[Code S] Groups C & D Preview - GSL Season 1 2017 Text by TL.net ESPORTS Graphics by shiroiusagi

GSL Season 1 Ro32

Brackets and standings on Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

Groups C & D



GSL Code S returns this week with two stacked groups and some possible surprises—at least anything seems possible after and bombed straight out of Group A last week, with the Terran duo of and advancing. An explosive mix of players awaits us, as we celebrate the comeback of Tricksters, Kongs and Machines!





sOs will surprise us again



In this new era many of the best players have decided to fully commit to online tournaments and regular streams to not only fill their coffers, but also to strengthen their popularity and standing in the community. We find a very notable exception in Jin Air Green Wings’ , who only played the bare minimum of matches in the last weeks and months, meaning qualifiers for offline events as well as HomeStory Cup in Germany. Otherwise, sOs is absent from entry lists.



Of course there is one easy way of explaining that: Since he still has a team supporting him, sOs isn’t dependant on cash prizes from smaller cups or any income from streaming. He also has a bit of inhouse practice left, whereas most Koreans after the great cataclysm of 2016 must rely on other methods of training even more so than during the KeSPA days. So sOs’ absence from the online tournament ecosystem is easily explainable.



Instead, however, he must be putting his entire energy and practice effort into preparation for this GSL group, experimenting with all kinds of crazy styles and builds in a secluded area of the Jin Air team house, which he will reveal on the grand stage of GSL when the time is right—a maniacal laughter included. To get a bit more serious again: It’s truly a mystery how sOs’ shape is looking at the moment, and it’ll be extremely interesting to see how well he fares against players, who do not have the same infrastructure behind them anymore. It certainly didn’t work out well for Rogue last week, while Maru advanced without breaking a sweat, so there are definitely no foregone conclusions about this.



When we last saw him in 2016, sOs had some problematic encounters with Zerg players, such as in the GSL qualifiers and at HSC XIV. With two excellent representatives of this race present in his group, sOs might run into some issues, should these problems not have been fixed over the course of the last weeks. Against ever surprising the Jin Air Protoss should have an easier time, however. The return of the Trickster will be an interesting event to witness—should his comeback fail, he might need to overthink his approach to online competitions.





The Kongs Resurgent



With four Zerg players attempting a GSL run this week, all eyes will be on the swarm’s performance, because Rogue certainly didn’t show any magic last week. Leading the charge are and , two players with intimate familiarity of Grand Final series and the feeling of falling short in said matches. The other side of the coin is that they also have a high grade of experience in reaching such a late stage of the tournament, and with how strong the Terran players looked in the first week, we’ll take any Zergs we can get to avoid an AfreevaTvT scenario in the advanced rounds.



Both soO and ByuL have had some truly excellent performances in the last weeks and are a steady presence in online competitions. While this is more or less expected from such a continuously great player as soO, ByuL’s swift resurgence to power has been a delightful surprise for his fans. 2016 hasn’t been great for the former CJ Zerg, but in the last weeks alone he was able to reach a Top 4 placement at IEM Gyeonggi, and get several first and second places in the various Korean onliners, such as events from BaseTradeTV and Olimoleague.



Interesting is also the divergence of match-up strength, when looking at ByuL’s and soO’s recent stats respectively: While ByuL boasts a sheer ridiculous win rate in the seventies against Terran and Zerg, and “only” close to 60% against Protoss, soO has been raking in victory after victory against Protoss players, with a win rate of over 80%, while staying in the fifties for the other two match-ups. The best thing for fans of both players is this: soO faces two Protoss players in his group with sOs and Billowy, ByuL meets Forte, and —fortune truly seems to favour those two… for now.





INnoVation's Quest for Glory



NationWars IV has been a rather bumpy affair for the South Korean squad so far, with being one of the stuttering engines: He was caught in ’s stampede and gave away a map against and the Brazilians. Team Korea did reach the offline stage after a rocky start, but INnoVation hasn't covered himself in glory in doing so.



