[MSL] Ro8 Previews, ABCMart MSL

Jaedong <Monte Cristo> (P)

Jaedong <Dante's Peak SE> (P)

Jaedong <Circuit Breaker> (P)

Jaedong <La Mancha> (P)

Grape

Set 1 on May 12, 1800 KST
Rest on May 19, 1800 KST

Jaedong ZvP
Overall: 146-66 (68.87%)
Last 10: 5-5 (L W L W L W W W L L)

Grape PvZ
Overall: 6-2 (75.00%)
Last 10: 6-2 (W W L W L W W W)

Head-to-head: Jaedong 0-0 Grape

First up is the Tyrant, current #1 KeSPA and Power Rank, against the dark horse, up-and-coming Stork protégé Grape. At a glance, Grape looks like a pushover--some noob Toss from Samsung (whose P line is hardly known for their PvZ... though actually Brave is not too bad at PvZ!) But Grape's vZ is actually no joke: a 6-2 record in Proleague and quite a few wins over Zergs in offline prelims. ...OK, I guess that's a joke when we're talking about Jaedong. Still, Jaedong's last few ZvPs have been a tiiiiiny bit worrying: his last win with a management ZvP was against Snow in an admittedly awesome game. It's not to say that early aggression doesn't win games--it's pretty popular in ZvP for a reason!--and losing to Bisu's PvZ is not exactly embarrassing, but the loss to Horang2 was a bit questionable.

Actually, who am I kidding? As much as I like Grape, he doesn't have a ghost of a chance at taking the series. The last Protoss in this MSL has some bleak prospects. I hope he sneaks a win, though, or Horang2 might be having a few words with him.

Prediction: Jaedong 3-1 Grape

Match B:
(Z)

Calm <Circuit Breaker> (Z)

Calm <La Mancha> (Z)

Calm <Monte Cristo> (Z)

Calm <Dante's Peak SE> (Z)

Calm <Circuit Breaker> (Z)

ZerO

Set 1 on May 12, 1800 KST
Rest on May 21, 1700 KST

Calm ZvZ
Overall: 76-61 (55.47%)
Last 10: 5-5 (W L L W W L L W L W)

ZerO ZvZ
Overall: 79-79 (50.00%)
Last 10: 5-5 (L L W L W L W L W W)
Head-to-head: Calm 4-3 ZerO

These two both won ZvZs to get here, and get to play another one. Joy. I'm sure we're all ready for another Bo5 of exhilarating muta/ling micro and mind games, only to be followed by the remainder of a TvT Bo5. Sarcasm (or not?) aside, these two are probably the most successful non-JD, non-EffOrt Zergs of the last two and a half years. Of course, "successful" doesn't necessarily mean "consistent"--Calm/Clam duality and ZerO's impressive "beat Bisu, lose to Jaehoon" jump to mind. But guess what? Calm has now qualified for the quarterfinals of 5 of the last 6 MSLs (including a championship) and the semifinals of 2 of the last 4 OSLs, while ZerO will have appeared in 4 of the last 7 MSL quarterfinals and 3 of the last 5 OSL semifinals. That's success if I ever saw it. ZerO's also overcome his "Ro8 curse" with his entrance into his second Ro4 in the last MSL.

Achievements aside, this is ZvZ. Calm has definitely shown better game sense and strategies in his past ZvZs, while ZerO is managing an exactly 50% win rate in the matchup. Though ZerO is cuter, I'd probably take Calm on this one: after all, he's won ZvZ series over EffOrt and ~~Calm~~Jaedong* (oops) to win his MSL.

Prediction: Calm 3-1 ZerO

Match C:
(T)

Mind <Circuit Breaker> (Z)

Mind <La Mancha> (Z)

Mind <Dante's Peak SE> (Z)

Mind <Monte Cristo> (Z)

Mind <Circuit Breaker> (Z)

Hydra

Set 1 on May 12, 1800 KST
Rest on May 19, 1800 KST

Mind TvZ
Overall: 48-39 (55.17%)
Last 10: 6-4 (L W W L L W W W W L)

Hydra ZvT
Overall: 16-14 (53.33%)
Last 10: 3-7 (L L L L W L W W L L)
Head-to-head: Mind 1-0 Hydra

Well folks, Mind just had his first taste of victory in the MSL proper since the Arena MSL. That happened in summer 2008, where he lost to Flash 0-2 in the Ro16. Suddenly Mind is looking scary again, going 10-3 since WeMade finished failing at Winners' League. Admittedly, most of his bolded W's have come from dominating Protoss players: boasting a 15-3 record vP since last Christmas with losses only to Stork (twice) and Kal, it seems he's regained some of the mojo he needed to beat the Revolutionist many years ago. Too bad Hydra's not a Protoss; still, Mind is 4-1 against Zerg since losing to Calm in the OSL, including a win over Hydra himself featuring some sloppy control by Hydra and a clutch defiler/nydus snipe by Mind.

Hydra, on the other hand, is still trying to quell doubts about his ZvT. Yes, he did beat Light twice last month, winning the first with a lings and the second in rather impressive fashion. But though he faced an extremely tough lineup of T's, his 4-6 record against Terran since February leaves something to be desired. For old times' sake (forgive me if I'm too newschool for you!), I'll take Mind here. Don't count Hydra out though; he's still gunning for the gold.

Prediction: Mind 3-2 Hydra

Match D:
(T)

Leta <Circuit Breaker> (T)

Leta <La Mancha> (T)

Leta <Dante's Peak SE> (T)

Leta <Monte Cristo> (T)