park - my voice a bit gone nao q - how did you sleep park - I hoped kt won't reach finals q - kt too strong? lose 3 times in a row?!?! park - honestly, not worrying baout that would be a lie, we did want to meet them but my mind change, it would've been bad if someone else made finals, we'll beat kt! q - you lost 2 times, did you find a solution to break the losing streak? q - ur hand is shaking! park - no breakfastu, jkjk, after 08-09 we started meeting kt, the reason we lost is... because we're sk, we had the confidence, that turned to be a two edged sword for us, now we threw that away and became serious, we'll show how scary a serious T1 can be q - biggest nightmare? park - really for t1, we had the best performance in regular seasons but it didn't feel great, because of final league failing twice, it came out as nightmares q - with lee ji hoon coach with devil horns? park - not that, but appearing behind me o.o park - instead of nightmares, I want to deliver the feeling of being 2nd to kt
lee - hello I am kt rolster coach lee ji hoon q - you won twice, isn't it about to elt someone else win lee - we'll remember how we won last time q - (about WL) lee - we reached 5 pinals in a row, minus a small roadblock in WL finals q - did you have any dreams lee - players are real comfortable, maybe gain a bit weightt oo
LETS TALK WITH CAPTAINS q - what was original score last time s2 - because I lost, we got owned 4-3 reversed, today we have a chance to beat kt, we'll definitely win so cheer for us q - are you confidence as captain? s2 - yes q - did you do lee eun mi hair today pantaji :> q - if he does this hair style curl, he never loses fantasy - that's right, thanks tot he make up team as always :D q - but you might nto feel well, you're winning so much, but team lose, how would you feel if you lose and team win fantasy - don't care about being the main foicus, I just hope the team wins q - word to pans plz bisu bisu - hello this is sk telecom's bisu q - to break this losing streak, how will you do it bisu - last week I had a cold, I dropped out of prelims but it was a good lesson bisu - he cheered after my prelim endu q - he stopped contact after that?! bisu - no, he doesn't like being contacted too often q - personal video msg to him! bisu - we'll definitely win today q - let's go to best q - hello best, who will you beat today q - they left you out in interbiew on who to beat, WHY IS THAT best - maybe cause I lost twice last year, I WILL SHOW THEM THIS YR IM GUD best - lots of ppl came to see, we'll try and meet expecations thank you reach - hello kt rolster's reach hihi today's big significance for you? reach - I get to feel a team win with kt, I'm so happy to be involved (hehehe) feeling is good, this is the last stage for me, hope kt wins today hello flash flash - hello this is kt rolster's flash q - all progamers want to beat you, CAN ANYONE BEAT YOU flash - not yet, and there won't be q - goal for today flash - we practiced till we almost bleedu, we want to deliver this victory 3 in a row for pans lets go to hoejja q - greet plz hoejja - herro dis is hoejja q - you said you are like paying back a loan to the fans, how will you do today hoejja - yes I am, I want to beat this record and deliver for fans q - can go GOD min mode work today? hoejja - I'll show you a secret weapon :D
Once again we're at the end of another season with two of the greatest teams to ever grace this lovely game of ours. Once more I've gone out to seek two avid BW fans who have been closely following Proleague to bring you an interview full with their thoughts. I hope you enjoy this long but enjoyable read
[Errr, because of time constraints and other circumstances I haven't edited the answers, so the formatting maybe weird. As soon as I get back I'll fix it up, promise Okay, done] 1. Let's start with something simple, MVP of your team this season? What about the most improved player?
Endy: I will use this question as an opportunity to review T1 players' performance this season. Fantasy is the MVP for sure. He did not only achieve a stellar record of 13-2 (86.7%) during this season, but is also a well-rounded player who is strong against all races. He defeated Stork, a PvT sniper, and God-slayer M18M, dismantled ZerO at each of their three encounters, and finally earned his first victory against his arch-nemesis, sKyHigh. His only two losses came from Leta and Last, two TvT specialists.
