Gone as quickly as it came, the Round of 16 of the 11th SOSPA Ranking Tournament is over. Sonic is wasting no time in starting the Round of 8, which kicks off tonight and features the new tournament favourite and long-time TL community member Sea facing off against SSL7 finalist Larva.

With less than 24 hours between the end of the Ro16 and the start of the Ro8, there's little time to produce our usual deep, analytical treatises and thought-provoking editorial content. For this update, we've taken it back to basics, a recap of the Ro16 and a preview of the Ro8. Producing recaps and previews in such a short amount of time is not something I'm well accustomed to doing and it would have been much more difficult if it were not for the good work of BLinD-RawR, Birdie and KristofferAG who made the Ro16 LR threads, and jjwhg who created the infinitely useful SOSPA player database.

See you next week when we'll be examining results from the Ro8 and previewing the semi-finals.

Those foolish enough to doubt Sea’s abilities following his brief hiatus from Brood War competition were treated to a stern reminder of the former MBC ace’s progamer pedigree, as he advanced from Group A 4-0. Elsewhere in the group, Sky’s PvT was even more erratic than usual, as he lost 1-2 to long-time rival Ample in the group-deciding series.



For the better part of a year, Sky has been the scourge of Terran players on Fish. Prior to the arrival of Killer, he was the only player able to consistently outplay HiyA in tournament games. The effortless manner in which he won virtually every PvT he played made it hard to imagine a time when a Terran would ever be able to win an Afreeca tournament. Sea’s second series in SOSPA competition was the first major test of his renewed Brood War career, and also just happened to be the one test that no Terran player in recent memory has been able to pass.

The wonky play that eventually lead to Sky’s elimination leaves a few remaining questions about the challenge he posed to Sea - but it was an impressive debut nonetheless, and one that has far reaching implications for the future of SOSPA competition.


After some last minute player shuffling, a new look Group B was quickly dealt with by Tyson and Mong as eleventh hour stand-in Snail and former Group D member Shinee proved unable to match the skill of their former A team opponents. Shinee’s inclusion in this group had the potential to shake it up a little, and Mong perhaps would have expect a little bit more of a challenge than he got in the in the final series of the group.

Elsewhere, Terror’s replacement Snail acquitted himself about as well as is possible while also failing to win a single game. His performance against two very strong TvZ players was not as awful as it seems on paper, and the former SPARKYZ B teamer showed enough to suggest he could be a factor in the early rounds of the SSL8 if he was to be invited.

Ultimately nothing more than business as usual for Tyson and Mong, who looked completely in control as they advanced to the Ro8 while Shinee will likely be left wishing he'd stayed in Group D.


Showing that his rise up the rungs of the Afreeca ladder didn't end with his appearance in the SSL7 final, Larva demolished Hero and HiyA to easily take first spot in what had promised to be the most closely fought group of the Ro16. Hero eventually clinched the second Ro8 berth, narrowly beating Shuttle in a closely fought rematch of the group’s opening series.



In a lot of ways, the conclusions from Group C mirror those from Group A. While this isn’t Larva’s debut and he’s not yet at a point where he could break Killer’s hegemony at the top of the Afreeca food chain, Larva’s unexpected dominance of this group is an interesting portent for future SOSPA competition. Meanwhile, HiyA’s collapse is perhaps even more severe than his former team-mate Sky’s. His loss to Larva in the second series is a worrying sign for HiyA, with his TvZ having always formed the basis for his best tournament performances in the past.

Sonic’s method for drawing Ro8 match-ups mean that, in the end, Larva would have been better served to finished second in this group. He faces off against our new favourite Sea, while runner up Hero is given what looks like a straightforward victory against Beast. One day someone will teach Sonic how to seed a draw...


Without looking particularly assured, Movie did manage to win what looked like a relatively easy group for him, while Beast profited from Perfectman’s absence and Force’s less than stellar ZvZ to take an unexpected place in the Ro8.

Dropping games to Beast and Force[Name] in the match-up which once carried him to a Starleague final doesn’t bode particularly well for Movie’s ability to make an impact on the SOSPA scene. The former CJ pro has at times, since his arrival on Afreeca, looked capable of staking a claim as the number one Protoss player, but following his heavy loss to Mong in the last SRT and his average performance here he’s got a lot of convincing left to do.



