Results from Live Report Thread by Shellshock1122.
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Out with the new, in with the old
– SK_MC, Genius and LG-IM_LosirA advance over Bravo, STX_hyvaa and MaruPrime.

With each round of 48 of Code A, one feels inclined to talk about the changing landscape of the GSL, point out how new blood is pouring in and how players once admired for their sublime skills are found lacking and discarded from the competition. As it turns out, these things are true, but that does not mean that the old standbys of yesteryear have faced a sudden extinction.

SK_MC, Genius and LG-IM_LosirA definitely represent an older generation of StarCraft II professional players. All three have made Code S finals appearances, and all three have been figures in the StarCraft II scene since the open seasons of 2010. Some may have been considered to be on the downswing after such lengthy careers, but on a day where they met three newer faces to the GSL, they persevered. For MC and Losira, they won games they have looked destined to lose consistently in the past while for Genius it was a return to his old, wily ways.

Losira was the forgotten Zerg. He looked great at a time where few Zerg did, but never recovered from his sudden and somewhat startling exit from the GSL after his second place finish in 2011’s Code S July. He has always struggled to some degree against Terran cheese, becoming notorious for losing early hatcheries. This fact was likely not lost on MaruPrime (not a 'newcomer' in the traditional sense, but we took some liberties because of his age), who decided to go for the somewhat unorthodox strategy of three all-ins in a row. However, in what may have been a portent of changing fortunes, Losira was able to come out on top in two of the games, making sure his comeback was not to be derailed and turned into bitter defeat.

MC was in a similar situation against Bravo. Once a dominant force in the GSL, he seemed to suffer perhaps the worst among the Protoss as the era of 1/1/1 hit the scene, threatening to eliminate all chances of seeing another Protoss champion. Just as Losira has failed to profit off the new trend of Zerg play heralded by Symbol, Leenock and Life, MC has failed to learn from the lessons of a new PvT given by players such as Parting and Creator. Reluctant to depart the heavy two base play and failing to become a dominant late game force, MC has time and time again failed to live up to the legacy he created in 2010 and 2011. However, against Bravo, while he found himself disadvantaged after his two base blink play failed to do enough damage to an expanding Terran; he found it within himself to turn the game around, outplaying his opponent with superior economical play, good map awareness and terrific storms.

Finally, while Losira and MC defeated the avatars of their demons, Genius found a way to recapture his old spirit and sense of self. Up against a Zerg known for unpredictable timings, going back to 2010 for inspiration granted Genius a win with a four gate on Whirlwind. After a failed immortal all-in in game two, he found his second attempt to be successful in game three, thus continuing his road back towards Code S.

All three players bring with them a certain nostalgia factor. Neither looked spectacular on the day, but at least they looked more like themselves. It is by no means certain that this is a true return to form, but for Losira a return to continued participation is a real step up. For the Protoss duo, a lot of work has to be done to return to glory, Genius is always unpredictable as his training regimen remains an unknown factor while MC has to be hungry for more. He may finally have been officially displaced as the Protoss president, a change of circumstance it may still be within his powers to revert.

Terran trials and tribulations – Following your Zerg counterparts
- Supernova and Jjakji fall while Happy advances

Supernova and Jjakji are two of the most iconic Terran players of the GSL. Neither is quite on the level of MarineKing, Mvp or perhaps even Polt, but they clearly have made their mark on Code S in very tangible ways. One a champion who became an afterthought, the other the most consistently inconsistent perennial Code S participant.

For Supernova, it almost seems like the promise and subsequent failure of obtaining the Nestea Award has broken him. When two seasons away, he barely scraped by his Up and Down group, had the best shot he could have hoped for to advance in Code S but failed. He then botched his new Up and Down, failing to make it ten seasons in a row in Code S and is now out. An irony that is hard to miss is that he is following in Nestea’s footsteps, once failing to retain his Code S seed falling out of the competition completely. The play on the day was telling in terms of the struggles the mTw player is facing. In the best of three against First, he really should have won 3-0, but poor engagements and failing to capitalize on substantial leads means he is now Code B.

