[Up/Down] Group A - Preview

*Technically Season Three

When I went to Korea to check out the GSL, the thing that surprised me the most was finding out that the GomTV staff aren't a bunch of indentured servants, slaving away under the whips of their masters. As far as I could tell, they seem to be quite willingly, and cheerfully operating a Starcraft II league every single week, without any concept of an off-season. The Code S finals was just two days ago, and already they're going into the Up/Downs. The week after that? They'll go right into producing GSTL Season II. Although, now that I think about it, I don't know why it came as a surprise. From what we've seen of Korean Starcraft II pro-gamers, unnatural endurance seems to be an inherent national trait.

Up/Down Group A – May 21st, 18:10 KST[local]
Top two advance to Code S


#5: Lure

Lure is in the Up/Downs because he beat ex-teammate InCa in the first round of Code A – besides that, he's never won a series in the GSL. Though the fact that he's beaten the Code A qualifiers three times tells us that he's a Code A caliber player at least, he's shown us nothing that would lead us to believe he could make it into Code S. On top of that, his former team oGs exploded last week, which couldn't have been good for his preparations.


#4: ST_JulyZerg

Despite his RO16 appearance this season, JulyZerg hasn't actually improved a whole lot. His ZvZ seemed a bit better when he beat out Zenio in the RO32, but Leenock ripped him apart as expected in the RO16. He defeated aLive and stole a map from MarineKing, but that seemed mostly due to people having forgotten his mostly predictable 3-base lair aggressive style. He could always cheese GKP or Nestea, but they will be hard to beat.

On the other hand, JulyZerg's ZvP has always been quite good, although we haven't seen in it in a while. It's the best match-up for July's lair phase aggression, even though Protoss players are continually getting better at defense. Defeating his two Protoss opponents are a must if July wants to get through.


#3: LG-IMNesTea
#2: EG.JYP

After a few annoying seasons with Terran heavy draws, JYP has finally got his Autumn '11 luck back with this mostly Zerg and Protoss group. As a skilled PvZ player, JYP will be favored against Lure (with the usual PvP fluctuations), and he'll be at least even with Nestea and July. The issue, of course, is the PvT against GhostKing. We keep saying that JYP's PvT is better than the record says, but because he keeps running into really good players, we never actually get to see him win. GhostKing is a pretty sick TvP player as well, so JYP is probably going to lose there.

In Nestea's case, his excellent performances overseas at IPL4 and Iron Squid have contrasted with some poor performances in the GSL, something that makes little sense considering the conventional wisdom that he needs preparation time to play to his best. Showing championship class play when he has it going, Nestea definitely could top this group, but his unpredictable nature makes it hard to guarantee it.

I feel that Nestea and JYP have similar chances of making it into Code S, so I've decided to make the tie-breaker their head to head. The map is Entombed Valley, which will give JYP the slim advantage he needs to squeeze through.


#1: GhostKingPrime

Between JYP, Nestea, and GhostKing, it wouldn't be surprising to see any combination of two players making it into Code S. But when in doubt, it's usually a good move to go with the player with the most momentum.

GhostKing (formerly known as Byun) might not be a towering inferno, but it's safe to say that he's been on fire. He was good enough to beat the ridiculously tough open bracket at IPL4 (and had a decent record in the groups), and his combined GSL and GSTL performances have been very good as well. Unlike the typical online or international hot shot, GhostKing doesn't need to prove that he can reproduce his form in the pressure cooker known as the GSL. He's been to a Code S semi-final already, and he would probably be back in Code S already if not for the extreme disciplinary measures he received as a result of the ESV Weekly scandal. It's a close call, but GhostKing is the strongest player in this group.