As a foreign community we often forget that progamers have personality. And no, not the packaged personality presented to all of us by the teams and the players, but the little tidbits that remind us that progamers are human and not just robotic critters who practice 10 hours a day. Luckily for us, Lee Sora from Daily E-Sports has a column called ABC Talk -- a column where she compiles fun and embarassing stories regarding progamers who choose to remain anonymous. Perhaps, these tidbits will help you realize that much of these progamers are human too -- in fact, perhaps all too human.

• Romance is Best Kept Secret (09/20/2010): Relationships are the first thing that coaches suspect when a player begins slumping. In fact, most coaches say if a player is slumping then eight out of ten times the player is dating someone. So, when a certain progamer began slumping, the coaching staff asked him if he had gotten a girlfriend. The player answered no -- but the coaching staff didn't believe him. They asked other players to pay close attention to the player. His teammates, however, were unable to find anything indicting the player of this act. The coaching staff, after this, went nuts trying to figure out why the player was slumping.
  Of course, the answer was that the player involved in a secret romance. He was just that good at keeping it hidden.
  Netizen Guesses: Calm, Bisu,
  
• False Accusations (3/25/2011): Apparently one of the coaches of a team had read the above article. He approached one of his slumping players and asked him if he had gotten a girlfriend. Now, the player was someone who was often teased as being "stupid" because he has never dated anyone before. He was quite frustrated by these accusations, as the coaching staff would ask him every once in a while if he had a girlfriend. The player got so mad that he asked the reporter to clear up the misunderstanding.
  After this incident, the player had gotten really motivated, as he didn't like the fact that he was wrongly accused. He worked hard and he had gotten out of his slump.
  Netizen Guesses: Leta
  
• No Thanks to Pretty Managers (03/10/2011): An important aspect of Korea's e-sports scenes are the massive fanclubs organized and managed by the fans. In fact, they are such an integral part of the scene that teams often meet with the managers who run the fan-cafes of their players every month.
  During one such meetings, the management staff of a certain team was taken aback as one of the new fan-cafe managers was exceptionally pretty. They had a bad feeling about this -- as fan-cafe managers would often end up dating the players. And this was exactly what had happened -- and the player fell into a slump. Because of this, however, the couple had to eventually adjust themselves back into a friendship -- all for the best, we suppose.
  Netizen Guesses: Free (although some netizens testify that Free's fancafe manager isn't very pretty), Leta (although netizens testify that they haven't seen any exceptionally pretty girls during Hite Games), Really.
  
• Coming Out (11/19/2010): We're all too familiar with the celebratory scene -- the victorious player walks out of the booth, walks towards their team's bench and high fives all of their players. Of course, often times something more interesting happens, such as this incident. While off camera, one of the progamers kissed the winning progamer on the cheek. When called on the act, the progamer responded "We won because of him. I was really thankful so I kissed him without even knowing."
  Netizen Guesses: Jaehoon
  
• Poisonous Remarks (12/23/2010): A cute face and an innocent smile. This is what many fans most remember this player for, as they're unaware of his poisonous remarks he often spews towards rookie players. In fact -- the player he had hurt the most was a rookie player on his team. His insults don't stop there, but even occurs as he watches progamers play -- his trashtalk, apparently, surpasses one's imaginations.
  But recently there has been another progamer -- who just smiles whenever this acidic individual spews insults at them. Because of this progamer, apparently, the progamer in question has been slowly losing his poison.
  Netizen Guesses: Zero, Canata, Leta
  
• Starleague Badge (02/01/2011) Apparently, there is a progamer that had lost their Starleague Badge, and asked a Broadcasting Station if they could make him another one. The Broadcasting Station did not know what to do.
  Netizen Guesses: NaDa
  
• A Remark that could Create a Thousand Dollar Debt(02/09/2011): There is a progamer who enjoys mocking a certain female reporter who is getting old and still not married. Whenever they run into each other, the progamer would tease and ask when she will be getting married.
  One day, however, when she was asked this question, she answered "I will get married soon", as she was seeing someone with marriage in mind. The progamer did not believe her, and said that "If you get married, I will buy you a 50 inch Plasma TV". In fact, he even went on to say this remark on video -- confident that she will not get married any time soon. But of course, due to this incident the reporter started thinking of marriage a lot more seriously.
  Netizen Guesses: The Reporter is Lee Sora, the writer of ABC Talk.
  