Regarding the most improved player, I would have loved to mention a rookie or one of our Zergs, but with the regular season best of five format, T1 relied heavily on the FBB triumvirate. - Bisu was good, with a 11-7 (61%) record. But after seeing him play last season, it sure is a little disappointing. - BeSt only had a slightly better record, 12-8 (63%), but finally showed that he could play PvZ, and was one of the best Proleague Protoss this season, so he is the one who probably improved the most. - Sun's performance was pretty bad, except his incredible win against PvP bonjwa Horang2 in round 3. - Ssak barely played and lost his two games (against M18M and Jaedong for his defense). - s2 was slumping hard last season, and as a result, played only one game this season and lost it. At least he seems to have become a decent captain. - Hyuk was...Hyuk, i.e winning more games than he should have, but failing terribly the rest of the time. - soO had an awful start, winning only one of his 6 first games of the season, but is currently on a 6 wins streak, which gives him a more than decent 7-5 (58%) record for the whole season.
Biff: It is so obvious that it is actually quite hard to answer. Of course I would say Flash, not so much because of his winning streak or his actual performance, but because he seems to have become some kind of mythological figure for the whole scene. I think that this is what holds the team together, and what give its players this very good mental condition, which is KT's fuel for victory. Whatever happens, Flash is on their side. As much as I hate the Flashcot, I have to admit that there is a part of truth there: who needs a lucky charm when you have HIM on your side?
2. We're in a similar situation to last season, where KT fought its way up to meet SKT, defeating them despite SKT having ample time to prepare. This season, KT have played two series to reach the finals, revealing their cards along the way, while SKT have revealed none of their own. Considering what happened last year, is SKT still at an advantage? If so, how significant is this advantage and what can we expect?
Endy: To be honest, KT's strategy was super risky last year. They kept their best players for the last sets, and if s2 did not throw the game away, it would have been a humiliating 4-0 win for T1. For those who forgot what happened, Bisu and Fantasy lead the path with two easy wins against Perfective and Crazy-Hydra. Then s2 was sent against HoeJJa. Hoejja tried a huge ling bust that delayed his spire a little but s2 holded with a sunken. Then s2 countered with mutas, and had the game in the bag until a lucky flock of scourges proceeded to hit a lot of his mutas, which cost him the game. Then Sun took the fourth set. Then Flash and Stats rolled us and took it to the ace match, where Flash mopped the floor with BeSt. KT definitely deserved the title, they had to fight for their spot in the finals and they had a real ace player -- contrary to SKT -- but all in all, we we're a few scourges close to a 4-0.
Our biggest weakness is that we do not have a good player to field on Outlier. On the contrary KT has HoeJJa and Stats, who are respectively 4-0 and 5-3. The player we fielded the most on this map is Bisu, who only achieved a disappointing 2-3 record. We also need to keep in mind that although they almost got 4-0'ed last year, KT likes to field Stats and Flash in the end, and Outlier being a very bad map for terran, we can almost be sure that Stats will be sent, and it would be a huge waste to send Bisu against Flash when KT will use a zerg heavy line-up.
We performed very poorly during OSL qualifiers, but so did KT. In my opinion, it simply reflects how hard both teams are practicing for the finals, which means that the last BW Proleague finals will display incredibly high level games.
Biff: I think fans speculate a lot about what gives an advantage to whom and what is good in terms of preparation, and all these things. I have quite a few objections to this idea that when you wait at home while your opponent is fighting, you have a great advantage. The first one is the momentum. People really underestimate how much confidence you get from winning. KT has defeated CJ in a tough fight, then they went on to demolish Khan, and now SKT is just one more step. In the player's mind, it means they just have to keep going.
Meanwhile, SKT has witnessed KT's very good and puzzling performance (hello Hoejja?), and they are on the defensive side. They have had all the opportunities in the world to get nervous. On top of that, they haven't played on stage for a while, which is not ideal either. Finally I am not sure that such a long preparation is that great. Of course you have studied all the options, but what really matters is players condition on the spot, how confident they are and how good they feel about their playing.
I think all these little things give KT quite a big advantage.
3. KT Zerg have been on a hot-streak during the playoffs, garnering a lot of praise through the two series. Any thoughts on why they're doing so well at this time? And does SKT have anything to fear?
