The reigning champion's right to pick his opponent for the new season is a Brood War convention - like many others we take for granted - created by OnGameNet many years ago as they experimented with new ways to operate their tournament. After years of tinkering and several iterations of the group selection format, OnGameNet decided this season to do away with it altogether. Though we cannot bar a return of the old format in the future, the OnGameNet Starleague groups are now a product of random chance.



The Group Selection method was as follows:

• The top four players from the last tournament are placed into separate groups.
  
• The twelve remaining players are randomly drawn into three pools of four players each.
  
• Each of the seeded players randomly draws a single player from each of the pools above.
  
• The order of the seeded player draw is chosen by the last tournament's winner. This is a largely ceremonial right.

As we can see, this amounts to what is essentially a lottery. Stork drew first, Jaedong second, Flash third, and Free last. And so, we ended up with the groups below:

Group A: Flash, Kal, Paralyze, Hyuk
Group B: Jaedong, HiyA, Calm, HoGiL
Group C: Stork, Mind, Sea, Shine
Group D: free, Hydra, Fantasy, Modesty

One thing that is noticeable is the relative parity of the groups. The randomness of the draw might lead to some unbalancing in the future, but for the Bacchus 2010 OSL all four seeds should be equally happy with their groups.

Another notable point is the trio of team kills (Paralyze - Hyuk, HiyA - Jaedong, Mind - Shine). In the past seeded players would sometimes use their selection rights to advance their personal agendas, but it turned out that players were mostly preoccupied with avoiding playing their own teammates (and as a matter of courtesy, preventing inter-team matches for other players as well). Considering that players were rarely using their selection rights to do anything interesting outside enforcing the de facto no team-kill rule, perhaps it was just as well that OGN went with the random draw.

I’ve decided to stray away from our usual formulaic group by group, player by player intro to the Round of 16. The fact is that RO16 predictions are almost always boring unless you want to make wild picks just to stir things up. Instead, we have something that’s just a tiny bit less dull. Let’s start off by looking at what changed since the last tournament.


The twelve non-seeded players from Korean Air OSL Season II Round of 16:
HiyA, Sea, Fantasy, Leta, Hyuk, Hydra, EffOrt, ZerO, Action, Pure, Kal, Bisu.

Bacchus 2010 OSL Round of 36 Changes:
OUT: Leta, ZerO, Action, Pure, Bisu, EffOrt (retirement)
IN: Paralyze, Calm, HoGiL, Shine, Modesty, Mind


I have to be honest here. After a season with one of the top three loaded OSL rosters of all time, the Bacchus 2010 lineup is a bit deflating. Not only have we lost a fair bit of star power and name value, but the overall skill level has gone down as well. Granted, the championship experience brought by Calm and Mind is appreciated, diminished though it may be. But on the whole, it’s still outweighed by the loss of four top class pros in Leta, Zero, Bisu, and Effort.

This isn’t to undermine the achievements of players like Paralyze, Hogil, and Shine who beat tough incumbents to make their way into the RO16. Those are definitely notable feats in their careers, but they need far more than a BO3 upset to prove that they are equal to the players they replaced.

Even though we’ve downgraded slightly since last season, this player pool is actually above average for an OSL. Considering that most OSLs only have 5~6 legitimate title contenders, Bacchus 2010 is doing okay. Outside of the very bottom of the barrel, there’s a plausible championship scenario for quite a few of the players (if we ignore the enormous elephant in the room for a second). And on that note, the OSL Ro16 tier list.


God-Tier: Flash


Definitely the wrathful, punishing Old Testament God

Of course, I conveniently had to forget about Flash in my brief analysis above. Because when we factor Flash into the equation, is Brood War even fun anymore? As a gamer who just loves well played Starcraft, I could watch Flash crush opponent after opponent and never get bored. As a fan who likes e-Sports competition as a whole… I think this thing might be getting a bit stale. The JD-Flash rivalry could be interesting for another season or two, but Flash has already made good progress in stamping the “ssang” out of Leessang.

During the 2006 Shinhan OSL Final, OnGameNet’s Um Jae Gyung famously exclaimed “How can a man defeat a god!?” as the now disgraced Bonjwa Savior defeated the fading Bonjwa Nada. Back then, it seemed a little bit excessive, a tad overdramatic.

By the end of this tournament, it will be said again, and this time it will be in all sincerity.


Mankind’s last hope: Jaedong
While not quite matching Flash’s dominance, Jaedong used to be able to at least hang his hat on the fact that he was ahead of his rival in overall number of championships won. However, as of the Korean Air Starleague II Final, Jaedong leads Flash in exactly zero categories. Not in championships (tied), head to head records, Proleague wins, or any other criteria of significance.

It’s hard to tell how deep their personal rivalry runs, or how much Jaedong even cares about things like records. But from a fan’s perspective, at least, Jaedong has a chance to fight Flash for one notable achievement: The first player to win four OSLs. Not that he would need any extra motivation, Jaedong’s hatred of losing always seems to be fuel enough.

I don’t think Jaedong’s ever been such an underdog since his debut OSL, but he still has the best chance against Flash.


