Super League 2016 Season 1 is finally wrapping up! The second team to represent Korea at Spring World Championship will be decided in the upcoming match between Team No Limit (TNL) vs Team HERO on Monday, March 14th. This will be the most important match of this season for the two teams; the winner will not only win the ticket to play at the international stage, they will also get a chance to challenge the “final boss” MVP Black in the Grand Finals.

Article Outline

• TNL vs HERO
  • Patching the Broken Confidence
    
  • Tale of Two Coaches
• What to Expect in Draft
  
• Notable Games from Last Week
  
• Upcoming Games

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Patching the Broken Confidence



Both Team HERO and TNL are coming into this match after suffering crushing 3-0 defeats from MVP Black. During the Group Stage, Team HERO managed to put up a good fight against MVP Black with a very close 3-2 and carry that momentum to the playoffs to solidify their position as one of the top teams of the region. However, their confidence was crushed when they faced MVP Black again in the Winner’s Final of Super League and were dismantled by MVP Black denying Darvish’s comfort picks.



Last week has been even rougher for the defending champion, Team No Limit. Going into the playoffs bursting with confidence, the team was able to put up a strong series against MVP Black but still lost 3-1 due to mistakes in late game decision making. However, it was their disappointing performance in Power League that dealt quite a blow. The team had to once again face MVP Black in the first stage of Power League’s playoffs only a few hours after the balance patch of March 9th. While TNL have traditionally been a team that have always had trouble adjusting to new patches, the 3-0 defeat on Thursday was a huge shock for them. In particular, MVP Black’s Rich showcased spectacular Kerrigan play in Game 3 on Infernal Shrines, as TNL fell helplessly against the sharp initiations of Rich.



The two teams need to put aside their losses from last week and go into the series fresh or they may lose their final chance at signing their name out on the international stage. TNL is expected to be the strong favorite to win, but Team HERO has shown that they should never be taken lightly. With teams still trying to figure out Xul and the latest patch, it can be anyone’s game. Pride, fame, and money on the line – both teams are going to do whatever they can to win.


Tale of Two Coaches

There are two people that cannot go unmentioned when talking about these two teams: TNL’s Coach Kinnu and Team HERO’s Coach Jidset.



Kinnu, former Support player of Team Snake and Team ASD, joined TNL as a coach in December and has been instrumental to TNL’s resurgence this season. One of the major criticisms that have always followed TNL was their weak drafting and over-reliance on their comfort picks. Recognizing their flaws, TNL decided to bring in Kinnu to advance their plays to the next level. His influence was immediately noticeable at the GHL Finals in China, particularly with the diversity of ranged Assassin picks for CrazyMoving. While the team started off weak in this season of Super League, TNL has been slowly regaining their strength as the season progressed, and Kinnu has been present at every one of the team’s draft, advising Noblesse in drafting decisions. Kinnu helped the team gain the confidence and courage of deviating from their comfort picks and has been instrumental in helping the team recover their former glory.


Team HERO’s Jidset lies on the opposite spectrum when it comes to supporting the team. While he doesn’t provide much strategic help that relates to gameplay, he has been taking care of the team’s management and become the mental support for the team since their time as Danawa Joker. When Jidset joined the team as a coach, Danawa Joker was a mid tier team with zero recognition or result to show for themselves. While they participated in Super League 2015, the team got eliminated without winning a single game. Jidset helped Danawa Joker win community support by becoming a regular member of Inven’s Heroes Survival show and becoming a popular figure of the scene. Boosted by fan support and the care of Jidset, Danawa Joker managed to get 2nd place in HCOT Season 2. Although the team ended up losing their sponsorship and going through a large roster shuffle, Jidset stuck together with his boys and together with his prize pupil Darvish, handpicked the current stars of Team HERO.



During the Group Stage when Team HERO was losing 0-2 against RAVE HotS, Jidset kept the team morale high by encouraging the team: “the stage is set for our comeback drama”. Empowered by the unwavering faith of their coach, Team HERO succeeded in regaining their momentum to win the series with a dramatic 3-2. Under the leadership of Jidset, the team went from a no name team to a top four team of the region. Will they manage to carry their success to qualify for international stage, or will this be the end of their underdog story?

