Code S Group D: Resisting extinction

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With his last remaining strength, Squirtle – the free agent Pokemon – manage to preserve a tiny piece of the protoss presence in Code S. Meanwhile, a certain player delivered much unexpected upset.

Coming from a long succession of less than mediocre Code A results, BboongBboong went through sudden reincarnation and completely destroyed Group D, something few people bet on. It wasn’t a fluke, a matter of luck or a bucket of mistakes from his opponent – Bboong was just… better. In his opening game against HyuN, B4 kept the Season 5 finalist in the dirt, pushing him down mercilessly with the heavy boot of superiority, not allowing him to even consider coming back into the series. The confidence of Bboong persisted in the game against Squirtle as well and the protoss was given just one set of happiness (won by the power of immortal push) before being dominated in most violet ways, hydralisk flank (!) included.

Squirtle’s defeat in the winners match and HyuN’s win in the losers match logically put them against each other in the rubber series of the group. Easily overpowering YoDa’s mech play had re-injected the HyuN with conviction that he can join his teamless zerg brother in the Ro16 but to his ill luck, Squirtle had other plans. Marginally unimpressed by the baneling drop opening, Squirtle took one game and didn’t have to sweat much more to take the second one too: HyuN’s big reliance on hydralisk turned back and bit him in the face once Colossi made the field. Climbing out of a 50 supply deficit was an unbearable task by HyuN and some minutes later, the former TSL-er had to acknowledge his elimination with a GG.

Looking from the half the Ro32 back, zergs continue to do extremely well, somewhat suggesting how IEM Katowice might have been and odd-one-out tournament. Four of the eight already qualified players belong to the swarm, Group C the only one that did not allow a single one to pass through.

As there is an abundance of both zergs and terrans this tournament, though, their representatives are not that high on the community's radar, their place taken by the few protoss players that are left. Squirtle's success today placed him next to MC and toss users drew a sigh of relief but the race will be tested again on Tuesday. Coming from unsatisfying IEM Katowice run is PartinG, who is placed in a group of players scarred by their own incosistency but who must at all cost keep today's results as an example of how things can go very wrong, very quickly.

Code S Ro32 Group D