
Two groups down, two more to go till the semifinals. Unfortunately, our dreams of a TBLS finals have been dashed as Bisu was the first to fall in a lopsided manner. In what many have called an upset, Bisu was completely dismantled by Sea. His performance was a far cry from his usual. However, Sea has also never looked better in this matchup. This will come in handy as he is set to face BeSt in the semifinals.
BeSt triumphed over hero using great builds and very crisp micro (in most games anyways). Another upset considering BeSt's record against Zergs, especially ones of hero's caliber. ASL has been full of surprises so far and these two are the latest and debatably greatest ones of all. Are there more in store? The last two remaining Ro8 groups feature Flash, Stork and Jaedong. Flash is up against Guemchi in group C in what could potentially be a one-sided series while Stork looks to take on the Tyrant who has been smashing protosses on fish in preparation for their matches. Who will come out victorious? Will we see more upsets or a retention of the status quo?
Read on for a recap of the first two groups by BigFan & c3rberus while FlaShFTW & BLinD-RawR take an indepth look at the remaining two groups. Then, head over to the staff prediction section to see who we think will advance from these groups! Group C is set to start in so let's get ready for more BW action!
BeSt triumphed over hero using great builds and very crisp micro (in most games anyways). Another upset considering BeSt's record against Zergs, especially ones of hero's caliber. ASL has been full of surprises so far and these two are the latest and debatably greatest ones of all. Are there more in store? The last two remaining Ro8 groups feature Flash, Stork and Jaedong. Flash is up against Guemchi in group C in what could potentially be a one-sided series while Stork looks to take on the Tyrant who has been smashing protosses on fish in preparation for their matches. Who will come out victorious? Will we see more upsets or a retention of the status quo?
Read on for a recap of the first two groups by BigFan & c3rberus while FlaShFTW & BLinD-RawR take an indepth look at the remaining two groups. Then, head over to the staff prediction section to see who we think will advance from these groups! Group C is set to start in so let's get ready for more BW action!

Group A:
Bisu < Eye of the Storm >
Sea
Bisu < Demian >
Sea
Bisu < Circuit Breaker >
Sea
Sea advances to the semifinals!







This was a very highly anticipated series as Bisu, the revolutionist faced against lazy but genius Sea for a chance to advance to the semifinals. Alas, despite all the hype, the games were pretty disappointing overall due to bad decisions and sloppy micro on Bisu's part. In contrast, Sea played very solid games with perfect reaction to what he scouted. This triumph over Bisu in 3-0 fashion got Sea closer to clinching his first major offline tournament victory in several years since the early SSL days.
On Eye of the Storm, Bisu opted for 1 gate core and expanded soon after while Sea went for 1 rax FE and bunkered down to repel the usual goon pressure. Sea ended up adding a factory and then another which he floated outside his base while Bisu's goons were busy at his front. With three speed vultures, he snuck past Bisu's goons at his natural and took out 8 probes. Once he had a sizable army, he tried to push up Bisu's ramp (gif). He was denied and ended up camping right outside it. Bisu seized this opportunity to run some goons using the bottom path into Sea's natural and took out the bunker and many SCVs, however, this provided to be a fatal mistake as Sea really contained Bisu. Despite multiple attempts, Bisu was unable to break the contain and gg'd as his natural probes were pulled to fight.
Good engagement
Sea changed things up with a factory expand while Bisu stuck to his usual gateway expand in the second game on Demian. After scouting Bisu's main, Sea went for a small attack (several marines+2 tanks+vulture) but was repelled. Bisu countered with his own dt shuttle drop and picked off several turrets and workers before retreating. The game settled down as both players macroed up fearsome armies. As Sea went to take his third (Bisu was taking his fourth), Bisu attacked into his army but he defended (gif). With his third mining, Sea pushed toward Bisu's natural. Despite facing heavy pressure, he managed to really close the distance. It was at this point that Bisu decided to recall most of his army into Sea's main, even with the threat of his own natural being sieged. The recall caused no damage and left him with barely an army at home. Unable to halt Sea's advance, he had no choice but to tap out.
For the love of God, split that army up!
Two games down, Bisu opened with a nexus first to Sea's 1 rax fac opening on Circuit Breaker. After scouting this opening, Sea decided to grab some SCVs and went for a bunker rush with several marines+vulture support. A huge micro error on Bisu's part saw his probes dance on the bridge while his 3 zealots had a bit of a hard time reaching the marines+vulture. Sea kept reinforcing his push and managed to plant two bunkers, one at the natural and one at the ramp. Once the first tank came out and with mine support, Sea easily pushed Bisu's remaining goons in his main back (range not finished yet) to take game 3 and quite the series.
Game+Sea with that lovely smile

