EPTWeek 6 (of 14)
Ah, that's more like it. Chaos ensues in the GSTL after five weeks of play, with none of the teams able to create much separation between each other. While New Star HoSeo stands out with its -8 map score, the rest of the teams remain tightly huddled together, separated by just four points at worst – enough to be recovered with just one strong performance in a match. Week six features past champions MVP and LG-IM take their shot at the #1 spot on the rankings while NSH continues its quest to save face against Prime.
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/GSTL/2013s1/week6standings.png)
Standings at the beginning of Week 6
Week 6 Matches
This should be one of the best tactical duels we've seen in the GSTL, even if the format has been reduced to a best of seven from a best of nine. Both LG-IM and MVP feature extremely deep rosters, giving them a TON of options to consider. It's not far fetched that both coaches will have designated snipers for each and every player, and we might see some strange scenarios unfold for that reason.
It's hard to say either one of these teams has the advantage in terms of depth, but in this particular situation Team MVP is slightly favored.
MC will be away for DreamHack Stockholm, while 
YoDa and Mvp have WCS matches coming up next week. On the other hand, GSL eliminations and scheduling mean that MVP have pretty much nothing else to do than focus on this match (they're not even stuck splitting their roster between GSTL and ATC like they have in previous weeks). Only the relatively 'expendable' Noblesse has Code A to think about next week. MVP has taken a beating in terms of individual leagues, so they may well take out their frustration on LG-IM.The opening match is a much needed check-up for
Sniper, a once GSL champion who is quickly fading into obscurity. It will take more than a single win for Sniper to start salvaging his reputation – even an all-kill would only come a small way toward making up for the considerable disappointment he has caused. First has been very competent in HotS so far, and he's going to be a good first opponent for Sniper.Overall, this seems like a match that team MVP has more riding on after their eliminations from various WCS regional tournaments. They have nothing else to do but to try and win whatever matches are immediately in front of them, and they'll have all their resources at their disposal on Friday night.
Prediction: MVP 4 - 3 LG-IM
We want to say it can't get any worse for NS HoSeo, but that would just be lying to ease the pain. Having suffered brutal, all-kill losses at the hands of two Terran players, they're staring the possibility of all-kill number three straight in the eye. The players they were all-killed by before weren't even THAT good,
Sound and GanZi hardly having made a splash on the scene for the past year. Now, they're going up against motherf***ing ByuN, a Code S regular and someone who's already all-killed this season (against Azubu). To make matters worse, somehow it's NSH who is hurting because of the scheduling, having lost SortOf to WCS Europe and DreamHack Stockholm, while Prime has its entire team intact for this match. Not only that, all of Prime has been eliminated from Code S, and NSH must look like a mighty fine sandbag to take their stress out on.
The NSH bench has proved to be largely outmatched by other eSF in their past two matches (only SSaNaEE showed signs of life), so unless they've gone through some hyberbolic time chamber-like training experience in the past two weeks, they're going to be pretty dead. Their only hope, as usual, is that
jjakji finally comes through as their ace after being disappointing for the first two matches. At this pace, they're even looking for him to lead them to a win, they just need him to help them save face.Prediction: Prime 4 - 1 NS HoSeo
sad NSHS
Of course, that counts heavily on First smashing through Sniper. Any other result would honestly be disappointing considering Sniper's current state (as alluded to in the article).
