Check out the results for the ODT in the R&S thread!

Swarm Season?

Zergs looked like they were going to dominate this OSL. With more Zerg players in ODT than Protoss and Terran players combined, it looked like we were going to see a LOT of ZvZ in this OSL. However, after a 9 - 15 record in the ODT, only 5 Zerg players advanced, bringing the total count to 7 Zergs, 4 Terrans, and 5 Protoss for the round of 16.

Most notably Jaedong lost 0-2 after two uninspiring games. He lost the first game to Rush after getting a large lead then proceeding to make novice mistakes, then lost to hyvaa, who only has a 41% ZvZ win rate. It seems like the tyrant we once knew is no more, and Jaedong is finally falling into a real slump. As a fan, I hope he rebounds for season 2 and we can once again see the dominating games of Jaedong the Tyrant.

Victory after Victory

On the other hand, the Protoss seemed to be in a huge trouble with only 4 players representing in the ODT. However, they've really shown that they're by no means easy preys, every one of them surviving their groups. Honestly, I didn't expect mini and Grape to make it through their groups, but they sure proved me wrong! Now I'm really excited to see if either of these underdogs can be the dark horse of the tournament!

The Torrasque in the Room


Let's just say some games were... disappointing. There were many questionable plays that seemed very amateur. Horang2 moving out with his reaver straight through the center when ZerO heavily invested in hydralisks, players leaving their marines out in the open for Zergling surrounds, many games ended quickly because of silly mistakes. Although many BW fans try to keep away from saying this, but it's probably because players are also practicing StarCraft 2.

But don't worry! Games WILL get better. As we get farther into the league, each player has more chance of winning it all - something every progamer dreams of achieving. Who wouldn't practice their hardest when you're in the round of 8, even round of 16 of the most prestigious league! So Brood War fans, don't be worried. Most players, if not all, will give it their all for their chance a the crown, because if they don't, they'll quickly find themselves at the bottom of the pack.

Overgrown with grass and weeds, the road once walked by Brood War's would-be kings lies abandoned. Almost five years after it was last traversed by a young Zerg played named Lee Jae Dong, six aspiring aristocrats stand at its gates. The road is made dark by inclement weather and patrolled by prehistoric monsters, terrorists and vengeful gods.

Failure is not feared, it is assumed.

By all accounts, 2012 is a not a good year to be a talented young Brood War progamer. We now know that since some time before the beginning of last Proleague season, most, if not all pro players have been practising another game in anticipation of a “New Era eSports Transition”. Whether or not this has served to undermine KeSPA's existing Starcraft leagues is, for the most part, a matter of perspective. Regardless, it is becoming clear that being really, really good at Brood War is unlikely to be a valid career choice in twelve months' time.

In the past, every effort made by a progamer in their team's daily practice routine would at least in some small way benefit their performance in the individual leagues. However, this has not prevented some progamers from complaining about not being allowed sufficient time to prepare for their OSL or MSL games, due to the rigorous Proleague schedule. Now, not only do players have to consider practising for both individual and team leagues, but they must also learn an entirely different game.

Having reached a point where Brood War's fate is more or less sealed, any player neglecting Starcraft II in favour of the OSL is risking their very future as a progamer. This is especially true for players still awaiting their first big breakout performance and, with it, their first big contract. More so than ever before, success in this OSL will come at a cost.

But what of the players themselves? Regardless of all external influences, are any of them truly capable of winning a Starleague?

Neo.G_Soulkey was the ace Zerg in Proleague this season. The buzz around him dissipated somewhat following the post season heroics of the KT Zergs, but no doubt remains about his quality as a player. Although Soulkey enters this OSL as the one of the most in-form players, his Royal Road candidacy betrays his relative lack of individual league experience. Having reached his peak at a time when individual leagues are scarce, this OSL may be Soulkey's one chance to leave a mark on professional Brood War and establish a legacy as Korea's last best Zerg. Of all the potential Royal Roaders, Soulkey stands out as the player with the best chance of winning and the greatest amount of confidence.



After a pretty disappointing start to 2012, Bogus has been crushing his way through the OSL. Having firmly established himself as STX's ace in 10-11, Bogus found himself displaced this season. A mixture of poor performances and narrow losses led to a frustrating six months. Whether he was spurred on by this frustration or simply able to move on and re-focus, Bogus was relentless in his ODT group, needing less than 15 minutes to win his two games before advancing to his first Round of 16.



