After having seperated the wheat from the chaff, it was time for the traditional creation of the Ro16 groups, where the players themselves get to choose their opposition in these last stages of the OSL.
As the ceremony began, there were mixed expressions from the players, ranging from mildly excited to half-asleep. The four seeded players, the players who made it the furthest last OSL, began by choosing their favored opponent from the remaining pool of players. The ones chosen got to choose the next player to join their group and so on, until all four groups were filled. Let us take a look at the result.
Group A - The Group of Death
Players:
JaeDong, EffOrt, 
FlaSh, YellOw[ArnC]By the time it was Flash's turn to pick the last player for the group, the remaining players did their very best to avoid making eye contact, and with good reason. EffOrt is one of the hottest Zergs in Korea at this moment and arguably Jaedong's fiercest rival for the Zerg throne. Jaedong should need no introduction, suffice to say that being a Zerg and facing Jaedong is almost a garantueed loss, as demonstrated by an 80% career winrate against the Swarm. Flash, the Ultimate Weapon, hasn't performed up to his standards as of late, which simply means his opponents haven't been reduced to begging for mercy while getting dominated by the young Terran. Finally we have Yarnc, one of the Park twins. The weakest link in the group, Yarnc is not known for his ZvZ skills, although his ZvT skills are quite fearsome.
Who is likely to advance in this group? A very difficult question indeed. The high zerg count would favor Jaedong, as it is clearly his strongest matchup. Effort on the other hand has been ruthlessly destroying anyone and everyone, be it Protoss, Terran or Zerg (including taking a game of Jaedong). Flash has an advantage in only having to practice against one matchup, and although TvZ is his weakest link he is still at a 64% career win rate against the Swarm. Yarnc's ZvT might take a game off Flash, but will likely go 0-3 in the group. If Effort plays as well in the coming games has he has before, he'll advance without a problem. The final spot is Jaedong's or Flash's, and here the odds favor Jaedong slightly higher due to the group composition and comparing recent performance between the two.
Predictions: Effort and Jaedong advance.
Group B
Players:
FanTaSy, 
BackHo, type-b, StorkGroup B is a bit more down to earth than group A. Fantasy has seen the OSL title slip away to Stork and Jaedong recently, leaving the bitter taste of silver in his mouth. Perhaps not as sharp now as he was then, there are surely plenty of tricks up the SK Terran's sleeve still. BackHo's return after his back injury has been somewhat underwhelming. He's not playing badly, just not to the standard that is required for winning a title of any kind. type-b has a similar effect on the viewer, playing just good enough to squeeze by a slumping BeSt but definitely not leaving you amazed with his play. Stork, recent OSL champion, is experiencing a slight dip in form at this moment, but a shelf full of silvers and an OSL gold should be enough to prove that he's no TheRock.
Predictions are quite a bit easier this time around. Neither BackHo nor type-b have done anything as of late to really inspire confidence in their abilities, although type-b does sport a fearsome hair-do. Fantasy and Stork are simply the better players and will most likely advance with relative ease, barring any sort of funny business from the other two. Look forward to the clash between Fantasy and Stork!
Predictions: Fantasy and Stork advance.
Group C
Players:
Bisu, go.go, HwaSIn, ZerOThe group of Bisu, where the Revolutionist stands tallest among his opponents. This monster of a Protoss has been hunting the elusive OSL title for some time now, and seems to be a prime candidate for the gold this OSL. Not so go.go, the Terran that brings little but bad manners to the table. Apart from beating Luxury, which he certainly isn't alone in doing lately, he has no real claims to fame as of late, making him the weakest link in the group. Hwasin would be the stronger Terran of the group, with a fresh win against Bisu to show off. It is far from certain that he will manage to repeat this feat however, as the Red Sniper's recent history isn't all that shiny upon closer inspection. Still, he's capable of pulling off some excellent Starcraft and should not be disregarded. Last we have Zero, lone Zerg of the group. Zero's play is in tatters these days, as shown by the 3-7 score in his last ten games. Granted, ZvZ is fickle and most of his losses are in that area, but not an inspiring result however you look at it. It remains to be seen how he'll fare in this group.
Bisu advancing would raise no eyebrows, and there is nothing to say that he won't. By picking go.go he basically declared that he was going to play it safe in this round. The remaining spot will likely go to one of the group's Terrans, but which one is a bit difficult to say. go.go has actually been winning games recently, and so has Hwasin, although most of those have been against Zergs. I believe Hwasin has what it takes to make it through both go.go and Zero, although I would not be the least surprised if go.go rises to the challenge.
Predictions: Bisu and Hwasin advance.
Group D
Players:
by.hero, Leta, Kwanro, CanataFinally we have Group D. by.hero seems a pale shadow of the beast he was last OSL. Back then he was handily defeating players such as Leta, Bisu and Fantasy. These days he has to settle for losses against the likes of go.go and Movie. He will have to dig deep within himself if he's to advance any further. Leta is a different story. This Terran fellow is beating anyone who isn't S-Class right now, and in a group with two Zergs he'll have ample opportunity to show off the two starport build he says "only a Zerg of Jaedong caliber can defeat". Kwanro is the CJ Zerg that has been completely overshadowed by the likes of Effort and, to some extent, Savior. While not a favorite to leave the group, playing against him isn't a free win either. And so we come to Canata, the player no one wished to pick into their group. Canata has been happily putting audiences to sleep with his TvT games, although winning very few of them, and his other victories against a handful of scrubs in other matchups aren't awe-inspiring either.
Leta should be the clear favorite of the group, as his two starport build is powerful and none of his opponents happen to be called Jaedong. No S-Class resistance should mean an easy ride for this Terran. With by.hero a shadow of his former self and Canata being pushed to three games against Hogil of all players, Kwanro stands the largest chance of grabbing the second spot. Hero has shown some good play in the past and might be able to resurrect some of it as well. I don't see Canata getting any further, no matter how you look at it.
Predictions: Leta and Kwanro advance.
The Near Future
With the groups finalized, the first matches of the Ro16 are going to take place next week. If you have to choose one game to watch, a good suggestion would be Effort vs Jaedong, a veritable clash of the titans. The schedule for the coming week is as follows:
◆ June 24th
Ro16 Group A Match 1 Outsider - JaeDong vs EffOrt
Ro16 Group B Match 1 Heartbreak Ridge - type-b vs Stork
Ro16 Group C Match 1 Return of the King - Bisu vs go.go
Ro16 Group D Match 1 Holy World - Kwanro vs Canata
◆ June 26th
Ro16 Group A Match 2 Heartbreak Ridge - FlaSh vs Yellow[ArnC]
Ro16 Group B Match 2 Return of the King - FanTaSy vs BackHo
Ro16 Group C Match 2 Holy World - HwaSIn vs ZerO
Ro16 Group D Match 2 Outsider - by.hero vs Leta
Place your gosubets, cheer for your favorite player and enjoy the final stages of the Bacchus OSL! Also, please post your predictions for who will advance in the comments!
Links
fomos.kr - Source
