[OSL] Round of 16 - Day 6

Group A:
Playing: Defiler Kid—Wraith Boy*

This will doubtless be the most anticipated match of the night, even though it is between two players not known for their followings. That's because the fate of two players with larger support; Bisu and EffOrt, rely on a Leta victory in this game. Meanwhile, Action will try to play the spoiler and advance at all odds from a star-studded group.

Fortunately for the other two players, Leta is the favorite here. Action is adept at ZvT, and has put in some memorable performances in the match-up, yet it remains his weakest. On the other hand, Leta excels against zerg, and has recently recaptured his mojo with his signature two-port wraith. Expect it again on Flight-Dreamliner a map defined by its short air and land rush distances. While this map has not been hospitable to terran overall, it has seen terrans take important victories on the map in recent days, and Leta achieved the first TvZ win back in the OSL's earlier stages. Leta is the perfect player to take the fight on this map to the zerg, and will look to do early damage and control the skies. If comes out of the early game behind, however, then Action's impressive hive play will be difficult to overcome. I can't pick against Leta here, and I really want him to win badly, but I don't expect Action to roll over without a fight.

Group Standings
Leta: 2-0
Action: 1-1
Bisu: 1-2
EffOrt: 1-2

* Leta needs a nickname. He's really come into his own recently, having to lead Hite through tough times, and regaining his 2009 form, except more experienced and smarter. He's really solid in two match-ups, and pretty good in the other. He seems far and away one of the most mature and comfortable progamers in social situations. I didn't really want to call him "Wraith Boy" but "Wraith Man" sounds silly, and he does still look a little like a kid. I wanted to find a good color to call him like "The ___ Wraith" but while Red is awesome, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense given he's not on STX, and Hite's color is light blue. Suggestions?

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Group B:
Playing: Magikarp—The Ultimate Weapon

HiyA was one of the players who took a game from Flash in his infamous ace-match losing streak, and he'll look to repeat the feat again here with his tournament on the line. He's been playing solid, if unflashy TvT of late. Flash, meanwhile, is in a comfortable position, but still must win to avoid a tiebreaker. He has since recovered from his TvT hiccups, and has won five in a row, and eight of ten.

Flash, as ever, remains the obvious choice to win this game and the group. In fact, after watching Flash's clinic against forGG in the MSL it might seem fair to claim that Flash is untouchable at this stage, and can't lose A-class players like HiyA. I'm reluctant to endorse that view completely, as HiyA has been showing real improvement in this match-up, and can threaten Flash if he gets a BO advantage. But that's easier said then done, and I think the map being the boring Eye of the Storm makes it unlikely we'll see any kind of surprising shenanigans here. Flash'll win.

Group Standings
Flash: 2-0
ZerO: 2-1
HiyA: 1-1
Hyuk: 0-3

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Group C:
Playing: Hydra the Easily Overlooked—L'enfant Terrible

Credit where credit is due. Hydra has elevated his game quite a bit to reach this point, and can still advance despite being widely considered the one of the worst players in the Round of 16. However, to do that, it'll have to start with an upset against the group leader Sea. TL's favorite Yum Bo Sung is coming off a remarkable win against Jaedong, and looks poised to reach yet another Round of 8. So far this has been one of his all-time best years and seasons as a progamer, and can make it even greater with a win tonight.

Unfortunately for Hydra (and Waxangel) the map is Grand Line, which favors terran, as well as really long drawn out game. This means that Sea is likely to use his beloved mech transition, and Hydra is likely to desperately run his OSL chances headlong into mines like the Titanic into an iceberg. I think Hydra can and will give Sea a bigger fight then most people are expecting, but I think the MBC terran will pull it out. Terran's pretty cost-effective, you know.

Group Standings
Sea: 2-0
Jaedong: 2-1
Hydra: 1-1
Pure: 0-3

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Group D:
Playing: The Terrorist—The Red Shuttle

Group D was considered the pre-tournament "Group of Death", and it certainly delivered the best games of any group, however there was nothing dramatic about the way it ended up in the end. Free and Stork have already advanced, and played all their games, leaving fantasy and Kal to play for pride in the final match of the Round of 16. (Except for tiebreakers, of course!)

This should be a really fun game though. Both players are experienced, and among the best in their races, despite their results on paper in the OSL. Even better, the map is Polaris Rhapsody, which is a strong map for either player, and a fun map for PvT. Multiple channels for fantasy's vultures, and many openings for Kal's harass. Expect a back and forth game with abundant worker deaths. Expect a close result. I refuse to predict. I love both players. Go Kal! Go Fantasy!

Group Standings
free: 3-0
Stork: 2-1
Fantasy: 0-2
Kal: 0-2

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Hoping for good games!

Stolen Borrowed from MountainDewJunkie

Group A:
Action wins --> Leta and Action advance.
Leta wins --> Leta advances; tiebreakers between Action, Bisu, and Effort are needed to determine the final slot.

Group B:
Flash wins --> Flash and Zero advance.
HiyA --> tiebreakers between Flash, Hiya, and Zero are needed to determine two slots.

Group C:
Sea wins --> Sea and Jaedong advance.
Hydra --> tiebreakers between Sea, Jaedong, and Hydra are needed to determine two slots.

Group D:
Fantasy wins --> Doesn't matter, Stork and Free have already advanced.
Kal wins --> Still doesn't matter.

— - Not recommended
★ - Recommended
★ ★ - Highly Recommended
★ ★ ★ - Watch Now

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+ Show Spoiler [Group A: Action—Leta] +—
+ Show Spoiler [Group B: HiyA—Flash] +—
+ Show Spoiler [Group C: Hydra—Sea] +—
+ Show Spoiler [Group D: fantasy—Kal] +—

Disappointing games. Go watch the forGG/EffOrt series in WCG for some excellent starcraft.

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Flash in the booth, has a hardware issue:


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