• Caught Red Handed (4/9/2011): Players often interact with reporters in various ways as they wait for their winner's interview. This specific player actually asked the reporter a favor -- he wanted to use her laptop to download some files, as he claimed that he could not download these files from the computers at the dorms.
  The reporter agreed to the favor and loaned the player her laptop. The player logged into his account, and asked the reporter to download an episode of Gag Concert from a certain date as he went to the bathroom. The reporter started the download, and the looked at the files the player had downloaded before -- pornographic films. The reporter was getting quite flustered when the player came running back all of a sudden, asking the reporter if she saw what he had downloaded. She decided to protect the player and said that she didn't see anything. The player breathed a sigh of relief, and then made the excuse that "I ran back because the account is shared with other players, and I was afraid they downloaded something strange." You might as well give it away, right?
  Netizen Guesses: Zero, Horang2
  

Of course, this isn't the end of it -- did you know there's a certain progamer who can't go to the bathroom by himself? Did you know Leta and Jaedong once tricked a reporter into believing that HiyA was the son of the ex-Hwaseung Coach Cho? How about a progamer that keeps Ketchup and Mayonnaise on his practice desk for snacks? There's also a progamer that is known as the king of Zerglings -- as he is rumored and tested to have known everything there is to know about our cute little creatures. Progamers are also just as prone to jinxes -- we all know about Baby's rainbow socks -- well, there's a progamer who wears red underwear whenever he plays for the exact same reason. There's also quite a number of jinxes -- involving beards, medicine, and coaches and staff members watching (and not watching) the game live.

There's many more, of course, but sadly, there's only so much space. Think of all of this as a little glimpse into the daily lives of progamers -- a little glimpse, I hope, will make the progamers a little bit more human to all of you.

And did you know Zero was featured in so many of these ABC Talk columns that he even demanded royalties?

Odds and Ends back at ya! Before we start our daily report on what's been cookin' in the Korean BW scene, I want to thank everyone for the warm comments last time for my debut! Reading them made me pumped and motivated, so just like a generic progamer statement, I'll do my best to do even better in the future! Now then, what's been going on for the past 10 days?


Xellos, after spending 2 years in Air Force ACE, made his official comeback to Hite Entus during Hite's fan meeting on the 10th. Fans squealed in delight as the man who wore the (-_-) face during the CJ days walked up on stage, but the usual (-_-) face turned into a (^_^) when he saw his fans again. Regarding whether he will return as a player again for Hite or as a coach, Xellos said, "It's still not decided yet whether I will return as a player or become a coach, but I want to continue to be involved in eSports. Having attachment and being involved with games is most likely my path."

On his 2 years spent in Air Force ACE: "It was a really amazing time for me. My results there weren't that good, but it was a time where I learned many things. It's a valuable experience I'll be able to look back on with fondness." On the air force's food? "The taste of your mother's home cooking really cannot be compared to the military's food." And to all his fans out there: "I wasn't really able to make that many appearances during the 2 years spent in the military, but I'm really thankful to the fans who kept on believing in and supporting me. I will do my best to not have any regrets regarding games in Hite Entus." We'll be looking forward to seeing you again with Hite Entus, Xellos! Don't play too much DDR in the meantime!

Regarding Hite Entus's fan meeting that was mentioned in the last writeup...

The fan meeting was a huge success on the 10th at Yongsan's iPark Mall!


Hite Entus's fans were in for a treat that day as they watched Hite's players embarrass themselves with singing, dancing, a gag and talk show, and crossdressing.

