by NrGmonk


Where They Stand

Two seasons ago, Prime disappointingly lost in finals of the GSTL to only two of MVP's weaker players in Noblesse and Keen. In that series, Prime fielded a lackluster lineup filled with almost no big names, backed by a falling star in MKP. Prime's lineup simply looked incomplete and some wondered if it was a huge fluke that they made it to the finals in the first place.

But now with the rise of Maru, the return of Ghostking, the continued improvement of Creator, and the meteoric ascent of MKP, Prime has finally become a true championship team. At the moment, they are absolutely on fire. To their names, they hold the current GSTL title, the current IPL TAC title, and the current KSL title. The three arguably most difficult team leagues in the world have all been completely monopolized by this once struggling team. If that doesn't cement their position as best team in the world, I don't know what will.

Fnatic RaidCall comes into the war as a heavy underdog. They surprised everyone when they took out LG-IM, a team with legendary players and a favorite to take this season's championship. Everyone had pegged FntaticRC to drop out in the first round with a 0-2 score, especially after fellow "foreigner" team Liquid dropped out after a very underwhelming performance. But FnaticRC showed they had more in common with the Korean teams than foreigner teams. The whole team lives in a team house, practicing together in Korea, and has been for some time. In addition, a majority, five out of seven of their players are actually Korean. Fnatic has chosen a unique way to raise a pro-gaming team, and from recent results, it seems to be working well for them.


Key Players
Prime: Creator, Ghostking, Maru, BBoongBBoong

Prime fans have a lot to be excited about on every single game day: Prime's MVP could end up being any one of many players. While MKP is Prime's best player and is always willing to play in clan wars, he gets the most kills for Prime in perhaps only one third of the matches. In terms of pounding out those wins, Creator is probably Prime's most important player. Known for his consistent and solid macro play, Creator almost rivals MKP for Prime's Ace. Maru is an extremely streaky threat, and he has all-killed twice in team leagues including once against Startale in the KSL. Ghostking, in his debut GSTL match for Prime, took the win for them from a 2-4 deficit against Startale. Even B4, though he doesn't show his best play in the GSL, is solid as Prime's main Zerg option in team competition.

If we've learned anything from the past GSTL seasons, it's that teams with a strong core of players tend to do better than teams with just a few strong individual league players (ahem, IM). And Prime's five man core exemplifies this principle more than any other team. As teammates, Prime members know that even when any individual fails, there will be four very capable players to pick up the slack.

FnaticRC: ByuL, Moon

Fnatic's recent success in team leagues comes not from their aces, Alive or Oz, and not from their foreigner Protosses, but from their two relatively unknown (in terms of results and skill) Zergs. In fact, all eight of Fnatic's wins this season have all come from these two players, ByuL and Moon. But still, 2 matches is a small sample size and this may not be a true gauge of their skill. ByuL, for instance, did worse at the MLG Spring Championships than all of his teammates who went, even Rain, who's been on an incredible losing streak lately. Moon also has basically no other recent results other than his GSTL performance. What we do know, however, is that both players have talent (in the case of Moon, enough to be one of the greatest Warcraft III player of all time), the potential to do serious damage to any team, and should not be underestimated.

Aces:
MarineKingPrime

MarineKing is perhaps not the ideal Ace. Compared to some aces from some other teams, he is rather unpredictable in team leagues. Most often, MarineKing contributes one or two wins. Sometimes, he doesn't win at all. Sometimes, and often in important circumstances, he actually delivers his full potential. At last season's GSTL finals, he 4 killed Startale to close out the series and more recently, he all-killed Startale in the KSL finals.

And last week, MKP only placed third at MLG Spring Championship. Only third? Most players can only dream of placing third at an MLG, but for MKP, third is a disappointment. Third is almost a washout for a player who has won two MLG championships and barely missed out on a full sweep in his past three MLG events. Alicia beating MKP in the losers' bracket finals might have well have been the biggest surprise of MLG weekend. For even great players and champions like MC, Leenock, or Alive, it's not a huge surprise if they place sub top 10, but for Marineking, this would be a travesty. This is a testament to how much we have come to expect from MarineKing. For a player who is in contention for the title of best player in the world, we expect the best in the world.

FnaticRC: aLive and Oz

Alive and Oz are called aces, because they have the best individual league results on their team, reaching the round of 4 and 8 in the GSL respectively. In fact, both players also placed higher than Byul at the recent MLG. But you might not know that from their GSTL results, as their combined record is a whopping 0-3. If their team is to advance any further, both Alive and Oz will have to really step it up. Both have proven that they're not completely slumping at the recent MLG, but neither is really taking the initiative to bring it to the next level. Hopefully, against Prime, these two will each manage at least one kill to earn their keep.

Prediction:

Prime is a strong team, no doubt about it, but no player actually looks invincible, not even MarineKing. Fnatic has also shown that they have at least four solid players, capable of taking games from the best. And from the English casts, we have learned that Fnatic is a very strategical team, researching their opponents' players beforehand and preparing sniping players for each of them. Last month, I wouldn't have given Fnatic much of a chance, but now that they've shown the ability to beat teams and the slightly greater depth than I though they had, it's not inconceivable that this matchup could turn into a very close slugfest. Still, you've gotta go with the team that's the unified champion of the world.

Prime 5 - 3 Fnatic