Horang2's journey has a progamer has been less conventional but he stands alongside Soulkey and Bogus as a player who has, for some time, been worthy of an OSL Round of 16, without ever having made it there. Although PvP remains his strongest match-up, Horang2's other match-ups have developed enough in recent years that he now seems capable of making a deep run in an individual league given sufficient preparation. One of the major obstacles facing any player wanting to win this OSL (or any OSL since 2007) is the presence of one Lee Young Ho, and it's interesting to note that Horang2 is the only Royal Road candidate to have ever beaten Flash in a televised game.



The only true rookie in this OSL's current crop of Royal Road candidates is mini, having made his first Proleague appearance in December of last year. Mini is an intriguing player: although his record during the 11-12 season was far from amazing, there was a certain sense of swagger about his play which has already won him a number of fans. Having first displayed his talent for PvZ against a pair of unsuspecting CJ Zergs in Proleague, mini has continued to impress. After defeating Crazy-Hydra 2-0 in his preliminaries bracket, mini sealed his place in the Round of 16 with two more impressive PvZ victories against Hyuk and Action.

The aggression and harassment inherent to mini's game-plan in all match-ups makes him one of the most exciting young players around at the moment. The similarities to STX's former ace Protoss and OSL regular Kal are hard to ignore (so too is the irony of Kal's successor being called “mini”).



Rush snuck under the radar in qualifying for the ODT, with his 2-1 victory over Stats in the semifinal of his bracket going largely unnoticed alongside a number of more high profile upsets in the preliminaries. His ODT group draw was a stroke of luck for a player who has been used as a TvZ sniper in his few appearances for CJ in Proleague. Without setting the world alight, Rush dispatched Jaedong and then RorO to advance first in his group. Having said himself that he strongly favours TvZ, his lack of confidence in other match-ups may preclude him from making a deep run in this OSL.



This season, Grape was the middle child of the KHAN Protoss family. Being given only seven token appearances all season, Grape seemed to possess neither the stability of elders Stork and Jangbi nor the all-important PvP talent of Brave. His performance in the preliminaries was impressive, but his 6-0 record can at least in part being explained by Mind's overall poor form since joining KT and Light's poor TvP since birth. Similar to Rush, Grape was handed something of a favourable group considering his strong bias for PvZ. However, Calm's ability to build hydralisks should never be underestimated, and Grape was forced to come back through the losers' match in order to take his place in the Round of 16.

Grape's run to the Round of 8 in the ABC Mart MSL distinguishes him as the Royal Road candidate who has progressed the furthest in an individual league. The experience of playing in and preparing for an elimination round series and the presence of Stork and Jangbi to provide advice are two assets that none of his fellow debutants possess.

Both players had dropped their first game in this group, and they found themselves in the losers' bracket fighting for another chance to advance.

This battle raged over Neo Electric Circuit, Modesty spawned at eleven o'clock; his Terran foe, Hiya, spawned at one o'clock.

Hiya opened by blocking his main choke with a depot and barracks, taking his gas soon after. Modesty opted for a twelve-hatch, and he then took his third backdoor mineral-only expansion.

Hiya had other plans, sending out two marines with the aim of disrupting Zerg activity while he finished his factory. The scouting SCV began constructing a bunker as the marines arrived. Two zerglings popped out just in time but weren't enough to hold off the early aggression. They pulled back until another pair of zerglings spawned.



Modesty pulled two drones off the line to aid his zerglings in fending off the bunker attack and placed a sunken for good measure. The marines were hunted down and killed before the bunker could be finished; Modesty had successfully defended the early aggression.

Hiya made a vulture as he got his starport for some quick vessels, as well as a CC. Despite a sunken and a few lings, Hiya maneuvered the vulture through the small gap, past the sunken and lings, and into the main. Fortunately for Modesty, he had some hydras, and once they burst through their cocoons they put a stop to any vulture shenanigans.

Hiya moved onto his next plan of attack, the wraith, which shot down an overlord before moving into Modesty's main to harass the workers. Hiya left his wraith unmicroed for a second, which allowed Modesty to surround it with hydras, blowing it out of the sky. A small sign that Hiya may have been a little rusty, perhaps?

Modesty then moved out of his main, charging a small group of hydras into Hiya's base, only to find marines bunkered and a tank sieged and ready to destroy anything that came into range. Modesty ordered a quick retreat.

