In a battle that is between the new and the old, we have the player who was the runaway winner for player in the year for the first half 2012, going up against the player who looked to be on his way to waltzing to the player of the year honors as 2012 comes to an end. DongRaeGu dominated the early months, winning a GSL champion and taking two MLG titles, but faltered in the middle of the year, getting trounced by MC in the semifinals of the third Code S season and never rebounding. He did have a good run in the OSL, getting to the finals and then losing in another blowout against SKT's Rain, breaking down after the games were over. His slide has continued through the end of the year, getting beat by teammate Noblesse in the third stage of Code A, now having to qualify through the Up and Down matches if he wishes to participate in the final Wings of Liberty Code S season. He did make it out of the first round of the Blizzard Cup looking more like the DRG of old, and he can still claim that best player of the year crown if he can take his second GSL of the year, but a long road is still in front of him.

For Life, things aren't quite as dire, but they aren't as perfect as they were just a month ago. While his ZvT and ZvP still seem to be almost unbeatable when he's playing at his maximum level, his once untouchable ZvZ has now become his shakiest match-up. In the group stages of the Blizzard Cup, Life won a series that he really should have lost against Sniper (Sniper handed him the deciding win) and then got 2-0'ed by Violet. Overall, his ZvZ has never looked weaker. It was the reason why he lost in GSL last season, getting beat twice by Soulkey, and he lost to Leenock and Snute to get bounced from IPL. Dreams of taking a GSL, MLG, IPL and then the Blizzard Cup might have been too out there for a middle schooler, but he can still do three out of the four if he can get his ZvZ back on track.

This series is going to come down to who can take the first game. Life stated that getting off to a good start is necessary for him to move onto the semifinals, and DongRaeGu is a player that has had a very inconsistent second half of the year, suffering many crushing defeats at key junctures. Both players need a fast start to get comfortable and play to the best of their abilities, so the first map could be where it is all decided.

To be frank, neither player really is a lock in this match-up. DongRaeGu has been on a slide since having his dreams of playing a final his his hometown crushed in the third season, and Life's ZvZ just isn't very good at the moment. If you asked me who the better player overall between the two is right now, I would go with Life without a second thought, knowing how strong he still is in ZvP and ZvT. DongRaeGu did have a very good night to open up the Blizzard Cup, only dropping his match to Parting at the end of the night, but that doesn't mean he's fully back. His ZvT, ZvP and ZvZ can all range from beautiful to downright awful, making you think that there is a strong possibility he could fall down to Code A and stay there if he doesn't get back to the DongRaeGu of old.

If I'm forced to choose, I would go with Life just on the fact that if he can enter his zone and play to his highest level, he isn't touchable by really anyone not named Leenock. DongRaeGu was the best player by far in the first half of the season, but that just shows you how inconsistent and sad his second half of the year had to be if he still needs a victory in this tournament to be recognized as the best player of the year. DRG winning 3-0 wouldn't be a surprise and I know that both of these guys are two of the strongest when at their peak, but Life is only weeks from his unbeatable period while DongRaeGu is six months off that stage of his career.

Prediction: Life 3 - 2 DRG




And then there was one. Coming into the Blizzard Cup you had to look at the ten competitors fielded and know there was a strong possibility that the beaten and battered Mvp didn't have the best shot of going all the way to the final. The chances of a Terran making it to the knockout rounds weren't high, but you would at least think that the Ro6 and onward would be filled with mothership vs. BL/infestor battles. Rain, Hero, and Seed, all champions in 2012 were shown the door in the group stages, leaving five Zergs left and one man with a whole lot of soul.

There are already people writing off this tournament, going into hibernation until the ZvZ is finally put to an end, but if there is any person in the world right now who can stop the endless Zerg dominance, it's Parting. He's overly cocky, hot headed, and never fears to speak his mind, always ready for a challenge. If there has been one player that has truly evolved in front of our eyes this year, it's been Parting. Making his first GSL at the start of the year, he entered Code S as a red hot royal roader and gained fame through his incredible PvT series against the likes of jjakji, MarineKing and Polt.

