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[PL] Middle of the Masses

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[PL] Middle of the Masses

Text bypangshai
December 26th, 2009 13:28 GMT
[image loading]
The First National Treasure of Korea, Namdaemun, also known as the Great Southern Gate, as it stood in the heart of Seoul.

Special Features
[image loading]
Game of The Week
Hi folks, it's christmas, and we've taken some time out to do some reflection this week. We've come to realise that every week, we focus on the teams at the top . We talk about the teams that are raping it up, owning the bejesus out of anyone in their way. Teams like CJ, Oz, KT Rolster have all been mentioned time and again in this weekly update for either their amazing performance, or their lack of results and disappointment of the fans. Flash, Sea, Calm - these are the names that you see week after week, without fail. Indeed, it must seem like we simply fill in a template to make these posts.

This week, though, we've decided to switch things up a little. It being christmas (however relevant that is), we shall instead pay attention to the teams that we've neglected all season - teams that occupy the middle of the leaderboard, the space-fillers between those at the top and those at the bottom. Having only fixated on the leaders previously, we have brushed off these teams a countless number of times, but it is time to change that. This week is the week of hite SPARKYZ, of eSTRO, Woongjin Stars, and WeMade FOX.

To begin, we have hite. They started off the round slow, with a record of 1-4, and have yet to pick up the pace. It seems like the only one performing consistently is Leta, and even then, he doesn't win all his games, dropping an ace match against Free. What is puzzling though is that hite actually has a roster that looks pretty decent, including many recognisable names like Yarnc, go.go, and Hogil. Unfortunately, these players have not been causing anything more than mere ripples in progaming recently. In fact, a brief search on TLPD came up with game lists that were filled with losses, some wins sparsely sprinkled in for aesthetics.

Whatever happened to the Yarnc of 2006, the guy with the unstoppable muta micro, who decimated Oov on Hitchhiker, or the Type-B who made it all the way to the semis of the Bacchus OSL just recently. Some people thought that hite's revival was at hand, with two of their players reaching the top 4 in Bacchus OSL, but they have been sorely disappointed thus far. Just take a look at Yarnc's cost in FPL; he's a mere 4.56 to buy - thats even lower than July or Princess (who?).

[image loading]

Plenty of reason to mope when you lose as much as I do

Hite's Protoss line up is also another thing to worry about. Tazza and Horang2 were previously made out to be the next big Protosses in progaming, but have yet to fulfil their potential. The hite Protosses have either been very inconsistent in their in-house ranking matches, or the coaches just want to cycle through the entire lineup of Protosses to let them gain experience, because there hasn't been a mainstay Protoss player for hite for a while now. Herb, Horang2, Secret, and Tazza have all been played this round, and that is not a sign that bodes well for the team. True enough, they haven't been doing well.

Moving on to eSTRO, this was the team that used to be the punching bag of the league. They have improved significantly since those days, but there's still lots of work to be done. Previously carried solely by Upmagic, eSTRO has found some new talent in the form of another Terran player, Really. Last round, he astounded all of us by going 8-1, but he has struggled to keep up with that nearly flawless record this round; Leta took a couple of games off him, as well as Hwasin and Mind, dealing the newcomer a heavy blow.

[image loading]

Really, informing us how many games he's lost this season.

Nonetheless, eSTRO has been steadily improving, even 3-0ing MBCGame this week. Definitely, eSTRO's success has to be attributed to its lineup of fresh faces, throwing some beginners into the mix instead of always playing the traditional Hyvaa, Sangho, Tester combination. Flying and Action have both been pulling in wins and playing some great starcraft recently, relieving the load on the veterans.

WeMade FOX too, has discovered some new talent. Shine has impressed recently with a slew of wins in both the individual leagues and proleague, drawing lots of hatred from fans of eliminated players. His aggressive style in the midgame has earned him the title Typhoon Zerg, and this is strongly reflected in his play. The players he has defeated are no scrubs either; they include some big names like Fantasy, Effort and Stork.

