Liquid is out while New Star HoSeo live to fight another day. However, NSH won't have much time to rest, if they'll have any time at all. They go up against Life and the rest of the ZeNEX crew tonight, fighting for the final qualifying spot out of Group A.
GSTL kicks off tonight at 09:10 GMT (+00:00).
Recap: Team Liquid vs New Star HoSeo
by Waxangel
– Tassadar takes four games as NS HoSeo defeat Liquid 5 – 2
Liquid's venture into the GSTL ended up being a short one, as they were eliminated just two days after making their debut. Coming off being all-killed by ZeNEX's Life, Liquid received another sound thrashing from NSH_Tassadar, and had the final nail put in their coffin by GSL champion NSH_Jjakji.
After falling into mediocrity since reaching the finals of Code A July, Tassadar exploded with one of his best performances in nearly year, taking four games as the point man for New Star HoSeo. While most Koreans would be expected to triumph over Jinro and TLO, Tassadar also won two impressive victories against Code S class players in Zenio and TaeJa.
HerO helped his team save face by defeating Tassadar and Freaky, but that was the full extent of his contribution. After Freaky fell on Daybreak, NSH decided that enough was enough, and sent out Jjakji to close out the game. Jjakji did so without much trouble, mind-gaming HerO in an easy win.
NSH now move on to their second elimination game in a row, going up against ZeNEX in the final match of the group. If they can avoid elimination once more, NSH will earn a spot in the second group stage of the GSTL.
This was arguably the best we've ever seen Tassadar's play in the GSL. Zenio and TaeJa are two Code S level talents, and four wins is seriously impressive for anyone – even taking the foreigner handicap into account. As expected, Tassadar used some builds that could easily have turned into 'all-ins' (or whatever you want to call them), but he actually ended up playing some good macro-games in three of his sets.
There's no definitive Protoss ace for NSH, and Tassadar, Sage, and San all share the burden. With a four-kill in his pocket, Tassadar can make his case to be the #1 choice.
Game of the night: Game Six – HerO vs Freaky
Freaky really, really loves his infestors, perhaps even a little too much. A few days ago, he was happy to make infestors while Crank decided to just mass twelve carriers and kill him. Last night, he was happy to make infestors while HerO decided to just murder him with insane multi-task and harassment.
At this pace, Freaky will rapidly become one of our favorite players. When he wins, it's awesome because he does it with his entertaining infestor style. When he loses, he manages to do it in a way where his opponent gets to put on an awesome show of their own.
NS HoSeo
ZeNEX
by Waxangel
Where They Stand
Both New Star HoSeo and ZeNEX were quickly bounced from the competition in the previous GSTL, affirming their positions towards the bottom of the Korean team barrel. The two teams are going into this season looking to prove that things have changed since then, and the first step will be to qualify for the second round where they will test themselves against the GSTL's tougher teams. Alas, only one team will progress tonight, while the other team will repeat last season's fate.
On the face of it, NSH hasn't shown us anything at all that tells us they're a different team from 2011's Season One. At their base, they're still GSL champion Jjakji + six talented, streaky, and inconsistent players. NSH wins games if someone besides Jjakji finds their rhythm, and they fall apart when that doesn't happen. Fortunately for NSH, they can probably get by ZeNEX with just an average performance from the supporting cast, but it's still a concern going up against the stronger teams in the next round.
ZeNEX, at least, seems to have improved their position considerably. It's really only because of a single player – the broadcast game ready ZeNEXLife – but finally getting a player who is a legit threat to the other team's best player is the biggest single improvement a team can make. Life took down HerO and MMA in consecutive series, and at this pace, he should have an even chance against Jjakji as well. The problem for ZeNEX is that besides Life, the rest of the team is still the old core of the used-to-be literally the worst team in the GSTL. Next to Life, only Line has given them anything at all, and they're still waiting on prospects Extreme, Avenge, and Harrier to produce. Life makes them much better, but like Jjakji, he needs reliable help to pull his team out of the bottom tier.
Although the future is worrisome for whichever team that happens moves on, there will still be a lot to enjoy in the present moment: This will be an exciting match between two teams with talented young aces supported by a slew of lesser known players who are just waiting for a chance to go off.