1990’s NBA All-Stars not named Michael Jordan Tier: Fantasy, free, Kal, Stork*
While even those without an interest in basketball know the name Michael Jordan, they may be less familiar with his opposition. MJ had many worthy opponents to vanquish on his road to six rings, players such as Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, etc who are destined for the hall of fame. In any other day and age, these players would have retired with a championship. It was a cruel twist of fate for these men to have shared the stage with a player whose peers suspected of being God in disguise.

*Incidentally, one of these mortals, the esteemed Hakeem Olajuwon, did earn his championship. It just so happened that Jordan was taking a single year break from basketball.


Wild Card Tier: HiyA, Calm, Sea, Hydra, Mind, Shine
This is my favorite category of players in any tournament: the legitimate dark horses (or more cynically, the underdogs who aren’t completely hopeless). The players in this group here are all dangerous for different reasons. Calm and Mind have won it all in the past, so they definitely know how to prepare for a multi-game series. Hydra has rapidly improved to become an important Proleague player, but still has the advantage of being underrated and under analyzed. Shine has an evolved Kwanro gene. And so forth.

Every season, someone from this group steps up and just wows everyone. Sometimes it will just be a game of incredible quality before bowing out of the RO16, or maybe it's a solid run of games to make it to the RO4. There’s just too much random talent available, so we’re going to see something awesome again.


OSL Lottery Ticket Holders Tier: Hyuk. HoGiL, Modesty
As previously mentioned, I appreciate what these guys achieved by reaching the RO16. Now that they’ve made it further than expected, I expect nothing more.

Of course, the OSL has always been an upset friendly league. You can even luck your way to a second place finish (see Arnc, Yellow) in the OSL, so there’s always a chance for everyone, no matter how small.

No judgment grace period: Paralyze
The kid has played five games in his entire career. In e-Sports, that means he doesn't even count as a person yet. So how could we possibly say anything about him, except that he has good hair?

Bacchus 2008 OSL (January - March 2008)


The e-Sports landscape in January of 2008:

As the Bacchus 2008 OSL was set to begin, Jaedong was considered to be, by a modest margin, the best player in the world. Bisu’s case had been hurt by a shocking loss to Mind in the previous MSL final, but alongside Stork - the runner up in the previous OSL – he was still one of the favorites to win the tournament.

There were some interesting dark horse players as well. Despite his slump, the bonjwa Savior had to be respected for his numerous past championships, and perhaps it was the season where Proleague powerhouse Sea would bring his prowess to the OSL as well. On the Protoss side, Best and Much would attempt to break the stranglehold Bisu and Stork held over their race.

As is often the case, the OSL had a surprise ending when the promising KT Terran Flash upset Jaedong, Bisu, and then Stork to become the youngest champion in history. A few upset fans criticized his use of cheese tactics in the final, but most people agreed that it was a well deserved victory for one of the game’s most talented young players, and one they expected to carry the industry in future.


Bacchus 2009 OSL (May - August 2009)


One year later, Bacchus decided to step into the e-Sports arena once more, and sponsored their second OSL.

The Taek Baeng Lee Ssang order established a year prior still stood strong as the pillar at the heart of Brood War with all four players qualifying for the RO16. However, they would face a tough challenge from the first generation of post-Savior players that had finally matured and was coming into its own. The SKT Crown Prince had already proved his credentials by finishing second in the previous OSL, while Proleague stars Leta, Zero, and Effort looked to make inroads into individual glory.

It turned out to be one of the most upset happy OSLs in recent history, with only Jaedong surviving to the RO16 from the TaekBaenLeeSsang. The tournament had boasted a fearsome roster at the start, but it may have been the easiest tournament the Tyrant ever won. After struggling slightly in the RO16, Jaedong went 8-1 the rest of way to the championship, dropping just a single set to Fantasy in the semi-finals.

With his third OSL title and Golden Mouse secured, Jaedong not only proved he was the best player in the world, but kicked off the final, epic, and controversial B-word debate.


Blasts from the past...
Of course, what would a retrospective be without some select quotes from our very own TL Power Rank writers at the time?

Best outpouring of rage (Fakesteve, May 2008):
"Let me break it down real easy: STORK SUCKS. Stork has sucked for AGES, but apparently only I had noticed. Stork's games the last few months have basically been nothing but a shitstorm of terrible games against Terran. Every game he either gets completely worked, or he does some retarded proxy robo carrier rush extreme dt bullshit that doesn't even work half the time, whether the terran scouts it or not. YOU SUCK STORK."

You actually needed to explain this to people a year ago. (JWD, May 2009)
“I'm going to use this space to dispel some myths about Fantasy with this simple truth: Fantasy's strongest matchup is and always has been Terran versus Protoss. Fantasy's forte is clearly TvP — even given his revolutionary TvZ and his much-touted TvT”

Wrong then, wrong now. (JWD, August 2009)
“Now blatantly obvious: Proleague has usurped the OSL's position as StarCraft's most prestigious contest.”

Funniest comment in retrospect. (JWD, June 2009)
“I don't think Flash's talent has ever been in doubt; what has been, at least in my mind, is hiscommand of the Art of StarCraft — that certain elusive quality that separates Champions from robots”