By advancing this far, our semifinalists have secured their spot for next season, but their focus remains on this season.

Best and Light finally catch each other in the bracket stage with Best always having the upper hand in groups will Light finally be able to beat him where it matters most? On the other side we have Snow and Soulkey facing off against each other and once again in the Ro4, will Snow make up for the humiliation of last season or will Soulkey stop him down with both feet again.

Ro8 Recaps by Simplistik.

Liquipedia

Best vs Queen was truly amazing. I'm sure many of us were hoping for the remaining quarter finals to continue the trend. In the end, the other three series were more one-sided. But each match did deliver something for us to enjoy. Let me take this opportunity to give Jaedong some attention before we send him off.

Ro8, Match 2, Jaedong vs Light
Set 1 on Dominator SE

As far as entertainment was concerned, Match 2 started very well. Light spawns in the bottom right and opens with an 11-rax wall. Jaedong starts in the top left and gets a decent opening with 12-hatch. The first overlord gently floats in the correct direction, and is spotted by an SVC, so both players know what they're up against.

The scouting SCV sees the 2-hatch spire timing and the Terran commander responds by continuing with his 2-rax academy rush. Everyone knows that Light likes putting pressure on the fresh Zerg third, but Jaedong decides to take 2 o'clock anyway, perhaps hoping that Light won't find it that quickly.



Seven marines and a medic march across the map, getting shadowed by four zerglings. There is only one sunken colony, but mutalisks are close to hatching. The infantry platoon turns back. The Jaedong supporters in the audience audibly appreciate it when the zerglings ambush the lead marine on one of the big central ramps.



So far so good for Zerg. Mutalisks have taken to the skies, third base is finished and hardly any drones were wasted on defence. Both players take a fairly conservative approach to the next few minutes. The infantry stays close to home, threatening a counter if the flappers dive in too far. The mutalisks in turn stay near the edge of the Terran main, picking off a few turrets, marines and SCV's relatively safely without ever heading in deep.



Behind the air pressure Zerg is teching, with the hydra den and queen's nest at the third base. Just when I start wondering if Light knows where the third is, the observer shows us scans at 1 and 2 o'clock. Two more barracks get built and and an armoury is on the way. And with the first two valkyries on the way, the Terran ground forces start venturing a bit further out.

Again though, everything is looking textbook for Jaedong. Enough lurkers are out at both locations and scourge catch one of the first two valkyries.



When there isn't any opening for a ground attack, the shield-maidens thoughtfully escort some overlords to Valhalla, before another one of them falls to scourge. With nothing else to do, Light starts his third base, letting Jaedong choose the next move.



Mutalisks swoop in and pick off another valkyrie, preventing Light from building up a critical mass. The first defiler has hatched, and there are neither tanks nor science vessels. This should be good for Zerg right? But Terran has had almost no economic disruption so upgrades and macro flow along nicely. There are also spotters at all the likely Zerg fourth bases. Somehow Light has a healthy marine count, and he is under no pressure on even bases. Perfect time for...



A mech switch. As the factories finish, Zerg takes a fourth base and we're in for a longer game. Plague is finished. Jaedong must've been wondering why Light has been so passive. There was no tank push. He's seen no vessels. A flock of scourge have been waiting in vain for dropships. A single scourge sniffs out the reasons for this passivity.



After making at least three rounds of valkyries, and suspending air production to get the factories going, the first irradiate goes down at 14:30. Light is finally ready to apply some pressure.



There is a very close fight over the Zerg fourth base. The defiler gets irradiated, along with three lurkers. There is a dark swarm, but no lurkers under it. Infantry start pushing up the ramp on the right side while vultures come up the other ramp and start laying mines. Hydralisks slither over from the natural to help.



There's a hilarious moment when a spider mine, invincible under dark swarm, takes out a bunch of hydras. The hatchery goes down, but most of the infantry gets wiped out, putting Zerg on even supplies. Jaedong's macro is holding up well at this point. He's mainly making hydralisks now to start clearing mines. Meanwhile, Light is expanding across the entire South of the map, taking first his mineral only and then both 6 and 5 o'clock at the same time.



