BenQ GSTL
Season One

Week 9 Recap
The race to first and last place


Week 10 Preview
FXOpen vs. Startale
NSH vs. MVP


Brackets and results on Liquipedia

We're headed into the final week of GSTL before the long break for a slew of WCS finals. Consider it a delayed halfway-break, with teams having established their positions, but with the final standings still very much up in the air. As we head into week 10, Axiom-Acer has improbably retained the #1 spot for yet another week, although a win from Team MVP would see them retake the spot. On the other end of the table, Prime looks to be all but eliminated, while NS HoSeo trail closely behind them.

Week 9 in Review: Prime Time is Over

by Waxangel

In a must-win match against LG-IM, team Prime failed to perform yet again as they recorded their fourth loss in the league. LG-IM's First went HAM on Prime, recording the sixth all-kill of the season.


Once again, Prime decided to field the same core four as the previous weeks, bringing out Maru, MKP, Creator, and ByuN. Sadly they didn't perform any better they had in the past, and First barely looked troubled as he barrelled through the Prime line-up. It's hard to say if Prime should have taken a chance with players like Terror or Emir—for all we know they might actually be really bad, and head coach Gerrard is sparing his team an even more severe beating by benching them. But with other teams not even needing to plan for Zerg at all (as well as knowing all of Prime's map preferences), it could be time to take desperate measures.


Prime, welcome to the EG-TL Zone. You're not technically out, but you require a very improbable sequence of events—on top of winning every single remaining game—for there to be any playoff chance.


In the other match of the week, fan favorite team Axiom-Acer pulled through with yet another close victory against a strong team to record their fourth win of the season. Opposite of Prime, this 100% confirmed their advancement to the playoffs. That said, they will still want to finish as high as they can in the regular season, as their thin line-up (now sans-Miya) is sure to take a beating if they play too many matches in the best-of-nine playoffs.

As has often been the case for Axiom-Acer, they put in a collaborative effort in attaining victory. Scarlett got two solid wins as the starter, and then Alicia and Crank followed up with a win a piece to close things out. It happened to be the second close-out performance for Crank in the GSTL, as he defeated Symbol in the ace-match on Akilon Wastes. With different players gaining experience in different positions in each game, Axiom-Acer may very well overcome their thin roster when they head into the playoffs.

Upcoming Matches

by Waxangel



Both Startale and FXOpen seem to be reasonably safe in terms of making the playoffs at 2 - 2, barring some very strong run from Azubu. These second half of the season matches are important for a different reason than just survival, as seeding is everything heading into the playoffs.

This Startale-FXOpen battle comes at a strange time for both teams. Pointed to as championship candidates before the season, they find themselves in disappointing mid-table spots for similar reasons. The key players they hoped to rely on just haven't done well this season: Gumiho and Leenock for FXO (combined 1 – 3), and Curious and Life for Startale (combined 5 – 4).

You'd think this would have hurt the thinner FXOpen line-up more, but they've gotten some unexpectedly great performances from Hurricane and sC. Overall, that leaves these two teams on fairly equal footing as they head into this match, with the all-around power of FXOpen's sC, Hurricane, Gumiho, and Leenock matching up pretty evenly against the top-heavier Startale line-up of Curious, Life, Bomber and Avenge/Sound/Hack.

As is normally the case for a Startale series, it all comes down to their inconsistent but potentially very dangerous aces. Just Life on top of his game is enough to all-kill FXOpen, but he's notoriously inconsistent in GSTL. Even point-man Bomber has all-kill potential if he's playing well, but that's been a huge IF throughout his career. But if they just play at a decent, non-ace level, the overall quality of FXOpen's four should narrowly prevail.

Prediction: I don't think FXOpen has the Zerg power to stop Life before he does significant damage. If Leenock beats him, they should win, but otherwise it seems difficult.

Startale 4 - 3 FXOpen




At 1 - 4, Prime is technically alive but effectively out. Now it's time to see if NS HoSeo will join them in that "EG-TL" zone. They couldn't have asked for a worse opponent in this do or die match, as they face the mighty Team MVP. While all-kill power and super-aces used to be the most valuable thing in GSTL format, Team MVP is showing that you can just drown everyone with overwhelming depth. They're having no problem cruising in both the Acer TeamStory Cup and GSTL, and they could be #1 in both leagues by the end of this week.

It's just hard to see a way for NS HoSeo to pull their way out of this. Jjakji is good, but not three-kill against team MVP good, which he'll need to be if his team is to have a chance at winning. Well, they could hope for another incredible performance from the bizarre Madbull, whose PvT ability nearly singlehandedly crushed the Prime team. But that's Prime, and anyone can beat up on Prime, apparently.

The only thing NS HoSeo have going for them is that MVP are in a good position now, and they might be taking this match lightly. Their starter choice of their #1 Terran Keen doesn't seem to suggest that, but maybe they're going to give their less proven players a run out behind him. But even MVP's less deployed players are still very good, as a combination of Bang, Billowly (Lure) and Shine could probably clean up behind Keen.

Prediction: Barring a resurrection of the MAD GOD, NS HoSeo looks pretty dead.

MVP 4 - 2 NS HoSeo

Writers: Waxangel.
Graphics: Pathy.
Editor: Waxangel.