• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 19:52
CEST 01:52
KST 08:52
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall9HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0TL Team Map Contest #5: Presented by Monster Energy6
Community News
Flash Announces Hiatus From ASL51Weekly Cups (June 23-29): Reynor in world title form?12FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event16Esports World Cup 2025 - Final Player Roster16Weekly Cups (June 16-22): Clem strikes back1
StarCraft 2
General
The SCII GOAT: A statistical Evaluation The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings Statistics for vetoed/disliked maps How does the number of casters affect your enjoyment of esports? Esports World Cup 2025 - Final Player Roster
Tourneys
Korean Starcraft League Week 77 Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series [GSL 2025] Code S: Season 2 - Semi Finals & Finals $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo)
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
[UMS] Zillion Zerglings
External Content
Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome Mutation # 478 Instant Karma Mutation # 477 Slow and Steady
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Flash Announces Hiatus From ASL Player “Jedi” cheat on CSL Unit and Spell Similarities Help: rep cant save
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL20] Grand Finals - Sunday 20:00 CET Small VOD Thread 2.0 [BSL20] GosuLeague RO16 - Tue & Wed 20:00+CET
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile What do you want from future RTS games? Beyond All Reason
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine US Politics Mega-thread Trading/Investing Thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread The Games Industry And ATVI
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2025 Football Thread NBA General Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Blogs
Culture Clash in Video Games…
TrAiDoS
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
Blog #2
tankgirl
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 540 users

[ASL12] Ro8 Preview Pt.1 - Fall Brawl!

Forum Index > BW General
5 CommentsPost a Reply

[ASL12] Ro8 Preview Pt.1 - Fall Brawl!

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
Graphics byv1
October 10th, 2021 03:29 GMT
ASL11 Main Image
The Ro16 concluded rather emotionally as we saw the final games of Stork in competition in a fantastic group of games from Group C and we saw just how good Rush and Soulkey came to be in Group D, now its time for Soulkey to step up to the plate again, against an opponent he's all too familair with, just not as much as an opponent but a teammate. On the other side we have sOrry making the plunge to become the a true Royal that he calls himself while Mini plays Refugee-Toss for this season and hopes to fulfill The Legend of the Fall.

Group A Preview

Brothers in Swarm

It is a bit surprising that outside of some one off online events, that we have not seen (Z)Soulkey and (Z)ZerO face off against each other much, this would only be their 3rd encounter against each other in the last 10 years considering thats almost how much long ago they were teammates in Woongjin Stars. Their first offline one since their first encounter in the ZvZ filled PDPop MSL 2010-11.

Their match 10 years ago was a team kill, Soulkey and ZerO were the zerg 1-2 punch of Woongjin Stars in proleague. They've lived and trained together in the team house for years at that point, the match itself ended up being a very close fought and tense, of course this was also early 2011 during the period we saw a lot of hive tech ZvZ and expected ZerO and Soulkey, the forerunners of that style to actually have a match that goes to hive tech, unfortunately it didn’t happen.

Going over their stats in the matchup from sponbbang, ZerO sits at a 55.6% while Soulkey is on a 45% win rate. However, Soulkey has the advantage on their personal head to head at 4-3, with the last 2 games played during this month right before their match, because fans of both players like to see them play against each other all the time due to their shared history and are more than willing to pay for it.

ZvZ is not really a long matchup, while I do hold out some hope for hive tech in this series, the fact that I’ve mentioned it means that it's unlikely to happen. That being said Soulkey definitely has the better zergling control and micro between the two and ZerO has the best Mutalisk micro among all the pros.

This series is going to be about soulkey trying to get as much advantage as he can early before mutalisks come into play, keeping that in mind I think its more likely that ZerO will be the one to come out on top.

(Z)ZerO to advance to the Ro4 3-1 !

Group B Preview

Road in the Fall

(P)Mini debuted in the ASL during Season 3. He was eliminated immediately in the round of 24 by Bisu (who had an 88% winrate in PvP at the time) and by (T)Light. He then participated in the following 9 seasons. To this point, (P)Mini has never won a best of X series against a Terran player. He’s suffered from a 3-0 elimination to (T)Flash in the round of 8, Light has knocked him out of brackets twice, (T)Last defeated (P)Mini 3-1 in ASL7 finals, and he’s been eliminated by rush in Season 9. Despite a record that could be made to look bad, (P)Mini has a lot of great talking points.

First off, (P)Mini ranks top 3 in spon matches since ASL12 started. Across 335 games played, he maintains a 55% winrate and 58% versus Terran. On top of that, (P)Mini comes into this round as a seasoned finalist. (P)Mini holds two ASL silvers and a KSL silver since his debut in 2017. He has not only earned himself a reputation as a top contender, but he is a jack of all trades Protoss. He excels in every matchup and has top tier macro and micro.

While BeSt remains the only Protoss ranked above him, BeSt plays like an old man gamer while (P)Mini still plays with youthful exuberance. That makes his playstyle one of the most electrifying for viewers to experience. (P)Mini has the aggression of a bulldog in early game PvT, but also has the patience of a Komodo Dragon. The Komodo Dragon stalking technique involves biting a prey, allowing sepsis to set in, and stalks the prey over the next several hours as the animal weakens and dies. (P)Mini knows how to bite hard early and then get ahead while waiting for his opponent to wither and die.

