Code S RO20 – Bunny and DRG advance to RO10

Reynor’s much-hyped return to GSL Code S came to a quick and anti-climactic conclusion, as the Italian Zerg was eliminated from his round-of-20 group in last place. Instead, it was last season’s playoff players Bunny and DongRaeGu who moved on to the round-of-10, while Dream joined Reynor in elimination.

Bunny got off to a rough start on the night, losing to Reynor on Waterfall despite inflicting early-game damage with an unorthodox 3-Barracks stim attack. Reynor showed great resilience to claw his way back to even, and he eventually overpowered Bunny in a macro game. However, Bunny had more tricks prepared, and he hit back at Reynor with consecutive Marine-Tank all-ins off two bases (opening CC-first both times). Reynor simply couldn’t handle these powerful early attacks and surrendered the 1-2 loss.

Interestingly enough, the other initial match between DRG and Dream followed a very similar pattern as Dream prepared his own 2-base all-ins from CC-first starts. Dream’s version of the strategy was different in that he focused on adding Liberators instead of Tanks as his support units, but the end result was the same: Terran victory.

Dream tried to keep the aggression going to start the winners’ match against Bunny, opening with proxy 2-Barracks Reapers. However, Bunny was able to defend quite easily, allowing him to stroll to a victory afterward. Bunny turned the tables and tried to get aggressive with an early Tank-Raven attack in game two, but this time he was the one who lost after running up against a study defense. There was nary a dull moment to be had in the series, as Bunny kept the fast pace of the series going in game three with an early Reaper-Hellion attack. This time, things actually worked out for the aggressor, and Bunny was able to finish Dream with a follow-up Tank push and book his ticket to the RO10.

The losers’ match began with DRG trying his own all-in against Reynor, bringing a one-base Ling-Bane attack in game one. Both players ended up on fairly even footing after a good hold from Reynor, with the Italian Zerg eventually going on to win in a Roach-Ravager macro game. Game two seemed like it might be headed to a 3-Hatch vs 3-Hatch macro game from the very start, but DRG turned up the heat with a Roach-Bane all-in. This time he was much more successful, and he forced Reynor to GG out. Not surprisingly, DRG went on the offensive again in game three, trying to catch Reynor off guard with a 12-pool. However, Reynor’s Drone defense was fantastic, and the two players were thrust into a Roach-Ravager duel like in game one. After much back and forth fighting between Roach-Ravager forces, DongRaeGu came out on top in a decisive battle at the 13 minute mark, sending Reynor hurtling out of Code S.

The rematch between DRG and Dream ended up being the longest and most fiercely-contested series of the night, with both players desperately trying to claim the last spot out of the group. DongRaeGu went up a point first, overpowering Dream in a fairly conventional game on Data-C. However, Dream tied things up on Inside and Out, dragging the game out to the 18-minute mark and outlasting waves of Hydra-Bane-Viper from DRG. Dream seemed to have a similar plan for game three on Stargazers, but this time DRG stayed stubbornly on Muta-Ling-Bane until he was able to overwhelm Dream by sheer force of numbers.

Code S will continue with Group C on Monday, Aug 29 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00), featuring Maru, Classic, GuMiho, and Zoun.

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