Although he lost after falling apart miserably in the late game, Harrier actually looked pretty good for much of the early-mid game against Puzzle in the ZeNEX vs SlayerS match. It's very little to go off of, but it makes you cautiously optimistic for what the Code A player for ZeNEX could do if he finds his Mokdong studio rhythm. ZeNEX is a team that desperately needs people other than their LifeLine to perform, so you might as well put your hope on the guy who's given you any kind of glimpse at all.
In Extreme's case, he's the more obvious player to hype, as he's come off a three kill against oGs last season and great performances against a variety of teams in the KSL Team League (where he 4-killed NSH, incidentally). He was totally crushed by JYP in the ace match of ZeNEX vs SlayerS, but given that it was just one game and a PvP, we can give him a bye.
And of course, we have Life, the hottest player in the GSTL at present. Two great outings in a row suggest that his all-kill against Liquid was no fluke, and that he really has figured out how to justify his online notoriety in the GomTV booth. We're still in the business of figuring out just HOW good he is (unfortunately for us, MMA chose to mech in their match), but from our current observations, he is an all-kill threat against NSH.
NSH: Anyone who can beat Life before Jjakji
Considering the two teams' approaches so far, it wouldn't be surprising to see Life come out early, and then see Jjakji quickly deployed to take him out in turn. Even so, it would be great if NSH could bring out a sniper to get rid of Life more easily so that they can preserve Jjakji for later.
With ZvZ being Life's specialty, NSH's second best player in Seal seems to be very unsuited to the role. Without any of the maps in the pool being particularly Protoss favored in PvZ, San, Sage, and Tassadar don't seem all that likely either. What we might end up actually seeing is Hoon or Sculp coming out on Antiga Shipyard.
With a severe lack of TvT sniping power on ZeNEX, this is Jjakji's time to shine. If Jjakji comes out early like he usually does – perhaps to snipe Life who also comes early in the line-up – then which ZeNEX player exactly, is supposed to stop him? Extreme playing PvT on Atlantis Spaceship? Harrier praying that Jjakji's bad-TvT reputation is as deserved as he hopes? Jjakji is a serious problem for ZeNEX, and if Life can't defeat his third Ace of the week, things could start going downhill very fast.
I'm inclined to say Line is the ace just because Life is being deployed too early, but maybe that's a preconception coming from a dated notion of what an ace is. The idea that the best player must play last has its roots in countless competitive games (especially fighting games), but that concept has gone out of fashion in Starcraft II. It's hard to put a finger on exactly why – perhaps it's because of the widely implemented policy of loser-map picks, or perhaps it's because specific player/race counter-relationships are stronger than other games.
Prediction
This match-up could end up a lot like Team Liquid vs ZeNEX, where the most important players on each team (HerO and Life) were played early, and the team that lost its best player (HerO) was quickly mopped up by the opposing ace (Life). Both Jjakji and Life tend to be played early in the line-up, and both of them are fully capable of defeating the remaining players in the other team's roster, once they have each other out of the way. I'm foreseeing A 3rd/4th set duel between Jjakji and Life with the series on the line.
In the case that their ace does fall, NSH is better equipped to recover and win anyway. NSH's players might be inconsistent, but Seal, Sage, and co. have defeated ace-class players a few times in the past (Nestea, Mvp anyone?). On the other hand, it would be a team first if ZeNEX's supporting cast could find a way to beat Jjakji.
Really? I think ZeNEX will win ez. It seems to me like avenge, extreme, and line definitely have the potential to take him out. Although, maybe it's cause I haven't seen Jjakji play in a while.
There is no 'foreigner handicap', there is only a player handicap. If TLs players aren't good enough, don't blame it on them being from outside S Korea.
After watching the last 2 GSTL groups, I can't help but feel Blizzard need to find a way to patch sentry drops... Blocking the ramp is just too insanely strong. Khaldor and Wolf never stopped talking how this build was well executed by JYP and Tassadar (not the same build but same idea all around) when in fact, this build is just almost uncounterable.
I don't know how its even patchable since nerfing the sentries changes the whole matchup but blizzard needs to find a way..
