[Code S] Finals Recap: MC vs Seed

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Code S Finals Recap: MC vs Seed

Code S Grand Finals Recap: MC vs Seed

By: Fionn & Waxangel

Photo credit: Ethan Ahn, www.leveltory.com. Art: shiroiusagi

The Sweet Life
– Seed defeats MC 4 - 1, becoming the first Protoss GSL champion in over 16 months

Coming into the round of sixteen as a Code S newcomer and underdog, Seed said that he wanted in on 'tasting the honey' of Code S, a Korean expression roughly equivalent to 'living the good life.' In that case, this is as good, and as sweet as life gets.

Seed dominated MC in the Code S grand finals held at the haewoondae beach of Busan, using superior mind-games to win an easy 4 - 1 victory. MC stated before the finals that the perceived luck in PvP was actually skill, and in that case, he must admit that he was thoroughly outplayed.

Individual game recaps

Seed opened the series with three consecutive one-base all-in builds, which proved to be the perfect counter to MC's far greedier openers. After the finals, MC gave a nod of approval to Seed's strategies, saying that he expected his opponent to play for greedier macro games, and that he had been outsmarted.

The Boss-toss was able to avoid getting swept by using his own all-in in game four, a game where Seed fast expanded, surely believing that MC had been scared into conservative play by the three consecutive all-ins prior. However, it was only a brief reprieve for MC, as he went down in the final game.

GomTV was able to avoid the finals being a total all-in fest in game five, with both players transitioning out of one-base builds to go for a massive colossus battle. Seed was able to get the upper hand when he drew MC out of position, entering the final battle with his troops in a superior firing arc. With his army wiped out, MC was forced to concede defeat, looking philosophical in his booth.

– The modest champion

Back over in the champion's booth, Seed reacted surprisingly. After being one of the most enthusiastic players in Code S this season, using manner nexii, dancing stalkers, and beverage ceremonies to mark his victories, Seed chose to celebrate his greatest triumph of all in a silent reverie. Whatever sense of joy or fulfillment he felt in that moment, he decided to internalize, eyes closed and hands raised to his head. He had only a few quiet moments to himself until LG-IM's head coach Kang Dong Hoon entered the booth, followed by multiple champions Mvp and Nestea, seemingly come to tell him "you're one of us now."

Interviewed by an effusive Park Sang Hyun, Seed maintained his calm composure. He deflected much of the credit, even taking time to praise the GomTV production crew for their hard work in setting up the outdoor stage at haewoondae. Nor did he seek to place himself on top of the Protoss totem pole, saying that even with this one victory, he couldn't surpass the Protoss President. However, Seed did have one emotionally charged outburst he was willing to share. When asked if he had anything to say to his family that had come to watch live, Seed replied with a deafening "I LOVE YOU!"

As for MC, it didn't take him long to recover his usual form. Shortly after congratulating Seed on the live stage, he went on to tweet "The next time we meet, I. Will. Destroy. You."

Game Recaps

Game One – Metropolis
+ Show Spoiler +

Game Two – Daybreak
+ Show Spoiler +

Game Three – Whirlwind
+ Show Spoiler +

Game Four – Entombed Valley
+ Show Spoiler +

Game Five – Cloud Kingdom
+ Show Spoiler +

With the fifth game, the players finally opened with mirror builds in the mirror match-up, going for fast three stalker builds. However, they quickly diverged in their choice of follow-up strategies, with MC adding a robo and more gateways to go for the dangerous one colossus + 4-gate all-in, while Seed opted to go for both robotics and twilight council for the popular Cloud Kingdom strategy of blink + observer.

The way it played out, a clash of two one-base builds didn't actually result in a quick finish to the game. Seed poked around with his stalkers, but with his opponent having built so many troops off one base, there were few holes to exploit. On the other hand, MC didn't really feel like moving out with so many blink stakers threatening to attack. So instead, both players decided to expand and play for a longer game, with Seed taking his Nexus slightly faster.

Initially it looked like MC was getting ahead as he had started his colossus tech earlier in the game, but two robotics facilities from Seed allowed him to quickly even the score. Neither player seemed intent on attacking at all at the two base phase, so they continued to tech up, take third bases, and proceeded straight to the 200/200 battle.

The eventual conclusion came surprisingly quickly. Instead of seeing both players spend an extended amount of time posturing, prodding, and looking around for the small advantage needed to engage in a final laser battle, Seed was able to manufacture an opening almost on demand. A small group of his zealots pulled MC's colossi slightly out of position, and while MC very quickly realized that the main attack would be coming from another angle, he was already too late.

Seed attacked into MC's third base with a good arch, and had at least a few volleys of colossus fire to his advantage. At the end of the laser show, Seed was left with a handful of colossi standing compared to none for MC. There was nothing left for MC to do so, and he surrendered the championship to Seed.

Seed 4 – 1 MC