6. LG-IM_LosirA

While I place Losira at 6th, the overall skill level in the group is fairy close, and there will be bloody fighting to win those Code S spots. Ages ago (2011), Losira was a man that was once prophesied to be one of the leaders of the new era once Nestea’s reign was over. Impatient and impetuous, he challenged the heavens before his time and like Icarus, his wax wings melted as he plummeted all the way down to Code B. In more recent times, Losira has been making a bit of a comeback from the dead as he followed Nestea out of the hell known as Code B.

Unlike the other players in this group, Losira doesn't have any solid results in the recent past, nor does he have any external factors going for him (besides the fact that he looks like a cat). He hasn't played foreign tournaments, and his run in Code A was much less convincing than the other Koreans in this group - losing to Jaedong in round 2 and barely beating Maru in a round 1 cheese-fest that was hardly informative. While Losira could make it if he's been honing his skills like mad in the winter months, what little we did get to see of him lately say his chances are the lowest of the six.


5. Grubby

If I had to sum up Grubby’s career in SC2, it would be that of steady improvement. After each major tournament or event, Grubby goes back to train and show up to the next event just slightly stronger than before. After starting off as a European known only for his WarCraft III fame, his steady growth recently culminated in his strongest run yet at IEM Singapore where he was 1 game away from his first major live championship in SC2. Now, Grubby moves right on to his toughest challenge yet, the GSL.

We've long designated Grubby as the Line. The Line that separates merely good foreign players from the ones that pose a real upset threat to Code-S Koreans on any given day. That status was on full display in Singapore, where Grubby played one of the best series of his career to narrowly defeated multiple GSL champion MC 3 - 2, only to barely lose 2 - 3 to a Code B player in Sting. While Grubby certainly can beat the players in this group, it’s hard to say he can beat enough of them in one night to make it to Code S. Still, the race composition seems to favor Grubby as his success against Koreans has mostly come against Zerg and Protoss opponents, while Terrans have been more troublesome. The one Terran in the group is BByong, who has been a 1/1/1 master in the Proleague, so that's more information Grubby has about his opponent than the other way around.

Maybe most importantly, Grubby has the "thing." The winning gene, luck, star-sense, intangibles, clutch factor, killer instinct, whatever you want to call it, he has it. That thing that a player has that makes him play beyond his skill when the stakes and pressure are on. That thing that convinced Julyzerg to do a drone drill against Best. That thing that made MVP do a proxy 2 rax in the final set to secure his 4th gsl pin. It isn’t something that can be turned on or off with a switch, but should it show up, Grubby has a good chance to pass this group. Even without it, Grubby has an outside chance of making it, or at least qualifying for the wild cards.


4. LG-IM_First

First is the third player in IM’s protoss line-up after Yonghwa and Seed. First doesn’t have the hype of Yonghwa and he doesn’t have the results of Seed. But what First does have is skill, and a lot of it at that. He, much like Hyun, was a former Kespa player that transferred a bit before the mass migration of Kespa players into SC2, making him part of the rare species known as the mastodon.

This is an especially rare and lucrative chance for the IM Protoss. Seed is in Code B, Yonghwa just bombed out of the Up/Down groups while looking weak. With a dominant performance here, First could very well take the #1 spot as the best Protoss on the team. On the other hand, First's games against Supernova in Code A weren't the most convincing, and he wasn't able to put up much of a fight against the GSTL monster Gumiho when it came down to a direct Code S Spot.

The biggest red flag for First, though, might be that this is a three-Zerg group. First has shown excellent PvP ability and sporadic PvT brilliance, but his PvZ has never been proven at this level. He hasn't played much of it in broadcast games, and it hasn't been pretty when he has. While First has shown a lot of potential through his career in SC2 (don't forget about his MLG Raleigh 2nd place run already), he has yet to really pull it all together and go on a good run in GSL putting him below the top 3 of this group.


3. CJ_Bbyong

It hasn't been long since he debuted in the GSL, but Bbyong is already a candidate to join the line of Terran regulars that pad the Code S Roster. YoDa, Happy, and SuperNoVa were core members in 2012, but the departure of the latter two mean spots have opened up. A second Code S appearance would win Bbyong a membership card.

Bbyong is a strong, solid, Korean Terran player, which means there's plenty of similar players he has to compete against for attention. He was able to make it to Code S last season, but couldn’t make anything of it as Creator and MVP quickly bounced him out. His Code A run was decent as he danced past Tails, beat Nestea (who for whatever reason, refused to make any infestors), and then fell to Polt. The issue for low Code-S Terrans is always going past being 'just another' Code S Terran (humorous, considering the state of Terran outside Korea) and becoming one that stands out. But first things first, Bbyong has to make it into Code S before he can worry about that.


2. Symbol

If Grubby has a winning factor, then Symbol would have a Count of Monte Cristo factor. Symbol gains strength the more he is driven by his negative emotions of spite and revenge. It is a common story that a player starts to slump after a devastating loss. In Symbol’s case, this happened against Seed in his first (and most promising) run in Code S. He then fell hard, but kept it together for a chance to get back at Seed in the next season. When chosen by Seed for his group, not only did he get his revenge and knockout Seed, but he also made sure to take down Happy and sweeten the honey. It is a rare rivalry as the Seed vs Symbol rivalry has spread into a team IM vs Symbol rivalry as Symbol not only took out their players from Code S, but is responsible for reverse all-killing the entire team in the GSTL as well. One can’t help but think that with 2 IM players in the group that it will only strengthen Symbol’s resolve to make sure that he wins and if not, to at least drag down the IM players with him.

And on top of all of that, Symbol is strong. While no longer in contention for strongest Zerg in the world, Symbol has been consistent in getting strong results in both the GSL and abroad. In his last Code S run, he was brought down by the two strongest zerg players in the world Leenock and Life. And while Symbol was caught off-guard by Baby’s unique multi-tasking based TvZ, he should have no problems in this particular group as Symbol’s overall skill and gameplay put him top 2 in this group.


1. MVP.DongRaeGu

As expected, DongRaeGu takes the #1 spot. Despite having a downturn in results and gameplay in the latter half of 2012, DRG has still been consistently in the Code S-tier level of play. He may no longer be the ace of his team (that honor goes to Sniper), he still put in a great performance during the GSL Blizzard Cup. He dominated his group and only lost to Life (the eventual champion) 2 - 3 in the playoffs.

DRG looked strong in all three of his matchups, and the only player in this group that can fight him on an equal footing will be Symbol. The only question is which DongRaeGu will show up. Will it be the one that played at the Blizzard Cup, or will it be the inconsistent DRG we saw in the latter half of 2012. If the former, he should clear the group convincingly. If the latter, he may struggle a bit, but I still can’t see DRG failing to make at least third place for a while card chance.