SSL Losers' Round 4

His detractors have been waiting for it, that moment when ByuN finally succumbs to his nerves and his pattern for near misses. No one will ever forget his capitulation against Seed, and it has been written about ad nauseum as it seems to capture his very essence as a player. He was favored mightily against RagnaroK in the Ro8, yet he fell with a whimper just as his path to the finals seemed assured because of his powerful TvZ.

Sent into the lower bracket, his fans expected the worst. Was fate about to call the curtains on ByuN's resurgence? He scraped by against Hurricane in his weakest matchup, and it hardly convinced. Yet in losers' round 3, that spark returned as he smashed the sometimes-impressive aLive in 3 straight games. It was a show of force that rekindled some hope for the PuppyKing, but his fans have learned to be cautious when it comes to hoping on the mop topped terran.

At the dawn of LotV, few terrans have been quite as visibly good yet unsuccessful as him, and his reputation continues to precede him. He's #1 on aligulac with the highest vT and vZ ratings, yet little has come from it thus far. Online, in qualifiers, and in early rounds, he is an imposing figure. But as the lights burn brighter and the crowd grows bigger, ByuN seems to get swallowed up in the moment. Until he has that transcendent moment that forces us to reassess his reputation, the trope will continue to haunt him. Unfortunately, he's been drawn another TvP, this time against a player he might not be favored against.

After all, few protoss players can take advantage of predictability as much as Stats. ByuN lays out his plan in front of his opponents and by now everyone knows his preferences (much like his former teammate and fellow "-King"). Stats on the other hand is one of the most versatile players in the world, and every protoss tool appears sharp in his hands. Early game, mid game, and late game, Stats is capable of eliminating his opponent with a neatly executed build. While not quite as crazy as sOs, we've seen everything from 4 cannon rushes in a single game to straight skytoss and everything in between from the KT man. It is when he fails to take advantage of his voluminous playbook that Stats seems to suffer, and he must avoid playing into ByuN's hands with middle of the road macro openings. A win tonight will mean a 3rd Ro4 in 4 tries in SSL for Stats, which seems to be his glass ceiling.

We've been touting him as one of the best protoss in the world for a while now, and in many ways he and ByuN are similar. While Stats' losses have not been as damaging or as memorable, his inability to reach a final is still quite glaring. He's solid, versatile, and consistent, yet that lack of the truly remarkable has hindered him from getting over his hump. While other protoss players have resembled roller coasters in their constant peaks and valleys, Stats has been a calm sea. At this point in his career that simply isn't enough. It's time for him to make waves.

Predictions:

ByuN's best chance to advance is an obvious one: macro hard and attack. While he lacks a certain finesse in his build order choices, he is one of the best when it comes to the late game with ghosts and liberators. It will be up to Stats to destabilize the terran before he gets going, and we could see a few delightful/frustrating (depending on your POV) builds from the KT player. Stats hasn't quite shown the same breadth of play in LotV so far, but with his tournament life on the line, now's as good a time as any to start.

Stats 3 - 1 ByuN



Patience was never supposed to get this far.

How did he even beat INnoVation? All the way back in January, he defeated the reigning GSL champion to qualify for this event, forcing him into the loser's match. By beating INnoVation there (and FanTaSy afterwards), this became the first ever time Patience was in the Round of 16 of a Korean league—or any league for that matter.

Even during his tenure in Europe, he never made the second set of group stages. But that wasn't all! He then followed up by beating herO. And Classic. Last SSL, Patience was losing to Sora in the qualifiers, and this one he's made the top six on the back of his PvP! It seemed like only yesterday we were watching in awe as he toppled challenge after challenge at DreamHack Winter, ending just as this one began—with a 2-0 over INnoVation. This run is a very rare second miracle, and with that unbelievable reverse kill of Classic comes a path forward. Patience can do this. He's turned too many 'cannots' into 'cans' in order to be doubted, he's faced the music and danced all the rights steps, and RagnaroK—on paper—is the easiest player he's faced so far. But, Patience isn't the only one making a run here.

RagnaroK wasn't even supposed to be here.

Faced with a match against Leenock in the first round, who would've bet on him? What about against Dream, TvZ sometimes-prodigy, afterwards? What about Life, who despite his controversies remains a fierce foe and a previous royal roader? But RagnaroK beat them all.

Next round. He faced INnoVation, the GSL champion, as someone who had previously never won a single set in a Code S/SSL Main Event. Until then, he was a Qualifiers-and-sometimes-Code-A 'hero' who hadn't even gotten close to making a GSL Ro16, and he won. And then he went up against the man who had a mastery of early LotV, and won. Even Solar, who is unmatched so far in ZvZ and has already earned a championship, had to work twice as hard as anyone would've expected to take out a man who shouldn't have even qualified. How is RagnaroK here in the Ro6, when anyone would've taken Life over him? I'd say most people were looking more to Leenock as the zerg underdog even, rather than the CJ Entus zerg! Looking at RagnaroK's road, unlike Patience's road, he's facing something new. ZvP.

It's a matchup he's dodged for the entirety of his run, and the thing that has largely doomed some sort of RagnaroK-revolution across all of Korea rather than just SSL. He's lost three seperate times in Proleague. He struggled in both GSL Preseasons and actual-GSL (against Super) in the matchup. He's faced them enough to say that he's struggling, and that's a bad thing—because until now, he's only had to play against things which people say are hard. He's had to beat people who were difficult to beat not because of his form, but because he wasn't supposed to. If anything describes LotV, it's that theme. People aren't invincible. There isn't any certainty, and a win here for RagnaroK would only continue to push him as a player against these boundaries and against the so-called limits of his run. If he can't be stopped here? Well, it won't get easier, but this is the last big step for him to take in regards to matchups.

For Patience, this is a battle for earning his second dream. He was on that stage. He was the nobody who beat the champion. He was the nobody who beat INnoVation. He was the nobody who made top three. To do that once? A miracle story, the type that inspires and makes people teary-eyed alike. To do that twice, across multiple years? It's hard to point out a player with two runs so impressive without any meaningful results inbetween, and it would confirm Patience as someone unlike any other. He's proved that he can beat champions, but RagnaroK is not a champion. In many ways, RagnaroK and Patience are mirrors of each other, but only one of them can move on. May the best "rookie" (for this stage of a Korean tournament) win, and may whoever goes through—and whoever unfortunately fails—not fade away as easily as so many others have.

Predictions:

Patience is the favorite if you look at what he's done in PvZ compared to RagnaroK's ZvP. Patience is the favorite if you look at who has done more in the past. But, does RagnaroK really care? I don't think he does, and looking at that makes a prediction very difficult, especially considering both of these guys have played largely oddly and don't really have anyone else to properly reflect their styles. One thing is for sure: whoever wins this has all of our eyes on them going forward in likely the weirdest Korean event we could've had to kick off Legacy of the Void.

RagnaroK 2 - 3 Patience