Modesty moved onto lair tech, taking a fourth along the way at seven o'clock. More hatcheries were added, as well as a spire soon after the lair finished. Hiya began building up his vessel numbers in anticipation of that eventual mutalisk attack.

Modesty summoned his air force and moved into Hiya's main, which spotted the five barracks lighting up. Hiya moved his vessels into position and soon Modesty found his air force withered away by irradiates, one after another. Eventually Modesty was forced to retreat, but not before he chased down a vessel with scourge.


Modesty took his fifth at twelve o'clock while his mutas regrouped and returned back to Hiya's main, where they danced around the edges just out of turret range.

All this time, Hiya continued to pump out units from his five barracks, his vessels leading the way towards Modesty's base. The vessel cloud strayed a little too far out of marine protection, though, and Modesty blew another vessel out of the sky with his scourge.

Lurkers moved out to greet the Terran force, but three were immediately irradiated and left to die. Suddenly confronted by such a large force, Modesty threw down some sunkens in a desperate attempt to save his natural. The effort came a little too late as Hiya had already reached the natural before the sunkens had a chance to finish. Modesty then made a bold move: his units maneuvered around the map and into the Terran natural. Suddenly we found ourselves in some sort of a little base trade, but this never ends well for Zerg...

Hiya ordered all his vessels back to his main, where he irradiated the lurkers that had busted through his natural. Meanwhile, Modesty's natural had been demolished along with the hive, and there went any real chance of getting defilers. Modesty planted three lurkers to halt the destruction from spreading into his main. With the vessels cleaning up the attack at Hiya's main, Hiya had left his units susceptible to a lurker attack. Modesty rushed his lurkers and lings into the Terran force, and without detection Modesty inflicted significant enough damage to buy himself another chance.

Hiya regrouped and charged his marines into the main, inflicting a little more damage. They then moved into the backdoor, where the hatchery was swiftly destroyed along with the hydra den (although Modesty was already making another before the first den went down). Meanwhile, Hiya positioned another group to blitz Modesty's fifth, making short work of another expansion and putting himself in a nice position.


Hiya marshalled his forces and ordered another attack at the natural. Lurkers and lings gathered in an attempt to hold off the offensive but they were blown away by marine and tank fire. Hiya ordered his troops to move into the main, annihilating more Zerg units and leveling two more hatcheries. Modesty continued his struggle, but he was ultimately unable to muster a force to adequately defend himself. His tech buildings fell one after another and soon he found himself overwhelmed. His base about to be wiped clean along with all his units, Modesty conceded to his Terran foe, and was eliminated from the tournament 0-2.

---

As the night progressed, we found ourselves on Gladiator, where the two remaining warriors fought to advance to the next stage.

Horang spawned at five o'clock, where he opened with gate-core. On the side, Hiya spawned at seven o'clock, where he opted for a factory-expand opening. Horang2 moved out two of his goons to survey the situation, but they were met with marine and tank fire, and before they could make a full retreat one was gunned down.

Hiya began planting mines around the map with his vultures. Horang2 wasn't just going to sit in his base - he took the initiative and began clearing mines. This left his natural open, though, and Hiya snuck in a vulture. Fortunately for Horang2 he managed to get a nice surround on the vulture with his probes, completely negating any potential damage that could have been caused by the mechanical bike.



Horang2 continued to patrol around the map, taking out the mines and any vision they gave to Hiya. Hiya snuck in another vulture, this time killing a few probes before dying. Horang2 retaliated by sending his goons to Hiya's natural, where several tanks were sieged. A goon was blown away, giving the signal for the rest to make a hasty retreat.

Both players added more production facilities; a stargate and arbiter tribunal warped in for Horang2 as he moved on to late game tricks. Both players secured their thirds and ramped up production.

A shuttle flew around Hiya's third, dropping a zealot over the SCVs. This drew the attention of the tanks nearby, which promptly blew the zealot and several workers into oblivion. Horang2 continued his harass by dropping a DT into the main, but unfortunately for him it was promptly destroyed before delivering much damage.