Not only have pesky foreigners damaged his reputation, certain Koreans, whom he will face in his group, have also sunk their claws into his back while he was preoccupied with foreign affairs: Losira narrowly won a Best of 5 against him in the OSC Championship on January 6, ByuL defeated him three days earlier by a more comfortable margin. And then there is Forte, this hit-or-miss Terran, who had already performed well against INnoVation in the past and must certainly be looking for another chance to prove himself—and retake the victory he threw away against him once in VSL.



If INnoVation thought honour and glory would await him as one of the three chosen to represent his country, he’s been deceived. Instead, he'll have to do it the old fashioned way: in Korea.



Of Gatekeepers and Vultures



Next to these four titans—sOs, soO, ByuL and INnoVation—stand four players, who may not be favoured to advance, but who will utilize any chance whatsoever to throw a wrench into their gears. Veteran is always one such candidate, as he can pull miraculous performances out of nowhere and kick any favorite out—he’s still the Gatekeeper after all.



Then there is , who is almost equal to sOs when it comes to deadly and precisely timed builds with some psychological background text. He could certainly make something happen against the Jin Air player in PvP, and maybe even surprise such a well-rounded opponent as soO.



In Group D, it’s another veteran in , who’s done very well in the last few weeks and could make an upset happen. He beat INnoVation recently, making a claim to one of the two Round of 16 tickets being given out in this group. And never forget , who occasionally felled some true giants last year and will probably focus all his effort into repeating such a feat—after all, legend killers oftentimes happen to become legends in their own right.





Predictions



Group C



sOs > Billowy

Curious < soO

sOs < soO

Billowy < Curious

sOs > Curious



and to advance!





Group D



Losira < INnoVation

ByuL > Forte

ByuL > INnoVation

Losira > Forte

INnoVation > Losira



and to advance!