His campaign to become the first royal roader ended in the quarterfinals against DongRaeGu, the once talkative and jovial rookie tilted by the veteran and knocked out of the tournament in a romp. DRG would go on to win the entire season, and he gave Parting his first lesson between the difference of a GSL champion and just a kid who liked to talk a lot of smack. Parting would continue to improve through the seasons, getting less affected by each loss and growing up in the process. In the five Code S seasons this year, Parting was never able to make a final or get his hands on the trophy he thinks is rightfully his, but he's matured as a player.

While his Code S endeavors haven't been the greatest, Parting is still in line to end the year as the most successful player of 2012. With his wins at WCG and WCS, Parting has already raked in over $125,000 for the year and can add another $40,000 and a golden GSL pin to his collection if he can make it through three rounds of Zerg. He's already conquered the two world championship tournaments of the year, hoarding two spots in the Blizzard Cup, but winning the Blizzard Cup and being recognized as a GSL champion would be the highlight of his career.

Facing him is the outlier of the Starcraft 2 world. If he lived in Korea, viOLet would be a routine member in the Ro16 and up in Code S, known as one of the best players in the world. If he was any other nationality other than Korean living in America, he would be seen as a foreigner hope and one of the best players in the world. He gets no advantages of being a lone Korean living in America, only participating in foreign tournaments and out of the spotlight that is always on Korea. Not having teammates for months and practicing by himself in America, Violet evolved in his own right, going from an average, middle of the road Zerg to one of the best players on the planet.

A victory for Parting would be vindication for his boasts for the past year, but a championship for Violet would be validation that he truly is one of the best players in Starcraft. Being overlooked for only playing in foreign tournaments and focusing on the international scene, taking a GSL title would take him from the most underrated player on the planet and put him in his rightful place as one of the top fifteen or so players in the Wings of Liberty era. It isn't going to be easy, Violet having to take out Parting, Sniper and then maybe an IPL5 finals rematch against Leenock to determine the Blizzard Cup champion. A lot of people will say he can't do it just based on the fact he has no real legacy in the GSL, but Violet is the dark horse that could shock the world.

Violet's ZvP wasn't the strongest in the group stages, barely taking out Rain - a player who finished fifth - and then losing to Seed without taking a map. His ZvZ and ZvT have always been his go to match-ups where most of his signature victories have come from, so this will not be an easy match-up for the Azubu player. Parting is known for his soulful all-ins and his early game strategies that can kill a Zerg quickly, but he also knows how to beat Zerg in a late game if it comes to that point.

Parting losing would give us another ZvZ final and guarantee us a third straight Zerg GSL champion and four out of six for the year. To put that into perspective, the only time a race has won three straight or more GSL championships in a row was at the end of last year, with Mvp, jjakji and MMA reeled off four straight victories for Terran in the GOMTvT era that died at the start of 2012. Zerg taking four out of the six GSL championships of 2012 would be comparable to Terran taking seven out of the ten last year, leaving Protoss still with only three championships in the history of GSL.

But there is still one chance left to change everything. Parting from the start of the year would have no chance at this point in the tournament. His PvZ play didn't have enough variety, his nerves weren't tested, and he just wasn't strong enough to face the best Zergs in the world. Now? He's ready. Rain might have gotten the praise for his short reign of dominance, Seed a temporary seat in the Aiur oval office for his third season championship, and other Protoss applauded for their results across the globe, but only one Protoss has been able to stay in Code S from the start of the year to the very end.

You might not like his style in interviews or his all-ins. You might dislike his cocky attitude and over-the-top personality that he brings into every interview. You might not even like him for his love of the color pink or his hipster glasses, but he is still the only hope left in the sea of the swarm. Broodlords might be strong and infestors might be imbalanced, but Parting's soul is overpowered.

Prediction: Parting 3 - 1 Violet