With the new year begins the new season of Global StarCraft II League, and it's sure to be one of the most exciting yet. Let's take a look at the first StarCraft II season of 2017.
We can start with the big names who are missing from the competition, whether from upsets or just being outclassed. Protoss contained the most upsets of the qualifiers, and several Code S regulars failed to make the cut.
Upsets abound
Dong Jin "Dear" Baek -- Dear had one of the toughest brackets of anyone trying to qualify for this season. He ended up falling to both Byung Jae "GuMiho" Go and Ji Hoon "jjakji" Hoon. Both losses were reasonable, as these two Terrans have been absolutely on fire. GuMiho has been building up his level and results over the past year. Jjakji has had a reemergence as one of the top Terrans since the new patch dropped in November, qualifying for IEM Gyeonngi in dominating fashion and being ranked near the top of the Korean ladder. That being said, Dear will be greatly missed, as he was one of the most consistent Protosses of 2016.
Ji Hyun "Patience" Jo -- 2016 was a breakout year for Dead Pixels' star Protoss. His results skyrocketed and made him easily one of the most fearsome players in the world, topping off a strong year with a Homestory Cup victory. For Patience, there was just one player who had his number, Jae Sun "Bunny" Lee. Patience lost to DuSt Gaming's "still up-and-coming for three years" Terran both in the round of 4 and decider match, getting a disappointing third place in his group.
Ki Woong "Hurricane" Nam -- Hurricane has been a highly respected Protoss among the professional scene for many years. That being said, he's basically the Protoss equivalent of Won Pyo "Curious" Lee, before the Zerg's more recent breakout performances. Hurricane seems to make it into the GSL Code S just about every season but never really has had an impressive run once he's there. Well, this season we won't be seeing any of Hurricane. He lost twice to the rookie Wook "NightMare" Jang.
Young Bong "Hush" Byun -- Like Hurricane, DuSt Gaming's Hush is a greatly respected Protoss who never seems to deliver when the pressure is on. Hush's road to defeat wasn't really an upset, but he will be missed. Because of his sacrifice, though, we will have both True eSport's Dong Won "Ryung" Kim and Tae Yang "TY" Jun (a player he beat in the round of 4 but lost to in the rematch) in the Code S this season.
Sung Il "Trust" Choi -- "Mini-Zest" has been making huge strides since early 2016. With strong performances in individual leagues and Proleague, Trust really started to break out of his former teammate Sung Wook "Zest" Joo's shadow. Not only did Trust qualify for the ultracompetitive IEM Gyeonngi, he made it to the round of 8 before falling to the unstoppable force that was Shin Hyung "INnoVation" Lee. Trust lost in both the round of 4 and the decider match to one of last year's exciting new prospects that never came to fruition -- Won Ju "DRGLing" Lee.
Dong Hwan "viOLet" Kim -- Team EnVyUs's Blizzcon competitor and former WarCraft III pro had a strong start to his group, defeating Lee Seok "aLive" Han in the round of 4, but ended up losing to Splyce's Min Soo "Solar" Kang in the finals and to aLive in the rematch for the final spot in Code S.
Take Soo "TRUE" Bang -- One of the most exciting Zergs in the world, PSISTORM Gaming's top dog lost unsurprisingly in the finals of his group to the absolute juggernaut of a Protoss, Dae Yeob "Stats" Kim from Splyce. Unfortunately, he also lost in the decider match to Team LeiFeng's Kyu Seok "KeeN" Hwang -- a player TRUE had defeated in the round of 4.
Joon Hyuk "Impact" Kim -- Although it's not an upset losing twice to Jin Air's two-time world champion Yoo Jin "sOs" Kim, Impact is definitely a Code S-quality Zerg, so it's a bit sad that we won't be seeing this top-ladder player compete this season.
The Terran race fared a bit better than Protoss, with only one top competitor being upset during the bracket phase: Jong Hyuk "Dream" Cho. The longtime top Terran has been a bit disappointing as of late, with very few high finishes in 2016, so perhaps this shouldn't be too surprising. He lost to Jin Air's Byung Ryul "Rogue" Lee in the finals of his group and then lost to Jin Hyuk "Armani" Park from IsIMBA (whom he had beaten in the round of 4) in the decider match.
Zerg had a few big names fall short of their goals this season. The experienced veteran Seok Hyun "HyuN" Go lost in the first round to the up-and-coming Guk Hyeon "NaTuRal" Kim, who didn't even end up qualifying from the group. Since HyuN's retirement has been on the horizon for quite some time now, perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised by this defeat.
While this list of great players who didn't make it into GSL's Code S can be disappointing at first glance, there is no need to fret. The makeup of the year's first Korean tournament, as well as the current state of StarCraft II, make this one of the most exciting seasons we've ever had.
The unaccomplished pros -- AKA the underdogs
Wook "NightMare" Jang
Ki Young "Forte" Kim
Won Ju "DRGLing" Lee
Jin Hyuk "Armani" Park
Doh Kyung "Billowy" Kim
and Jae Sun "Bunny" Lee
Formerly known as Lure, Billowy has been around since the beginning of StarCraft. Occasionally, he will be in Code S, but he never really makes a great showing. Looking at his stacked group of sOs, Curious and Yoon Su "soO" Eo, it feels nearly impossible for Billowy to make any real impact on this tournament. Now, if Billowy were able to make it out of this group, then maybe he has reached a new level, but I wouldn't expect much from him this season.
