The Long Road Home
- HerO and Taeja eliminated by First and Genius upon returning from NASL

Being on a foreign team is a great opportunity for the Korean professional. You get more exposure; you gain new and otherwise unavailable fans. You get to travel and win foreign tournaments. But you also have to deal with the rigors of travel, which were never so accentuated as they were in the past four weeks when there was a major tournament every weekend.

For Liquid`HerO and Liquid`TaeJa, it is hard to say exactly how much they lost due to travel, lack of preparation time or such external factors. After all, the results they attained during their four week world tour were actually quite good.

What was abundantly clear is that HerO looked more like himself circa summer of this year in terms of PvP. In game one he was rolling the dice, not scouting out LG-IM_First four gate warp prism attack and paid dearly. In game two, his three gate pressure looked suspect from the start, and while he was behind he could have stabilized if not for misjudging the game state, not opting to go home after making favorable mid map trades. For Taeja it looked like more of the same, in game one he was in a spectacular position going into the midgame, but failed to capitalize on it repeatedly, losing fight after fight when well ahead in terms of army strength. He defended competently against Genius' blink all-in in game two, but in game three he lost to a different all-in despite scouting it out.

While HerO looked objectively worse between the two Liquid players, blaming things on PvP provides an easy way out, For Taeja the picture is murkier, this being the next in a long string of bad TvP losses. It was another indication that the matchup is starting to become a real Achilles Heel.

For First, it was another PvP victory over HerO; at MLG Raleigh he looked dominant and did little here to disprove that he has the NASL S4 winner’s ticket head to head. For Genius, it was an indication that he might be ready to go on another adventure with a new team in 2013.

Same side, different tactics
- KeSPA players Fantasy and RorO impress in different ways, defeating finale and MC comprehensively.

SKT_Fantasy vs. MVP.finale and Samsung_RorO vs. SK_MC were two of the most anticipated matches of the evening. Fantasy holds a special place in many people’s hearts, but perhaps most interesting is the fact that the Terrorist himself has stated that StarCraft II might be a better fit for him in terms of gameplay than Brood War ever was. For a player as decorated as the T1 virtuoso, such words should whet the appetite of even the most jaded observer. His first season of GSL has done little to disprove the notion that he might indeed be a special player so far, the series against finale being another showcase of his potential.

While finale was able to pull the old Protoss trick of not expanding but busting through an insufficient amount of bunkers and army units in game two, the first and third revealed that Fantasy already looks like a lethal TvP player. Game one was a treat to watch for anyone able to enjoy the finesse of Terran strategies. Relying on hellions and banshees to control the early game, Fantasy was able to harass competently, exploiting positioning and range to keep his cloaked banshees safe while getting ahead in economy. An added nice touch was his insistence on getting the most out of his aerial threat by pulling back and repairing before going back again for a second and third assault on the probe lines instead of suiciding his units as stalker numbers grew. As the game unfolded, he not only amassed the better army, but ran finale ragged by forcing him to defend multiple locations with an inadequate force. Game three was another macro game, where Fantasy was not quite as elegant but left no doubt that he is more than good enough to brute force a concession out of an opponent.

The other heralded KeSPA player to make it through the evening session was RorO. His transition from Brood War to StarCraft II has been an interesting one, and seemingly came to a full circle in defeating MC to clinch his spot for the round of 24. During the qualification brackets for the last Brood War OSL, he broke many hearts by ensuring that Bisu would never get his OSL gold. Last night he was back to old tactics, eliminating another fan favorite Protoss.

It is funny how the transition has been fairly seamless for the Samsung Khan Zerg. He was able to cheese Bisu out of his last chance of clinching the most one title that eluded him. His defeat of MC was eerily equivalent, relying on MC’s lack of scouting and over-adventurous units in the early game to flood in with zerglings. In the first game, he used a modified version of the Leenock trap, though he let his third finish and researched ling speed before flooding the gates of the Protoss natural when MC mistakenly decided to venture forth. The second game was a very nice counter to MC’s attempt at a four gate plus one attack timing; as the Protoss skimped on defensive units to assault the Zerg third, RorO calmly flooded MC’s natural with lings and roaches, happily trading his own third for destroying half of the Protoss economy completely.

The two Protoss players took expected defeats; finale looked outclassed by Fantasy while MC has had his fortunes reverse completely since 2011. Where he was once able to win in just about any situation, he now looks destined to lose in similar ways. There's no shortage of foreign states that would like to host the exiled President, but MC must still long for his old office.


