[Code A] Ro24 D3 Preview/D2 Recap (S4)

Match results from Live Report Thread by Shellshock1122.
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MaruPrime defeats EG.JYP.RC 2 - 0 to earn another chance at Code S glory

In what has been a strange departure from the usual pairings in the ultimate round of Code A, this match was only the second where both players had Code S experience. Of course, neither Maru nor JYP could be called members of the Code S elite. Maru was the kid who cheesed; JYP was the quasi veteran that lost to Terran.

This particular match made a good case for a return to the JYPvT standard. On a fundamental level, his play is not objectionable in the same way one might categorize Oz’ PvP. It is more a question of shakiness, of nerves getting to him and of lacking conviction in his play. While he was able to overcome these issues against SuperNoVa in Code S, where he relied on a healthy mix of cheese and passive macro play into harass tactics to advance from the round of 32, Maru taught us a lesson about how it's hard for anyone to change their true colors.

In both games, Maru played a heavy macro game combined with early pressure, the kind of situation JYP has struggled to deal with historically. Going up to three bases early in the first game, Maru was able to get a sizable economy advantage as his marine harass inflicted damage on JYP’s worker line. He then defended the two base all-in admirably, retreating his third the moment he knew the attack was coming and secured the victory. The second game was an illustration of how to beat Protoss late game. Freely amassing bases, Maru was able to collect a huge ghost and viking based army. Harassing with nukes and maintaining solid map control, he simply outlasted the Protoss and never allowed him any chance of a favorable engagement.

Maru is facing another opportunity to impress in Code S. While his trajectory has not been one of a rocket launch, he has shown an ability to improve after he gets knocked down. With further improvements, he could be a challenge for any opponent. On the other hand, JYP is back to his usual spot in GSL purgatory, a welcome sight to those wanting a more stable, consistent world.

The Federation Strikes back: ST_Curious and TSL_Polt dismantle KeSPA's STX_Mini and 8th_Terminator

Curious and Polt are both players one expects to see in Code S. Apart from Polt’s win in the Super Tournament, the two usually brings rock solid performances that don’t quite make it to the round of eight, but are staples of the GSL. Of course, this has been a season where staples have been removed mercilessly by KeSPA players (and Sparta).

For Curious, the games against mini were another confirmation of his solidity in every round before the Code S Ro16. In game one he faced little to no resistance from the STX Protoss, pouncing on gateway units with his lings early on and never looking back from his advantageos position. The second game was decidedly scarier however. mini opened with Stargate for the second time, but on Cloud Kingdom he decided a two base attack would be the best way to get back into the match. Following the book on how these things should unfold, it came down to a prolonged attack on the Zerg’s third base. It looked like mini would be able to crack the defenses. However, he seemed unable to both micro the void ray/gateway attack against the queen, ling and roach composition of Curious, while still keeping up with warp-ins and chrono boosts. While he was able to kill off the third, Curious retained a game winning army size and mini’s attempts to transition into the late game were crushed.

Polt meanwhile had the easiest route to another season in Code S. He never once looked threatened by Terminator, getting clearly ahead in the early game twice in a row, and the solidifying and extending that lead in the midgame. In short, he was a clear level above his opponent, and showed a return to form in his TvP, making the Protoss look silly for thinking he ever stood a chance.

For both Polt and Curious, it has to feel good to show that they still are a step above the average GSL competition. Polt’s TvP has not looked at its finest as of late, but here he took out his opponent with ease. Curious had a slightly tougher day on the job, but he once again proved himself an excellent gatekeeper between Code A and S, even with KeSPA players being added to the mix.

Terminator and mini were the clear disappointments of the day. While for Terminator it seemed a confirmation that he might not be ready for Code S, mini was shockingly poor considering his rather impressive play in previous rounds. Time will tell whether this was merely a hiccup or whether there are more systemic issues for the Protoss to figure out.

Samsung_RorO's superior engagements earn him a 2 – 0 victory over MVP.DongRaeGu

The final matchup of the day was likely the most anticipated. DRG came to Mokdong having just secured his OSL final ticket in its inaugural SC2 season while RorO booked his ticket to Battle.net 2012 World Championship Finals through a fifth place finish in WCS Asia.

One of the definitive lessons of seeing KeSPA players coming into the player pool is that their Zergs know a thing or two about ZvZ. DongRaeGu was the unlucky recipient of the most clinical lessons in WCS Korea, where Effort defeated him in one of the most technical ZvZs we have seen so far. Back then, it came in the form of a seemingly endless low economy ling/bling war where Effort’s micro and army control simply took him from a disadvantageous position to victory.

While the lesson was different this time around, the series still had an eerie sense of déjà vu. DongRaeGu was able to gain advantages early on in both games. While Effort’s micro was what was impressive in WCS Korea, in Code A RorO displayed engagements that were far superior to DRG's.

The first game was a rather messy affair, both players holding clear advantages at different times in the midgame but failing to capitalize and making incorrect decisions. In the end, as it looked like DRG was staging a real comeback, RorO simply decided to trade as efficiently as possible over and over and over. In a series of four battles it looked like they were DRG's to take, RorO went from behind to even, even to ahead, and ahead to taking a 1 – 0 series lead.

