In one respect Code A can be considered to be a huge success, and that's the way that the games have been almost uniformly worse than the Code S games. I thought the divisions were too crudely seeded for there to be a strong quality distinction, but it looks like the cream really did rise to the top. With almost all the weak Code S players in the relegation and some strong players emerging from the Code A bracket, there's reason to think that in GSL 5 the sifting between divisions is going to be even better.
That does raise the question, however: are the early Code A games really worth watching? In many cases no, I feel, and as the better players escape into Code S the quality is likely to drop further. However, the churn in Code A is going to be a lot greater than Code S, so perhaps better players will start working their way up. For the time being, there are likely to be some pretty good games in the latter stages of the tournament.
Race Breakdown
| Round | Terran | Zerg | Protoss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round of 32 | 14 (44%) | 9 (28%) | 9 (28%) |
| Round of 16 | 8 (50%) | 5 (31%) | 3 (19%) |
| Quarterfinals | 4 (50%) | 3 (38%) | 1 (13%) |
Despite starting even with Zerg, Protoss have become thin on the ground. The overrepresentation of Terran has been a common theme in GSL tournaments, but the strong Zerg showing in the round of 16 is somewhat more unusual. As I'll discsus in a minute, I happen to think the three surviving Zergs are the strongest players left, so we could see a Zerg-heavy semifinals. It's probably futile to try to draw any conclusions about balance from the Code A results, however.
Team Breakdown
| Team | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZeNEX | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| PrimeWE | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| StarTale | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| fOu | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| oGs | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| IM | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| WeMadeFOX | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Liquid | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| SlayerS | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| TSL | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| None | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Since the quarterfinals represent the chance to get promoted into Code S, teams like PrimeWE and IM won't be getting any more players to the highest level. Other than that, the results are so scattered there's not much to say, but it is interesting to note that teamless players did particularly badly.
Predictions
I wouldn't want to bet real money on these predictions, but the way I see it, these are the players I expect to reach the semifinals:
BanBansZenith (P) vs. oGsTOP (T) - oGsTOP. Reputation pick. oGsTOP has been pretty good in the past, so there's reason to think a tough tournament for Protoss will get even tougher.
oGsCezanne (Z) vs. sCfOu (T) - oGsCezanne. sCfOu is pretty good, but I've got to go with oGsCezanne based on the quality of the players he beat to get here, namely LiquidRet and LonerPrimeWE.
STJuly (Z) vs. ZeNEXByun (T) - STJuly. ZeNEXByun has looked surprisingly strong, but ZvT is July's best matchup.
FOXLyn (T) vs. FOXMoon (Z) - FOXMoon. Neither of them have played particularly good players, but Moon has looked more impressive than his teammate thus far. Moon has the slight extra advantage of having played two ZvTs to get to this point. Lyn beat a Terran and a Protoss.
In the unlikely event I get every game right, that makes three Zergs and a Terran in the semifinals. The good news for Terran fans is that I'm probably wrong about several of these games. Unfortunately Protoss fans aren't going to get much out of these games regardless.
Players to Watch in Code A Relegation
I'm not even sure how much, if any, of the Code A relegation battle will be broadcast by GomTV. Based on the quality of most of the round of 32 losers in Code A, most of the games probably won't be worth watching. But there are a few players I'll be keeping an eye out for:
TankBoyPrimeWE - TankBoy played well in the opening round of GSL 1 and eliminated TSLClide in season 2. That's really his only claim to fame, but by Code A standards, that's pretty impressive. He ran into a much better than average Code A player (IMJunwi) in the opening round, so I'm hoping he'll stay in Code A.
JSLZenith - JSL beat oGsNaDa in the GSL 3 qualifiers, then beat ZeNEXKyrix in the opening round. Like TankBoy, that just seems like too good a resume to drop out of Code A.
LiquidRet - Like most people reading this, I root for pretty much every foreign player. Aside from that bias, LiquidRet seems like he's more than good enough to stay in Code A. He was unlucky to run into quarterfinalist oGsCezanne in the opening round of GSL 4.
BitByBitPrimeWE - If IdrA isn't going to act the villain any more we need someone else, right? Just the look on Artosis' face would make it worth seeing him avoid relegation.
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