by WaxangelResults from Live Report Thread by Probe1.+ Show Spoiler [Results] +One More Time
– RorO defeats Hack 2 – 1, giving KeSPA players their second series victoryOne day after
Reality defeated
YuGiOh to give KeSPA its first victory over a GomTV player in the WCS, fellow Samsung KHAN teammate
RorO added another victory by defeating Startale's
Hack.
Like Reality, RorO had the fortune of facing a player yet to establish himself in Code S. After losing the first game to a clever bunker misdirection into hellion run-by, RorO recovered and abused the mobility of muta-ling to demolish Hack in game two. The final game ended up following a similar story, with RorO able to establish a big advantage with his lair army before finishing Hack off with brood lords.
RorO's play resembled that of another KeSPA player in Soulkey, showing great proficiency at lair stage ZvT. However, Soulkey had the misfortune of facing MMA, TaeJa, and Gumiho, three elite Terran players who picked him apart with multi-tasking once he had transitioned to a much less mobile hive stage army. Facing a much softer opponent, RorO was able to use his good lair management to give his faction much needed second victory.
– Mama said 'Nock you out!In the highlight match of the evening,
FXOLeenock overcame his ZvP weakness to topple
SK_MC for the first time in his career, winning by a 2 – 1 scoreline.
From the very first game Leenock showed improvement at his previous worst match-up. MC went for a warp-prism assisted two base attack, but instead of folding helplessly like he might have a few months ago, Leenock held MC off in a very successful defense. Poor infestor energy use saw him lose to MC's pre-hive push later in the game, but Leenock had shown he was not an opponent MC could expect to walk all over anymore.
The second game on Entombed Valley saw the two players split the map in a late-game battle. Leenock was the far more impressive player, superior good army control and engagement decisions. On the other hand, MC looked uncharacteristically sloppy, not even bothering to try check Leenock's economic growth with harassment. MC needed to at least win battles decisively to have a chance at winning the game, but Leenock got the better of him in that department as well, even neuralling two motherships during key fights. After a few cycles of getting his expansions and armies shattered, MC had nothing left to fight back with and was forced to GG.
In the final game, Leenock went back to his roots, winning a somewhat ironic victory against MC with a powerful all-in of his own. After opening with what looked like a standard double expansion build, Leenock cut drones to go for a mass slow-zergling all-in. Leenock correctly predicted MC's tendency to get aggressive with his first few gateway units after forge fast expanding, and simply waltzed in through MC's wide open front door for an easy victory.
– Silver SurfersIn the remaining two matches of the night, GSL runner-ups
SlayerS_Genius and
ST_Squirtle easily took care of business against Code B players
LG-IM_dreamertt and
BBoongBBoongPrime.
Genius lost his first game against Dreamertt after failing with a one base void-ray all-in, but easily came back in the following two games. He held off a two base all-in with comical ease in game two, and then closed out the series with his own four-gate after expand build in the final game.
Squirtle also took care of business as expected, and even got a chance to dazzle with some impressive micro in the first set of his 2 – 0 victory. Going for a typical two base immortal all-in, Squirtle used some brilliant warp-prism micro to make sure his immortals lived up to their names. What would have been an otherwise successful defense for BBoongBBoong turned into an improbable victory Squirtle. The close-out game was a less exciting affair, with Squirtle winning a one-sided game with a successful dark templar rush.
by Fionn and WaxangelSlayerS_Miya vs ST_CuriousWhen we previewed the first round, Miya vs Horror stuck out as a welfare match between little-known players without much broadcast experience, allowing them to get their feet wet before they had to swim with the sharks. The match lived up to expectations – unfortunately in this case – as both players looked quite nervous in some entirely forgettable games. At the end of the day,
someone had to be declared the winner, and it ended up being Miya who will now be cruelly tossed into Curious' tank.
Curious is a reliably good player, and no one really blinked an eye when he defeated Puzzle and Creator in Code A lately, or when he took out By.Sun in his first WCS game. If you hadn't noticed, he's quietly climbed up the Korean ELO rankings and is now the #1 Zerg player, and #3 player overall. Curious' problem has always been the weird jinx that strikes him when he plays in Code S, preventing him from playing up to his usual level. By his Ro32 performance, it seems that the curse hasn't carried over the WCS. If that continues to stay true, then Curious is not only a strong candidate to make the ten player Korean representative list, but also a player who is in serious contention to become the national champion.
After three straight victories in his worst match-up of PvZ, Curious now gets to face an untested, jittery opponent in his best match-up of Zerg vs Zerg. Hope was already running dry for Miya, but now that he's going up against Curious, he's practically dead in the water.
Prediction: Curious 2 – 0 Miya
ST_PartinG vs FnaticRC aLiveFor the fifth straight day, the Korean Nationals feature an amazing headlining match. PartinG and aLive are masters of the the PvT match-up, and this is an absolute must-watch match for fans who place pure skill as their first criteria.
