The Code A tournament has a strong affinity for terran players. This will be the second time after its debut in January when there are four terrans in all top four spots. Of course, I am not here to address balance issues, the overall state of Code A or certain statements of terran being the weakest race. My only purpose is to cast a preview glance at tomorrow's games and nothing more.
There should be little doubt that the players who reached the semi finals deserve their position. What is interesting, though, is that each one is looked upon under different angle and it seems that viewers are expecting different things.
MVP is the unquestionable heavy hitter. There is no argument that the star terran of IM and multiple GSL champion does not belong in the "lesser" tournament and he would not be here if it wasn't for his Code S group of death in March that put him against July twice. MVP is most definitely looking forward to seize a third GSL throne and later return to the kingdom of Code S.
Bomber and Ryung are the GSL rising stars that have directed their gaze to future glory. Ryung comes from the incredible terran school of team SlayerS that hosts players such as Boxer, MMA and Ganzi. Bomber is also coming from a strong team and has recently proven that he is one of the young hopes of StarTale, capable of defeating almost anyone.
Finally, Keen enters the stage as the ultimate dark horse. Most people had probably ignored him at the beginning but the youngster had defeated many notable players on his way to the Round of 4 and has certainly gained at least a partial immunity to being baffled by others' stardom.
With that being said, let us take a look at the actual matches and indulge in brave predictions despite the obscuring mist of uncertainty around them.
Match 1:
SlayerS_Ryung vs ST_BomberAs mentioned above, this will be two rising stars facing against each other and, honestly, the odds are so even that it is scary.
Although Bomber's TvT history is impressive, it is far from perfect. The StarTale terran reached the semi-finals by defeating MMA in the previous round. A victory that, despite being a precious and important one, showed quite a lot of what player Bomber is and shadowed his immaculate reputation thus far.
The fight against MMA was a struggle no doubt and although most of you would expect this to be normal for a Ro8 game against the legend killer of SlayerS, the sheer fact is that Bomber seized the victory mostly due to MMA's mistakes and bad decision making. Bomber was completely outplayed on Crevasse for the most time and only the bad positioning of MMA allowed him to make a comeback that would be otherwise impossible. This play from Bomber certainly had me worried about his future in Code A.
However, despite not showing his absolute best, the end of this first set and his on-the-fly decisions on Dual Sight confirmed that Bomber should not be taken lightly, despite his relative inexperience in fighting outside team leagues, although I still consider his game against MVP in GSTL February to be one of the closest TvTs the world has ever seen.
Unfortunately for Bomber, his opponent in the semi finals is no newbie. He will have to struggle through yet another top SlayerS terran and this time it will be Ryung.
Ryung has been on the ascend since his stunning performance in GSTL March. Although a relative newcomer to the GSL stage, the terran already has a stunning resume that includes wins over former and current Code S terrans like Alive (who he defeated in the Ro8), TOP and Supernova (top 8 and top 16 in the current Code S season, respectively) that has led him to a nearly 67% win rate in mirrors. In addition, Ryung had already met Bomber in the team league and managed to secure a victory so he should definitely feel confident about tomorrow's match.
Normally, I would predict a win for Bomber but recent games and statistics examination threw a shadow of a doubt and after drinking three cups of coffee and about four liters of coke, I would call a 3:2 victory for Ryung, despite my StarTale fandom.
Match 2:
IMMvp vs MVP_KeenWell, there is certainly a lot less to write about this match when it comes to statistics, fame, proven skill level... and pretty much everything else. You see, I hate to disregard any player in whatever situation and this time it was really hard for me to do it.
On one side we have IMMvp, a player that has won two GSL titles by crushing through TvT finals, defeating one of the best terrans in the world. Twice. This is a player that holds a 90% win rate in mirrors losing only one game against MMA in the team league after being exhausted from the sheer effort of pulling off a tie for his team. If I must paraphrase an Artosis quote from today, "It would be stupid not to bet on MVP when he plays a TvT and if you do - you are a degenerate gambler".
The chosen maps and the designated order (Altar -> Fortress -> Crevasse -> Terminus -> Metalopolis) are an additional advantage for the champion. The macro layout of the battlefields will allow MVP to utilize his perfect mechanics and polished macro play and would make stopping eventual cheese (which, let's be franc, is a very probable scenario) a way easier task.
This being said, it will be almost a heroic feat for Keen to come victorious although it has become a GSL tradition for newcomers to dethrone champions in huge upsets. It is difficult for me to speak of Keen's TvT having in mind that he has not played a single televised mirror ever, but other things like the match being a Bo5 on 4-player macro maps only will make it close to impossible for him to beat the mirror master. Furthermore, Keen's team is quite young and sadly for him there are no distinctive terrans that can help him prepare adequately for this monstrous challenge. But then again - we haven't seen not one bit of TvT from Keen, he might very well be a lurking beast.
This makes me think that the series will end with a 3:1 score for MVP, or even possibly a 3:0, although I do believe that Keen will be able to at least win a set if he approaches his opponent carefully and does his homework in researching MVP's style.
In respect to everything above, it should all lead to an MVP vs Ryung final, which is something I would not dare to speculate about until I watch every single mirror of both players several times. Until then (or until any other possible outcome) you better get ready for the games themselves, which start tomorrow at 11:30 CET. Bomber vs Ryung and MVP vs Keen, make sure you do not miss it.