GSL Code S returns this week with two stacked groups and some possible surprises—at least anything seems possible after Zest and Rogue bombed straight out of Group A last week, with the Terran duo of Bunny and KeeN advancing. An explosive mix of players awaits us, as we celebrate the comeback of Tricksters, Kongs and Machines!In this new era many of the best players have decided to fully commit to online tournaments and regular streams to not only fill their coffers, but also to strengthen their popularity and standing in the community. We find a very notable exception in Jin Air Green Wings’ sOs , who only played the bare minimum of matches in the last weeks and months, meaning qualifiers for offline events as well as HomeStory Cup in Germany. Otherwise, sOs is absent from entry lists.Of course there is one easy way of explaining that: Since he still has a team supporting him, sOs isn’t dependant on cash prizes from smaller cups or any income from streaming. He also has a bit of inhouse practice left, whereas most Koreans after the great cataclysm of 2016 must rely on other methods of training even more so than during the KeSPA days. So sOs’ absence from the online tournament ecosystem is easily explainable.Instead, however, he must be putting his entire energy and practice effort into preparation for this GSL group, experimenting with all kinds of crazy styles and builds in a secluded area of the Jin Air team house, which he will reveal on the grand stage of GSL when the time is right—a maniacal laughter included. To get a bit more serious again: It’s truly a mystery how sOs’ shape is looking at the moment, and it’ll be extremely interesting to see how well he fares against players, who do not have the same infrastructure behind them anymore. It certainly didn’t work out well for Rogue last week, while Maru advanced without breaking a sweat, so there are definitely no foregone conclusions about this.When we last saw him in 2016, sOs had some problematic encounters with Zerg players, such as in the GSL qualifiers and at HSC XIV. With two excellent representatives of this race present in his group, sOs might run into some issues, should these problems not have been fixed over the course of the last weeks. Against ever surprising Billowy the Jin Air Protoss should have an easier time, however. The return of the Trickster will be an interesting event to witness—should his comeback fail, he might need to overthink his approach to online competitions.With four Zerg players attempting a GSL run this week, all eyes will be on the swarm’s performance, because Rogue certainly didn’t show any magic last week. Leading the charge are soO and ByuL , two players with intimate familiarity of Grand Final series and the feeling of falling short in said matches. The other side of the coin is that they also have a high grade of experience in reaching such a late stage of the tournament, and with how strong the Terran players looked in the first week, we’ll take any Zergs we can get to avoid an AfreevaTvT scenario in the advanced rounds.Both soO and ByuL have had some truly excellent performances in the last weeks and are a steady presence in online competitions. While this is more or less expected from such a continuously great player as soO, ByuL’s swift resurgence to power has been a delightful surprise for his fans. 2016 hasn’t been great for the former CJ Zerg, but in the last weeks alone he was able to reach a Top 4 placement at IEM Gyeonggi, and get several first and second places in the various Korean onliners, such as events from BaseTradeTV and Olimoleague.Interesting is also the divergence of match-up strength, when looking at ByuL’s and soO’s recent stats respectively: While ByuL boasts a sheer ridiculous win rate in the seventies against Terran and Zerg, and “only” close to 60% against Protoss, soO has been raking in victory after victory against Protoss players, with a win rate of over 80%, while staying in the fifties for the other two match-ups. The best thing for fans of both players is this: soO faces two Protoss players in his group with sOs and Billowy, ByuL meets INnoVation and Losira —fortune truly seems to favour those two… for now.NationWars IV has been a rather bumpy affair for the South Korean squad so far, with INnoVation being one of the stuttering engines: He was caught in Scarlett ’s stampede and gave away a map against Kelazhur and the Brazilians. Team Korea did reach the offline stage after a rocky start, but INnoVation hasn't covered himself in glory in doing so.Not only have pesky foreigners damaged his reputation, certain Koreans, whom he will face in his group, have also sunk their claws into his back while he was preoccupied with foreign affairs: Losira narrowly won a Best of 5 against him in the OSC Championship on January 6, ByuL defeated him three days earlier by a more comfortable margin. And then there is Forte, this hit-or-miss Terran, who had already performed well against INnoVation in the past and must certainly be looking for another chance to prove himself—and retake the victory he threw away against him once in VSL.If INnoVation thought honour and glory would await him as one of the three chosen to represent his country, he’s been deceived. Instead, he'll have to do it the old fashioned way: in Korea.Next to these four titans—sOs, soO, ByuL and INnoVation—stand four players, who may not be favoured to advance, but who will utilize any chance whatsoever to throw a wrench into their gears. Veteran Curious is always one such candidate, as he can pull miraculous performances out of nowhere and kick any favorite out—he’s still the Gatekeeper after all.Then there is Billowy , who is almost equal to sOs when it comes to deadly and precisely timed builds with some psychological background text. He could certainly make something happen against the Jin Air player in PvP, and maybe even surprise such a well-rounded opponent as soO.In Group D, it’s another veteran in Losira , who’s done very well in the last few weeks and could make an upset happen. He beat INnoVation recently, making a claim to one of the two Round of 16 tickets being given out in this group. And never forget Forte , who occasionally felled some true giants last year and will probably focus all his effort into repeating such a feat—after all, legend killers oftentimes happen to become legends in their own right. soO and sOs to advance! ByuL and INnoVation to advance! Credits:

Writers: Olli.

Editors:

Graphics:

Stats: Aligulac

Writers: TheOneAboveU Editors: Olli Graphics: shiroiusagi Stats: Aligulac



Elentos Profile Blog Joined February 2015 52741 Posts #2 Definitely likely outcomes. But it would probably be really amusing to see how Artosis reacts if Inno doesn't get out of his group. Every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute passes.

Alarak89 Profile Joined January 2016 United States 877 Posts #3 sOs probably does not like to play online games personally, I do not think it has anything to do with team disbanding.

Just by checking his career offline game ratio it is clear that he did not play a lot of online games during HotS either. sOs is THE ONLY player I pay attention to

Elentos Profile Blog Joined February 2015 52741 Posts Last Edited: 2017-01-10 13:10:01 #4 On January 10 2017 22:00 Alarak89 wrote:

sOs probably does not like to play online games personally, I do not think it has anything to do with team disbanding.

Just by checking his career offline game ratio it is clear that he did not play a lot of online games during HotS either.

KeSPA teams didn't allow their players to play many online tournaments. Look at the ratios for other players who spent most of their career on KeSPA teams like Zest or Stats. They had essentially nothing between KeSPA switching to SC2 and KeSPA teams disbanding in terms of online competition (bar qualifiers for bigger events). Now they play in online tournaments on a weekly basis.



