EPT
Note: If Revival gets out of his CL group (which is extremely likely), Naniwa and Revival will play an offline Bo5 deciding who gets to face Soulkey. Should this occur, Naniwa will win 3-1.
Note 2: written before aLive's games in Challenger League
+ Show Spoiler [If you doubt THE DREAM] +
On October 20 2013 00:25 Zealously wrote:
stuchiu, there is some vision in me still
stuchiu, there is some vision in me still
Taeja and Naniwa advance
Match 1:
Soulkey (#1) vs. 
NaNiwa (#16) - Naniwa wins 3-2Match 2:
INnoVation (#2) vs. duckdeok (#15) - Innovation wins 3-1Match 3:
Jaedong (#3) vs. aLive (#14) - Jaedong wins 3-2Match 4:
Polt (#4) vs. Mvp (#13) - Mvp wins 3-1Match 5:
HerO (#5) vs. sOs (#12) - sOs wins 3-1Match 6:
Dear (#6) vs TaeJa (#11) - Dear wins 3-1Match 7:
Maru (#7) vs MC (#10) - Maru wins 3-1Match 8:
Bomber (#8) vs MMA (#9) - Bomber wins 3-2Brief explanations
Match 1: Just like when Naniwa played Innovation, this one seems like a long shot. However, with Naniwa's tendency to always fight the hardest and play the best against players he should have no business beating (see Code S, Leenock, Innovation, Life) and the abundance of SoulkeyvP available for study, Naniwa should be able to pull an upset here. He'll have to play the games of his life to do it, but that's what the guy is all about.
Match 2:
[10.14.04] Kwanghee Woo: this isn't going to work for duckdeok
[10.14.10] Kwanghee Woo: he keeps doing these weird attacks
[10.14.13] Kwanghee Woo: and Taeja is like
[10.14.18] Kwanghee Woo: haha
[10.14.10] Kwanghee Woo: he keeps doing these weird attacks
[10.14.13] Kwanghee Woo: and Taeja is like
[10.14.18] Kwanghee Woo: haha
Match 3: In the beginning, ZvP troubled the Tyrant greatly. So he descended into the pits of America, to find the path. To uncover the knowledge from aeons past, the knowledge he required to beat the hordes of Protoss besieging Zerg territory. And so he did, slaying hordes of Protoss players to reach a great final battle against a Terran, where a new weakness was discovered: ZvT.
Okay, so people seem to remember that Jaedong is now bad at ZvT. This isn't right. He's no god in the match-up, but he's taken out TheSTC, Heart, Taeja and Hack recently. He lost to MMA, sure, but I'm - perhaps wrongly so - not convinced in aLive's abilities to prepare for a single incredibly important match. When it comes to that, I'll give it to the multiple OSL champion over the guy I can barely remember.
Match 4: Some players win because they have the mechanics. Some people win because they have the mental edge. Some win with preparation. Some win with anti-meta builds.
Mvp, though, wins because he is Mvp. Slumps don't concern him, and neither does a great lack of recent results. I have no doubt that Polt is a better player all-round, but does that mean that he'll win against the guy who seems to only win when he shouldn't? No.
Match 5: A guy who can 2-0 elfi isn't going down to unorthodox play. It is true that sOs hasn't looked all that hot in PvP lately, but he's hardly looked bad, or even much worse than HerO. For me, this match is the hardest one to call. I give the edge to sOs because he has such a big toolbox, but HerO was relatively convincing against Dear this weekend so I won't count him out.
Match 6: One week ago, I would have given the edge to Taeja without hesitation, despite Dear's beating of Maru in GSL. However, after witnessing Dear's incredible PvT against Maru (again) at the Season Finals, I've been converted. Unless Taeja miraculously takes his TvP to the next level, Dear is my favorite to stomp Taeja. After what he showed us at the Season Finals, I can't see any Terran beating Dear through aggression alone - there has to be more to your play if you want to take Dear down.
Match 7: Much like Mvp, MC has a tendency to win when he shouldn't. But unlike Mvp, his supernatural abilities aren't powerful enough to beat anyone. Despite losing to Dear twice recently, Maru has showcased very impressive, high-speed TvP. Much like how MMA beat MC in the WCS Europe Grand Finals, I feel like this will be a convincing win for Maru.
Match 8: STARTALE STARTALE STARTALE (oh and Bomber has had a lot of time to practise in peace with some Terran buddies whereas MMA has been busy with all three match-ups and global travel. Yes I'm biased but I really do think Bomber is the favorite in terms of gameplay). If 2011 is back, then Bomber and MMA are both sick-good. Only this time, Bomber has (mostly) gotten past his choking tendencies. That means he wins.
That's what caught my attention to.
