Two days away from the official conclusion of WCS Season 2, we start our coverage by profiling the five players hailing in from South Korea, most of whom regarded as tournament favorites. Meet Innovation, Maru, Bomber, Rain and First!
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  Innovation | 0-4 | Maru |
| Innovation | 3-0 |  Soulkey |
| Innovation | 0-2 | Bomber |
| Innovation | 2-0 | Bbyong |
| ?Innovation | 2-0 | Flash |
| Innovation | 1-0 | Bbyong |
| Innovation | 1-0 | Savage |
Innovation comes as the poster boy of WCS Korea and, frankly, the entire Terran race. Although he dropped the semi-final match of WCS Korea Season 2 to Maru and failed to make his third WCS grand final in a row, the STX ace is still ranked first in more than one ranking system (GosuRankings included) and is a hell of a scary player to face. And that's still the case even if you consider to be even a sliver of truth in that "hellbat nerfs nerfed me as well" bullsh*t. We all know you're still incredibly good, Innovation, so stop throwing sand in people's eyes!
In the frame of the Season 2 finals, Innovation is opening Group C with a Terran mirror against WCS America top four Taeja and that might be a slight problem for the STX ace. He's lost all of his last six TvT maps to Bomber and Maru, proving once again that despite still incredibly scary, this match-up is just not where he shines the most.
To his luck, neither does Taeja. The Liquid Terran fought long and hard to before losing to WCS America champion Polt in five games and most recently dropped two games to ForGG in the TeamStory Cup so Taeja's TvT is a bit shaken as well. If Innovation manages to secure an opening victory here, then he's almost certain to advance forward considering he's at the embarrassingly high 80% TvP win rate and hasn't lost a BoX in the match-up, period.
The problem for him will come after the group stage where more Terrans will make the playoffs (at least one from Group D and likely another one from Group B) and we're talking names like Polt (73,5% win rate), Bomber (83,3% win rate), MMA (65% win rate) and Maru (the guy that 4-0'd him in WCS Korea). Still, if he avoids TvTs, Innovation should easily defend the crown.
Expected group stage finish: 1st
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| Maru | 4-2 |  Rain |
| Maru | 4-0 | Innovation |
| Ma?ru | 3-1 | Symbol |
| Maru | 0-2 | KangHo |
| Maru | 2-1 | Supernova |
| Maru | 2-1 | Trap |
| Maru | 1-0 | sOs |
| Maru | 1-0 | Effort |
If I'm certain in one thing is that even now there are individuals among the vast StarCraft 2 community who can't believe the 16 year old Maru is an OSL champion. And that's understandable, after all the youngster broke the record for the youngest royal roader in brand's history and he did so in the times when StarCraft 2 competition was most vicious. He proved himself in every match-up against giants of the game like Symbol, Rain and most notably Innovation and stood champion with an aggregate 11-3 in maps in the playoffs. With the exception of Flash and Life, nobody has really managed to break out in such a manner.
So if those are some impressive facts (as they are), why do we're still to doubt Maru. For one, just as nobody really understands how he won, nobody fully knows what is to be expected of him come this weekend. If the fusion of all Prime Terrans is really all he has, then it might be problematic as, like Vortix suggested in recent interview, the Koreans would have figured his style by now. And if there's more, well, we can't really know what it is since there isn't enough footage of him beating people.
Consequently, the Season 2 stage will be Maru's most important test of his career, even bigger than his OSL run. There are no unproven players , there are no Bo1's, there is no margin for error. His opening game is against EG's aLive which should be an easy victory considering the TvT skills of both players but from there on he'll be against MMA or Scarlett, both dashingly versed in the vT match-up. Ultimately, this might be a tournament that will either deservedly elevate Maru to the upper echelons of StarCraft or be the starting point of the decline that will turn him to another Seed or Sniper or Jjakji.
Expected group stage finish: 2nd
| Bomber | 1-4 | Rain |
| Bomber | 3-0 | First |
| Bomber | 2-0 | Innovation |
| Bomber | 2-0 | Flash |
| Bomber | 2-1 | Bbyong |
| Bomber | 1-0 | KeeN |
| Bomber | 1-0 | Hurricane |
| Bomber | 0-1 | Rain |
If there's ever been a player StarCraft 2 writers are all tired and irritated of trying to predict it's Bomber, a Terran whose results have as much regularity and consistency as a Wings of Liberty PvP.
In spite of all the "Bomber law" talks and his Elo rating spiking like the ECG of a fifty year old on drugs, the StarTale Terran ace actually did extremely well in last season of WCS Korea. Excluding his two losses to Rain, Bomber is on a 11-1 record against six different players, First, Innovation and Flash included. Although his semi-final loss came shortly after a daring tweet, fans are still willing to forgive him that particular one, seeing how it was Rain he had to play and all.
