EPTCode S: Semi-Finals Recap
By: Porcelina
Results from Live Report Thread by opterown.
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
HyuN vs. Bogus
HyuN <Abyssal City> 
Bogus
HyuN <Whirlwind> Bogus
HyuN <Bel'Shir Vestige> Bogus
HyuN <Daybreak> Bogus
HyuN <Antiga Shipyard> Bogus
HyuN wins 3-1!
Ryung vs. Sniper
Ryung <Whirlwind> Sniper
Ryung <Cloud Kingdom> Sniper
Ryung <Entombed Valley> Sniper
Ryung <Bel'Shir Vestige> Sniper
Ryung <Daybreak> Sniper
Sniper wins 3-2!
HyuN <Abyssal City> BogusHyuN <Whirlwind> BogusHyuN <Bel'Shir Vestige> BogusHyuN <Daybreak> BogusHyuN <Antiga Shipyard> BogusHyuN wins 3-1!Ryung vs. Sniper
Ryung <Whirlwind> SniperRyung <Cloud Kingdom> SniperRyung <Entombed Valley> SniperRyung <Bel'Shir Vestige> SniperRyung <Daybreak> SniperSniper wins 3-2!TSL_HyuN vs. STX_InnovationGame One: Abyssal City
+ Show Spoiler +
While Entombed Valley might be known as two-rax Valley, there is growing evidence that it is located just south of Abyssal City. As with most new maps, it sees a larger amount of cheeses than its older siblings, and Innovation decided to kick off the series with the default cheese.
Hyun, a dedicated drone scouter took this opportunity to deviate from his usual play, letting Innovation set up a bunker contain by his natural. In addition, HyuN opened up with hatch-gas-pool, a risky build he later admitted was a gamble on his opponent not using a cheese rush.
With no real way to effectively drone pull to prevent the bunkers going up, Innovation was able to kill the natural expansion. Instead of going home with his forces and playing a macro game, Innovation set up a strong bunker contain, placing three bunkers to ensure that no additional base would be constructed. Hyun decided to run by with his lings, threatening a ling/baneling bust against the three bunker wall set up by Innovation. However the Terran player had sent a single marine back just in time and headed back with a part of his containment force. Hyun decided to try to go for the retreating army instead of taking down the wall, but Innovation had a Zen moment of marine splitting, taking minimal damage against the banelings, retaining his army. In a last ditch effort, Hyun amassed a ling army to break the contain, but was not able to trade efficiently against Innovation’s bunker hopping micro, and GG'd out shortly after.
Hyun 0 - 1 Innovation
Hyun, a dedicated drone scouter took this opportunity to deviate from his usual play, letting Innovation set up a bunker contain by his natural. In addition, HyuN opened up with hatch-gas-pool, a risky build he later admitted was a gamble on his opponent not using a cheese rush.
With no real way to effectively drone pull to prevent the bunkers going up, Innovation was able to kill the natural expansion. Instead of going home with his forces and playing a macro game, Innovation set up a strong bunker contain, placing three bunkers to ensure that no additional base would be constructed. Hyun decided to run by with his lings, threatening a ling/baneling bust against the three bunker wall set up by Innovation. However the Terran player had sent a single marine back just in time and headed back with a part of his containment force. Hyun decided to try to go for the retreating army instead of taking down the wall, but Innovation had a Zen moment of marine splitting, taking minimal damage against the banelings, retaining his army. In a last ditch effort, Hyun amassed a ling army to break the contain, but was not able to trade efficiently against Innovation’s bunker hopping micro, and GG'd out shortly after.
Hyun 0 - 1 Innovation
Game Two: Whirlwind
+ Show Spoiler +
Innovation started out on Daybreak with a conservative barracks into low ground expansion build. Hyun played the standard hatch first opening, countering the Terran follow up of reactored hellions with a roach warren. While Innovation played greedily by delaying his starport for a third cc, Hyun built for heavy lair aggression, getting roach speed alongside the usual infestors, lings, and banes.
