SSL is dead, Long Live the ASL. ASL is back with new maps and new names but still the same BW we know and love as we kick off this season with our initial half of the Ro24 previewed by FlashFTW.

Liquipedia

Group A features a pretty wild group of players, with Mini being the Tier 1 seed, followed by Shuttle as the Tier 2 seed, and rounding out with Calm and Scan as the Tier 3 and Tier 4 seeds respectively. Honestly, anything can happen in this group, with Mini being such a wildcard of a player, getting knocked out in the last Ro16, that I wouldn’t put it past him to somehow drop a random game. Luckily, he faces Scan on Eclipse, which definitely means some Protoss shenanigans and gas steal is to be expected.

On the other side, Shuttle and Calm is going to be quite the interesting game. Shuttle has been up and down in proleague recently, with taking a lot of losses, but also pulling out random wins here or there (like his ace match against Queen, you know the one). I really do feel like Calm or Scan could upset Shuttle to find a way to break into the Ro16 (though I don’t have much hope for them after that). Obviously, my prediction for this group is still going to be Mini and Shuttle, but don’t be surprised to see some weird results.

Mini and Shuttle To Advance To The Ro16!

Two of the TvT horseman, Rush and Royal, joined by Speed and HyuN, make up Group B. Rush and Royal should feel really comfortable in a group with 1 pretty weak Zerg player, along with 3 Terrans, as both their TvT winrates are outstanding (62% and 58% respectively). Rush in particular has been on a good form in the ASL, having only failed to advance to the bracket once in his last 9 attempts. Royal’s form, on the other hand, has been faltering, having failed to advance out of groups since his ASL 14 win. This gives an opening for Speed, who I’ve had my eye on for a while, and feel like he’s been on the rise as a player with his intense, high-APM style, reminiscent of Fantasy. All aboard the Speed hype train! HyuN… sorry man, but I just don’t see how you advance out of this group.

Rush and Speed To Advance To The Ro16!

Alone (now BTS, formerly TRUE) managed to make his way into the ASL by qualifying through the Challengers Starleague, but unfortunately landed himself into a pretty tough group with Best, Mind, and BarrackS. BeSt has been cooking in proleague, currently sitting third on eloboard, and also paired with a few Terrans in the group who are not that great at TvP, I think this should be a comfortable group to advance in.

Between Mind and BarrackS, it’s tough to say. Neither are particularly good at TvT, with a 48% and 52% winrate respectively (unlike Rush and Royal above), but I think that BarrackS is the player in better form at the moment with some momentum from making his first ever bracket appearance last ASL after consistently finishing in the Ro16. But I wouldn’t really give one or the other a clear advantage to advance, though I’m hoping they play on Death Valley which would give us a very interesting game. Alone is more of a footnote, while it’s nice that he could qualify through the SCS, I just don’t think he’s good enough yet to really be a threat to any of these players.

Best and BarrackS To Advance To The Ro16!

---

Writers: FlashFTW
Graphics: v1
Editors: BLinD-RawR