Obviously since Jin Air is the only team left it's hard to say if he just dislikes online tournaments or what, but there are very few players whose teams disbanded who don't play in online events. KeSPA teams didn't allow their players to play many online tournaments. Look at the ratios for other players who spent most of their career on KeSPA teams like Zest or Stats. They had essentially nothing between KeSPA switching to SC2 and KeSPA teams disbanding in terms of online competition (bar qualifiers for bigger events). Now they play in online tournaments on a weekly basis.Obviously since Jin Air is the only team left it's hard to say if he just dislikes online tournaments or what, but there are very few players whose teams disbanded who don't play in online events. Every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute passes.

Argonauta Profile Joined July 2016 Spain 2809 Posts #5 Im fine with JAGW players not trying to earn extra cash in online events and left them to teamless players. That being said, I miss watchgn them on regular basis. Rogue | Maru | Scarlett | Trap

NinjaToss Profile Blog Joined October 2015 Austria 1382 Posts #6 I believe in LosirA to somehow make it out, would be hilarious if Forte and LosirA is to make it out (but damn Group D is pretty hot) I'm sorry for all those that got their hearts broken by Zest | Zest, Bisu, soO, herO, MC, Maru, TY, Rogue, Trap, TaeJa", Favourite foreigners: ShoWTimE, Snute, Serral and Nerchio| KT BEST KT |

CynicalDeath Profile Joined January 2012 Italy 2489 Posts #7 ...after the Billowy experience today, group C is more uncertain now... Liquipedia SC2 LP Staff - My Life for Aiur - Let the Metal flow - @Cynical_Death

TheOneAboveU Profile Blog Joined February 2011 Germany 3076 Posts #8 On January 10 2017 23:00 CynicalDeath wrote:

...after the Billowy experience today, group C is more uncertain now... ...after the Billowy experience today, group C is more uncertain now...



Yup, definitely... :D



For anyone wondering, here's is the bracket of Olimoleague #77, which turned out to be quite the Billowy show.



http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/OlimoLeague/2017/Week_77 Yup, definitely... :DFor anyone wondering, here's is the bracket of Olimoleague #77, which turned out to be quite the Billowy show. Writer alias TripleM | @TL_TripleM | Big Dark Energy!

Alarak89 Profile Joined January 2016 United States 877 Posts Last Edited: 2017-01-10 14:13:54 #9 On January 10 2017 22:08 Elentos wrote:

Show nested quote +

On January 10 2017 22:00 Alarak89 wrote:

sOs probably does not like to play online games personally, I do not think it has anything to do with team disbanding.

Just by checking his career offline game ratio it is clear that he did not play a lot of online games during HotS either.

KeSPA teams didn't allow their players to play many online tournaments. Look at the ratios for other players who spent most of their career on KeSPA teams like Zest or Stats. They had essentially nothing between KeSPA switching to SC2 and KeSPA teams disbanding in terms of online competition (bar qualifiers for bigger events). Now they play in online tournaments on a weekly basis.



Obviously since Jin Air is the only team left it's hard to say if he just dislikes online tournaments or what, but there are very few players whose teams disbanded who don't play in online events. KeSPA teams didn't allow their players to play many online tournaments. Look at the ratios for other players who spent most of their career on KeSPA teams like Zest or Stats. They had essentially nothing between KeSPA switching to SC2 and KeSPA teams disbanding in terms of online competition (bar qualifiers for bigger events). Now they play in online tournaments on a weekly basis.Obviously since Jin Air is the only team left it's hard to say if he just dislikes online tournaments or what, but there are very few players whose teams disbanded who don't play in online events.

Maybe he lost many online tournaments at very beginning stage and won many offline tournaments to the end which making his offline game ratio much higher than any other current players. And I suppose this is one reason why his nickname is "big guy" by his Korean fans.



