EPT
First, the results of GROUP E in the OGN Duel Tournament:
1) [Soul]Gyuntae (Z) ("Lim Gyun-tae") < SlayerS_`BoxeR` (T) ("Lim Yo-hwan") - Gaema Gowon
2) Jinnam (Z) ("Jang Jin-nam") < Zeus (P) ("Jun Tae-gyu") (P) - Gaema Gowon
3) Zeus (P) > SlayerS_`BoxeR` (T) - Neo Forbidden Zone -> Zeus qualifies for the next OGN Starleague
4) Jinnam (Z) > [Soul]Gyuntae (Z) - Avant Garde II
5) Jinnam (Z) < SlayerS_`BoxeR` (T) -> Boxer qualifies for the next OGN Starleague
No, you read me right and it ain't no typo: Zeus went toe-to-toe, mano-a-mano with two of the elite vP players on the planet and bitch-slapped them into submission. Just qualifying itself was an impressive feat given the dismal record of Protoss players in the Duel Tournament (prior to Zeus, only two Protoss users had ever made it through the Duel Tournament - Reach and Garimto). But, Zeus did it in style - nothing fancy, no smoke-and-mirrors, no where-shall-I-hide-my-proxy-gate strategizing. Zeus invited Jinnam and Boxer to a force-on-force showdown and he just flat out out-played them both. A very deserved win & qualification for Zeus. Jun hasn't been in an OGN Starleague since Freechal (uhm, like 4 years ago...) and now he gets the chance to strut his stuff again on a stage worthy of his name.
And, oh yeah, another thing worth mentioning. Watch out for this guy on Neo Forbidden Zone. Zeus has always had a reputation for three things: he has a vocal range to give Mariah Carey goosebumps, he owns ChRh and he's DEADLY on island maps. Jun proved that semi-islands are no exception. Boxer did everything but slather crazy glue on Zeus's mouse & board and still got raped on Neo FZ. Kinda reminiscent of Boxer v Reach in the SKY 2002 final. Kowabunga!
And, of course, what Starleague would
be complete without Boxer? Lim did what everyone expected and qualified. Zeus's win gave fans a scare, but Boxer took care of the two Zergs without much of a tussle. Like always. Yawn.
[Soul]Gyuntae, to his credit, did not look lost in his Duel Tournament debut, so I'd watch for him in the future. The guy's got skill and, if nothing else, his matches are always entertaining: he turns 5-minute quickies into 25-min drag-'em-out marathons - even when he's winning. Jinnam, on the other hand, once again melted before Boxer like cotton candy in a blast furnace. No joke.
GROUP F
1) Junwi (Z) ("Bak Gyung-rak") < Silent_Control (T) ("Na Do-hyun") - Gaema Gowon
2) fOru (P) ("Lee Jae-hoon") > Sync (T) ("Byun Gil-sup") - Gaema Gowon
3) fOru (P) > Silent_Control (T) - Neo Forbidden Zone -> fOru qualifies for the next OGN Starleague
4) Sync (T) < Junwi (Z) - Avant Garde II
5) Junwi (Z) > Silent_Control (T) - Neo Bifrost - > Junwi qualifies for the next OGN Starleague
Yeah, keep rubbing your eyes in disbelief, people, cuz that's what I'm doin' - we have another Protoss player in the next Starleague! An amazing and unexpected development and I'll have to quote ya the old saying about how sometimes the snow falls down in June and sometimes the Sun goes round the Moon. Who would've believed that both Zeus (last week) and fOru would run the tables and qualify for Starleague 2-0? But, then again, ask any pro gamer in Korea who they pick as the greatest PvT specialist of them all and eight times out of ten you'll get fOru on top of the list. Lee's fellow GO team members ChRh and Xellos (no slouches when it comes to TvP) will be the first ones to tell ya Jae-hoon's vT play is something special. There's just something about fOru's play that makes even the best T players lose nerve and start thinking about more expansions. And he showed that quality again tonight versus some pretty tough opposition. Both Sync and Silent_Control played textbook TvP and looked to have the better of Lee many, many times throughout their respective matches. Sync went so far as to go Sauron on Gaema Gowon, just to make sure! But throughout it all, Lee made like a zen master and oh so smoothly went about dismantling his opponents with a look calmer than Lake Placid. The same couldn't be said for the OGN casters whose mouths dropped faster than dead weight on water watching Lee go to work. Absolutely impressive stuff.
Junwi makes it through again, but not without an unexpected surprise from Silent_Control. Not only did Control own Junwi on Gaema Gowon (something neither Boxer nor Xellos were able to do), but almost did it to Junwi again on Neo Bifrost. In fact, the final match on Bifrost may just be the most entertaining match of this whole Duel Tournament. I mean it was not just a nailbiter, but a real THRILLER. Junwi had the strategic advantage almost from the start, but Control just SILENTLY krept back into it and each battle anywhere ended with both sides practically decimated. Battle after battle there was virtually no real winner, even when Junwi had swarms of ultras and adrenalings crawling all over the place. In the end, Control just starved to death. Better econ management by Na and they'd STILL be playing. Man, what a ride. Watch this match if you can. This is what e-sports entertainment is all about.
Sync finally bows out of the Starleague. To be fair, the guy's been sick for a while now and didn't quite practice the way he usually does. Watch for him next time tho. He'll be there, I guarantee it.
Silent_Control. What can I say? After watching him stink up his matches versus Sir@Soni~ (on Gaema Gowon) and IntoTheRainbow (neo Bifrost) last winter in the HanbitStars v IS Team exhibition, I honestly didn't think he should even be in the Duel Tournament. Afterall, he only made it this far by sliding through the proverbial back door left open by Garimto's retirement. And, you know what, I still don't think he's got the juice when it comes to vT and vP matchups. But his TvZ is world-class. He proved it in the GhemTV Starleague where he beat both Yellow AND Chojja (@__@), and he proved it again this night by taking the hottest ZvT player in existence right to the edge. The GhemTV wins were no fluke. Silent_Control is for real. And his ID ROCKS.
So, it's official. The table's been set for the next OnGameNet Starleague and here's what it looks like (in no particular order - the actual Groups will be done through the traditional selection process next month):
Chojja (Z) (SEED), Nada (T) (SEED), Yellow (Z) (SEED), Kingdom (P) (SEED), Mumyung (Z), HOT_Forever (Z), Xellos (T), TheWind (Z), KOs (T), ElkY (T), [Oops]Lee (T), Jinsu (Z), Zeus (P), Boxer (T), fOru (P), Junwi (Z).
We have THREE Protoss players in the next Starleague! Hot dang! NOW we have a PARTY!
