[SPL] Playoffs - CJ Entus vs Samsung Khan Day 1

The line directly below holds a different version of previous Statistics. It goes in this order:
(W-L of the Last 5 Games of Player 1 in the Match up, Overall %), Map Statistics for that Match up, (W-L of the Last 5 Games of Player 2 in the Match up, %).

Iris <Andromeda> oDin

(4-1, 55%), 33-30, (1-4, 19.23%)

This should be a walkover. Just from the Statistics, you can tell that oDin is severely outmatched here. His last televised win against a Terran was about a year ago against BoxeR. This year, he is 3-5 in Proleague, with wins against Reach, Rock, and Haran. Iris is looking solid this year. He's become one of CJ's go to guys this year, and he's even in the Ro4 in the GOM Classic Season 3 where he is also matched up against a Zerg. Although his weakest match up is against Zerg, he has pulled out some surprisingly effective play this season in games against great and ZerO. Although he can't even begin to match up with S class players, oDin is clearly outmatched in this game.

The map doesn't help either. Andromeda has a very mixed record TvZ, and although Zergs have found a second wind on the map during Winners League, games between comparable players have shown that Andromeda is still slightly Terran favored. Flash during his little mini-slump beat down a rising YellOw[ArnC] on that map, and Sea even bested Jaedong in an epic match late last year.

sKyHigh <Destination> great

(1-4, 57.69%), 45-31, (4-1, 53.85%)

After his epic two takedowns of Jaedong in the Winners League, we haven't really heard much from Skyhigh in TvZ. His TvZ is okay at best, but he hasn't really been performing that well at all in the match up. He got knocked out of GOM Classic 3 by July 1-2, and knocked out of the MSL 0-2 by failed cheeses ZerO. He hasn't been able to secure a win against any good Zerg in the past few months. However, that is not to say that he is slumping. He was vital to CJ's dismantling of SPARKYZ in their match, absolutely destroying Leta twice. In addition, he scored a win against fantasy, one of the best TvT players out there right now. So what's Skyhigh's problem? Probably a lack of game sense in the match up. I mean it's like all SkyHigh can do now against Zerg is cheese. Even then, he still kind of fails at it. Great originally had an okay record, but lately, he has been stepping up his game and has showed us what he is capable of. He beat out Calm for the Ace Match in the first set of Khan v STX, and he beat out hero earlier in the same match. However, his ZvT is relatively untested. His most recent televised match was against Lomo, where he had a fairly close game. However, just two months ago, great got knocked out the OSL in the Preliminary stages by... kkong. I don't even know who kkong is, but great lost 0-2 to that guy, so his ZvT isn't exactly top notch. However, his recent games have shown us that he does have the potential.

The most famous instance of Skyhigh's play on Destination is obviously Skyhigh vs. Jaedong in Winner's League. The map itself favors Terran, but lately the record is rather mixed. The play on Destination has really evolved since it's inception, so past games won't do the map much justice.



EffOrt <Neo Harmony> firebathero

(4-1, 64.86%), 17-20, (2-3, 57.69%)

This match is probably going to be the game of the night. EffOrt has lately become an absolute monster, rolling over pretty much anyone who stands in his way. His only recent loss has been to Flash (The one where EffOrt didn't expect cheese), but overall, he hasn't lost to anyone recently except for YellOw[ArnC], Jaedong, and IrOn. For the past 25 ZvT games, the only loss that wasn't in a Bo3 was to Flash. That's a pretty impressive run. He's overall 22-3 for the past 25 ZvTs. That's all that needs to be said on EffOrt. Firebathero is... well, not looking so hot. The most recent TvZ he played was against Calm, which he lost in a rather decisive fashion on the same map he's going to play EffOrt on. His TvZ definitely isn't what it used to be, although even then it was rather inconsistent. Overall, the picture doesn't get that much better. He's pretty much breaking even right now in terms of win-loss for the past 10 games, and many of those losses or wins aren't against the best of players (except for his game versus Flash). If FBH shows a similar performance like he gave in his previous Proleague match, well, the game won't be pretty.

Neo Harmony has been very back and forth in terms of TvZ. It's been so back and forth that it's hard to draw any real conclusions from its record. However, Neo Harmony is a map where a Mech style has been attempted by Terran, so any games that are Mech on that map have to be thrown out since firebathero probably won't Mech. In that case, the map is still pretty much even. EffOrt has also never played a game on Neo Harmony, and with the recent lack in macro maps, firebathero doesn't have too much information on EffOrt's macro game, so that might give EffOrt a slight edge.

Kwanro <Neo Medusa> Miracle

(4-1, 57.89%), 9-14, (2-3, 50%)

Kwanro is another player that's playing pretty well at the moment, especially against Terran. He took out Flash in the MSL 2-1, and rolled over Justin in CJ v SPARKYZ. His game sense has definitely developed since his early days as just a very, very aggressive Zerg player. Kwanro has also proven that he can take games to the end game and not completely fall apart. Miracle has a very limited record, so there's not a lot of information on him. He has performed decently in Proleague, although he did drop out of the OSL 1-2 to hyvaa. From looking at a few of Miracle's TvZs, Miracle is similar to Kwanro in that he also plays a fairly aggressive TvZ style. He takes the fight to his opponent with aggressive 1 base plays, but he falters when he's on the defensive. This should be a fairly interesting match if both players opt to go for an agressive build.

