EPTSet 1: NaNiwa (2.360) <Crux Whirlwind> Creator (1.625)
The Map: Zero PvPs has been played on this map. 1 forcefield ramp to natural, huge ramp at expansion. Should be hard to hold a quick expansion.
The Players
Naniwa: Naniwa's record of PvP consists pretty much only of games vs. Genius and Puzzle in Korea. Nonetheless Genius must considered a true Code S PvP with a 56% record of wins against such players as Seed, MC, Sage, Inca. Naniwa's got good reason to be confident going into the game with Creator. On paper this should be his favorite matchup.
With players such as Parting, Ace and Sase seems to have the superior practice partners for this matchup.
Creator: Creators record cites wins against puzzle and extreme. On paper he looks weaker, but counting out a Prime player is always a bad idea. Nonetheless the Prime house should be a
Conclusion: Looking at his latest results and practice opportunities inhouse with Startale, Naniwa should be going strong into this group if he seizes this opportunity to take games off Creator.
Putting my money on Naniwa.
Set 2: TheStC (2.160) <ESV ClouD Kingdom> NesTea (1.735)
The map: Slightly scewed towards terran isn't something you usually see anymore, but nonetheless is the statistics of Cloud Kingdom 59-52 (53.2%).
The Players:
Nestea: Didn't really come through or impress in the GSTL. Had epic zvz vs. Symbol, but other than that we can't judge a 3 times GSL winner by a few matches. Especially when IM is notorious for having their top players come through in the individual leagues. It sucks for the team, but with 7 GSL victorious, perhaps they are onto something.
His zvt should be looking sharp, but cloud kingdom could be a tough map to open up on for Nestea.
TheSTC:
Having recently joined quantic theSTC will be wanting to prove himself for his new team. He's a Code S Terran in every sense of the word with creative builds for specific maps and cheese should the opponent get too greedy.
Within the last few months he has taken games off DongRaeGu (he was sent him to Code A, as far as I remember), shinefOu, Whale. Looking further back he's outplayed Leenock and Losira. Both formidable zerg monsters in themselves.
Conclusion: With the recent changes to the queen Nestea should be a lot more safe against the old school cheese, but STC is original and I think he could very well take this series with proper planning 2-1.