Endy: I think HoeJJa is a terrible player overall, his 45% lifetime record is here to attest it, however, he has always played extremely well during play-offs, saved KT from a 4-0 defeat last year, and is definitely the player who showed the most solid games during this season playoffs. Flash and Stats are an awesome one-two punch, and Hoejja is currently KT's best asset to get a third win in the series. SKT does not have good ZvZ snipers, and Bisu and Fantasy will be sent against other players. HoeJJa is also hard to snipe (I never thought I would one day say that Hoejja was a player to snipe LOL) because even though he has displayed great games on Outlier, KT also made him play successfully on Sniper Ridge during these playoffs (vs RorO).
Biff: Let's be honest there, nobody expected Hoejja and Action to perform so well during the playoff. Crazy-Hydra had at least decent stats during the regular season. The only thing that comes to my mind is that these unexpected good performances at the time it matters the most is really what makes KT such an amazing team. On paper, KT is not even that good. Flash is Flash, Stat is a good Protoss, Crazy Hydra is half decent and everybody else is meh.
KT is the only team that plays much better under pressure. They are the exact opposite of CJ and Khan, who have much more impressive lineups but seem to be unable to do well when it's actually important.
Anyway. I want to emphasize the fact that none of the teams KT have faced in this playoff have anticipated difficulties coming from KT Zergs. I think SKT needs to take the threat very seriously, if they don't want to give a lot of potential free wins to their opponents. But again, momentum is such a mysterious thing, and nobody can be a hundred percent sure that Hoejja and Action will not perform like Hoejja and Action.
4. Flash is a dominating player, and a large threat to any team. What advice would you give to Coach Park regarding who to send out to tackle Flash? (would it be a sacrifice or one of the FBB, if the latter, which one has the best shot?)
Endy: I am not especially proud of it, but using a sacrificial lamb against Flash is probably the best strategy overall. Fantasy, Bisu and BeSt are likely to win against anyone except Flash, and SKT will try to take the title before the ace match, so we cannot afford to send any of them against Flash. Flash is the undisputed greatest Brood War player ever. He did destroy Jangbi recently, but if Flash can lose a game in this series, it has to be a TvP - I'd love to see Hyuk muta-ling him to death, but it is not going to happen. SKT will send Sun to cheese him.
Biff: I wouldn't give any advice to anyone, I would be a disastrous coach! More seriously, Bisu, Best and Fantasy all have their chances against Flash. I wouldn't try too hard to capitalize on his TvP "weakness" because I don't think there will be any weakness anymore, to be honest. I can very well see Flash demolishing Best just as usual. The best approach is probably to consider Flash as a good player that has been proven possible to beat, and know that in the eventuality of a loss, they still have the better lineup. The real problem will be ace match, if there is any, although Chain Reaction is a reason by itself to chose another ace than Flash.
5. What are your opposing team's weaknesses? If there are any, how should your team go about exploiting them?
Endy: KT's only weakness is their coach, who never really stood out as a very good coach. However, we cannot blame him since KT has won the last two Proleagues. I believe KT will be predictable and will keep Flash and Stats for sets 5 and 6, which I admit makes sense given the map order. In response, T1 will send their best players first to take it before the ace match, just like it should have happened last year.
If T1 does not take it before the ace match, I am confident that they will take the ace match, I will explain why later.
Biff: SKT is an amazing team, but they rarely all perform at their best at the same time, especially in big matches. OSL preliminaries have been disappointing for both teams, although Action kicking PvZ new specialist BeSt out will probably hurt a lot for SKT.
I think mental state and confidence will decide how everything goes. These are things you cannot completely control. SKT has an advantage in terms of lineup, as usual, and KT has an advantage in terms of momentum, which is also their trademark. Zergs performances will probably decide the whole match.
6. SKT has utilised the map advantage, choosing Neo Chain Reaction as the final map. Should the series play out to the final game, who do you think your team will send? And who are you expecting from the other side?