Group B:
hero < Circuit Breaker >
Best
hero < Eye of the Storm >
Best
hero < Benzene >
Best
hero < Demian >
Best
Best advances to the semifinals!









While the Brood War New Year started with fireworks smoking Bisu out of the building, BeSt used some of his former teammate's essence to convincingly demolish a ZvP God in four games.
Game 1: Circuit Breaker
One of the defining moments of BeSt's career was a certain finals bout with another ex-STX Zerg player. Vicious all-ins that produced a golden mouse and a gaping mouth probably played into him going for the good ol' hardcore 2-gate zealot. Well either that or he was playing the current metagame where Zerg players go speedling to counter gate-first aggression. Playing this way forced hero to stay on two bases. Hero faked mass hydras as a response and BeSt didn't know about it until his corsairs saw the mutas. He was only really saved when the mutas were deterred by a cannon in the natural and then speed zealots provided the best distraction by wreaking havoc inside the zerg main. Hero took his third while it was safe and prepared a huge mass of hydras and lurkers to assault BeSt's yet to be built third base. Soon after setting down the nexus, every unit came out like some army from Mordor but then this happened.
Zerg blood all over!
The losses incurred were too great to overcome and Hero just crumbled to a dragoon push.
Game 2: Eye of the Storm
This game was more standard but it felt almost like a build-order win from Best. After the usual FFE and a hatch after pool, BeSt pulled out a double stargate build and immediately began massing corsairs. The corsairs were used very effectively in conjunction with couple of dark templars. This coordinated attack essentially handed BeSt the game as he took down not one but two hatcheries and gobbled up a monster load of zerglings and eggs. Hero on the other hand did not go down without a fight and pulled out one of the best defenses ever to save his third from a rampaging zealot train. My stream actually froze the moment they made contact and resigned to the prediction that was the killing blow.
What a hold!
Hero resorted to camping with a truck-load of sunkens but that was no match for archons and reavers. And if that was not enough, four dark templars ninja'd their way out of Shine's observer screen and sniped everything in the main.
Game 3: Benzene
In this game, Hero decided he's seen enough and exploited Benzene's backdoor with lurkers. BeSt was well prepared but zerglings and lurkers were able to force their way through and harass the sides of the mineral lines. Dohsairs also made their debut in the series after what seemed like forever (two games!!?). Hydras and lurkers then took to the field and contained the protoss base. BeSt however wasn't content with just sitting around and amassing for a break and instead exploited the lack of zerg air to harass Hero with drops. The drops produced decent results with several drone kills and a spire snipe. However, Hero had the timing correctly and produced game-winning mutas. The mutas flew to BeSt's fledgeling third base and went all-kamikaze in a bid to snipe templars. It worked which allowed hydras to flood and swarm the base under clear skies. The blow sent BeSt reeling and he gg'd out in the next futile battle.
Flooding the screen with hydras!
Game 4: Demian
Hero showed signs of life in an action-packed game where he deviated from the norm. On Demian however, he let go of that creativity and decided to stick to what worked the last time around -3-hatch hydra all-in. The all-in wasn't very well hidden and it allowed BeSt to place cannons in his natural just in time. With the timing window shut, BeSt did two attempts to capitalize on Hero's lack of economic power. Both attempts were defended solidly with masses of hydras. It was followed up by a two pronged attack; a drop at the main that sniped the nexus and a ground attack on BeSt's third. What seemed like Hero clawing his way out of the hole of his failed all-in created was just an illusion, as demonstrated by the monster army that overwhelmed his puny in the minute thereafter. BeSt advanced to meet Sea in the semifinals.