While Innovation did well to hold off the initial mass roach-bane aggression with clever bunker placement and overall good defense, the character of the game was turned solidly in Hyun’s favor when Innovation later tried to push out to get some map control. With liberal amounts of banelings and good fungals, he routed the Terran push convincingly, not only taking a significant lead in the game but threatening a game ending counter attack before Innovation could reproduce a good standing army.
Some drop harassment tied up HyuN temporarily, but he was soon back on the offensive with a massive ground army. Before he even had ultralisks on the field, HyuN went for game ending frontal attack, against which Innovation was powerless to hold.
Hyun 1 - 1 Innovation
While Innovation did well to hold off the initial mass roach-bane aggression with clever bunker placement and overall good defense, the character of the game was turned solidly in Hyun’s favor when Innovation later tried to push out to get some map control. With liberal amounts of banelings and good fungals, he routed the Terran push convincingly, not only taking a significant lead in the game but threatening a game ending counter attack before Innovation could reproduce a good standing army.
Some drop harassment tied up HyuN temporarily, but he was soon back on the offensive with a massive ground army. Before he even had ultralisks on the field, HyuN went for game ending frontal attack, against which Innovation was powerless to hold.
Hyun 1 - 1 Innovation
Game Three: Bel’Shir Vestige
+ Show Spoiler +
Game three saw a near identical start to game two, with Innovation playing it safe with a one barracks expand build while Hyun again went for hatch then pool. The deviation came as reactor hellion production was started for the Terran, who opted to go for another factory to produce blue flame. Hyun made a substantial investment in drones early on, sacrificing tech for early economy. Innovation was able to hide his hellion build by only poking out with four at a time, but made a move out as a spire went down for Hyun. With no roaches and minimal spine and queen coverage, Hyun suffered substantial drone losses as fifteen blue flame hellions launched themselves into his base.
With economy largely equalized, Innovation went into mech play with added factories and double armory. Hyun meanwhile threatened a counterattack with his new mutalisks. It turned out that Innovation's early hellion gambit had come at a cost, as he had no engineering bay or vikings, and just minimal amounts of marines to defend, and was forced to eat scv losses while waiting for his first thors. The game became about harassment on both sides as hellions were transported in medivacs to take out more drones while mutalisks magic boxed thors in low numbers and inflicted more damage in return.
Knowing that the game stood on a knife’s edge, and possibly miscalculating his position, Innovation decided to amass thors and attack with thors and hellions. Hyun had read the game perfectly, switching to roaches in time. As the Terran moved out, he was in an all-in position as the mutalisks took out the last parts of his failing economy. But while his push looked strong, the roach production had kicked in just in time. With a beautiful flank set up just as the mech army approached his base; Hyun tore the thors apart and ensured he was on match point.
Hyun 2 - 1 Innovation
With economy largely equalized, Innovation went into mech play with added factories and double armory. Hyun meanwhile threatened a counterattack with his new mutalisks. It turned out that Innovation's early hellion gambit had come at a cost, as he had no engineering bay or vikings, and just minimal amounts of marines to defend, and was forced to eat scv losses while waiting for his first thors. The game became about harassment on both sides as hellions were transported in medivacs to take out more drones while mutalisks magic boxed thors in low numbers and inflicted more damage in return.
Knowing that the game stood on a knife’s edge, and possibly miscalculating his position, Innovation decided to amass thors and attack with thors and hellions. Hyun had read the game perfectly, switching to roaches in time. As the Terran moved out, he was in an all-in position as the mutalisks took out the last parts of his failing economy. But while his push looked strong, the roach production had kicked in just in time. With a beautiful flank set up just as the mech army approached his base; Hyun tore the thors apart and ensured he was on match point.
Hyun 2 - 1 Innovation
Game Four: Daybreak
+ Show Spoiler +
Innovation went back to his Whirlwind build for the fourth map, opting for barracks into low ground command center into an early third before Starport. Hyun on the other hand went for an early lair into a third and infestation pit.