BTW, tomorrow's GSL group will be an interesting one according to Billowy's show today. Maybe he lost many online tournaments at very beginning stage and won many offline tournaments to the end which making his offline game ratio much higher than any other current players. And I suppose this is one reason why his nickname is "big guy" by his Korean fans.BTW, tomorrow's GSL group will be an interesting one according to Billowy's show today. sOs is THE ONLY player I pay attention to

swissman777 Profile Joined September 2014 1106 Posts Last Edited: 2017-01-10 14:16:55 #10 On January 10 2017 23:04 Alarak89 wrote:

Show nested quote +

On January 10 2017 22:08 Elentos wrote:

On January 10 2017 22:00 Alarak89 wrote:

sOs probably does not like to play online games personally, I do not think it has anything to do with team disbanding.

Just by checking his career offline game ratio it is clear that he did not play a lot of online games during HotS either.

KeSPA teams didn't allow their players to play many online tournaments. Look at the ratios for other players who spent most of their career on KeSPA teams like Zest or Stats. They had essentially nothing between KeSPA switching to SC2 and KeSPA teams disbanding in terms of online competition (bar qualifiers for bigger events). Now they play in online tournaments on a weekly basis.



Obviously since Jin Air is the only team left it's hard to say if he just dislikes online tournaments or what, but there are very few players whose teams disbanded who don't play in online events. KeSPA teams didn't allow their players to play many online tournaments. Look at the ratios for other players who spent most of their career on KeSPA teams like Zest or Stats. They had essentially nothing between KeSPA switching to SC2 and KeSPA teams disbanding in terms of online competition (bar qualifiers for bigger events). Now they play in online tournaments on a weekly basis.Obviously since Jin Air is the only team left it's hard to say if he just dislikes online tournaments or what, but there are very few players whose teams disbanded who don't play in online events.

Maybe he lost many online tournaments at vary beginning stage and won many offline tournaments to the end which making his offline game ratio much higher than any other current players. And I suppose this is one reason why his nickname is "big guy" by his Korean fans. Maybe he lost many online tournaments at vary beginning stage and won many offline tournaments to the end which making his offline game ratio much higher than any other current players. And I suppose this is one reason why his nickname is "big guy" by his Korean fans.

To be fair, in the few online games sOs played, he did not do well in terms of manners. I remember him being barred from basetrade organized events for rest of 2016 for not showing up to play against soulkey in the decider match of the group. Kinda sad if you ask me.



E: I just realized that my comment makes it look like sOs is really rude in online tournaments and from what I have seen, that's really not the case. However, it certainly looks like sOs takes small online tournaments less seriously. To be fair, in the few online games sOs played, he did not do well in terms of manners. I remember him being barred from basetrade organized events for rest of 2016 for not showing up to play against soulkey in the decider match of the group. Kinda sad if you ask me.E: I just realized that my comment makes it look like sOs is really rude in online tournaments and from what I have seen, that's really not the case. However, it certainly looks like sOs takes small online tournaments less seriously.

Alarak89 Profile Joined January 2016 United States 877 Posts Last Edited: 2017-01-10 16:25:54 #11 On January 10 2017 23:15 swissman777 wrote:

Show nested quote +

On January 10 2017 23:04 Alarak89 wrote:

On January 10 2017 22:08 Elentos wrote:

On January 10 2017 22:00 Alarak89 wrote:

sOs probably does not like to play online games personally, I do not think it has anything to do with team disbanding.

Just by checking his career offline game ratio it is clear that he did not play a lot of online games during HotS either.

KeSPA teams didn't allow their players to play many online tournaments. Look at the ratios for other players who spent most of their career on KeSPA teams like Zest or Stats. They had essentially nothing between KeSPA switching to SC2 and KeSPA teams disbanding in terms of online competition (bar qualifiers for bigger events). Now they play in online tournaments on a weekly basis.



Obviously since Jin Air is the only team left it's hard to say if he just dislikes online tournaments or what, but there are very few players whose teams disbanded who don't play in online events. KeSPA teams didn't allow their players to play many online tournaments. Look at the ratios for other players who spent most of their career on KeSPA teams like Zest or Stats. They had essentially nothing between KeSPA switching to SC2 and KeSPA teams disbanding in terms of online competition (bar qualifiers for bigger events). Now they play in online tournaments on a weekly basis.Obviously since Jin Air is the only team left it's hard to say if he just dislikes online tournaments or what, but there are very few players whose teams disbanded who don't play in online events.

