[Code S] The Semi-Finals

Results from Live Report Thread by Probe1.
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Let's Party Like It's 2011
- Polt, MMA and Leenock continue to work out of their 2012 slumps and head towards the final stage of Code A

With FXO, TSL and Slayers all in the GSTL semifinals in a few nights, all three teams (maybe less so Slayers) can take some pleasure in seeing their 2011 aces start to play like their old selves in the GSL. With all three having made it to GSL finals last year, none have reached the semifinals of Code S this year and are fighting to get out of Code A.

Leenock and Polt were faced up against two players of their respective race who were younger, had more hype and even could be considered the favorites against the former GSL finalists. Leenock was able to halt the Life hype train for a bit, outplaying Startale's new Zerg in two straight games and being the first player to make Life look outclassed in ZvZ since he broke through in GSTL this season.

Polt, who has had high placing after high placing in foreign tournaments this year, hadn't been doing well in the GSL, but after swearing off of streaming and international events for the time being, he showed why he can still be considered one of the better Terrans in the world. He failed a proxy marauder rush in game one that he could have won with if he was a bit more decisive, but came back in the next two games with strong play to take down the young prodigy of Prime. Neither Leenock or Polt are in Code S yet, but if they play at the level they've showed so far, you will see them back again in no time.

Finally, we get to MMA. Everyone wanted to know if he would show up in a Slayers uniform (he did), and if he would be too fazed with all the drama going on to be able to beat a tough player in Hero (he wasn't). Hero, who has been traveling around the world and been playing in foreign event after foreign event, didn't play up the level he is capable of and got punished for it. Statistically by far his worst match-up, MMA was able to smash Hero in a TvP and win a match with Violet next week for a Code S spot. Still, with a sulky expression after his blowout victory, you have to wonder how this MMA and Slayers drama will end.

The Royal Road Calls
- Yoda and Shine, two possible Royal Road candidates for Code S Season Four, put on impressive showings against Oz and AcE.

In Season One it was Parting. He got to the quarterfinals with the hype of a thousand storms, but got absolutely flattened by eventual champion DongRaeGu when they met.

For Season Two it was Squirtle. Unlike his teammate Parting, he was able to get all the way to the finals and closer than anyone ever has at completing the royal road. He was all-in defense away from being crowned the Protoss President, Royal Roader, and GSL Champion, but failed to capture all three and lost to Mvp.

This season, it was Symbol. He had maybe even more hype behind him than Parting and Squirtle, got through two Groups of Death and was one game away from making it to the semifinals. Then, well, he kinda choked, got beaten down and eliminated in the quarterfinals by a celebrating Seed.

Now, with the fourth season of Code S soon approaching, we will be looking for our next player who we can hype to become the first royal roader - before he flames out fantastically and we start the process all over. At this point, it's practically a GSL tradition. So far in this Code A, Yoda and Shine have both put on back-to-back performances that make them the leading Royal Road hype candidates, should they make it all the way into Code S.

Yoda, who already eliminated a GSL veteran and golden mouse winner in July, went on to do the same thing to former Code S semifinalist and OSL Ro16 competitor Oz in commanding fashion. Known for his manner mule celebrations, Yoda didn't let his fans down by dropping his trademark manner mules in both games when he felt that Oz was done for. Oz, a very good player in his own right, just couldn't stop Yoda's constant harassment and fell to LG-IM's royal road hopeful.

Shine, who we shall just call the Grim Reaper, took out Ace in an encore performance from his eliminating of Virus last season. Virus and Ace have both been players haven't been the most popular Code S players in their careers, and Shine mercilessly culled them from Code A as well. With Symbol and Hyun - another player who could go for the royal road next season - helping him in the TSL house, Shine is a player to watch out for. Next up he will face by far his toughest test of Code S season when he takes on his captain and teammate Polt in the final stage of Code A.

Steady As She Goes
- Parting and Curious continue their consistent play and get one step closer back to Code S.

Not much to talk about about these two. Killer talked big, said his PvP was unbeatable, and even after his good results lately, got crushed by Parting. Killer had a few cute ideas and tried to take Parting off his game, but the Startale Protoss's control and micro was just too good for anything Killer could think of.

Puzzle, who has now kinda-somewhat-I-guess become Slayers ace after MMA's official demotion, didn't give his team the best confidence boost. While SlayerS' old ace was able to take out Hero in a 2-0 slaughter, Puzzle got beat 2-1 by Curious and was knocked into Up-and-Downs. Curious continues his consistent streak of staying in Code S and doing absolutely nothing when getting there, but fans of Curious and Startale can always hope that after enough tries, he'll finally have his breakout season.

• ByunPrime
  
  Strengths
  – Great in TvP and an array of aggressive builds.
  – Has MKP and Creator, two of the best TvP/PvT'ers in the world, to help him prepare.
  – Has more Code S experience than his opponent.
  
