| GSL Code S 2020 S1 | Ro16 | Group A | Rundown Posted: 06 May 2020 08:56 AM PDT We made it, finally Ro16 time after one week too many without Code S in our lives. Group A: - Living Legends with criminally just two Code S trophies between them: Dark, Dear
- Dark Horse and Zerg Queen with more aggression than a honey badger: Scarlett
- Days of Future Past, the once upon a time legendary Champion and fan favorite: TaeJa
The stereotypical Group of Life was almost assembled again when Dark decided to pick up an admittedly slumping Dear instead, a choice the clear favorite tonight might very well have had to pay for if the free skip through the Ro24 ended up having a more negative side effect than expected. In any case, even the two clear underdogs seemed slightly more dangerous than usual with Scarlett's bag of tricks and TaeJa's vintage macro being on the table, certainty when it came to the results tonight certainly wasn't present here.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead, Obviously
As we would find out later "ring rust" had nothing to do with it, injured and unfortunate Dark battled through the pain to secure 1st place regardless after engineering the match of the Season so far and pulling off two successful comebacks. Seemingly destined to come out as the "villain" tonight, Dear regrouped after getting bopped in three out of his initial four games, once again bringing just enough firepower to squeeze through to the next Round in 2nd. M1 | Dark [ 2 : 1 ] TaeJa | ★★★★☆ | Art of War Macro - Nightshade | TaeJa's bunker block on the third Hatch and followup of Hellion Cloak Banshee was truly a classic, getting to kill 11 workers or so was just the cherry on top. Dark on the other hand went for a slow macro game off Roaches, which started looking weird when the Terran player was the one taking bases left and right thanks to controlling the entire map. In the first real clash, after Dark's Lurkers started showing up, almost the entire Liquid army got destroyed, yet two Hatches were sniped. The counter attack that could have potentially ended the game in favor of the Swarm may have looked good for a while thanks to the power of Vipers, however TaeJa regrouped a little too quickly and held on accordingly, building off his econ lead and leaning on the 3/3/2 upgrade advantage - made even better thanks to a timely Evo Chamber pick-off. If you were to look at the minimap as TaeJa was sniping another base after that, a simple question would pop into your head "who's really the Zerg here". The addition of Liberators was crucial, the multi pronged drop assault on the entire Zerg base - or what was left of it - was phenomenal, the snipe on the Hive was ridiculous and the EMPs raining down on the Vipers felt like the final nail in the coffin & after a few more Hatcheries got sniped and Dark completely ran out of money, the Zerg reluctantly agreed to tap out of this one.
- Eternal Empire | Instead of blocking the third base this time TaeJa's initial Reaper just straight up killed the Drone and his followup Hellion Banshee play got a decent amount of worker kills again. Dark decided to agree Roaches sucked and went for Spire and Banes this time instead, killing SCVs galore with the initial flock, however TaeJa's first real push on the fourth Hatch got cleaned up only after the base was sniped, once again putting the Terran in an econ lead as his own expansion was pretty much untouched. The double expand from the Zerg was completely necessary from there and the composition response by the Liquid Legend to go into Thors and Mines was right on the money. At that point, pretty much staring death in the face, Dark basically spent his entire bank making Banelings just to hold on and even though he wasn't being efficient the Ling Muta cleanup crew did its thing to help out in the end. TaeJa for the most part got to macro in peace though and the upgrade lead certainly left the window open for him to take this one away too, however not committing to his Air Terran switch - or even getting any Liberators and/or Ghosts this time - gave Dark enough room to work with after taking an extremely favorable fight around 16 minutes and TaeJa still kept building the same comp despite the Zerg advancing in tech. At that point it felt like Dark wouldn't be able to finish the game thanks to how shit Ultras are, but the Zerg Champion decided to channel his inner NesTea, so he rebuilt a billion more Banelings and rolled through the entire map, literally tearing his opponent apart to even up the score.