At this point the game hits boiling point and we are treated to pretty much constant fighting on multiple fronts for the next 20 min. If you thought this was exhausting to watch, spare a thought for the players. While hydralisks are sweeping mines on the right side, a hydra-lurker-defiler contingent attacks 9 o'clock.



A few lurkers get up the ramp and under dark swarm, but two well positioned tanks do a lot of work. And the attack ultimately fails. Now on four bases, Jaedong's macro appears to be slipping a little as he floats over 1.4k minerals and 1k gas. There are still three valkyries, so a muta switch is probably not on the cards. A gob of hydras slide, unopposed, into 6 o'clock and turn back some SCV's at the door, because they forgot their ID cards.



The CC tries to get out, but the hydras shoot it down. Eight queens have hatched, so maybe this is what the banked resources were for. The next flash point of the game is over the remaining main and natural on the right side. If Jaedong can't secure that, he will run dry first. The first tank column takes control of the 4 o'clock high-ground.



But, strangely, Light pulls back most of the tanks, which gives Jaedong an opening to become King of the Hill. One clumsy defiler steps on a mine, but there's more where that came from. A vulture, hiding in the corner, gets rewarded for its cowardice by catching the first drone coming down to secure the base.



But another drone follows quickly. And Zerg also makes progress on the other side of the map. A couple of control groups of hydras with dark swarm clear out the 9 o'clock pizza wedge, so that Jaedong can safely take his mineral only.



In many ways this is a rather unusual game. At just over 20 min, Terran is running a full-on six-base economy, is almost maxed out and has started to mix in goliaths. It's not clear if Light knows that queens are just around the corner when he orders the heavies to advance North, for his first real attack in a little while.



Engaging a large tank army in the centre of the map isn't easy, so the Terran army slowly makes progress towards Jaedong's mineral only. But keeping all the siege tanks together isn't trivial either. And keeping them safe from queen's almost impossible.



Four queens glide into the frame. Four tanks explode. Then the queens depart unscathed. Solid value. Without a critical mass of tanks, the royalists encircle the republican army and wipe it out.



But despite this nice engagement, Light is still 20 supply up. Zerg still is not mining from either of the bases on the right. Jaedong has been economically behind for some time. To make matters worse, Terran is on 3-2 upgrades already. The queens are actually keeping Zerg in the game for now. Some hydras get past the tanks and start causing trouble at 5 o'clock.



But of course the artillery rolls up the hill and levels the battlefield. As Zerg forces are clearing some Terran installations out of the centre, Light notices that 4 o'clock is completely exposed and pushes onto the prime real estate on top of the ramp. But there aren't actually any Zerg buildings to destroy, so the Terran army falls back again. Heading down the ramp would probably not go well, and is also unnecessary.

A few scientists have been granted an audience with the, by now rather large, royal family. But it's fair to say that their boorish behaviour will mean there won't be any future invitations, except perhaps to the gallows.



This would've been an amazing moment to throw some EMP's around, but Light doesn't have the upgrade. Not because he doesn't have the resources, but because he wants to earn some style points instead.



Four cloaked wraiths dart in looking to bag some royal scalps. Definitely a cool move. And they do shoot down a couple of queens. But ultimately there are plenty of speed overlords and hydralisks. Has Light momentarily forgotten that he's actually playing late game TvZ? Maybe. I suppose the wraiths also provide some measure of protection from a potential muta-switch. After some manouvering, tanks get in range of the Zerg mineral only. And it looks like they will easily pulverize the base.



And then nine broodlings rain down and put a stop to the peasant uprising. The wraiths were there, but protecting the wrong flank. And, once again, the queens skedaddle. But, again, Light is still ahead by 15 supply. Honestly, I don't know how he's doing it. At 280 apm, he's macroing his six base economy, moving his army and microing ten wraiths to one-shot overlords.



Around 27 min into the game, both players hit near max supply. The swarm barrels forward to try to clear Terran out of the entrance to 4 o'clock. What I want to know is this: when did Light have time to build turrets there?