Jjakji is likewise a sorry story. Enjoying a meteoric rise, he has also suffered a calamitous fall in the aftermath. Like Supernova has taken the Nestea route of elimination from the GSL entirely, Jjakji looks akin to Fruitdealer, once a champion but never being able to experience success on a similar level ever since. His TvZ, once propelling him to his famous 4-2 victory over Leenock, has become a major liability, one that BBoongBBoong made it look easy to exploit. He had the same experience last season, failing to advance past round of 48 in Code A. He was able to get through the preliminaries, but given the state of his matchups, the state of his team and what is a concern about the state of his mind; Jjakji will struggle to make it back.


The Chosen Two
- SKT_Fantasy and 8th_Jaedong still in race for Code S

SKT_Fantasy was up against ST_Sparta, farcically becoming known as a legend killer following his defeat of Nestea last season. A legend in his own right and in his own sphere, Fantasy found few difficulties in overcoming such a natural foe however. In both games, he proved himself simply a superior player, using standard Terran mirror tactics to edge out small advantages and never letting go of them once possessed.

For 8th_Jaedong, FXOSirius was more of a challenge. He was able to fend off the FXO Zerg’s aggression with ease in game one, but in game two he faltered in his own offense. There were rather obvious errors in Jaedong’s play on the day, and even in the last game, a long macro game on Abyssal City, he looked like spoiling his advantages remarkably often. In the end, when he played with conviction and asserted his influence on the game, he looked like the Jaedong that could become a force in StarCraft II, but it did not come easy.

GomTV was allowed to breathe a sigh of relief as their new, popular and anticipated players survived another round and thus will continue to attract viewers. The main thing to take away from the day is that neither look like the finished product yet. Jaedong still looks to lack game sense, Fantasy a little of the same. One would expect both to be naturally decisive, but in both matches we saw evidence of the opposite being true. The exciting part of the equation is that both Jaedong and Fantasy still reveal small parts of magnificence; they have moments where they display that they truly can add something special to the game. And having players around able to provide such spectacles can only mean good things.

Afternoon Games: 04:00 GMT (+00:00)
Note: All Code A games will be temporarily free due to technical problems caused by hurricane Sandy.

MVP.Tails vs. CJ_Bbyong

The world of fiction is riddled with the tale of three brothers. In the world of StarCraft, fiction is being reproduced by the MVP trio of finale, Vampire and Tails. A substantial amount of fairy tales revolve around two older brothers, inseparable, loved by parents and slightly abusive to their absent minded, whimsical and irresponsible younger sibling. As the responsible adults they are, finale and Vampire made it into Code S where they were not quite good enough and now Tails want to follow suit, wanting to kill his monsters all on his own and defeating the foes too strong for his brothers. On the way, he defeated HuK, almost all-killed LG-IM and may have even slain a troll or stolen a dragon’s treasure.

I guess we have always known that Tails had talent and potential. A little over a year ago, he helped MVP on their way to win the GSTL, taking out Mvp and Nestea in the semi-final matchup as the ace for his team. This time around he has started off another winter with impressive results against the same team.

On the opposite side is Bbyong. Last season, he made heads turn in tearing through Code A. Not always for his spectacular play, but rather because it was almost impossible to quantify if he was solid, if he was cheesy or what on earth he was doing at times. At any rate, he fell out of Code S to no-one’s great surprise and finds himself where he started off last time around. Not a lot more can be gathered than what we knew then, though it is obvious that he is both adept and clever at TvP.

Trying to predict just what this match will contain as far as game play goes feels impossible. Tails walks a fine line between being cheesy and being calculated, but has a solid macro game to fall back on if his creativity is kept in check. Meanwhile, Bbyong almost looked his best at macro as well last season, but would consistently default to pulling some scvs at the exact right time. The maps also scream non-standard play at the top of their lungs, with Cloud Kingdom a prime opportunity for Tails to go two base blink, Abyssal City not explored well enough to guarantee anything and Entombed Valley everyone’s favorite proxy barracks and/or scv pull map. At least with PvP you know where you stand; coin flipping seems pretty safe compared to having two cheesy, creative and unpredictable players meet on maps that pretty much predicate unorthodox openings.

Tails 2 - 1 Bbyong


TSL_Center vs. LG-IM_Seed

With jjakji falling down to FruitDealer's realm once more, we're left with only Seed and Nestea left out of the former champions who are still on the edge of falling out of the GSL. Seed, who seemed to be on his way of proving his relevance with a rivalry against TSL's Symbol, helping his team in the GSTL, and having solid results all around, is now out of the team league and at the bottom of Code A.

