GomTV vs. KeSPA. Ever since the copyright row between Blizzard and KeSPA and the formation of GomTV's oddly parallel but decidedly different pro-gaming scene in Korea, this is the collision of worlds everyone has been waiting for. Not ready at MLG Anaheim, the KeSPA players were wisely separated from their more experienced pro-gamer brethren. Are they ready now?
In an odd twist of fate, the two least known, least successful players in the entire WCS Korea tournament are facing each other in the first round. Between the two players, they share one GSL appearance (Miya in Code A) and zero wins.
While a first round Code A duel between two such players would be utterly skippable, the fact that it is a WCS match makes it a little bit more interesting. The difficulty of Code A qualifiers has gone down a bit as all the better players filtered up over the course of two years of GSL, but the WCS Korea qualifier included many top Code S opponents.
For Horror, he had to defeat MarineKingPrime, the player who received the top seed in his qualifier group. In a shocking upset, Horror managed to beat MKP by a 2 – 1 score, and then went on to defeat far less formidable opponents in Shuttle and FXOasd to complete his passage.
Miya was far luckier, defeating primarily unknown opponents until he faced KeSPA pro Snow in the final round. Snow had already defeated NesTea 2 – 0 on his way up, but Miya avenged his non-KeSPA brethren by defeating Snow 2 – 0 to confirm his ticket to the WCS nationals.
Another factor that makes this more interesting than a similar Code A match is that there's a big emotional investment factor, due this being a massive opportunity for both players. In Code A you might see the loser laugh and give a "well I gave it my best" shrug, but this match could be more like the Up/Downs where players slump over in utter despair as they rue missing the one chance to validate their life choice for the last few years.
Oh, yes, a prediction. Miya is rated pretty highly by SlayerS internally, but is always disappointing when he has to play in broadcast games. On the other hand, Horror is barely talked about at all, and has no experience playing broadcast games. Oddly enough, this favors Horror. We know that Miya chokes horribly when the cameras are on him, but at least there's the possibility that Horror will be a natural on TV.
No, it's not Flash, Bisu, or Jaedong (more about him later) that will take the historic step in being the first KESPA player to play SC2 in the GOM Studios. It's By.Sun, potentially the strongest of the KeSPA Seven that will bravely travel to Mokdong for the first major broadcast tournament between the two factions of Korean Starcraft II.
While By.Sun might be the strongest of his group heading into this event, he won't have an easy first round. Instead of getting a chance to roll over a GOM player on the fringe of Code A or wallowing in Code B, he got one of the most consistent players in Code S. Heading into his fifth straight Code S season since qualifying from Code A in October, Startale's Curious is still searching for his career defining moment.
He has been able to get back into Code S time and time again, but has had to do it by either re-qualifying out of Code A or the Up-and-Down matches. He has never been able to make the quarterfinals of Code S and cement himself as a top tier player with the ability to win it all. Sure, he has shown glimpses here and there of being a player who can contend to be one of the best Zergs in the word, but he just hasn't been able to break through.
A deep run in WCS Korea would be a big stepping stone in his career and give the fans a reason to believe he's more than another run-of-the-mill Zerg. For By.Sun, a single series victory against Curious would put him on the map right away. If he can be the first of the KeSPA Seven to play his match, win it against a Code S mainstay and get into the second round, he'll be hyped into the ionosphere.
Frankly, Curious is the heavy favorite here, and we all know it. It would be fun to look at By.Sun's high Korean ELO, talk up how he has been excellent so far in PvZ for SKT1 in Proleague and act like that he could beat Curious in his worst match-up, but Curious plays on a whole different level from the Proleague. KeSPA players have had some success in prelims for WCG and WCS, taking games and even series from top players, but this is truly the first big tournament between the two sides.
Curious will have known for a week that his opponent is By.Sun, studied his games and know what he is getting into. A victory for By.Sun would be historic and start a lot of chatter about four legged gray animals, but Curious should be able to dispatch the KeSPA player and continue his record of getting out of the first round in GomTV broadcasted tournaments. Prediction: Curious 2 - 0 By.Sun
Forget actual gameplay, there's plenty of reason outside of Starcraft II that you'd want to see either of these guys advance.