Together with Roro, Mind and Pure, he forms part of the regular WeMade FOX team, which sometimes also sees Midas, Lucifer and Baby. Such is the depth of the WeMade roster, and it is surprising that they are not doing any better. Perhaps they are hampered by the lack of an ace player that they can count on. Three times, they've made it into ace this round, and all three times, they have faltered, twice at the hands of Roro, and once thanks to Mind. They come off a huge 3-1 victory over KT Rolster this week though, demonstrating that when all goes according to plan (ie, they don't reach the ace match), they have what it takes to beat any team.

Finally, rounding out the number, we have Woongjin Stars. They threw some additional cheer into this week's games by appearing in santa hats, but unfortunately, they exit the week 0-2, with losses to both KHAN and MBCGame HERO. They are another one of those teams that don't seem to have a set roster of players, but it seems Zero, Free and Kwanro are their strongest players.

[image loading]


The mising factor is a Terran player. They have alternated between Special, MVP, and Piano with none of them really finding much success. Their purchase of Kwanro from CJ has seen some improvement in the team's standings this round, with Kwanro being the same hyper-aggressive Zerg of the past, and netting some games for the team. The real damage dealer in their arsenal, however, is Zero, their ace player. He has shown some great play recently, including queen usage in a ZvZ, leading people to wonder if he'll be the one who revolutionises the matchup. Sadly, this week he encountered some tough opposition, but played out some very entertaining games against Stork, including one that has been featured in this week's Game of the Week

GOTW - Stork vs Zero on Outsider
By Pangshai

It was game 5. The KHAN Protosses had just engineered a reversal of the 0-2 score, bringing it back to 2-2, and into the ace match. Stork had faced Zero in the match prior to this, and had brought the game home with some fantastic preempting of Zero's moves. Surely Zero had to be yearning for revenge after that tragic loss, and Stork, once again, stood in his way, between him and victory for his team.

Stork, this time, opted for a non-FE opening, instead going for 2 gate, a build that has been gaining popularity on Outsider. Be it his original plan, or in response to Zero's 12 hatch (at his mineral only) build, Stork added an assimilator early, and only sent a single zealot over to pressure. Netting a drone, and forcing lots of zerglings to be built, the zealot did significant damage, and left Zero behind in both tech and economy.

Something seemed odd though. Zero was not a shoddy Zerg player, and there was no reason for him to overreact with the zerglings, especially with his overlord keeping a close watch over Stork's main. However, as the observer cut over to Zero's main, it became clear - he was going to try to break Stork's ramp with a drone drill. Unfortunately, Zero abandoned his plans, his drones making an about turn mid-map.

The audience's disappointment was almost palpable, but the game saw action again when Stork moved out with a force of 4 zealots and a dragoon after expanding to his mineral only. Having previously built all those zerglings, this was a perfect opportunity for Zero. He baited Stork's units out, only showing a fraction of his army, and then sprung his trap. Stork managed to make it back to his ramp, but lost a number of zealots in the process, and Zero was able to sneak his lings into Stork's main anyway.

[image loading]


The lings did their dirty work, running circles around the slow zealots and sniping off helpless probes. Stork, in the meantime, was not idle, occupying himself by hunting overlords with his corsairs. The ling threat in his main was eventually cleared out, and Stork took his natural behind the cover of a couple of cannons. Some hydra pressure was largely unsuccessful, and Stork answered by tricking a dragoon through the minerals, to the Zerg mineral only, where it put the expansion out of commission.

Somehow though, something must've came over Stork. Picture this. He was at 3 bases to Zerg's 2. He knew exactly what Zero was doing thanks to his corsairs. All he had to do was tech up to templar, macro off 3 bases for a bit and then make a strong push out to win the game. Perhaps Stork didn't want to drag the game out. He was scared of Zero's templar sniping. Or maybe he erroneously thought he had the opportunity to end the game now. Whatever it was, Stork moved out with an army that comprised only zealots and dragoons, and hit Zero's nat. Needless to say, the hydras ate the army up, and Zero found himself in a better position than he was in before.