Center was able to make it into this season, but his road in the qualifiers wasn't the hardest. His biggest victory was a 2-0 sweep of Brown in the semifinals, but as we've seen from the former Slayer Protoss' play, he excels against Zerg and falls apart against Terran. Truthfully, if Seed loses this, he is going to be called a fluke and thrown into the same pile as jjakji. Center might just be the next great player for TSL, but at the moment he's prospect who has never had a televised match. Seed can't afford to lose this series in the ever changing landscape of Starcraft 2, but he really shouldn't against the least experienced player in the GSL field this season.

Seed 2 - 0 Center


FnaticRC Alive vs Woongjing_Flying

Here we have a known quantity against an unknown quantity. Alive is a solid Terran player whose best matchup is PvT. Flying is one of the less known kespa players. He did well early on in the hybrid proleague, but hasn’t been able to make an impression as MC ended his OSL run early. Alive has one of the best PvT’s in the world while Flying is a relative unknown so Alive should be the favorite, but anything can happen.

Alive 2 - 1 Flying.


STX_Mini vs. LG-IM_YongHwa

The Code B-onjwa has arrived. After two years of failing to get into the GSL, Yonghwa finally was given an easy bracket and didn't let the opportunity pass him by, not dropping a single map in the qualifiers and breezing through into Code A. With all the hype around Yonghwa and how good he's been outside of the GSL with one of the best records all-time in GSTL and WCG Korea champion, you can see people already predicting him to at least win one title in 2013, much like how people thought Bomber would eventually win a title in 2011.

For Yonghwa to not cut this hype train short, he needs to at least make it to the Up/Down matches, first facing off against STX Soul's mini. Out of all the KeSPA players last season in Code A, mini might have been the most disappointing, dropping games that he had big advantages in, and not doing much when given the chance in the Up/Downs to make Code S. Coming out of Brood War as one of the most promising rookies, he hasn't been able to establish himself just yet. A victory and knocking out of one of the most praised players in the field would be a good start, but Yonghwa: The Code S Champion Story is being currently written by Artosis, and the LG-IM Protoss has finally been unleashed on the unsuspecting Code A.

Yonghwa 2 - 0 mini

Evening Games: 09:10 GMT (+00:00)

Liquid`Taeja vs. SKT_Dark

After the wake of SlayerS, this is the first time to see its dearly departed face one another. One went to Liquid before the eventual downfall, the other stayed till the end and moved on to SKT T1 Telecom. One to the foreign side, one to the Korean. One Terran, one Zerg.

1. Taeja always loses to SKT players
2. Dark beat Taeja in IPTL.
3. ???
4. Dark will send Taeja to Code B.

On the other hand, Taeja obviously goes into this as a favorite. While he suffered a rather ignoble exit from Code S this season, he is undoubtedly Code S quality while Dark has just made it into Code A for the first time. Taeja also looks incredibly good against just about any Zerg not named Life at the moment, so there is also that. Meanwhile, Dark is a capable if patchy Zerg,

The real question however remains just how close to his peak game Taeja finds himself. Watching him be taped up and suffering through his last games of IPL TAC was an eye opener; ever since there has been a feeling of his play being somewhat crippled. Of course, he has still put on masterful displays since, but that was the moment in time where the invincibility wore off. This could of course all be an illusion, it is perfectly reasonable to believe that his streak would have been broken and his results normalize no matter the status of his wrists, but it was a strong, visual manifestation.

Stylistically, the two are quite similar even if their reputations are worlds apart. Both like to play to extremes, either going for greed with triple command center with the thinnest defense possible or the Zerg counterpart of going up to infestor/brood lord with minimal investment in army. The other gear is Taeja’s proxy barracks play and Dark’s ling heavy openings or baneling/roach busts. As such, there is a very real possibility of blind counters happening. If both play their normal, greedy openings Taeja has to be favored, but Dark has beaten him at that game before, so it is not a done deal.

Taeja 2 - 1 Dark


Ax.Miya vs ST_Squirtle

One wonders what Ryung and Crank told Axiom about Miya that lead to his recruitment. Maybe they didn't need to do much convincing – Axiom needed a Zerg, and there were only a few ex-SlayerS Zergs left on the table with Dark already confirmed to SKT1, Min confirmed to League of Legends, and perhaps YuGiOh and KDY also having decided on what teams to go to.

In any case, it's not like there wasn't a good word to put in. Miya was known for his skill in practice, and he had a decent resume by being one of the nine Koreans to make their way to WCS Asia (he didn't make it it to the world finals, if you didn't notice).

