Two Protoss, two Zerg, and four Terran advance! The star power in this tournament remains huge and still viewers could care less about the pool of players. This tournament is all about Terror! Casting along side protoss player Britney, never has there been more outrageous commentary in the Starcraft game. A player goes for a strange opening? Terror slaps Britney on the head. Terror misses a recall because he is too busy listening to himself talk? He slaps Britney in the head. Pro player calls Terror out for not understanding the game? Silence... then Britney has to say something and earn another slap in the head. Bottom line is, these two are like watching Abbot and Costello's who's on first routine. Okay fine, so there are games that have been played and matchups to discuss. Teamliquid as always is happy to share that with you.




So you missed group A and thought you would get away with it? What were you thinking! Bisu, Sea, Mind, and Killer put on a great show. Mind opened up against Killer and reminds us all why Zergs are on a slump. Terrans are just too good right now versus Zerg. In fact, no zerg in this tournament has defeated a Terran player yet. This would make things incredibly difficult for Killer as Bisu advanced first from the group. Bisu defeated Sea in an awkward game of carriers and then had an epic showdown with Mind. Bisu vs Mind was the rounds most recommended game and a must see. Sea dropped to the losers final and face up against Mind where Sea continues his incredible winning record in online tournaments.




Last and Free advance in group B. The results here may be what is expected at first glance, but this group was a difficult tell. Larva has shown extremely solid ZvP in the past, but was unable to take a game off both Shuttle and Free, therefore placing last. Last advancing first is a big step for those who are still unbelievers. Surely, with a Terror League gold, Last will finally be considered for best player in the world.



Group C consists of the A level players and two B level players based on current skill. Pusan has yet to put up any good results and again places last in this group. Hopefully he is proving to be a better father then Starcraft player at this time. Effort's easy first game matchup proved to over hype the moment. When it came to Mong, Effort's expansions were slow and his moves were sloppy. Clearly, baby Flash was too much for Effort. The group closed with a ZvZ between Zero and Effort. Zero also showed better reactions times and control as Effort was denied advancement.



As mentioned above, another Zerg advances without defeating a Terran. While hero is busy losing to sSak in the winner's match, he let Mini do all the work as he defeats Hiya in the loser's match. sSak like Last advanced first in this group. With tthe two SSL finalist advancing and no KSL finalists, this can only mean the SSL was clearly the tougher tournament.






Bisu versus Free is an incredibly exciting matchup for PvP. This may be the highest level PvP matchup in the past year. Let's take a look at these players strengths in PvT because I believe that matchup most accurately defines a protoss players skill set. Bisu, for example, is the superior micro player. His best assest when fighting a Terran is his ability to make a smaller number of units take on a seemingly impossible number of units. His ability to pick off spidermines and focus fire the most important units is nearly perfect. Bisu is also great at dealing with harrasment while staying aggressive. Rarely does a terran defeat Bisu through drop harass. These skills translate into PvP perfectly as the early and mid game is about denying reaver drop, harrasing your opponent, and perfect dragoon micro. Bisu owns the trifecta of needs in the early game. Meanwhile, Free is a macro monster in PvT. He expands well and at the right times. Free also scouts really well and responds with the right unit compositions. This is a skill set that isn't earned by mechanical practice and is the result of being extremely intelligent. Free skillset translates well into late game PvP where his unit select ranges beyond dragoons and reavers. If Free can get to templar tech he has a huge chance of success in this matchup.



This matchup hurts the most to think about. Hero has been playing well over the past 3 years, but still hasn't solved his issue with playing Terran. Mong looks to continue the trend of Terran not losing a single map in this tournament to zerg. However, this match specifically favors hero. Hero is 15-20 against Mong including 8 of their last 14 meetings. Mong also went 3 for 12 against killer at the end of 2014. Bottom line, Mong's win rate over the past year is less then 50% versus zerg. If hero has a chance to win versus a Terran, Mong is the one who can be beaten.




For those of you who jump to the predictions before reading anything, yes this is definitely an upset prediction. Last is no doubt an incredible TvT player. Last does have a 60% winrate in the matchup. Last did make it to the SSL finals. Yet the stats still favor Sea. Sea and Last have never played so the more experienced player has the advantage here. Sea has an even higher winrate(68%) in TvT that spans over three years and hundred fifty games. Enough with stats, let's talk about the online gaming legend. Sea has won three golds last year in offline leagues, the 41SL, Ssabi Super Tour, and HungryApp ELS Match #2. Sea has two modes on circuit breaker, dominate or get pushed over. That is why the prediction is a 2-0. If sea loses game one expect a 2-1 victory for last.



Zero vs sSak could easily be the most exciting match of the round of 8. Zero has an incredibly unique playstyle in ZvT as seen in the KSL. Zero vs Mong will remain in the minds of the viewers for a very long time. Zero has mastered two base hive tech. Using a fast track to dark swarm tech and eliminating the need to defened a third across the map, Zero has shown zergs how to transition into the midgame. This is by no means an easy build and most zergs don't attempt it because it requires perfect decision making. sSak may prove the antithesis of this build. His harrass savy play will make life hard on Zero. Drop plays and misdirection are key components to the success of sSak. sSak is 21-9 over the past year and with the majority of his loses coming from 2014 ZvT god modesty and the infamous Greater Spire Modesty build. So, yes, sSak does have weakness in hive tech play. This is where Zero comes in. Zero has 3 of those 9 wins against sSak and has improved a ton since their last meeting in December. If sSak wins here he has a good chance of winning the whole league with all the potential Terran fodder. Zero is just too good and odds looks good he will put an end to sSak.




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