Realistically I don't see how Oz can lose this now.
Assuming CJ wins today it goes to Super Ace. Yes, I'm aware that Jaedong lost to Skyhigh in Winner's League TWICE, but the first time was a loss to a cheese and the second was him 4pooling.
The Hwaseung coach outright says he takes regular Proleague far more seriously than Winner's League. Jaedong himself has said he practices more for Proleague than for individual leagues.
Yes, he lost 0-2 to Effort in GOM... the most prestigious tournament in the Korean progaming scene. Not.
While Jaedong has lost to CJ players before, the big thing that sticks out in my mind is that THIS IS THE PROLEAGUE PLAYOFFS. Jaedong's practicing his ass off for this - I can't see a thoroughly prepared Jaedong losing to... anyone really, when the stakes are this high.
He CAN lose to Fantasy, Bisu, Effort, Skyhigh, and even Stork and Tempest, but when this match is something Oz has worked ALL YEAR FOR, I don't see Jaedong screwing up.
Oh, I made a mistake :p LOL. I made up that whole story about MoustacheZerg for my own amusement since I thought it was just a spoof name intended to ridicule Oz's lack of player depth and near total dependence on JD in the "who will oz send out if it comes down to an ace match?" vote. Is that actually one of JD's nicks? LOL
These names were intended to ridicule Oz's total dependance on Jaedong, but they all refer to Jaedong and became sort of JD's akas. You may want to see this legendary topic where it all originated: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=90341
On August 02 2009 05:55 Lebesgue wrote: This night looks actually slightly better for CJ. They have Effort playing some scrub while they sacrifice Orion to Jaedong.
So wait, Jaedong, the best Oz player, plays a chump and that's good for CJ, but Effort, CJ's best player, plays a chump and that's good as well?
I agree that CJ's definitely in the lead today but I never got this logic. Even with CJ's depth it's not a good idea to get your star player against fresh meat.
Yeap, it is good. As it is really good for CJ that their best players avoid Jaedong which gives them a better shot of taking this match without going to ace match. Of course, it would be ideal if Effort was matched with Lomo or Backho but it is much better than him being matched against Jaedong...
Well, this should be interested...... This match my fellow TLers is one match we cannot miss whatsoever! Nor should it be missed watching it live........
Well, I'll give my neutral form of predictions:
I will predict CJ winning against OZ on day 2 (not revealing my actual match-to-match predictions because it can go ugly) and then the super ace match as follows:
JD vs Skyhigh/Effort......
as for this.... hard call but..... I would like to see OZ winning for an easier chance for SKT1 to take the gold! ^_^
Movie has craptastic PvP. The kid shows promise, but he's badly overrated right now just because of his impressive win vs Leta. Movie is pretty good at PvZ (most of the time) and okay at PvT (some of the time). I've yet to see him play halfway decent PvP and he's badly inconsistent.
Lomo used to be known for TvT, but then he fell off. The Berserker is a monster right now... except for the part where he's been completely dropping the ball during these playoffs! Losing to Odin? Getting offensive CC'd by Go.Go (okay, I'll admit that the Bug Terran is one of the best TvT players out there, but so is Iris)? Not remembering how to counter 1-base reaver play? Okay, I'll admit that was some good reaver work, but Iris's defense was terrible. I'm going to say that Lomo just wants it more. Iris seems to be too busy practicing for his individual leagues...
BackHo... pretty much the ultimate "win or lose vs anyone" player. I just think he will want it more. Kwanro, like Iris, has not been living up to expectations this playoff.
I really think that JD cannot lose an ace match now. His performances are just unreal recently, and he seems very confident.
That's gonna be a SKT-Hwaseung final, I guess. Entus would have had a chance against them, but Hwaseung will probably get raped badly as SKT has a much, much higher standart, JD excepted.
The game against CJ yesterday was a textbook example of practice > talent. Lomo walked in with a prepared build. PerfectMan walked in there with a prepared build, pitting his strengths against Iris's weaknesses. BackHo walked in there with a prepared build. This game will be no different.
