[GSL] Code-S November Finals Preview Text by TL.net ESPORTS Graphics by Meko GSL on Liquipedia

Leenockin' On Heaven's Door

His Name Is Leenockin' On Heaven's Door

By: whatthefat

By fishuu If there's one thing November has taught us, it's that Leenock has finally become the nerd-killing octo-limbed coke-can-crushing beast we all hoped he would. He may not yet be the World's best Zerg (more on that below), but damn is he the most entertaining.



One year ago, the 15 year old Leenock settled into the left ventricle of fans everywhere with his epic 2-1 victory over (allegedly*) the best player in the World. At the time, it was arguably the greatest SC2 match anyone had seen. Leenock amazed with his incredible micro, creative decision making, and his knack for the theatric (there was even a network drop-out and regame in the first game of that match).



Fast forward one year from that famous match versus Clide, and things have come full circle. Again, Leenock was pitted against the best player in the World. And once again, he came through by the skin of his teeth in a sterling ZvT that had fans straining the edges of their chairs. But this time around his opponent was legitimately the best player in the World, IMMvp, and the match was for a chance to play in the Code S Final.



Leenock's road to destiny has been anything but smooth. Just as quickly as he had ascended to Code S, he crashed back into Code A. His play back then was rich with flashes of genius, but highly erratic. For a time, it seemed he may go the way of other great Zergs of that vintage. Hell, I remember a time when Kyrix and Fruitdealer were my favorite players (who are they again?). But Leenock wasn't losing his edge. He was just finding his limits. And anybody pushing the envelope that far will occasionally overstep the margins.



Watching Leenock evolve has been like watching the growth of a fine mind under the microscope. Match by match, unruly synapses have been pruned, brilliance has been refined. Now, all the shards of genius have fallen into place to form one of the strongest Zergs in the World: a player who looks equally at home droning like Ret, or all-ining like July. His attention to detail is unrivaled. Nobody else utilizes burrow as sexily. Nobody else achieves such magnetic surrounds. Those who don't think Zerg units can be microed as well as the other races' forces need to observe Leenock and reconsider.



The two words that best characterize Leenock's play are Opportunism and Creativity. If you leave open even the narrowest gap, Leenock will have Zerglings in your main faster than the Adjutant can say "Our SCVs are under attack". If you leave a single spot in your base uncovered, he will Nydus Worm his way in. If you were planning to take a third, he already has creep on it and a Zergling burrowed there. Even the best players can succumb to this level of unabated pressure. And Leenock is not afraid to try unconventional solutions. If the game calls for a 12-minute Hive, then you better believe Leenock has a Hive on the way already.



Leenock's triumph over a stellar line-up at MLG Providence was a landmark achievement. He finally proved that he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Nestea, DongRaeGu, and LosirA, as the Zerg crème de la crème. Now he has a golden opportunity to not only prove MLG was no fluke, but to become the third ever Zerg to conquer the GSL.



Certainly, it's premature to question Nestea's place on the Zerg throne. But at a time when Nestea's form is looking somewhat shaky, overcoming MVP (the one player Nestea has consistently struggled against) not once but twice is a symbolic achievement for Leenock. In the round of 8 against sC, MVP was admittedly not looking his finest. The 3-0 scoreline belied what could well have been 1-2 in sC's favor. But in the Semi-Final, MVP was at his sharpest, coming back again and again from positions that seemed hilariously lopsided. But as much as he resisted, eventually he was crushed within the grasp of Leenock, like a still full can of Coke.



So what are Leenock's chances in the Final? Having just beaten the strongest Terran in the World, it's tempting to say this ZvT should be a walkover. But jjakji has looked brilliant this tournament. Because of the way he has materialized out of the blue, it's hard to judge just how much he is capable of, or how strong his nerves will be when playing for the absolute highest honor. Whatever the case, with Leenock involved, this GSL Final should be all that the past eleven should have been – and more.







*According to Artosis

His Name Is

By: Fionn

By fishuu Coming into this November season in my preview article, I stated that Jjakji is a very intriguing player. His games before this season hadn't been mind blowing or anything more than just very solid Terran play that I've seen showcased by many others in the GSL, but he was routinely picked as one of the final players in the Code S Group Selections. To be one of the final players picked out of the thirty two best players in the world; it must say something about your ability. Even with his high ELO, impressive play in online tournaments and ace status on the upcoming NsHoSeo team, he was still one of the most overlooked players in the entire competition



So, what did this mysterious do to silence the critics? Well, thus far in this tournament, I've learned three important things about the young man.



