[Code A] RO48 Week Two Preview

The second week of Code A RO48 matches isn't nearly as nasty as the first, and this time we might actually see some of the Code-B players pull off the upset. The more vulnerable ex-Code S players are in action this week, and it's do or die time as eight players will be sent hurtling down to Code B.


Premium-only games

BBoongBBoongPrime vs MvPVampire

As much as people like to point out BBoongBBoong as one of the weakest Code S players in the last few seasons, you have to remember that still means he was better than all of those guys who didn't get in. Alright, so he got lucky a few times (especially in Up/Down Season Two, where he had a 3% probability sequence of events occur to let him progress), but he's still better than most of the guys climbing their way up from Code B.

Vampire is an interesting prospect for for MvP who has done decent well in team leagues, but doesn't really seem to be particularly notable yet. His DHS 2012 performance was mediocre, but the fact that it wasn't particularly disappointing speaks of our low assessment of his current abilities.

Prediction: BBoongBBoong 2 – 1 Vampire


EG.JYP vs SlayerS_Miya

Every time SlayerS keeps showing faith in a player, using them in team leagues constantly despite the absence of good results, I'm always reminded of Ganzi. Starting with a disappointing 4 – 7 GSTL record in 2011, Ganzi eventaully went on to become a GSL semi-finalist and top four finisher in at MLG. In more recent months, SlayerS' is seeing their investment in Crank starting to pay off in team leagues, while Min recently repaid their faith by getting through the OSL qualifiers.

The only SlayerS prospect who we've yet to hear from still is Miya. Word has it that he is very highly rated internally, and is one of those players who needs a tiny spark to finally break out.

It might actually help that he's going up against house-mate JYP. Team-kills tend to make typically predictable match-ups very screwy, and that's exactly what Miya needs as he makes his Code A debut. A lot of players play poorly in their GSL studio debuts, and JYP is definitely one of the tougher ZvP opponents he could have asked for. However, Miya's familiarity with JYP and the weird team-kill mindgames could actually help even the score.

Prediction: JYP 2 – 1 Miya


MvPSniper vs AnnyungPrime

So, one of these guys is DongRaeGu's understudy, the other is BBoongBBoong's. Owch. I'm not sure if there's any correlation to that, but one player happens to be better at ZvZ as well.

Prediction: Sniper 2 – 0 Annyung.


SlayerS_YuGiOh vs ZeNEXHarrier

Impudent GomTV, is this how you treat your King? After ten consecutive seasons in Code A (every single season), YuGiOh deserves to have an award named after himself, not be banished to the void of premium-only!

YuGiOh is truly the icon of perseverance and steady improvement, bringing a slightly improved game every single season. Last season he reached a new peak, defeating MarineKingPrime in the RO24 match to qualify directly for Code S. Unfortunately for the King of Code A, he was once again unable to perform up to his potential when leaving his realm, and was knocked down to Code A again after finishing last place in his RO32 Code S group. But don't despair, followers of YuGiOh! The YuGiOh skill progression chart clearly states he will make it back into Code S, and finish third in his RO32 group this season.

As for Harrier, he is merely a poor peasant who will have to make way for his regent.

Prediction: YuGiOh 2 – 0 Harrier


Regular games

ZeNEXSuhosin vs SlayerS_Crank

The free portion of the night starts off with one of the more intriguing match-ups. Neither Suhosin nor Crank can be called the most orthodox players in the world, but then again neither of them is exactly a TypeReaL either...

Suhosin has preferred to end his games before hive in his various televised games, whether that means through pre-lair busts or heavily investing in lair armies. From mass infestors to drop play, or even your standard baneling bust, Suhosin can really mix it up inside of the typical Zerg repertoire.

Crank is a little bit more bizarre, enjoying tactics like warp-prism cannon drops or mass PvZ carriers (before it became fashionable, anyway). Instead of Suhosin, it would actually have been better for him to have gone up against an opponent who like 'standard' play a bit more, since those are the kind of players his strategies are designed to beat. The right strategy for Crank here might be to tone down the creativity and just be as safe and standard as possible.

Prediction: Crank 2 – 1 Suhosin


ST_Hack vs LG-IMLosirA

Though LG-IM crashed and burned out of the GSTL despite his best efforts to save them, Losira's rehabilitation continued elsewhere. He's beat a ton of good players in various online qualifiers in June (MMA, Mvp, Seal, Ganzi, etc), although at the end of the day, he failed to make it all the way to the end. Losira 2.0 is obviously still a work in progress, but the body of work is promising.

We've already known that Losira can do really well in online tournaments ever since the beginning of 2012, but it was bad his performances in live settings that were holding him back. However, after he scored a four-kill over TSL in the GomTV studio last month, we're ready to believe he can be a real force in the GSL again.

Hack is much improved since the days where he slummed around in the North American TL Opens, and he recently got to show off his skills in a TL Open with much higher stakes: the TSL4 Qualifiers. After he made his mech play work against Lure and just barely failed to beat Creator with it as well, we really wanted him to play a Protoss opponent in Code A as well. Alas, he's stuck playing TvZ, something he can't be happy with at all.

As much as we like the improved Hack, we like the improved Losira even better, especially because we've already seen that Losira's peak is near championship quality. We pick Losira to win this in a close series.

Prediction: Losira 2 – 1 Hack.


Liquid`Zenio vs TSL_HyuN

One of the most stable GSL stocks in 2011, Zenio has become dangerously volatile in 2012. He lost his grasp on Code S this season, and now he's on the brink of getting knocked into Code B. On the other hand, Hyun has been on a steady upswing, and he's become deserving of a regular on TSL's line-up, just as he did on MBCGame.

Overall, this match-up looks to be hugely in Hyun's favor. Not only is their recent momentum going in exactly opposite directions, but Zenio's ZvZ has crumbled disastrously as well. He's lost his last four ZvZ series to foreigners (Fitzy, jEcho, Glon, and Sen), not the best background for a player playing in the GSL. While Hyun hasn't looked particularly amazing at ZvZ, pretty much any Korean ZvZ record looks better than Zenio's right now.

Prediction: Hyun 2 – 1 Zenio


MvPLure vs coL.Heart

I don't really care about the fact that Heart had a truly awful MLG Anaheim run, going 0 – 6 in series while winning only three maps, or the fact that his cheesy unpredictability is starting to lose its effectiveness. The guy has experience taking care of business in high pressure situations, whether it was the MLG Winter season, or last night in the MCSL finals where Complexity took home the championship. Compared to that, Lure has done very little, winning a couple of GSTL and Code A games in his career. There's only one viable prediction here.

Prediction: Heart 2 – 0 Lure