EG-TL officially out of the running for the playoffs: Finally, EG-TL is done for good. Or as some would say, our long national nightmare is over. No more hanging on to tiny, insignificant slivers of hope; with SK Telecom T1 taking the win over KT Rolster on Thursday it is now impossible for EG-TL to reach that coveted 4th place spot. Perhaps if Coach Park was with them from the start they would have come closer, but that's just one more 'what if' in a season that's been a long list of 'what if's.'
KeSPA 8th team and CJ Entus eliminated: The 8th team actually managed to win TWO 4 - 0 victories last week, but somehow found themselves getting eliminated nonetheless. Like the other bottom ranking teams, their only hope was a very specific sequence of colossal failures from the teams at the top, something akin to Papa John's hoping McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, KFC, and Pizza Hut all suffered simultaneous puppy-meat contamination scandals so they can become the #1 fast food chain in the world. Those hopes were dashed as as soon as SKT and Samsung won a match.
Woongjin Stars confirmed for at least a 3rd place finish: At least someone had some good news, as Woongjin confirmed at worst a third place finish even in defeat, thanks to Team Eight's two win week. Considering that the difference between 3rd and 4th is basically zero come the playoffs (3rd vs. 4th -> winner plays 2nd), it shouldn't really matter too much to WJS, but it does guarantee a slightly larger regular season prize money payout.
Games of the Week
This week there will be no games of the week, just a .gif of the game you should have watched when we told you to.
Now that you are convinced, here is the link to the game again.
Proleague keeps trucking on, and as we narrow down the list of teams that can actually be eligible for a playoff spot, each game becomes incredibly important for that team. That being said, not every match this week carries as much weight as others, which is why we’ll be previewing the two most important matches this week: SK Telecom T1 vs Samsung KHAN and KT Rolster vs STX Soul.
Fighting for their survival: Samsung vs. SKT
Samsung KHAN is the only team in the bottom four that has a chance of making it to the playoffs. CJ Entus, Team 8 and EG-TL will continue to play their matches and hope for a decent finish, but none of them have a snowball in hell’s chance of getting to the top four. Samsung has managed to persevere through a terrible start and have shot back up in the rankings with the release of Heart of the Swarm. With one of their most crucial matches on the line, it’s time for Samsung to make their move.
Key Matches:
PartinG vs RorO: Probably the most important game of the entire match, SKT has managed to pair up one of their strongest Protoss players against Samsung’s star Zerg. PartinG’s PvZ, while fearsome and dangerous in Wings of Liberty, has not yet found its familiar strength in Heart of the Swarm, and with a 1-3 loss to Roro in the consolation matches of WCS Korea, PartinG will be out for a bit of revenge. Roro on the other hand, will have to do everything in his power to stop PartinG’s attacks. Having lost to HS last week, he will have to play a safe and patient style so as to not lose to a simple all-in or proxy, while keeping a close eye on any mistakes PartinG might make. Whoever wins this game, could very easily clinch the match for their team.
FanTaSy vs Reality: A match that could easily be passed off as a win for Fantasy, the same thing could have been said about the Fantasy vs Flash match just last week - Fantasy had been performing subpar lately and against the monstrous Flash, one could have predicted Flash to take it without much controversy. However, Fantasy won that game, and we’re presented with a similar situation this week. Reality doesn’t have much experience with TvT, with a 2-3 record in HotS, but those matches are extremely telling. He has a 1-1 record against both Ty and Flash, experts in the TvT match up, which should give you an idea of how strong of a player he really is. With Fantasy riding high over his win, he could underestimate the Samsung Terran and that would be all it takes for Samsung to make their fantasy a reality.
A Brewing Rivalry STX vs. KT
While Samsung fights for their tournament life, we are once again presented with the latest rivalry in Starcraft 2. Innovation vs. Flash is turning out to be the next hottest thing and whenever they meet up, fireworks happen. With Innovation taking home the WCS Season 1 Finals trophy and Flash getting a good lead in the most Proleague wins, both players are hoping for a rematch. There isn’t one in the starting games, but that doesn’t mean it’s not in the cards if an ace match presents itself.
