beautiful, theoretically perfect Starcraft is one thing. It's another thing to win games at any cost. You'd rather watch a player that does the first, but you'd rather be a player that does the second. Inca is the second kind of player.

Every time InCa goes DT, and he somehow wins because he won a third level mind game (Inca: He knows I'll DT, I know that he knows I'll DT, but he knows that I know he knows...) I don't really understand what happened. All I know is, that this guy must be doing something right to win important games doing a strategy he is famous for doing, yet no one defends anyway.

The final, ninth set ace vs ace match in SlayerS vs oGs was truly awe inspiring. Is it a fake into a one base blink-stalker all in? No, Puzzle, it's DTs. Maybe it's an unexpectedly timed blink stalker expand? No, man. DTs. Is it a transition into robotics for an off-beat, one base all-in? No, Puzzle, it's f***ing DTs.

InCa, I don't know who you are, or what cost you paid to obtain your black magic. But I know one thing, I can't doubt you.


1. SlayerS_GanZi

There's surprisingly little to say. Your macro based, safe and steady, occasionally cheesy, mechanically sound, Korean Terran domination machine comes in many models. Some are called Bomber, some are called aLive; this one just happens to be called GanZi.

The GanZi model happens to have a slightly poorer TvP capabilities, but it's not a major weakness, and perhaps not a liability at all against InCa and AcE. Code S is always a safe bet, and with fine tuning, it will GanZi can even make a lengthy trip. Up/Downs? Something he'll blow right through.