S Class: The Wild Card Race

Only the first three GSL tournaments, the so-called preseason tournaments, will be unseeded. In 2011, players will be grouped into "S Class", "A Class", and unseeded groups. Exactly how all this will work hasn't been spelled out, but already players like SlayerSBoxeR and NaDa have mentioned S Class in interviews as an important goal.  Although many have it already, a number of prominent players are going into GSL 3 still looking to earn the designation, players like EGIdrA, TSLClide, LiquidTLO, and oGsTOP.

Here's what we know for sure:

• There will be 32 S Class players and 64 A Class players.
• The rankings will be based on performance in GSL 1-3.
• Making the quarterfinals in any of the three GSL tournaments guarantees S Class

This means that 15 players have already earned S Class by reaching the quarterfinals in GSL 1 or GSL 2.

GSL 1 quarterfinalists: HongUnPrime, NEXLiveForever, MakaPrime, oGsEnsnare, oGsInCa, StHopeTorture, TSLFruitDealer, TSLsSKS
GSL 2 quarterfinalists: FoxerPrime, KyrixZenith, NesTea, NEXGenius, oGsNada, oGsZenio, SlayerSBoxeR, StHopeTorture

Note that although there were 16 quarterfinalists, StHopeTorture made the quarterfinals in both tournaments (surprisingly, the only one to do so) so there are only 15 players who have clinched.

Racial Breakdown of S Class so far: 7 Terrans, 4 Zerg, 4 Protoss
Team Breakdown of S Class so far: 4 oGs, 3 Prime, 3 ZeNEX, 2 TSL, 1 IM, 1 ST, 1 unaligned

Now, depending on how many of these players make it to the GSL 3 quarterfinals, there could be anywhere from 8 to 17 "wild card" S Class players who never make the quarterfinals but are awarded the designation anyway.  Given the fact only 1 person has repeated so far, I'd guess there will be about 12 wild card spots.  Unfortunately GomTV hasn't specified exactly what formula they plan to use, but I'm guessing it will be similar to their ranking system, which promotes players after each match won.  To come up with the Wild Card leaderboard below I've tweaked this slightly: I award players one point for a win, but I also award them 1 point for qualifying for the round of 64 in a GSL tournament.  GomTV doesn't do this for their ranks, but I think it's only fair that players are rewarded for making it through qualifying since that's getting harder and harder to do.

Here are the players with at least 3 points in my system:

Player	Race	GSL1	GSL2	Points
CheckPrime	Z	3	3	6
EGIdrA	Z	2	3	5
oGsTheWinD	Z	2	3	5
sanZenith	P	3	2	5
TankboyPrime	T	2	2	4
TSLClide	T	3	1	4
LegalMind	P	3	1	4
oGsHyperdub	T	3	1	4
TSLSangHo	P	0	3	3
Loner	T	0	3	3
Leenock	Z	0	3	3
oGsMC	P	1	2	3
jookToJung	Z	2	1	3
PoltPrime	T	2	1	3
ReXZanDarke	P	2	1	3
LiquidTLO	T	2	1	3
AnyproPrime	P	3	0	3
LotzePrime	P	3	0	3
oGsTOP	T	3	0	3

Check's position seems unassailable, and IdrA's looks very solid as well. If we knew the exact algorithm GomTV was using, we could probably show that Check is mathematically guaranteed S Class, and perhaps the 5 point players as well. As it is, we'll say they all have excellent chances.

If players on 3 points like TLO, Loner, TOP, etc. fail to qualify for GSL 3 then they are going to have to hope for a ton of repeat quarterfinalists and then possibly some help from the tiebreaking system. For players who've yet to qualify like the other Team Liquid players, Sen, etc. it looks like they'll probably have to get a quarterfinal spot in GSL 3 to have a chance.

Note that if I'm wrong and GomTV doesn't give credit for making the round of 64, that's good news for AnyPro, Lotze, and TOP, but it also means they could be overtaken by first-qualifiers in GSL 3, so they still need to qualify. No matter what, the GSL 3 qualifiers are going to be more important than ever for all these players.