As Hyun had delayed his upgrades in order to boost his infestor production, he unleashed a hit squad towards Innovation’s bases. Splitting up his burrowed units, he stationed them at the scv lines in both the main and natural base. Innovation seemed to have predicted that this might be a real possibility, but his turret guarding the entrance to the natural was not constructed in time to reveal the Zerg units. As Hyun started his harassment, he went up to an early hive as the Terran forced were pinned down defending against the inefstors. Soon after the attacks would continue as infestors attacked the exposed third, killing the scv line but sacrificing their lives. However with limited gas spent elsewhere; Hyun was still able to amass more infestors.
The hammer blow fell as Innovation thought he had stabilized. Not quite judging the Zerg army’s position, he tried to take control of the bottom of his ramp only to find picturesque fungals covering his army. With 45 banelings waiting for the perfect moment to flood the gates, a moment of seeing siege tanks unsieged and bio immobilized was just what Hyun needed to clinch the game, the series and his spot in the GSL Code S finals.
Hyun 3 - 1 Innovation
As Hyun had delayed his upgrades in order to boost his infestor production, he unleashed a hit squad towards Innovation’s bases. Splitting up his burrowed units, he stationed them at the scv lines in both the main and natural base. Innovation seemed to have predicted that this might be a real possibility, but his turret guarding the entrance to the natural was not constructed in time to reveal the Zerg units. As Hyun started his harassment, he went up to an early hive as the Terran forced were pinned down defending against the inefstors. Soon after the attacks would continue as infestors attacked the exposed third, killing the scv line but sacrificing their lives. However with limited gas spent elsewhere; Hyun was still able to amass more infestors.
The hammer blow fell as Innovation thought he had stabilized. Not quite judging the Zerg army’s position, he tried to take control of the bottom of his ramp only to find picturesque fungals covering his army. With 45 banelings waiting for the perfect moment to flood the gates, a moment of seeing siege tanks unsieged and bio immobilized was just what Hyun needed to clinch the game, the series and his spot in the GSL Code S finals.
Hyun 3 - 1 Innovation
Game Five: Antiga Shipyard
+ Show Spoiler +
MVP.Sniper vs. AX.RyungGame One: Whirlwind
+ Show Spoiler +
The first game of Sniper vs. Ryung surprisingly gave us the first command center first opening of the day as the Axiom player used it as a wall off. Sniper meanwhile took the tested and true hatch first into pool and gas for ling speed route. As with the series between Hyun and Innovation, we were treated to a game with an extended midgame, Sniper not teching up particularly aggressively but retaining map control with lings, banelings and eventually mutalisks.
Ryung was opting for heavy bio play, trying to use his positional awareness to counteract any attacks the MVP Zerg would try. As the game progressed, it looked like Ryung might be able to take hold of the middle ground in front of his bases, setting up a tank line and starting bunker production. However, Sniper found a weakness in the line, and with mass amounts of banelings he was able to flood the position taken by Ryung, convincingly breaking the tank line with lings and mutalisks while banelings connected heavily with marines. Ryung tried to hold on against the leftover lings and mutalisks, but soon saw no other option than to call a good game.
Sniper 1 - 0 Ryung
Ryung was opting for heavy bio play, trying to use his positional awareness to counteract any attacks the MVP Zerg would try. As the game progressed, it looked like Ryung might be able to take hold of the middle ground in front of his bases, setting up a tank line and starting bunker production. However, Sniper found a weakness in the line, and with mass amounts of banelings he was able to flood the position taken by Ryung, convincingly breaking the tank line with lings and mutalisks while banelings connected heavily with marines. Ryung tried to hold on against the leftover lings and mutalisks, but soon saw no other option than to call a good game.
Sniper 1 - 0 Ryung
Game Two: Cloud Kingdom
+ Show Spoiler +
With map three being Entombed Valley, it seemed like a nice mind game for Ryung to go for an 11/12 proxy racks build on the second map. Pulling five scvs to help out his attack and make a bunker to threaten the natural, Ryung looked theoretically in good shape to inflict damage and at least go into a macro game comfortably.
