WCS Korea Season 1 - GSL

Code S Ro32 Group E
Recap: Symbol and Shine advance


Winner Interviews
Symbol and Shine


Code S Ro32 Group F
Preview: Rain, Innovation, Gumiho, HyuN


Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

by Waxangel

Results via Live Report Thread by Yello.
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +

Night of the Swarm
- Azubu.Symbol and Samsung_Shine advance from Ro32 Group E

While the brunt of complaints in early HotS came from the Zerg Swarm, balance and order seem to be coming with time. Starting with Life's triumph at MLG Dallas, Zergs have been finding solutions to the other races new tools. There are less complaints about Zerg being underpowered by the day, while more and more Korean pro-gamers (the most vocal balance whiners in the universe) are saying those rare words: "The better player wins."

Last night's games might even have given Terran and Protoss players their first real opportunity to say "Zerg OP" since release (Life being accepted as a fourth race of sorts), as Symbol and Shine rolled over Code S stalwarts KeeN and Squirtle to advance to the round of 16.

Initial Games: Symbol vs. Shine & KeeN vs. Squirtle

In what is quickly becoming a trend in this season of the GSL, a ZvZ series ended at the hatchery phase of the game before mutalisks could come out. Azubu.Symbol decided he wanted to play counter to his reputation of playing greedy – a reputation Samsung_Shine would surely have been familiar with after helping teammate RorO to face Symbol in the preceding GSL final. The ploy worked like a charm, and Symbol was able to bulldoze Shine's hatch-first build with a baneling bust in game one, and followed it up by outdueling Shine after mirroring 10-pool starts in game two for a very quick 2 – 0 victory.

In contrast, MVP.KeeN and LG-IM_Squirtle played a very lengthy series that went the full three games. The first map, Red City, invited both players to macro up unharassed and put together deadly late game armies. While it was not the most neatly played game – with both players over-extending at the times they were ahead – it was an exciting back and forth match with plenty of twists and turns. While Keen's continued attacks eventually handed him victory in the first game, Squirtle shot back in game two with a strong 4-gate after expand build, followed by a solid late-game build-up.

The deciding game on Star Station was another entertaining one, with Keen looking to drop Squirtle from almost start to finish. While Keen was briefly in danger when Squirtle attacked with templars before ghosts were on the battlefield, he was able to weather that attack and continue dropping with renewed vigor. Eventually the drops got the better of Squirtle, and he GG'd out to send Keen to the winners match.

Tunneling to the Ro16

After his quick beatdown of Shine in his initial match, Azubu.Symbol wasted no time no time dispatching MVP.KeeN in another 2 - 0 series. Nydus worms were the key to Symbol's speedy return to the Ro16. The first map saw Symbol completely counter Keen's attempt to go for blue-flame hellions with an even faster nydus-roach attack in the Terran main. The second game was longer, with the nydus worm only factoring in at the end of a lengthy tug-of-war between muta-ling-bane and marine-medivac-mine. Once ultras were out, Symbol was able to simultaneously crush Keen's army in the field while using a nydus network to infiltrate and raze the Terran main. Without an army or the facilities to reproduce it, Keen had no choice but to surrender.

In HotS, as it was in Brood War

After losing his first match to Symbol, Samsung_Shine seemed all but dead. He had limped into Code S on head-to-head tiebreaks in the Up/Down matches, and had a dismal Proleague record of 3 - 11 to boot. To the horror of some, and the glee of others, Shine somehow found a way to continue his Brood War legacy of causing the most unlikely upsets. Shine's "Typhoon" style of sending waves and waves of units in attack worked its magic in SC2 as it did in Brood War, as he defeated yet more highly rated players including another handsome Protoss player.

