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[SSL Autumn] Finals Preview: Service!

Forum Index > BW General
12 CommentsPost a Reply

[SSL Autumn] Finals Preview: Service!

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
Graphics byv1
November 1st, 2024 18:07 GMT
ASL11 Main Image
(T)Sharp makes the inaugural SSL season finals, just like he did for the first season of ASL but can he beat the 2 time defending champion (Z)Soulkey who looks to make it a 3-peat?

Liquipedia

Group B Preview

The Main Course



It's almost a full circle moment for (T)Sharp, who was in the finals of the first ASL and to now make it to the first finals of the SSL. He unfortunately lost that finals series to Shuttle and the only thing that stands between him breaking the loop or completing it again is (Z)Soulkey.

The very same (Z)Soulkey who has had the entire competition in a chokehold for over a year now with back to back ASL victories and is on the cusp turning that into a 3-peat. A feat so far only achieved by (T)Flash.

(T)Sharp and (Z)Soulkey have faced off against each other multiple times over the years and Soulkey has won every series, most notably, this is not the first time they’ve faced each other in an offline finals, Soulkey beat Sharp 4-1 in the finals of KSL2.

Maps:

Game 1: (Wiki)Pantheon - (T)Sharp pick
ZT: 80 wins, 119 losses (40.2%)

During the series against Light, Soulkey did pretty much outsmart light by taking the mineral only base which distracted light for a significant portion of the game that caused the one and only terran loss against zerg on the map, a strategy that very much is a one time thing and something he had to do because this map doesn’t let you have a 3rd gas easily.

Sharp needs to play the map normally and scout well if he wants to take the victory because his mechanics aren’t the problem he can keep up with Soulkey and the map is very much on his side.

Game 2: (Wiki)Dominator - (Z)Soulkey pick
ZT: 90 wins, 128 losses (41.3%)

Given the nature of this season being one of taking big risks for strong early games, Dominator is a great map for 8 rax or BBS, its not Sharp’s pick and its early in the series, Sharp will want to throw Soulkey off. Conversely if Soulkey is going to take the role as aggressor, I foresee mutas into lurker contain/drop to kill sharp off or get him stuck in a long contain while Soulkey takes the rest of the map.

Game 3: (Wiki)Deja Vu - (T)Sharp pick
ZT: 119 wins, 141 losses (45.8%)

Deja vu is a great map for mech switch, control the high ground with early bio and switch to mech. Or maybe he just gets lucky with a close spawn 8 rax win like Light did. I don’t see soulkey trying for a 12 hatch on this map, he’s definitely going to cover the gaps he had from his series with light.

Game 4: (Wiki)KICK BACK - (Z)Soulkey pick
ZT: 64 wins, 82 losses (43.8%)

Nothing is stopping Soulkey from getting a 3rd gas on this map, the map is made for crazy zerg and so long as he’s able to not let Sharp really confirm thats what he’s going for it should be Soulkey’s game to win, on the safe side for Sharp he should just straight up open mech here, scout to confirm but if you’re expecting fast Ultras that come from crazy zerg then mech is the play to curb it.


Game 5: (Wiki)Minstrel - (T)Sharp pick
ZT: 45 wins, 81 losses (35.7%)

Sharp picked Minstrel pretty late in the series, maybe he’s shaken from his match against hero. Still this is not a good map for zerg, in the case of what happened for Soulkey vs Light it was just that Light was pretty much mentally broken down by that point and couldn’t keep up.

Sharp just needs to just play it safe and scout better, not knowing the defences at hero’s 3rd is what cost him his only loss in that series. Minstrel is Sharp’s map to lose.

Game 6: (Wiki)Monty Hall - (Z)Soulkey pick
ZT: 46 wins, 53 losses (46.5%)

Soulkey picked Monty Hall for a reason, I’d love to know what it is but we haven’t seen him play on the map this season, Sharp pulled that impressive 3 port wraith off 1 base against hero to great success, will we see something same from him?

Game 2: (Wiki)Radeon - Decider
ZT: 412 wins, 403 losses (50.6%)

Radeon is the only map where you can’t play the map, you have to play your opponent, if we somehow get to game 7 this is where we see who is the better player and when it comes down to it, that player is Soulkey, if you’re rooting for Sharp better hope it doesn't come down to this.

For Sharp its all about preparation and scouting, play the man not the race.

By the records the maps are on Terran’s side against Zerg, but of course Soulkey isn’t any ordinary zerg. By history its also entirely on Soulkey’s side and Sharp has only ever managed to take a game or two in a long series against Soulkey and never actually defeat him in one.

If Soulkey wins this, he will cement his legacy and we might need to consider bringing up the B word again.

(Z)Soulkey to win SSL Autumn 2024!


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

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TL+ Member
BLinD-RawR
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
ALLEYCAT BLUES50117 Posts
November 01 2024 18:09 GMT
#2
This is not the end of coverage from our team for this season.

I hope sharp can make this a close series.
Brood War EICWoo Jung Ho, never forget.| Twitter: @BLinDRawR
TL+ Member
Rainalcar
Profile Joined April 2010
Croatia360 Posts
November 01 2024 19:02 GMT
#3
Map stats are so heavily T skewed, it's really been a poor map pool. I think Soulkey is the superior player, but I give it to him 4:3 only because of Sharp's relative inexperience.
j.r.r.
bochs
Profile Joined February 2022
109 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-11-01 21:03:19
November 01 2024 20:53 GMT
#4
In my observations, Terran players can be divided into 2 camps: those who are better at bio units, and those who are better at mech units.