The two players faced off not long ago in a different Bo3 series, fighting for a direct Code S spot in the final round of Code A. After splitting the first two games, the series came down to a base race on Antiga Shipyard. PartinG ended up managing the situation a bit better, and with the help of his trademark storms, took a 2 – 1 victory in the series. Later, aLive talked about how he regretted not being able to play better, as his participation in the MLG Arena tournament had prevented him from preparing optimally. Now that he's free of jet lag or any other tournament obligations, there will be no excuses for aLive if he fails to take revenge.
Both PartinG and aLive excel in the late game, able to get the most out of all the separate components of their late game armies. PartinG is particularly known for his ability to use and manage templars, always having them in position to stop splinter forces, and finding enough energy to cast those last two storms just as the Terran thinks it's okay to stop retreating. aLive's hair trigger micro on his ghosts and excellent marine-marauder splitting is a great counter to PartinG's storms, making these two very evenly matched. In the Code A series, that meant that the first player to take an advantage was able to snowball it into an easy victory, but hopefully they will play a much more back and forth series this time around.
Prediction: PartinG 2 – 1 aLive
SAMSUNG_Reality vs. Slayers_PuzzleWelcome to the Reality Show. Since his WCS Korea preliminary performance where he eliminated three Code S-level players (Shine, Heart and most importantly Symbol), all eyes have been on the most impressive KeSPA player since its official transition from Brood War to Starcraft 2. When the announcement was first made, all the talk was about Flash, Jaedong or Bisu and how they'd walk into the Mokdong Studios, end the GOM Era and begin the Elephant Era.
Flash? Respectfully impressive. Won the KeSPA Invitational, has done decently in Proleague, and advanced to the first SC2 OSL by stomping through three KeSPA players most of the Starcraft 2 community has never heard of.
Jaedong? Again, impressive for how little time he's had to play SC2. Has become the Super Ace of the Proleague, but got eliminated in the first round of WCS Korea and didn't qualify for the OSL.
Bisu? Well...uh...he has the worst SC2 record in Proleague, has been constantly eliminated early in qualifying tournaments, and has started some sort of obsession with sentries. Hey, at least he still has nice hair and a huge fan club of girls.
Reality has not only surpassed these legends so far in his short SC2 career, but he has become the KeSPA hope. While his Proleague record isn't stellar, none of that matters with his performances so far against GOM players. It doesn't matter where he comes from. Beating Shine, Symbol, Heart and YuGiOh in a row and only dropping one map against them? That is impressive for any Terran player on the planet.
Reality will face his biggest hurdle tonight. We've seen him crush Zergs, and he was able to 2-1 Heart, a Code S Terran, in the finals of the WCS Korea preliminary finals. Now, with his last winner interview admitting that his TvP isn't his strongest match-up, this is going to be the first time we see him take on a top level Protoss in more than likely his weakest match-up.
With YuGiOh already losing to Reality, SlayerS need Puzzle to take revenge. You wouldn't expect Boxer or especially Jessica to be happy if two of their core players got embarrassed by getting beat by a player with two years less experience. Puzzle is going to have all the pressure on him to perform, and if he can't get it done against Reality, it won't be a happy stroll home back to Slayers.
A win against Puzzle will confirm that Reality is the best KeSPA Starcraft 2 player and put him one series victory away from qualifying for the WCS Asia finals.
Prediction: Puzzle 2 – 1 Reality
SAMSUNG_RorO vs. FXOLeenockContinuing the Khan theme, Roro, the second of the KeSPA Seven to qualify for the second round of the winner's bracket, will try and stay equal with his partner Reality and make it to the winners Ro8. His performance might not be getting as much praise when compared to his teammate's domination so far, but Roro is a player that can't be ignored. He has actually been better than his buddy Reality in the hybrid Proleague, and he was able to take down arguably a tougher opponent in the first round, beating the Code S hopeful Hack in a 2-1 victory.
Akin to Reality's second round opponent, it's a big step up in competition for Roro as well. Hack is a very good player, more than likely a Code S player by the end of 2012, but he now has to go up against a GSL runner-up. Leenock has been on a war path since regaining his confidence in the middle of the GSTL season and hasn't been stopped since. MC tried to stop Leenock's momentum last night, but it wasn't enough to stop FXO's most accomplished player.
With Nestea's dreadful play against Byun in the Code S quarterfinals, Symbol's sub-par results since choking against Seed in the same Code S quarterfinals, and DongRaeGu losing big game after big game, Leenock is the strongest Zerg player around with his current winning streak against top opponents. He was on course to be the best Zerg in the world last year when he was in the finals of the GSL and won MLG Providence, but after losing to Jjakji in a great finals, started a 2012 slump that lasted until this GSTL season.
Roro is good and ZvZ is a match-up where build orders can give you some easy victories, but Leenock is setting his sights on the championship and is going to be almost impossible to knock off without some luck going the Khan player's way.
Prediction: Leenock 2 – 0 Roro
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AgentChaos United Kingdom. August 10 2012 08:36. Posts 4563
