by Fionn


Where They Stand

After going through their third revival in little over a year, Team SCV Life is in line to have their best outing in the GSTL since their underdog run in 2011's Season One. Back then, they went 5 – 0 in the regular season while being anchored by players like Killer, Clide and Alive. Now with all three of those players gone – and one of them even playing for their opponent in the opening round – TSL will be relying on an entirely new but no-less formidable backbone of Polt and a deep line-up of Zergs to get them through.

TSL's partnership with Millenium could be huge if they get far enough into the tournament that Stephano finally arrives in Korea and joins the squad, but they'll need to get through their preliminary week first. Last season was awful for TSL, going 0 – 2 in embarrassing fashion and being one of the first teams to be eliminated. But with the transition period over and Symbol showing the potential to be one of the best Zergs in the world, TSL has a bright future this season.



Compared to their opponents that have been in the GSTL since the very start, Fnatic RaidCall are the new kids on the block. A lot like Liquid, their two star players Oz and aLive are both Korean and have been able to get deep before in the difficult Code S tournament. But also like Liquid, after their top two players, FnaticRC is a team that has a lot to prove.

Byul is a ladder monster and can be seen fighting to be atop of the Korean Grandmaster scene, but wasn't able to qualify for Code A this season. Alongside him, you have the always hyped Warcraft3 legend Moon, a player who is called one of the best players in practice but hasn't been able to transfer that to the GSL stage just yet. Of course, there's ToD and Nightend, two foreigners who will want to prove that they're more F.United than FXO (all apologies to qxc) or Liquid. Fnatic might be a new team, but they have players who are accustomed to the Korean scene, and with a training house already running in Korea, the foreigners on the team won't be behind the eight ball for the upcoming opening match.


Players of Interest

Team SCV Life: RevivaL, HyuN
Throughout TSL's history, almost all of their old stars have switched teams. FruitDealer, Tester, Clide, Killer – the list goes on and on. But when you think about stability in the team, you have to think about Revival. While his teammates might have faded and left for what looked like greener pastures, Revival has been here through thick and thin. Known as the Code B Monster for his tremendous skill in Code A qualifiers, TSL's long running member will be a key if they want to have the same success they had two seasons ago. If he can bring that Code B Monster mentality to the GSTL, Fnatic might be in trouble.

But, if you really had to put down one team member from either team who could truly sway this series, it'll be Hyun. He is the true wild card and could be the reason TSL goes on a championship run, or is out in the very first week. People have expected a lot from the ex-Brood War pro ever since he switched over, but after qualifying for Code A and falling out in disappointing fashion, the hype has died down. Now, qualifying for Code A once again and promising that he is finally starting to fully understand the game, players should start worrying about the potential Hyun possesses. Hyun's losses were usually due to not going up the tech tree and relying too much on banelings to push his advantage, so if he has finally learned to play the late game, he could be the player that pushes TSL over the top.

Fnatic Raidcall: Moon, ByuL

Simply put: How good are Byul and Moon? Both have built up expectations for themselves, through the ladder or through internal practice, and we will see if they can live up to the hype. Moon has a huge WC3 following and people have been waiting for him to start crushing face in SC2 and this will be his first chance since DreamHack Summer 2011 to impress his followers. Byul, the complete opposite of Moon, doesn't really have many fans at all, but has shown that he can compete with the very best in Korea.

For Fnatic to win, they can't rely on Alive/Oz to do all the heavy lifting. It would be nice if ToD, NightEnd, or Rain can come through with a win, but it's not something they should rely on. One or both of these Zergs will have to come up big for the team.


The Aces

Team SCV Life: Polt and Symbol
For both of these teams, there are two aces. If you made a Power Ranking of the best players in the world, you might end up with the four best players in this series all together in a row, somewhere between 5~12. We will see who truly becomes their team's star by the end of the night.

For TSL, there's obviously team captain Polt. While not having the best results in GSL lately, he has consistently been sent to foreign tournaments and returned home with a big cash prize in his pockets. Beating players such as DongRaeGu, Squirtle, Taeja and Hero, you can see that he still has the talent to beat pretty much any in Code S, so it all comes down to if he can put it together in the GOM studio. The pressure of not having to carry the team entirely with the emergence of Symbol and the evolution of Hyun could be good for him going up against Fnatic.

In the case of Symbol, the guy is simply on a roll. Placing high in foreign tournaments and doing well enough to get into his first Code S season, he might be the player to take the role of the lone ace if Polt can't bring his best in the booth this week. He has shown strong play across the board in every match-up and with his added experience by playing around the world, he will come in as a veteran player.

Fnatic Raidcall: aLive and Oz
Alive finally gets to play his old team and show how much he's grown (or shrunk) since leaving Team SCV Life. With his championship at IPL4 and a semifinal showing in Code S, everything was coming up roses for Alive. People were raving about his TvT and wondering if he could be the next Terran to take a GSL title. Sadly, this didn't come to fruition and after a loss to Leenock in Code A and a below average performance in the Up and Down matches, Alive finds himself in Code A and having to prove himself once more. A few wins against his old coach could be the best medicine for the disappointment of falling out of Code S.

The newest member of Fnatic, Oz, is the most consistent of the four best players in this series. While he hasn't had the big foreign tournament results like the other three, he hasn't budged from his Code S spot and continues to place highly in every season. Even when you think his PvT might be weak or he might not be able to keep his magic going, Oz proves you wrong and picks up a big win to get into the quarterfinals of another Code S season. Differently from Alive, a few wins for his new team could go a long way in showing that he can take the ace role after being overshadowed by former teammates Leenock and Gumiho in earlier GSTL seasons.


Prediction

These teams are eerily similar. Their two Terran aces have been doing well in foreign tournaments, but both have been doing worse than expected in the GSL. Beyond that, you have Symbol vs Oz which you can call a wash when it comes to who is the better player. Like I mentioned before, the four best players in this series all have the potential to all-kill the other team, but also could be knocked out by the other team's top two players.

The key to this match is Hyun. If you had to name the fifth best player in this match, you would probably go with Hyun. He has been racking up win after win in foreign tournaments lately online and he's admitted to improving his understanding of the game greatly in the last few months. If Hyun is telling the truth and has developed into a player who can play the late game as well, he could be a player who knocks out two or three players from Fnatic before TSL even needs to use Polt or Symbol.

This is going to be a close match, but TSL just has more depth at the moment. Hyun, Revival, Inori, Shine and Punisher are all strong players with good results in foreign and GSL tournaments lately, and they pose big threat to Fnatic before they even need to pull out the big guns in Polt and Symbol. Fnatic's back-line has potential, but they're still unproven against the level of players TSL will field.

TSL 5 - 3 FnaticRC