Omne trium perfectum, everything that comes in threes is perfect. This is the third consecutive final between Brood War’s telecom giants. KT has completed their ascent to the final, having dismissed KHAN with the kind of efficiency that Flash’s play has come to embody in recent years. Meanwhile SKT has lain in wait, preparing diligently for their third shot at taking down their greatest rivals. What defines a perfect final is different for everyone. For KT, the meaning is clear: a victory would make it the first team since the days of Hexatron and PoS to win three finals in a row, matching or perhaps surpassing the Triple Crown SKT team of 2005. SKT will be desperate to break this cycle and ensure that its place in history as Brood War progaming’s greatest team cannot be questioned.

One thing often spoken about in player interviews this season was the lack of an individual league which was used in the past by underperforming players as a springboard for Proleague success. Although the closure of MBC Game and sponsorship difficulties for OGN have delayed the commencement of a new individual league, last weekend saw the preliminaries for Starleague 2012 take place and the results have interesting connotations for the upcoming final. The standout result of preliminaries was undoubtedly Bisu’s second consecutive failure to qualify, this time coming as a result of a RorO hydra bust in the deciding game of the Group A final. However in the past Bisu’s Starleague failures have tended to occur in isolation from his performances in other leagues. In fact, following his failure to qualify for the Jin Air OSL Bisu won five of his remaining six games in the 10-11 Proleague season, his only loss against RorO in a long PvZ on Circuit Breaker.



Other disappointments include KT’s HoeJJa, Stats and Crazy-Hydra and SKT’s Best, however none of them are individual league mainstays and as such are unlikely to be too disheartened by their failure to qualify. Good news comes in the form of two Zerg players, Action and Alone. Action continued his resurgence in ZvP with a win over Best in the Group C final, an encouraging result for the KT Zerg after a regular season in which he failed to win a single game against Protoss. Alone’s qualification run included a victory over CJ ace Leta, an upset victory which may give him an edge over the likes of Hyuk and s2 for selection in the final. Alone’s win over Leta is made all the more confounding by the fact that Alone has almost always been fielded in Zerg/Protoss maps in Proleague, playing only one broadcasted game against Terran in his entire career.

SKT’s selection of Neo Chain Reaction as the repeat map is an interesting divergence from KT’s previous playoff opponents. As mentioned by VGhost in his recent map balance analysis it is still very much an anti-Flash pick but since the mid season revisions PvZ balance has swung heavily in the favour of Zerg. SKT seems most likely to field a Protoss in a potential ace match scenario but the Zerg favor of the map makes this pick feel almost like a dare by SKT for KT to send HoeJJa or Action in the deciding game. SKT’s choice is also possibly informed by the amount of preparation done by KT for Outlier ace games in previous playoff rounds. KT only played one ace match on the map in their series versus CJ and KHAN, so it’s likely that any strategies devised for it can be carried over to the final.

Previous matches between the two telecom giants have been relatively close run affairs this season. The first two rounds saw SKT take 3-1 victories. Most notable from these series was the utter dominance of SKT’s Protoss line with Bisu, Best and By.Sun a collective 5-0 against KT heading into the final regular season game. Their final meeting tells a slightly different story; Wooki’s win over Bisu in game five completed a 3-2 victory for KT and a 0-3 rout of the SKT Protoss line. The failure of Action and HoeJJa was what ultimately undid KT in their early round losses to SKT, an inability to win ZvP being one of KT’s overall weak points in the 11-12 regular season. In his role as playoff win leader HoeJJa is yet to be tested against Protoss, but in what is historically his strongest matchup he is likely to be a new factor for SKT to consider when deploying their all important Protoss players.







Player selection on Chain Reaction provides an interesting dilemma for SKT. Prior to the mid season map changes Chain Reaction was the hunting ground of SKT’s two ace Protoss, Best and Bisu. In fact, this was the map that contributed the most to Best’s record as this season’s PvZ win leader. However, neither Bisu nor Best have played on the latest revision of this map, SKT instead using n.Die_soO and By.Sun, both of whom are yet to lose a game on the ‘Neo’ version. KT’s player selections on Chain Reaction have been slightly more diverse, however only Crazy-Hydra has actually succeeded in winning a game on it in recent months and as such he seems the favorite to be sent in the opening game of the final.

The issue then is whether or not SKT will take a chance by sending one of their two main Protoss players up against a KT Zerg who is 3-0 in ZvP. n.Die_soO’s value as a ZvP sniper to be used against the likes of Stats or Wooki means that SKT are unlikely to want to waste him on a ZvZ and the likelihood of him hitting a Protoss on this map are slim to none based on the performances by KT’s Protoss on this map in the past. SKT are unlikely to want to take any undue risk so early in the series. By.Sun appears to represent a safe choice; he’s solid in PvZ but not so important to SKT that a loss would seriously damage their chances of winning.







Although in their past playoff series KT has chosen Ground Zero as their repeat map to most favor Flash in an ace match, he has been played relatively infrequently on it. KT are likely to want to send Flash early in the series to avoid having to play an ace match on Chain Reaction, and that also may increase the chances of him being sent here. Following his wins versus CJ and KHAN, Ground Zero is now Action’s strongest map this season and the chances of facing either Fantasy or Best mean that he represents a decent choice for KT on this map.

SKT’s choice will largely be down to whether or not they expect Flash and whether they actually plan on beating him. SKT has alternated mostly between Fantasy and Best on Ground Zero this season, depending on the strengths of the team they are facing. Although it is by no means as weak as it once was, Fantasy’s TvZ is still not his greatest strength and Coach Park may be wary when up against the playoff might of the KT Zergs. Best seems like a safer choice in this situation. His PvZ record and his talent for macro PvT mean he is the most prepared of the SKT lineup for any player that KT is likely to send on Ground Zero, even the Ultimate Weapon.







