This is it. We're finally here. After announcing the TeamLiquid Legacy Starleague at the start of the New Year, we've seen a passionate community exceed our expectations. From the qualifiers through the main tournament, Season One has shown us that there is considerable depth to the foreign Brood War scene. Fan favourites emerged, hilarious moments were had, and upsets were plenty.
With such an eventful season behind us, we're ready to top it off as Michael and Sziky will battle it out for the inaugural championship. Though it may seem anticlimactic that a long and storied tournament culminate in a notoriously quick and frenetic matchup, it's an accurate representation of the current scene. The Swarm looms large... and it beckons for new challengers to rise next season.
But the dust has not settled yet on Season One. After the war of broods, we've got a special treat for you. Ex-Brood War pro, and SC2 retiree, Liquid`Sea will take on the first TLS Champion in a Finals Day Showmatch!
So get ready for another fantastic weekend of Brood War, and join Sayle and Elegant on Saturday, Mar 30 8:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
Finals Day Events
3rd/4th Place Match
skzlime vs eOnZerG
Grand Finals Match
Michael vs Sziky
Liquid`Sea Showmatch
TLS Champion vs Liquid`Sea
This prize breakdown is for Season One only. Remember, the Championship league will have lots more at stake!
Semifinals Recap
By: itsjustatank, Stratos & Sayle
skzlime vs. Michael
Game 1
On Neo Jade, skzlime spawned at the top left and Michael spawned at the bottom right. skzlime opted for a proxy two barracks play, with one of the barracks built in the middle of the map and the other built at his natural. In executing the attack, skzlime built a bunker at Michael's natural. In response, Michael pulled a number of his drones to defend. With these drones, and good micro, Michael managed to block the path of skzlime's marines and defeat the bunker rush attempt.
With the attack thwarted, Michael was left with the commanding position in the game and skzlime typed out of the game.
Game 2
On Neo Electric Circuit, skzlime spawned at the bottom right and Michael spawned at the bottom left. Michael opened with a twelve-hatch expansion build against skzlime, who went for a fourteen command center plus academy build. Through his early scouting, however, Michael seems to have interpreted skzlime's build as incorporating early vulture harassment, and tailors his overall build in response to this perceived threat.
Instead of vultures, skzlime moved out with a medic marine force. Michael takes this opportunity and performs a zergling run-by which completely caught skzlime's army out of position. The run-by does a decent amount of damage before the Zerg units are finally mopped up by the Terran player, but by then Michael had already transitioned to mutalisk tech. With impressive mutalisk micro, Michael did a substantial amount of economic damage with worker kills at skzlime's mineral-only expansion. Eventually, Michael reached the requisite critical mass of mutalisks and sent them in an attack. Overwhelmed, skzlime conceded defeat.
Game 3
On Neo Ground Zero, skzlime spawned at the top right and Michael spawned at the bottom left. skzlime opened with a conventional one barracks expansion build versus Michael's two-hatch muta play.
The game was relatively passive until the mutalisks were out on the map. Once again, Michael's mutalisk micro skills proved decisive. Michael skillfully and systematically took out the Terran forces on the map, and skzlime was out of the TeamLiquid Legacy Starleague.
eOnzErG vs. Sziky
Game 1
On Neo Jade, Sziky spawned at the bottom left and eOnzErG spawned at the top right. Sziky opened with a twelve hatch expansion build versus eOnzErG's twelve pool. eOnzErG forced an engagement just outside of Sziky's natural, but, because of poor positioning on eOnzErG's part, Sziky ended up gaining the upper hand. With the clear advantage in the game, Sziky counterattacked and forced eOnzErG to type out of the game.
Game 2
On Neo Electric Circuit, Sziky spawned at the bottom left and eOnzErG spawned at the top right. Both players opened with the same nine pool build. Despite the identical timings, however, eOnzErG fell marginally behind in comparison to Sziky. once again eOnzErG forced an engagement with Sziky and, once again, it fell prey to poor positioning. After the failed attack, and Sziky's subsequent counterattack, eOnzErG was terminally behind in the game and was forced to concede defeat.
Game 3
On Neo Ground Zero, Sziky spawned at the top right and eOnzErG spawned at the bottom right. A bit more variation happened in this game in comparison to the last, with Sziky opening with a twelve pool versus eOnzErG's nine pool play.
This time around, eOnzErG's attack did not fall prey to poor positioning, and, after taking out Sziky's forces, he went for a run at his opponent's main base. With some impressive zergling micro, Sziky appeared to stabilize and largely hold off eOnzErG's ground attack. By that time, however, eOnzErG had largely switched to mutalisks. Because he severely lacked units and buildings that could shoot up and defend against the mutalisks, Sziky typed out of the game.