[image loading]


Stork may have had lost map control, but he expanded again anyway, hiding his nexus away in the top left, while adding reavers to his army. Zero knew he had to do some damage soon, or he'd be left pretty far behind. Some hold lurker shenanigans took out most of the shields of Stork's army, but Zero's drop harass was really the magic needed. Hitting all 4 of Stork's bases at the same time, lurkers and hydras delayed mining operations majorly due to Stork's lack of observers.

[image loading]


At this moment, it seemed any reasonable Protoss would take out the invaders and resume mining, but Stork was one step ahead. He had a plan, and he was going to follow it. Moving out with his huge dragoon army, now supported by reavers, Stork was going to bring the battle to Zero. Two of his nexuses had fallen under hydra/lurk fire, so this attack was do or die. Zero was observer sniping to buy some time, but Stork already had another observer on the way. As the armies clashed at Zero's nat, the defending sunkens fell quickly, and Zero was easily outgunned. Reinforcements sped down from Stork's main as Zero struggled to hold his ramp against a much larger Protoss army, but failed to do so.

[image loading]

[image loading]


His main fell along with the other mineral only expansion that he'd taken. Overlords salvaged whatever they could to a new base at the top right nat, but Stork simply reinforced his army again, and crushed Zero's defenses there, taking the game.

Another great game from Stork after the very impressive game 4. His clutch decision to go for the counterattack instead of clearing out Zero's drops was out of the world. He knew that Zero was just trying to buy time with the drops, and he refused to fall for Zero's ploy. What had previously seemed like fantastic play on Zero's part suddenly backfired on him when he found himself with insufficient units to defend against Stork's attack. Stork was just that one step ahead of him, and that won him the game.

Now, hold on, before we let you back on your christmas adventures, here's a preview of next week's games. It being christmas and all, we thought we'd only sieve out the best of the bunch, so you don't neglect spending time with the family.

(Z)Calm<New Tornado>(T)fantasy

The ever solid Calm meets the slumping Fantasy in next week's games, and this will be a true test for Fantasy. If he performs well, there might be hope yet for SKT's proleague season, but Fantasy has his work cut out for him, as he is up against a potential OSL royal roader. Well, the good thing is, at least Fantasy is getting some air time this week, and hopefully, after taking a couple of weeks break, he'll be able to show us some of that amazing play that he was once known for.

(P)Stork<Neo Moon Glaive>(Z)EffOrt

People will always have doubts about Stork's vs Zerg matchup, and who better to prove himself against then the CJ ace, Effort. Losing to pure mutas against Shine in the OSL, Stork was unable to show us his new PvZ build, which lots of us fans have been looking forward to. That said, Stork's 2-0 defeat of Zero this week, has demonstrated that he is not to be trifled with. Effort's last 10 ZvPs have been nothing but wins though, Stork being one of the victims, and if we had to go with anyone, it'll definitely be Effort here.

(T)Sea<New Tornado>(Z)Jaedong

Whenever Jaedong plays, fans go wild. This time he's up against MBCGame's (and Teamliquid's) golden boy, Sea. Sea has had some disappointing results recently, losing 2 games in the set against KT and then another to Flying, which was further rubbed in by his team's 0-3 loss to eSTRO. Jaedong too, took a beating at the hands of Flash in the OSL, but has otherwise been performing well this round. Both of these players are likely to be out for blood, and it being set 3, we'll definitely see this game being played.

Sadly, thats all we have for you, folks. Remember, while you tuck into your sumptuous turkey dinners, or rewatch for the umpteenth time the Keira Knightley scene from Love Actually, that proleague continues next week, and another round of games awaits your viewing. What better time to watch then now (on that brand new computer)? From all of us on the proleague coverage team, merry christmas!


