๐ Happy 10th birthday GSL! ๐
The first ever GSL tournament, the 2010 open season 1, kicked off 10 years ago today with a match between IdrA and the Terran player Ji Taehoon.
You can re-watch it here: (for the nostalgia, not the games...) https://t.co/1v1RYpGUl7
This Code S finals, which is the 35th so far, is the first one to be a rematch of a previous Code S finals. Last time Maru beat TY 4-3 in the 2018 season 3 finals.
50% of all Code S finals since LotV came out have featured either Maru or TY or both.
Code S career win rate leaderboard:
1. TY (62.8%)
2. Mvp (62.3%)
3. Maru (61.3%)
4. Life (61.1%)
5. INnoVation (60.3%)
Despite being only a 1-time champion himself, TY is ahead of 4-time champion Maru, 3-time champion Mvp, and 3-time champion INnoVation.
When Mvp had a chance to win the G5L trophy, it would've been by winning his 4th Code S. His other GSL win was the GSL World Championship in 2011, basically a GSL vs the World.
By winning tonight, Maru would be a 5 time champion off of Code S alone.
Most of the highest achievements in Code S belong to either of these two players.
Maru already has the most Code S championships of any player at 4, and he could stretch that to 5.
TY currently holds the highest win rate of all time (62.8%), above even Mvp. His TvT is at 70.7%.
As for Maru, if he wins tonight, he will be the first player in history to make the Ro4 ten times.
soO has 7 Ro4's, and INnoVation and Mvp both have 6.
The second match: Maru vs Trap
Trap is 6-0 in PvT so far this season, and as of right now he holds the highest PvT win rate of all time (minimum 16 games played).
This is his 6th Ro8 in a row, and he is the first player to accomplish this.
Zest has the unique distinction of making the Ro8 in the first 5 Code S seasons he ever played in, including a pair of championships at the start and end of that run.
His royal road run in 2014 still holds up as the most recent time someone won Code S on their first try.
Today's first match: Armani vs Zest
Armani is having by far his best season yet, having previously never made it past the first round of the tournament.
For Zest, it is his 10th Ro8. He is the sixth player in history to hit that number and the second Protoss after PartinG.
Finally, Inno's career accomplishments speak for themselves:
-3 Code S championships
-One of 2 players all-time with >200 wins
-One of 5 players all-time with >60% career win rate
-4 Code S finals in 4 different years
-Ro4-or-better runs in every expansion
The Ro8 begins in ~4.5 hours!
TY vs DRG
Stats vs INnoVation
All four of these players were in last season's Ro8, and three of them went even further.
-Inno lost in the Ro8 to DRG.
-DRG lost in the Ro4 to Rogue.
-TY lost in the Ro4 to Stats.
-Stats lost in the finals to Rogue.
Despite his recent results, it is worth mentioning that INnoVation's TvP is historically among the best of all Terrans. His 61.3% win rate over 111 games is surpassed only by players with about a third as many games played or less. (eg: Mvp 65.0%, 40 games played)
GuMiho was originally a pro Random player, debuting in the 2010 open season 3. He lost 0-2 in the first round to Monster (aka Nakseo) and no one has played Random in a premiere GSL since.
In GSTL however GuineaPig enjoyed success as a Random player for MVP throughout 2011.
Group D in 3 hours.
Just like group C, 6 total Code S championships and 2 WCS world champions in one group.
This is the 20th Ro16 for INnovation. He is the first to achieve that number.
Dark is in his 15th consecutive Ro16, also a record, which includes every Code S in LotV.
Maru has the most of each of these:
-Total Code S appearances (24)
-Round of 8 appearances (13, tie w/ TY)
-Round of 4 appearances (9)
-Championships (4)
The Ro16 and the finals are the only rounds in which he does not have the most appearances.