Following up on aforementioned results and disregarding all the entropy swirling around Bomber's persona, the StarTale talent would be an easy player to predict. He opens Group B by playing Grubby who should technically be an easy target to overcome. Despite all his recent successes, the Dutchman remains a few classes below Bomber and that won't change any time soon. Coming out of this potential victory, Bomber would face either First, a player who he already beat 3-0 in the OSL playoffs, or MMA whom he will play in a match-up where he holds an 83% win rate in HotS. Looks good?
Without a doubt it does but if Bomber was ever a player to win when he was supposed to there wouldn't exist the perverse pleasure of being his fan. Consequently, supports of the StarTale player will tune to the Season 2 finals this weekend completely oblivious to what their idol might cook next.
Expected group stage finish: Ehm...
| Rain | 2-4 | Maru |
| Rain | 4-1 | Bomber |
| Rain | 3-2 | Supernova |
| Rain | 1-0 | Hyvaa |
| Rain | 1-0 | First |
| Rain | 0-1 | Hyvaa |
| Rain | 1-0 | First |
| Rain | 2-0 | Fantasy |
| Rain | 0-2 | First |
| Rain | 2-1 | Hyvaa |
| Rain | 1-0 | Bomber |
| Rain | 1-0 | KeeN |
One of the heavy favorites for the Season 2 crown, Rain is nowadays considered to be the Protoss version of Innovation. Both are at the very top of their race, maybe even the best. Both possess exceptional mechanics and are nearly unbeatable in the late game. Both do everything they do with perfection and obvious flaws in the execution there are none.
Unfortunately, both are quite the predictable players and this might come back to bite them if their enemies take the time to prepare specifically against them. Rain in particular has been widely known for his passive, economic, solid Protoss style which, although the safest thing one can do in the game, is also painfully straightforward. Opponents have been known to take otherwise suicidal economical risks against him and occasionally it has worked wonders for them, leading to a victory through overwhelming numbers.
So how detrimental will this be for Rain in the group stages? Funnily enough, not even the slightest. His opening match is against Jaedong, a player infamous for his ZvP struggles, and the rest is versus MC and/or Welmu in PvP, a match-up with entirely different behavior than the rest. Ultimately, what will come to be a problem for Rain is not his straightforwardness but the fact that he's simply not very good at the mirror. But nevertheless chances are high as ever for the SKT ace and none of his opponents in Group A - yes, even MC - come out as even skilled with him.
Expected group stage finish: 1st
| First | 3-2 | Supernova |
| First | 2-0 | Symbol |
| First | 0-3 | Bomber |
| First | 1-0 | Hyvaa |
| First | 0-1 | Rain |
| First | 1-0 | Hyvaa |
| First | 0-1 | Rain |
| First | 0-2 | Hyvaa |
| First | 2-0 | Rain |
| First | 2-0 | Fantasy |
| First | 1-0 | Leenock |
| First | 1-0 | RorO |
Before his very last match in the Ro16, First was amazing and all fine and dandy in WCS Korea. He had not dropped a single map, he had plowed through RorO, Leenock, Fantasy and Rain by showing master in every single match-up and against tough opponents as well and was looking the playoffs right in the eye. Until suddenly the moronic OSL rules for group stage standings came to shove a shoe in his behind.
If in every other tournament First's 4-2 (calculated after a 0-2 loss to Hyvaa) would guarantee him an advancement to the next stage, First was instead pushed into an exhausting sequence of tie-breakers. Alternating between Bo1 games against Rain and Hyvaa, First did manage to reach the playoffs after all only to see his famously inspirational PvT shredded by Bomber with 3-0. It was only after winning the 5th place decider bracket after a hard-fought five-game series against Supernova that First snatched the success by the throat with his last remaining strength...
...only to see everything becoming even more difficult now that the Season 2 groups have been drawn. Originally praised for the beauty of his PvT (ironically since it's his worst match-up statistically), First's last clashes with Terrans left doubts as to how dominant really is he in the match-up and if it's the least bit shaky the IM Protoss will fall and there will be no straw he can grab.
To take it one step further, it wouldn't be a wild exaggeration to say that next to Jaedong and his entrapment in a ZvP nightmare, First has drawn the toughest hand out of all players in the Season 2 finals. To get an early edge in the group, he must somehow overcome the otherworldly TvP of Polt and then live through another series against Bomber. Not a cheerful prospect at the slightest.
Expected group stage finish: 3rd
Stay tuned for more WCS Season 2 coverage!
Innovation photo: Thisisgame.com
Maru, Bomber, Rain, First photos: Kevin Chang for Team Liquid
??Rotator photo: Thisisgame.com
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