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Ro16: Day Two
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Players, brackets, and schedules on Liquipedia

by Fionn

ST_Squirtle vs. Slayers_Genius

Squirtle and Genius have a very special connection. In the first season of 2012, Genius had a rebirth of sorts, developing from a lazy, mid-range Code S player that hung on by the tip of his fingers, to one of the better Protoss in the world and making it all the way to the finals. When getting there, he had the special opportunity to become the first champion in his race for almost a year and solidify himself in the history books as one of the best Protoss players in SC2 history.

He played well against now former teammate DongRaeGu, picking up the win in the first series and having close games throughout. In the end, DongRaeGu proved to be too strong for Genius, who won his first championship by a score of 4-2 and placed Genius right back to the end of the line. Following the loss, Genius missed GSTL games for his team and eventually left the squad, deciding to look for a foreign team. Even as an established player in the Korean scene, Genius learned that it's not so easy to waltz onto a good foreign team and settled for a place on Slayers.

After Genius' failure in the first season of 2012, in came Squirtle, the new Protoss hope and a player with all the qualities of a GSL champion. He had his first high finish at IPL4, narrowly placing second after losing to aLive in the finals, and then set his sights on Code S for his royal road season. Getting all the way to the finals with a staggering 14-1 record and facing a severely injured Mvp in the finals, everything pointed to Squirtle becoming not only the best Protoss on the planet, but the first player to ever walk the royal road in Starcraft 2.

In accordance to Genius, Squirtle found himself down 3-0 in the finals, shaken and appearing like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming three-time champion. Finding his rhythm in the series, Squirtle fought back, tied it 3-3 and stopped an all-in from Mvp in the final set of the finals. Sorrowfully, Mvp's second all-in and a mistake from Squirtle cost the Startale Protoss his chance at glory, giving him his second silver medal in major competitions.

Now, the two are seeking redemption. With Seed securing the all important first Protoss win in 500 days, both are trying to climb the ladder once again for a shot at winning a major title. Genius is now on a new team, Slayers, and with an already strong Protoss line-up beside him, he will have to play better than ever to keep up with Puzzle, JYP, and Alicia. Squirtle, on the other hand, might still be the best Protoss on the entire planet, but due to his quick exit in the last Code S season and no big foreign tournaments lately, he hasn't had much of a chance to prove himself.

Even with a new team that is full of strong Protoss, Genius is the underdog heading into this second round match. Squirtle, above all else, is the best PvP'er on the planet. Seed might have taken out MC impressively in last season's finals, but Squirtle's 70% win rate in the match-up and past performances still make him the strongest PvP'er in the world today. Genius admitted that when meeting Squirtle on ladder that he rarely ever wins, and he will have to outsmart his opponent if he has any shot at getting into the winner quarter-finals. Your money should be strongly on Squirtle in this match-up, but when it's PvP, anything can happen.

Prediction: Squirtle 2 - 1 Genius

TSL_Polt vs. MVPTAiLS

By just looking at statistics and first round performances, Polt should take this one easily. Even when he has been in his worst of slumps, his TvP has always shined through. Now, with his recent surge of constant victories at Korean events, he is on his biggest winning streak in Korea since all the way back when he won his GSL championship during the Super Tournament. With victories over Hyun, Shine, Maru, Xtreme, Sage, DongRaeGu, and Mvp, all in the past month, Polt is in championship form. Finally clearing the hurdle of beating Mvp in a series for the first time last week, he can now look towards getting himself a spot in the Asian or Global finals.

Tails, well, his first round performance wasn't as impressive as Polt's 2-1 win over Mvp. Instead of putting on a show that would have given people the thought he could get past Polt, him and Happy put on one of the worst Bo3's we've seen in 2012. Neither looked impressive in the games they won, and Tails showed everyone why PvT isn't one of his strongest match-ups. He was able to upset Mvp a year ago in the GSTL semifinals, but that was a long time ago, and his 2-1 win over Happy isn't going to inspire many people to pick him against Polt.

There is some good news for Tails, though. Polt tweeted earlier today that he is in terrible form and with his current match history on Battle.net looking more like a graveyard than the LG-IM trophy case, there might be an opening for Tails to upset his way into the winner quarter-finals. This showed yesterday in the MSI Cup semifinals, where Polt was beat 2-0 by Adelscott, denying him opportunity from winning his fifth MSI title. Still, even in less than optimal condition, Polt, with his recent showings and constant success in the TvP match-up, always being in the top three players in the match-up since he arrived on the scene by beating MC in the first GSL, should come out the victor.