  Weaknesses
  – Even if he wins, MarineKing will still have more Twitter followers.
  – His all-in prone TvP might be figured out sooner rather than later.
  
  Ideal winning scenario: Wins in three or four games and shows us that not only can he play aggressive TvP, long, drawn out macro games as well.
  
  Craziest winning scenario: Does proxy double rax every single game. Wins. Terran gets a nerf the next day thanks to Byun.
• LG-IMSeed
  
  Strengths:
  – An all-around great player with a strong early game.
  – Was down 0-2 and against the ropes, but still had the composure to come back and win 3-2.
  – If he makes it to the finals and actually wins, he might dive into the ocean.
  
  Weaknesses
  – PvT is not his strongest match-up and he already lost to Byun once this season.
  – Is Protoss and those guys never win GSL.
  
  Ideal winning scenario: Defends against one or two of Byun's aggressive attacks, proves to be the better player in the late-game, and advances to the finals with another strong victory to prove once again he is the real deal.
  
  Craziest winning scenario: Goes down 0-2 in the series. Byun starts to dance his marines, Seed somehow comes back and takes the next three games in a row. Seed caps off the night with his most interesting ceremony yet.

On the other half of the bracket, you have two of the most decorated players in the history of Starcraft 2. MC, the only GSL Protoss champion and the player with the most money earned so far in the scene. DongRaeGu, the Code S champion from two seasons ago, and not just a GSTL champion but a GSTL legend. They are two of the most popular players in the world playing to see who will get a spot in the final.

On this side of the bracket, you have two players who came in last in place in the Ro8 polling. Byun, a lanky, eccentric fellow with a weird controversy cloud always hanging over his head. First it was his long suspension from his incident with Coca a year ago, and now it is all about the missing neutral supply depot on Metropolis that Byun keenly noticed and exploited to beat Nestea in the first game of their quarter-final series. I'm pretty sure if the studios ever burn down and someone sees a picture of Byun with a water bottle, they'll blame him for not running fast enough to put out the flames with his water.

Seed is that one guy who no one really thought would get this far [*Hipster editor laughs*], but he gave his doubters the figurative middle-finger by downing his honey flavored beverage for the cameras as he came back from a 0-2 hole to beat Symbol in the quarterfinals. With his massive confidence, all-around good play, and never-say-die attitude, Seed has turned himself from a player no one thought could win into a player who has a real shot of being the first Protoss champion in over 400 days.

Byun: No One's Sidekick Anymore

When Byun first joined Prime, it wasn't a surprise to many. It had been seen countless times during group selections that even while on ZeNex, Byun and MarineKing were the closest of friends and always talking during nominations. With many of ZeNex's best players such as Puzzle, Hack and Coca all leaving for greener pastures, it seemed natural when Byun finally left to join his friend's team.

With his suspension coming not long after joining Prime, it was a long while before we actually got to see Byun play for his new team. During this time, MarineKing went on a tear in the international scene, winning and getting to the finals of almost every single MLG tournament. Byun was still getting his accounts atop the Korean Grandmaster ladder and having insane winning percentages, but it didn't matter when the rest of his team, especially MKP, were winning actual tournaments while he couldn't even play in an official match.

When he returned, he was seen as MarineKing's new Terran sidekick. Yeah, MarineKing in one interview admitted that he believed Byun was the strongest Terran on Prime, but that was brushed off as MKP being humble and being nice to his friend who was going through a rough patch. Even with his victories in the GSTL and qualification back into Code A, people still were going, 'Oh, Byun? Yeah, he's pretty good. No MarineKing, but you know, he's decent.'

We all know what happened next. Byun and MarineKing helping their team win the GSTL championship in Las Vegas, Byun made it through Code A and the Up-and-Downs and then finally into Code S. Considered one of the better Terrans in the field, Byun was seen as a player who could possibly make a Ro16 or maybe a quarterfinal if he got lucky. All the eyes were on MarineKing to see if he finally could conquer the GSL and win his first title.

Byun and MarineKing both got through their Ro32 groups. MarineKing went 0-2 in his next group and was eliminated from yet another GSL before reaching a quarterfinal. Byun? He kept winning...and winning...and winning. The oft-ignored sidekick was able to get to his second quarterfinal in Code S history and then smash three-time champion Nestea when he got there.

In a lot of ways, this parallels the same story MarineKing had a year ago in the summer of the Super Tournament. Polt was his goofy sidekick and everyone believed that it was MarineKing's time to finally take a GSL championship. MarineKing eventually lost, and Polt went on to beat MMA 4-0 in the finals to become Prime's first title holder and their OptimusPrime. Now, Polt is gone off to TSL, Byun has been slid into the goofy sidekick role and now on the same storyline of a year ago.

