[Code A] RO24 - Day Two Preview/Day One Recap

Results from Live Report Thread by opterown
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A Symbol of Hope
– Symbol lives up to the hype and enters his first Code S with a 2-0 win over Jjakji

There's no lack of hype in Starcraft II. Go a decent GSTL run, and before long, people will be rushing to tout you as the next big thing. Living up to the hype? That's another story. For all the DongRaeGus, MMAs and Squirtles that were able to live up to their potential and become some of the best players in the world, there are others like YongHwa, Yoda, and Extreme, who all had scattered good performances here and there, showed glimpses of greatness, but ultimately disappointed completely in the GSL.

Symbol proved that he deserves to be in the group with GSL finalists. After his second place finish at Iron Squid, beating Nestea and getting past sC and Seed in the first two rounds, the expectations the highest they had ever been for TSL's top Zerg. The task was difficult, having to go up against one of the most famous TvZ players in the GSL, Jjakji, a former champion. Symbol could have wilted under the pressure, but he played the best games he has this entire season and got into his first Code S with a 2-0 score.

Is it too soon to proclaim him the new Zerg hope and talk about how he's going to walk the Royal Road? Hey, I did say there's no lack of hype in Starcraft.


The Core of the Swarm
– Two Zerg mainstays of the GSL, DRG and Leeenock, return to Code S

While Symbol might grab the front headline of the night, Leenock and DRG continued on as expected and qualified for Code S once more. Neither can be particularly happy with how this season went, DRG going out in the first round and Leenock being the last Zerg eliminated in the tournament by MVP. They will both have chances to do better in Season 3, following their victories against Virus and aLive.

DRG was able to capitalize on the recently buffed Queen and safely spread his creep throughout the map without much resistance. Virus put up a good fight in both games, hanging on to the bitter end, but DRG proved to have the better engagement decisions and took both games with his superior tactical moves. The only other note in the series was that Virus had keyboard problems at the end of game two, resulting him in killing one of his own tanks and having his minerals float over 2,000, but due to it being a problem with his own equipment, there were no grounds for a re-game.

Leenock and aLive played a wacky series, with the first two games being extremely short due to all-ins and cheese. But in the third game, when it meant life for death for Leenock, he was able to affirm that he was simply better than aLive. In his post match interview, Leenock remarked that anything less than a finals appearance next season would be a disappointment. With his only losses in this season's Code S coming from a semifinalist and the two finalists, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to see Leenock in his second Code S final. The biggest obstacle will be his still unproven ZvP, especially considering the large number of skilled Protoss players in Code S. But with a bit of luck and some improvement in that match-up, Leenock could definitely win his first GSL.


Experience and Genius
– Genius' experience shines with his second victory over B4 this season

B4 might have been able to take out Genius in a macro game on the first map, but with timing attacks and good micro, Genius was able to dispatch of B4 for the second time this season. Just like their earlier meeting in Code S this season, Genius played the role of the wily veteran while B4 was cast as the very talented, but heavily inexperienced rookie who had trouble playing to his full potential. You could argue that B4 is better than Genius in the late game, but there is a reason why Genius, even when not playing his best, has always hung around in Code S. He knows how to win games through any means necessary and isn't afraid to go all-in if he feels there is a gap in his opponent's defense.


Game(s) of the night: Leenock vs. Alive

Usually you want to recommend only one game, but with how the first two games went, the entire series is a must watch. Leenock ends this season by not only having the best series in Code S so far against MVP, but might have also taken the award for best series in Code A as well with this series against Alive.

LG-IMHappy vs fOrGG

Alas, poor oGs. You were one of the first Starcraft II teams to be founded, and you are one of the first to disband. If you're distraught as a fan, just think about the ex-players who have upcoming games! Between moving out, finding a new place to live, and finding a new place to work, there can't be much time left to prepare for a match.

And yet, at the time of writing, less than 24 hours before his match, ForGG is casually streaming ladder games. It's exactly what happened last week before his matches against Killer, where he won an easy 2 - 0 victory. I guess last week, ForGG had prepared enough beforehand that he felt comfortable making a bit of pocket change before going off to the Mokdong studio. If he's going about the same routine this time, then that must mean he got in enough practice before the oGs disintegration. I prefer to believe that, anyway. The alternative is that ForGG has gone into a despondent, "f*** it, we'll do it live!" mode.