Endy: This is the most interesting question. If the ace match map was not Neo Chain Reaction, we would be guaranteed a Flash vs Fantasy ace match. The thing is, on Neo Chain Reaction, everyone would expect a Bisu vs Stats, which is not a more favored match-up than Flash vs Fantasy.
Here is my theory. Coach Park is smart. He has no reason to prefer a Bisu vs Stats over a Fantasy vs Flash. Fantasy proved in the past that he can overcome map balance with tailored builds. He was able to use mech against Zerg on maps where it was not possible to go mech vZ before. He was the one who was able find a build to hard-counter the powerful one-gate double expand into reaver in PvT when facing Stork in the last Bacchus OSL finals. KT does not expect SKT to send Fantasy for the ace match, but Fantasy had a whole month to find a perfect TvP build on Neo Chain Reaction, and I am sure that if it goes to the ace match, SKT will field Fantasy to snipe Stats.
I am thinking of a one rax expand, followed by a factory with siege upgrade, followed by a starport. If Stats goes reaver, Fantasy builds wraith to kill the shuttle. Otherwise, Fantasy will build a dropship. Tanks can be dropped on the high ground behind the main mineral line, which can shoot probes and retreat even before dragoons can come to defend. On Chain Reaction, the high ground above the natural didn't allow for drops, but it is on Neo Chain Reaction. Nobody has exploited this balance modification until now, but I am sure Fantasy will.
Biff: That's a very disappointing choice but it's understandable since it's massively unbalanced against Terrans. It is very clear that SKT is planning to send either Bisu, or Best.
From then there are three options for KT. The first one is to send Stats and to prepare him a lot for a very expected PvP. This is the option I like the least, but it would be reasonable, because Stats has chances against both Bisu and BeSt who are not in their best PvP form at the moment.
Second option would be to send Flash anyway. That would be a dangerous move because TvP is the only match-up in which Flash has lost a game since last July, and the map is terrible for TvP.
The third option, the bold one, would be to send a Zerg. That would be a very risky move, but it could be a risk worth taking. I think KT management will go for the Stats option.
Finally, the last possibility would be a crazy move from SKT management and sending Fantasy to 'mindfuck' everybody. Unfortunately, their head coach is not January (<3), so this ain't happening.
7. If you could choose a map and one player from each side to create an exciting game, which map and two players would you choose?
Endy: Fantasy versus Flash on Jade, obviously. Both players are the team aces, and they are the two best TvT players. Because both have a great record on this map, it is actually likely to happen!
Biff: I could very well see a BeSt versus Action on Neo Chain Reaction being quite awesome because of the context. Otherwise, Flash versus Bisu on Sniper Ridges would be tremendously exciting. They haven't met for a very long time, and it would really be the appropriate moment for Flash to prove that he has nothing to fear with his vsP match-up.
8. Your predictions?
Endy: Bisu<Neo Chain Reaction> Crazy-Hydra Crazy-Hydra is 7-1 on this map if we combine Chain Reaction and Neo Chain Reaction stats. Bisu is a perfect opening for SKT, and while he has not played PvZ on this map, he is 2-0, and Bisu is a player who is invincible when he feels confident enough.
By.Sun <Ground Zero> HoeJJa Sun has not been doing so well on any map in particular, and KT may send Flash here for an autowin. Paradoxically, Flash lost a game against Dear on this map, so Sun is the perfect choice to be a kamikaze sacrificial lamb with an all-in build. Sun does not stand a chance against God if he plays standard, and T1 is not dumb enough to send a sacrificial lamb without attempting something. Coach Park is ballsy, remember how he asked soO to 5 pool Stork last season when they did not know how to handle the Dinosaur. The thing is, T1 does not have a Ground Zero specialist and will anticipate the possible Flash snipe attempt by Sun and will send Hoejja as a counter-sniper. Just like last year and the recent playoffs, the lefty will win his game.
BeSt <Jade> Wooki On this map, I think we all expect to see a rematch of the BeSt vs Flash, where Flash bunker rushed BeSt and won with flawless marine micro. Yes, Flash is 4-0 on Jade, but he has perfect or almost perfect records on other maps too. KT will send Wooki, because Zerg is a bad choice, and they want to keep Flash and Stats for later sets.
