EPT
Firebathero v. Stork
Game 1:
Loki wasn’t thumbed down, so Firebathero must have a plan here. The 5-1 PvT stats doesn’t give our Terran player much hope for a victory here. Though this is the map least experienced of the four by either of these two players. I think that Stork will come out on top here from the past matches I’ve seen on this map. The long games in the past seem to have favored Protoss here, so look for Firebathero to attempt a quick victory. Meanwhile, look for Stork to stamp out any early shenanigans and ride to an early lead in the series.
Game 2:
One of these two players had to have thumbed down Monty Hall, as they both have in the past (and Stork twice). One of these two players will try something sneaky or clever, it always seems to happen. This map shows no real imbalance in this match-up, despite claims from people on both sides arguing that it does. I think this is the most likely game for Firebathero to win. It is the only map he has even played against Protoss in this map pool, against Free, and came out with the win there. Furthermore, Stork has to play against Iris twice on this map, and will likely want to save his best strategies here for tomorrow night.
Game 3:
Desperado is where I believe the other thumbs down must have been, as it happens to this map a lot. Firebathero was impressive here in his game against Savior. If the same player comes out again tonight, he might be hard to stop. On the other hand though, we have Stork, who dominates against all that is Terran. The statistics here aren’t too dissimilar from that of Loki in regard to PvT. This will be a close game, but I believe that Stork will come out on top here.
Game 4:
If the match makes it to Python, it should also end here. Sure, Firebathero’s games against Savior here were impressive, and the map seems to favor his play style. But again, there is Stork, with an incredible 7-0 record on the map, three of those wins against Terran players. But with the teammate factor, as well as this map also being played in his match against Iris, Stork just might end up giving this game away.
Game 5:
The match should return to Loki, but if it does, Stork should have little problem putting it away here. So far my predictions have pretty much sucked though (so look for FBH to end the match here instead).
These two teammates have never played against each other. And also with teammates in mind, anything can happen. Stork is favored, but an upset is never far out of reach between two players who should be very familiar with each others’ play styles. Both of these players are on hot streaks at the moment, with Stork looking to add to his seven straight victories and the only recent blemishes on Firebathero’s record being from his quarterfinal match against Savior. I’d like to see Firebathero win (and his dance honestly wasn’t that bad, the foreign community seems to have had a bit of an overreaction to it). If he does win, don’t expect a ridiculous ceremony this time, as defeating a teammate is not as much a cause to celebrate. But we likely won’t even get to see if he will, Stork should be the heavy favorite tonight.
Last 10 Games:
Firebathero: 8-2
Stork: 8-2
Firebathero (TvP)
Loki: 1-1 (0-0)
Monty Hall: 3-1 (1-0)
Desperado: 2-0 (0-0)
Python: 4-1 (0-0)
Stork (PvT)
Loki: 1-1 (1-0)
Monty Hall: 6-3 (3-0)
Desperado: 3-1 (2-0)
Python: 7-0 (3-0)
My Predictions:
Firebathero < Stork @ Loki
Firebathero > Stork @ Monty Hall
Firebathero < Stork @ Desperado
Firebathero < Stork @ Python