Hopefully, out of good faith, they also mentioned Miya's horrible nervousness issues when he plays in live games. Miya has talked about that problem in nearly every interview he's had, and he looks far from a player MMA can never beat in practice when you see him live. Still, he looked incrementally better at every passing match at WCS Asia, and by the very end, he found himself looking decent enough to defeat Polt in a playoff series without being 100%.

Miya might not need to be 100% for this series, depending on what level Squirtle himself is at. The runner-up curse has been at its harshest this year, and Squirtle has been hit particularly hard. His dominating form from the spring isn't entirely gone, but he's had serious consistency problems ever since.

The convenient thing for Squirtle is that his PvZ style was always about two to three base timings, something that will suit him well in the present environment. He looked pretty decent against players like Sniper and Leenock in the previous season of Code S, so he should still be the favorite against a player who has yet to win a GSL game.

Squirtle 2 - 1 Miya


Samsung_JangBi vs. TSL_Shine

Out of every single KeSPA player who has switched to Starcraft 2, the one who has been the most vocal about how happy he was has been Jangbi. No, not a struggling B-teamer who was finally given a chance to be a top player, and not even Rain, who has become a star in the new game, but the player who won the last two OSL championships. Either he is the best spokesman ever for KeSPA, or he really is having fun playing a new game and is having fun trying to conquer a different game. Every time he speaks in an interview, Jangbi talks about how much fun he is having, so it's not surprise he was able to get into the GSL in his second try.

Along with Fantasy, Jangbi was the last to actually fully transition into Starcraft 2. Due to the last Brood War OSL final, Fantasy and Jangbi were left a bit behind the rest of the pack who were already putting their full attention into SC2. Now with Brood War out of the way, Fantasy and Jangbi have been able to give it everything they have into the new game, and the result show. Fantasy advanced into Code A, rolled over Sparta, and is now in the second round.

Unluckily for Jangbi, he got one of the toughest first round draws. Shine is one of the best players who hasn't been in Code S the last two seasons. Two straight seasons he has been close to advancing into Code S, but has barely missed out twice in the Up/Downs and had to fall down to the bottom of Code A. He's been able to help people get into Code S with his clutch victories at the end of Up/Down groups, but he's never been given the help back to make it out.

In terms of potential, Jangbi should become one of the best SC2 players in the world, coupling his skill and passion in the game, but is he good enough yet to take down a very strong Zerg in Shine? For a lot of KeSPA players, I'd take Shine in this match, but Jangbi seems to actually enjoy playing the game, and that's a scary combination when the man who won the final two OSL's is motivated.

Jangbi 2 - 1 Shine


coL.Heart vs LG-IM_Nestea

Many had left Nestea for dead after his free-fall crash into Code B last season, but he found a way to punch through his coffin Kill-Bill style to join us back in the land of the living. Sent to his first Code A qualifier ever, Nestea was not impressed by the decor, immediately making it back into Code A. If his recovery continues at this pace, then we will see him back in Code S in no time, and perhaps we could all agree to forget that his stint in Code B ever actually happened ('Nestea in Code B? I don't know, I might have been in a coma for a few weeks').

However, blocking the path is a man who might be as hated as Nestea is loved, and one hell of a threat to knock Nestea straight back down.

Heart, the master of cheese, is no stranger to knocking fan favorites down to Code B. He began his year by knocking Bomber from Code A with two proxy-factory rushes, and no doubt he wouldn't mind doing the same to Nestea to give his year a rather poetic bookend.

The thing to note - and this is finally starting to become common knowledge - is that Heart's reputation as a cheeser is rather exaggerated, and he can play standard games pretty well. The match-up where that's especially true in TvZ, where he can push with three-base marine-tank-medivac very well, using the infinite waves macro style to overwhelm many an opponent.

It might sound like blasphemy, but I'm going to go with Heart in this series. Heart was still hanging around with top class players in Code S the last time we saw him, and he even placed top 6 last MLG with wins over Scarlett, Golden, and Polt (no, we didn't expect you to remember). Meanwhile, Nestea got through Code B by beating some unproven KeSPA pros and Lure, a team more famous for killing teams than other players. We've got a bunch of tickets on the 'Nestea is Back!' bandwagon on hold, but we're not releasing them until we see something more.

Heart 2 - 1 Nestea