WCS Korea's round of thirty-two has wrapped up (you can see the results here) and it's worth a quick overview of the results before looking ahead to the round of sixteen. In terms of racial performance, Protoss were 9-7, Zergs 5-8, and Terrans 2-1. I didn't make comprehensive picks for Code S (although I did pick soO to make it through and mistakenly picked Sora to get in), but there weren't many surprises in R32. The groups for R16 have been announced and don't seem particularly well-balanced:
Aligulac thinks sOs and Life will move on (72% and 62%); sOs only has one match-up to prepare for and his PvZ is strong, albeit he lost to soO and Solar recently. Life's ZvZ is on fire (he's on an 11-0 streak), but his ZvP has been mediocre. Do either Curious or RorO have a chance? Both have middling ZvZ and RorO's ZvP is all over the place--Curious is 11-2 in ZvP lately, so of the two he has the best shot, but I'll go with the odds here.
Zest
Maru Dear
Aligulac predicts Zest and Soulkey will win the group (58% and 52%). Maru has the same advantage as Soulkey in that they only have to prepare for two match-ups (rather than the three of the Protoss players). Speaking of Maru, his refusal to build ghosts in TvP is suicidal and makes his exclusion completely understandable. Zest has been on fire since early January (22-3), while Dear has been inconsistent, so I'll go with the predictions (I see no reason to doubt Soulkey moving on).
Classic Squirtle PartinG Rain
The PvP group--there's nothing more unpredictable than mirror match-ups, so this group is most ripe for the unexpected. Aligulac favours PartinG and Rain (65% and 56%) to make it through. Historically (in HOTS) PartinG is the monster of PvP, but his results have been erratic of late...but so have the other players in his group other than Classic (8-2, beating both Squirtle and PartinG at IEM Cologne). I don't think Squirtle has a chance and I'll lean on Aligulac here, but it's with a lot of uncertainty as Classic could easily push his way through.
Trap herO Bbyong
One of two weak groups (Group A is the other), Aligulac see's herO and Bbyong (83% and 45%) making it through. herO has been on fire of late and I don't think a couple of hiccoughs in Proleague (vs Stork and Cure) mean much--he's 73% in multi-game series throughout HOTS. Bbyong has been good in TvP lately (7-1 in his most recent multi-game series) and his TvZ is almost as good (6-2). Do either Trap or soO have a chance? Trap's PvP is mediocre and soO is almost as bad in ZvP. Trap's PvZ is excellent, but soO's ZvT is all over the place and Trap can only beat soO once, so I'll go with the odds.
I'm in agreement with Aligulac here, so if the odds are correct we'll see the following players in the round of eight: sOs, Life, Zest, Soulkey, PartinG, Rain, herO, and Bbyong.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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