• Movie sang a crooning ballad to his fans, and although the sound from his mic didn't come out that well, he received applause for showing off his skill raised from going karaoke-ing many times. Wanna hear Movie's singing? Well, his singing's not that bad... nor is he a Killer. But at least he's not tone-deaf. You can check out his singing over here (press play, then wait for the video to buffer and load, this might take a while since it's Daum Player we're talking about here) and hear it with your own ears. TheMarine's singing though... Is on a whole different level. Wow is all I can say about it.
  
• Food5, Horang2, BByong, and Cola parodied the gag act "A Bitter Life", where Food5 acted as the boss of the gangster organization and BByong showed off his hidden talent as an actor.
  
• Leta and sKyHigh took everyone back to the old-school days where they sang trot, or Korean old folksy songs in glittery outfits! Not sure what I'm talking about? Think PerfectMan bursting out in song with HiyA during last year's PDPop group ceremony. Except with more style and flair.
  
• The act that got the most attention though was Mong, Where, and Snow's parody of the gag act "Master of Life", where Mong ate various horrific foods such as onions, garlic, ginger, hot peppers, and wasabi, making his eyes leak tears during the whole performance. Snow also showed off an act where he let loose an epic trail of "drool" from his mouth. You'll have to see it to believe it.
  
• The final act was EffOrt, Horang2, and SonGDuri doing a crossdress fashion show, which got an explosive reaction from the fans. Effort also did a couple dance with Hydra, which was... awkward to say the least. We'll close this off with Horang2 saying, "We worked hard to prepare a lot for the fans, but since it also seems like we couldn't show that much, it's a bit regrettable. I want to thank everyone who had fun watching us, and will show even more various performances in the future, so please look forward to that." Even more various performances in the future? As if Horang2 showing up in a dress wasn't bad enough? Our expectations will be higher in the future.

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• Apparently, Effort and Flash offrace against each other all the time! With Effort as Terran and Flash as Protoss and sometimes Zerg, the two often meet on Battlenet and duke it out with each other. Effort also offraced against Flash during his retirement while he was studying, but the news of Effort returning as a progamer made Flash happy since they are friends. Effort said, "Our record used to be around 50-50 against each other when we offrace, but Flash has been winning a lot more recently. I think that I have to catch up and make the score even soon (laughs). If the chance arises, I want to show the fans our offrace skills." We've all seen how fearsome Flash's Protoss is, but Effort's Terran should be interesting as well!
  
  
• Everyone's favorite commentator from MBC Game HERO Shark has joined the idol (Korean boyband members) "FC MEN" Suwon Samsung football team! Everyone knows that Shark is well connected and close with many Korean celebrities, and thanks to those connections, he was able to join the team. JYJ's Kim Junsu, SS501's Kim Hyun Joong (no, not the silly Hyung Joon we all know, this is a different SS501 member), Beast's Yoon Doo Joon and Lee Gi Kwang are some of the members that make up the idol-filled team. JYJ's Kim Junsu is known to be very close friends with Shark, as the two often play against each other on Battlenet. Shark said that it is a great honor for him to join the team, but is worried that his job as a commentator might interfere with the team's plans, as his job as a commentator and serving eSports comes first before football. Hopefully Shark will still be able to play lots of football, because sitting all day long as a commentator and screaming "PLAYGUUUUU-" isn't too good for his health!
  
  
• Around 200 progamers attended the 2011 first-half progamer re-education seminar on the 13th! The seminar took place at Seoul Cyber University and had 3 courses; 2 where long speeches, 1 from a professional basketball coach, were made about how things such as leadership, sense of responsibility, teamwork, etc. are essential to a player on a team, and 1 course on yoga stances in order to improve the progamers' postures because of sitting at the computer all day long. Bisu remarked that the speeches taught him what was important on being in a team, but sounded most enthusiastic about the yoga session, saying that what he learned will be a big help to him in the future. No wonder he was enthusiastic about the yoga session; any progamer would be when you've got female instructors teaching you the tree pose. And it's no surprise that Jaedong "caught" enteritis on the same day, since 1 speech lasted over an hour. In order to be an S-class player, you gotta be a smart decision maker.
  
