As our editor-in-chief said earlier, this is the round of sick-steen. The player pool is incredible and there are just one or two players that I did not believe would qualify but as we saw there were good reasons for this. Yes, I mourn FruitDealer and InCa, and Kyrix, and Leenock but let's focus on the players we have in stock!
Group A: The Zerg Kingdom
| GROUP A | ||
| 1st. |    IMNesTea | 0-0 |
| 1st. |  oGsZenio | 0-0 |
| 1st. |   SlayerS_BoxeR | 0-0 |
| 1st. |   TSL_Trickster | 0-0 |
It's unfortunate that I have to begin my predictions with such a vague group. The battles start with NesTea vs Zenio, both incredible Zergs with astounding ZvZ. However, history is on champion's side: he already beat Zenio in GSL 2 quite convincingly and I believe he can repeat this success. As of now, NesTea is the Jaedong of ZvZ in StarCraft 2 and it may sound extreme but I don't see him losing this precise game.
SlayerS_Boxer vs sSKS is what will follow and this one is tough... SKS is not in his best shape but on the other hand, we just haven't seen SlayerS_Boxer in a significant TvP like ever. If I have to throw two of my cents in the basket I would say that Boxer will win this in a very, very close match-up. Of course, I might be biased considering the games he played in Ro32 and I will not bet my life or Battle.net account on this prediction but he just has the higher chance. Considering this, he will the probably continue to defeat Zenio (seriously, Boxer's TvZ is insultingly good) and will advance to the Quarters.
Predicted winners: NesTea, Boxer
Group B: Toss Against the Machine
| GROUP B | ||
| Top two qualifies for the quarter finals. | ||
| 1st. |  IMMvp | 0-0 |
| 1st. |  TheBestfOu | 0-0 |
| 1st. |  choyafOu | 0-0 |
| 1st. |  oGsHyperdub | 0-0 |
This group by all means makes my rofl my intestines out. We have MVP that qualified from a Zerg-only group and now he has nothing but! Choya, on the other hand, didn't have a single Terran in the Ro32 and now he has no choice but to face the heavy metal!
As for the games, MVP begins the round against TheBestfOu, who not only is not the best but is barely around "decent". By all means this should be a walk over for the Terran that is considered one of the best players in the world.
The second game, Hyperdub vs Choya is much more elusive mainly due to Hyperdub's fluctuation in performance. One time he plays amazingly, other times is like watching me play C&C 4 with one hand and rabid cat over my eyes. Choya, however, has the clear advantage of knowing which match-up to practice. With three Terrans in his group he should be more than prepared to face Hyperdub and he better be because if he loses this he is out as he will have to face MVP and that's never a good idea. But I will be merciful to the child of Aiur (as I rarely am) and will say that he will actually win both his TvPs and advance further along with MVP.
Predicted winners: MVP, Choya
Group C: The mancrushes of Tastetosis
| GROUP C | ||
| Top two qualifies for the quarter finals. | ||
| 1st. |  NsPGenius | 0-0 |
| 1st. |  oGsNaDa | 0-0 |
| 1st. |  TSL_Clide | 0-0 |
| 1st. |   IdrA | 0-0 |
The foreigner groups were always impossible to predict and this one is also close to being such. Idra is in a very hard and diverse group that makes any assumption a blind guess at best. But let's try to stay objective at least to some degree and squeeze some predictions out of those matches.
I am still unsure if NaDa has what it takes to be the best at this game. And yes, I say this aware of the fact that he is a beast, reached Ro8 once and that he instils fear and respect everywhere he goes. But it would be foolish to deny that he is not in his prime any more. He is facing Genius who was the only other player besides MVP to win his group 3-0. What NaDa needs here is a big macro map on his disposal so he can expand like crazy and win with a 400 food army. Otherwise he will probably face humongous difficulties playing Genius. I hope that I am wrong though.
The same situation stands for Clide vs Idra. Greg is a monster in late game ZvT but his early game has never been impressive (in fact, it is quite shaky). If we assume that there is Korean conspiracy to eliminate the foreign players (I am joking, of course... OR AM I?!) and Idra gets Steppes, Clide will Marine-own his creep out. We should also consider the fact that Idra was confident that if he gets a macro map he will "beat Clide easy" and I could not not remember Clide vs Leenock where the Korean showed that he DOES know how to play late-game TvZ. With just three options, however (Shakuras, Scrap and Metal crossed), the chance is not on Greg's side so I would give this to Clide.
From that point on predictions depend very much on the outcome of the first game. If Genius beats NaDa, he would most probably eliminate Idra as Greg's ZvP is not the best out there and because "Protoss units cost no money". If it goes the other way around, though, I believe that there is a strong chance that Idra can overwhelm NaDa and we will be facing some monstrous stalemate in the group and it will all go to match 6.
It is funny how I can make predictions without making any concrete predictions! But I also know of the Tatetosis curse that makes every one of their favourites to get eliminated quite early. Statistics and karma never lie, my friend.
Predicted winners: Genius, NaDa
Group D: Opposing the champions
| GROUP D | ||
| Top two qualifies for the quarter finals. | ||
| 1st. |  oGsMC | 0-0 |
| 1st. |  ST_RainBOw | 0-0 |
| 1st. |  MarineKingPrime.WE | 0-0 |
| 1st. |   LiquidJinro | 0-0 |
It's like God is screwing with our cheerful Swede. Not only he had to endure an hour-long TvT yesterday, but now he will face something like a triple misfortune: he has two monstrous Terrans in his group that will both try to interrupt his macro style early on with Marines/Drops and his Protoss nightmare, GSL 3 Champion oGsMC who as of now seems unbeatable.
First, MC will face Rainbow and we will definitely seem some erratic minutes of combat between the two giants. MC has impeccable timings and micro and Rainbow is the king of Medivac drops so it will all go down to who knows his units better. I have to say that there is a bigger chance for MC to come victorious, his sense of the game is just incredible and there is a certain rigidness in Rainbow's play. I don't say that it will be an easy win for MC, I just say it is more or less inevitable.
Now, Jinro vs MarineKing is what sparks my interest. And I will step in quite boldly and say that Jinro may very well win this. I will even give you arguments so that you are not completely in the dark or cursing my incompetence.
Jinro has one of the most impeccable defences out there and this is what he needs most against the aggro of MarineKing. Moreover, he values every single one of his units so I do not expect to see any stupid moves like assaulting six Marines with a Hellion in a hope to kill one or two. He generally has a nice Sim City defence and as long as he doesn't accidentally leave cracks in his wall he will do fine against most of the aggressive openings. Finally, Jinro just won one of the hardest SC2 games he has ever played in public so this should build up his confidence even more. Going back to his MLG Dallas game against Socke we can be sure that Jonathan is no stranger to epic games and should feel more at home compared to MarineKing. So GO JINRO!
According to the aforementioned assumptions, MC will play MarineKing and possibly beat him as well. MarineKing might have beaten a Protoss twice in the previous round but to compare MC to LegalMind will be an insult to the champion. However, this might be the closest game in the group as if anyone there has the chance to take a match off of MC this is King.
Rainbow's future is unclear to me, he is quite the slippery one. On one hand he has showed a consistently astounding play but I always have the feeling that his mojo will run out and he will start losing a lot. So far I have been wrong but who knows - he has three incredibly solid players to defeat and it won't be easy at all.
Oh, yes, there is also the possibility of Jinro losing to King in which case MC will most probably destroy him as he did last season.
Predicted Winners: MC, Jinro (hopefully!)
In a bit more than 9 hours we will begin to see if I was any right but until then feel free to discuss your own predictions. You might prove a way better clairvoyant!