Game 4
On New Sniper Ridge, eOnzErG spawned at the top left and Sziky spawned at the bottom right. Sziky opened with a twelve pool expansion build versus eOnzErG's overpool.
A hero Sziky zergling was allowed to roam rampant across the mauve ripples of eOnzErG creep and kill three drones at his main while most of his attention was focused on the two primary zergling groups that were jockeying for position outside of Sziky's natural. The economic advantage, and the shock of having to deal with a commando zergling, let Sziky gain the zergling advantage and the victory in this match.
Finals Preview
By: Epoxide
Third Place Match
The third place match will decide who takes home $50 and who goes out empty-handed. skzlime plays yet another TvZ, this time against eOnzErG. The rumors prior to TLS round of 16 is quite apparent to me now. In a TvZ against a semi-active/recently returned Michael skzlime should have not necessarily won but he should have at least taken a game or made it look a lot closer than it was. In contrast eOnzErG has been crushing lately. The only signs of weakness he has shown was in the round of 16. Those signs were crushed in the quarterfinals and unfortunately for him Sziky was his opponent in the semifinals. As we all now know; Sziky is unbeatable in a best of five or higher. eOnzErG is riding high at the moment and shouldn't have too much trouble with skzlime. This will most likely be somewhat one-sided but skzlime always has a chance against a Zerg opponent. I do hope the Zerg killing machine will regain his shape soon. I'm looking forward to see skzlime in the next tournament.
Not many were looking forward to a ZvZ final but this is by far the best we could get. Michael has shown incredible muta micro as of late, micro that is definitely on par with Sziky's. He has also shown great game awareness, most memorable from the offensive sunkens against Bakuryu. If someone has the mechanics, micro, macro, and the ability take your opponent off guard it would be Michael. Sziky on the other hand is a god, a foreign god. Sziky just doesn't lose series. Ever. I had questioned Sziky's ZvZ earlier in the tournament; losing to SouthPark and barely not getting knocked out by TechnicS. Sziky looked mortal. In the semifinals Sziky was in control from start to finish. Even though eOnzErG won one game it was not close. Apparently eOnzErG had played 130 games against Bakuryu to prepare for the match against Sziky, that just strengthens how good Sziky actually is. I would be foolish to say that someone could actually beat Sziky in a best of seven. Expect good games and Michael should bring some amazing cheeses. Sziky won't win every single game. Hopefully.
Talk about divided opinions. With a fairly even spread of votes, including 3-0 predictions in both directions, it seems like the TLS staff would have you believe that this is going to be a close match. Judging from Skzlime's performance in the semifinals, reality may not be so kind. Still, it seems that Skzlime has no shortage of supporters "voting with their heart" and Neo may yet bless them with a miracle.
From Wikipedia: "An outlying observation, or outlier, is one that appears to deviate markedly from other members of the sample in which it occurs." In other words, ArvickHero and Kiante are deviants so everyone should stay away from them. The rest of the TLS staff, though, seem like pretty reasonable dudes. The majority favour Sziky, which is no surprise given his status as #1 foreigner. What's remarkable is just how favoured he is given that Michael is by many accounts the #2 foreigner in the scene. Maybe it's time for the CHEESEKING to usurp the throne?
That's all for now! Join us on Saturday, Mar 30 8:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00) for the final cast of Season One! And as always a big thanks to our sponsors:
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I wouldn't know about the players, but I think this is a silly idea. Play a tournament to be the best BW player outside of Korea, and as a prize you'll get 3-0'd by mr Yum. TT
the only mistake i did see was Second place Match instead of Third Place Match xD, everything else is amazing, i hope the winner gives a good fight against Sea :D And i'm cheering for Michael, he has chances to win, let's see how Sziky does against Michael hehe
On March 29 2013 06:42 imEnex wrote: Why Liquid`Sea? He left Liquid.
He didn't leave Liquid. He left progaming.
he isn't representing TL as a player anymore right?He doesn't get any salary, has no contract and plays on fish with the "jat." tag. So by al means i think imEnex is rightfully asking
I would probably imagine him playing as Liquid`Sea for sentimental reasons, as he shares a good bit of history with Tl.
Showmatch will also be played sometime tomorrow and casted from replays. Even though we'd love nothing more than to do it live, it's impossible due to the time difference since it's like 6am for Sea when the TLS starts.
On March 29 2013 08:00 tryummm wrote: What if Sea isn't skilled enough to compete with whoever wins the TLS?
To be honest I think its the complete other way around. I don't think whoever wins TLS has a chance against Sea. Its not like hes been inactive since he retired from bw. Hes been streaming on Afreeca. I predict 2 short 10 minute games for Sea.
On March 29 2013 08:00 tryummm wrote: What if Sea isn't skilled enough to compete with whoever wins the TLS?
To be honest I think its the complete other way around. I don't think whoever wins TLS has a chance against Sea. Its not like hes been inactive since he retired from bw. Hes been streaming on Afreeca. I predict 2 short 10 minute games for Sea.