  
• After recruiting Crazy-Hydra, surely KT wouldn't buy another person from Woongjin Stars? Think again. With plenty of money to burn along with bitterness to spare over losing the Winners' League to SKT, KT Rolster has decided to buy Coach S.E.S from Woongjin Stars on the 13th. Coach S.E.S was in charge of the B-team in Woongjin Stars and raised many Woongjin players, including Crazy-Hydra and Neo.G_Soukey, showing excellence in raising Zerg players. KT, noticing Coach S.E.S's particular talent, immediately ushered him in in order to help bolster their Zerg line and hire a full-time Zerg coach. KT's Coach Lee stated, "We have expectations that Coach S.E.S and Crazy-Hydra joining our team will strengthen our Zerg line. We will everything we can in order to win 2 Winners' League and Proleague championships."
  
  
• Woongjin Stars, in order to get some exercise and have some fun, went to go play futsal and went swimming on the 15th. After losing in humiliating fashion to WeMade on the 31st (12:3, how embarrassing) and going mountain climbing on the 9th, Woongjin decided that it was time to step up their game not only physically, but mentally as well. After playing a long, sweaty game of futsal (which is kind of like indoor football/soccer), the players relaxed in open air heated pools and brainstormed plans to improve their ranking for Proleague Rounds 5 and 6. ZerO said, "It was a good opportunity to improve our teamwork, and with this basis we can focus on our remaining games in Proleague and advance from the first post-season."
  
  
• STX SouL is holding a special giveaway event for their fans during Proleague Rounds 5 and 6! Fans who show up at STX's matches and cheer for them are eligible to enter a raffle to earn prizes! The way it works is a "bingo" system: When the fan shows up at a match to cheer on STX, they get a stamp on their card, and when you complete a row, or get bingo, you are eligible to get a prize! The prizes include a tablet PC, Nintendo DSi, high-end perfume, a date with 3 STX players for a day, and more! All people who participate in the event are also eligible to receive signed polaroid pictures from STX players as well! Results of the prize winners will be announced after Rounds 5 and 6 end.
  STX's Calm said, "Whenever many fans cheer passionately for us is really a huge help. It would be great if the many presents prepared are received by the many fans who come to support us at matches. Particularly with the 'Date with a Player' present, we will do our best to have a fun time together with the fans." Unfortunately for all overseas STX fans out there, I believe that you need a Korean social security number to apply for the event, but I wish the best of luck to all the male fans in Korea who want to win a date with Tossgirl!

---

• SK Telecom are back from running the Hangang MBC marathon on the 10th and from their workshop at Gyeonggi-do! Frotoss finished in 1st place in the marathon among the SKT members with s2 coming in 2nd, with Frotoss showing everyone the powers an afro can bestow on you. SKT's main force Bisu, Fantasy, and Hyuk however, gave up in the middle of the marathon, admitting that they cannot keep up with the force of Frotoss. At Gyeonggi-do, the players visited "Petite France", a tourist spot inspired by the fictional world of the book "The Little Prince" and also took a boat to Nami Island, where the famous Korean romance drama "Winter Sonata" was filmed. Want more scandalous pics of how things went down at the SKT workshop? More here!
  
  
• Samsung KHAN are also back from doing their own workshop at Gapyeong on the 18th and 19th! The players stayed for 1 night and 2 days visiting a botanical garden, riding ATV bikes, and building up their teamwork. The players had a good time interacting with nature and riding ATV bikes, especially Stork, whose expression of glee was quite priceless. But that's not important. What's more important is:

• The picture above was leaked to the public from Coach Lee's date with his fiancee for the first time ever! Coach Lee broke the news to his fiancee that they would get married after Winners' League ended on the 12th, and will be married this coming August after the Proleague finals end. Coach Lee suggested to his fiancee that they take wedding pictures with a casual concept, which is why they are not in formal wedding attire. Coach Lee said, "It's been a long time since we met, so I promised that I would marry her. In order to leave behind memories as our time as lovers, we decided to take wedding pictures together." It's quite amusing how the marriage announcements come after tournament finals. Congratulations on the marriage, Coach Lee! Go get some!

