New jersey, new challenge: Innovation in WCS Korea S3

More WCS Korea Season 3 GSL coverage here

It will be long before Innovation is not the star of every group or every bracket. A GSL runner-up, Season 1 champion and DreamHack silver medalist (among many other high finishes), the new acquisition of team Acer is a topic too hot not to discuss.

From his break-out in late 2012 to his first gold medal this June, Innovation never dropped the ball. His Terran play was near flawless in every match-up and was getting tighter by the day. Considered to be the best TvZ player in the world at that time, Innovation found ways to abuse the 4M composition to make the agents of the Swarm squirm in agony. The way he asserted dominance over his opponents was daunting, the sound of his relentless macro deafening. Many ranking systems put him at number one in the world, overtaking even such ultimate champions like Life.

Then came the day of the hellbat nerfed and Innovation seemingly suffered a blow to his persona. He didn’t disappear completely like other champions have done in the past but games were lost, some even painfully unclose. Although Innovation continued to perform and get results, the tyrannical manner with which he currently played was gone and so the community reached for the “in a slump” label. The failure to qualify for the Season 2 playoff while he was nevertheless considered by many to be the one to clean-sweep the tournament further reasserted Innovations status that, after all, he is still only human. 

Human or not, Innovation nonetheless managed to get away with a silver medal from DreamHack Bucharest and until he was 0:3’d by Taeja he did look to be close to his previous form, at least in TvZ and TvP. Now carrying his new green-white jersey of team Acer, Innovation is gradually getting used to the post-hellbat nerf world of StarCraft 2 and there’s a strong chance he is on his way towards a full recovery.

Innovation, still wearing his old STX SouL uniform and enjoying (in his own Korean way) the Season 1 trophy. Photo: Blizzard

With the Ro16 challenge ahead of him, Innovation shouldn’t be all too worried. Compared to the others, his group looks easier featuring underdogs and one-time GSL champions without anything else to their account. Not that it must be underestimated, however: Innovation’s opening match is against Super, the surprise of Group C who somehow defeated the Season 2 champion Bomber in the last round and is at the stupendous 85% PvT win-rate with ForGG, YoDa, MKP, ByuN, Gumiho and MMA among the victims. Super was able to read his Ro32 beautifully and considering Innovation is still more or less predictable in the way he plays, the MVP Protoss poses a great threat.

Innovation’s troubles do not end with Super, however. If months ago Jjakji would not be considered favored against Innovation, the former Code S champion will play the Acer weapon in Terran mirror, a match-up in which Innovation is notably suffering, currently at sub-50% win rate. Finally, there’s soO, a player who also likes his ZvT (currently at 78% in HotS) and has a tendency to go for early roach busts – something that toppled even the pre-nerf Innovation.

So all in all, it turns out that the favorite might not be a favorite at all. Additionally, even if he manages to beat his group – which suddenly turned up tougher than we thought now that we laid it out – he is still to play one of Maru, PartinG, Flash or KangHo in the playoffs. That’s two TvT’s against the player who 4:0’d him last season and God himself, a TvP against a Protoss who hasn’t lost a BoX against Terrans since April and, well, KangHo who isn’t that good at ZvT but who’s also not very likely to make it out.