- Simulacrum | Not only did TaeJa bunker block the third Hatch again, he also sniped the Drone and got a disgustingly early third CC himself while his opponent was going for blind Spores to avoid losing workers against Banshees that didn't exist this game. As four Roaches were randomly built and died across the map, it really felt like a Terran victory here, but Dark once again adjusted and instead of dying off a useless composition he built the Baneling Nest and Infestation Pit accordingly and went into Ravager Bane to stabilize the game. TaeJa's initial Tank setup on the offense was pretty cool, however the fact he wasn't really ready for the counter attacks - which finally came, two games later - meant his push was certainly more limited even if it did result in a base pick-off. Dark's defense held firm none the less off the power of Vipers and Ravagers while his Lings obliterated the Terran back at home, leaving TaeJa basically stuck on two bases for a while even if the Zerg himself wasn't looking too pretty economically. As the "last" Terran army was being cleaned up though the drops and Hatch snipe once again came into play, forcing Dark back as he tried to get Ultras up on basically no economy, while TaeJa somehow got himself back up and running on four bases. From there these monsters took turns beating each other's econ into oblivion by pulling off deadly assaults and counter attacks respectively, making the margins impossibly thin for each other, but by the end of their "trades" Dark was up in terms of workers and even though the Terran kept up incredibly slick moves to contain his opponent, the Zerg successfully identified he could keep pulling off counter attacks, beating SCVs into oblivion until the point of no return. As both players starved in terms of minerals, Dark made a brilliant decision to spend his massive gas bank on an Infestor switch, which considering the Terran was stuck on Marine Marauder made all the sense in the world, allowing the Zerg to use
bullshit spells to win out even more in the lategame low econ scenario, raining down both fungals and viper clouds to make it near impossible for his opponent to win a straight up fight. TaeJa kept getting stretched more and more thin as he ran out of resources and SCVs, eventually falling to 3 workers vs the 44+ Drones, essentially meaning the war of attrition was lost & getting choked out accordingly by Dark's Swarm not long after. M2 | Dear [ 1 : 2 ] Scarlett | ★★☆☆☆ | Queen of Cheese - Eternal Empire | The blocked hatch was already worrying if you had kept up with Dear's recent PvZ tendencies and the fact the Protoss player was significantly up on workers even before his Oracles arrived was just icing on the cake, what happened after the Zerg decided to go for a Ling flood and then lost 11 Drones to the Air Duo Queue could only be described as NSFW. It's true the third Nexus did get denied for a while, but honestly who actually cares when Dear just flooded the map with Glaives Adepts and killed around 27 more workers like it was nothing.
- Ever Dream | The fast scouting Probe saw no Hatchery expansion immediately and the Protoss adjusted accordingly, or so you would think. Scarlett proxied her base in what ended up being the perfect location, used a key creep tumor with a Queen that had crawled across the map and fed off the rich Gas to fuel her Ravager wrecking ball. Dear was watching the entire time mind you, which made it even more impressive when the Zerg smashed through regardless, mass Shield Batteries and endless Immortal production alone weren't enough as the mechanical outplay by Scarlett coupled with elements of shock and disbelief from Dear proved to be too much for the Protoss to handle, finesse at its finest.
- Simulacrum | The choice to go for an early Ling Bane comp against someone spamming Adepts every game was already right on the money, the fact Shield Batteries and a Sentry finished in time and Scarlett still managed to brute force her way in was simply unbelievable, yet the wall and 17+ Probes fell all the same & as the Pylons and Immortals collapsed the underdog took her deserved victory in style.
