GSL 3 Round of 16: Preview

Race Breakdown

8 Terran (50%)
4 Zerg (25%)
4 Protoss (25%)

As previously discussed, a lot of the Zergs in the round of 64 got there less because of their skill and more because players were still adjusting to the Zerg buffs in the patch. In the tournament proper, it's Zergs who have been trying to adjust to Terran rushes, and that's reflected in the precipitous decline in Zerg players round to round. Only 4 Zergs are left, and while the random number generator was cruel during the round of 32 map selection, I think everyone watching the tournament will agree the surviving players are the 4 best Zergs right now. After much handwringing about Protoss, most of the best survived as well, although choya and GgoBooGie haven't been quite as impressive as their Zerg equivalents Leenock and July. As for Terran, there's still some players who probably have gotten farther than they deserve, but there's every reason to think we're on the way to a fairly balanced last few rounds full of excellent players.

Team Breakdown

PrimeWE: 5
fOu: 3
IM: 2
ST: 2
TSL: 2
Liquid: 1
oGs: 1

After a very impressive round of 64, fOu dropped off in the round of 32, even losing one of their players permanently (GoldenfOu) since he moved to SlayerS after he lost. Meanwhile, Prime's star is rising. There continues to be a very nice spread of teams involved, which bodes well for future team competitions.

Games to Watch

This time I'm just picking my four most antipicated games instead of spreading them by bracket.

IMNesTea (Z) vs. MakaPrimeWE (T) - Maka hasn't looked like the dominating player he was in the beta since GSL 1, but here he is in the round of 16 anyway with a chance to knock out the GSL 2 champion. With a map lineup of Lost Temple, Xel'Naga Caverns, and Scrap Station, NesTea is probably feeling very confident and has to be considered the favorite, but this is Maka's chance to show he can still take out the best.

LeenockfOu (Z) vs. MarineKingPrimeWE (T) - Leenock was all right in GSL 2, but so far in GSL 3 he's looked incredible. We haven't seen as much from MarineKing (AKA Foxer) since he got a free win in the first round. Although he does switch up his compositions more than people claim, his primary builds are well known and well understood now, so I can't wait to see how Leenock will try to defeat them.

oGsMC (P) vs. STJuly (Z) - July really came out of nowhere in this tournament. That may seem odd to say about a guy who three OSL titles in Starcraft 1, but like NesTea it seems like he needed some time to get his bearings. If so, it looks like he's got everything straight. MC is probably the best Protoss still in the tournament, though, so if July is the favorite it's by a narrow margin.

LiquidJinro (T) vs. PoltPrimeWE - This is Jinro's chance to get an S Class designation, and with all due respect to Polt, the opponent could have been a lot tougher. Polt has consistently shown novel and impressive build orders in his games, but he's never looked as solid as Jinro did in his match against FOXMoon. GomTV was praying this match would be SlayerSBoxeR against FOXMoon, but there's still an excellent chance these will be some fantastic games.