We were taken a little by surprise when Sonic announced the 12th SOSPA Ranking Tournament, only a few hours after we'd put the finishing touches on the SRT11 Grand Final recap. With little more than 12 hours notice, putting together a preview for the Ro16 was unfortunately not possible, however after four days of rest and Starcraft, we're happy to bring you the first instalment of SRT12 news.

SRT11 threw some real curve-balls in the Ro16 and SRT12 again managed to produce a few surprises, check out the Ro16 recap to get the full picture. Moving on to the present, the Ro8 begins tonight with an historically low mirror match count of two out of four series, read the Ro8 preview to find out what we can expect from the quater-finals and for an insight into why I really shouldn't do predictions.

Just as in previous SRTs, the games are coming thick and fast, with the grand final set to take place in only a week's time. Four more days of high quality Starcraft before the next SRT champion is crowned and with the title holder and most in-form player already eliminated, you can't afford to miss a single game.

Beast Mode

The opening group of SRT12 felt very much like a logical progression from the last SRT, with each player’s performance falling in line with what we’d expect given their form in the previous tournament. Continuing the upwards trend he started on in SRT11, Beast took perhaps the most impressive scalp of his SOSPA career to date by defeating Movie 2-0 in his first series, before taking first place in the group by taking out Shinee 2-1 in the Winner’s Final.


Elsewhere, Shinee again failed to transfer his imperious form on the Fish ladder over to tournament play, with his struggles in TvZ especially disappointing. Snail’s results, while still leaving him last place in the group, showed some signs of progression from SRT11 as he managed to win one game in both of his series against high quality opposition. If his win percentage continues to improve at this rate, by the time SRT14 rolls he’ll be able to win the entire tournament undefeated.

Perhaps the only small surprise of the group came out of Movie’s lacklustre performance in ZvP. After taking Sea to a fifth game in the semi-final of SRT11, all signs pointed to Movie having shaken off the rust that saw him drop two maps against Zergs in the opening stages of that tournament. While Beast’s improving form should be taken into consideration, a 0-2 loss in what has always been his best match-up casts renewed doubt over Movie’s ability to establish himself as one of the SOSPA elite.

Seaya

Sea, having just returned from a brief holiday following his victory in SRT11, fell at the first hurdle of his title defense with his weakness in TvP again apparent in a 1-2 loss against Shuttle. Meanwhile, Hero bounced back from his close loss to Beast in the last SRT with an incredible upset victory over Sea in his opening series, then closing out the group by beating Shuttle 2-1.

Although he can count himself somewhat unfortunate to be up against versus Terran specialists Shuttle and Sea in his first two series of the tournament, Ample looked out of sorts as he lost 0-2 and 1-2 to finish last in the group. With his last series prior to this group having been a 0-3 beat down against Mong in the SRT11 Ro8, Ample may need a little more time to recover his confidence.


While he’s undoubtedly one of the better Protoss players on Afreeca right now, Shuttle’s progress through this group has to at least in part be attributed to the fact that two of his three opponents were Terran. Unfortunately for Shuttle, his PvZ looks as bad as his PvT does good, with his latest 0-2 loss against Hero leaving his SOSPA PvZ at 1-9 (that’s a 10% win rate for you math fans). Making it past the Ro16 represents progress for the former STX captain, however the real breakthrough moment will come when Shuttle proves he can win a series in a match-up that isn't PvT.

Amateur Hour

Having had a something of a fortunate route to the final of SRT11, Mong must have again been jumping for joy when he saw his group draw for the SRT12 Ro16. While in the end Mong’s progress through to the Ro8 wasn’t entirely without incident, in reality none of the other players in this group should have ever really posed a threat to the former CJ progamer.

To his credit, KT.MGW)Terran, on what was his debut SOSPA Tournament appearace, put up a good fight and after his first series against Perry looked like the favourite to advance alongside Mong. Perry, however, had other ideas and rallied following his tough series against ZeLot, reversing the score of his opening series by beating Terran 2-0 to take the second spot and ensure that there will again be no amateur players in the Ro8.


ZeLoT’s relentlessly abusive play style has the potential to both frustrate and entertain in equal measure and it was in full force again in this group. While he ended up in last place, ZeLoT’s games, particularly the two that he won, were simultaneously some of the strangest and most entertaining games of the Ro16. Although he’s never likely to make it very far past the first round of any SOSPA tournament, ZeLoT’s ability to create variety in these early stages is incredibly valuable. Thanks for being yourself, ZeLoT, see you next time.

Back from the Dead

Group D was populated by players looking to bounce back, with HiyA, Sky and Cola all having had a rough time of it in terms of recent tournament results, HiyA and Sky dropping out of SRT11 in the Ro16 and Cola going 0-2 in his GwangRae Starleague group. Larva also was likely looking for an improvement on the last SRT, where his recent good run was ended abruptly by a 0-3 loss to Sea in the Ro8.

In the end, the two advancing players, Sky and Hiya, make this group resemble something from Sonic tournaments of early 2012. Sky’s showman-like wins over Cola and Hiya to advance first in the group would suggest, as has his form on the ladder, that his exit in the last SRT at the hands of Ample was an aberration rather than a trend. Meanwhile, Hiya also went about righting the wrongs of SRT11 by beating Larva 2-0 in the opening series and reversing the score from their last meeting, then clinching his place in the Ro8 with another TvZ win over Cola.


