At least one Korean will advance to the grand final of Assembly Winter 2012 as the development of the playoffs saw Polt and Lucky both advancing to the semi-finals. The other candidates for the Ro4 spots are Elfi, Stephano, Select and Puma.
Lucky slew two protosses to reach the Ro4 by eliminating Welmu in the Ro16 and then prevailing over Mana in the quarter finals. The Polish player lost the first map after some tense late-game battles where Lucky's brood lords proved to be critical to his success. Game two on Shakuras saw saw Lucky stay on roaches for the better part of it, keeping an almost constant 70 supply lead but his low tech ended up being fatal. Mana was able to tie the series with astounding blink micro that completely nullified the great number of roaches. The match-up ended funnily as Lucky went for a proxy hatch at Mana's natural setting him far behind right from the start. Mana's very late forge due to a micro mistake of his also proved fatal for him and minutes later he had to type out.
Polt's way to the semi-finals included a clutch 2-1 victory over Taeja in the Ro16 after the two played a text book macro TvT with Polt managing to win the final set after catching some tanks of Taeja out of position. Entering the quarter final against Hero, Polt quickly took the set advantage on Antiga Shipyard and then successfully defended the 6-gate rush on Daybreak to secure his spot at the semis.
