When almost every other group in the Ro32 could be considered an obscure thing to predict (except maybe Group A which featured a tremendous difference in class between Soulkey/Parting and Pigbaby/Swagger), Group G was quite an easy one. Even before a single series was played, two things were clear: Rain will make it out, SonGDuri will not. The former because, well, he’s Rain, training for one match-up alone and the latter because of his critical lack of experience on the big stage and the fact he had to play the Protoss first.
That being said, the only real question mark in Group G was KangHo or TRUE, but let’s not put the cart before the horse and start with the expected event number one: Rain’s cruise into the Ro16.
Many considered Rain’s opening match against the CJ Entus underdog to be as close as a walkover for the SK Telecom ace and who could blame then? SonGDuri came into Code S with little to no background besides his scarce record and somewhat surprising wins over Flying, Savage and Yoda in the up/down matches. Of all the three opponents Rain could’ve gotten, he looked the easiest compared to TRUE’s recent victories over Squirtle and JYP in OSL Challenger and KangHo’s experience in surviving the GSL environment.
Yet SonGDuri proved a harder nut the crack than anticipated. Although he opened the match with a loss after trying to play a DRG-esque roach/ling style but getting colossus-slaughtered instead, SonGDuri was able to successfully transition into a diametrically opposite playstyle. Utilizing patient swarm host play which contained Rain on his side of the map and mixing in an ultralisk transition and a massive mutalisk switch in the late game, SonGDuri was able to eventually force a profitable base race which brought the score back to equal footing.
It was at that point that speculations of “Can SonGDuri actually do it” started to arise but Rain was quick in shutting them down. A simple three-base attack peppered with force-fields galore rammed through SonGDuri’s defenses for the 2-1. Step one of Rain’s plans to top the group was complete.
Weirdly, it turned out to be an easier winner’s match for Rain as he met TRUE who had just 2-1’d Losira through roach waves. The Greenwings Zerg tried to be fancy right from the start by proxying a hatch at Rain’s natural and going for a quick burrow as a follow up but a simple gateway retort shattered his dreams and put him on the disadvantage.
Game two started a bit better for TRUE as Rain’s zealot/phoenix opening was met by heavy ling resistance at the third hatchery but TRUE enjoyed having the upper hand for but a few brief seconds. Overproducing zerglings in the face of a very much non-lethal threat put him on the back foot and became the mistake Rain was able to abuse to win the match even before the first big battle.
Ten spots. This is what separates KangHo from getting a Blizzcon seed as of the afternoon of September 11th and the IM Zerg has his ZvZ skills to thank for.
It didn’t look like it’d be a successful day for KangHo at the start, though. Although TRUE isn’t particularly known for his ZvZ and he lost to KangHo twice in Season 1, the Greenwings Zerg looked scary in the opening match of Group G. TRUE employed massive roach armies in both sets one and three to overpower his opponent’s own roaches and mass queens. Victory through a massive baneling attack was the only triumph KangHo experienced in this particular series and was thus sent to the losers match to fight SonGDuri.
KangHo getting his only win in the opening match. Also, things are getting blown up!
Again, the underdog of the group went on to show great games and almost cast KangHo out of Code S. Early ling damage set the IM Zerg behind and gave SonGDuri the necessary confidence to launch a roach/mutalisk attack towards the natural of KangHo but a great sim city defense by the latter pushed the CJ Zerg back. A healthy roach retort and KangHo was up a game and one early ling speed later the score was 2-0.
With SonGDuri taken care of, KangHo was back to fighting TRUE again, now for the fourth time this year. Game one ended on the back of KangHo’s roach/bane breaking through TRUE’s attempt at spire tech and the diminutive number of spine crawlers but a tie came shortly thereafter as an unscouted roach/ling caught KangHo with his pants down. The deciding match of the group would go into its last set.
Spawning on Derelict Watcher, TRUE decided to play it risky and a 9-pool baneling nest was thrown down. The die was cast but it didn’t yield a fortunate combination: a hazardous move by itself, TRUE’s strategy had its effect further diminished by KangHo’s early pool, allowing the IM Zerg to live through the early aggression, get his economy up and flood the map with units just a few minutes later. With 19 banelings rolling into his base, TRUE had to admit defeat and say goodbye to Code S.
There's definitely a trend here
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Rotator image: Battle.net
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