Squirtle, the star of LG-IM's victory against FXO in the GSTL, was Shine's first victim. Squirtle attempted to go for three fast bases and void rays after, but Shine gave Squirtle pause with an onslaught of zerglings and roaches. Just when it seemed like Squirtle was cleaning up with void rays, Shine switched to mutalisks to catch his opponent totally off guard, taking the game with surprising ease. The next game saw Squirtle try to rush for the dreaded laser-toss composition, but he couldn't hold out against Shine's hydra-roach-corruptor attacks that came before his defenses were set.

That left MVP.KeeN and Shine to go head to head for the last Ro16 spot. Shine showed his most Shine-esque game yet on the first map, going for pure speed roaches off two bases. Keen fell into the trap of thinking a few widow mines would scare Shine off, or that Shine would withdraw and play for a macro game after dealing satisfactory damage, but both were erroneous assumptions. Shine strolled through minefields like they were flowerbeds, and butted his head against Keen's defenses until they finally gave way. Keen nearly achieved a miracle draw-game by floating all his buildings and killing off all of Shine's hatcheries with counter drops, but Shine had enough money left in the bank to build the game winning hatchery.

The following game was another one that would make it into an album of Shine's best hits. After getting a big advantage with early pool antics, Shine slowly let Keen back in the game by allowing his forces to walk over what seemed like every single widow mine on the map (and then doubled back over them). While it was later explained that the heat of the booth and the sweat running into his eyes caused Shine's lack of finesse, it didn't stop the scenes on screen from being comical nonetheless. Keen managed to pull back into the lead with his mines, but a daring late-game muta switch from Shine turned the tables yet again. After using his mutas to shut down Keen's attempts to take a vital fifth base, Shine assembled an unlikely final army of mutas, ultras, banelings, and infestors which Keen couldn't find an answer for. Bewildered and confused, Keen GG'd out, while a profusely sweating Shine smiled in relief.

In Conclusion

Symbol: Symbol didn't look troubled at all as he breezed through to the Ro16. He was unfortunate to be a finalist in the final WoL GSL, a ZvZ that attracted almost no attention, but at this rate he's going to be getting plenty of time in the spotlight in HotS.

Shine: Love him or hate him, Shine truly is one of a kind. He's a player so many people want to call terrible, and in this case they were almost justified considering his worst-in-Proleague statistics. However, by going 4 - 0 against Keen and Squirtle, Shine has once again defied categorization, in SC2 as it was in Brood War.

KeeN & Squirtle: The two erratic players stayed erratic, unable to overcome the enigmatic Shine. Fans must be disappointed, but that has been the norm with Keen and Squirtle for a number of seasons now.

Winner Interviews

Azubu.Symbol

Q: You won your group, how do you feel?
A: Good. It's the first HotS tournament, so I feel good to get off to a good start. I got here 3 hours early to do my settings in the new booths, and I feel like it was time well spent.

Q: You went undefeated today.
A: I felt if I won the first game against Shine, I would advance. Shine did a fast expansion as I expected, so I was able to play comfortably.

Q: You played for the early game in ZvZ, why was that?
A: I played management a lot in WoL. Shine would have known my style from helping RorO prepare for the previous GSL finals, and I thought he would expect me to play greedy. So things worked out that I didn't play that way.

Q: Did you know he was supply blocked when you attacked him with roach-bane in game two?
A: No, I didn't realize it.

Q: You used Nydus worms in both games vs. Keen.
A: The first time, on Red City, I thought nyduses would be good to use as I practiced, and it turned out to be good when I tried it in practice. It was a prepared strategy. On Akilon, it's something I've always been thinking about. Like Terran uses medivacs in the match-up, it seemed like it would be good since the opponent would be distracted and wouldn't be able to notice it. I saw that TRUE used them, and I felt I can't lose the nydus war to him.

Q: Who did you want to advance to the winners match?
A: I wanted Keen to come up, because i'm confident in ZvT. So it was good that he advanced.

Q: There's a finalist curse in the GSL, what do you think about that?
A: I think that's happened because those players weren't good, not practicing. I practiced a lot, so I think it's obvious that I advanced.