Byun is not the Robin to MarineKing's Batman. If he continues winning, you will have to start calling MarineKing the Bumblebee to Byun's OptimusPrime.

Seed: Confidence of a Champion

Picked by 1% of people to win the championship in the polls, and down 0-2 to the most hyped up Zerg in the world, Seed looked all but done for. The first two games were close and all, but did it really matter? Symbol was rolling through everyone like a runaway train and Seed was just the cannon fodder for him to build his legacy off of. Seed then proceeded to calmly mount a comeback, choking out Symbol in one of the greatest collapses and comebacks in GSL history.

What does that tell you about Seed? He must have an irrational sense of confidence. Even down a game in the quarterfinals, against one of the best Zergs in the world, and one game away from being eliminated and looking stupid for doing a ceremony, he put his foot down and told Symbol that he wouldn't be disrespected. As the series went on, Symbol started to crumble and Symbol's confidence continued to grow with each minute.

By the end of things, Symbol was devastated and Seed was laughing. If you ever doubted that a player could be defined by just a single series, then SeeD vs Symbol is the manner Nexus in your face. Seed was down, all but dead, counted out against all odds, but told all his critics to shut up and came back in one of the greatest comebacks we've ever seen in the GSL.

You might compare him to Parting when it comes to his attitude, but even Parting has shown countless times he can be rocked in the booth. Down against DongRaeGu in the quarterfinals two seasons ago and Mvp last season in the semifinals, Parting was visibly shaken and couldn't play anywhere near his best. With Seed, he remained calm in the worst situation, up against he worst of odds, and came through in the end as the victor.

The only player you can compare Seed to is MC. They both have that air of irrational confidence that makes them great. A lot of players can act cocky and say they are the best thing since slice bread, but there are only a select few who can get absolutely crushed in a series and still stay confident. If Seed and MC were both down 0-3 in a Bo7 and down to their final units against a massive army from their opponent, you think they would give up? Hell no. Both players think they're the best and know that they can beat anyone in the world.

While most people who have watched Seed this season have only seen him as a player who only does two-base pushes and less macro-oriented strategies to gain his victories, he has proven in his series against Symbol that he can win any way he likes. Two base pressure, 40+ minute game, or maybe an all-in. He can play every type of situation and that is what makes him one of the most dangerous Protoss we've come across in a long time.

You might not think he can become champion, but Seed does and that's the only opinion that matters to him.

Overall thoughts and prediction:

Both weren't the favorites in their last match, but with Byun's walk in the park against Nestea, he comes into this series as the favorite. His TvP is ultra aggressive and has been highly effective his season. He has already beaten Seed in the first round of this season's Code S and beaten some of the best Protoss in the world with his unpredictable style of playing.

Seed is going to be a tough match, though. He is not going to tilt under pressure and will be giving it his best in all five games. Byun made a semifinal last year in July and this is his shot at redemption as he got knocked out 0-3 last time by another IM player, Losira. I would expect maybe one or two long games, but both players aren't afraid to end things early if it comes to it. Both have high winning percentages in the first nine minutes of a game and those will be the most important to see who will walk out as a first time GSL finalist.

Prediction: Byun 3 - 1 Seed

• MvP.DongRaeGu
  
  Strengths
  – (Still) the best player in the world.
  – All around excellent ZvP player.
  
  Weaknesses
  – Susceptible to all-ins.
  – For a player who thrives on defense, can still be caught completely off guard as NaNiwa showed us last week.
  
  Ideal winning scenario: Looks at least as good as Nerchio and Stephano in victory.
  
  Craziest winning scenario: Looks markedly worse than Nerchio and Stephano, adding another twist to the entire foreigner vs Koreans debate.
  
  
• SK_MC
  
  Strengths
  – Best all-ins in the business.
  – Highly unpredictable use of diverse strategies.
  
  Weaknesses
  – Committed the unforgivable sin of getting eliminated from two consecutive tournaments by foreigners.
  – Lack of preparation time after the NASL Grand Finals.
  
  Ideal winning scenario: Wins with a diverse combination of all-ins and macro play, showing off a complete PvZ game.
  
  Craziest winning scenario: Reveals a strategies he intentionally hid at NASL and crushes DRG.
  
  

It's redemption day for DongRaeGu and MC, two pro-gamers who had been widely acknowledged as the best at their respective races. Consistently dominating performances and fantastic tournament resumes mean that the pair can absorb more than a few big losses without risking being knocked off their lofty perches, but one can't deny that their reputations have taken hits nonetheless.