The new faces of Protoss
- YongHwa defeats Squirtle and sOs moves on after beating Shine.

LG-IM_YongHwa is looking more and more set to make his long awaited Code S debut. As he finally broke free of his ‘will always lose in the finals of Code A preliminaries’ bonds, he has taken the momentum granted by team league displays of domination and started his ascension to the premier league of StarCraft.

Against ST_Squirtle, there was a definite sense of a change in the air. With Seed and Rain officially out of the GSL, Squirtle was the prime representative of the emergence of 2012’s new Protoss talent. As we head into 2013 we see newer faces still, as the Korean Protoss contingent continue to be in a state of utter confusion as to who should be considered its top players. YongHwa has long been thought to be one of the most promising, but it certainly must be comforting to know that time might have come upon us to see his results give credence to the assumption.

Another new Protoss face making strides would be Woongjin Stars’ sOs. While he was not able to progress in Code S on his first try, his win over Shine at least provides him more opportunities for a second chance. His most impressive displays still squarely come from PvP, but his wins against Shine showed that there is potential strength to be harnessed from his PvZ as well.

MVP making up for a GSTL loss in the individual leagues
- Vampire crushes Trap and Keen edges out Byul to make it into the round of 24.

As crushing as a team league finals loss may be, it sure helps to see members continue to climb the ladder in terms of individual performance. Both Vampire and KeeN aspire to become Code S regulars, with Keen having hovered around the level since seemingly forever. Vampire still has his PvT woes to cure, but his other matchups still look to give hope for some consistency. Keen again looks like an improved version of himself, no longer falling apart when his harass fail to provide him significant leads and revealing an ability to change the momentum of his TvZ in ways not really showcased before.

While the round of 32 may have been a mixed bag for MVP as a team, Code A as such has been a pretty overwhelming success. With only Tails failing to progress at all, they look set further improve their GSL performance in terms of sheer numbers and with Vampire and Keen progressing, the results to tick in.

We've entered the final round, where those priceless Code S spots are finally up for grabs. GSL's excursion to IPL5 has cluttered the schedule a bit, and the players who won in round two will be playing these final round with just a couple of days to practice in between.

MVP.Noblesse vs. MVP.DongRaeGu

Noblesse's stock is up, and DongRaeGu's stock is down. Though there's still some distance between DongRaeGu and his teammate Noblesse, the gap has been considerably narrowed, and it will be no walk in the park for the MVP captain.

After disappearing from the GSL scene for nearly a year, Noblesse started fighting his way back in September of 2012. Back then, he was thwarted by Creator in Code A, but he gave the reigning WCS Korea and TSL4 champion a very tough fight. On the back of that performance, it wasn't surprising when Noblesse broke through the Code B qualifiers for a second time the following season, and beat JYP in the first round of Code A. Two days ago he beat LG-IM's Happy as well, making it two Code S regulars he has knocked off to reach this point.

The big question mark for Noblesse will be his TvZ. His other two match-ups have looked very good in his return, but there hasn't been much TvZ to see. He did play a single game against YuGiOh in the GSTL, where he followed the familiar Whirlwind script of "play well but lose to brood lords anyway."

On the other hand, we've seen a lot of DongRaeGu's ZvT lately, and it tells a mixed story. If you look at just the stats: 2 – 0 Mvp, 0 – 2 Ryung, 2 – 0 ByuN, 0 – 2 YoDa, 2 – 0 TheStC, 1 – 2 Bomber. That's a respectable record against Code S class Terrans, but it's not what you expect from a player who used to dominate the ZvT match-up like no one else. The problem seems to be that DRG is in a weird in-between zone land. Terrans have become a lot better at dealing with his favored muta-ling-bane style, and while his ling-infestor to brood lord play is good, it's not good enough to make him stick out above other players. DongRaeGu is looking awfully generic, and while though you can win a championship by being generically good (see: Sniper), it's weird to see that from a stylistic player like DRG.

All in all, we'll give DRG the edge against his teammate. Noblesse has yet to show us he can perform at the same level in TvZ as in TvT and TvP. Also, 50% against Code S level Terrans might be bad given DRG's high standards in the past, but it's still pretty damn good when you look at it alone.

DongRaeGu 2 – 1 Noblesse


MJ_BBoongBBoong vs. LG-IM_YoDa

The other three match-ups on the day have objectively clear favorites, but this one is as close to even as it gets. At the time of writing, the betting line between YoDa and B4 was virtually even.