Sea will definitely be the higher caliber player, but Sziky has taken games off Koreans before, so if Sziky wins finals I wouldn't be surprised if it goes to Game 3
On March 29 2013 08:00 tryummm wrote: What if Sea isn't skilled enough to compete with whoever wins the TLS?
To be honest I think its the complete other way around. I don't think whoever wins TLS has a chance against Sea. Its not like hes been inactive since he retired from bw. Hes been streaming on Afreeca. I predict 2 short 10 minute games for Sea.
Sea will definitely be the higher caliber player, but Sziky has taken games off Koreans before, so if Sziky wins finals I wouldn't be surprised if it goes to Game 3
Then it depends on the caliber of the Koreans he has taken off games before and even more importantly than that I think is the mus. I think the mus foreigner have always had the greatest chance of winning were pvt and zvp. Cause I think they're the least demanding mechanically. I think tvz/zvt are the hardest because they're the most mechanically demanding mus and its where the biggest divide between Koreans and foreigners were. Even if its top amateurs, semipros, B team pros that Sziky has won against I think Sea is just on a total different level especially in tvz. Like Sea when he retired was a starleague and proleague regular. He also was consistently top 5 tvz in Korea/the world for years.
But even so I'm still excited to see the showmatch.
On March 29 2013 07:13 traceurling wrote: Sea vs foreigner!! Just out of curiosity, who do you guys think would have won if eonzerg vs Michael had happened?
Michael, but Sziky would still win anyway.
On March 29 2013 06:41 nepeta wrote: I wouldn't know about the players, but I think this is a silly idea. Play a tournament to be the best BW player outside of Korea, and as a prize you'll get 3-0'd by mr Yum. TT
It's possible for Sziky to somehow win but imo I think it'd be more interesting for Michael to play, as the games would be very creative. (Although I don't think that Michael will beat sziky in zvz over bo7)
On March 29 2013 07:58 a176 wrote: Guys I hope we can get a good quality show match, rather than two players joking around ...
i do hope Sea jokes around... Sea is currently 2000 fish, even Sziky can't touch him unless he trolls around, and he is still #1 foreigner by far, whatever anyone says ~.~
On March 29 2013 06:42 imEnex wrote: Why Liquid`Sea? He left Liquid.
He didn't leave Liquid. He left progaming.
he isn't representing TL as a player anymore right?He doesn't get any salary, has no contract and plays on fish with the "jat." tag. So by al means i think imEnex is rightfully asking
I would probably imagine him playing as Liquid`Sea for sentimental reasons, as he shares a good bit of history with Tl.
Being a part of Team Liquid doesn't necessarily mean you're getting a salary from them. Liquid`Drone is someone in this very tournament who uses the Liquid tag but likely isn't getting paid by them (as a player, at least)
imo having the show match of champion vs Liquid`Sea is a little bit overwhelming. If in any case the winner is Sea, the frame of the champion is reduced much much more. Instead arrange the match between 3rd place vs Sea before the grandfinal would be a much better idea. Create more hype and attract more viewers for the grandfinal.
On March 29 2013 06:42 imEnex wrote: Why Liquid`Sea? He left Liquid.
He didn't leave Liquid. He left progaming.
he isn't representing TL as a player anymore right?He doesn't get any salary, has no contract and plays on fish with the "jat." tag. So by al means i think imEnex is rightfully asking
I would probably imagine him playing as Liquid`Sea for sentimental reasons, as he shares a good bit of history with Tl.
Being a part of Team Liquid doesn't necessarily mean you're getting a salary from them. Liquid`Drone is someone in this very tournament who uses the Liquid tag but likely isn't getting paid by them (as a player, at least)
Precisely that. The only player to have fully left Liquid thus far is Nony.
Haypro, Jinro, Sea etc all still validly are part of Liquid.
Sea wears his TL shirts on his streams often to honor this, and occasionally wears the Liquid tag when it's appropriate.
On March 29 2013 09:14 NB wrote: imo having the show match of champion vs Liquid`Sea is a little bit overwhelming. If in any case the winner is Sea, the frame of the champion is reduced much much more. Instead arrange the match between 3rd place vs Sea before the grandfinal would be a much better idea. Create more hype and attract more viewers for the grandfinal.
It's widely known that Korean amateurs and pros are an entire level above foreign talent. The showmatch against the champion is to see how our best player fares against a Korean pro.
The TLS has sifted through everyone and will determine who is the best foreigner in the scene.
It's all in good fun. And no one will dispute that whoever wins this can rightfully call themselves the best foreigner (until the next tournament).
i'll never forget when sea started streaming with liquid and kept playing "I just had sex" by lonely island. He tried to get everyone to call him the sex terran after that.
