On February 06 2013 09:45 RParks42 wrote:
Though soO hasn't been that hot, the recent form shown by MVP has me picking against him until he shows he can actually beat a Zerg

soO's been doing fine in PL, i think there's a good chance he'll beat Mvp.

MysteryMeat1

United States3288 Posts

February 06 2013 04:27 GMT

#43

i can't vote for Happy ever since he lost with a 2 rax vs a 3hatch opening

Zebrapudding

United States66 Posts

February 06 2013 04:30 GMT

#44

wtf first..

Cattlecruiser

United States340 Posts

February 06 2013 04:46 GMT

#45

Labyrinth showing 1-1-1 can still be used in the highest levels.
Just can't be so stale with the single timing push with early banshee pressure.

Entirety

1423 Posts

February 06 2013 06:52 GMT

#46

From Mvp's fan club:

On February 02 2013 07:58 Entirety wrote:

Mvp
TvZ Lifetime: 58.59%
TvZ 2012-2013: 50.94%
TvZ Last 10: 10%

soO
ZvT Lifetime: 50.00%

Well, here we go again. Mvp is in Code A and he has to fight his way through to make it to Code S in time for Heart of the Swarm. This is one of those high pressure matches - do or die. There is no Up & Down cushion for Mvp, a loss means he is sent straight down to Code B, the land from which even the very best players can fail to advance. A win means he is through to the Round of 32 and the Up & Down safety net becomes open to him.

His opponent is KeSPA Zerg soO who plays for team SKT Telecom T1. soO's notable accomplishment is winning the MLG MvP Invitational, but he did it on the back of his strong ZvP. Sure, soO has a great record against Terran foreigners, but against Korean Terrans, soO's record is mediocre. Here is a list of soO's games against Korean Terrans (not counting SeleCT):

soO 1-1 PuMa
soO 0-2 aLive
soO 4-1 BaBy
soO 4-3 Flash
soO 0-2 Bomber
soO 1-0 INoVation
soO 0-1 Kop
soO 0-1 sKyHigh
soO 1-0 Last
soO 0-1 INoVation

Record against KeSPA Terrans: 10-7
Record against eSF Terrans: 1-5

soO is a KeSPA player, meaning that soO will improve rapidly. However, soO just has not been one of the best KeSPA players (like Flash, Fantasy, RorO, JangBi, Argo, Cure, Rain, and more). Also, soO just does not have that much experience facing the best Korean Terrans.

Mvp, on the other hand, has been suffering from bad problems lately. Winning only 1 out of his last TvZ games, Mvp's form has been a disaster. Everyone knows that Mvp has been suffering from health issues, and everyone knows that his play has suffered because of it. However, there are no excuses now - the only thing that matters is winning.

Can Mvp pull himself together long enough to crush this KeSPA Zerg? Well, if the Mvp shows up that went 1-8 in Blizzard Cup, 1-4 in GSL Code S, and 0-3 in Iron Squid, then soO will send the King to Code B (for the first time ever). If the Mvp displays even a small fraction of his glory, then that should be more than enough to handle soO. Personally, I think Mvp will really get things together right at the brink of elimination. This isn't the first time he's been to Code A - in fact, he is in Code A quite frequently. However, he has only stayed in Code A once. Season after season, Mvp looks weak and vulnerable as he falls down to Code A. Season after season, Mvp pulls through his Code A matches back into the hardest league in the world. And once in a while (okay, maybe more like once every 3 seasons), Mvp decides to win it all.

Prediction
Mvp 2-1 soO

cheerful

78 Posts

February 06 2013 08:27 GMT

#47

Flash!

LightSpectra

United States1128 Posts

February 06 2013 09:11 GMT

#48

LabyRinth 2:0 First

thank you for cursing First, Zealously. I wanted the Bisu slayer to make Code S

Creager

Germany1875 Posts

February 06 2013 09:20 GMT

#49

Don't really know why everyone has been hating HuK so much as of late, but I guess it also could be related to his personality rather than his playing skills and accomplishments... I personally don't like him much, but I don't think he really deserves this kind of shitstorm!

boxerfred

Germany8360 Posts

February 06 2013 09:22 GMT

#50

On February 06 2013 07:47 Evil_Sheep wrote:
Nice of you to stick up for the HuKster. He may not been in the stomping form of 2011 but he shouldn't be written off either. He is still one of the top foreigners competing, although that is a statement of questionable value these days.

He is not playing on a code S level, nor is he playing on a Code A level. So please, HuK, leave korea and do more mediocre things in foreign tournaments. One could as well send DeMusliM to code S/code A. Same results....

Zealously

East Gorteau22261 Posts

February 06 2013 10:19 GMT

#51

On February 06 2013 18:22 boxerfred wrote:

Show nested quote +

I believe you are missing the fact that Huk beat several Code A/S players in his U&D-group to reach Code S. This seems to imply that either most people in Code A are not "Code A-level", or Huk is actually pretty good on a good day. I feel inclined to believe it is the second option.

seluj

1 Post

February 06 2013 11:44 GMT

#52

NERF INFESTOR, NERF INFESTOR, NERF INFESTOR

User was banned for this post.

DavoS

United States4605 Posts

February 06 2013 14:16 GMT

#53

Sad that all foreigners could accomplish was the ro32 code a, but I agree that HuK still represents a top foreigner. He was quietly the foreigner hope at IPL 5 and it's good that we recognize that

DavoS

United States4605 Posts

February 06 2013 14:19 GMT

#54

On February 06 2013 18:20 Creager wrote:
Don't really know why everyone has been hating HuK so much as of late, but I guess it also could be related to his personality rather than his playing skills and accomplishments... I personally don't like him much, but I don't think he really deserves this kind of shitstorm!

It's not really hate, it's just that HuK was arguably as strong in 2011 as Stephano was in the spring/summer, so watching him go straight back to code b would be disappointing

dyDrawer

Canada438 Posts

February 06 2013 22:24 GMT

#55

Bad day for LG-IM... It's especially frustrating to see Seed out again. You can see very clearly that his skill and decision making is still there, yet he somehow lacks the execution to get it done at the moment that matters the most. First game, brilliant mind game and excellent execution with Psi Storm, Seed dominated Center; 2nd Game, his build sorta got countered, and even tho Center had the better engagement with flanks and the concave, Seed showed that his forcefields were still top tier; 3rd Game.. Seed was in an almost unbeatable situation: he had numerous High Templars with full energy and storm, going against a player who not only did not scout this tech path (therefore no Ghosts to speak of), but also pulled most of his SCVs for an all in. And yet he somehow messes up and fails to land the storms he need.

Even Center himself thought that the game was lost.

Happy's loss is just weird. Losing to a Blink Observer build on Daybreak of all maps.. then the infamous proxy Immortal Push on Icarus that PartinG and Squirtle has shown this New season. ByuL.. it was a b/o loss the 1st set, then 2nd set his own aggressive strategy was brutally deflected (still good job by EffOrt, this one went sorta as predicted). First somehow just did not play well. His defense against the Hellion drop Marine pressure was just not good enough, especially compared to his teammate YongHwa's defense of the same build yesterday.

MVP.. well, TBO, I sort of expected this to happen. His 0-3 loss to Goswser at Iron Squid was already an ominous sign. It appears that Mvp's injuries are severely affecting him. I'd say he should definitely consider surgery, maybe utilizing this break from GSL :/