The first attacking force was greeted by a drone pull, forcing Ryung to cancel his first attempt at a bunker. While Sniper lost a drone early on, he was able to start ling production before reinforcements could secure a new building placement. In less than a minute, the situation went from bad to absolutely terrible for Ryung. Zergling production was already going in full force as Ryung was tentatively starting his bunker, but he took losses while trying to defend it and Sniper calmly set up a ling flank while letting Ryung take his hatchery down to half health. As the bunker was destroyed by a queen and lings, the workers lost tab showed the Terran down 7 - 1 and in an unrecoverable position.
Sniper 2 - 0 Ryung
The first attacking force was greeted by a drone pull, forcing Ryung to cancel his first attempt at a bunker. While Sniper lost a drone early on, he was able to start ling production before reinforcements could secure a new building placement. In less than a minute, the situation went from bad to absolutely terrible for Ryung. Zergling production was already going in full force as Ryung was tentatively starting his bunker, but he took losses while trying to defend it and Sniper calmly set up a ling flank while letting Ryung take his hatchery down to half health. As the bunker was destroyed by a queen and lings, the workers lost tab showed the Terran down 7 - 1 and in an unrecoverable position.
Sniper 2 - 0 Ryung
Game Three: Entombed Valley
+ Show Spoiler +
Finally, the Entombed Valley build was unveiled. While Sniper had defended the double proxy racks play perfectly in game two, Entombed Valley was a different story. It again started out rather clumsily for Ryung, his first bunker again canceled. He was able to construct simultaneously on low and high ground at the Zerg natural shortly thereafter, but this bought Sniper enough time to have a Spinecrawler ready, outside of bunker reach. Sniper continued to hold off the aggression nicely, positioning lings to intercept reinforcing marines and saving his hatchery at low health. However with less SCV damage taken and a second base started early on, Ryung was in better shape. As Sniper thought the threat was over, he overextended with his spine crawler upon trying to move it to the front of his natural, and a remaining force of marines was happy to take out the all important tower.
While his aggressive opening having netted him a good advantage, Ryung was able to quickly go into a third and settle the game into macro mode, the layout of the map preventing Sniper from countering. Constantly threatening to launch further attacks, he forced the Zerg into sustained army production, taking incremental leads in economy. With an economy lead and a nearly impenetrable defense, Ryung took the fight to the skies, with persistent medivac drops to punish the late lair tech and relative inability to fend this off by infestors alone. He kept on taking small victories, expending infestor energy gaining advantages.
As the final battles started to take place, the numbers game took its toll on Sniper. Trading somewhat cost effectively was not enough as Ryung could both take even battles while still dedicating parts of his army for continued harass. While the Zerg was able to hold on to his fourth as Ryung refused to make a dedicated attack, Sniper was too far behind to both defend and win a decisive battle, finally conceding the game as his natural was taken out after another inconclusive midfield battle.
Sniper 2 - 1 Ryung
While his aggressive opening having netted him a good advantage, Ryung was able to quickly go into a third and settle the game into macro mode, the layout of the map preventing Sniper from countering. Constantly threatening to launch further attacks, he forced the Zerg into sustained army production, taking incremental leads in economy. With an economy lead and a nearly impenetrable defense, Ryung took the fight to the skies, with persistent medivac drops to punish the late lair tech and relative inability to fend this off by infestors alone. He kept on taking small victories, expending infestor energy gaining advantages.
As the final battles started to take place, the numbers game took its toll on Sniper. Trading somewhat cost effectively was not enough as Ryung could both take even battles while still dedicating parts of his army for continued harass. While the Zerg was able to hold on to his fourth as Ryung refused to make a dedicated attack, Sniper was too far behind to both defend and win a decisive battle, finally conceding the game as his natural was taken out after another inconclusive midfield battle.
Sniper 2 - 1 Ryung
Game Four: Bel’Shir Vestige
+ Show Spoiler +
Bel’Shir Vestige brought more of the common opening of the night, Ryung opting for barracks into low ground expansion while Sniper stayed true to his macro Zerg play of hatchery into pool and ling speed.
