EPT
Rejuvenated. Reinvigorated. Remastered.
Welcome back to a fresh new season of Starcraft, where we’ll be joined by a new cast of staffers to help us cover an exciting tournament. After a long lull in the scene, 24 players are back and hungry to make it into the Round of 16. This field is as stacked as ever with some notable faces missing from the action. Previous ASL3 participants such as GuemChi, ggaemo, free, Movie, and Hyun moved aside for some ASL first timers like Killer, FBH, Sky, and HiyA while Mind, Ample, Rush, and MIsO find themselves right back in the thick of things. For more information about all the participants, check out our Power Rank!
This season’s prize pool is one of the largest in Brood War history, with over 108 million won up for grabs and a hefty first place prize of roughly 54 thousand dollars. But standing in their way is God himself, FlaSh. Will FlaSh cruise his way into an unprecedented 3-peat? Or will someone rise from the pack and usurp the Terminator? We'll find out as FlaShFTW and EsportsJohn give us the first three group previews. Group A starts in
Welcome back to a fresh new season of Starcraft, where we’ll be joined by a new cast of staffers to help us cover an exciting tournament. After a long lull in the scene, 24 players are back and hungry to make it into the Round of 16. This field is as stacked as ever with some notable faces missing from the action. Previous ASL3 participants such as GuemChi, ggaemo, free, Movie, and Hyun moved aside for some ASL first timers like Killer, FBH, Sky, and HiyA while Mind, Ample, Rush, and MIsO find themselves right back in the thick of things. For more information about all the participants, check out our Power Rank!
This season’s prize pool is one of the largest in Brood War history, with over 108 million won up for grabs and a hefty first place prize of roughly 54 thousand dollars. But standing in their way is God himself, FlaSh. Will FlaSh cruise his way into an unprecedented 3-peat? Or will someone rise from the pack and usurp the Terminator? We'll find out as FlaShFTW and EsportsJohn give us the first three group previews. Group A starts in
Table of contents
Liquipedia
Will the Hype Train Deliver This Time?
What a great way to kick off the ASL with the player with arguably the most potential, but chokes the most in offline situations. Yes, I’m talking about Larva, who we’ve seen from the Larva’s Progress Report thread has actually been readily improving. But then again, Larva has yet to step up on the big stage in offline tournaments so only time will tell if he’s up to the hype. The other members of this group involve a pretty solid cast of Light, Sky, and newly entered Killer who took the seat of Sea’s place. Had Sea still been in, this would have been arguably the hardest group, but even with Killer, we still have potential for big names to leave the tournament early. Let’s get to the action!
Game 1:
Killer <Gold Rush> 
SkyAs you’ll read about our map analysis of Gold Rush thanks to Ty2, you’ll see that this map will involve heavy air usage. Sair/reaver vs +1 carapace air is going to be the name of the game between these two, and unfortunately for Sky, his worst matchup happens to be PvZ. Still, Killer has been MIA for a while now, having not even tried to qualify for the past couple of ASLs. His last year of success was 2014-2015 where he placed well in many online tournaments. Will Killer, who only made it into the ASL on a DQ, be able to overcome the likes of Sky? The answer is: probably. Killer’s ZvP is still a very strong matchup and one of his better ones.
Game 2:
Larva <Gold Rush> 
LightLarva Larva Larva… honestly, this guy is an inspiration to us all. He started off as a joke BJ who sucked at Starcraft and has quickly risen the ranks. Last month, Larva beat FlaSh in a Bo3 using the ASL4 qualifier maps 2-1. His game knowledge and apm have skyrocketed and there’s honestly no telling where he’ll stop. His drop defense is damn near perfect, his macro has improved drastically, and his mutalisk control is honestly the best in the game right now. Light on the flip side has also improved. He’s begun to place far better in tournaments (as long as he can dodge the TvP matchups), and has shown that his TvZ is still his bread and butter. Game 2 is going to be an incredible game, and my gut is telling me Larva is going to take it. If he can squash the nerves and finally break out of that offline slump, he’ll be able to overcome the SK Terran dropship style and win this game.