Good preparation will be vital against Happy, who came out with an infrequently seen "bio-mech" style against Ryung in the previous round, adding small amounts of marines to his early-mid game armies to buffer his mech transition. None of ForGG's previous Terran opponents have played that particular style, and if it was good enough to beat TvT specialist Ryung, it could be deadly.

Prediction: Happy 2 - 0 ForGG


CreatorPrime vs MaruPrime

Maru is one of this season's biggest stories, coming into the notoriously difficult GSL at the age of fifteen and showing the mental poise and diligent preparation required succeed. Skill wise, he was far behind enough that everyone in the RO16 group selection wanted him as their opponent, but Maru had more than enough "GSL skill" to make up for whatever "Starcraft skill" he might have lacked.

It will be interesting to see how he's affected by the team-kill element of this match. Some players can use their familiarity with their teammate to their advantage, while others over-think the situation and lose their way. Though Maru seemed to have the formula for success in Code S, there's no guarantee that he won't be unbalanced by this new factor.

In terms of TvP and PvT ability, the Creator and Maru seem to be in a similar place. While they're not yet equipped to challenge the very best players in the world, they're right on their heels at next lower tier. With the team-kill complication in mind, this should be a very close match.

Prediction: Creator 2 - 1 Maru


SK_MC vs. coL.GanZi

MC must not be in the best mood seeing that his presidency of the Protoss race might only last a few more days with Squirtle four wins from the first GSL Protoss title in over 400 days. With both players in this series not wanting to worry about the Up and Down matches when they travel to New York City for MLG Arena this weekend, it's going to be a closely contested contest. Ganzi faces a particularly unpleasant worst-case scenario, where his Up/Down group will conflict with the upcoming Red Bull Battlegrounds.

It really has been a bit of a bizzaro world for these two in the past few months. MC, once known for having the best timings in the business when it came to PvT, has not had the best of luck against Terran when seemingly every other Protoss in the GSL is having a wonderful time (unless they're playing Mvp). Ganzi, who was once so bad at TvP that you might even call him Ryung level at TvP, has turned it around since joining Complexity, and has picked up wins against Parting, Oz and even MC.

If this were six months ago, this would be a no brainer. Ganzi was known for, like most of the Slayers Terrans, his TvZ, above average TvT and unbelievably awful TvP. Now, on a new team and traveling the globe to compete in numerous international tournaments, Ganzi has been able to work his TvP up to above average. With Squirtle already inching closer to take over the throne, a win here would be huge for MC's campaign, but this new and improved Neo Ganzi, the ace of Complexity, isn't going to go down easily like before.

Prediction: Ganzi 2 - 1 MC


Slayers_MMA vs. MvPKeen

Welcome to this season's installment of Wow, Keen is Amazing! Last week, going up against Nestea, the player who knocked him out of Code A last season, Keen used a million blue flame hellions to beat Nestea in game one. Then, in the second game, he simply outplayed him in every facet and beat down the three time GSL champion. Nestea didn't play his best, making mistake after mistake in his play, but Keen's builds and tactics were flawless.

Unfortunately for Keen fans, everyone knows that this kind of performance is invariably followed by an episode of Wow, Keen sucks! Each season, Keen goes on a roll, kicks ass and takes names before eventually reverting back into the inconsistent player that looks lucky to even be in Code A. If he could play at his highest level all the time, you would hear his name alongside MMA, MarineKing, and MVP as the best Terran in the world. Yeah, I said it, dear readers. If Keen played at the level he has in various online tournaments, and in infrequent spurts in the GSL, he could be a champion.

The question is, and always will be, when will he learn to be consistent? We could get closer to an answer tonight when he takes on MMA with the winner going directly into Code S. Two wins over Nestea and MMA would clear up any doubts about Keen having the talent to beat anyone in the world, and also show that he can be consistent when going up against the best Code S players on a week-to-week basis.

MMA is MMA. If he wins, he will go back into Code S and be considered a favorite to win it --- well, you know, if he doesn't have to face a Protoss --- and continue to be talked about as one of the best Terrans in the world. A loss would mean that he'd have to go into the difficult Up and Down matches that already hold players like Alive, Polt, and a handful of Protoss, so it's not like MMA can take this match lightly. It means more for Keen if he can overcome a high caliber player in MMA in a big series, but there's a reason why MMA is the two-time GSL champion and Keen is the most inconsistent player in the GSL.

I am going to say Keen wins this and put all my chips on him actually rising to the occasion for the second week in a row. However, I also thought he would have beaten Nada by now.

Prediction: Keen 2 - 0 MMA