DongRaeGu looked weak in a narrow 3 – 2 victory over NaNiwa in the GSL Ro8, struggling against the sub 50% PvZ player's unorthodox tactics after making several highly public statements that brushed off NaNiwa as a credible challenger. In MC's case, he was foreclosed on by the Bank of Stephano at the NASL Season 3 live finals, looking very much like the lesser player in a 2 – 4 semi-final loss.

What would have been the greatest possible present PvZ duel has been demoted to one that's merely great. It's not even an issue of losing to foreigners, since the last few months has seen the skill of the international scene validated to an unprecedented degree. It's because DongRaeGu and MC no longer look almost invincible in the PvZ match-up like they did two weeks ago, where it seemed that they could only be beaten by each other. Without that aura, it's a not nearly as tasty a match-up.

Well, enough mourning over what could have been. It's still going to be a great series.

DongRaeGu, contentiously the best player in the world

On the whole, DongRaeGu's ability to play at an elite level in all three match-ups, impressive record against other top players, and success in a variety of tournament formats make him deserve the title of being the best this planet has to offer.

However, when we narrow it down to just ZvP, one could claim that there is a better player. After seeing Stephano's ridiculous beat downs of HerO, MC, and Alicia last weekend at NASL, and DRG's less than impressive performances against NaNiwa and HerO (albeit, his match against the latter was in a high paying showmatch, take it as seriously as you please), you have to say the Frenchman has a good claim to the ZvP crown.

That's okay, though. DongRaeGu is still really damn good at ZvP, and as we saw from Nerchio at HomeStoryCup V, that's good enough to beat MC.

In terms of specific points, not much has changed for our assessment of DongRaeGu since our Ro8 preview. He's a great textbook Zerg player, equally capable of busting through a Protoss player's fast third base with roach-ling pressure as he is at turtling up behind a brood lord – spine crawler – infestor hell. He has the same weaknesses as most other Zerg players out there, being susceptible to PvZ all-ins, and dying painful deaths after overestimating hydralisks.

MC, the complete player.

Here's a line we wrote about MC back in April for the IPL4 Power Rank:

"If the IEM World Championship was MC at his best, then the MLG Winter Championship was MC at his most mediocre. When his calculated risks (both aggressive and greedy) pay off, MC can compete with anyone in the world. When they don't... well then he loses to Ganzi and ThorZaIN, almost loses to CrazymoviNG, and gets mauled by TvP monster MKP in straight up games.

Though he's a far from being the dominant player he was one year ago, and though he can lose rather lopsidedly when things don't go his way, MC is still one of the most unpredictable, dangerous players to face. There are few players – if any – who can play the strategy mind-games as well as MC, and he is definitely an opponent no one wants to meet in the elimination stages of a tournament."

Since we wrote that three months ago for our IPL4 preview, things have changed. MC has added some very good macro play to supplement his all-in arsenal, and in the process he's become a much more consistent player. Instead of his tournament finishes being a near dice-roll, he's achieving consistently high placements no matter where he goes.

The amazing part of this is that MC has managed to do this in an almost sneaky fashion, playing up his reputation as an all-in player the whole while. At the Code S group selection, he said "beware my all-ins." What he should have said was "beware my ability to play for both the all-in and the macro game, and my unmatched ability to mix those two options up and disguise them, making me the most unpredictable, feared player in a BoX series."

While there still appears to be room for improvement in his PvT late game, in PvZ he is a true double threat. It's not enough to just stop the all-in, you have to deal with the pre-hive death ball attack, late game mothership use, and sometimes even – gasp – carriers.

Squaring Up: I'm all-in making a conservative, well measured bet.

Though Zerg players are continuously getting better at adapting to and defending against Protoss all-ins, there's still plenty of opportunities for innovation and meticulous preparation to be rewarded. Just last week, we saw DongRaeGu get taken completely off-guard by NaNiwa's gate-first expansion play, taking him to the brink of defeat against a heavy underdog. Thus it follows that while MC's timing attacks might have been thwarted against Nerchio and MC, there's no reason he can't come up with something new and make it work against DongRaeGu.

That said, it's probably not going to happen this time around. The arsenal MC showed at the NASL grand finals wasn't particularly creative, and it's unlikely that he's been able to reload on anything especially innovative within the three days he's been back in Korea. It's hard to imagine there will be a NaNiwa-esque wrench thrown into play for this match-up, and it wouldn't be surprising to see MC favor the standard macro-play he showed in many of his games at NASL.

Overall, I think there's a slight advantage for DongRaeGu. Last week's games against NaNiwa were unimpressive, but still understandable due to NaNiwa being able to catch DRG completely off-guard. It's likely that DRG will be allowed to play a very standard ZvP against MC, which is exactly what he wants. MC lost convincingly to Nerchio and Stephano recently, and at the very least, DongRaeGu is on a similar level to that foreign pair.

Prediction: DongRaeGu 3 - 2 MC