The first group of Terrans are usually good at vZ, but not as good at vP or vT.

The second group of Terrans are usually good at vP or vT, but not as good at vZ.

Rarely, some Terran players are good at both, e.g., Flash, Light (improved from 1st group).

In my opinion, Sharp's spectrum heavily skews toward the 2nd group;

Most zergs are not good at vT (relative to other matchups), but SK is an outlier. Even prime-time Flash had trouble beating non-prime-time SK back then. Now? It's SK's prime time.

That said, still hoping for a good series.
redknights
Profile Joined December 2021
206 Posts
November 01 2024 21:21 GMT
#5
Sharp by his own admission has traditionally been very weak TvZ, specifically that (1) he doesn't play the bioball vs mutalisks well, and (2) that generally his bio is much worse than his mech

also Sharp freely admits that Soulkey pretty much hard-counters him on an individual level with terrible winrates over several years.

as a Sharp fan, I offer a bit of copium on why things might be different this time around:

1. in 910's behind the scenes video before his match vs. Hero, Sharp said he was weak against mutalisks because he tended to chase and attack the mutalisks with his bioball. Sharp explained that he recently came to the realization that mutalisks are used by Zergs to buy time, so there is no need for him to chase after the mutalisks, he would now wait for mutalisks to come to him.

(begins around 2:30 mark)


2. Sharp's best era of TvZ was in the early days of ASL when mech switch was the meta. Of course this eventually died off and everyone went back to playing standard bio, but both Flash (recently) and Fantasy (when he returned briefly to BW for the Saudi competition) have said that mech switch has to be the long-term solution for Terrans in TvZ. If Sharp can figure out some mech switch strategies (hopefully he can ask Flash or Fantasy for ideas) and evolve the TvZ meta during these finals, he has a good chance. Sharp's mech play is elite-tier so finding a way to utilize it will be key.

3. Sharp's mentality has improved noticeably since he got married last year and found success/popularity in his Starcraft university. He's said in interviews that playing his game while being relaxed has been the key to his success this season, whereas in past seasons he would choke from self-induced pressure. He is playing better in offline environments (he's actually been playing terribly online for a while now) with more focus than his opponents so far.

Coming back to reality, I still think the most likely score is 4-1 if not 4-0 to Soulkey, as the dude is literally a beast and history being what it is. I think someone said Sharp has beaten Soulkey online something like 5 times over the past two years, so it would be impossible for Sharp to beat Soulkey 4 times in one day. Bisu joked that Soulkey could just open overpool 7 games in a row and still beat Sharp. Sharp's valkyrie control and management is not good, so is his execution of early cheese plays (such as the 8rax vs Hero Game 2). Sharp also suffers from a lack of top Zergs to practice with, he has only Hero, Action, and Jaedong at the top level (Queen is going on honeymoon, and Soma is helping Sharp but not sure what his level is currently). Soulkey has a ton of top Terrans to practice with.

That being said, underdog upsets are the greatest thing in sports and esports. Let's go Sharp!
2Pacalypse-
Profile Joined October 2006
Croatia9498 Posts
November 01 2024 21:34 GMT
#6
Let's go Sharp, I believe in you!
Moderator"We're a community of geniuses because we've found how to extract 95% of the feeling of doing something amazing without actually doing anything." - Chill
BluemoonSC
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
SoCal8910 Posts
November 01 2024 22:16 GMT
#7
there's only one Terran that can stop Soulkey right now...

and it's not Sharp. looking at the map stats alone, maybe we'll be fortunate enough to get a full 7 games though.

it makes sense that soulkey wouldn't want a potential game 7 to be played on monty hall, but i'll be interested to see what build he pulls out if we can make it that far.
LiquidDota Staff@BluemoonGG_
bochs
Profile Joined February 2022
109 Posts
November 01 2024 23:42 GMT
#8
On November 02 2024 06:21 redknights wrote:
both Flash (recently) and Fantasy (when he returned briefly to BW for the Saudi competition) have said that mech switch has to be the long-term solution for Terrans in TvZ. If Sharp can figure out some mech switch strategies (hopefully he can ask Flash or Fantasy for ideas) and evolve the TvZ meta during these finals, he has a good chance.


Mech switch was subdued by queens, and SK is arguably the best queen user vs Terran mech switch. Light recently attempted mech switch on Monty Hall (one of the best maps for mech switch) against SK in a proleague game, and had no chance at all.
CeJo1
Profile Joined August 2021
32 Posts
November 02 2024 00:34 GMT
#9
Let's bring up the B word again. And finally a non terran player since a very long time
Nirli
Profile Joined February 2023
Bulgaria366 Posts
November 02 2024 07:08 GMT
#10
I like Sharp atm, really stepped up his game recently and hungry for wins, not just going through the motion like other players.
But ma boi SK man... Looks even more solid than Queen when he won two back to back.
Vasoline73
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States7801 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-11-02 07:56:26
November 02 2024 07:56 GMT
#11
I would be happy for SK if he wins... but as a T I gotta root for Sharp
[sc1f]eonzerg
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Belgium6556 Posts
November 03 2024 01:22 GMT
#12
Man thank you for the previews. We are entering in 2025 and still getting those. You guys deserve a TL STAR
v1p3r52
Profile Joined December 2010
New Zealand182 Posts
November 03 2024 07:25 GMT
#13
Sharp in the finals is so cool tbh, i want him to win though i think soulkey probably will.

As a protoss player i want snow or someone from toss to win every now and then :C
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