One part of PartinG's reputation that only gets glossed over by the international community is that he is an insolent loudmouth – and I mean that in the best way possible. From talking about being the best Protoss in the world when he was only in the GSL Ro8 to saying he didn't lose to Mvp because of 'skill,' he's full of adorable statements that would be annoying coming from any other player. Somehow, it's all quite tolerable and amusing when it comes from PartinG. Continued success for PartinG means continued entertainment for the fans, and now that he's even started making homages to Keen by copying his flamboyant victory celebrations, it's hard not to root for the young Protoss.
sC is easy to root for for an entirely different reason. Debuting when he was just fifteen, he's a member of the new generation of pro-gamers who are playing Starcraft II as their first game, and tearing up the scene in the process. Well, sC was tearing things up until the summer of 2011, when health issues set him on the path to a slow decline. Suffering from a chronic collapsed lung, sC fell off after reaching the semi-finals in Code S May. Though he had a surprise rebound performance in Code S November, he was unable to mount a comeback and is currently languishing in Code B. sC was almost a championship level player at his peak, and it was a shame to see poor health ruin his upward progress. After falling out of the public eye for the most part, WCS be a great opportunity for sC to show people what he can do.
Objectively, PartinG is massively favored here. PartinG has been both overrated and underrated at times, but the one constant for him has been his monstrous PvT. Only top TvP players like MKP or TaeJa can fight on even terms, and sC is a long way off from being on that level. sC was at his best when he could dominate players with superior macro, but most players have caught up by this point. Without the finesse or multi-tasking to prevent PartinG from using his "defend until I have enough templar to storm everything" strategy, sC is in for a very difficult battle.
In the history of GOM, has there ever been a more anticipated debut? Finally, after two plus years of wondering what it would be like to see Jaedong in the GSL studios, you'll get your chance tonight. Now even with his own GOMTV player profile, Jaedong is officially stepping out of his home at OGN and taking on possibly the hardest challenge of his career. After years of being considered one of the greatest players to ever play Brood War, he will - for maybe the first time since he was a rookie - be entering the first round of a Starcraft tournament as the underdog.
Fact: Jaedong, in the past two months, has raised his play to new levels. At the start of the hybrid Proleague, Jaedong looked lost when it came to decision making. You could tell that the mechanics and brilliance was there, but then he would panic and head straight into a game losing base race that he possibly couldn't win. Then, ever since former GSL player Cezanne took the reigns over at Team 8 as their Starcraft 2 coach, they've been by far the best team in the competition.
With eight straight victories and Jaedong going 6-2 in his last eight games, they are atop of the standings and making a strong case to any sponsor out there that they are the cream of the crop when it comes to KeSPA Starcraft 2 squads. His decision making has improved, his mechanics are shining through, and he is among the best KeSPA has to offer when it comes to SC2.
Fiction: Jaedong is now Code S level and can compete with the DRG's and Nestea's of the world. Calm down, people. We can all see that he is improving at a pace that many people thought was impossible, but he's still a long way from being considered even a top ten Zerg in the world. He has shown that he can beat KESPA players and be clutch for his team in the Proleague, but this will be his first venture in going up against a GOM player.
Similar to By.Sun, if Jaedong was facing a HoRRoR or dreamertt, you could make a strong argument that with his experience combined with his improving skills give him a good chance of advancing. However, instead of getting a Code B player or someone much less experienced, he has to go up against the IPL4 champion and one of the strongest Terrans in the world, Fnatic RC's Alive.
Alive, fittingly in his role as one of the most overlooked players in the world even after winning IPL4, might look more like a litmus test for Jaedong than a WCS championship contender in the eyes of most viewers. In the first Code S season of the year, when he was at his peak, Alive was in the semifinals and starting to gain the aura of one of the best players in the world. Then, like with a lot of players, he started going to too many foreign tournaments, had his GSL results slip, and is now going to have to scrape through the Up-and-Down matches to get back into Code S.
