Flash vs EffOrt on Fighting Spirit promises to be just the right high impact TvZ to start off a tournament of this caliber. Flash is undeniably the hardest player to beat in the current scene with overwhelming winning records over almost everyone he's been playing. One of the people who has made that “almost” cut is his opponent EffOrt who while he doesn't have much of a winning record against flash did manage to keep him at bay in December going 8-7 against him (although things did swing back into flash’s favor by Jan going 21-11 but still..) making him the best possible zerg right now to go up against him.


      Coming off a strong victory of the HoSic starleague, Rain looks to be as promising as he was way back in 2011 during his initial proleague rookie of the year run, whereas this is hero’s first tournament match since his ASL Ro8 loss to BeSt. The fact that this is Bluestorm which has a 30-16 PvZ rate in favour of Protoss makes it a bit more challenging for our ZvP specialist who might have to get a bit more creative against Rain’s very grounded and sound Protoss play. He may try to throw him off with his very popular lurker drop harass and control the high ground at the mineral only.


      Now the 2v2 is where the team chemistry for all these teams will be showcased. On one side, we have ZerO and EffOrt who have been strong rivals and equally strong allies who have played a lot of sponmatches as partners. Zerg is the staple race of the 2v2 match and going up against two of them who main it is going to put them in a great situation despite effort going random. On the other side, it's Flash and Rain who are not only strong in the sense that Flash is really good at playing zerg, especially in 2v2s where he plays zerg a lot and Rain getting the chance to comfortably play his main race but also the main reason why Flash would pick Rain as his teammate on this team is because they are such close friends which would work wonders in their communication. Hunters has been a staple map for 2v2 forever. It's certainly not the best 2v2 (should have brought back Iron Curtain), but it is the most popular one with the most storied history.


      With the Fun and Games of the 2v2 match out of the way, we come to what I believe will be the match of the night. Last vs ZerO on Outsider SE. Last and ZerO have a very back and forth win rate when it comes to tournament matches (ZerO is up 12-10 in this department, but Last has been 9-3 against him in sponmatches for January) and have always shown some of the best games in terms of skill through the post KeSPA era. On top of this, they’re playing on the fan favorite map Outsider. I’m going to expect a high action game, likely a 2 port wraith build from last and zero going for more of a lurker opening.

      Set 1 starts off on Fighting Spirit. Half of you reading that map name have already fallen asleep, but the article will continue with the promise of not mentioning it again. The player draw is really good for team Stork in the first set. Despite the fact that Light still remains a high quality TvZ player, Larva will have to benefit from high quality coaching he needs to take the first set. Fortunately, this is where team Stork may have the best experience. Stork had become a player coach for nearly two years on Samsung Khan during his SC2 era. With his ability to read and predict opponents, the advice for Larva will become invaluable. Larva vs Last played a best of five in the HoSic Starleague just two weeks ago and Light came away with a 3-2 score. In just a single best of one, Larva looks to have that slight edge from team support that puts him in a position to take the first set.


      Set 2 presents us with team captain Stork versus Miso on Blue Storm. Stork is on a five game losing streak which was continued by a terrible series against Jaedong. Having yet to beat a zerg player in live matches really gives Miso the edge here. However, that edge dulls quickly with the introduction of Blue Storm. This map offers little help to zerg players and holds a 34% winrate in the zerg versus protoss matchup. The map used to hold a balance record in kespa days, but the difficult to take 3 gas base and high ground advantages the offensive player gains makes it difficult to play the protoss match up. Despite Stork’s bad streak, this map sets him up for his first win versus zerg.


      Set 3 on Hunters sets up a ZP vs ZT, Zerg being the key race here. The trend holds that zerg is the most important race in 2v2 matchups. Set 3 can actually play a big game changer against teams not containing a zerg. But here we are Larva+Free versus Miso+Light. With regards to the zergs, team Stork has a big leg up as Larva contends each month for title as a top 3 zerg. His higher ability should clearly outperform Miso. Meanwhile Light’s strong bio control is actually a huge asset in the early stages of this 2v2. Light will need to scout fast and apply pressure early on Larva’s base forcing free to move his zealots out early. Miso can then expose the weakness of early game protoss if Free reveals his location. Hunters is a hard map to wall early as a protoss and probes are extremely vulnerable. If Larva engages poorly against Light’s pressure and Free is forced to help Larva defend then Miso can go for the protoss throat. Miso and Light will have an aggressive early game plan and this is their set to win. Want to learn more about the 2v2 matchup? Here’s a fun thread: 2v2 The Forgotten Art


      Set 4 pits Free versus team captain BeSt. This is quite a fun scenario here. Free is on a bit of a slump. He has now fallen to a less than 50% win ratio in his overall record. Meanwhile, BeSt is climbing the ranks. In every regard, he is the better protoss player except versus Free. Head to head, Free has a 5-1 record versus BeSt. While PvPs have been rare in the past 5 years, these players manage to keep on meeting up. While the map outsider does add a unique twist to how the PvP will be played out, the result will be the same.