Another player for whom the bracket looks hopeless is DRGLing. Easily one of the most exciting rookies of early 2016, he has been very quiet, and there's nothing that suggests that he can stand up to his difficult group. In his way stand the defending GSL and world champion Hyun Woo "ByuN" Byun from Team expert; the most solid Protoss in the world, Stats; and a very in-shape Ryung. If DRGLing gets out of this group, then we suddenly will have to reconsider who the best Zergs in the world are.
NightMare has been working toward this day for a long time. His past is filled with early qualifier defeats, but his recent performance is breathing new life into his career. Sadly for him, his group is quite stacked: Joon Ho "herO" Kim, Seong Ju "Maru" Cho and GuMiho. It seems a tall order for the first-time Code S competitor to make it out of this group.
Forte has had some surprisingly strong showings as of late: beating Zest in the GSL qualifier, as well as defeating both TRUE and Maru in the IEM Gyeonngi qualifiers. That being said, he's in a group with INnoVation and thus fighting for second place. Kang Ho "LosirA" Hwang and Ji Won "ByuL" Han -- the other two players in his group -- are both in top form. It is possible that Forte can take them down on a good day, but smart money is on a Zerg advancing with INnoVation here.
Bunny's story is kind of a funny one. After the unceremonious exit of his former teammate, Woo Yong "Bbyong" Jung, Bunny was forced into the spotlight as CJ Entus' only Terran player. Always a threat against Zergs, he only really started to fill out his play about a year ago. Now here we are, with Bunny having a group that is absolutely doable for him. Zest, KeeN and Rogue stand in his way, but Bunny definitely has a chance to take them all out and might even be a favorite to do so. It should surprise no one if he makes it out of this group and into the Round of 16.
Last but certainly not least among the true underdogs of the tournament is Armani. Jin Hyuk has been a qualifier warrior for many years now, only occasionally making it to the big leagues. The thing is, when he does make it, he shows flashes of brilliance. If Armani puts out his top quality of play, he could absolutely make an upset in a group containing TY, Solar and Jin Air's Sung Ho "Trap" Cho.
Scarlett in South Korea
For the first time since the GSL Open Seasons of 2010, a non-Korean pro has qualified for the GSL. For a long time, Team Expert's Sasha "Scarlett" Hostyn has been a top non-South Korean pro gamer, but recently she has been distancing herself from the pack. Having spent a significant amount of time in South Korea lately has clearly helped her skill and reputation amongst the South Korean pros, with even Solar singing her praises as a force to be reckoned with. Recently, in BaseTradeTV's "Still Making Korea Great" tournament, she managed to defeat Leenock, Ryung, Solar and even Stats before falling to the world's best player, INnoVation.
It's been a long time coming, but we finally have a non-South Korean back in GSL, and with a real chance to get deep. Her group is doable as well: Myung Sik "MyuNgSik" Kim, the "retired" pro turned to Overwatch, aLive and a somewhat underperforming (for him, at least) Doh Woo "Classic" Kim. Really anything could happen in this group, which is probably a good thing for the Scarlett's chances.
The Group(s) of Death
This season is almost silly in how well-balanced the groups are. There doesn't seem to be a clear Group of Death, with groups D, E and G all looking pretty spectacular. At the end of the day, I think I would have to favor Group D slightly over the other two. The ridiculous strength of INnoVation makes it feel like the trio of ByuL, LosirA and Forte will all battle for one spot.
The Heavy Favorites
Sung Wook "Zest" Joo
Yoon Su "soO" Eo
Ryung Woo "Dark" Park
Hyun Woo "ByuN" Byun
Dae Yeob "Stats" Kim
and Shin Hyung "INnoVation" Lee
Zest has seemingly fallen off a bit from his God Tier status of early 2016, yet still easily remains a top-2 Protoss player. While his current form isn't as pristine as we are used to, there is no reason to doubt that this monster will bring it when it matters on Jan. 4, the opening day of GSL this year. Zest is without a doubt a full-package player whom everyone should be worried about playing. Form is temporary; class is permanent.
Nothing could make me happier than the return of soO to top-tier Zerg form. I think that no one would question putting soO's name on a top-3 Zerg list right now. His play on stream has been fantastic, and his recent performance at IEM Gyeonngi was truly top class. He got first place in a group with Zest, Trust and Dong Nyoung "Leenock" Lee, followed by the match of the Round of 8, barely losing 2-3 to ByuL in an excellently played series by both sides. All that remains to be seen is if soO can actually gain that elusive GSL title. His string of second-place finishes puts him as head of the current StarCraft II Kong Line (perennial second-place finishers).
Dark is the best Zerg in the world. Period. He got second place at BlizzCon after dominating the 2016 WCS Korea standings. Anything short of a top-4 finish in this tournament would be a major disappointment for this legend in the making.
The defending BlizzCon Champ is still looking quite strong indeed. Still, no one has matched ByuN's micro. It seems that his work ethic is unhindered from his recent success, making him one of the most dangerous defending champions that we have had yet. If ByuN falls, expect it to be to one of the players on this list.
Stats is still looking to break out of his top-4ish streak. The most solid and consistent Protoss in the world continues to slowly but surely assert his dominance ... until the very end of the tournament. A win for Stats in this tournament would usher in a new era as he would finally become a champion. The only question that remains is whether he is able to take home the victory or if he will be another in a long line of Kongs.
I've saved the best for last. INnoVation is the best player in the world right now. He is consistently No. 1 on the South Korean ladder. He crushed IEM Gyeonngi, as if it wasn't full of the best players in the world. He seems unbeatable in every matchup. INnoVation, in my opinion, is in better form than his early years of dominance. If INnoVation falls, however, I'd be surprised if the player taking him down was anyone but Dark.
The GSL Code S starts on Jan. 4. Get pumped!