The initial attack fails, when a large contingent of Terran reinforcements arrives. But the swarm also surges up the ramp and two lurkers get in position under dark swarm. Somewhere else all eleven wraiths get plagued.



Jaedong is doing his best to try to overload Light with small attacks on multiple fronts. This buys enough space for a hatchery to finally start up at the right side natural, at 29 min. There are still tanks nearby, but swarms push them a little further away. And then the queens come again, behind overlords providing vision and soaking up hits.



What a great clone. The Ring Wraiths try to go after Arwen, but they get washed away by a flood of hydra spit. You've seen the film. Light is down to mining from three bases now, while Jaedong is on two and a half until he can get 4 o'clock running properly.

Queens keep on blowing up isolated tanks in the centre, but Jaedong is less careful with pulling them back, so quite a few get irradiated or shot down. I guess it's simply too difficult to chain a move command, back home, on to the end of each broodling. As the resources start to dry up we are approaching the climax. Jaedong needs to hold at 4 o'clock and keep on inflicting damage to the Terran army. Light has to break 4 o'clock before he runs out of gas, metaphorically speaking.



Light has pulled together most of his tank force to set up a massive arc around the entrance. Vultures, mines and goliaths are in front to buffer. And, thoughtfully, a fresh command center has also arrived to provide some vision. Some hydras attack 6 o'clock, but fully upgraded vultures are actually able to deal with that.



Meanwhile on the Eastern front, it's still raining broodlings while a small number of lurkers huddle under dark warm in fear of the constant shelling. While the siege continues, another mech army moves North towards the Zerg mineral only. Drones evacuate and a hydras-ling brood surges forward to repel the attackers.



Hydralisks push the unsieged tanks South, but two tanks in siege mode on the high-ground swing the fight. Zerg supplies have dropped to 110. Jaedong is definitely suffering from a mineral deficiency now. Light, too, is slowly mining out, with only 6 o'clock still looking healthy. The difference between the players' positions is that Light has more map control. Jaedong can't get out of the 4 o'clock natural, and in the North he has been pushed back almost to his natural. Tanks destroy the Zerg mineral only and, at the same time, secure access to 10 o'clock. This move is a two-base swing in favour of Light.



Dominator has twelve gas bases and three mineral-onlys. With 10 o'clock, Light has secured his 6th gas location. He has also mined out his mineral only. Jaedong also controls six gas bases, but he has lost control of his mineral only. And the last unmined base near 9 o'clock is protected by a large siege tank line. Despite the queens getting good value, the Terran army appears to have been more efficient. Zerg doesn't have the tools anymore to fight through long siege tank lines. Terran doesn't have much air defences, but there aren't enough resources for a muta switch.



And so Jaedong is forced to tap out.

This was a great a game, and surely everyone was hoping that the match would continue like this. Alas, it wasn't to be, as Light mostly dominated the rest of the series. Mechanically, Jaedong seemed fine, but some of this decision-making was a bit off. Some comments afterwards suggested that maybe he was overthinking a bit, following a rigid game plan (mapped out with Flash!) instead of playing what's on front of him. Perhaps with his usual aggression JD could've taken another couple of games, but I'm not sure it would've changed the outcome. Nevertheless, I think ASL19 was a good showing for the Tyrant. There was probably just enough on show for fans to keep looking forward to next seasons. Not that true fans ever stop hoping...

Hats off to Light though! He looked supremely at ease with (almost) everything that was coming his way. This is probably heresy for a Protoss fan, but I quite fancy a Soulkey vs Light rematch.

Just a step away from the finals, Best and Light find themselves clashing once again. The personal rivalry between Best and Light has been lopsided. They have faced each other twice in ASL play in the past five seasons, both times in the round of 16. Best emerged victorious on both occasions, first in ASL 15 and again in ASL 17. The record stands at 2-0 in Best’s favor. As they prepare to play in the round of 4, let’s talk about how they got here.