As the game progressed with no real advantage going to either player, Ryung went into blue flame hellion production while Sniper headed towards spire play. With the timings slightly in the favor of the Terran player, he seized the opportunity to punish the lackluster defense with a hellion run-by, scoring drone and zergling kills to take a sizeable lead. Mutalisks came out in time to help clean up the attack, but thor production started fast for the Terran player holding off the inevitable counterattack.
With the game stabilizing and both players macroing it up, Ryung went into very heavy siege tank production. Sniper seemed reluctant to aggressively tech and looked sloppy in losing parts of his mutalisk contingent to thors, vikings and marines twice. Ryung was in heavy control of the match, and launched a decisive attack on the third of Sniper after having spent some time trying to take his own fourth. While the MVP Zerg had predicted the push and prepared with roaches, he was not ready for the sheer amount of tanks sieging up. While Sniper was able to partially deal with the attack, he judged that his position was lost and surrendered the tying game to Ryung.
Sniper 2 - 2 Ryung
As the game progressed with no real advantage going to either player, Ryung went into blue flame hellion production while Sniper headed towards spire play. With the timings slightly in the favor of the Terran player, he seized the opportunity to punish the lackluster defense with a hellion run-by, scoring drone and zergling kills to take a sizeable lead. Mutalisks came out in time to help clean up the attack, but thor production started fast for the Terran player holding off the inevitable counterattack.
With the game stabilizing and both players macroing it up, Ryung went into very heavy siege tank production. Sniper seemed reluctant to aggressively tech and looked sloppy in losing parts of his mutalisk contingent to thors, vikings and marines twice. Ryung was in heavy control of the match, and launched a decisive attack on the third of Sniper after having spent some time trying to take his own fourth. While the MVP Zerg had predicted the push and prepared with roaches, he was not ready for the sheer amount of tanks sieging up. While Sniper was able to partially deal with the attack, he judged that his position was lost and surrendered the tying game to Ryung.
Sniper 2 - 2 Ryung
Game Five: Daybreak
+ Show Spoiler +
As the deciding game between Hyun and Innovation was on Daybreak, the second semi-final series would also see its finale play out on the most standard of maps. Given this, it was no surprise seeing both players go for standard builds.
Ryung showed his trump card in going for an incredibly mundane and standard hellion-banshee into quick third command center. However, his aerial assault did little to stifle the economy of Sniper, who quickly went to lair and got his infestation pit. While Ryung tried to gain an economy edge in landing his third early on, Sniper simply amassed a more mobile army and got to control the map as he pleased. Going for heavy melee upgrades, he was able to outmaneuver the Terran player, swinging a ling attack around to the third base, killing off the worker line and forcing it to lift.
Facing a major deficit, Ryung tried to fight his way back in with drops. However he was still unable to establish real control at this third and his harassment was deftly blocked. Sniper took his fourth base while getting ultralisks ready while the Terran could only hope to get a favorable engagement to somehow even the game out. With Sniper still commanding the map, he simply denied Ryung any such possibility, catching the Terran army with fungals and punishing Ryung for trying to push back the Zerg aggression. While Ryung tried to hang on, defending his ramp admirably with minimal forces, the game was mostly ended as Sniper once again forced the third to be inoperable. Further resistance lasted for a while, but at half the supply and a third of the economy, Ryung had to admit defeat in the end.
Sniper 3 - 2 Ryung
Ryung showed his trump card in going for an incredibly mundane and standard hellion-banshee into quick third command center. However, his aerial assault did little to stifle the economy of Sniper, who quickly went to lair and got his infestation pit. While Ryung tried to gain an economy edge in landing his third early on, Sniper simply amassed a more mobile army and got to control the map as he pleased. Going for heavy melee upgrades, he was able to outmaneuver the Terran player, swinging a ling attack around to the third base, killing off the worker line and forcing it to lift.