Yes that is a Magic card and yes, it is exactly how I'm seeing this matchup
The first matchup in the other half of the bracket in the Round of 8. The video above should pretty much be a representation of what happens in this series, but if you feel like the video was not a good enough preview, please continue to read on!






![[image loading]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Lee_Young-Ho_at_2012_Korea_e-Sports_Awards_from_acrofan.jpg)
Why can’t I hold all these answers?
Without too many games being played in the post-KeSPA, we turn to FlaSh’s sponmatches as some indicator for how the Terminator has been doing with his matchups. Insider information (AKA classicyellow83, here’s a shoutout for you) reveals that in the month of December, FlaSh is 38-8 (82.3%) in PvTs with notable records against top Protoss like Bisu 4-1,






![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/j6B2oWB.png)
Yeah… even his chat knows…
Guemchi has pretty much never been able to beat Terran in a BoX series. He beat



Map Breakdown:
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/243_Eye%20of%20the%20Storm_thumbnail.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/243_Eye%20of%20the%20Storm_thumbnail.jpg)
Eye of the Storm will be our repeat map for the series and honestly, this is probably the best map for Guemchi to play on. The reason being this map doesn’t favor FlaSh’s expansionist style like the other maps will. Not to mention Guemchi has favored shuttle play in his last few games against Terran in the ASL and this map isn’t too bad for them with close-by-air spawns as well as the weird wall around the main. FlaSh will probably look to do some early 2 fact timing so Guemchi should open with an aggressive build to counter.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/404_Circuit%20Breaker_thumbnail.jpg)
Circuit Breaker, while statistically good for Protoss in the KeSPA era, has shown that maybe it’s not as great of a map as it seems, with an incredibly low 46.3% record post-KeSPA. FlaSh’s greedy base play will be showcased on this map especially, with the close mineral only bases practically designed for him. Guemchi is going to need to try to out-expand FlaSh on this map using the refugee Protoss strategy and force base trades while expanding to the opposite corners of the map to hide from FlaSh’s unstoppable mech ball.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/679_Demian_thumbnail.jpg)
Demian is a very interesting map but I feel like it plays similar to Roadrunner with an extra low-ground gas base. And if FlaSh has an extra base to expand to, well, I can’t help but fathom that this map is pretty FlaSh favored. He was 4-0 on Roadrunner in the KeSPA era and Roadrunner was also a horrid map in PvT, with Protoss only winning 30% of the games. Guemchi should probably try some shuttle play here since the main is so open to air.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/407_Benzene_thumbnail.jpg)
Benzene has been a very interesting map, with the community arguing if this is Terran or Protoss favored map. Many think Arbiters are decent on this map while carriers seem to lack, but FlaSh says otherwise, saying this map is a perfect map for carriers (Stork agrees). That being said, FlaSh is also 6-0 on this map in PvTs and it’s no secret why. The forward mineral-only is a great tool for FlaSh to get a faster third, and the extra bases scattered around the map just beg to be taken by FlaSh. If the Protoss dares to attempt carriers on this map, well, FlaSh has shown numerous times, specifically on this map, why his goliaths are the scariest unit in his arsenal. Guemchi is going to need a miracle on this map to defeat FlaSh, and yet again, I think he’d need to pull off some crazy cheese to win here. However, if it’s any confidence booster for him, this is also the map that Flash thumbed down for being picked twice so maybe FlaSh will show some weakness here.