Game two was more of the same, albeit with a more dominating opening for DongRaeGu. RorO decided to attack with lings early on, but through mis-micro and DRG’s stellar baneling defense, he was trading himself into poverty. The MVP ace expanded upon his lead through making RorO repeatedly cancel his third while getting mutalisks while the Samsung Khan Zerg still was teching up to infestors. Consistently a base or two down, RorO faced nigh impossible odds. However, he kept his upgrades going as his only edge, and once again he had a long series of trades that went in his favor through good positioning and some terrible wastes of infestor energy from DRG.

RorO has looked like the real deal for some time. DRG must have felt like he would have easily beaten just about any other Zerg given the same circumstances. Given the relative staleness of the Korean Zerg scene, RorO should be an exciting addition to Code S.

DRG meanwhile must have suffered from having to focus on his OSL match against MC the day before. Lacking dedicated preparation time and the mental fatigue from having faced his Protoss nemesis, he likely came into this match in a worse condition than what one would expect for a general GSL match. In the end, it is hard to criticize DRG harshly for the play he showed; against a lesser opponent he would probably have won 2-0. Up and Downs are never fun, but there is nothing to suggest that DRG isn't perfectly capable of making his Code S return.

Four more Code S spots are on the line in tonight's games. While there's a second chance left for the losers in the Up/Downs, that place is a volatile nightmare where a player often needs to rely on others to advance.

FXOSirius vs. MVP.Sniper

The night starts off with ZvZ between Sirius and Sniper. Sirius is FXO's up and coming Zerg player, though he's been on the team for quite a while. In the first round of Code A he showed us solid ZvZ against Salmosa where he played solidly, and Salmosa made a few mistakes. This time it won't be so easy as he faces Sniper, a player with Code S experience who is looking to make himself a regular in the world's premier competition. While Sniper has had a very hard time cracking the ro32, he has never had a problem in his Code A or Up/Down appearances. In a battle between a relative newcomer against a relatively more established player, we'll go with the latter player.

PredictionL Sniper 2 - 0 Sirius


Woongjin_sOs vs LG-IM_Seed

sOs is a bit of an unknown quality in GSL. Yes, he's made it to the third round of Code A, but his opponents didn't test him very well. Jjakji played poorly, and Sparta was underwhelming as well. If you look at sOs' record in MLG's MvP tournament, he's in the lower part of the KeSPA table with a 23 - 13 record, but it's hard to say how his record against mostly foreigners will factor into this match-up. You can say is that sOs has fairly good PvT, but not much more.

This is an entirely different world, a PvP against former Code S champion Seed. While PvP is a very volatile, Seed will be the favorite as he won his GSL with a PvP and played little else at WCS Asia. sOs better go find a weighted coin to flip if he wants to stand a chance against Seed.

Prediction: Seed 2 - 0 sOs


STX_Bogus vs LG-IM_Happy

KeSPA team STX Soul has been on a roll in the GSL, with all three of their players in Code A advancing to the third and final round of Code A. Tonight, their first runner will be up in the form of Bogus. Bogus has shown very strong performances so far by killing the King of Code A Yugioh, and the skilled-but-inconsistent Bomber. Happy, on the other hand, was the only other player besides Mvp to beat Rain in this GSL (a criminally overlooked accomplishment), before he went out to top Zergs Symbol and Life in the Ro16. So it's a little hard to see what kind of form Happy is in, and on top of that hasn't played any TvT at all this. What we know about Happy from past games is that he likes to use both mech and marine/tank compositions, and besides a tendency to use quirky 'bio-mech' TvT mid-game compositions, is generally a safe, standard player.

Bogus on the other hand is mystery, as is the case with many of the KeSPA players in this tournament. In his first game against Bomber, he held off a strong all-in with a combination of smart positioning and mistakes from Bomber. In his second game, it was more back and forth, but Bogus proved to be the much stronger positional player, with his units constantly choking off and stopping any advancements Bomber could make on the map. It's a small sample, but Bogus should be a small favorite here as he has already shown the skill to beat a Code S Terran.

Prediction: Bogus 2 - 1 Happy


STX_Trap vs FXOGuMiho

In the second Stx vs ESF match of the night, Trap takes on Gumiho for the eighth spot in Code S. This should probably be the most exciting match of the night as both players are very stylistic in their approach to TvP. In his Code A matches against Supernova, Trap showed very strong defense against SuperNoVa's aggressive style. He had well placed units and well placed pylons that held off early game harassment. He would constantly keep scouting with his probes through the early-mid parts of the game and put map information as his priority to deal with Supernova. This payed dividends for Trap as Supernova is the type of player who likes to set the tempo in TvP, trying to harass and multi-task the Protoss to death.

Gumiho will be completely different type of player, however. Gumiho much prefers wait a little, macroing up to 2-3 base before he starts using relentless multi-tasking to defeat his opponents. If Gumiho studied Traps' games he should notice that Trap likes to use storm drop harass like other KeSPA players, and shied away from the colossus heavy compositions of other players. Trap will have lot of VODs through which he can analyze Gumiho's style, but it is unique enough that it will be hard to practice against. Because of that, Gumiho should be the favorite here.

Prediction: Gumiho 2 - 1 Trap