'Bearded' Yoon Su-cheol has successfully reached the quarterfinals for the first time in his career. After a loss to Park Sang-hyun, Yoon defeated Jo Gi-seok and Choi Ho-seon, winning both best-of-three series 2-1 to advance to the quarterfinals as the second seed from Group A of the Round of 16. However, he displayed several flaws that must be addressed before the quarterfinals, including absurd mistakes that ruined his own all-in strategies and recurring errors that should not happen at this level.

In the first set of the losers' match against Jo Gi-seok on Sylphid, Jo opened with a front-yard Command Center, while Yoon played it safe with a post-expansion 3-Gate Observer build, wary of his opponent's aggression. As the game progressed steadily, Yoon successfully engaged in a favorable war of attrition by attacking with a large number of Dragoons before Jo could siege up, putting himself in a very advantageous position.

Yoon added two expansions, while Jo, low on tanks, needed time to move out. Jo eventually gathered his tanks and found a timing to attack. However, Yoon made a mistake by delaying his Adun, which prevented his Zealots from getting speed upgrades, and he ended up losing his center-map Nexus.

Despite this, the Protoss clearly held the lead in unit count. Yoon secured the first set by winning the subsequent war of attrition and destroying Jo's 1 o'clock Command Center with his Dragoons, overwhelming Jo with superior numbers.

In the second set on Match Point, Yoon prepared a gas rush followed by a fast Nexus and a Dark Templar drop. However, he made a fatal mistake by allowing an SCV to scout his base, revealing his Vulture/Marine defense and High Templars. Jo gained the upper hand, even managing to take a third Command Center, and cruised to a victory to tie the series 1-1.

In the final third set, Yoon opted for a Gateway-less front-yard Nexus. Once again, Yoon used a large number of Dragoons to drain Jo's tank count as the Terran moved out, putting himself in a strong position. He continued to expand and win trades, while Jo lost momentum after a reckless attack at a time when he should have been building up his forces.

Although Jo managed to keep up by maxing out his supply, Yoon did not look to be in top form. Nevertheless, the gap was already too wide, and Yoon secured the win by overwhelming the Terran's mechanical forces.

In the first set of the deciding match for the quarterfinals, Yoon used an early scout to find the Terran base immediately, executing a gas rush and taking his front yard to set up his preferred game plan. He followed up with a third base, Reavers, and a large army. Choi Ho-seon attempted a timing rush, but it was easily repelled, allowing Yoon to secure additional expansions and High Templars to take the first set.

In the second set on Jade, Yoon prepared a fast Dark Templar build. He even built a hidden Gateway on the hill below Choi's front yard, and with Choi preparing a double Starport build, Yoon was in a position to win 99% of the time. However, he committed an absurd mistake when his Dark Templars got stuck in the Gateway and couldn't emerge. Still, the win was within his grasp; he destroyed his own Gateway and broke into the Terran base. But his follow-up was disastrous. Once he saw the two Starports, he should have built a Robotics Facility or a Forge to prepare for Wraiths, but he failed to do so, giving Choi an opening and suffering an inexplicable comeback loss.

In the third set, Yoon went for a 'naked' double expansion, while Choi chose a Factory double followed by a Vulture drop. Yoon defended well by quickly building Cannons and successfully secured his third Nexus while repelling the Vulture drop. With the game flow favoring the Protoss, Yoon performed well in the initial war of attrition using his shuttles.

However, the Protoss took heavy damage in the next engagement, giving an opening to Choi, who had been preparing an 'Up-Terran' (upgraded Terran) composition. Despite this, Yoon persistently targeted Choi's resource lines with his shuttles, continuously hunting SCVs to eventually take down Choi and secure his spot in the quarterfinals.