Even with his current struggles, he is a very strong opponent. With him not playing in any tournaments lately and being eliminated earlier than expected in Code S, he has had a lot of time to practice in Korea and get ready for this match. His TvZ hasn't been his strongest match-up in 2012, but with two big victories over Miya and Coca in the recent GSTL, he should have confidence going up against Jaedong.
Simply put, this is something you don't want to miss. It's a pioneering moment for Jaedong, as he trail-blazes the way for KeSPA players in the GomTV studio. A win for Alive would be good to prove that he is still one of the better Terran players in Korea, but a victory for Jaedong would be remembered as a historic moment for years to come. Again, it's not likely that Jaedong will be able to pull out a victory against his much more SC2 experienced, championship winning opponent, but throw in his inhuman improvements and his uncanny ability to perform at his best during the most high tension moments, and you can't say for sure he'll lose.
Right? It's Jaedong we're talking about here. Out of the KeSPA Seven, if there is one that can find a way, it has to be the Tyrant.
I kinda want jaedong to win just for godliness, although alive has made a fan of me through nice meching. I'm CURIOUS if Jaedong will be demoralized after his brethren loses in the first match.
That picture is epic. Jaedong has a decent shot considering aLive has not been playing his best as of late. Experience will likely still prove to be too big of a gap for the kespa sc2ers.
edit. posts loaded as I was posting answering my question, very convenient
I think annoying elitists would argue that given the relative match-up strengths at the time, JD shouldn't have been favored against against Hydra at the PDPop MSL semis (February 2011), but popular opinion probably favored him by a lot.
Flash had a slight edge when JD faced off against him in the Korean Air OSL S2 finals, but ridiculously JD fandom narrows the margin so it's hard to say he was CLEARLY the underdog (September 2010). Technically, I think this date is the one that stands, and would be the last series Jaedong was not the favorite in. A little short of 2 years.
Going back even further to find series he was CLEARY the underdog in, I'm gonna go with his match vs Much in 2007 OSL Dual Tournament. (April 2007)
Other candidates: vs Sea in Challenge League 2007 (July 2007)
On August 06 2012 15:23 Waxangel wrote: I think annoying elitists would argue that given the relative match-up strengths at the time, JD shouldn't have been favored against against Hydra at the PDPop MSL semis (February 2011), but popular opinion probably favored him by a lot.
Flash had a slight edge when JD faced off against him in the Korean Air OSL S2 finals, but ridiculously JD fandom narrows the margin so it's hard to say he was CLEARLY the underdog (September 2010). Technically, I think this date is the one that stands, and would be the last series Jaedong was not the favorite in. A little short of 2 years.
Going back even further to find series he was CLEARY the underdog in, I'm gonna go with his match vs Much in 2007 OSL Dual Tournament. (April 2007)
Other candidates: vs Sea in Challenge League 2007 (July 2007)
I remember LBing Hydra vs Jaedong, even though Jaedong was still "favored" by most; Hydra had the ZvZ "force" going for him at the time.
I thought Flash had a decent edge in KA OSL S2. But yeah, other than a few questionable cases, he hasn't been a true "underdog" ever since he learned to ZvP vs Stork with his ee han timing at the beginning of 2008.
On August 06 2012 15:23 Waxangel wrote: I think annoying elitists would argue that given the relative match-up strengths at the time, JD shouldn't have been favored against against Hydra at the PDPop MSL semis (February 2011), but popular opinion probably favored him by a lot.
Flash had a slight edge when JD faced off against him in the Korean Air OSL S2 finals, but ridiculously JD fandom narrows the margin so it's hard to say he was CLEARLY the underdog (September 2010). Technically, I think this date is the one that stands, and would be the last series Jaedong was not the favorite in. A little short of 2 years.
Going back even further to find series he was CLEARY the underdog in, I'm gonna go with his match vs Much in 2007 OSL Dual Tournament. (April 2007)
Other candidates: vs Sea in Challenge League 2007 (July 2007)
I remember LBing Hydra vs Jaedong, even though Jaedong was still "favored" by most; Hydra had the ZvZ "force" going for him at the time.
I thought Flash had a decent edge in KA OSL S2. But yeah, other than a few questionable cases, he hasn't been a true "underdog" ever since he learned to ZvP vs Stork with his ee han timing at the beginning of 2008.