1. He is very good. No, I would not rank him with the MVP or Fin's of the world in terms of mechanics, or maybe not even in the top five Terrans currently in the world, but he has proven that he is a very strong player this tournament. Most notably, his quarterfinal series against Puzzle was the one time this entire tournament where I saw a true glimpse of why so many of the top Koreans feared playing him in the first round. His play was crisp, powerful, and most importantly, the most creative I've seen in TvP in months.



2. His imagination has no boundaries. Jjakji reminds me of Kiwikaki if he was Terran, a Korean, and had better mechanics. Jjakji is one of the most imaginative, innovative and exciting Terrans that we have seen come through the scene in a long, long time. Even when his builds fail, such as when his sneaky reaper and ghost build got smacked down by MVP in the round of sixteen, you can tell that he had more tricks up his sleeve than a magician. Like mentioned before, his series against Puzzle showed how good he can be when his genius builds can come to light. When they fail, they look awful and foolish. When they work, Jjakji truly looks like one of the smartest players in the world.



3. Luck is truly on his side. In the history of GSL, there has always been luck. To become a champion, you must get lucky somewhere; maybe you can draw your best match-up more times than your worst. You might get to face someone you are extremely confident against instead of someone you have lost to many times on the ladder. Perhaps most importantly, completely unpredictable, totally crazy things can happen. For example, in Open Season 3, when it looked like we were going to see MC versus Nestea, Rain came out of nowhere, cheesed Nestea out of the tournament, and gave MC a much easier time winning the title. Don't feel bad for Nestea, though; he had the same type of luck in GSL May when it was shaping up to be Nada vs. Nestea in an old school Brood War showdown everyone in the world wanted to see. Inca didn't agree with that storyline, cheesed out Nada, and made the final as one of the biggest surprises of the year. What came next was the worst GSL final of all-time (yeah, it was that bad) with Inca trying to DT rush Nestea four times, failing all four times, and getting thrown straight into Code B two seasons later.



Jjakji, for all his skill, might actually be the luckiest player in GSL history. Let's run through his road to the final:



RO32 – First off, he gets one of the easier groups. Out of SuperNova, Virus, and Killer, the furthest any of them had ever gone was the quarterfinals. He started out losing to Killer in a one-sided affair and was one game away from getting eliminated to the bottom of Code A. In his second game against SuperNova, they both went for the same build; a proxy marauder build that was meant to finish the game straight away. To be perfectly honest, Jjakji should have went 0-2 and straight out of the tournament. SuperNova had the game won, but made poor decisions and choked the game away. With a second chance at life after being all but out of it, Jjakji went on to beat Virus in a dominating fashion to get second place in the group.







Just one of the amazing turns in Jjakji's road to the championship. Mining from his opponent's base in an elimination game.





– First off, he gets one of the easier groups. Out of SuperNova, Virus, and Killer, the furthest any of them had ever gone was the quarterfinals. He started out losing to Killer in a one-sided affair and was one game away from getting eliminated to the bottom of Code A. In his second game against SuperNova, they both went for the same build; a proxy marauder build that was meant to finish the game straight away. To be perfectly honest, Jjakji should have went 0-2 and straight out of the tournament. SuperNova had the game won, but made poor decisions and choked the game away. With a second chance at life after being all but out of it, Jjakji went on to beat Virus in a dominating fashion to get second place in the group. RO16 – Alright, he survived an opening group that could have gone either way. He came back from losing the first game to somehow beat SuperNova and take down Virus. Next up is MVP, the best player in the world; Coca, one of the strongest Zergs currently in the GSL and coming off a strong 2-0 performance in his RO32 group; and Gumiho, an emerging Terran from FXO who beat both Bomber and DongRaeGu in his group. Unlucky, right?



Nope. Coca, in one of the most outrageous stories in SC2 this year, got demoted to the B-team of Slayers and had to quit the GSL due to a scandal with former ZeNex teammate Byun in one of the Korean Weekly tournaments. With Coca out, Jjakji had a 66.6% chance of getting out of the group. His unique build against MVP didn't work, and he was once again a game away from being out of the tournament. Due to Coca quitting, he got a free win and only had to beat Gumiho once to get out of the group. He did just that with solid play against the FXO Terran and made his way to his first quarterfinal.







