After a long period of Protoss domination, and a Season 1 Protoss Champion, Code S is back at the perfect time. Despite the fact that the tournament is very Protoss heavy, we’ve seen a big return in the quality of play as well as win rates of Terran and especially Zerg.

The Group(s) Of Death

I literally cannot decide on a Group Of Death this season. Many of them seem very close, with 3 players definitely able to make it out, and a 4th who could if things go well for them on that particular day. Not that common a thing with the round of 32. While I write this, I’m still trying to figure it out, so I guess I’ll just describe multiple groups of death, and my reasoning behind them!

Group C

- Rain, Stork, Ruin, and Symbol

Why it could be considered the group of death:

Rain, while being slightly overshadowed by a couple of other Protosses at the moment, is still looking like the most solid Protoss in the world. The guy will probably never fall out of Code S. In the past 3 “Code S” seasons, he’s made at least top 8, and it took Zest, Soulkey, and Maru to finally knock him out. Oh, and he beat Soulkey in the finals of the Hot6ix cup. If you ever bet on him to lose before the bracket phase of a tournament, then you like to lose.

Ruin is the next big thing. In the Code A earlier this year for season 1, he played such an inspired group that I ended up writing an article on SCDOJO about it. The improvement he showed between the last time we saw him and then was amazing. Well, that happened again. This season in Code A, Ruin showed some really innovative and intelligent play. Really, ridiculously strong. I actually meant to already write an article on it, but got caught up getting ready for DreamHack. Will probably highlight his play next week or so. Wait for it. Till then, trust me, this kid is going to be huge.

Symbol is a player who has shown even more stability than Rain, and over a longer period of time. The past few seasons have not been kind to Symbol, falling out in the ro32, especially when you consider that before that the whole world was just waiting for him to straight up win the damn thing. Now let’s forget for a moment Symbol’s results, and instead remember his beginning. Symbol was first known for his insanely good ZvP, specifically his cross-every-t-dot-every-i-and-lower-case-j defensive macro play. This group has 3 Protoss players. Symbol is not currently playing in ProLeague (due to not being on a PL team). Symbol hasn’t traveled outside of Korea for quite some time. When you put all of this together, he has a ridiculous amount of time to actually sit down and practice, and only 1 race to practice for. Symbol will be deadly when it comes time to play in this group.

Stork - he’s not bad at all, but I’m not going to argue that he’s any part of why I’m calling this one of the Groups of Death. Still, he is at least a player who could make an upset and make it through this group if he has a good day.

Group D

- Life, Rogue, Hydra, and Classic

Why it could be considered the group of death:

Life is in amazing shape. His results and play have been getting better and better recently, topped off by a DreamHack Bucharest win this past weekend, where he looked nearly unbeatable. It takes a really special player to kill off Life, and generally that player is not a Zerg. Not only does this group have 3 Zergs in it, but Zerg is arguably the strongest race going into this season of Code S.

Rogue, as I’ve been saying in my past several times casting him, quietly one of the very best players in the world. Go watch some of his recent games. He’s playing so close to perfect in many games that it’s scary. Who knows what would have happened at IEM if he didn’t have to play Life in the first round. Rogue is the real deal, someone who will win a championship in the future.

Classic has been SKT1’s ace more times in ProLeague than I’m sure anyone could have predicted going into this year. A former #1 draft pick from SC1, this kid is a monster. His play, strategy, and execution are all top notch. On top of that, he’s on SKT1, a team with a ridiculous Protoss lineup to help him work his game.

Hydra - the weakest in the group, but always putting up solid play. He may be one of the more “cheesey” and aggressive Zergs out there, but doesn’t get much flak for it compared to other aggro Zergs. Why do you think that is? My theory is because he looks really solid the entire time. Deep down people can tell he’s really skilled.

And that’s not all….

I feel like I could also make similar arguments for groups E and H. The thing is, it’s getting a bit late, so meh, this is all for now :P

All in all, this season really excites me. Its so ridiculously stacked, and players are better than ever before. OK, OK, players are always getting better…but its really starting to count now. The differences in skill are becoming more noticeable, and there are less and less random losses that are completely unexpected.

Make sure you tune in as Code S boots up again at 6pm KST on April 30th!