I'll be sure to dig up any more juicy news and hot issues if there's any lying around, so be sure to tune in for the next edition of Odds and Ends!

Proleague has come a long way since its first season back in 2003. Though progress has often been slow, the Proleague hasn't been afraid to change things up for the sake of bettering itself. Slowly, but correctly, we got rid of 2v2, introduced the multiple round format, and introduced the winners league format.

And now, in 2011, Proleague has given me another pleasant surprise: the first tolerable All-Star Game. (To those of you who found previous All-Star games entertaining: I bow my head to you in respect. You are true fans of e-Sports and progamers)


Players and Teams
The 2010-11 ProLeague All-Stars were chosen through a mixture of fan voting and KeSPA Selections.

Fan Voting: firebathero, Flash, Fantasy, Jaedong, YellOw, Bisu, BeSt, Reach, Stork, Anytime

KeSPA Selections: ToSsGirL, Leta, Sea, Midas, ZerO, Calm

As you can see, the second you allow fan voting, an All-Star game loses credibility in terms of being a showcase for the best players of the season. Wisely, KeSPA can step in and select players who contributed strongly to their teams during the seas... Oh wait, they picked TossGirl.

Yeah, it's basically just a circus.

For the sake of presenting it as a competition, the players were split into two teams.

Team Passion, led by Coach Lee Ji Hoon of KT Rolster.
Bisu, Fantasy, Best, Zero, Leta, Calm, Anytime, FBH

Team Challenge, led by Coach Park Yong Woon of SKT1
Flash, Reach, Stork, Sea, TossGirl, Midas, Jaedong


The All-Star Game
A best of five series, where no one ever plays their main race, hardly any money is on the line, and someone actually has to play against TossGirl at some point. It all seems entirely meaningless, until you realize that CHATTING IS ALLOWED.


Game 1: Stork(Challenge) vs FBH(Passion) on Fortress SE
+ Show Spoiler [Match Report] +

Game 2: 3v3 Handicap Relay Match
Reach-Midas-Sea(Challenge) vs Anytime-Calm-Zero(Passion) on Andromeda
Loser Penalty: Eat an entire lemon
+ Show Spoiler [Match Report] +

Game 3: JD vs Fantasy on Circuit Breaker
Penalty: Losing team drinks a glass of concentrated fish extract
+ Show Spoiler [Match Report] +

Game 4: Yellow + TossGirl vs Leta + Best on who cares what map it's a god damn 2v2
Penalty: “20 second couple sexy dance” Oh you Koreans.
+ Show Spoiler [Match Report] +

Interlude: True-False Quiz
+ Show Spoiler [Quiz Report] +

Game 5: Flash vs Bisu on Benzene
Penalty: Winner free-hug with 5 female audience members
Loser free-hug with 5 male audience members
+ Show Spoiler [Match Report] +

So with a little bit of song and dance to lighten the mood, we head into R5

One of the two new maps released for round 5, Beltway looks pretty traditional at first but does hold a few interesting concepts we should look over. One of the first important aspects to note is that there are only two push patterns that you can use to attack an opponent. The one marked in green and the one marked in pink. It's not possible to push through the center ( blue striped area) because all the ramps for the middle expansions are facing outwards and it's possible to be shelled by units positioned on said middle expansions. This leads to a rather circular and interesting dynamic to the map where large assaults can only be orchestrated in a circular way while smaller forces can backstab the natural through the middle. It is also important to note that there are no highground to help any kind of pushing so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Also important to the dynamic of the map is that there is large area (marked in red) next to every natural where you can drop something to harass the natural. Mutalisk harass also looks rather powerful considering I don't think there's space to build turrets behind the minerals and marines have no way of getting to the yellow marked area since there is a temple blocking it.

All in all Beltway is a rather straightforward map with a few fun ideas thrown in. It looks fun and balanced. I am eager to see how it plays out.



