[Code A] Ro48 Day Three Preview (Season 4)

It's the final day of the Ro48, where the winners will get a chance to qualify for Code S, go to the Up/Downs, and at least be guaranteed a spot in next season's Code A. The losers? Straight to the back of the line as they wait for GSL Season Five and yet more grueling preliminaries. Onto the games.


Premium Only Matches

SalmosaPrime vs. FXOSirius

Salmosa is 6-12 all-time in games, and Sirius comes in with an equally underwhelming 23-40 record. One of these two will get to ZvZ their way into the Ro36, earning the right to run headfirst into MMA's fist. Still, even if beating MMA is a tall order, they can hope for a more favorable draw come the Up/Downs. Salmosa will try to become the new breakout star on Prime, seeing as their current top Zerg B4, has been in the same position for the last few months with continued mediocre results. Sirius has the experience advantage and better ZvZ practice partners on his team (Leenock, Lucky), so for possibly the only time ever, he is the favorite in a GSL match. Maybe Salmosa will surprise us, but with a 0-5 ZvZ Korean record, it's not the most probable outcome.

Prediction: Sirius 2 - 0 Salmosa


TSL_inori vs. MVPKeeN

Keen, a player who was in the Ro16 only two short seasons ago in Code S, is now two losses away from being knocked out of the GSL entirely by a player not named Nada. Inori is in a weird position as the supposed third head of the TSL racial trio along with Polt and Symbol. While his teammates both made the Ro16 or above in Code S this season, Inori has never won a game in the GSL. He has been a constant disappointment in GSTL and has let his team down when they needed merely a single victory from him. Keen is in a similar, but not as drastic situation, supposedly the best Terran on MVP, but still not living up to his massive potential that he's show in the past. Inori gets some flack for being cheesy and only good for his PvP sniping abilities, but he's been able to knock out top players in online tournaments and has been just as good as Polt and Symbol in MLG competitions. Neither player is the safest player to put your money on, but if you had to pick one, go with Keen just on the fact he's actually won in Mokdong.

Prediction: Keen 2 - 1 Inori


Slayers_YugiOh vs. STX_Bogus

1. Slayers has never been in a worst position. They have been all-killed two GSTL games in a row, they didn't get a single player into the Ro16 of Code S, and their two best players in 2012, Coca and Puzzle, have both gone down with illness. They are trying to usher in a new generation with rookies like Miso, Arthur and Dark, but it might be too late.

2. YuGiOh is one of the weirdest players in the history of GSL. He once didn't show up to a GSTL game because he was on a diet and didn't want to be on camera (or at least that's how the story goes). He shows flashes of Code S play against players like MarineKing, but those flashes are fewer and further in between now. The worst thing of all about YuGiOh, is that out of all the ESF players, he is the one who has the hardest time facing KeSPA players. He got put up against two in WCS Korea, played like an absolutely different person, and looked like he was going to be sued by Jessica if he lost. He went 0-4, knocked out of the tournament, and is now hanging all his hopes on his kingdom in Code A.

3. Bogus is 1 - 8 in SC2 so far since the transition, even beating Bisu in the category of having the worst record of the elephants. Thing is, Bogus has a lot of potential. His losses were two months ago, and a lot of his games against top players like Rain were actually really close. If there was one player who is being overlooked on the KeSPA side this season, it's Bogus.

Anyway, YuGiOh doesn't lose in the first round of Code A, but he doesn't win against KeSPA players. He has lost seven straight games against Terran, is on a team that is slumping all-around, is facing someone who I believe will be one of the stronger KeSPA players in a few months time. Code A wouldn't be the same without YuGiOh in the second round, but this is a new age of GSL. Out with the old and in with the new, and YuGiOh is going to have to get over his pachydermophobia if he wants to stay the King in the Code A.

Prediction: Bogus 2 - 0 YuGiOh


FnaticRC Oz vs. STX_Trap

"PvP is all about skill, and if you don't think so, play me and I'll beat you." - PvP Master Oz

All this trouble over something that Wolf supposedly heard from Oz half a year ago. Anyhow, Oz is 15-31 since that statement. I guess you could say that statement was...a Trap?

Prediction: Trap 2 - 1 Oz


Regular Matches

BBoongBBoongPrime vs. Quantic_TheStC

What happened to B4? The Prime Revolution was in full force with their Neo Terran Trio of MKP/Byun/Maru, the Protoss Wunderkind in the form of Creator, and the plucky Zerg upstart in BboongBboong. Byun made a Code S semifinals, MarineKing this season in the quarters, and Maru even made it to a round of sixteen. Creator won WCS Korea and TSL4, making up for his lack of success in Code S. B4 has done nothing but lose lately, only winning one in his last ten and looking like a shell of his former self.

TheStC is solid as ever. He always makes into the semifinals of foreign tournaments, but never wins. He might always be the bridesmaid and never the one getting married, but at least he's invited to the wedding. With how well B4 is playing lately, he wouldn't even be let inside the building.

Prediction: TheStC 2 -0 BboongBboong


ST_Sparta vs. LG-IMNesTea

Is this goodbye? The streak of Nestea being in every major GSL tournament might be coming to an end tonight. If he loses, Nestea will be out of the GSL for the first time in history and down to Code B. Even if he were to get through the perilous Code A qualifiers next season, he still would not be able to compete in Code S for the first time in history. A victory, and at worst, he has a chance in the Up/Down matches to get back into Code S.

Sparta might be really good or really bad, but we don't really know since his results are all old and this is his first time in the GSL. This series will more than likely come down to how Nestea plays. With how badly Nestea has been playing since his 0 - 3 loss to Byun in last season's quarters, it's looking like most competent Koreans can take him out. Tonight, if things go badly, it really could be the last time we see Nestea in the GSL if he can never get back through the qualifiers like legends before him.

Will he go the way of Boxer, July, and Nada, or will the three-time champion show us why he's the God of Zerg? Get your tissues ready, because this might be a sad one.

Prediction: Nestea 2 - 1 Sparta


T8_BaBy vs. ST_Bomber

*Insert two paragraphs here about how Bomber once again tricked us into thinking he was back on track before going 1-4 in Code S and getting knocked straight down to Code A again.*

Now that is out of the way, this should be the best series of the night in terms of just play. It might not pull the heartstrings like Nestea's game will for long time fans, but both of these players have shown they can produce great TvT's. Baby's biggest TvT win in his SC2 career was against Mvp in WCG Korea, outplaying the four-time champion in his best match-up and making the earth shake with the sounds of elephants stampeding. Mvp got his revenge in the OSL, but it took a momentous effort in what turned out to be an epic match.

Bomber is 8-15 in his last twenty three TvT games, and with how many times he has burned me by tricking me into thinking he had returned to mid-2011 Bomber form, I will have to side with Baby here. He, along with Bogus and Flash, are the three KeSPA Terrans I would keep an eye on. They could definitely get into Code S as early as next season.

Now that I've jinxed it, Bomber will probably crush Baby into the ground and lose 0-2 in the next round.

Prediction: Baby 2 - 1 Bomber


ST_SuHoSin vs. T8_Terminator

SuHoSin is not a full-time progamer, but somehow always finds himself advancing when he probably shouldn't. He cheeses all the time and sticks to lair units too long, leading him to losing a game even if he kills 100 workers. Yet, he occasionally confounds everyone by doing stuff like beating Seed in a straight up macro game.

Terminator is named Terminator.

...I give this one to the guy named Terminator.

Prediction: Terminator 2 - 1 SuHoSin