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• The first half of the draft phase is likely to revolve around Greymane and Li-Ming for main damage, Tassadar, Rehgar, and Uther for support, Zagara and Falstad for flex, and Sonya, ETC, and Muradin for the frontline.
  
  
• Greymane and Li-Ming are currently the highest priority picks in the region, with Greymane often being prioritized more heavily than Li-Ming. HERO’s Deva has been a bit underwhelming in Super League so far, but Li-Ming has been one hero he has shown great success with. TNL has been consistently drafting Greymane for CrazyMoving ever since their 3-1 defeat against MVP Black, and the trend is expected to continue on.
  
  
• Muradin and Tassadar are likely to be the biggest point of contention for the two teams, as they are strong comfort Heroes for their key playmakers. (Noblesse for TNL, Darvish for HERO).
  
  
• While Rehgar is the most favored Support, teams have been prioritizing securing their main damage, Warrior, or even a Tassadar over picking Rehgar as their first pick. Uther remains to be a popular choice in Korea when Rehgar isn’t available.
  
  
• Kharazim has been a Support that lot of Korean players, particularly TNL’s JaeHyun, have been struggling with. However HERO’s Magi had shown good proficiency with the Hero and is likely to go for him when Rehgar and Uther are unavailable. In case of TNL, they are more likely to go for Malfurion or even Morales. This is an area HERO has a slight edge, but it’s unlikely to be a huge factor in this matchup.
  
  
• Korea has started to follow EU by prioritizing Jaina less and less. On the other hand, Kael’Thas has remained relevant in the Korean meta as he continues to get picked or banned in the second draft phase from time to time.
  
  
• Falstad hasn’t been a particularly popular Hero in Korea, but it’s a strong pick for HERO’s woojae, so he is likely to be prioritized earlier in the draft than is usually expected. Zagara will also be a high point of contention between the two Flex players, woojae and Sniper.
  
  
• Xul has been surprisingly less dominant in the drafts so far in Korea. He has been allowed through the first pick / first ban phases multiple times in Winner’s League and Power League and no one is showing heavy emphasis on him yet. It appears as if the teams do not find him threatening enough to warrant instant pick or ban. While he can be the biggest uncertainty for both TNL and HERO, it is quite possible that both teams are still not comfortable drafting him.
  
  
• Leoric and Stitches has been showing up more and more against enemy Assassins that lack escape. Stitches comboed with Xul is one composition that saw great success by MVP Black recently.
  
  
• Chen has also been a strong choice against enemy compositions that lack CC and he’s good in lane against Zagara. HERO’s Swoy has shown great plays with the Pandarean Brewmaster and he should be more than happy to pick Chen when the opportunity presents itself.
  
  
• Zeratul has been steadily rising in popularity for Korea. TNL in particular has been drafting Zeratul for sCsC a lot, and he will be a big threat that HERO will have to watch out for, particularly in the second half of drafting phase.
  
  
• Thrall has been a hero both TNL and HERO struggle to make good use of, and sometimes even becoming a liability for the team. While they won’t hesitate to pick the hero when it is necessary, he is not likely to be considered a big threat for either team in this matchup.

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• Rich’s Kerrigan Carry - Power League: MVP Black vs TNL Game 3
  
  
  
• Xul Debut - Power League: MVP Black vs ROMG
  
  
  
• Chaos Everywhere - Winner’s League: ROMV vs RAVE

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OGN’s Super League

• Loser’s Finals: TNL vs HERO - March 14 Monday 7:00pm KST
  
• Grand Final: MVP Black vs TBD - March 20 Sunday 2:00pm KST
  
• Brackets: Liquipedia
  
• Stream Links:
  • http://www.twitch.tv/ognglobal
    
  • http://www.twitch.tv/ogn [KR]
    
  • OGN Plus Youtube Channel [KR]
    
  • http://www.twitch.tv/ogamingtv [FR]

Inven’s Power League

• Power League:
  • HERO vs RAVE - March 16 Wednesday 7:00pm KST
    
  • MVP Black vs TBD - March 17 Thursday 7:00pm KST
• Brackets: Power League
  
• Stream Links:
  • http://www.twitch.tv/teaminven [KR]
    
  • https://www.youtube.com/user/invenbroad [KR]