This one though, looks anything BUT traditional. I can honestly only try to guess how it will play out because I don't remember a map that looked like this one. So the first thing to note should be that there is a rather short rush distance between each naturals. How I believe the map will play out is that the green player will use the push pattern marked in green to attack from natural to natural while the red player will push alongside the bottom. This lets both players have a much easier time defending the island expansion just by their main bases and take a rather safe third at the bottom right(red player) and the top left (green player) and each could eventually take a fourth base at the 9 o'clock and the 3 o'clocl.

If the map split happens like I predicted, each player can therefore destroy their opponents yellow circled temple and back stab their opponents natural. It's also important to note just how large each player's main is and, that coupled with the fact there each player has an island expansion, means that both players are probably gonna have to incorporate some drop plays in their playbook to fit the map. That is only speculation, however, and it's really difficult to see how this map will play out because I have never seen anything like it.

The regular Proleague format brings long-awaited change to fans of all creeds. Naturally, TL wanted to find out about the expectations of every team, and so we sent some representatives two questions. One of them should even be helpful for FPL!

Enjoy!


Special thanks to all the fans for participating and answering questions!

I dub this round "The Round Of OMG WHY IS EVERYTHING SO EXPENSIVE?!"

Unfortunately, since you aren't swimming in a sea of unlimited points, you're stuck compromising.


TLBS may have dominated Winner's League, but this is Proleague time. Done are the days where your $12 pick might all-kill you 10 points in a single day, or RAK for 12. In SPL, you're looking at a maximum of 2 games per series -- budget accordingly! Of the 12-9's, all of them look very strong except Stork, who has seemingly returned to mortal levels in the past few weeks. Any of these picks will probably do well, but remember that spending 12 here is going to cost you a solid mid-tier pick.


I like all of the 8's; I think they've looked very strong lately. Stats pulled 3 all-kills out of his hat, Zero and Baby have been on fire, and Kal and Hydra have been doing well, but seemingly a bit behind their counterparts. Zero and Kal each get to split their ace games with Free and Calm, respectively, so keep that in mind. Stats, despite being the little Protoss that could, is always going to play second fiddle to Flash. Hydra has been Hite's clear ace of late, and Baby is about the only thing keeping WeMade afloat, so they get the nod in the Ace category. Unfortunately, WeMade just doesn't remember how to win much these days. Zero feels like the strongest 8, but Baby and Sea look to get the most games with the lack of depth on MBC and the lack of players able to win on WeMade.


Here's where the world gets a little more interesting. Paint him purple and Bogus could be the next Bud Dink and I know -- I Know -- you're all itching to put this guy on your anti team, but you should think twice about that.

I can hear you already: Bogus seems to be having a huge slump, going only 2-7 in his last 9 games, but we shouldn't overlook that 7 game win-streak he had just before that and how four of his losses are to Flash x2, Jaedong, and an on-fire Baby -- people who are destroying everyone. Even with this apparent slump, Bogus ended SWL 9-8 and SPL 10-15, making him one of STX's pillars. This guy is guaranteed to get a lot of games, as well.

Whether he's evolving into Cloyster or being served in a bowl of soup, Calm is always one of STX's go-to guys.

Calm went 11-12 in SWL and 8-6 in SPL, making him a very average, but reasonably consistent pick. He's been floating around that 50-50 mark pretty steadily for awhile, but if Bogus gets his groove back, Calm is looking at a three-way split for Ace games. While good, 6 might be a bit much for this crustacean.

Speaking of getting your groove back, how 'bout this cross-dressing Terran.

Leta went from a 12-6 SPL performance to starting just 2-8 in SWL, placing him among the worst performers for R3 and one of the greatest anti picks for last round. Despite that abysmal start, Leta turned things around and finished out SWL going 5-2, nearly all-killing WeMade in the process, putting him at a 7-10 SWL performance. Leta seems like a strong candidate for both games and wins with the current hierarchy of Hite. If all else fails, at least he'll dress real pretty for you.

