[Code S] Semi-finals Recap

Results from Live Report Thread by opterown.
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Monsieur Seed
– Seed comes back for the second straight week to make his first ever Code S finals in his second season.

Well, coming into the quarterfinals, only 1% of fans predicted that Seed would get past three players and take home the championship. But with two down and only one to go, I would expect that percentage to be a little bit higher come next weekend's final. For the second week in a row, Seed was able to battle back from a deficit and claim victory when all hope seemed loss.

He started out well, stuffing Byun's all-in and waltzing to an easy game one victory, but he was ill-prepared in the following two games. Byun's multi-prong attacks seemed to be too much for Seed, combining hellion drops in the main with a direct attacks up the front to overload Seed's crisis management ability. For two straight games, Seed lost probe after probe in crushing defeats.

Down to his last chance and staring death in the face, Seed did what he has done all season long. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths and decided that he wasn't going to lose this series. Even after taking more massive blows from hellion harassment and getting severely behind in economy, Seed didn't give up. He could have tilted, become depressed, and all but given up in the booth, but he kept on fighting.

He went DT's. He defended like a mad man. Any option Seed had to get back into the game, he took it and slowly started to inch his way back into it. When Byun blundered, making a random decision to take most of his SCV's off mining and go in for an unthinkable all-in attack when solid defense would surely book a trip to the finals, Seed was given a glimmer of up. With forcefield after forcefield, Seed continued to stall Byun while he was able to work up his economy and prepare for the upcoming final battle. When Byun finally went in for the killing blow, Seed didn't just hold on, but also regained the economic lead after destroying all the SCVs. It wasn't too long after that Seed rolled on to take a game that he probably would have lost in 99% of the time, getting another shot at the finals in a fifth and final game.

Similarly to another Seed opponent in Symbol, Byun was shaken up after throwing away the fourth game. Seed, brimming with confidence and knowing all he needed to do was to defend early harassment to win, made observer after observer in the fifth game and was able to beat the crumbling Byun.

With it all over, Seed threw his headset off and celebrated his first ever Code S finals in only his second season. Joining Nestea and Mvp as the final racial leader of LG-IM, Seed finally proved that the hype that began a year ago with his GSTL performances was justified.

Crushed Dreams
– MC makes his first Code S final in 500 days, while DongRaeGu's dreams of playing in front of his hometown for a GSL title are crushed in a 0-3 loss.

Dreams are nice. As a kid, if you've ever been a sports fan, think of being the star player on your favorite team, making it to the finals and having everyone from your town show up to see you win the championship. Millions upon millions of kids act out these fantasies in various sports, but only a select few will ever actually be able to live out those dreams. For DongRaeGu, he was three victories away from making that dream a reality.

Not only could he play for the Code S championship in front of his family, girlfriend and friends, but he could have done it in his hometown of Busan. DongRaeGu bleeds hometown pride and always talks about how much he loves where he comes from, and how nothing would be able to match the satisfaction of playing front of his people. Even the neighborhood of DongRaeGu, DRG's namesake, allowed him to be their official representative. As the heavy favorite to win the entire tournament, all he needed to do was get past MC, a player he has already beaten in a major semifinal all the way back during the Blizzard Cup.

Sadly, some dreams remain dreams. MC didn't just take away DRG's chance of a double championship in Busan. He snatched them away, tore them to pieces, and threw the shreds in DRG's face. With a dominating 3-0 victory over the champion of two seasons ago, MC instead came one step closer to realizing his own dream of becoming a three time GSL champion.

MC was coming into this semifinal looking a bit weak in his strongest match-up of PvZ. He got beat by Nerchio at Homestory Cup in the semifinals and then had another semifinal loss to Stephano at the NASL3 finals. MC was stuck in some sort of Groundhog's Day situation where for the past week, he was getting matched up against a new Zerg in the semifinals and losing.

Promising that he had secret strategies up his sleeve, MC proved that he wasn't boasting just for show. DongRaeGu didn't play his best games, scarily similar to his burn out in last season's Ro32, and couldn't get a grasp on the series. MC was in complete control from the get go and as the wins started to pile up for the Protoss President, the confidence in him continued to grow until an all-in in the last set gave him passage to his third finals.

Luckily for DRG, he still has one more chance to make half of his dreams come true if his team can beat FXO tonight in the GSTL semifinals. Visibly distraught after losing to MC, coming off possibly the most heart crushing loss of his career, he will need to focus his disappointment and anger into taking out FXO.

Overall Thoughts Heading Into The Final

With the semifinals done, we now have the finals in front of us. On one side, we have the Comeback Kid, 1% Protoss, and the man who lives his life from the teachings of Monsieur J, LG-IM's Seed. With Nestea and Mvp already having their titles for their respective races, Seed will try to finally become the third cog in IM's Big Three and become not only their Protoss champion, but the new Protoss President and end the 500 day drought for Protoss in the GSL.

For MC, a win and he cements himself for another term as Protoss President. He keeps the title as the only Protoss to ever win the GSL and will be the first player to make over $350,000 in prize money. Similar to last season's final with Squirtle and Mvp, it is a battle of Old vs. New. Will MC keep his crown and fend off the young gun challenging for his throne, or will Seed continue to do what he has done all season and make another miracle occur?