What has ggaemo been doing all week since the match lineups came out? Practicing ZvZ against Effort. Practicing ZvZ with Jaedong, learning directly from the master himself. Watching and studying the videos of Calm take Effort's ZvZ apart. No one, save Jaedong, will know more about ZvZ against Effort than ggaemo when he walks into that booth.
What has Effort been doing? Getting his ZvZ ass kicked by Calm. Getting his ZvZ ass kicked by Jaedong. Losing matches like that can really damage your composure and shake your confidence. And if Effort takes ggaemo lightly even a bit...
Lomo is going to come at Iris with something special; he's been practicing nothing but TvT for a solid week now (granted, it didn't exactly show vs. SkyHigh, but remember: if SkyHigh's Siege Mode had come out 10 seconds later, Lomo would probably have won). Hiya is going to be prepared for Iris. Between the two of them, expect one to pull out a win.
Which comes back to ggaemo vs. Effort. If this were the Effort of a week ago, ggaemo probably wouldn't stand much chance. But this Effort is looking very vulnerable, after crushing defeats at the hands of Calm and Jaedong. This match will decide whether Effort has the mental fortitude to become an S-class player.
ok my crazy predictions first game sky high i think hes got like 1 loss in playoffs wins cj 1 -0 2nd game young wins(movie really inconsistent) oz1 - cj 1 3rd game lomo yea i kno im hoping beserker is on a 2 game losing streak here oz 2 - cj 1 4th game jaedong wins enuff said oz 3 cj 1 5th game effort wins i think him/calm/jaedong top 3 zvz atm ggaemo doesnt look korean oz 3 - cj 2 6th game i pick kwanro lol i know poeple are gonna shoot me for this but i predict kwanro over backho oz 3 - cj 3 7th game closer jaedong loses to skyhigh due to fatigue from practice so it goes to super ace match
Perfectman OVER movie OZ goes on to play skt1 in finals!
On August 02 2009 07:17 QuickStriker wrote: Well, this should be interested...... This match my fellow TLers is one match we cannot miss whatsoever! Nor should it be missed watching it live........
Well, I'll give my neutral form of predictions:
I will predict CJ winning against OZ on day 2 (not revealing my actual match-to-match predictions because it can go ugly) and then the super ace match as follows:
JD vs Skyhigh/Effort......
as for this.... hard call but..... I would like to see OZ winning for an easier chance for SKT1 to take the gold! ^_^
I wonder if this is what other fanboys of fallen teams were thinking when thinking about what Oz's progression in the proleague would spell out for them
On August 02 2009 03:27 Gormaol wrote: I expect that if this comes down to the Ace Match, Oz may decide to heighten the drama by pulling out the jack they've kept up their sleeve, MoustacheZerg, and show everyone how he has further improved upon the near flawless execution he exhibited in his dirty sanchez likened lurker smear drop on Bisu's main that we all witnessed during the last Oz-SKT matchup. If he can perform with the same degree of immaculate planning and precision that PerfectMan showed us today with his Reaver Drop against Iris, we could be in for quite a roller coaster ride regardless of who CJ sends out.
When was this? Last time they played, Bisu destroyed Jaedong on Heartbreak Ridge.
Oh, I made a mistake :p LOL. I made up that whole story about MoustacheZerg for my own amusement since I thought it was just a spoof name intended to ridicule Oz's lack of player depth and near total dependence on JD in the "who will oz send out if it comes down to an ace match?" vote. Is that actually one of JD's nicks? LOL
Jaedong just has an aura of invincibility right now SPECIFICALLY in ace matches. If he can man handle Kal, Zero (meh), and Canata with merely "spare time" practice, I really cannot wait to see what he'll show us tonight, when he'll show us what he's been primarily practicing for.
I don't think I gave any predictions, but this is probably going to be either CJ 4-1, 4-2, or Oz 4-3. I'd favor Jaedong in the SuperAce match, but a snipe build is definitely possible.
EPT