M3 | Dark [ 2 : 1 ] Scarlett | ★★☆☆☆ | Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory - Eternal Empire | The mirrored macro three hatch opener from both players made it feel like we were living in the twilight zone; nevertheless, aggression came soon enough and surprisingly it was from Dark as he tried smashing the third Hatch using Ling Bane with unimpressive results. After the rock solid defense by Scarlett stabilized the game, a Roach switch from both players and a secret-scouted Spire by them made the mirror feel even more ridiculous, none the less the most unbelievable moment of the game was still to come as Scarlett not only set up her four bases first, she pulled off a key attack taking out her opponent's expansion just as his Mutas were coming up & even built up a larger flock herself to take the lead in that regard as well. Dark tried some multi pronged aggression which fell flat one last time and only then attempted getting some Hydras up, however the underdog smelt blood in the water and utilized a small contingent of Banes to help out her 27+ Muta armada in taking out the World Champion.
- Ever Dream | It felt even more weird to watch both players kick things off slow again, this time though Scarlett was the first to deviate with an early Evo Chamber for +1 Melee, but then she didn't really build up enough Lings or to be more precise her opponent identified what was going on and built a lot more himself, enabling a tight window which Dark got to utilize by taking out the third Hatch of his opponent, giving himself the production lead for the rest of the game. With neither player putting down a Baneling Nest for some reason, Ravager Ling ran around the map in circles until a crucial full surround on the Canadian army gave the Zerg Champion an insurmountable supply lead which meant we were once again going into the decider map.
- Simulacrum | As we watched Scarlett put down the 12 Pool and pull out all the Drones with it, no one could have convinced me Dark had more than a snowball's chance in hell to hold on with his egregiously greedy 16 Hatch 18 Gas 17 Pool opener; yet somehow through a combination of his own mechanical outplay and a bit of panic & misscontrol from Scarlett, Dark not only held off the aggression marvelously, in his winner's interview the Zerg then revealed he was battling an injury the entire time, what an absolute baller.
M4 | Dear [ 2 : 1 ] TaeJa | ★☆☆☆☆ | Fool Me Once, Shame On You - Nightshade | The proxy Barracks, Factory and Starport by TaeJa looked like some sort of 4v4 strategy unfolding, however lets just say Dear wasn't ready for this particular player to show so much aggression. The Liquid Terran's initial Cyclone and Medivac already got work done so when his Tank and SCV pull came with Liberator support the extremely technical assault by TaeJa came together brilliantly to give the underdog the opening edge in a series once again.
- Eternal Empire | There's a reason theory-crafting and reality don't always align, namely going for the same strategy twice sounds incredible on paper and looks phenomenal if you pull it off, however Dear immediately identified his opponent was literally doing the same thing and reacted much better this time around. The crucial difference was interrupting the Terran setup thanks to a Warp Prism Stalker "drop-off" at the proxied Terran production, which helped the Protoss ping pong his way to a win considering TaeJa couldn't both hold the key assault position and defend his reinforcements, so he crumbled accordingly.
- Simulacrum | I've used it to ridicule the likes of Bunny and PartinG, so I would be a hypocrite if I didn't do it here, this was TaeJa on the third map of the series and when Dear's scouting probe found and shut down his proxy Barracks the game was literally over, leaving the Terran with no production as a Zealot and Stalker went across the map to ruin his entire life, making it so the Liquid Legend went out not with a bang but an extremely disappointing whimper.
M5 | Dear [ 2 : 0 ] Scarlett | ★★☆☆☆ | Speaking Of Going Out With A Whimper - Eternal Empire | The blocked hatch here was just a reminder Protoss players can and should do this every game if they want to win PvZ, but the twist came when Dear opted for a very old two base Disruptor Speed Prism play followed up by a single Colossus. Scarlett's own shenanigans in terms of trying out a Ling Drop got spotted & shut down and even when the harassment on her bases ultimately failed it almost looked like the Zerg wasn't really ready for the incoming all in, executed pretty much flawlessly off the back of solid Sentry play which even a timely flank couldn't deal with.