Group D: Stork vs Jaedong
A Rivalry Reborn!
A Rivalry Reborn!
About 10 years ago, a young Lee Jae Dong walked the royal road in the EVER 2007 OSL beating players like






Stork has been surprising me with his play. After very little practice prior to ASL, he has already made it to the Ro8 beating guys like Light and Guemchi in the Ro16. While we have yet to see Stork play an official PvZ, his games on stream have been a good indicator of the quality of games to expect out of him, especially against Jaedong on Demian. For now though, let's see what happens when it's on a live stage, because for all the ladder games and sponmatches in the world, what happens in the booth is the only thing that matters in a tournament.
Jaedong's ZvP leaves a lot to be desired (but so did every other zerg in this ASL) in both his games against BeSt. He has been unsuccessful in varying degrees with his mid-game hydra busts leading the protoss to break him before he can get his 4 gas economy up to set himself for the late game. Jaedong's preparation has to be better than his group stage matches or we'll see Stork continue to surprise us by moving forward to the Ro4.
Map Breakdown:
Set 1&5- Demian
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/679_Demian_thumbnail.jpg)
Set 1&5- Demian
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/679_Demian_thumbnail.jpg)
Its always interesting to see the new map be the repeat map in a Bo5. It means that both players are comfortable with playing on it despite the little time they had with it. This is certainly the case with Jaedong because despite all the results so far, I still feel that Demian is a great map for zerg. Jaedong should just not try to do a close 3rd hatch and go for a hydra bust. This will play great into Stork's actions of trying to go for Sair/Reaver on this map.
Set 2- Circuit Breaker
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/404_Circuit%20Breaker_thumbnail.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/404_Circuit%20Breaker_thumbnail.jpg)
If there was ever a map that was made for Jaedong's playstyle in general, it would be Circuit Breaker. Everything that makes it so Zerg favored is because of the aggressive style that Jaedong plays. The mineral only, 12 and 6 o'clock bases are open for flanks as well so Jaedong's speedlings are free to terrorize. It is going to be a treat to see the tyrant in his full element. Knowing this, Stork is going to have to sit on 2 bases (8 gate goon) a bit longer than he would like and go for a strong early game army to punish Jaedong's aggressiveness.
Set 3- Eye Of The Storm
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/243_Eye%20of%20the%20Storm_thumbnail.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/243_Eye%20of%20the%20Storm_thumbnail.jpg)
Eye of the storm is going to be Stork's map to control, most likely going for a heavy Sair/DT play. More specifically, just having shuttles with templars to take advantage of the terrain and thin walls in the mains. Jaedong will have to make sure that his scourge game is on point because shuttle speed will come out very soon on this map and drop harass is going to be a big deal.
Set 4- Benzene
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/407_Benzene_thumbnail.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/407_Benzene_thumbnail.jpg)
Unlike matchpoint, Benzene is a bit more of an economical map because in a split map scenario, either player has 5 bases, not just 4, so the tension is a lot more cut. It can give a bit more of a macro feel even for a 2 player map. That said, games on this map rarely ever go that far fundamentally because controlling the high ground pods isn't as crucial as controlling the bridges in front of the mineral only bases which prevents players from expanding further than their 3rd gas. As such, it is better if Jaedong opts to play a longer game while Stork should look to cripple Jaedong early on before trying to go for a longer game. Reason is that as the game progresses, it is going to get much harder for Stork to get a read on where Jaedong is going to strike from.


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Bisudagger (Guemchi 3-1) |
BigFan (Flash 3-2) |
2Pacalypse- (Guemchi 3-0) |
c3rberUs (Flash 3-0) |
FlaShFTW (Flash 3-0) |
mustaju (Flash 3-0) |
v1 (Guemchi 3-1) |
BLinD-RawR (Flash 3-0) |
![]() ![]() |
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Bisudagger (Jaedong 3-2) |
BigFan (Jaedong 3-2) |
2Pacalypse- (Stork 3-0) |
FlaShFTW (Jaedong 3-1) |
c3rberUs (Stork 3-2) |
mustaju (Stork 3-2) |
v1 (Stork 3-1) |
BLinD-RawR (Jaedong 3-1) |
Writers: BigFan, c3rberUs, FlaShFTW, BLinD-RawR
Graphics: v1
Editors: BigFan
Photo Credits: Liquipedia and DailyEsports