Facing a major deficit, Ryung tried to fight his way back in with drops. However he was still unable to establish real control at this third and his harassment was deftly blocked. Sniper took his fourth base while getting ultralisks ready while the Terran could only hope to get a favorable engagement to somehow even the game out. With Sniper still commanding the map, he simply denied Ryung any such possibility, catching the Terran army with fungals and punishing Ryung for trying to push back the Zerg aggression. While Ryung tried to hang on, defending his ramp admirably with minimal forces, the game was mostly ended as Sniper once again forced the third to be inoperable. Further resistance lasted for a while, but at half the supply and a third of the economy, Ryung had to admit defeat in the end.
Sniper 3 - 2 Ryung
Code S: Grand Finals Preview
By: Fionn
GSL Season 5 Code S Finals: TSL_HyuN vs. MVP.Sniper
TSL_HyuN vs. MVP.SniperInfestation Pit
And Ryung stood firm, bloodied but resolute, having fought with all his strength against the heartless killer in front of him. He had been battered by an early onslaught, but found his second wind after, dodging and weaving his way through his opponent's attacks to inflict stinging wounds. As the two gladiators circled each other for one last clash, Ryung noticed the eerie silence from a crowd that had once given him strength – they waited with hushed breath for life to end in one final flurry of steel.
Ryung took the initiative, feinting a defensive posture only to spring forth with his spear. His opponent narrowly dodged the blow with an awkward step back, and Ryung lunged again to take advantage of his unbalanced opponent...
...then Ryung screamed in pain as his opponent deftly spun behind him, made flourished a blade, and sliced through his hamstrings. Ryung felt himself helplessly crumple to his knees, as his weapon was kicked from his hands and far beyond his reach. A cold hand grabbed his head and forced him to look up into dead, emotionless eyes.
“Any final words?”
With his life flashing before him, Ryung remembered instantly all that he had lived for, and all the most important things he had believed in. His body would fall, but maybe his spirit would fight on through his words.
”IMBA IMBA IMBA IMBA IMBA IMBA IMBA IMBA IMBA IMBA”
The stone faced man paused to let a rare frown cross his face.
“So be it.”
As steel crossed his throat, Ryung had time for one final thought.
'They better remember this.'
In a time when every thread about Starcraft somehow turns into a discussion about infestors or Zerg being overpowered, we are now heading into another major tournament where the final two players are from the Zerg race. MLG Dallas showed us that a ZvZ final can be enjoyable, with Leenock and Life putting on a great show for the crowd, but it's no surprise that some people will be turned off by the prospect of infested terran blobs killing each other for ten minutes straight before one side eventually wins. For Zerg anti-fans, it might be a blessing in disguise, as the Blizzard brass in attendance at IPL5 might get to see two ZvZ finals before it's all said and done.
Before we get into the players, let me try and give you 10 reasons why you should watch this final. If these reasons can't change your mind, then I guess nothing can bring you back.
1) At least with only one race in the finals, there can't be tons of balance whining, right? Right...?
2) These two players are some of the best currently in Starcraft 2. You can complain about their race all you want, but these two have been steadily becoming better throughout the summer and your patchzerg complaints are invalid.
3) This is only the third final ever that hasn't involved Mvp, Nestea, MC, DRG or MMA. Don't you just love variety and new players?! Who needs established stars, I say!
4) The crowd has been awesome so far. Even if you don't enjoy ZvZ itself, why not turn in to see a thousand signs referencing Ryung's 'IMBA IMBA IMBA IMBA' comment at the end of his series against Sniper?
5) You can enjoy unique esports games such 'Take a drink every time Tasteless or Artosis says the 'sick fungals!'
6) Wouldn't it be fun if Sniper actually won the GSL? Would the world end? Would Heart, TheBest, BitbyBit, appear out of nowhere to storm the stage and celebrate with him, unveiling the newly formed villain faction? We've never seen a player like Sniper get this far in the GSL, and it would be interesting to see the reaction he gets if he wins.
7) What else are you going to do on a Saturday night? Hang out with your friends? Go on date? Study for a test more than 24 hours before it's scheduled? Come on.
8) ZvZ isn't a bad match-up. Actually, in the last two months, ZvZ has actually been one of the more entertaining match-ups depending on who is playing. Not denying the chance that the series will rank right up there with Nestea/Inca and Seed/MC, but it's not like ZvZ is unbearable to watch.