Key Matches
Puzzle vs Classic: While KT has many strong Protoss players, Classic has managed to escape the wrath of Zest and Stats, leaving him with a much more palatable Puzzle. While neither player have had many PvPs under their belt, Classic boasts a 1-1 record over Rain, while Puzzle has not yet taken a game off a korean, losing to HerO at Dreamhack 0-2 as well as the aforementioned Rain last week. Classic should be able to outsmart Puzzle to take the match, though Puzzle might have finally found his footing in Starcraft 2 once again and bring back the Puzzle that terrorized GSTL.
Flash vs INnoVation: Alright, fine, this isn’t happening for sure, but if it does go to an ace match (and it very well could) then this will definitely be the game to watch. Being the only two Terrans players in the top 10 wins of Proleague, these two players have not only been carrying their own teams, but their race as well. Meeting in Round 5, Flash and Zest squashed STX Soul 4-1, with Flash taking the win over Innovation in a great positional marine tank game. Now, in the final round of regular play, the TvT meta game has shifted from marine tank into a deadly fight of hellbat drops and mech play. With Flash pulling out a crazy 3 base battlecruiser push out against Fantasy, who knows what this game will turn out to be, if it even happens. But if it does, it will be yet another notch in the Flash vs Innovation rivalry, and it will help secure either team’s position in the playoffs greatly.
Such a fantasy game from fantasy. I hope he finds his BW mojo and keeps playing multi-task, harassment oriented games with YOLO defense. I love that guy, and I think HotS has really done a great job of giving terran more fun tools to work with.
Top 4 looks quite stable, I don't like the chances of Samsung Khan even though it's still possible by all means. Hopefully SKT1 can secure their place soon, hopefully 2nd place ><
On June 16 2013 13:16 ThePrince wrote: Fantasy vs. Reality is a match?. Are you..fucking...kidding ME??? Fantasy... vs.... Reality??? Is that a fucking joke or WHAT?
On June 16 2013 13:16 ThePrince wrote: Fantasy vs. Reality is a match?. Are you..fucking...kidding ME??? Fantasy... vs.... Reality??? Is that a fucking joke or WHAT?
Also thanks for the write up! Loved it.
i had the same reaction as you haha
"Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?
We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.
They can keep their heaven. When I die, I'd sooner go to middle Earth." - GRRM
SKT1 vs Khan will be good; I mean Parting vs RoRo alone will be code s level, then Reality vs Fantasy and Jangbi vs Bisu will also be sick really looking forwrad to that.
On June 16 2013 13:12 tree.hugger wrote: Such a fantasy game from fantasy. I hope he finds his BW mojo and keeps playing multi-task, harassment oriented games with YOLO defense. I love that guy, and I think HotS has really done a great job of giving terran more fun tools to work with.
holy.. that flash n fantasy game was epic... u no wat im gonna call flash vs fantasy rivalry from now on? F V F! (F for flash n fantasy) IM A GENIUS. sry for the caps..
...something akin to Papa John's hoping McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, KFC, and Pizza Hut all suffered simultaneous puppy-meat contamination scandals so they can become the #1 fast food chain in the world. Those hopes were dashed as as soon as SKT and Samsung won a match.
What's with that comment? Did PJ screw you all over the sponsorship deal or something?
Regardless of actual result I always admired players like flash, who, even after so many years as progamers manage to put out fantastic matches and fantastic results.I think flash right now is the most succesfull crossover in gaming history.I do not know of any other progamer that switched from version1 of a game to version 2 after being one of the greatest at version 1 and still play so magnificent at version 2.Flash and to a certain extent jaedong are probably the few to manage this.I would love to see him in foreign tournaments just like jd. Also congrats to egtl.Hero played great today.I really believe if you guys remain in the next season of proleague you could definetly improve your results and who knows even make the playoffs .
