GSL 2013 Season 1 Code A

Code A Ro24: Day 2 Preview
Life, DRG, sOs and more.


Brackets and results at Liquipedia

by: Waxangel

Woongjin_sOs vs. Woongjin_Flying

The first match of the night is one between teammates, with Woongjin Stars' one-two Protoss punch vying for advancement into the first HotS Code S tournament. Typically matches in these situations are played in the spirit of friendly competition, as players generally think that it's good to have at least one member of the team confirmed for Code S, while the loser gets another shot in the Up/Downs anyway.

In this case, however, the competition might be a little more heated. As we've mentioned many times before, Flying used to be Woongjin's Protoss ace back in the Hybrid League days, and was one of the more notable players in the early days of the KeSPA switch. However, his stock fell sharply after KeSPA made the full SC2 switch, while sOs ascended rapidly to take his place. So far, sOs has been able to make it into a Code S tournament on his own, racked up a league-best 18 – 8 record in Proleague, and almost perfectly replaced Flying in the Woongjin and KeSPA hierarchy.

It wouldn't be the least bit surprising if Flying felt a bit sore about the way things have played out, and wants to set things right. He's actually started to make a small amount of progress in that direction, cutting a long Proleague losing streak with a four game winning streak while taking down the vaunted Stephano in the previous round of Code A. Winning a single Bo3 against sOs at this point in time isn't going to reverse the events of the past few months, but it would at least let Flying recover some of this thunder.

Unfortunate for Flying, the numbers aren't on his side here. sOs has been a vastly superior PvP player in both players' short SC2 careers, boasting a record of 18 – 8 against Flying's 9 – 10. While the “anything can happen in PvP” rule is certainly as relevant as ever, the right prediction here is to say that sOs will demonstrate his superiority over Flying once again.

Prediction: sOs 2 – 1 Flying


ByuNPrime vs. FXOGuMiho

With Curious attempting to shed his Code S gatekeeper title with his Ro4 run this season, it's time to take a closer look at his designated successor in FXO's Gumiho. It's true that Gumiho reached the Code S Ro4 in his very first run, but a look at his GSL record since then reveal that he's already been playing the role of a guardian into the realm of Code S for quite some time.

While Curious does his work in Code S, knocking down players he deems undeserving from the Code S Ro32 and Ro16, Gumiho acts as a filter further upstream. The Code A Ro24 and Up/Down matches are the domain of Gumiho, and he's never failed to advance through them into Code S in six seasons thus far. In the process, he's made sure that players who aren't Code S quality don't make it through Code A in the first place, though a few players get through the gaps and squeeze through in the Up/Downs. Recent Code S players like Bomber, BBoongBBoong, and Hack have been sent back by Gumiho in the past, chastised by the gatekeeper to further hone their skills if they wished to gain entry to Code S.

So, is ByuN Code S quality? That's a tough question to answer, largely because the answer changes from game to game. ByuN's issues with handling his nerves aren't just something the TL writers and international fans harp upon - it's something the Korean media make sure to ask him about at every opportunity as well. He's made it to the Code S Ro4 when he's managed to keep his head together, but he's also had to suffer a few stints in Code A when he couldn't bring his full skill to bear.

ByuN is definitely capable of beating Gumiho on his best day, but his inconsistency means the nine-tailed fox from FXO has to be the favorite here. Despite having his own share of consistency problems when reaching Code S, Gumiho has been a rock when playing in Code A and the Up/Downs.

Prediction: Gumiho 2 - 1 ByuN


MVP.Lure vs. MVP.DongRaeGu

To mirror the KeSPA team-kill match happening earlier in the night, there's an eSF team-kill as well. Lure, the surprise player of this Code A season, goes up against his titan of teammate in DongRaeGu, who will be his third and most difficult PvZ challenge.

No one gave Lure much of a chance when he first came into this season of Code A, as the only lasting image he had left behind in previous seasons was as a training dummy for Heart's sharp cheeses. However, he managed to shock many in the first round, taking down the Tyrant Jaedong in a three game series. While Jaedong's ZvP was known to be his weakness, it was still unexpected to see a player with almost zero prior accomplishments taking down a Proleague regular in Jaedong. Lure then went on to slay another KeSPA Zerg in the second round, scoring a 2 - 0 victory over CJ Entus' Effort.

You have to admit that Lure has acquitted himself quite nicely through those two matches, and is deserving of some respect. However, the difficulty level will ramp up severely in the third and final round, with a Code S spot on the line. DongRaeGu is one of the greatest Zergs of the WoL era, a champion on multiple continents, and a far better ZvP player than Jaedong or Effort. The silver lining for the challenger is that of all of DRG's match-ups, ZvP happens to be his least awesome, whereas PvZ is one where Lure has expressed much confidence. He's boasted about his deep playbook and the deadly strategies he still hasn't shown in his five Code A games, and he seems to think even an opponent on the same team will be vulnerable.

Lure is writing a really attractive underdog story for those who are interested in that kind of thing (elitist hipster fans unite!), and taking out DongRaeGu would make his run to Code S one of the most impressive and unexpected ones ever. DongRaeGu is definitely the favorite here, but one can't help but cheer a bit for the little guy.

Prediction: DongRaeGu 2 - 1 Lure


aLive vs. ST_Life

Oh, poor aLive! He was blazing along the comeback trail after getting knocked down to Code B, defeating opponents like Miya, Trap, and Nestea on his way to the final round of Code A. But at the final step, he's been confronted with a challenge that's several levels above anything he's had to face so far: Life, the best player in the world. Yup, that title still belongs to the prodigy from Startale, at least until we discover which of the four Code S semi-finalists ends up winning the championship.

Life has played almost entirely ZvP and ZvZ lately, with his series against MKP at Iron Squid II being the only one really worth noting. Life pretty much toyed with MarineKing in his crushing 3 - 1 victory, eliciting some fearful reactions from MKP when they met later in the Code S group selections. Add that to Life's incredible body of ZvT work in the last few months of 2012, Bomber's recent comment that he declines practice with Life because he is too good, and we can safely say that his world-best ZvT hasn't gone anywhere.

You can't throw out Heart of the Swarm as a possible complicating factor, and perhaps Life could find his WoL skills a bit dulled. But even IF Life is slightly diminished, he should have no trouble taking care of just another Terran - that's what they all are to Life - in aLive. If aLive wants to win here, he needs to cheese, and cheese very intelligently, or he'll just find himself losing to Life's own aggression.

Prediction: Life 2 - 0 aLive

Writers: Waxangel.
Graphics: Meko.
Editor: Waxangel.