Its been a long wait but the ASL has returned with season 21.

We already have had some drama going into the season with all the shock eliminations from the qualifiers and the race balance for the Ro24 but in the end we'll see who actually makes it out, but before that lets start with the top 10 games from last season via S1mplistik.

Followed by whats been going on as we head into the season with FlashFTW.

Finally the previews of the first 3 groups of the Ro24 that will be played this week thanks to BisuDagger and FlashFTW.

Liquipedia

Top 10 Games
By general consensus the final of ASL 20 was a disappointment. Naturally, Protoss and Snow fans will feel aggrieved. But for less partisan viewers the mediocre game quality was the real problem. But, amidst the Protoss gloom and heated balance discussions, let us not forget that this tournament also delivered some epic long games, unusual unit combos, insane cheeses and tense nailbiters. Here, I present the best ten games, according to viewer recommendations. As for the Final, only game 3 made it into the Top 30, and only to rank 18, so let us consign that series to the void and move on.

(Although this list was put together by a long-term die-hard Bisu fan, I assure you that the methodology was rigorously neutral and executed in a supremely disinterested manner.)

Honourable Mentions
I decided to throw in a few honourable mentions, partly because later rounds tend to get more recommendations due to viewer count, and partly to dilute the PvZ intensity somewhat. I think there is something for everyone, except we didn't get any really great TvT's this season. If you absolutely must have your fix, I recommend the final game of Ro24 B, where Speed toys with TY in a pretty strange way.

Ro16 A, Game 1: Soulkey <KnockOut> Barracks
Purely from an entertainment perspective, this game didn't really deliver anything special. But the result and the manner of the loss had a seismic impact on the tournament and the wider community. The unfavoured Barracks pulls out a very crisp timing attack and blindsides the reigning four-time champion with unscouted valkyries. Although it took some more Effort to actually kill the king, Barracks dealt the first blow.

Ro16 C, Winners 1: Snow <PoleStar> Mini
Somewhat incredibly, we had four sons of Aiur in the bracket stage, and not a single Protoss mirror. This entertaining little caper serves as a reminder that even short PvP's can be fun. With very similar builds, both players decide to go for a cross-map base race. Mini initially gets the better end of the deal and starts warping in a fresh nexus in Snow's main. But Snow still has a reaver-shuttle...

Ro24 A, Winners: Sharp <Roaring Currents> Larva
This game was fun for several reasons. It was our very first ASL game on Roaring Currents. Larva delivered a surprisingly powerful performance, suggesting that he was on his way to become a serious contender once more. And Sharp brought enough shenanigans to make it an interesting game.

RO24 F, Losers: Hero <Litmus> RoyaL
We don't get to see many serious one base plays, but Litmus has given Terran a bit of opening to experiment. Royal is the obvious candidate to try something whacky and, together with herO's—let us say flawed—decision-making the result is a very entertaining mess. At times you want to tear your hair out, but then you get hit by a wave of nostalgia as you suddenly realise that this is fairly close to what Brood War looked like in the early days.

Ro16 B, Losers 2: Queen <Radeon> Best
With his tournament life on the line, against a former double champion, Best opts for one of the most insane PvZ openings you're ever likely to see: the in-enemy-base-proxy-gateway-DT. Honestly, even if that had failed completely, the game would still be interesting. But because it actually works, this stroke of genius means Best is now the legitimate successor of not only of Reach, but also of Nal_rA. And of course this was just the first hurdle in one of the most unlikely Protoss escape stories. See below.

Top 10
10. Semifinal B, Game 6: Bisu <KnockOut> Soma
This was the first elimination game Bisu faced all tournament. After a long and bruising encounter on Roaring Currents (see below), the question was if the old Protoss legend had the stamina and mental fortitude to hang in there. (The palpable audience tension, perhaps difficult to appreciate on replay, is one reason why the game made it onto the list.) And the answer was a resounding 'Yes!' as the Revolutionist rolled back the clock to deliver a classic BvZ showing. Soma tried his usual early-game tech-switchy trickiness, but Bisu held the air attack with precise control. The follow-up pressure was relentless. Where most modern Protoss muscle up for a dragoon push, Bisu stuck to his guns and reminded us exactly why he used to win so many games with zealot attacks.