The two Oz boys are gamble picks in my eyes; Hiya had an awful 2-12 SPL showing, but somehow dominated as a top SWL performer. Killer had a slightly more respectable 7-11 SPL showing, and an SWL record just as strong as Hiya's. When these two are winning, Oz is a beast, but history has shown us that Killer and Hiya just aren't terribly reliable. Right now, they're hot. If you pick them up, keep a close eye on their performance, as you'll want to trade them quickly if they start to hit another slump.

Light is great versus zerg, decent vs Terran, but flops like a fish out of water when he meets a Protoss. If the Woongjin coach can figure out a secret formula to get him lots of Zergs, Light might dominate. A pick that could pay off, but probably not your safest bet.

Soulkey has looked strong recently, but seems a bit overpriced at 6.

Snow has really been struggling of late and has stats similar to Leta, only without the appearance of having found his Mojo again. I would avoid Snow, but a Snow anti still feels risky.

Han (Tyson) is another player who seems to be struggling lately after a very strong peak. Han had a strong SPL at 10-6, after a rocky start, and was as high as 15-6 across SPL and SWL at one point. Recently, however, he seems to be losing more than he's winning, and many of those wins have felt rather lackluster.


There are a lot of these guys, so I'll just talk about them briefly.




I'll limit this to people I like or hate.



Disclaimer: I always pick crappy teams.

SKT - Deep team with two very solid anchors. They'll probably continue to do very well, after dominating SPL and SWL, but 7 is a steep cost for a team and depth means wins, not necessarily points. Realize that while Fantasy and Bisu can often pull out an SKT win, there's a good chance that the win will be a 4-3 or 4-2.

Hite - The second best team in SPL and a mid-tier contender of SWL. Hite has reasonable depth with Leta and Movie appearing to return to form. If they can keep Skyhigh vs Terran and get Snow back in shape, Hite will be a strong force.

Woongjin - This is a tough team to predict. Their players had pretty similar SWL performances, much closer than any other team (4 players over 9 wins and a 5th with 7). Woongjin was actually one of the stronger teams in SPL and they have since acquired Light, but their SWL performance was among the worst. The potential is there, but it's a gamble with a cost of 5.

Oz - Dead last in SPL, second in SWL. Most people's first thought is that Jaedong carried the team through SWL, but not even Jaedong's back is strong enough to single-handedly flip the team that far. It actually had a lot to do with Hiya going from a massive slump to heroing it up, and Killer beating face right beside him. Jaedong will continue to be the picture of consistency, but Hiya and Killer have to keep winning for Oz to have a chance, as Oz lacks depth beyond the main three.

KT - 8th In SPL, 1st in SWL. Flash continued to be consistent, but Stats is the one who really turned things around for KT. KT won 78 games: 25 from Stats, 24 from Flash, 14 from Action, and 7 from Crazy-Hydra; the rest won were 3 or less. In short, KT has no depth. Even with a dominating SWL performance, it will be very hard for KT to perform in SPL with their current reliance on so few players.

STX - Floating around the middle of the pack all season, STX has hung around and been fairly consistent, even if not particularly stellar. STX will need Bogus, Shuttle, and Cuteangel to get in form if they want to do well.

MBC Game - Here is where they'll be kicking themselves for trading Light. MBC has only 5 ranked players on their current roster, with two of those slumping hard, and two others underperforming. MBC could well be in the bottom rung this time around.

Samsung - With so many key players struggling, it's hard to predict if Khan will be able to perform in SPL. If you thought KT's spread was bad, try this. Stork won 20 games in SWL, the next closest were Turn and Grape with 5 a piece, followed by Jangbi, Great, Reality, and Brave with 4 each. Khan has depth, but their players just can't win right now.

WeMade Fox - Even with Baby donning his superhero cape, WeMade still finished 9th in SWL and had only 3 players with more than 2 wins.

ACE - ACE is ACE. They just don't win much. They've looked stronger than in the past, but they were nonetheless 9th in SPL and only managed two wins in SWL, finishing 10th.