On August 24 2023 06:33 TMNT wrote:
None of the Protosses are good enough to win this season which means it's TvZ to decide the champion which means a Terran will win it which means it's either Royal JYJ or Rush. All depending on bracket really. Well unless Soma can defy the odds.

lol JYJ going to win back-to-back ASLs without ever playing a protoss in either tournament

I was impressed with Ivory's play against rush even though he lost. Rush just has impeccable push timings, he's a total beast. Hoping to see more of Ivory in the future.

BLinD-RawR

ALLEYCAT BLUES50938 Posts

August 24 2023 03:09 GMT

#143

Group Selection for Ro16 is on Monday August 28th.

Lazyer

United States373 Posts

August 24 2023 03:19 GMT

#144

3 Protoss remaining... Mini Best and Bisu, I feel like they've got no shot.

Also it was kind of interesting that today was the first PvP we've had all season, and we got 2 of them! They'll probably be the last PvPs we'll see until ASL 17. Stork I feel like was playing sloppy (or at his level?), he got his army surrounded and split in every single game today. At least he pulled out the carriers, also probably the last we'll see of them until ASL17 since Snow is out too.

Bisu not going DTs felt kind of uncharacteristic, I remember last season he basically DT rushed out of his group, but it was much less stacked.

Ivory put up a decent fight! His muta micro in G1 was pretty good, I think he was probably hoping to carry that into his losers match, but got stonewalled. Makes me wonder if he's pretty good at ZvZ too. Hope to see more of him!

townhouse

United States38 Posts

August 24 2023 03:45 GMT

#145

valks are so OP. what a dumb unit. feels like defiler man is the only way to beat Ts these days.

i have hope for P. mini has 3 finals appearances + a title. bisu is a legend that has been playing well lately. and best... well ya never know

TornadoSteve

1112 Posts

August 24 2023 03:59 GMT

#146

I wont be surprised if there is only 1 or 2 z in the RO8

PVJ

Hungary5221 Posts

August 24 2023 06:19 GMT

#147

Stork is repeating his last season pattern again. It's great but hard to still root for him. He had some good moments. I liked the aura of ivory too! Seemed odd enough to have a chance to become a title contender. Hope he doesnt stop!

TMNT

3171 Posts

August 24 2023 07:26 GMT

#148

You know how Protoss can get at least one guy into Ro8? I believe Best has the 4th pick which means the 5th pick belongs to that 4th picked guy. So Best can pick Bisu and Bisu can immediately pick Mini afterwards and the last ofthe group will probably be Soma or Soulkey. So here we go, 3 P in 1 group, at least 1 will go through.

I'd rather that than spreading them in 3 groups to all get eliminated.

Meanwhile, JYJ will make a group of him + 3 Zergs and cruise through into Ro8.

reincremate

China2216 Posts

August 24 2023 09:24 GMT

#149

No need for Protoss. Just give us endless TvZs.

whylessness

United States376 Posts

August 24 2023 09:51 GMT

#150

On August 24 2023 16:26 TMNT wrote:
You know how Protoss can get at least one guy into Ro8? I believe Best has the 4th pick which means the 5th pick belongs to that 4th picked guy. So Best can pick Bisu and Bisu can immediately pick Mini afterwards and the last ofthe group will probably be Soma or Soulkey. So here we go, 3 P in 1 group, at least 1 will go through.

I'd rather that than spreading them in 3 groups to all get eliminated.

Meanwhile, JYJ will make a group of him + 3 Zergs and cruise through into Ro8.

protoss collusion in the face of insurmountable odds. love it.

On August 24 2023 18:24 reincremate wrote:
No need for Protoss. Just give us endless TvZs.

tvz has become a bit stale with the dominance of valk builds imo. gone are the days of mech switches, grueling mass muta games, 1-1-1...

i mean, i think mutas were p. much broken before remastered fixed their splash damage. but now i feel tvz is just... ok, there was one engage with valks. did the terran hit his shots or did the zerg snipe the valks? ok, now the game snowballs from here. gg

how can soma "figure out" valks and create a build that counters them? in the hands of a capable player like light, fantasy as he recently showed in the gamers8 legends tourny, or flash it can look clinical, boring even (if the zerg went muta)

less viable builds = less dynamic match up.

Terrorbladder

2735 Posts

August 24 2023 11:28 GMT

#151

On August 24 2023 18:51 whylessness wrote:

Show nested quote +

protoss collusion in the face of insurmountable odds. love it.

Show nested quote +

Remastered fix muta splash damage? How :O

Artas1984

144 Posts

August 24 2023 11:45 GMT

#152

On August 23 2023 20:49 TMNT wrote:
At least with Bisu advancing Protoss has a chance. Stork's just gonna be cannon fodder in the next round lol.

Yes exactly. TBH i am not sure why Stork is playing ASL at all??? He said he would retire after season 14, but for 2 seasons in a row now he returns with to fill the ''carrier sponge fodder spot'' (i respect him a lot though, he's one of my all time favorites). If you discount Stork's legendary 2005-2009 years, Stork had his best ''veteran'' moments back in 2019/2020 when he smashed Jeadong, Last and Best (all 3-0 in KSL3) only to be stopped by Mini. And the following ASL9 he got into RO8, where he was stopped by Light in a close series between them. After that Stork's performance dropped significantly.
Bisu on the other hand, he is like that variable star who sometimes looks like a champion in writing and sometimes like a looser. Bisu is still a legit championship contender. With Rain, Snow and Light gone he has a huge chance to win ASL this season. So it's better for the tournament that Bisu advanced over Stork's carcass.

Very impressed with Ivory. If that guy managed to beat Ssak and Soma to get into ASL, he is so legit! Both his matches looked very impressive (unlike Beast and 815 who were just fucking cheesing their asses in previous ASLs, because they knew they had no chance in standard games).

I believe we do not have a favorite to win ASL anymore. Soma, Action, Hero, Soulkey, Mini, Bisu, Royal, JYJ, Rush, Mind - all are pretty equal in combat shape in my eyes. Snow and Light were the strongest players by FAR, so i ain't calling anything now.

Ideas

United States8170 Posts

August 24 2023 13:11 GMT

#153

We've only had 2 repeat champions in ASL, so likely we're going to get a new champ. Meta is heavily favoring Terran. Looking at the lineup, my pick is Rush is the most likely player to win this ASL now. He's still got the hunger for gold and looks great in every MU.

Rooting for Soma though

outscar

2832 Posts

August 24 2023 14:25 GMT

#154

Imagine if we end up with TvT finals once again for 3rd consecutive time? If that happens we need petition to fire 910, I never liked his choices of maps. One guy shouldn't be in charge of all that.

Ideas

United States8170 Posts

August 24 2023 14:36 GMT

#155

On August 24 2023 23:25 outscar wrote:
Imagine if we end up with TvT finals once again for 3rd consecutive time? If that happens we need petition to fire 910, I never liked his choices of maps. One guy shouldn't be in charge of all that.

And next season Flash and fantasy are likely to participate as well lol. Fantasy might not be champion material by next season but flash always is...