Prediction: Polt 2 - 0 Tails

LG-IMSeed vs. FXOGuMiho

GOM: Congratulations on your GSL victory, Seed! You won the first championship for your race in 500 days, got a golden badge in only your second season, and have gained a huge fan base from all your ceremonies.

Seed: Thank you, thank you. I am pretty good.

GOM: Man, you also just won the Team Arena Challenge 3 in San Francisco, didn't you? Taeja was on a 7-0 win streak, beating everyone on your team and heading towards a clean sweep. Then you came back in for a second shot at him, ended his run and then defeated Hero to win the title for your team!

Seed: Yes, yes. Taeja played well, but I showed him the true power of a GSL champion.

GOM: So anyways, your match against Gumiho in WCS Korea is scheduled for tomorrow. I know you'll be extremely jetlagged and barely have a chance to get any sleep after going through an almost ten hour team final, but I'm sure you'll be fine, Mr. Champion!

Seed: Wait, what? What the hell? WHY DOES HERO GET AN EXTRA DAY OF REST? WE WERE AT THE SAME EVENT! I BEAT HIM! WHY DOESN'T THE GSL CHAMPION GET THE PERKS?

GOM: They call it the Liquid Advantage.

It feels like a lot of the time if a champion has another tournament or something else on his schedule, GOM will usually pull some strings to get their champion the most time to prepare. We've seen Mvp get his Code S groups moved around to later dates. We've seen MC go to thousands of foreign tournaments and get a bit of help from the schedule maker on occasion. For our new champion Seed? Nothing.

Subsequent to his marathon of a team league final in San Francisco, California, he now gets the award to flying 5,000 miles back to Korea and playing for the chance to represent his country at possibly the biggest tournament in Starcraft 2 history in Shanghai, China. You would think he might have some leeway following his saving of the Protoss race, flashy celebrations, and colorful interviews, but nope.

What makes it even more surprising is that Hero, the player who Seed beat in San Francisco to win the Team Arena Challenge, gets a day to rest before taking on Creator tomorrow. I don't think that GOM purposefully tried to screw over their new golden boy, but you have to feel sorry for not only our current title holder, but the fans as well.

Gumiho and Seed should be the best match we've seen so far in the tournament. These are the two kings of Busan. Seed won the title against MC on Friday, winning 4-1 and realizing his dream of being a champion. Gumiho put on a classic stretch of games against Slayers, claiming an all-kill in the GSTL finals and getting his team their first league championship. With Mvp's ups and downs when it comes to results, MarineKing's lack of success since his multiple MLG finals, MMA's uncertain future, aLive's slight decline after winning IPL4, and Polt's inconsistency between foreign and Korean events, Gumiho has possibly the best claim at being the second best Terran in the world behind Taeja.

Months ago, Gumiho was a joke to players. He was laughed at the group selections in the first Code S season of the year. Gumiho responded by kicking Mvp's ass, eliminating him from Code S, and making it all the way to the semifinals before losing an instant classic series against eventual champion DongRaeGu. He has transformed himself from being the kid who needs a towel to play and kinda looks like a taller Leenock, to legitimately being one of the scariest players in the entire world. No longer is Gumiho just another solid Terran. He is a player who you need to discuss when talking about players with a legit shot at winning a GSL title.

If both players were at 100%, I would still give the edge to Seed, but it would be a series that I would plead you not to miss. Gumiho has made himself a player that can have an exciting match with almost anyone, and Seed is clearly one of, if not the strongest Protoss in the world. Don't tell me you wouldn't want to see Gumiho's hectic drop style against Seed's play that knocked out Taeja in last night's team final.

Unfortunately for everyone involved except Gumiho, Seed isn't at 100%. He is going to have to take a long plane ride, get off, maybe, at best, get a few hours of sleep and then rush off to the Mokdong Studios to play against an opponent that you need to be at your very best to beat. This isn't to say that our champion can't pull off a miraculous victory and unleash another ceremony upon the crowd, but it's not going to be easy.

Prediction: Gumiho 2 - 1 Seed