Over the last five seasons of ASL competition, Best has quietly built an impressive track record, particularly against Terran opposition. His breakthrough came in ASL 15, where he swept through the Terran field, defeating Mind and Ample in the group stage before taking down Light in the round of 16 and falling narrowly to Mind 4-2 in the semifinals. That season alone, Best recorded three wins against Terran opponents. ASL 16, however, was a disappointment as Best was eliminated in the group stage with a loss to Sharp. In ASL 17, Best rebounded strongly, posting a 2-3 record versus Terrans. He dispatched TaeNgGu, Light and Rush, but dropped a series to Sharp. ASL 18 saw another stumble as Best fell to Speed in the round of 24, exiting early. Yet, the current season has showcased arguably Best’s finest Terran-killing form. He defeated Mind in groups, then dominated Sharp and Speed by a combined 4-0 scoreline in the round of 16, pushing his seasonal Terran record to a perfect 5-0. Across five seasons, Best’s record against Terran's has been nothing but stellar.

For Light, the narrative has been the reverse. His legacy as an elite Terran has been defined by his ability to navigate the treacherous Protoss matchups. In ASL 15, Light opened with a win over Stork but fell to Best in the round of 16. ASL 16 was forgettable with early group stage exits to Zerg players, but in ASL 17, Light again encountered the Protoss gauntlet. He defeated Zelot but lost to Bisu, Best, and Shuttle, ending the season with a difficult 1-3 Protoss record. Light’s fortunes changed dramatically in ASL 18, where he defeated Stork twice and huro in a perfect Protoss run through the groups and round of 16. In the current season, Light picked up an early win over Tyson in the round of 24. His overall five-season tally against Protoss now stands at a respectable amount, but still hasn't shown as brightly as he once did when he was the ASL champion.

The season ends in the next 7 maps for one of these players while the other goes on to battle against the winner of Snow versus Soulkey.

Deja Vu SE
Terran leads on Deja Vu SE with a 56.5% win rate. Being a map pick for Light and having strong Terran favorability. Light is likely to be well prepared for this map as he opens with a win.

Prediction: Light wins. Light leads 1-0.

Death Valley
Protoss holds a 57.9% win rate on Death Valley. The map was Best’s first pick and has historically favored Protoss. If Best can stay mentally strong, he will get his first win here.

Prediction: Best wins. Series tied 1-1.

Pole Star
Protoss holds a slight 50.7% win rate on Pole Star. The map was Light’s second pick.

Prediction: Light wins. Light leads 2-1.

Eclipse
Protoss has a 49.9% win rate on Eclipse. Best chose this as his second map.

Prediction: Best wins. Series tied 2-2.

Dominator SE
Protoss has a 50.8% win rate on Dominator SE. Light selected this as his final map. Best will find a way to build momentum and take the lead.

Prediction: Best wins. Best leads 3-2.

Radeon
Protoss has a 49.3% win rate on Radeon. Best’s final pick to close out the series turns out to be a great pick sending him to his first finals!

Prediction: Best wins.

Best Advances To The Grand Finals 4-2!

In this current era of Brood War, it’s almost like we always expect to see Snow vs Soulkey in the bracket at some point. And for the third time in a row, the two titans will face off in the semifinals of the ASL. Will Snow finally manage to break through the iron fortress of Soulkey, or will Soulkey crush Snow’s hopes and dreams once again in his quest for a 4th consecutive ASL?

Snow

Snow likely has nightmares of this matchup at this point, but as the saying goes, if you want to be the man, you have to beat the man. And if Snow wants to finally win his maiden ASL title, he’s going to have to beat Soulkey at some point. But Snow has likely been preparing for this moment with this matchup specifically in mind, playing Queen earlier this month and beating him 4-1 in a sponseries. And there’s been some more experiments by Protoss with incorporating earlier reaver play into their games with some potential for sair/reaver style. No doubt, Snow has been extensively seeing if there’s some way to introduce reavers earlier into the matchup to play to his strengths. In a straight up Bo7 series, I don’t think Snow has what it takes to take down Soulkey yet, but if he can execute some creative openers to get ahead in the early game, I think he’ll have a chance to finally topple his archnemesis. Luckily for Snow, a lot of good Zergs have already been eliminated that can help him prepare, like Jaedong and Queen.