- Simulacrum | I don't think I've mentioned it enough times so one more time for the cheap seats in the back, Dear blocked the desired Hatchery by Scarlett again and then went for his tried and true Adept Glaives printer strategy. While the semi-all-in harass got only 8 Drone kills it did mean the Protoss was up in econ, which he used to expand and transition into Immortals while Scarlett was going for a hail marry Spire that couldn't really accomplish much when Dear didn't commit to his followup attack, instead opting for a longer game where he would keep the lead and ultimately snowball it into a win, sporting the much more advanced army that helped him take better fights as he steadily built up and tore his opponent apart not long after, looking nothing like the player that got bopped not even hours prior.
I'm sure a lot of people including myself will be very disappointed with the latter half of the day, but I'm still incredibly happy with today's games and of course you know which series we're going to be talking about for a while. - Match of the Night - in case you missed it, the best series of the Season so far was without a doubt M1, where TaeJa basically played Zerg in G1 to show us why Roaches are truly garbage against a Terran that's good enough to make even Gods bleed, then we faced G2 where Dark showed some Champion level resilience and flexibility to play out of his comfort zone in order to take us into G3 which was a masterpiece of a low econ back and forth that could have gone either way for a while, ultimately turning into a war of attrition where Dark showed us why he's widely accepted as the best Zerg of all time in those sorts of scenarios.
Finally, here are some of my closing thoughts on each player: - Dark was injured, by his own words nothing went right for him tonight and he got the double-edged sword "reward" of getting to skip the initial Group Stage, meaning he was at least a little rusty in terms of GSL studio matches. Then the Zerg fell behind in every match and even a lot of the games, yet absolutely none of the above mattered at the end of the day as he secured first place regardless. How can you not respect this Champion after today? I sincerely hope the injury is nothing too serious, it would be a shame to lose such a pillar of Zerg, truly an Mvp-esque performance tonight to show people who's the boss.
- Dear has successfully limped into the Playoffs, say what you will about how well the underdogs did today, what ultimately matters is who gets to have the last laugh. Unfortunately for the once upon a time Code S Champion, his condition doesn't seem that much different than it was in the Ro24, so unless he gets a fortunate matchup/bracket it's likely going to be lights out for him in the Ro8. Still, we can't ignore the fact Dear's class shone through, you can never write off someone who used to be great because if he was great once he can be great again.
- Scarlett should be more than a little heartbroken after today, there's this line I really like that goes "the danger is greatest when the finish line is in sight". I truly believe she should have gotten out first tonight, however it quickly became clear after that didn't happen there was no plan B for the "rematch" in M5, ultimately sealing her fate. That said, I'll still forever maintain what Scarlett does Season after Season - coming to GSL where she has to compete against the best players in the world - should earn her a lot more credit than the other foreigner players who stay at home and gas each other up about how good they supposedly are.
- TaeJa definitely ended his run on a hell of a whimper, I'm sure everyone's disappointment is immeasurable considering how winnable this Group turned out in hindsight. What he did this Season was truly the stuff of fairy tales and a lot of things had to go right for it to happen, but I do believe we're starting to see this Legend come into his own again. I think we all would have loved to have the Liquid Terran in the Ro8 to feed our nostalgia further, ultimately however at the end of the day we must admit he's just not there yet & have to appreciate what he did give us i.e. the best series of the tournament so far, some delicious technical play, a whole lot of macro prowess and renewed hope for the other Legends like him eventually coming back.
As always, if you think differently let everyone know why in the comments below. Catch you on Saturday May 9th for the Group of Death featuring a resurgent TY, not dead yet Stats, hungry Cure and unpredictable Solar. Thanks as always for reading & see you when I see you! (: -M P.S. Ro24 Rundowns: Groups A | B | C | D | E | F submitted by /u/d1MnZz [link] [comments] |
![Casters for TSL5 revealed: Wardi, ZombieGrub, Rotterdam and...Day[9]!](https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/Z94ynpaDYBs5bhUeT0_ZPJq9cdV3BhwnTcf7_iP7gNE.jpg "Casters for TSL5 revealed: Wardi, ZombieGrub, Rotterdam and...Day[9]!")
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