Maybe he lost many online tournaments at vary beginning stage and won many offline tournaments to the end which making his offline game ratio much higher than any other current players. And I suppose this is one reason why his nickname is "big guy" by his Korean fans. Maybe he lost many online tournaments at vary beginning stage and won many offline tournaments to the end which making his offline game ratio much higher than any other current players. And I suppose this is one reason why his nickname is "big guy" by his Korean fans.

To be fair, in the few online games sOs played, he did not do well in terms of manners. I remember him being barred from basetrade organized events for rest of 2016 for not showing up to play against soulkey in the decider match of the group. Kinda sad if you ask me.



E: I just realized that my comment makes it look like sOs is really rude in online tournaments and from what I have seen, that's really not the case. However, it certainly looks like sOs takes small online tournaments less seriously. To be fair, in the few online games sOs played, he did not do well in terms of manners. I remember him being barred from basetrade organized events for rest of 2016 for not showing up to play against soulkey in the decider match of the group. Kinda sad if you ask me.E: I just realized that my comment makes it look like sOs is really rude in online tournaments and from what I have seen, that's really not the case. However, it certainly looks like sOs takes small online tournaments less seriously.

I know the case you mentioned (although I didn't watch) and I agree the last sentence you said. That's why I'm guessing he probably doesn't like to play online tournaments.

Seems like he wants to save time and energy to make the "big money" although it's a risky move, like the year of 2016 is a "failure" for him in terms of money.

E: Winning few online tournaments won't help either though...since they are much "cheaper" than offline tournaments in average. I know the case you mentioned (although I didn't watch) and I agree the last sentence you said. That's why I'm guessing he probably doesn't like to play online tournaments.Seems like he wants to save time and energy to make the "big money" although it's a risky move, like the year of 2016 is a "failure" for him in terms of money.E: Winning few online tournaments won't help either though...since they are much "cheaper" than offline tournaments in average. sOs is THE ONLY player I pay attention to

attomac Profile Joined March 2015 Peru 14 Posts Last Edited: 2017-01-10 17:21:57 #12 The thing with sOs is that he seems to be the player who relies on preparing very special strategies for an opponent. The randomness of online cups and the smaller prize pools makes a player like him wanting to rather save his time to prepare specific builds and keep it a secret for an important tournament.

swissman777 Profile Joined September 2014 1106 Posts #13 On January 11 2017 02:19 attomac wrote:

The thing with sOs is that he seems to be the player who relies on preparing very special strategies for an opponent. The randomness of online cups and the smaller prize pools makes a player like him wanting to rather save his time to prepare specific builds and keep it a secret for an important tournament.

So the question is what would sOs do when JAGW disbands? So the question is what would sOs do when JAGW disbands?

covetousrat Profile Joined October 2010 2099 Posts Last Edited: 2017-01-10 17:31:53 #14 The death of Protoss incoming!!

Yorkie Profile Blog Joined December 2012 United States 12126 Posts #15 Go Losira woowoooo00o000o Hwang Kang Hooooooooooo. Follow mah boy Shellshock @Shellshock1122

Phredxor Profile Joined May 2013 New Zealand 15049 Posts #16 All i want is Losira to advance and sOs to drop out.

c0sm0naut Profile Joined April 2011 United States 1207 Posts Last Edited: 2017-01-10 23:23:49 #17 Soo's getting throo



really would like to see Losira and Inno make it through.

MoonyD Profile Joined December 2013 Australia 189 Posts #18 I'd like to think that it's some what of a noble thing that the JAGW players are leaving the online competitions/prize pools for pro-gamers that no longer have a signed contract or team house. (Although the realist in me thinks it's probably due to other reasons than this)



Hoping for sOs and SoO to advance. The world wants to be deceived

Shellshock Profile Blog Joined March 2011 United States 95641 Posts #19 it's going to be soo in 1st billowy in 2nd RIP sOs Moderator http://i.imgur.com/U4xwqmD.png

ParksonVN Profile Joined October 2015 Australia 370 Posts #20 I'm kind of worried for Innovation, being qualified at tier-4 player put him in the group with 2 very strong Zerg players, both of them could possibly take a bo3 from him

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