Horang2 quickly expanded again, this time at three o'clock. Protoss units moved around the center as Horang2 began coordinating his attack; a large cluster of zealots were spotted, and soon an arbiter made its way towards the heart of the Terran force. Seconds later Horang2 recalled his zealots, setting off a mine and killing several vultures and zealots. Simutaneously, a large battalion of Protoss units charged in from the north, dealing a large blow to the Terran force. However, Hiya had positioned his tanks far back, and with a little reinforcement he held off the brutal attack.



Horang2 added more gateways, neatly lined up, which allowed units to flow easily out of the main and into the battlefield. Probes transferred to the newly established base where he continued mining activities to fund his vicious attacks.

Hiya quickly started his fourth, using goliaths to protect his latest expansion, twice denying Horang2's arbiters.

However, Horang2 remained vigilant, and soon an arbiter was spotted floating over the natural and into Hiya's main. Horang2 recalled a large army over Hiya's production facilities, but the Terran's army was close by, and Hiya held his main without too many problems. Just as Hiya moved out, though, another recall was made inside the main, hindering Hiya yet again. Hiya decided then and there that he was going to forfeit his base and move on with the attack. Depots were destroyed left and right, with a few units left to cover the production facilities. Hiya's force marched forth as half the main was bulldozed.

As the Terran force traversed across the terrain, Hiya was confronted by two arbiters, which immobilized a large portion of the tanks with stasis. A large number of Protoss units charged forward, blows were exchanged, and both players sustained heavy damage. Horang2 kept reinforcing with zealots and goons, eventually chipping away at Hiya's army. Horang2 gathered another force and engaged yet again. This time, a mine drag destroyed a larger number of vultures and tanks were torn apart by angry zealots.



At this point, Hiya's chances of victory had slipped away. He lacked the tank numbers to give him the punch he needed, his main was in tatters, and Horang2 was on the verge of running him over. Hiya folded and typed out, giving way for Horang2 to advance, while Hiya was eliminated 1-2.

Group A:
Of the four groups in this OSL Round of 16, this is the only one with all three races represented. As such, I hope this group will bring us interesting games (though what am I saying...?). Despite playing too much SCII these days, Flash will advance. Even though JangBi beat him in the quarterfinals of the last OSL, I'm not going to create some pretense where JangBi has the advantage over Flash, especially given their most recent matches in the Proleague playoffs. Additionally, I don't think either Action or Bogus can beat Flash. Well, Action did perform quite well during playoffs...

Out of the non-Flash games between Action, JangBi, and Bogus, I predict one of two things: either the games will be awesome (Bogus and JangBi often deliver entertaining matches) or they will be terrible. I don't have any data to draw on from the past month or so, but out of these three players Action is definitely performing the best. Though I'd like JangBi to move on (because y'know Protoss is cool and there's already an all-zerg group) I think Action will take the other slot.

Group B:
This group should be fun! Fantasy has been playing very well (best I've ever seen him) and the two rookies, mini and Rush, are looking quite promising. While Grape isn't that good I don't think he'll be a pushover either. Fantasy's definitely going to move on, and once again because of Protoss/underdog bias I'd like mini to move on. I'd say Rush is a better candidate to advance - his games against Jaedong and RorO were solid, to say the least - but statistically his TvP isn't anything to write home about. Who knows though... perhaps we'll find our next Royal Roader in this group.

Group C:
If Soulkey doesn't advance from this group, I'll be somewhat upset. Dude's been playing a damn good year of StarCraft, and this OSL needs some cool players. However, most of his success has been due to his ZvP and ZvT - his ZvZ still isn't anything impressive. Due to recent play though, I think he has the best chance to move on from this hellish 4 Zerg group.

This time last year, Hydra was being touted for his impeccable ZvZ. Yet I haven't been impressed as of late. Regardless, I think he's better than hyvaa and Shine. But I can't call ZvZ at all because I suck.

I hate this group. Let's flip some coins.

Group D:
You know, I really like this group as well, and overall I think it will produce the best games of the Round of 16. It's a shame not all three of Stork, ZerO, and Horang2 can make it out alive. Unfortunately for Soo, he's the odd one out - and he's an SKT zerg. I give him very little chance to make it out of this group. In my eyes, Stork definitely is the favorite, though not by much. Horang2 is 4-2 against him, and should definitely give him a tough time in PvP. ZerO, despite having Stork's number a year ago, has lost the last two encounters rather convincingly to Song Byung Goo.

I can't really think of a clear reason behind justifying two of these three making it out, but my gut feeling says Stork and Horang2.