Q: You are the starter for Azubu in this week's GSTL match, was it hard to prepare for both leagues?
A: No, I practiced for GSL until today, I will prepare for GSTL starting now.

Q: What kind of races would you like to face in the Ro16?
A: ZvP is still hard, I haven't found a proper solution for it. I would like to face mainly Zergs and Terrans.

A: Final comments?
Q: Thanks to my teammates for helping me, and thanks to our coach for coming along. Our head coach really tries to accommodate any requests I make, so I want to thank him for being considerate. GSTL is coming up, a tournament I'm good at. I did poorly last time - our coach seems worried we weren't doing well - so this time I want to do well and make him happy. Finally, thanks to the ones who always cheer for me and help me out.


Samsung_Shine

Q: How do you feel about advancing to the Ro16?
A: Outside Ro32, Ro16, and all that business, it was just so hard playing today. Whenever I play in the GSL, I feel it's a test of endurance.

Q: You paused in the final game because you were sweating.
A: The inside of the booth is so hot, and I was playing in there for so long. It's okay at first, but it eventually got to the degree where I couldn't even play the game, so I asked for the pause after weighing whether I should or not.

Q: Your BW style showed through in the games. Has HotS changed anything for you?
A: I don't feel a big difference between in HotS and WoL personally. Whatever the game, whether it's Brood War, HotS, or WoL, they're all RTS games in the same vein. So I just think I'm playing the same game, I don't feel a big difference.

Q: Symbol beat you in two quick games in the first series. Did you expect that?
A: He used two all-ins, I didn't think he would go in that direction. I thought he would use builds that focused on the mid-late game. I think he already pulled away in the preparation phase.

Q: Symbol touched on that point in his interview.
A: I think that played a big part. I don't watch his VODs, but I watched his style for the first time when he played against RorO in the final. He played a style that was very roach focused, I only thought about that and I didn't think about the early game.

Q: You took down Squirtle with an aggressive style in the losers match.
A: Personally I felt like I was a bit withdrawn, the first game had a big effect on my next games.

In the second game against Squirtle he went for a really late 3rd nexus when I wanted to attack earlier... I think things just weren't going Squirtle's way. In the first game I did a more damage with roach-ling than I expected so I was able to win easily.

Q: What's your goal this tournament?
A: When I got through the prelims in WoL, I said my goal was to win the championship. I think I've come halfway now, and I will prepare well in my next matches and go through the Ro16, Ro8, semis and stand on the finals stage.

Q: [A politely worded version of "your last game against Keen was really weird"]
A: I thought I was in a very good position, from my early ling attack and defending against his attack. Because of that I wanted to overwhelm him once with muta-ling-bane. But because of sweat I couldn't see mines properly, and I couldn't split my units. I took a lot of damage and the game became close. My eyes really stung a lot, because of sweat mixing with the hair wax and running down into my eyes.

Q: How do you think you played overall?
A: I think the ZvP went the way I thought without trouble, so that was good. I made so many mistakes in the ZvT, losing my 3rd hatch in the first game wasn't something that should have happened. In the 2nd game, I felt bad about my play because of the sweat problems. It was a game I could have won cleanly but it was messy. I need to focus more on factors outside of the game.

Q: What kind of group do you want in the next round?
A: I personally want to be in the same group as RorO. But, I guess it's best to meet teammates in the finals. I haven't thought about it so much so it's okay no matter where I go.

Q: Really? You want to play your teammate?
A: RorO's image has changed so much in SC2, he's become known as very solid, all-around flawless player. I want to play him in a touranment, not just in practice. He's become a top class player, and I want to see what that class is all about in a real match.

Q: Any final comments?
A: Our coach puts faith in me and sends me out a lot in Proleague, but I keep disappointing and showing bad games. I want to say I'm so sorry for that. I hope with this as a start, I can keep getting results in the Proleague, and contribute to our team winning the championship.

Writers: pigscanfly and Waxangel.
Graphics: Shiroiusagi
Editor: Waxangel.