Coca deciding to throw away a won game against Byun and move onto a third game, resulting in the forfeit of his coveted Code S spot.





– Alright, he survived an opening group that could have gone either way. He came back from losing the first game to somehow beat SuperNova and take down Virus. Next up is MVP, the best player in the world; Coca, one of the strongest Zergs currently in the GSL and coming off a strong 2-0 performance in his RO32 group; and Gumiho, an emerging Terran from FXO who beat both Bomber and DongRaeGu in his group. Unlucky, right? Nope. Coca, in one of the most outrageous stories in SC2 this year, got demoted to the B-team of Slayers and had to quit the GSL due to a scandal with former ZeNex teammate Byun in one of the Korean Weekly tournaments. With Coca out, Jjakji had a 66.6% chance of getting out of the group. His unique build against MVP didn't work, and he was once again a game away from being out of the tournament. Due to Coca quitting, he got a free win and only had to beat Gumiho once to get out of the group. He did just that with solid play against the FXO Terran and made his way to his first quarterfinal. RO8 – Puzzle, his round of eight opponent, had just gone to the recent MLG Providence event and was just back from America. While Puzzle was practicing for MLG and playing those games, Jjakji was in Korea, getting ready for his opponent. The games weren't very close, with Puzzle losing two straight before deciding to all-in in the third game to no avail. This was easily the best play from Jjakji the entire tournament, but you have to wonder if MLG and jet lag had anything to do with the dominating performance against Puzzle.





Semi-finals – Alright, this one was more so Oz playing badly than anything luck involved. Jjakji played a very solid five game series and got the win in the fifth set. For some reason, Oz decided to do more cheesy builds than more of a standard style, losing games that he might not have if he played straight up. When Oz played standard, he looked pretty good in the series, but he decided to play for more non-standard games, losing against the more sturdy player.



So, as you can see, Jjakji has had some luck in his road to the finals, but what champion hasn't? He might have gotten more than what would seem humanly possible, but that doesn't take away the fact that he has been very prepared for every single match he's played in and played to the best of his abilities.



Before I wrote this article, I went to one of my friends who is a religious viewer of the MLG Circuit and NASL, but an infrequent GSL viewer. I wanted an outsider's perspective on this final, and asked who he thought was going to win on MSN.



The conversation went as follows (but with me fixing his spelling errors):



Friend of Fionn: Leenock is going to destroy that noob. Did you see him at MLG Providence? He freaking beat Huk, MMA and MVP! Those are the best three players on the planet. I don't even know why they're playing the final. Jikigi is going to get 4-0'ed.



Myself: His name is Jjakji.



Friend of Fionn: Jakjii?



Myself: No, his name is Jjakji.



Friend of Fionn: Who cares? Leenock is five thousand times better. Jakju or whatever his name is wasn't impressive when I saw him on the VOD's. Leenock and MVP was the true final, man. This is going to be 4-0 definitely.



Myself: So you honestly think that Jjakji has no chance against Leenock? It is both their first GSL final.



Friend of Fionn: Dude, listen to me, I know Starcraft. Jakji is going to lose 4-0. Leenock is the future. If Jakji wins, I'll buy you dinner for a month. It's not gonna happen, man. Did you freaking see Leenock against MVP and Huk? Come on!



From that, you can tell Jjakji isn't one of the most popular or well known players to people who don't follow GSL or Starcraft that closely. It is true that Leenock has been on a run of a lifetime, taking down $50,000 at MLG Providence and slaying the two GSL finalists from last season, MVP and MMA. But people, let me assure you, this isn't another Inca situation in the final. Jjakji is strong against Zerg (unlike Inca who had never won a game against Zerg going into the final against Nestea) and has proven he can combat the swarm.



Yes, he is the heavy underdog, but the storyline of this final does follow one that has come before. Back before the Super Tournament final, MMA was also on a run just like Leenock's. He had just won a MLG (Columbus) and beaten some of the best players in the world, not dropping a series and beating Losira in an exciting final. He then returned to Korea, beating teammates Ganzi and Ryung before taking down MarineKing in an incredible semifinal, coming back from an 0-2 deficit to make the finals. All the momentum and fan support was on his side. In the end, the underdog Polt [Haha! You thought Fionn wouldn't mention him, didn't you?] did the unthinkable, sweeping the MLG Columbus champion and winning the biggest tournament in history of Starcraft.



