EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Kennigit/PSTSL/PS_TSL_Banner.png)
Last weekend's TSL Ro16 games went by pretty quick, with some expected victories and indeed a few unexpected losses. When comparing the lineups though, it is clear that days Three and Four of the Ro16 are going to be the biggest crowd pullers. At heart, foreign Broodwar fans are loyal to the core, and it is those loyalties that will be tested in fire as this game's heavyweights warmup for the games of their lives. Here's what the arena looks like.
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Broadcast: 11:00 PST / 14:00 EST / 20:00 CET / 04:00 TL Time (next day)
Sunday, February 7th, 2010
Broadcast: 11:00 PST / 14:00 EST / 20:00 CET / 04:00 TL Time (next day)
Broadcast: 11:00 PST / 14:00 EST / 20:00 CET / 04:00 TL Time (next day)
  mouz.White-Ra | < Bo5 > |  [Pan]KabaL |
| mouz.IefNaij | < Bo5 > |   GosI[Terran] |
Sunday, February 7th, 2010
Broadcast: 11:00 PST / 14:00 EST / 20:00 CET / 04:00 TL Time (next day)
  LLL.ret | < Bo5 > |  CaStrO |
 RoX.KIS.BRAT_OK | < Bo5 > |  ToT)Mondragon( |
From the Ukrainian Oleksiy "White-Ra" Krupnyk to the German battle horse Christoph "Mondragon" Semke, two of these players are as old as the hills, and indeed, are arguably Starcraft's most visible faces outside of Korea. On top of that, both competitors are well known for being super manner and really nice IRL, making their fan base a constant one. People like Mondy and Ra. People want them to win. Here's proof.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/tsl/tsl_mond_cheerful_profprotos.jpg)
Prof Protoss, with an exclusive photograph from one of Mondragon's laddering sessions.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/tsl/tsl_whitera_cheerful_desutro.png)
Desutroyah interrupts the MTV ESPORTS awards to tell us all the truth.
So yeah, it's no secret that people like these two. They're old favourites, and we're going to cheer them on for as long as they're around. However, that doesn't mean that the other contestants are left out by any means. For one, the defending champion of the tournament is picking up his keyboard for the first time this TSL. Canadian Protoss Jian Fei "JF" Wang, or Lord of the Reaver as he was affectionately known during his last TSL run, will be attempting to retain the title as he faces upstart Juan Carlos "Terran" Lopez, a Mexican who tore through mTw.Infernal in his R3 qualifier game. Known for his Korean style of play and his goal to become a progamer someday, GosI[Terran] is sure to give JF a run for his money. Despite a 24 - 11 (68.6%) PvT record, JF has not been active in the past year and only started to play again in the run up to this TSL. Meanwhile, GosI[Terran] is 6 - 2 (75%) vs Protoss, and though having too limited stats for a fair comparison, is seen by many as being ahead in terms of form. Of course, as everyone knows it ain't over till it's over, and JF could very well pull this out from under GosI[Terran]'s feet.
Jose "Castro" Castro, a Peruvian Zerg who fought up from R1 through R3 to enter the Ro16, is the only player to do so in this TSL. Facing a Jos "ret" de Kroon who is also on top form after a stint with the eSTRO Professional Starcraft team in Korea, this match is sure to bring awesome to our screens. Playing his long suspect ZvZ against Castro, ret brings a 15 - 8 (71.4%) record with him. Castro responds with a somewhat more experienced 33 - 17, a record which gives him a win ratio of 66.7%. Ret of course has a strong following here on TL, and we're sure to see IRC and the Live Report threads full of fans as the Dutch player takes the stage. Can Castro make it happen? We'll just have to wait and see.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/tsl/tsl_cheerful_bratok_trap.jpg)
Trap recently updated us on the diplomatic situation between Russia and the US.
In short, don't mess with BRAT_OK. With a quick rise to fame during the Razer TSL in 2008, Pavel "BRAT_OK" Kuznetsov is most famous for his win over Nony in the same tournament. Known for his highly mobile style of play including dropships in TvZ, BRAT_OK is sure to bring the good stuff when he faces Mondragon. With a stellar 22 - 9 (71%) TvZ, the Russian goes up against his German counterpart who boasts a more modest 16 - 13 (55.2%) in recent games. However, given his many years of experience and his vast skillset, Mondragon fans are no doubt expecting the mind games to unfold as the Bo5 plays out. Whatever the result, this is definitely one of this weekend's must watch matchups.
Finally, we're back to White-Ra, and in what a setup too. With a fantastic 31 - 12 (72.1%) PvP, the Ukrainian is certainly the favourite vs Canadian Payam "Kabal" Toghyan, a newcomer who is 5 - 5 (50%) in his last few games. However, if last weekend's results were any indication, we have to remember that when the stage is this big, the upsets are often equally proportioned. Speaking of last week's games though, here's Plexa with a recap of what went down.
Xiaozi vs Idra
![[image loading]](http://i47.tinypic.com/2a9nvit.jpg)
It was clear right from the get go that Xiaozi had put a lot of thought and effort into preparing for this series. You could argue that he came out of the early game with an advantage even. But in all three games of this series, Idra stormed ahead in the midgame with monstrous mechanics. It was a fearsome sight. It was nice to see Idra venture out from his usual style of play in Game 3 where he opened with a forward rax and a bunker rush – which Xiaozi promptly shut down. Nevertheless, any setbacks Idra encountered he quickly made up for once again with superb mechanics. Sadly, despite all the preparation Xiaozi had put in, he couldn’t overcome the raw mechanical power of Idra and went out 0-3.
Draco vs Sen was probably the most looked forward to match of the weekend, and it did not live up to the hype. It was clear that Sen had been practicing ridiculously hard for this, you couldn’t say the same about Draco’s preparation. He did try though, after losing Game 1 to Sen’s superior mid game, Draco fell victim to a clever Mutalisk switch. Perhaps out of desperation Draco went for a Dragoon all-in build – which Sen blindly countered with fast Lurkers. None of the games were very pretty, but Sen emerged victorious with a dominating 3-0 win.
![[image loading]](http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c372/motbob/NonY1.png)
Tarson had probably thought hard about how he was going to play this series, and how the games were going to turn out. I really doubt he expected the games to turn out like this... Three games, three annihilations... It seemed as if everything Tarson tried in the early game – be is standard or drop – was crushed by Nony’s early game pressure. There’s not much more to say really!
Kolll vs Fenix was a very interesting encounter. Game 1 was what everyone expected – Koll opening with 2 Hatch Muta and proceeding to decimate Fenix. But then something interesting happened, Fenix pressured Kolll with some early marines and watched as Kolll crumbled. I don’t know what if the next two games were what Fenix planned, but he probably realised he was onto a winning formula with this early pressure. In Games 3 and 4 Fenix pressure Kolll early on again and was able to effortlessly crush him – I don’t think anyone expected to see this at all. Perhaps Kolll was too set in his 2 hatch muta ways, or too used to the Koreans, or perhaps Fenix just found a winning formula on the day – I don’t know what happened, but what I do know is that the German wunderkind is out, and Fenix is moving on to the Round of 8.
Now that you've whetted your appetite, it's time to sit back, fire up that graphics program and start the cheerfuls. There are already a ton of awesome ones in the Official Cheerfuls Thread, and we're sure that your favourite competitors would love to see more and more support as they prepare for the games ahead. Last week was good, but this week is going to be better. As fans, let's just make sure we give these players the send off they deserve. Good luck have fun, Team Liquid Starleague fighting!
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