This Proleague update was brought to you by Team Liquid's PL 2009-10 coverage team - riptide, heyoka and pangshai. Thanks to keit as usual for the stellar graphics and Konadora for the Round 2 Week 4 previews!
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#1 midas fan
DoX.)
Profile Joined December 2008
Singapore6164 Posts
December 26 2009 13:36 GMT
#2
=)

Great writeup as usual
Yuusha
Profile Joined December 2009
Japan34 Posts
December 26 2009 13:40 GMT
#3
thank you for the coverage!
jaedong definitely needs the terran for an ego boost after osl...
chongu
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Malaysia2594 Posts
December 26 2009 13:47 GMT
#4
amazing article as usual : D This week was truly a treat for many!!
SC2 is to BW, what coke is to wine.
lynx.oblige
Profile Joined August 2009
Sierra Leone2268 Posts
December 26 2009 13:48 GMT
#5
Good read. Shine really has been playing some impressive Starcraft lately.
Everyone needs a nemesis.
seRapH
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States9798 Posts
December 26 2009 14:04 GMT
#6
i dont care what anyone says. no one can make me like shine.
i dont care so much that he eliminated fantasy, but taking out bisu, stork, and effort is inexcusable

hopefully, sparkyz will come back next round, a team with their players really shouldn't be anywhere near the bottom =\

nice writeup, too
boomer hands
Robinsa
Profile Joined May 2009
Japan1333 Posts
December 26 2009 14:50 GMT
#7
Awsome as usual. Wish I could write articles like these.
4649!!
RaGe
Profile Blog Joined July 2004
Belgium9950 Posts
December 26 2009 14:53 GMT
#8
nice write up

next week is gonna be sick

calm vs fantasy, stork vs effort and jaedong vs sea are all matches with a shit ton of potential.
Moderatorsometimes I get intimidated by the size of my right testicle
pangshai
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Chinatown5333 Posts
December 26 2009 15:25 GMT
#9
we were a little late on this one or jaedong vs movie would've been there too.
#1 midas fan
G3nXsiS
Profile Joined July 2009
United States656 Posts
December 26 2009 15:57 GMT
#10
NaDa vs Yellow. Why isn't that on the games to watch out for?
Hope is the first step on the road to dissapointment
pangshai
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Chinatown5333 Posts
December 26 2009 16:00 GMT
#11
i watched iesf finals, and that wasn't good at all.
#1 midas fan
Tuke
Profile Joined January 2009
Finland1666 Posts
December 26 2009 16:02 GMT
#12
I can't wait for next week, so many great games coming (at least hopefully)
great writeup
TeamLiquid CJ Entusman #42
DivinO
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States4796 Posts
December 26 2009 16:24 GMT
#13
Good writeup, thanks!
LiquipediaBrain in my filth.
PangO
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Chile1870 Posts
December 26 2009 16:34 GMT
#14
Thanks pangshai, nice writing
In Economics, the majority is always wrong. aka: MattRz
lFrost
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States295 Posts
December 26 2009 16:58 GMT
#15
awesome article
hyst.eric.al
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States2332 Posts
December 26 2009 18:03 GMT
#16
great writeup as always pangshai!
Leta , BeSt, Calm fan forever! 김정우, I am sorry I ever lost faith in you.
Sabu113
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States11076 Posts
December 26 2009 18:26 GMT
#17
gorgeous writeup. It's always a treat to get such a professional article about the sport.
Biomine is a drunken chick who is on industrial strength amphetamines and would just grab your dick and jerk it as hard and violently as she could while screaming 'OMG FUCK ME', because she saw it in a Sasha Grey video ...-Wombat_Ni
ghostWriter
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
United States3302 Posts
December 26 2009 18:49 GMT
#18
Nice. That really was a great game, almost as good as movie vs pure on match point.

I'm glad to see that some of the other teams are getting some love. I love cj, but one can only read about them so many times.
Sullifam
RLTY
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
United States965 Posts
December 26 2009 18:50 GMT
#19
Nice writeup! Thank you!
asdfTT123
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States989 Posts
December 26 2009 18:51 GMT
#20
Good write-up. A few things I want for the new year:

For Sparkyz, Oz, and Ace to play more consistently (especially players like Yarnc, go.go, Tazza, Horang2, Killer, BackHo, Hiya, PM, Ruby, YellOw, Anytime, Reach, XellOs, etc).
Give lesser, yet promising players more opportunities to play - i.e. Stats
For Flash to start losing and slumping.
For Jaedong to CRUSH Flash in the MSL in a BO5.

I don't think I'm asking for too much here.
n.Die_Jaedong <3
1 2 Next All
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