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King of the Dome.
University Starleague has brought a new level of players into their events. From Maddelisk winning the season 1 and our Team Property collaboration event, UniTy displaying tons of talent, this will be the most fearsome group of players to ever compete in UniSL.
But why is it that they are the biggest and baddest players yet? Why does these four european titans bring such weight to this tournament? Let’s take a closer look into their playstyles and how they go from CameraCandy to the PlayerPredators we love to support. Let’s dive into their respective matchups and see how they play!
Liquid’TLO
TLO, or The Little One is one of the most loved pro gamers in the western world. He is known for streaming a lot and always giving good players a great match! He is known for finishing consistently high in tournaments and even going to the WCS Season 1 World Finals.
ZvZ
TLO is by no means a novice in this matchup. He prefers to have a more defensive playstyle, only going aggressive when he is either sure of his advantage or using units from a defensive engagement. His smart playstyle really shows when dealing with early game ling/baneling aggression, mid game techroutes and continuous focus on good engagements and strong macro.
ZvT
Currently in ZvT the zerg is prone to receive a never-ending wave of terran units. Blessed with widowmines, these engagements can seem to be endless, but with a proper defence, opportunities can rise from the diminishing waves of terran units with counterattacks. TLO plays several styles very well, often having a great focus on creep spread and continuous expansions. He is not afraid to go for a roach based composition or moving into the ever so popular ling/bling/muta army.
ZvP
TLO turns into another beast when faced with a protoss foe. He transforms into an aggressive player that tries to always know what you do, and use it against you. His aggressive playstyle comes with an array of different army compositions based on the protoss openings. Take a fast third nexus? TLO will break it with lings and banelings, using the agility of zerg against protoss. His use of Swarm Hosts often result in a extremely forward siege, sometimes lacking the proper support to keep them alive.
Summary
TLO is a brilliant player, catching opportunities whenever he sees them and is not afraid to emphasize on his opponents weaknesses. He has excellent creep spread to assist him with getting knowledge of enemy army movements. His aggressiveness might end to his demise in certain games, but as long as he still has a standing hatchery, he will fight until he can’t produce anymore.
Evil Geniuses’Thorzain
King in the North. Spoonterran. T-funk. Thorzain is the terran that arose from other foreign terrans and started to win things in the early days of Starcraft. He has conquered things such as TSL, Dreamhack and Asus ROG. Now returning home to study in Sweden, Thorzain is arguably the Swedish favorite.
TvZ
Thorzain plays a reasonably standard TvZ with recurring usage of Bio-mine-Medivac. But keep your eyes open. He will never stop dropping. With hellbats, bio and mines in his hands, he can and will slowly push on top of his widowmines across the map until he hits your bases. Spread wisely when being aggressive, his mines are everywhere.
TvP
With good control over his army and always in the mood of killing observers, Thorzain will always attempt to reach the later stages of TvP. Reacting to his protoss foe, his balance of vikings vs ghosts will always be on point. The aggressive drops from TvZ have disappeared and have been replaced with smart engagements with his entire army. If his ghostmicro is on point, you will never see where your High Templars went.
TvT
Artosis would be proud. The swedish terran rules over the north with a strong army of mechanical units. This is where he truly earns the name “spoonterran”. He is in the game for the long run, moving forward inch by inch, ultimately, sieging on top of your doorstep.
Summary
Thorzain IS the spoonterran. He rarely moves away from his plan to reach the lategame. If he does, he has something ferocious in store for you. Slowly earning more and more area in the map, you might just be forced out of the game due to his extreme perseverance and stamina.
Complexity Gaming'viPro
viPro is a hidden gem in the SC2 scene. He is an excellent protoss and rumored to be a great practice partner. He has proven himself in the swedish scene to be one of the best protoss players, earning himself continuous tickets to the EsportSM finals.
PvP
In the former diceparadise of PvP, viPro seems to favor the Twilight Council techroute. Weather it’s dark templars or blink, does not matter. viPro will always have a forward stance with his army and pressure you.
PvZ
viPro is a steady user of the Gateway expand into a stargate. His commitment to the stargate is however varied. Robotics followup, voidray transition, prolonged phoenix harass. He masters them all. And most importantly, this allows him often to move into a macrogame. Slowly and safely moving himself into High Templars to take control of the game.
PvT
With robo in hand as a standard first techroute after his nexus, his playstyle can vary. His forward pushes with immortals might crash into your frontal wall, or he might go for double forges and early third base. Have your scans ready during the midgame!
Summary
viPro is the underdog for King of the Dome. The key to defeating viPro is to figure out what he is doing, and tackle his plan head on. If he goes untouched, he might be one of the more dangerous players we have to sjow you.
Team Property’Sjow
Sjow. The slayer of Life. Morrows eternal master of TvT and a IEM champion. Sjow has been surfacing more since his amazing run at DHSummer2013, but has his momentum been slightly halted since? He fell out of Fragbite Masters in the group play and reached the third group stage of DHBucharest2013. But don’t be fooled. It might just be sjowtime.
TvP
Is it a 4 player map? CC first with double barracks as followup. As a rule, Sjow does not scan for information, he drops instead, dealing damage and gathering information simultaneously. With his low apm, he is extremely efficient with his macro. With a giant swell of bio, he will attempt to kill your gas intensive units and transition into Ghost/Viking afterwards.
TvZ
With a close to standard playstyle, Sjow often goes for early expands with focus on drops. Although in contrast to other terran players, Sjow often mixes in more Hellbats in his mid/lategame army, giving him more reliable damage output instead of the slightly more random widowmines. Massive bio/hellbat/widowmine pushes while expanding behind is a strong and standard playstyle that Sjow often uses.
TvT
Sjows TvT is a mobile mechstyle that would strike fear into the best of us sometimes. Whenever he smells timing or weakness he is not afraid to move into an extremely forward position and siege up in your face. This mobility can catch many off guard and cause severe damage to armies/productions etc. Hellbat harass throughout the entire game is also something to note for the defenceless terran player.
Summary
Sjow is dangerous. With his added taste to a lot of standard playstyles, he can prove to be a heavy combatant to claim the crown of the dome. He is loved by many and respected by more. Be watchful, behind the calm exterior lies an aggressive terran with multi pronged harass capabilities.
Predictions
Quarter Finals
Thorzain 3-2 viPro
Sjow 2-3 TLO
Third place match
Sjow 3-2 viPro
Grand Finals
Thorzain 4-3 TLO
And that is it for our pool of players! On the 5th of October, they shall fight in Cosmonova! Only one can be crowned King of the Dome.
Read more about the event (IMAX dome) http://unisl.se/cosmonova
Follow University Starleague on twitter @UniversitySL
Tune in 14:00 at the 5th of October at www.twitch.tv/universitysl
Written by @ScSuede with the help of replays from WCS S1/2 and Dreamhack Open/Summer.
