EPT
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Shinhan Proleague Round 1, Week 2
14:00 KST @ MBCGame channel
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/eStro.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/MBCGame%20Hero.jpg)
Matchups
Sea.Really < Katrina SE > 
HyuN
SangHo < Colosseum > SeaTester & hyvaa < Hunters > Light & SaintGoodfriend < Wuthering Heights > SharkCloser < Andromeda >
Preview:
Both teams have had a fabulous start into the season, the one expected, the other rather unexpected. Both stand on top of the ranking with a mapscore of 6-1 and two clean victories. Lets revise quickly:
+ Show Spoiler [games so far] +
MBC 3-0 Lecaf
MBC 3-1 SKT1
(dropping one map in 2on2 against Bisu / Rumble)
eSTRO 3-1 ACE
(Superstar Upmagic losing against Daezang)
eSTRO 3-0 STX
MBC 3-1 SKT1
(dropping one map in 2on2 against Bisu / Rumble)
eSTRO 3-1 ACE
(Superstar Upmagic losing against Daezang)
eSTRO 3-0 STX
However beautiful the stats may be, it remains to be said that ACE and STX are classically not the best teams, while there is a lot to be expected of SKT1 with the revised lineup (+Bisu) and training staff (+oov) and especially from the current grand champions Lecaf. Lecaf fielded their classical stars forGG and Jaedong (while not using Anytime) but was still sent home 0-3. That being said, lets go for the predictions:
Sea.Really < Hyun
Sea.Really has, despite trying to confuse MBC with a cunning pun, the merit of performing very well in the minor league, racking up 6-2 stats there. Hyun on the other hand is still MBC's next big thing. Sporting an impressive 2/3 winrate from his still early career, with 6-2 against Terran, he should be the favourite in this game. The only factor pointing in favor of Really might be the map - Katrina is traditionally a bad map for Zerg and a good map for the opponents of the swarm. Who knows, maybe Really will try to adopt the successful metal strategy Flash so convincingly displayed.
Sangho < Sea
Sangho is on a 4 loss streak against Terran. He is 4-8 in total. His wins come from Skyhigh, who is known for a killer TvZ and a sub-par TvP. He has "Ho" in his name, therefore indicating kinship with Backho who displayed one of the most amazing game throws I have seen in a while (against Frozean). The only thing counting against Sea is that his recent results against Protoss have been so-so. However those recent games were mostly against Much (in his OSC winner form), Stork (at GSI, before Flash broke him) and Best (Protoss' next big hope). Not much to be afraid of and looks like a certain win for MBC.
Tester & hyvaa > Light & Saint
The map is Hunters. Recently it looked like on Hunters the clearly best combination is Z / P, as in all four games where a PZ combo met a TZ, the PZ came out on top. Light and Saint already made this experience against SKT1 and I am simply assuming this will play out in the same way.
Goodfriend > Shark
How good is Goodfriend? He is on a 3-0 ministreak and he has qualified for the MSL. He is playing on Wuthering Heights, a map that makes it reasonably difficult to grab a second gas expansion for the Zerg, therefore his chances should be quite good. He is playing against Shark however. Don't let the TLPD stats delude you, Shark has been good lately, making a decent splash in the MBC vs. OGN derby, going 3-1 against various terrans. However, my suspicion is that the map will play out in favor of the Terran.
ACE Match
If all my predictions home in, we will face a 2-2 at this point. There is no reason for MBC not to send out Sea. He has been doing decent lately and the map, Andromeda, appears to be a safe place for terrans - they are the most likely to profit from the free third min-only base, and the cliffs overlooking the gas natural are an open invitation to their tanks. Who could eSTRO send out as their ace to snipe Sea? The best bet, in my opinion, might be Upmagic or Goodfriend. TvT will happen on equal terms, Upmagic could prepare fully for this Ace Match, seeking to surprise Sea with a well-thought out build.
+ Show Spoiler [results] +
Sea.Really < Hyun
SangHo < Sea
eSTRO < MBC
Goodfriend [not needed] Shark
eSTRO 0 - 3 MBC
SangHo < Sea
eSTRO < MBC
Goodfriend [not needed] Shark
eSTRO 0 - 3 MBC
How to watch
- Yaoyuan should work, with some delay to the Daum stream. Works only in IE and requires the TVAnts plugin (dl here)
- If you have a good connection, use the Daum player (guide here + troubleshooting); it has both OGN and MBC, but might buffer frequently. If you receive an error message, changing the streaming room is said to help.
