ROGUE vs CREATOR SCII BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

?The final fixture of GSL Season 1 Code S will see the first-time Code S finalist Jang “Creator” Hyun-woo clash with the three-time champion Lee “Rogue” Byeong-yeol this Thursday. This sets up one of the most lopsided mismatches in GSL history, as indicated by the odds available at the leading StarCraft II betting sites.

Still, we have to recognise Creator’s impressive performances in this tournament. He topped his section in the first group stage and finished the second group stage tied with Park “Dark” Ryung-woo at 3-1, before eliminating Shin “RagnaroK” Hee-bum (3-1) and Cho “Trap” Seong-ho (3-1).

But even though Creator has looked strong in the latter stages of Code S, he lost against Rogue (1-3) in their first meeting on April 25. Admittedly, he also lost against Trap in the first match and then got his revenge, but this will be a tall order.

Rogue leads the ESL Pro Tour 2022/23 Korea standings by 50 points and has yet to show anything that would make us doubt his ability to claim his fourth Code S title. The 28-year-old Zerg player’s only defeat came against Trap (1-2), and even that was a very close match, while he won the remaining bouts with at least one map to spare.

Rogue has boldly predicted a one-sided affair, and even the other SCII esports players have no issues framing it as such. With a 21-3 head-to-head record (5-0 since January 2021) against Creator, we don’t believe he’s wrong.

?More esports betting tips

?Lee “Rogue” Byeong Yeol and Kim “Cure” Doh Wook will clash on Thursday in the opening round of Group D at IEM Katowice 2021. This will mark their first meeting since January when Cure reverse-swept his compatriot to secure his 18th head-to-head victory in 43 meetings.

Rogue has since played 16 games and won just five, so it’s fair to say he is not in good form. Rogue is also 1-5 in his last six outings, but perhaps he deserves some slack for those results since he had to face the likes of Joo “Zest” Sung-wook, Cho “Trap” Sung Ho and Park “Zoun” Han-sol.

Cure has played 36 games since his last meeting with Rogue and won all but eight. He also enters this match on a seven-game winning streak that includes a 3-0 sweep of Zoun last Wednesday. With equal odds offered on both players, it’s not hard to pick a side.

?Won “PartinG” Lee Sak is priced as an underdog for this bout, which is fair since he is 0-5 against Kim “Stats” Dae Yeob. That seems unlikely to change considering Stats is 13-1 across his last 14 fixtures.

Even though a moneyline bet on Stats is not a bad option, you sometimes have to risk it for the biscuit and trust the favourite to cover the handicap. That’s not to say PartinG is a bad player, but he has faced mostly weaker opponents of late while Stats has made tougher payer and defeated a significant majority of them. In this form, Stats shouldn’t drop a map.

Lee “Rogue” Byeong Yeol and Park “Zoun” Han-sol will clash on Wednesday for the first time since October 2020, when Rogue won 3-0. That marked Rogue’s second head-to-head victory of the year and his third since 2014.

SEE ALSO: BEST STARCRAFT BETTING SITES

Rogue has yet to lose against Zoun – hence the short odds – but he is in terrible shape. He has lost all but one of his last nine outings, whereas Zoun has won all but two in the same stretch.

Zoun has also beaten the likes of Joo “Zest” Sung Wook, Won “PartinG” Lee Sak and Park “Armani” Jin Hyuk across the last week and holds a 6-0 record against Zerg players since January. Zoun should not be priced above $2.20, making this an excellent value bet we can’t pass up. There might also be some value on Zoun with a map handicap if you can find odds of around $1.40 or better.