GSL Season One
Code A

Group C & D Recaps

Group E & F Previews

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

Partial VODs on YouTube

Flash fails to make the Code S cut.

by lichter and Waxangel

Brood War legend Flash faced his worst setback yet in StarCraft 2 as he was knocked down to the qualifiers in his Code A matches. Despite performing well in Proleague with a 4-2 record, he finished last in his Code A group with a 1-4 record. IM's Yonghwa and KT's SKT's Bravo handed him the defeats.

▲UP: Yonghwa, Leenock ▼DOWN: Flash, BrAvO

Detailed results from: live report thread.
+ Show Spoiler [Click for detailed Results] +

Up to Heaven: IM_YongHwa, Leenock

Considered to be a very skilled but frustratingly inconsistent player by many, Yonghwa showed up in good form for his Code A group. While strong macro play was his core strength on the night, he wasn't afraid to go for some dastardly cheeses as well. Yonghwa's DTs caused both Flash and Leenock plenty of pain, particularly the ones from his one base DT rush on Daedalus Point that Leenock completely failed to prepare for. After finishing in the Ro32 of the past OSL/Code S tournaments, it's time for Yonghwa to see if he can break into the Ro16.

Yonghwa's Reward: The adulation of any remaining eSF fans.

While Yonghwa breezed through with relative ease, Leenock had an excruciatingly hard time escaping the group. His very first match of the night must have frustrated him to the core as he failed to break BrAvO's mech turtling on Yeonsu. Though Leenock recovered to beat BrAvO 2-1, he was immediately thumped 0-2 by Yonghwa and forced into a do-or-die rematch against BrAvO for the final Code S spot.

After losing the first game of the rematch, Leenock seemed to be on the verge of elimination as BrAvO continued to play well and took a lead in game two. However, a micro blunder from BrAvO saw a huge chunk of his forces melted by banelings, allowing Leenock to pull back and tie the series. Pulling out his trusty roach-bane bust in game three, Leenock was able to confirm his passage to Code S. Even in defeat, BrAvO made things difficult for Leenock until the very end, staying in the game with a GG timing he could only have learned from new teammate Fantasy.

Leenock's Reward: More chances to appeal to potential employers.

Back Down to Hell: SKT_BrAvO, KT_Flash

Despite stumbling at the final step, BrAvO showed strong play in his first Code A of 2014 to prove that SKT was right to pick him from the wreckage of Woongjin Stars (he's 1-0 in Proleague as well). And of course, picking apart KT's ace and eliminating him from Code A will surely endear him to SKT fans everywhere. Unfortunately, he has also picked up some of Fantasy's mannerisms and refuses to leave games until the bitter end. But considering how crushed he looked after he lost to Leenock in the final match, we'll give him a pass.

BrAvO's Penance: Play 1000 practice games with Fantasy.

Looking at Flash's performances in Proleague, you had to be surprised at how bad he flopped in Code A. Yonghwa had no trouble fending off Flash's SCV pull timings, always having more than enough troops to crush the attacks. Against BrAvO, Flash was uncharacteristically weak on defense. After losing to an early tank push in game one, he allowed his economy to take a heavy blow from blue-flame hellion game drops in game three. With such a showing in Code A, one has to even wonder if his good Proleague performances will keep up.

Flash's Penance: Call Bisu and ask him how much he's made streaming BW.

▲UP: Symbol, MyuNgSiK ▼DOWN: Keen, Shine

Detailed results from: live report thread.
+ Show Spoiler [Click for detailed Results] +

All four players came to entertain in group D, as we saw a heap of cheese strategies play out in amusing fashion. There was a repeat of a high profile strategy and also an unforgettable game on Yeonsu – to think these matches might have gone unstreamed!

Up to Heaven: Azubu.Symbol and KT_MyuNgSiK

Though the road was not without peril, Symbol deservingly advanced in first place to Code S. On the back of strong macro ZvP, Symbol looked to be superior both MyungSiK and Trust in his matches. However, when cheese was involved, Symbol showed that he was hit or miss. On one hand, a lax follow-up to a 10-pool on Yeonsu almost cost him his place in the Winner's Match. On the other hand Symbol handily defeated an offensive wall-off on Daedalus with a nydus rush. Symbol's most memorable game of the evening would involve cheese as well, as he went up against an in-base 2-gate proxy from MyungSiK. The game defies description, but with a 94% approval rating from TL readers, you can be assured it's worth watching.

Symbol's Reward: Gets to play more ZvP on Daedalus Point.

With two easy 2-0's against KeeN and Trust sandwiching a 1-2 defeat against Symbol, MyuNgSiK advanced in second place to make it to Code S in his very first appearance in the GSL. His phoenix-colossus composition against KeeN looked particularly devastating as he mopped the floor with the MVP Terran, denying drops and remaining obnoxious with his phoenixes all game long. Though his defeat to Symbol in the Winner's Match did not look close aside from aforementioned game on Yeonsu, he redeemed himself by dominating Trust in two PvP's. KT already has two strong Protosses in Zest and Stats (both also in Code A), but everyone knows you can never have enough Protoss stars in PvProleague.

MyuNgSiK's 'Reward': Artosis picks up where he left off last summer and hypes the hell out of MyungSiK in Code S.

Back Down to Hell: MVP.KeeN and CJ_Trust

KeeN went 1-4 in TvP, which at one time was his favorite matchup. His only win came in a macro game, which makes you wonder why he tried repeated hellion harassment in his first series and a proxy rax in his second. None of his prepared builds worked, and a failure to defend effectively against a blink stalker assault on Yeonsu put the final nail in his Code B coffin.

KeeN's Penance: Play standard macro games in TvP for the entirety of the ladder season.

The CJ slide continued as Trust became the next player to join EffOrt in Code B. Though he did manage to take three maps, it did not look impressive in the least. Two were off failed cheeses from his opponents, and the other was a blink build on Yeonsu. Still raw and untested, Trust did little to show that he has what it takes to help right CJ's sinking ship. Will he be just another Code A straggler like many before him?

Trust's Penance: Forced to pay royalties to Ruin for copying his Daedalus cheese and botching it.

Writers: lichter, stuchiu and Waxangel.
Graphics: GomTV, shiroiusagi.
Editor: Waxangel.