The same questions that were asked about MMA then are the ones you have to ask Leenock now. How exhausted is Leenock? Yes, he has looked brilliant the past month, taking down everyone in sight, but having played almost fifty tournament games in two weeks must be taking some toll on him, right? Also, this is the finals. The finals are never the most standard series in the world. Jjakji, who might be the most creative Terran currently in the world, will be preparing builds to beat Leenock. When it comes down to it, whoever has the better prepared builds usually wins the championship. When the players are close on skill, the builds will determine the winner. When Nestea and MarineKing played in the final, the person with the better thought out strategy won, that being Nestea. In MMA versus Polt, the player with the better strategies dominated the player who didn't have anything special planned. Last season, with MMA versus MVP, MMA learned his lesson from his first final and came in with the more thought out builds, caught MVP off guard, and won four games to one.



Come the night of the final, I know Jjakji will be ready. Will he be nervous? Of course, but so will Leenock; they are both in their first GSL finals and neither will have the advantage over the other going in. If he can bring his creative style to the finals, he can win. If he plays to the best of his potential, Jjakji can become champion. You can overlook him and already start planning your parade for Leenock, but remember this:



His name is Jjakji, and he is ready to make you remember his name. So, as you can see, Jjakji has had some luck in his road to the finals, but what champion hasn't? He might have gotten more than what would seem humanly possible, but that doesn't take away the fact that he has been very prepared for every single match he's played in and played to the best of his abilities.Before I wrote this article, I went to one of my friends who is a religious viewer of the MLG Circuit and NASL, but an infrequent GSL viewer. I wanted an outsider's perspective on this final, and asked who he thought was going to win on MSN.The conversation went as follows (but with me fixing his spelling errors):From that, you can tell Jjakji isn't one of the most popular or well known players to people who don't follow GSL or Starcraft that closely. It is true that Leenock has been on a run of a lifetime, taking down $50,000 at MLG Providence and slaying the two GSL finalists from last season, MVP and MMA. But people, let me assure you, this isn't another Inca situation in the final. Jjakji is strong against Zerg (unlike Inca who had never won a game against Zerg going into the final against Nestea) and has proven he can combat the swarm.Yes, he is the heavy underdog, but the storyline of this final does follow one that has come before. Back before the Super Tournament final, MMA was also on a run just like Leenock's. He had just won a MLG (Columbus) and beaten some of the best players in the world, not dropping a series and beating Losira in an exciting final. He then returned to Korea, beating teammates Ganzi and Ryung before taking down MarineKing in an incredible semifinal, coming back from an 0-2 deficit to make the finals. All the momentum and fan support was on his side. In the end, the underdog Poltdid the unthinkable, sweeping the MLG Columbus champion and winning the biggest tournament in history of Starcraft.The same questions that were asked about MMA then are the ones you have to ask Leenock now.Yes, he has looked brilliant the past month, taking down everyone in sight, but having played almost fifty tournament games in two weeks must be taking some toll on him, right? Also, this is the finals. The finals are never the most standard series in the world. Jjakji, who might be the most creative Terran currently in the world, will be preparing builds to beat Leenock. When it comes down to it, whoever has the better prepared builds usually wins the championship. When the players are close on skill, the builds will determine the winner. When Nestea and MarineKing played in the final, the person with the better thought out strategy won, that being Nestea. In MMA versus Polt, the player with the better strategies dominated the player who didn't have anything special planned. Last season, with MMA versus MVP, MMA learned his lesson from his first final and came in with the more thought out builds, caught MVP off guard, and won four games to one.Come the night of the final, I know Jjakji will be ready. Will he be nervous? Of course, but so will Leenock; they are both in their first GSL finals and neither will have the advantage over the other going in. If he can bring his creative style to the finals, he can win. If he plays to the best of his potential, Jjakji can become champion. You can overlook him and already start planning your parade for Leenock, but remember this:His name is Jjakji, and he is ready to make you remember his name.

















Art by Fishuu



Writers: Fionn and WhatTheFat

Graphics and Art: Fishuu and Meko).

Editor: WaxAngel