Fantasy <Sniper Ridge> Action Bisu and BeSt are both 0-2 on this map, so they will not be sent. Sending a Zerg on this map is only very good against Protoss (lurker contain on the natural ridge is just unbreakable), but KT's only Protoss player is Stats, and he will play on Neo Outlier. Crazy-Hydra would be a decent option for KT, but I am sure he will play the first set. Fantasy is undefeated on this map after four games and is the obvious player for SKT. We have witnessed a few late game TvZs on this map, and Action has a great late game ZvT and is also 1-0 on this map. Either it will end early and Fantasy will take it because of its better early and mid game, or it will go to late game and Fantasy will use the now standard mech switch, and Fantasy's mech TvZ is just too much for a non-Woongjin Zerg. n.Die_soO <Neo Outlier> Stats Stats is the Outlier specialist, on which he achieved a 6-2 (75%) record. As mentioned earlier, soO is on a six game wins-streak, and a ZvP specialist. This game is definitely the most crucial game of the night as it will decide whether SKT takes it 4-1 or KT takes it to the ace match. It is also the most difficult set to predict, Stats and soO having a lifetime head to head record of 3 to 3, with soO winning the last encounter, but Stats being a better and more consistent player overall.
What makes this set even harder to predict is that KT could also send HoeJJa who is undefeated on this map. In that case, we would see a coinflip between two zergs on a win streak, which is somehow very exciting for a coinflip !
Hyuk <Neo Electric Circuit> Flash If we combine Electric Circruit and Neo Electric Circuit stats, Flash is 7-1 on this map. KT does not have any other player that was successful on this map, and since Flash will not play the ace match anyway, KT will definitely send him on set 6. As I said at the beginning, this season SKT is basically FBB + soO, and they do not have a sixth decent player. Hyuk will be the last attempt to end it before the ace match, but we all know how it is going to end.
Fantasy <Neo Chain Reaction> Stats As I explained before, I highly doubt that Coach Park will waste the ace map choice advantage to trade a Fantasy vs Flash with a Bisu vs Stats as that does not give him better odds. T1 will unexpectedly send Fantasy with an anti-Stats build.
I know my predictions are a little cliché with FBB winning, but Ssak, s2 and Hyuk barely played this season, Sun has been disappointing and soO has been doing okay. That being said, SKT will still try to take it before the ace match, while KT will send their best players in the end as usual.
Some people think KT will let Reach play as a farewell present, but when I see the incentives KT is giving to its players, I doubt they are willing to take the risk to lose the Proleague this way. It would also feel very unsatisfying for us SKT fans to win the Proleague 4-2 because we got a free win against Reach.
Biff: Everything is possible. I think KT will take it all, and I do expect an ace match, with Stats being sent and winning over BeSt or Bisu. The only thing I don't see happening right now is SKT winning before the ace match.
9. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions, any last words?
Endy: I just want to give a quick shout out to Konadora who negotiated directly with KeSPA to get all the TL'ers attending the finals in Seoul reserved tickets in the front, just behind the fan-clubs. Kona you are awesome and I am looking forward to meeting you !
SKT T1 hwaiting! Oh by the way, does anyone know what Kim Carrier's predictions are ?
Biff: It was a pleasure! This is, in a way, a very unexciting matchup, because both teams are very predictable. KT will win because that's what they do even when they shouldn't. SKT, as usual, has won everything during the regular season and then will get slaughtered in the grand final for no reason at all. Just like Idra in TSL. Déjà vu.
A big thank you to both Biff and Endy for taking the time to answer my questions *thumbs up*
Well, I have to work at 08:30 my timezone, it starts at 04:00 I need to sleep early, wake up early, and have enough energy, or caffeine, to keep myself through the day =/ NOT going to miss this, like I missed games 1-4 of Jangbi vs Fantasy
Yes! Perfect time for me! Please no Best vs Flash again, I would rather like to see Bisu vs Flash! Fantasy vs Stats is the second matchup I want to see the most.
EPT
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2011-2012 Proleague Season 1/Play-Off![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/v8Rkm.png)
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