All is not well for (T)Sorry. Incredible hype cannot out tell his story against top Protoss players. (T)Sorry has only won 36% of his games against (P)BeSt, (P)Mini, (P)Snow, (P)Stork. Even worse, (T)Sorry is 9-19 against (P)Mini in their last 28 games. (T)Sorry was also eliminated by (P)Mini losing to him twice in the round of 24 of ASL 10. The wound is deeper however, as (T)Sorry was eliminated twice in the round of 24 of ASL 9 by BeSt.

That being said, (T)Sorry that played in Season 11(and before) is not the same (T)Sorry who will be playing against (P)Mini. He is so much better than he has ever been. This has been accomplished through in insane amount of practice and spon matches. He has fought in 394 matches since August winning 55% of his games. Compared to the first half of the year. (T)Sorry is winning 13% more of his TvP matches bringing his win percentage up an astounding 57.2%. Even better against the 10 other Protoss players he battled, he won 69% of his games. (T)Sorry still has to prove himself against the very best of the Protoss race, but without a doubt, he has a solid understanding of the matchup and will make it competitive.

Predictions:

The toughest part about determining this series is trying to predict nerves. (P)Mini has really shown his mental improvement over the past several seasons, but also has a tough time swallowing losses. Meanwhile, (T)Sorry really doesn’t have nearly the same stage experience as (P)Mini and could completely fall apart if he loses the first game. Given the amount of times these two have played in spon matches, (T)Sorry will come out as prepared as he has been all tournament. This is going to be (P)Mini’s first series PvT win, but it will be a tough one determined by an ace match.

(P)Mini will Advance 3-2!



Writers: BisuDagger, BLinD-RawR
Graphics: v1
Editors: BLinD-RawR

Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
QOGQOG
Profile Joined July 2019
834 Posts
October 10 2021 05:48 GMT
#2
Can SoulKey win an ASL ZvZ? History says no. My head says no. But my heart? My heart also says no.

I don't think Mini is screwed the way he would be against, say, Rush, but drawing a Terran was not ideal for him. Still, with the difference in experience I think it's either Royal taking a close series or Mini 3-0 ing him.
angry_maia
Profile Joined August 2020
311 Posts
October 11 2021 00:37 GMT
#3
On October 10 2021 14:48 QOGQOG wrote:
Can SoulKey win an ASL ZvZ? History says no. My head says no. But my heart? My heart also says no.

I don't think Mini is screwed the way he would be against, say, Rush, but drawing a Terran was not ideal for him. Still, with the difference in experience I think it's either Royal taking a close series or Mini 3-0 ing him.


Mini couldn't possibly ask for a better bracket. I think he actually makes it to the finals, but loses to either rush or light.
Ty2
Profile Blog Joined March 2013
United States1434 Posts
October 11 2021 01:37 GMT
#4
--- Nuked ---
Writer
QOGQOG
Profile Joined July 2019
834 Posts
October 11 2021 03:23 GMT
#5
On October 11 2021 09:37 angry_maia wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 10 2021 14:48 QOGQOG wrote:
Can SoulKey win an ASL ZvZ? History says no. My head says no. But my heart? My heart also says no.

I don't think Mini is screwed the way he would be against, say, Rush, but drawing a Terran was not ideal for him. Still, with the difference in experience I think it's either Royal taking a close series or Mini 3-0 ing him.


Mini couldn't possibly ask for a better bracket. I think he actually makes it to the finals, but loses to either rush or light.

Seems very likely, given his strength against Queen. Has to really hope for hero or, more likely, Soma to get through on the other side. Even then, they're both pretty deadly PvZ.
TeamThinkQuick
Profile Joined March 2021
200 Posts
October 11 2021 05:33 GMT
#6
I have to admit that I don't really follow the Korean scene, as blasphemous as that may sound, I only really have time and passion for the foreign scene. But these write ups by TL staff about ASL got me hooked, so I find myself reading about what's happening in pro games, instead of actually watching them which I enjoy.

Thanks ya'll
https://trovo.live/TeamThinkQuickTTV *** https://www.twitch.tv/TeamThinkQuickTTV *** https://play.afreecatv.com/axtqttv
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 8m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 295
Livibee 110
StarCraft: Brood War
Jaeyun 62
HiyA 31
NaDa 26
Dota 2
capcasts139
NeuroSwarm84
League of Legends
Grubby2282
JimRising 675
Counter-Strike
taco 948
Other Games
summit1g8990
tarik_tv3778
fl0m600
ViBE177
PPMD45
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV70
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 92
• Berry_CruncH64
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• blackmanpl 34
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21293
League of Legends
• Doublelift5077
• Jankos1838
Upcoming Events
Korean StarCraft League
3h 8m
CranKy Ducklings
10h 8m
RSL Revival
10h 8m
ByuN vs Cham
herO vs Reynor
FEL
16h 8m
RSL Revival
1d 10h
Clem vs Classic
SHIN vs Cure
FEL
1d 12h
BSL: ProLeague
1d 18h
Dewalt vs Bonyth
Replay Cast
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
5 days
RSL Revival
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-06-28
HSC XXVII
Heroes 10 EU

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
BSL Season 20
Acropolis #3
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Championship of Russia 2025
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters
CCT Season 2 Global Finals
IEM Melbourne 2025

Upcoming

2025 ACS Season 2: Qualifier
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
2025 ACS Season 2
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
K-Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
SEL Season 2 Championship
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.