Winner’s Match:
Killer <Crossing Field> LarvaZvZ… which means I could literally end this preview with a coin flip and go back to bed. Ok, all jokes aside, Killer’s ZvZ was one of his better matchups in KeSPA, with a respectable 54%. In the post-KeSPA, it’s an entirely different story. Killer has basically had every Zerg’s number, from Modesty to ZerO. His 75% ZvZ rate is a thing of beauty and won a few tournaments from ZvZs in the finals. Larva on the other hand, while he has pretty amazing practice partners for Terran with Last, FlaSh, and Mind to work from, his ZvZ has not improved at the same rate. He’s sitting at a pretty measly 38% and we all remember when he rage quit that game vs Jaedong on Circuit Breaker. Alas, his mutalisk micro has definitely solidified from practicing it so much in ZvT, and not to mention that Killer failed to qualify twice due to ZvZ loses at the hands of MisO and HyuK. Maybe this is a chance for Larva to win this game? I’m still going to put Killer over, but don’t be surprised if Larva is able to win this game, especially with a BO win. Also hope that with the safe natural that we might see some late game ZvZ!
Loser’s Match:
Sky <Crossing Field> LightRemember when I said Light just needs to dodge TvP and he’ll make deep runs in tournaments? Welp. He couldn’t dodge the TvP if my first two predictions were correct. Sky is a notoriously good PvT player with a solid 62% winrate in the matchup. Yet at the same time, Light managed to take Rain, another fantastic PvT player to 5 games in the HoSic BJ Starleague. In the end, with Crossing Field being a pretty good Terran map with turtle Terran to 2/1 timing being a thing, I think that Light can pull this one off against Sky who hasn’t played in offline tournaments for a very long time.
Final Match:
Larva <Fighting Spirit> LightFighting Spirit will definitely feature a much more different dynamic from Gold Rush, but I wholeheartedly believe that the results will remain the same. While Fighting Spirit is more friendly to the mech switch, Larva has also figured out how to deal with the +1 5 rax into mech timing very well. His solution: delay the 3rd base while stopping any Terran push with solid mutalisk control. After, he’s able to comfortably defend the 3rd and any following drops and tech up to late game. Overall, I think that Larva on a standard map has an even better chance of defeating Light.
Killer and Larva advance to the Round of 16!
But Last time sSak wasn't supposed to win anything....
On first glance, this group looks like a cakewalk for
Last: a Zerg who bombed out in ASL2, an underperforming Stork, and the unassuming Terran sSak. But let’s not forget that Last is not as invincible as he used to be; Alphago has stumbled across several new challenges in the last few months, especially in TvT, and it doesn’t seem like he’s figured out a way to overcome them yet. It’s ironic that the matchup that brought him fame is now his Achilles’ heel.Last got rekt in the ASL3 by Flash during the Ro8, and Mind pulled a repeat 3-0 on him during the Thrill Starleague semifinals using many of the same tactics and strategies Flash used. sSak even took a game off the Terran titan in ASL3! That said, if Last is lucky enough to avoid facing sSak, he’ll likely do well against Where and Stork and advance with no problems.
As for the rest of the players, only
sSak has looked like a tournament quality player in the last few months. His outstanding success and his cavalier attitude in ASL3 suggests that he has an innate comfort with being on stage and avoiding the shock of nerves. Even though Stork and Where might be somewhere close in skill level on paper (maybe even ahead), sSak just seems at home onstage.Last and sSak advance to the Ro16.
Do you Mind putting in the effOrt?
There are two clear winners in Group C,
Mind and EffOrt. Both players have proven over a long period of time that they are mechanically strong, have brilliant decision making, and can deal with a wide variety of threats. With how strong effOrt and Mind have been playing over the last few months, it would be shocking to see either player drop out in the Ro24.Rush is a strong player who has had relatively little tournament success. Despite being a decent ladder opponent with a strong array of skills, Rush has never really been able to translate that into tournament results. He may be able to take a game off one of his opponents, but it’s going to be a long, uphill battle to advance out of the group over Mind and effOrt.Bringing up the rear is
Lazy. Our rookie barely squeaked by in the final qualifiers in Busan, taking down Terror, Leta, and Tyson along the way. His 2-0 loss in the Daegu qualifiers to Sharp speaks volumes about his strength in the PvT matchup though, and with two strong Terrans in his group, advancing to the Ro16 is unlikely for the rookie Protoss.effOrt and Mind advance.