The map Neo Medusa appears to have quite a Terran bias, but there hasn't really been any games played between two comparable players, however, a popular trend on Neo Medusa lately has been an aggressive 2 Hatch muta opening, so considering that it is Kwanro, we'll probably see some sort of 2 Hatch play from him.

Movie <Heartbreak Ridge> JangBi

(1-4, 36.36%), 21 PvPs played, (2-3, 51.56%)

After his spectacular Leta snipe, Movie showed a rather lackluster game when he got crushed by Justin on Day 2. It shows that Movie is still a rather inconsistent player that can play a spectacular game... sometimes. Anyway, PvP is Movie's worst match up, and it shows statistically and in his record. However, he hasn't exactly lost to the worst PvP players. In his games this year, the only three players that he's played that isn't a top Protoss are Horang2, GuemChi, and Violet. Of those, he's only won against GuemChi, but that's nothing to be ashamed about considering that his opponents are top notch PvP players. Then again, look at JangBi's PvP record this year, and he's played a ton of good Protosses with a mixed record. He's played Bisu 8 times this year, free 3 times, Stork 3 times, and Kal twice. Of those, he's 3-0ed free and Stork, is 3-5 against Bisu, and is 1-1 with Kal. That's a pretty impressive PvP record. On the other hand, he's lost to Jaehoon (WTF) andYoonJong recently (Much cheesed him, doesn't count ), so he's in a little mini slump in terms of PvP. However, his recent wins in Proleague have surely revitalized him, so JangBi might be psychologically over with his slump. If that's the case, expect to see a very one-sided PvP match.

Neo Medusa is a map that's pretty notorious for it's positional imbalance. On certain positions, reaver drops become much more dangerous because of the positioning of the main bases. This might play some role in determining the winner of this match, but clutch storms or reaver micro can steal the win away in PvP, so anything is possible.

Much <Shades of Twilight> Stork

(1-4, 50.79%), 5 PvPs played, (4-1, 59.74%)

There's really no doubt that Much is in quite a slump right now and he hasn't been able to break out of it. His only wins recently against Protoss were JangBi and Reach, both of which were proxy 2 Gate cheeses. There's no doubt right now that if Much plays straight up, he'll probably lose to Stork. Stork is looking very solid in PvP. He's beaten Bisu, free, and BackHo twice. His only loss was against SangHo, where Stork looked like a total idiot. Interestingly, the game before against Bisu, Stork pulled some awesome 2 speed shuttle reaver harass and destroyed Bisu. Stork definitely is not to be trifled with in standard PvP, and Much should realize that he has little chance if he plays standard.

Shades of Twilight is a map that is perfect for a very harass oriented style of play. There are a lot of areas where reavers or templar can be dropped, and this style suits Stork's style of play. If it coems down to late game PvP, Stork's style of play is perfect for Shades of Twilight.

< Outsider >
TvZ: 25-30 (45.5%)
ZvP: 11-10 (52.4%)
PvT: 15-13 (53.6%)

CJ is most likely going to send out EffOrt to play on this map since he's EffOrt and it's Outsider. However, the question is who will Khan send? They probably wouldn't trust firebathero anymore, and great is probably out as well since EffOrt's ZvZ is looking too good. Therefore, it'll probably either be JangBi or Stork. Since the map is another instance of one where Stork's harass style can come into good use, he's the more likely choice.

Iris <Andromeda> oDin

Have you looked at oDin's ZvT record? (See above)

sKyHigh <Destination> great

Unless sKyHigh pulls some epic cheese.

EffOrt <Neo Harmony> firebathero

EffOrt is just too good right now.

Kwanro <Neo Medusa> Miracle

I think this one will probably be closer than I think, but Kwanro's play is just more solid so I'll go with him.

Movie <Heartbreak Ridge> JangBi

I <3 JangBi.

Much <Shades of Twilight> Stork

Unless Much cheeses.

EffOrt <Outsider> Stork

I'm too conflicted to choose.

Iris <Andromeda> oDin
sKyHigh <Destination> great
EffOrt <Neo Harmony> firebathero
Kwanro <Neo Medusa> Miracle
Movie <Heartbreak Ridge> JangBi
Much <Shades of Twilight> Stork
Closer <Outsider> Closer
CJ Entus < 4 - 0 > Samsung KHAN

Iris <Andromeda> oDin
sKyHigh <Destination> great
EffOrt <Neo Harmony> firebathero
Kwanro <Neo Medusa> Miracle
Movie <Heartbreak Ridge> JangBi
Much <Shades of Twilight> Stork
Closer <Outsider> Closer
CJ Entus < 2 - 4 > Samsung KHAN