On June 01 2012 04:23 Ozell wrote: After watching the last 2 GSTL groups, I can't help but feel Blizzard need to find a way to patch sentry drops... Blocking the ramp is just too insanely strong. Khaldor and Wolf never stopped talking how this build was well executed by JYP and Tassadar (not the same build but same idea all around) when in fact, this build is just almost uncounterable.
I don't know how its even patchable since nerfing the sentries changes the whole matchup but blizzard needs to find a way..
I think the problem are the maps, but even then, if you can't forcefield agressively, you can't forcefield defensively either.. I'd say let the players figure it out.
I don't expect to see Tassadar shine any more. It's not hard to look good when you're up against players like Banjo and company. Good riddance Teamliquid.
The winner of tonight's match actually has it better than group winner Slayers EG. In the group A of round 2 (assuming IM-SK wins their group), there will be Prime, Slayers-EG, MVP and IM-SK, the only 4 teams that have won the GSTL, and obviously the most stacked group of GSTL teams ever. It'll be a hell of a group, and it's already stacked as hell.
On June 01 2012 04:38 fer wrote: I don't expect to see Tassadar shine any more. It's not hard to look good when you're up against players like Banjo and company. Good riddance Teamliquid.
It's not hard to look good when you're up against players like Taeja? Nice logic you have there.
Predictions for this match are much harder than others, in my opinion, because they rely heavily on a few players that haven't shown proof of where they stand. Ex: Will we see 4-kill Life come back out, or will it be the Life of league's past, etc? If Life stays strong like he has been, and NSH manages to hold on to Jjakji to use against Life, it should be a very good match that goes near the full distance.
Of course I'm rooting for Life I mean ZeNEX, but it's still to be seen how the team's young lineup will fare under elimination pressure. They've looked stronger than NSH in their last two matches, but given NSH's experience I'd have to split it 50-50.
Just finished watching it and even though it wasn't as bad as yesterday, liquid couldn't impress as a team. Still, I hope to see more of liquid in the future and hopefully with more members, and I hope the members who are currently not in shape will manage to find their shape with which they dominated amongst the best of the world once.
On June 01 2012 04:23 Ozell wrote: After watching the last 2 GSTL groups, I can't help but feel Blizzard need to find a way to patch sentry drops... Blocking the ramp is just too insanely strong. Khaldor and Wolf never stopped talking how this build was well executed by JYP and Tassadar (not the same build but same idea all around) when in fact, this build is just almost uncounterable.
I don't know how its even patchable since nerfing the sentries changes the whole matchup but blizzard needs to find a way..
By almost uncounterable, do you mean "keep a couple units above your ramp to shoot down the sentries/warp prism"? Believe it or not, protoss doesn't have a 100% winrate from using forcefields on ramps.
Anyway, pretty good showing from Tassadar. Not that unexpected though. :/
Unfortunately I have an exam tomorrow so I won't be able to watch it I'm not really a fan of either team, but Zenex seems like a very charismatic team, and I think they deserve a small bit of succes after all the rough times they have gone through. I hope they make it to the next round.
With Taeja and Hero atleast you would have expected a much stronger performance by Liquid. Zenio and Ret are others you would expect to take a few games.
I really though TLO would be able to at least get one win. I mean he almost made it to Code A in his first try. So sad to see them lose especially when they had taeja.
On June 01 2012 04:23 Ozell wrote: After watching the last 2 GSTL groups, I can't help but feel Blizzard need to find a way to patch sentry drops... Blocking the ramp is just too insanely strong. Khaldor and Wolf never stopped talking how this build was well executed by JYP and Tassadar (not the same build but same idea all around) when in fact, this build is just almost uncounterable.
I don't know how its even patchable since nerfing the sentries changes the whole matchup but blizzard needs to find a way..
I think the problem are the maps, but even then, if you can't forcefield agressively, you can't forcefield defensively either.. I'd say let the players figure it out.
I'd say queens breaking FF's but then that might make other areas of this matchup very imbalanced. Perhaps a researchable skill to gain weight or something?
