by: stuchiu



Tonight’s GSL Group will be special. While GSL groups are always marked by their extremely competitive nature and cut throat competition, 3 of the 4 players competing tonight will not only be fighting for their lives in Code S, but will also be fighting for jobs.

The first applicant up is last GSL’s runner-up, HyuN. Once the rising star of TSL, he has since fallen on hard times. First he lost in an upset to SortOf in the NASL quarter-finals. Then, upon his return to Korea, TSL disbanded leaving him bereft of a team or a home. Even worse, he was ousted from his throne as the King of IPL Fight Club by Leenock, costing him his weekly salary. With neither a home nor steady source of income to count on, Hyun now has to search for a team while competing in Code S and waiting for his next invite to IPL Fight Club (we all know it’s bound to happen). In the meantime, Hyun will face off against the opponent of his choosing (by finalist's right), BBoongBBoong.

After spending a long time as Prime’s plucky 5th member in the band, BboongBboong decided it was time to try and look for new opportunities. Joining new team MJ, BboongBboong got off to a great start in his new home by destroying three strong Terran players in Jjakji, Dream and Yoda on his way to Code S. Unfortunately, things weren't just meant to be for team MJ, as they folded faster than a 2-7 offsuit. With no team to call his own and lacking the star power of the other applicants of this group, B4 will be much more desperate for the win than his GSL finalist, jobless counterparts Hyun and Squirtle.

The third member vying for a job offer is Squirtle. Squirtle left Startale shortly after Parting, presumably in hopes of also hitting paydirt. While Parting was able to sign with SKT1, Squirtle hasn’t been able to find a team just yet. There could be many reasons for this, from disagreements between Squirtle and prospective employers on his worth, to his lack of soul. Whatever the case, Squirtle will be looking to win here and prove that he still has what it takes to go all the way and compete for a championship. The first challenge in his way will be the happily employed Yoda.

The odd man out, YoDa is the only player here that isn’t playing for a job. LG-IM might be concerned for their future, but for now, YoDa is the only player in this group who's in a secure spot. Despite that Yoda will still be giving his all to take this group. The biggest difference between Yoda and the three other players is that win or lose, Yoda won’t have to worry about how his results will affect his chances of being signed on by a team. Thus while Yoda has less to play for, he can also play with a clear mind and no nerves.

Yoda is an interesting player looking at his career as a whole. He started off as an aggressive 1 base Terran player with unorthodox builds that included ghost rushing and bunker capacity rushing. He was often used in the GSTL to snipe out a player with one of his strange builds. Now, he has become everything that Happy was promised to be. He is an extraordinarily solid macro style Terran and was once praised by MVP as the strongest IM player in practice. While Yoda hasn’t been able to live up to that kind of acclaim yet, his growth in the last few months is very clear. His macro seems to have gone up to another level and his overall builds and movements are very clean. So while he isn’t fighting for a job like the other three, Yoda is probably the most dangerous man in this group.

Overall Scores and Predictions

This will be a difficult group for the two zergs, Hyun and Bboongbboong as both players will have to be practicing all three matchups. But Hyun will probably be the favorite between the two as Hyun’s ZvZ has always been very strong, despite a few recent hiccups. On top of that, his ZvP and ZvT are both a match for either Squirtle or Yoda.

For second place, it’s a three way fight between Bboongbboong, Squirtle and Yoda. A lot of what happens will depend on luck and preparation. Bboongbboong has very strong ZvT, but weak ZvP. Squirtle is an intelligent player who can come up with strong builds, but his form hasn’t been the same since his GSL finals appearance last year. Yoda is strong all around, but if he has a weakness, it would be his ZvT. Overall I’m predicting Yoda here as he won’t have as much pressure compared to the teamless Bboongbboong and Squirtle. On top of that, Bboongbboong has to deal with the infestor nerf and Squirtle has already shown a lot of his one-time aggressive builds in the Up & Down matches, while Yoda was only using standard builds in IEM Katowice.

Overall, Hyun is the favorite here, but if the cards play out right, I wouldn’t be that surprised if any of the 4 made it out.

Hyun > Bboongbboong
Yoda > Squirtle
Hyun > Yoda
Squirtle > Bbboongbboong
Yoda > Squirtle

Hyun and Yoda advance