9. Ro16 B, Losers 3: Queen <Dominator SE> Best
Having pulled off a crazy opening in the previous game, Best is still facing elimination. And to ramp up the tension, he tries a failed citadel opening and finds himself 30 supply down. Queen has taken no damage and his fourth is on the way. Protoss doesn't have any air units, not even observers. This should be the end. Instead this is just the beginning of chapter two of The Great Bestscape. If you're the kind of Zerg that likes to hang back and defend after securing an early game advantage, this game will give you nightmares.

8. Ro24 F, Game 1: Hero <Dominator SE> BTS
Yes, that's right, the only mirror match in the Top 10 is a ZvZ. After the usual 9-pool speed zergling battles, this game stabilises momentarily in a very strange spot. How many games have you ever seen where the player with the one-drone-economy is ahead? There are number of very tense multi-front micro-battles that should end the game. But somehow the shows goes on to several encores and ends only when one player has been literally reduced to zero supply. You couldn't write a more dramatic story.

7. Ro16 B, Final 3: Best <Metropolis> BTS
This is the final chapter of the Best saga. Having strategically manoeuvred himself into two more back-to-back elimination matches, the protagonist (That's right, protagonist has protos in the name!) once again falls hopelessly behind, this time to a clever shadowy ling move. Locked in on two bases against a soon-to-be four-base-Zerg. Surely it's over this time. But Best miraculously finds a way to hang on, starting with a ninja expansion. Even with that he still has a lot of work to do though. Perhaps it is superior experience, but Best slowly turns the tide. Along the way we get treated to series of fantastic engagements with torrent of maelstroms and a full on typhoon season of psi storms.

6. Ro24 E, Winners: Rush <KnockOut> Jaedong
With Terrans really struggling this season, we never got a longer TvZ series. While this game doesn't make up for a Soulkey vT best of seven, it should give Jaedong fans a bit of a boost. Very intense early game mutalisk pressure results in a slow midgame for Zerg, but Terran has also taken a lot of damage. The game comes down to a very close fight over Jaedong's attempts to secure a third base, complete with marines stimming through a dark swarm to gun down a nydus canal. After that the game turns into a slugfest as Rush ramps up the pressure with drops, before a satisfying ultralisk finale.

5. Semifinal B, Game 5: Bisu <Roaring Currents> Soma
If things had turned out slightly differently, this game might have become an all-time classic. As it was, the outcome was somewhat obvious a while before the end. Still, to my knowledge, this is the only time we have ever seen PvZ carriers in ASL (please correct me if I'm wrong). And it so nearly worked. Bisu's build in this game was something else, going straight for the islands off two bases, with practically no ground army. Later he added a battery of cannons in his main instead of getting any gateways. In the pivotal fight we get to witness a full on shootout between (slightly too stacked) corsairs and a full control group of devourers.



4. Ro8 Day 4, Game 1: Bisu <Roaring Currents> Larva
And another Roaring Currents game makes it onto the list. This time with Larva and Bisu. This game marked the season's peak of Larva's late-game-style. Perhaps this game is the reason why Bisu decided against ground units. Larva completely forsakes the islands in the early game, in favour of really locking down his ground quadrant with more sunkens and lurkers than you can shake a stick at. Bisu has a massive army, with storms and reavers, but there really aren't any targets. He tries several times to break up the ramp, only to get ensnared in Larva's trap. Literally.



3. Ro8 Day 4, Game 4: Bisu <Metropolis> Larva
The Bisu-bonanza continues with another game against Larva. This is a funny game. The beginning is very normal as Bisu slowly gets an advantage with his trademark zealot-pressure multi-tasking. It looks like Larva is falling apart, but he just hangs on. And when Bisu overextends slightly the odds even up. Both players build up mid-game armies. And then we get an incredibly tight nailbiter base trade that literally comes down to individual units. At one point Bisu is mining with two probes, while his opponent is desperately turtling at his third base. In the end there is a single lurker that somehow sleeps through the chaos...



2. Semifinal A, Game 3: Snow <Dominator SE> Barracks
At number two we have one of the greatest TvP's ever played in ASL, by Barracks of all people. This game is a 30 min rollercoaster that goes from a tense early game, to a big Terran push, to a large-scale macro-game all the way through to a scrappy low economy harassment game with absurd reaver efficiency. This game is much non-stop action for at least 25 min. Snow should've by rights been dead several times but he always just avoids the killing blow and dances around to land another counter. And yet Barracks face-tanks the jabs and keeps up his own aggression. It's like watching a welterweight kickboxing match where half-way through both fighters decide that blocking is stupid. As an aside, dominator does seem to produce a lot of good games. Apparently we need more three-player maps.