Being a part of Team Liquid doesn't necessarily mean you're getting a salary from them. Liquid`Drone is someone in this very tournament who uses the Liquid tag but likely isn't getting paid by them (as a player, at least)
Precisely that. The only player to have fully left Liquid thus far is Nony.
Haypro, Jinro, Sea etc all still validly are part of Liquid.
Sea wears his TL shirts on his streams often to honor this, and occasionally wears the Liquid tag when it's appropriate.
On March 29 2013 11:49 Hesmyrr wrote: Dejavu. I remember how things turned out when Sea fought against Torenhire league champion
No offense to Eriador, but Sziky/Michael are much better than him. Pusan vs Sziky was one of the most entertaining BW series I've seen in the last 8 months.
I'm rooting for Michael. The showmatch is a nice idea... but will be a complete roflstomp and likely not so entertaining unless Sea plays some wacky builds.
On March 29 2013 13:36 blueblimp wrote: I'm rooting for Michael. The showmatch is a nice idea... but will be a complete roflstomp and likely not so entertaining unless Sea plays some wacky builds.
rofl stomp and wacky builds are not mutually exclusive.
On March 29 2013 13:36 blueblimp wrote: I'm rooting for Michael. The showmatch is a nice idea... but will be a complete roflstomp and likely not so entertaining unless Sea plays some wacky builds.
rofl stomp and wacky builds are not mutually exclusive.
Agreed. The parenthesization I was going for was (complete roflstomp) and (likely not so entertaining unless Sea plays some wacky builds). I have little doubt it'll be a roflstomp either way, so hopefully we get some fun strategies so that it's not boring.
On March 29 2013 10:22 Just_a_Moth wrote: I always fucking work on Saturdays.
time to get a new job
I have to go home and celebrate Easter on Saturday because I can't be there Sunday FML. Last year I ditched my family for the last true PL finals so I'm on thin ice
On March 29 2013 06:42 imEnex wrote: Why Liquid`Sea? He left Liquid.
He didn't leave Liquid. He left progaming.
he isn't representing TL as a player anymore right?He doesn't get any salary, has no contract and plays on fish with the "jat." tag. So by al means i think imEnex is rightfully asking
I would probably imagine him playing as Liquid`Sea for sentimental reasons, as he shares a good bit of history with Tl.
Being a part of Team Liquid doesn't necessarily mean you're getting a salary from them. Liquid`Drone is someone in this very tournament who uses the Liquid tag but likely isn't getting paid by them (as a player, at least)
Precisely that. The only player to have fully left Liquid thus far is Nony.
Haypro, Jinro, Sea etc all still validly are part of Liquid.
Sea wears his TL shirts on his streams often to honor this, and occasionally wears the Liquid tag when it's appropriate.
On March 29 2013 09:14 NB wrote: imo having the show match of champion vs Liquid`Sea is a little bit overwhelming. If in any case the winner is Sea, the frame of the champion is reduced much much more. Instead arrange the match between 3rd place vs Sea before the grandfinal would be a much better idea. Create more hype and attract more viewers for the grandfinal.
It's widely known that Korean amateurs and pros are an entire level above foreign talent. The showmatch against the champion is to see how our best player fares against a Korean pro.
The TLS has sifted through everyone and will determine who is the best foreigner in the scene.
It's all in good fun. And no one will dispute that whoever wins this can rightfully call themselves the best foreigner (until the next tournament).
Yeah, I see sea wearing TL shirts quite often when I watch his afreeca stream. I don't know why anybody would complain or scrutinize his tag choice when it benefits TL as a whole anyways...
EPT
skzlime vs eOnZerG 
Michael vs Sziky 
TLS Champion vs Liquid`Sea 
On Neo Jade, skzlime spawned at the top left and Michael spawned at the bottom right. skzlime opted for a proxy two barracks play, with one of the barracks built in the middle of the map and the other built at his natural. In executing the attack, skzlime built a bunker at Michael's natural. In response, Michael pulled a number of his drones to defend. With these drones, and good micro, Michael managed to block the path of skzlime's marines and defeat the bunker rush attempt. 
On Neo Jade, Sziky spawned at the bottom left and eOnzErG spawned at the top right. Sziky opened with a twelve hatch expansion build versus eOnzErG's twelve pool. eOnzErG forced an engagement just outside of Sziky's natural, but, because of poor positioning on eOnzErG's part, Sziky ended up gaining the upper hand. With the clear advantage in the game, Sziky counterattacked and forced eOnzErG to type out of the game.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/44827.png)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/writers.png)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/P5.gif)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/Z2.gif)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/T4.gif)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/Z3.gif)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/24065.png)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/53654.png)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/T9.gif)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/38697.png)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/P7.gif)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/P9.gif)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/T5.gif)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/Z7.gif)
considering they practiced zvz non stop for the last week 