Without a Protoss to beat and with a slightly more in-form Hiya to contend with, Larva’s last place finish casts some doubt over the improvement in ZvT in ZvZ that was beginning to appear in his SRT11 group play. While TvZ against Hiya when he’s actually trying is never going to be easy for any Zerg, Larva would have expected to at least beat a very inactive Cola in their Loser’s Match series. Over the second half of 2012, Larva’s play showed huge improvements, however we were reminded in this group that there’s plenty of improving left to do for the former SKT Zerg.

Friday, Jan 25 12:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)

Hiya vs. Mong

Having bounced back from a bad in the SRT11, Hiya now finds himself up against one of its finalists and a player who has had a great deal of success in TvT lately. These two know each other well, having been the two best Terrans on Fish for a long time before the arrival of Sea. They’ve played against one another dozens of times on ladder throughout the last 12 months and met in both the SSL6 and SSL7, with Hiya victorious on both occasions.


When at his best, Hiya has shown in their previous series that he is the better TvT player - however Hiya’s recent form is nothing like his best. Mong, meanwhile, has been able to maintain one of the most consistent runs of form of any player over the last year and half of Afreeca competition. Even though he showed some signs of life in the Ro16 by beating Larva and Cola, Hiya’s dip in form coincides with a great run of TvT results for Mong recently - even competing well with Sea in their SRT final series.

These players have always been quite close so form and a bit of luck was always likely to be the deciding factor. Even though he’s far from his peak, Hiya should still challenge Mong and this ought to be one of the closer series of the Ro8.

Mong 3 - 2 Hiya

Beast vs. Sky

Beast continued to impress in his Ro16 group, and his dominating 2-0 win versus Movie ought to be a concern for Sky who hasn’t won a PvZ series in a SOSPA tournament for some time. These two actually have something of a history of playing each other in Sonic’s Ranking Tournaments, trading series in multiple SRTs in early 2012 with their most recent being a 4-0 win for Sky in the final of SRT8.

With his newfound form being a testament to the hard work he’s put in on Fish and Vs over the last few months, there’s a sense that Beast deserves to make it far in a tournament again - something that could serve as encouragement to those who have been slacking slightly in 2013. Beast's diligence is in stark contrast to Sky, whose lackadaisical style is apparent even in the most important of games.

Beast’s ZvP is generally quite orthodox and his best chance of success should lie in sitting back and waiting for Sky to make a mistake when attempting something over-elaborate. Sky’s unpredictability is often a valuable asset in these BoX series but serves to make predicting his games rather difficult. For the moment, trusting in Beast’s recent stability seems to be the safest bet. Beast is due a great deal of credit for his improvement and he definitely possesses the skill needed to take a win, however this series is likely to come down to how Sky's feeling when he gets out of bed on Friday morning.

Sky 3 - 1 Beast

Saturday, Jan 26 12:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)

Hero vs. Perry

Hero built on his SRT11 Ro16 performance by finishing first in his group this time around, with his fourth consecutive series win over Shuttle taking him comfortably through to the Ro8. Perry’s Ro16 was a little more up and down, and while he did eventually managed to deflect the worst of what ZeLoT brought in the Loser’s Match, his PvZ wasn’t particularly impressive.


In his last Ro8 appearance, Hero fell victim to the rising fortunes of Beast who came back from a 1-2 deficit to take the series. With Beast having been regarded as something of an easy opponent prior to their meeting, Hero should probably be at least a little wary of his latest underdog opponent, Perry. The former OZ Protoss is not exactly a familiar face in SOSPA competition, making it difficult to know where his true level lies. Perry showed little signs of rust in the Ro16 but both of his series wins came against amateur players and Hero represents quite a large step up in quality.

In the end, Hero’s best matchup has always been his ZvP and while, as an ex-pro, Perry deserves some respect, this should be an easy win for Hero.

Hero 3 - 0 Perry

Movie vs. Shuttle

Shuttle is yet to take a win outside of PvT in SOSPA competition, while Movie, traditionally best in PvZ, also had to rely on his versus Terran skill to make it through the Ro16. In his professional career, Shuttle was an excellent PvP player and holds the third highest PvP peak ELO of all time, ahead of the the likes of Stork and Horang2.

Movie’s PvP was slightly less impressive during his progaming career but he looked well in control when dispatching Tyson in SRT11. Neither player’s Fish ladder record is anything to shout about, making it especially difficult to gauge how they match up in terms of current skill. One thing that Shuttle does have on his side is his much higher level of activity, with Movie having rarely shown his face on Afreeca when not participating in SOSPA leagues in the last month.

While he’s yet to actually play a series against Protoss in a SOSPA tournament, Shuttle’s professional record suggests that he could quickly become the best PvP player on Afreeca. Even when he almost beat Sea, Movie’s play has been sloppy - against a ex-pro with a 60% PvP winrate, any carelessness will be swiftly punished.

Shuttle 3 - 1 Movie