1. Semifinal B, Game 2: Bisu <Dominator SE> Soma
The game of the tournament is one of the greatest straight up PvZ comebacks you're ever likely to see. Having lost the first game in ignominious fashion, Bisu needed to strike back to get into the series. His early zealot pressure does alright, but Soma cleverly hides two hydralisk dens at his third. And when Bisu is forced to fight hydralisks with probes pretty much all the viewers thought the game was over.



What follows is an incredibly tense masterclass in Protoss holding on against the odds on a badly damaged two-base economy. Soma does pretty much what Zerg is supposed to do here. Switch back to mutas. Snipe templars. Add some defences and then expand in relative safety. Bisu never manages to get a decent supply lead and is at times fifteen points down. He is less than a minute away from running out of minerals. And yet... where there is a storm, there is a way.

Welcome back to the 1st edition of TvTSL 21st edition of the ASL! We’ll keep things a little simple and short for this preview as there’s been so much coverage of the lead up into this tournament already with map selections and qualifiers, but we’ll start with some interesting storylines in this tournament before we jump into group previews! (Special shoutout to Jinjin for making these videos!)

Flash: FlaSh has finally returned to the ASL, but this may be a very short-lived return as he has rumored that this is likely his last ASL due to his wrist injury. We’ll see if the GOAT can cement his legacy with another phenomenal run worthy of being the God of Starcraft.

Jaedong: Jaedong went on a near unbeatable tear at the start of March, getting 4ks and all kills in proleague left and right. And while he’s calmed down a bit since then, he’s still in incredible shape coming into this tournament.

EffOrt: How do you forget to sign up for qualifiers man?

Mini/Stork: Some big protoss names missing from the tournament this time as both failed to advance from their qualifiers, leaving the hoard of Terrans unchecked.

Terrans: Good lord there’s a lot of Terrans in this tournament (15 total). Hope the casters can stay awake for what will surely be very long tournament days with 4 groups having 3+ Terrans. May the balance whining begin continue.

This group is absolutely brutal for everyone in it. All players are at the same level of underperforming and are hungry to make deep runs. Top play, Sharp, is chasing the high of a finals appearance. He has been unable to bounce back the last two tournaments and is in danger of having his worst season in years. Rain went from dual quarterfinals appearances to not even participating last season. Scan needs to prove he’s been then a first round punching bag. Mong, well maybe Mong is just happy to be here.

Match 1: Sharp vs Scan

Sharp is a very deadly Terran player. It is hard to envision Sharp losing to Scan. Octagon does offer some notable locations for cheese and proxys. When Scan is worried about his opponent he will periodically dip into his bag of trick builds. I believe Scan will not play standard and make it close, but Sharp will win out.

Match 2: Rain vs Mong

On paper, this is balanced matchup. They are both mediocre at the PvT matchup. Mong, in general, just tends to play vanilla build-wise versus Protoss. Rain may be weak against top Terrans, but it feels like he could beat Mong on any given day even without practice. Rain will win this matchup.

Match 3: Sharp vs Rain

Rain will need perfect execution against Sharp. Sharp is far more practiced between the two and has a lot of pride on the line. We still can’t be certain how serious Rain is taking this ASL. If he makes the round of 16, I think we can expect a far more dangerous version of him. Until then, the easy pick is the favorite. Sharp wins and advances.

Match 4: Scan vs Mong

I’m calling this one right now. Scan gets a victory over Mong. This isn’t just favoritism. Scan has actually been learning harder and performing better recently then ever before. He participated in just the last day qualifier. He went undefeated against Kiwian, Movie, and Stork. Scan will recover from his lost to Sharp and take Mong out.

Match 5: Scan vs Rain

I’m calling it again. Can anyone else feel the victory in the air? Is anyone else covered in nerd chills. The deep ocean air that breezed by the same night firebathero stripped off his clothes and plunged into the sea of victory, will be breezing over Scans shoulders as he takes aim at Rain. There’s only a few words I can offer Rain as he fights in this final match, “Run Rain, Run”.

Sharp and Scan Advance To The Ro16! “Let’s Burn!”