He lost his last 3 games against Light in late '10 early '11...
Talking about By.Sun Instead of getting a chance to roll over a GOM player on the fringe of Code A or wallowing in Code B
Talking about Jaedong Similar to By.Sun, if Jaedong was facing a (Z)HoRRoR or (T)dreamertt, you could make a strong argument that with his experience combined with his improving skills give him a good chance of advancing.
It's funny how the asumption that the best kespa players already pretty much equal~ medium code A players, has first be insinuated by some fools and his now assumed by quite a few.
Expecting two quick 2-0, maybe 2-1 if Alive goes for an overly aggressive all-in which gets blocked.
On August 06 2012 15:23 Waxangel wrote: I think annoying elitists would argue that given the relative match-up strengths at the time, JD shouldn't have been favored against against Hydra at the PDPop MSL semis (February 2011), but popular opinion probably favored him by a lot.
Flash had a slight edge when JD faced off against him in the Korean Air OSL S2 finals, but ridiculously JD fandom narrows the margin so it's hard to say he was CLEARLY the underdog (September 2010). Technically, I think this date is the one that stands, and would be the last series Jaedong was not the favorite in. A little short of 2 years.
Going back even further to find series he was CLEARY the underdog in, I'm gonna go with his match vs Much in 2007 OSL Dual Tournament. (April 2007)
Other candidates: vs Sea in Challenge League 2007 (July 2007)
I remember LBing Hydra vs Jaedong, even though Jaedong was still "favored" by most; Hydra had the ZvZ "force" going for him at the time.
I thought Flash had a decent edge in KA OSL S2. But yeah, other than a few questionable cases, he hasn't been a true "underdog" ever since he learned to ZvP vs Stork with his ee han timing at the beginning of 2008.
He lost his last 3 games against Light in late '10 early '11...
I'd say Light-Jaedong was about even at that point. Light certainly had a stronger lategame, but that was around the time JD won an epic MSL semifinal 3-2 over Light (in the other semifinal, Flash beat Fantasy in yet another epic semifinal.) Yes, Jaedong had to resort to early ling runbys (damn, how do I pluralize that word...) to beat Light, but I don't think Light was "favored" by very much at that point. LIght was not much more favored than Hydra was in PDPop.
don't care for all these scary S-code players, I wonder where would they be if BW pros started training two years ago, so just you wait. JD <3333 forever
I'm a big fan of aLive, sometimes he plays so damn smart. He improved the Flash 14CC SCV pull vs P, by adding another CC when doing the push with scvs. Bunch of cute moves with his marines, avoiding towers and stuff.
But I still hope Jaedong wins lol, he's on a tear. That said, there's no way he beats aLive!
Elephants in the room notwithstanding, Alive's gonna roll Jaedong. Even if you make the case that the kings of BW are also the rightful kings of SC2 due to their exceptional mechanics, practice regimen or whatever (a notion with which I strongly disagree), there's just no way that they can rise to be world-class players in such a short time. Alive will win 2-0.
€: On a serious note: Alive will probably roll over JD, but on an other nother note, it means nothing. JD is still improving incredibly fast and a year from now on or so we will have the true chance to see whether he is an beasty mammoth or just a teddy elephantino.
so far my bracket is looking good...if any1 is interested here is my top 10 to move to next round of WCS 10.MVP 9.Puzzle 8.HerO 7.Parting 6.Curious(ya I kno) 5.Squirtle 4.CoCa 3.Polt 2.DRG(tough choices here) 1.MC but y no MKP or JYP in this? or Puma?
So hyped for jaedong - alive. Realistically jaedong doesn't stand a chance in hell, but I'll be rooting for him all the way in my hwaseung OZ jacket while I watch the match.
Completely agree with all of the predictions~~. Though I would predict a 2-0 for aLive (unfortuantely ) aLive is my choice to win this thing so I find it a shame that the bw pureists will be shut down by the jaedong results ;x
Such a shame that some low level players for some reason got auto seeded into the korean qualifiers, feel really bad for the 10 or so high quality players that had their spots stolen from them.