Most of KT’s success on Jade this season has come from their two strongest players, with Flash and Stats both having played four games on it so far this season. KT has also experimented with using Action in a sniping role on this map, most recently in a win over Snow in the quarter finals. Jade's position as a predominately Terran and Protoss map has made it an ideal map for Stats this season, but there is still potential for a Zerg snipe on this map if SKT is so inclined. While Stats has developed into one of the best PvT players in Proleague, a potential match-up with Fantasy could also pose a problem for Coach Lee when deciding whether or not to use his ace Protoss. Flash’s late season losses against Protoss would seem to imply that this is the least likely Terran-viable map for him to be selected on, however he is yet to lose a game on Jade this season and looked assured in defeating Jangbi on this map in the semi final.

SKT is spoiled for choice when it comes to Jade, with FBB a combined 10-2 on it in the regular season. Fantasy’s status as the best TvP player not named Flash means this map appears to be an ideal spot for him but he has not been fielded on it since early in the second round. The likelihood of KT sending one of its main two players on Jade gives SKT a good opportunity to deploy the hydra busting skills of n.Die_soO.







The struggles of its Protoss line on Sniper Ridge was a defining feature of SKT’s regular season, with only By.Sun managing a single win on the map. The records of other Protoss players would suggest that Sniper Ridge is still a viable map for PvT, but Coach Park is unlikely to wish to use the finals as a venue for his Protoss to break their hoodoo. Fantasy, on the other hand, was undefeated in the four opportunities he was given, culminating in a thrilling win over Jaehoon in round three. There is also the possibility of SKT fielding a member of its Zerg lineup on the map, on the off chance of catching a KT Protoss. n.Die_soO and Hyuk are both well qualified for ZvP sniping duties and also relatively capable in the case of a ZvZ.

For KT, Sniper Ridge represents something of a conundrum. The fact that SKT is unlikely to send a Protoss, coupled with the marauding presence of SKT win leader Fantasy means that KT will probably want to send one of its stronger players if they plan on winning this map. HoeJJa’s playoff-exclusive strength in all matchups makes him a well rounded candidate for selection and his recent win against Leta will give him confidence in a potential match up with Fantasy.







Outlier is a map which KT should have figured out by now, having played it in every single one of its post season matches. Last time out against KHAN, KT fielded Protoss in all three instances, having used HoeJJa in every Outlier game against CJ. KT has largely relied on Stats for versus Protoss wins on Outlier this season, something which will be a concern for Coach Lee against a Protoss heavy team like SKT. HoeJJa’s ZvZ dominance on this map against CJ is something which doesn’t seem likely to repeat itself in the final, although SKT have some wildcards to play.

Before the map revisions Outlier was very much Bisu’s map, although his record on it is not particularly impressive. Since Neo Outlier debuted in February, SKT has actually only played three games on it, using a Zerg in all three. The volatility of ZvZ means that Coach Park may choose to send one of his Zergs, even though HoeJJa’s ZvZ form is imperious. Although only Bisu has played regularly on it, Outlier is still a decent Protoss map and any three of the SKT Protoss are probably viable picks against any possible KT opposition on this map.







Electric Circuit’s status as one of the more balanced maps this season means that it is likely to feature a match between the two strongest players that remain on either lineup, regardless of match-up. As with almost every other map in the pool, Flash has dominated it in terms of wins for KT this season while SKT has fielded one of FBB in all but three occasions.

In such a test of depth there’s no clear favorite; KT’s lower ranked players have played more games than SKT’s mostly due to the fact that KT has less 3-0 or 3-1 wins this season and has had to play multiple best of seven series in the playoffs. The worry for SKT will be that the likes of Hyuk and s2 have gone so long without a televised game that rustiness may affect their performance if they were to play in an important game late in the series. On the other hand, rookie Alone may be just the spark SKT need in their lineup, fueled by the confidence of qualifying for his first ever ODT.







Although Fantasy was SKT’s unchallenged ace player this season, his TvT losses to Leta and Last appear to have undone Coach Park's confidence in him for a straight up ace match against Flash. SKT's ace match pick was clear when the map list was first announced, and although Bisu has not come close to matching his form from 10-11 his PvP this season is on par with that of Stats. The Revolutionist also possesses the advantage of longer preparation and greater experience in high pressure games.

The map statistics for Chain Reaction are damning, ten games in total involving a Terran, four non-mirror wins. These are normally the kind of numbers that one would expect Flash to confound but in such an important game ignoring the fundamental game mechanics that define the racial balance of a map seems like a huge leap of faith, even for the undisputed best player in the world. Ultimately the player selection for this deciding game is down to KT’s ability to devise a winning strategy; if there is a way for Terran to win versus Protoss on this map, we can expect Flash to find it.

In the case that such a feat isn’t possible, Stats’ ace match victory over this season’s PvP win leader Stork means he is well qualified to match up with either of the SKT Protoss in a deciding game. Prior to this season’s playoffs, if anyone suggested that HoeJJa might be a viable candidate for a Proleague Finals ace match they would have been laughed off the face of the internet. Indeed, there are certain people who would still scoff at the idea of the former paewang playing in the deciding game of a final while Flash watches on from the bench. This is the temptation, or perhaps the fantasy, that SKT have created with their map pick.



An alternate translation of “Omne trium perfectum” is “all sets of three are complete”. This final will complete a set which has encompassed the two oldest and greatest rivals in the history of Broodwar. A set of three best of seven games in which the ego of every coach, every player and every fan was on the line. This third final could also mark the completion of a modern Triple Crown, for a new generation of progamers lead not by an Emperor but by God himself.