Soulkey heads a group with 3 other Terrans (a common theme for this tournament), looking to redeem himself from a shocking last place finish in his Ro16 group in ASL20. Some resurging Terrans with Ample, JyJ, and sSak join him looking to abuse the TvZ matchup and take down Mr. 4-Peat.

Game 1: Soulkey Ample
After a 4-peat, it’s not wonder that Soulkey was probably burnt out from his run. But he looks to be a bit more motivated this time after losing out on his comfy Ro16 seed every tournament. His most frequent practice partner has been Light with several sponmatches against him (14 games just in March). Meanwhile, Ample’s still be a low ranking Terran, but has shown a bit more strength with a back-to-back ASL appearance. However, Ample is still a minnow in a pond of sharks, especially with a great white like Soulkey.

Soulkey wins.

Game 2: JyJ sSak
Both JyJ and sSak enter this tournament hoping to come away with some more than than a Ro24 exit. JyJ in particular looked like the next up and coming Terran, but hasn’t seemed to reach that potential yet. sSak on the other hand is a grizzled veteran trying to follow the likes of Jaedong with a strong resurgence in play. The latter has actually found himself 9th on the ELOboard with a string of decent results, though most of these games were played against other K-leaguers and not the cream of the crop. Still, given JyJ’s overall poor form the last several ASLs and the fact that sSak had to prove himself more recently with his qualifier win over Mini, I think sSak’s form is just ever so slightly better than JyJ’s at the moment.

sSak wins.

Winner’s match: Soulkey vs sSak
I don’t think any player is really up to snuff to take down Soulkey in this group. None of these Terrans really give me a cause for concern for Soulkey unless they pull out some insane cheese that catches him off guard. sSak, while beating herO 2-1 recently, still doesn’t seem like the Terran to really give Soulkey any issues.

Soulkey wins and advances.

Loser’s match: Ample vs JyJ
Call me a JyJ cynic, but I think Ample is going to take this one. JyJ’s qualifier match against Bishop didn’t look very convincing, and I think with Ample having some better recent tournament performances over JyJ, I’m going to give the nod to Ample here. The unit control and decision making seemed to be really lacking from JyJ and Ample will take advantage of that.

Ample wins.

Final match: sSak vs Ample

Unfortunately, I think this is going to be another Ro24 exit for Ample. In TvT, we look very closely at army movement and control for how a Terran can exert their army over their opponent, and sSak demonstrated that in spades against Mini in their qualifier match. The amount of mine laying and excellent army movement transitioning from attack to defense is what really impressed me with sSak’s play, and I can see why he’s up in the top 10 for the ELOboard. Ample needs to take another step up in his play for me to consider him Ro16 worthy.

sSak wins and advances.

Soulkey and sSak Advance To The Ro16!

Not sure how with 15 Terrans we ended up with a group with no Terrans… but ok. Instead, we get a ZvZ fest with hero, Larva, and Shine, with huro being the lone Protoss that joins them. No specific game predictions for this one because let’s be honest, ZvZs in a Bo1 format is a crapshoot.

Well, I’ll start with our lone Protoss as he’s only got one matchup to prepare for, which I always feel is a huge advantage going into these groups. Huro’s actually been steadily improving ever since that really funny blunder in his ASL debut (can you believe it’s been over a year?!)

And yet, in a group with all Zergs, I actually feel a lot of hope for huro. The man has been grinding his ass off with a 16-8 PvZ record in March, and has been called up for Major Proleague several times now. Although he doesn’t give the best performances, it’s clear he’s motivated and dedicated to improving and reaching that next level. Call me crazy but I think the madlad could do it and advance to his first Ro16.

With the Zergs, we might as well do some rock paper scissors to determine a winner. However, I think out of the three, herO is most likely to advance as I do think his ZvZ is ever so slightly better than his compatriots. It’s actually kind of absurd that Larva has only a 42.6% ZvZ record according to ELOboard. Meanwhile, Shine I think is who I have the least confidence in this group. I think with more varied matchups where his creative playstyle has room to operate, a Bo1 setup works well for him. But ZvZ is probably the matchup with the least amount of creativity (though he could try an EffOrt vs Soulkey style cheese with a hidden expansion). I also think that out of the three Zergs, Shine is most likely to lose to huro, making a loser’s match run back to the final match even less likely for him.

hero and huro advance to the Ro16!

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

Special Thanks: jinjin5000 for all the video translations