9) There is a chance that Ryung might bust into Sniper's booth during one of the games, beat him over the head with a keyboard, and then steal the GSL trophy.
10) It's a GSL finals. Tastosis is going to be at their best, the crowd is going to be hyped, and we're going to crown a new champion. It's not the most attractive final and this is the weirdest Code S season of all-time, but it's still a GSL final and one way or another, it's going to be remembered for years to come. Will it be remembered for good or bad reasons is what we'll find out tonight.
Hyun: The Mastodon
How he got here: Hyun and jjakji will have a lot in common if the TSL Zerg can capture the GSL championship. While jjakji might have had more luck through his GSL run, the biggest break he got the entire tournament was that Coca - a player that many thought could contend for a title that season - had to drop out of Code S due to a scandal with Byun during a Korean Weekly. This allowed jjakji, even with a loss to Mvp in the first match of the night, to go on and beat Virus to make it into the next round.
If Hyun wins the title, he really needs to send a thank you card to Rain for forfeiting his spot in the first round of this season and going to MLG Dallas instead. You could make a case that it really didn't matter if Hyun had gotten out of the group first, but he actually scraped by in second place, only being able to beat Gumiho twice while falling to Yoda in the winner's match. If Rain, who had just come off a complete mauling of DRG in the OSL finals, was there that night to face Hyun, would this season have played out entirely differently? Could Rain dropping out have brought us this ZvZ final that we're now witnessing?
After getting through the first stage, Hyun made it through the second round in second place once again, finishing behind MarineKing, after barely being able to take out Hack in the final match of the night. In the knockout rounds where Hyun only had to focus on a single player, he didn't have too much trouble, ousting Creator 3-1 and following that up with another strong performance against Innovation with the same score after dropping the first map due to a double proxy rax.
Why he will become your GSL champion: Between him and Sniper, Hyun has the edge in experience. He was never a superstar in Brood War, but he was in various single tournaments and was able to take some big wins off top players in stressful situations.
When Hyun first started playing SC2, he was terrible. This is not hyperbole and like I'm saying that a Code S player is terrible because he lost a few games in a row. Every single game Hyun played in his early days, he would do amazing in the early game to his mechanics and micro, but fall apart in the end game. At the climax of every single map he played, be it ZvZ, ZvT, or ZvP, he would make around 100 to 150 banes, send them towards the stronger composition of his opponent, and watch his his army evaporate in seconds.
Through months of training, learning the game, and really being able to come into his own, Hyun has become one of the strongest players in the world. In terms of preparation, he might be the best in the world. He didn't do very well at Dreamhack Stockholm or at IPL5, but he is proving himself to be an incredible best of five + player. With his historic fourteen match win streak during IPL Fight Club and two dominating wins in the knockout rounds of this season, Hyun knows how to break down an opponent and keep his cool in a long series.
TSL has not had a champion since the very first season when FruitDealer took home the trophy, but Hyun might finally bring the championship back to the team where it all started.
GSL Champion Hyun would be remembered for: If Hyun wins the title, aside the fact that the whole Rain dropping out of GSL might have changed the entire season as we know it, he'll be remembered for being in the middle between the Mvp and MC's of the world who switched games right at the start of SC2, and the Flash and Jaedong's of the world who switched games only when they were forced to. People will argue that this is proof that the Elephant in the Room article has some validation, while others will argue that Hyun isn't an elephant at all and learned everything he knew about SC2 from his teammates on TSL and playing long time eSF players on the ladder.
The ghost of FruitDealer still haunts the halls of the TSL training house, being the only player on the team to ever win a GS(T)L championship for TSL, and Hyun might be able to stop the two year drought of TSL players not winning a GSL championship and become the worthy successor of GSL's first king.
Sniper: The Destroyer of Worlds, Dreams, and Fun
How he got here: Sniper just won't die. Placing second in both the first and second stage of Code S, he was able to get into the knockout rounds by the skin of his teeth. Dropping to MKP during his Ro32 group in a close 1 - 2 affair, he was able to defeat former champion Seed and then sOs in the final match of the night to secure his place in the Ro16. At this point, no one really noticed Sniper all that much. He had an average first round with no outstanding games played, and he was thrown into a group with fan favorites Polt and Parting, alongside the mysterious Innovation from STX Soul.