The only real positive thing to come from this group is a feel good moment for Beast, who has been a diligent competitor in Sonic’s leagues for some time but who has struggled to ever make it far beyond the first round. While he’s never likely to make it to a final, the continued efforts of Beast and players like him are hugely important to the health of the SOSPA competition and to see that hard work rewarded is truly gratifying.

Friday, Jan 04 12:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)

Beast vs. Hero

The first of three mirror match-ups in the Ro8 and probably the least interesting, Beast versus Hero looks likely to be very one sided in the favour of the former STX pro. Hero’s heavy loss to Larva in the Ro16 will be hard to take but is mitigated somewhat by the obvious preparation advantage Larva had, likely an overflow from his SSL final series against Killer.



Hero’s ZvZ winrate from his pro career is well short of 50% but he did beat a number of top Zerg players during his peak in 2009. Beast's ZvZ is solid but obviously lacking the refinement of a player who has spent years training in a professional team environment. With that said, Beast will have some momentum on his side, having beaten Force 2-0 in the Ro16. In the end though, the progamer pedigree of his opponent, along with the somewhat fortuitous nature of his advancement to the Ro8, make it hard to predict in Beast favour.

Hero 3 - 1 Beast

Sea vs. Larva

Larva must be cursing his luck. After playing so well in the Ro16, easily topping a very difficult group, he had every right to expect a bit of a rest in the Ro8 against the likes of Tyson or Beast. Unfortunately for Larva, he finds himself up against Sea, who is well on his way to establishing himself as the best Terran on Afreeca and current favourite for this tournament.

Sea’s TvZ has always been excellent, barring a brief dip towards the end of his career which can be explained by a loss of motivation. In reality, there’s only one Zerg player who stands a chance against Sea in a best of five, and unfortunately Killer isn’t participating in this tournament. Historically, Larva’s ZvT has been pretty shoddy, but after his performance against HiyA in the Ro16 he has at least some chance of disrupting Sea’s progress through to the Ro4.

Based on his recent form, Larva has a shot against almost anyone. Sea is the reason there's an "almost" in that sentence.

Sea 3 - 1 Larva

Saturday, Jan 05 12:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)

Movie vs. Tyson

After Sky’s failings in Group A, this is a match-up between arguably the two best Protoss players on Afreeca. Neither Movie nor Tyson was entirely convincing in the Ro16, especially considering they played all their games in their strongest match-up. They also have in common a certain amount of weakness in Protoss mirrors, with neither player having fared particularly well in PvP their time as progamers.



While PvP has long been Movie’s weakest match-up, his pro career winrate against Protoss is actually higher than Tyson’s, with his last televised win coming a little over six months ago against Flying. Tyson’s last PvP win as a progamer also came fairly recently, against Bisu in February 2012. While he has been no more impressive than his opponent in terms of win-rate so far in SRT, Tyson has appeared to be taking his time on Afreeca a little more seriously than Movie and this extra focus could be telling.

Likely to be one of the closer match-ups of the Ro8, this series will mark out the victor as the new Protoss king of SOSPA. Movie’s greater experience and overall quality as a player give him the edge in terms of predictions, but a Tyson win couldn’t be classed as an upset.

Movie 3 - 2 Tyson

Mong vs. Ample

In what is hopefully the last mirror match of the tournament, we have two of Afreeca’s top Terrans and two competitors who know each other well. Mong and Ample have a great deal in common, with their time as KeSPA progamers and Afreeca competitors sharing similar trajectories. Both spent most of their pro careers on the B team, before eventually retiring to take the Fish ladder by storm. Both Mong and Ample have made significant impacts on past Sonic-run tournaments, but with neither having taken a truly significant victory so far.

Ample arguably has the advantage when it comes to TvT, being the player more known for his strength in the match-up, particularly following his run to the SSL6 semi-finals. Mong, however, is not far behind and the two have traded wins during their recent history in SOSPA tournaments with their head to head record currently standing at 2-1 in favour of Ample.



It’s very hard to split these two, especially after Mong’s dominating win over ladder beast Shinee in the Ro16. Ample’s previous strength in the match-up and his lead in the head to head record gives him the advantage for the sake of a prediction, but this should be another very closely fought series.

Ample 3 - 2 Mong