Soulkey

Based on Soulkey’s preparation the entire tournament thus far, I don’t anticipate that he will deviate from his safe and macro-oriented style of play. As seen in his match against Rush, Soulkey was more than happy to utilize overpool builds against Terran, a build that is not as favored by most Zergs as they prefer the more economic 12 hatch. I would expect something similar in this matchup, with safe builds from Soulkey who will trust his macro and decision making to push him through this series as he has done many times in the past. And while Soulkey hasn’t had the best form online compared to Snow, his offline form continues to be the cream of the crop, even harshly criticizing himself in his series against Rush for being too nervous and not performing at his best, all the way expecting himself to 4-0 all of his opponents. It’s the swagger, yet determination to continue to improve his play that has allowed him to remain at the top for so long, and he likely will continue to hold that mantle of best Brood War player in the world for yet another tournament. And if all else fails, there’s always 3 hatch hydra.

Maps:

Game 1: Metropolis

This was the map that Mini pulled off a sair/reaver style against hero in the Ro16, and I’m sure Snow is looking at that game to see if there’s a way to utilize his supreme reaver control to find an advantage against Soulkey. But certainly with the large mains and harass friendly layout of the map, Snow can attempt to utilize his shuttle play to his advantage. However, Soulkey’s iron defense and his knack for deterring drop play will be difficult to penetrate.

Game 2: Eclipse

There have been some exciting ZvPs on this map, with Best vs BTS being one of the games of the tournament so far. With the way that the bases are layed out, I wouldn’t be surprised if Soulkey were to mix in an early 9734 strategy into his repertoire, though I also predict him to still play relatively safe in this series. This map has also been a Zerg favorite to mix in mutalisks for templar sniping, utilizing several of the cliffs as good staging points for mutas to wreak havoc on the Protoss army, and is something that I would anticipate Soulkey using.

Game 3: Dominator SE

This is a tough map for Protoss with eloboard showing a 55.7% ZP winrate. The bases are hard to defend, the natural is small so there isn’t a lot of building area for cannons, and the ridges make pushing into hydra lurker very difficult. If there’s one saving grace for Snow’s style, it’s the fact that the mains are so large and encourage shuttle harassment, either through DTs or reavers. But overall, I expect Soulkey to cleanly take this map.

Game 4: Death Valley

Soulkey has once again picked Death Valley, showing that he is not afraid of the experimental map, and even picking it second rather than saving it as his 3rd map selection. The map is, at a glance, very Zerg favored in this matchup, with a small sample size of 6-3 on eloboard. Plus, Best vs Queen had an intense game that came down to the wire and saw arbiter and hallucination used but ultimately ended in a Queen victory. I’d expect Snow to deviate from the norm, going with something like fast shuttle reaver off an in-base gateway while expanding to the mineral natural instead of the gas natural.

Game 5: Deja Vu SE

This map has been one of the better ones for Protoss, with a 51.7% ZP winrate. A very straightforward and standard map, even with a reasonable winrate, I think this map is going to be difficult for Snow to win. Expect something a bit more creative from him like 2 stargate to apply early pressure on Soulkey.

Game 6: Pole Star

Pole Star is another map that I could see Soulkey pulling out a 9734 on, with the very tight cluster of bases that are accessible by the Zerg. The rich map encourages more turtling play and late game army management, something that both these players are incredible at. The only problem is that Soulkey’s late game, coupled with the strengths of Zerg in this matchup, make his late game nearly invincible.

Game 7: Radeon

A final standard map to settle the score, it almost feels like a lot of players have been intentionally leaving this later in the sets as an honorable way to conclude a series. If the series reaches this point, the players are going to leave it all on the line for a ticket to the finals. Maybe we’ll see one player go for glory and throw in a hail mary cheese to punch their ticket to the finals.

Soulkey Advances To The Grand Finals 4-2!

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