Halfway through the Round of 16, Gumiho and Losira clash swords to produce one of the best StarCraft 2 games in a long, long time.

After six consecutive seasons of bouncing between Code S and Code A like a yo-yo, Curious finally made it to the playoffs. His adventure: a mix of defending immortal all-ins, crippling roach timings and macro games that flawlessly defeated Gumiho and MC.

This is a big step for Curious and as he makes it, he immediately draws attention to his persona. Banking victories over MC, Gumiho, Baby and Leenock, Curious has created a hefty resume for himself. He’s lost just one game in his last ten ZvZs and since there’s heavy chance that his next opponent will be of the same race, advancement to the semi-finals is not out of the question.

Following Curious to the quarter finals was MC, who did not enjoy the greatest conclusions of 2012 but seems to be back in form and crushing faces. Massive gateway plays and punching timing attacks – long a signature playstyle of MC – made a return in his games today and so did his skytoss play from the round of 32. With a cumulative score of 8-2 from both group stages and the command he showcased today, MC radiates bright and fearsome aura.

Despite falling down to Code A, Losira and Gumiho did spare some time to orchestrate an extraordinarily entertaining ZvT on Akilon Flats. After 50 minutes of ghosts fighting ultra/brood lord/infestor armies (and winning against all odds), both players were down to their nonoperational buildings and a handful of units. More heart-stopping trades later, the armies were even smaller, mining was nonexistent and Gumiho seemed to be in the advantage, as far as ground compositions went.

For Losira, this was a draw-or-die (or flank tanks with spine crawlers) situation and as the methodical push of two tanks and several marauder came knocking, the zerg desperately tried to go for the former. Spines and a single ultra were microed surgically against the terran fire and this went for a few more minutes until finally, after 75 in-game minutes, the ultralisk of Losira fell dead. A “GG” was typed promptly, putting an end to the magnum opus.

Tomorrow sees the end of the round of sixteen and marks the beginning of the last ever WoL playoffs for Code S. World champion PartinG and his dreaded Wonwonwon pushes go against three scary zerg agents: player of the 2012 Life, AZUBU's Bboong and RorO from the KeSPA school of Samsung KHAN.

Code S Ro16: Group C
Curious4-0To Code S Ro8
MC4-2To Code S Ro8
 Gumiho2-5To Code A Ro24
Losira1-4To Code A Ro24
Curious 2-0 MC
Gumiho 2-1 Losira
Curious 2-0 Gumiho
MC 2-0 Losira
MC 2-0 Gumiho