On June 01 2012 04:23 Ozell wrote: After watching the last 2 GSTL groups, I can't help but feel Blizzard need to find a way to patch sentry drops... Blocking the ramp is just too insanely strong. Khaldor and Wolf never stopped talking how this build was well executed by JYP and Tassadar (not the same build but same idea all around) when in fact, this build is just almost uncounterable.
I don't know how its even patchable since nerfing the sentries changes the whole matchup but blizzard needs to find a way..
I think the problem are the maps, but even then, if you can't forcefield agressively, you can't forcefield defensively either.. I'd say let the players figure it out.
I'd say queens breaking FF's but then that might make other areas of this matchup very imbalanced. Perhaps a researchable skill to gain weight or something?
Making Queens a Massive unit would be interesting...
On June 01 2012 04:23 Ozell wrote: After watching the last 2 GSTL groups, I can't help but feel Blizzard need to find a way to patch sentry drops... Blocking the ramp is just too insanely strong. Khaldor and Wolf never stopped talking how this build was well executed by JYP and Tassadar (not the same build but same idea all around) when in fact, this build is just almost uncounterable.
I don't know how its even patchable since nerfing the sentries changes the whole matchup but blizzard needs to find a way..
I think the problem are the maps, but even then, if you can't forcefield agressively, you can't forcefield defensively either.. I'd say let the players figure it out.
I'd say queens breaking FF's but then that might make other areas of this matchup very imbalanced. Perhaps a researchable skill to gain weight or something?
Making Queens a Massive unit would be interesting...
Give Queens an ability to gain Massive status temporarily at the cost of some energy. Problem solved.
On June 01 2012 04:23 Ozell wrote: After watching the last 2 GSTL groups, I can't help but feel Blizzard need to find a way to patch sentry drops... Blocking the ramp is just too insanely strong. Khaldor and Wolf never stopped talking how this build was well executed by JYP and Tassadar (not the same build but same idea all around) when in fact, this build is just almost uncounterable.
I don't know how its even patchable since nerfing the sentries changes the whole matchup but blizzard needs to find a way..
Scout, see warp prism coming, have units in place (i.e. in both places). It's extremely frustrating when it happens, but it's a matter of scouting. No divine intervention needed.
On June 01 2012 04:23 Ozell wrote: After watching the last 2 GSTL groups, I can't help but feel Blizzard need to find a way to patch sentry drops... Blocking the ramp is just too insanely strong. Khaldor and Wolf never stopped talking how this build was well executed by JYP and Tassadar (not the same build but same idea all around) when in fact, this build is just almost uncounterable.
I don't know how its even patchable since nerfing the sentries changes the whole matchup but blizzard needs to find a way..
I think the problem are the maps, but even then, if you can't forcefield agressively, you can't forcefield defensively either.. I'd say let the players figure it out.
I'd say queens breaking FF's but then that might make other areas of this matchup very imbalanced. Perhaps a researchable skill to gain weight or something?
A queen that consumes four roaches becomes massive for a minute :D
On June 01 2012 04:23 Ozell wrote: After watching the last 2 GSTL groups, I can't help but feel Blizzard need to find a way to patch sentry drops... Blocking the ramp is just too insanely strong. Khaldor and Wolf never stopped talking how this build was well executed by JYP and Tassadar (not the same build but same idea all around) when in fact, this build is just almost uncounterable.
I don't know how its even patchable since nerfing the sentries changes the whole matchup but blizzard needs to find a way..
I think the problem are the maps, but even then, if you can't forcefield agressively, you can't forcefield defensively either.. I'd say let the players figure it out.
I'd say queens breaking FF's but then that might make other areas of this matchup very imbalanced. Perhaps a researchable skill to gain weight or something?
A queen that consumes four roaches becomes massive for a minute :D
A Lair or Hive tech morph similar to Hydra -> Lurker. Make her massive and maybe adjust a few other things. Like big queen cant make creep tumors but maybe can make her own temp creep trail.
Was kind of a sad showing over all. I love liquid and hope to see them next season and that they will come back stronger and go farther. Liquid Fighto!
EPT
NSH_Tassadar
Harrier, 
Life
oh well try to do well in gsl liquid still one of my favorite teams gotta love liquid