In the Ro16, he fell in the first match against Innovation, losing another nail biting series 1 – 2 to be faced with PartinG in an elimination match. With his undisputed immortal/sentry all-in streak on the line, Parting told Sniper before their first match he was going to use it once more, to which Sniper responded by stomping it for the first time in a broadcast game. Parting tried to do another all-in on the next map, but failed, sending Sniper to a final match against Polt. Just as he had against Parting, Sniper countered both of Polt's builds, beating his marauder/hellion all-in and then roach/bane rushing his greedy early third CC.
In the quarterfinals, his streak of killing fan favorites continued, beating Leenock - the heavy favorite to win the entire tournament - in four games. After landing in Las Vegas, he took a quick 2 - 0 lead over Ryung, but the Terran fought back to tie it up and force a final game on Daybreak. Sniper killed the epic comeback with solid play, overrunning the Terran and taking his spot in the final.
Why he will become GSL champion: Sniper is on fire. At the time of this writing, he is in the Ro8 of IPL5 and in the finals of GSL. His play might be considered dull or maybe not the most exciting, but he his record and play suggest he could be the best in the world. He is sound in all areas, is one of the best multitasking Zergs, and his macro is phenomenal. Hyun might be better at preparing for opponents, but Sniper's recent results offline are simply better than the TSL Zerg.
It's almost impossible to kill Sniper. He has been down and out a few times this season, hanging on a thread to advance, but he always pulls through. Getting second in both his groups and then needing to win a 5th map to take the semifinals, he knows how to conquer pressure situations. He doesn't have the experience edge, but that might not matter since nerves don't seem to really shake him.
GSL Champion Sniper would be remembered for: Sniper will be remembered for being the most polarizing champion of all-time. Polt might have gotten some hate back when he won the Super Tournament, but nothing like Sniper is receiving at the moment. There seems to be a group of fans who love Sniper, loving his anti-hero persona and his verbal smackdown on Ryung for daring to devalue his semi-final win as being due to imba. There is also another big group of people who dislike him for his brilliant, but dull play and knack for killing fan favorites, ruining epic moments, and making girls cry.
Overall thoughts and prediction:
These two have played each other in the past five months, Hyun taking out Sniper 2 - 0 in Code A, but the MVP Zerg getting his revenge in the GSTL semifinals a lot more recently. When looking at their ZvZ stats, they're both insanely good at the match-up, both hosting over 60% in the match-up, but past stats only matter so much.
In the battle of infestors headbutting each other, you have to just go with your gut when picking one side to stand behind. Sniper is destroying everyone recently, and Hyun doesn't really lose when he has time to prepare for an opponent. When it comes to practice partners, Sniper has DRG along with him to practice and talk with, and Hyun has Shine and Symbol to train with before the final. They both have good ZvZ practice partners and teammates to help with preparations, so no one has the edge there.
This final is the weirdest we've ever had, both never being in a major final before. Leenock and jjakji might have been the least star studded before this one, but people forget Leenock was coming off a MLG Providence championship and had tons of fan support heading into the finals. In the strangest season we've ever had, this is the final that sums up the tournament perfectly.
Sit down and watch the final with a clear mind. If you head into it hoping for the most epic ZvZ of all-time, then you'll come out feeling cheated and more than likely hating the final. Open a cool beverage, have some fun, and just enjoy the festivities with no expectations at all. This is the final Code S final of the year, so go ahead and enjoy it.
I'm going to take Hyun in a close series, but you know what's going to happen? Sniper will probably win 4-0 in less than two hours, the floors of the Cosmopolitan will open up, and the world will end right there and then. Happy GSL finals everyone!
Prediction: Hyun 4 - 3 Sniper
Writers: Fionn and Porcelina.
Graphics and Art: Meko.
Editors: Waxangel.