Personally, I feel that BBoongBBoong has the slight edge. Ever since the beginning of 2012 when he became a regular in the Code A/S scenes, his ZvT was always quite good. Even before the queen patch, he was beating players like Keen, Heart and Gumiho, and he has a very respectable 62.86% win rate on the year. The problem for B4 was his atrocious ZvP where he had a 35% win rate, and he happened to draw Protoss heavy groups every single time he made it through the Up/Downs into Code S.

In contrast, YoDa is fairly middling TvZ player, playing a standard, macro style that's been good enough to keep him around in Code S. While his mid-game timings are strong, he's shown a similar weakness to other LG-IM Terrans as Mvp and Happy, where he just doesn't have an answer to Zerg's late game compositions.

That's particularly worrisome against BBoongBBoong, a player who has taken most of his recent wins in the late game. Though he doesn't always play with finesse, he's one of the few players who regularly uses both ultralisks and brood lords at the same time, creating a nightmarish army composition problem for Terran. Hopefully, the new patch has given YoDa some new ideas on how to play the late game, or else he's going to be relying entirely on pre-hive timings.

BBoongBBoong 2 – 1 YoDa


TSL_Center vs. ST_PartinG

Jaedong, PartinG, and DongRaeGu are all favorites tonight, but you get the feeling that it's largely in part due to reputation, with the underdogs all having a good, fighting chance. Of the three underdogs, TSL_I'd-be-getting-soooo-hyped-if-I-were-a-KeSPA-player_Center is by far the most mysterious, coming out of practically nowhere to reach the final round of Code A. In his run through the Code B qualifiers and Code A, he's already defeated Brown and Seed without a single loss. Given the anonymity of Brown and the difficulty of putting a finger on Seed's current skill level, you can't say for sure how much it means going into a match against PartinG.

Still, 4 - 0 in recent TvP games isn't a bad place to be against a player who seems to be coasting on his reputation as a PvT killer instead of showing it with actual results. After looking nigh invincible in early 2012, PartinG's PvT has lost a lot of its luster. In season five, he's defeated asd and YoDa, lost to Keen, ByuN, and Gumiho, and traded series with Polt. That's not a bad record by any means, but it's certainly not living up to his past reputation of being the best PvT player in the world. Terran players have found ways through PartinG's defenses, and better bio-ghost micro mean his storms are no longer the dominant force on the battlefield.

Typically, a newcomer has to be ridiculously impressive to be picked to win against an established veteran. Center, while looking very good, hasn't crossed that threshold yet, and thus I'm still picking PartinG to take this one. Yet, there's a lot of upset potential here, and if Center manages to take down PartinG as well, we're going to have to stop calling him an underdog.

PartinG 2 - 1 Center


EG.Jaedong.RC vs. ST_Hack

I mentioned earlier that PartinG, DRG, and Jaedong are the three favorites in tonight's games. I should clarify: they're favorites according to fan voting and gambling odds. While I can personally agree on PartinG and DRG, I'm a bit perplexed as to how Jaedong is being favored here. Here's the thing: Jaedong hasn't actually beat anyone good in ZvT yet. So far, he's beat MVP.sC (who then retired to play league of legends) and Bogus (back in July when he still sucked). Aside from that, he's lost to aLive, Fantasy, and MKP in live matches. In the MLG vs. Proleague series of matches, he tied against aLive and PuMa, defeated a handful of foreigners, and lost to MajOr.

Now, to be fair, Hack isn't exactly known for his TvZ either. Good TvT and TvP are his bread and butter, and he finds ways to scrape by in TvZ. However, he did happen to beat RorO in the previous season of Code S, who is so far, clearly a better KeSPA Zerg than Jaedong. On top of that, Jaedong didn't even draw Whirlwind in this series, while Hack luckily drew Antiga as the middle map. All of this tells me that this should be considered even, if not favoring Hack by a small margin.

And yet, it's Jaedong. His legendary exploits in Brood War are enough for fans to always believe that his next SC2 match will be the one where he finally 'figures it out.' It's strange, considering how a player who was just as mechanically talented as Jaedong in Bisu, has pretty much been given up on. The difference might be that Bisu's play is consistently hapless, offering few glimmers of hope. While Jaedong has a tendency to flounder as well, some of his games (particularly, his ZvZs) offer glimpses of his past brilliance.

Hack 2 - 1 Jaedong