Now EG-TL can focus on really training hard and improving. I hope, anyway. A full "offseason" with Coach Park at the helm, I hope that now we start seeing some proper changes and results.
On June 16 2013 20:32 theking1 wrote: Regardless of actual result I always admired players like flash, who, even after so many years as progamers manage to put out fantastic matches and fantastic results.I think flash right now is the most succesfull crossover in gaming history.I do not know of any other progamer that switched from version1 of a game to version 2 after being one of the greatest at version 1 and still play so magnificent at version 2.Flash and to a certain extent jaedong are probably the few to manage this.I would love to see him in foreign tournaments just like jd. Also congrats to egtl.Hero played great today.I really believe if you guys remain in the next season of proleague you could definetly improve your results and who knows even make the playoffs .
I don't think it's that uncommon to be honest. A bunch of guys from dota has done it, Loda for example. And of course the fighting game community. Daigo comes to mind but there is a lot more. And the guys from Nip's cs:go team are from 1.6 and source.
Fantasy <3 ! I knew he would beat Flash ! This game was soooo good ! Fantasy & Flash know how to show some Great TvT ! that's for sure ! Wasn't disappointed during their first match (Flash won against Fantasy on Akilon Wastes) but this one was really nice too !
Fantasy vs Reality incoming, Hope to see something as cool as Fantasy vs Flash ! Come on Fantasy & SKT1, crush Samsung KHAN !
On June 16 2013 13:16 ThePrince wrote: Fantasy vs. Reality is a match?. Are you..fucking...kidding ME??? Fantasy... vs.... Reality??? Is that a fucking joke or WHAT?
Also thanks for the write up! Loved it.
i had the same reaction as you haha
"Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?
We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.
They can keep their heaven. When I die, I'd sooner go to middle Earth." - GRRM
On June 16 2013 13:16 ThePrince wrote: Fantasy vs. Reality is a match?. Are you..fucking...kidding ME??? Fantasy... vs.... Reality??? Is that a fucking joke or WHAT?
Also thanks for the write up! Loved it.
i had the same reaction as you haha
"Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?
We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.
They can keep their heaven. When I die, I'd sooner go to middle Earth." - GRRM
I haven't really seen GSTL nor Proleague in quite a while. Has the level of play in Proleague caught up to GSTL? That Flash vs Fantasy game was pretty sick but surely all games can't be that awesome, right..?
On June 17 2013 02:45 Dakure wrote: I haven't really seen GSTL nor Proleague in quite a while. Has the level of play in Proleague caught up to GSTL? That Flash vs Fantasy game was pretty sick but surely all games can't be that awesome, right..?
It has vastly surpassed GSTL in terms of quality IMO. The builds are more interesting and the play from bottom to top is generally crisper. Also, all of the top tier players except for Life are in Proleague and there are other top tier players (who have not yet been received as such) who are waiting for break out performances in the individual leagues like Jangbi but still are probably better than or among the very best GSTL players.
On June 16 2013 20:32 theking1 wrote: .I think flash right now is the most succesfull crossover in gaming history.I do not know of any other progamer that switched from version1 of a game to version 2 after being one of the greatest at version 1 and still play so magnificent at version 2.
Fighting progamers and FPS progamers would like a word with you. RTS isn't the only esport out there.
Though that TvT was really great in terms of playstyle, it showed off (again) that the current state of TvT is pretty much about hellbats. Also, it showed off that Air Terran is a tactic that won't counter mech anymore (Ravens + Widow Mines, tough counter, and, regarding mines, also a cheap one!), which will make TvT somehow boring. I do not like the current state of the game, in no matchup.
On June 16 2013 20:32 theking1 wrote: .I think flash right now is the most succesfull crossover in gaming history.I do not know of any other progamer that switched from version1 of a game to version 2 after being one of the greatest at version 1 and still play so magnificent at version 2.
Fighting progamers and FPS progamers would like a word with you. RTS isn't the only esport out there.
Yeah I agree. I don't think flash is the best programer to switch from version 1 to 2, but I think he is at least in the RTS genre
It's possible for EG-TL and CJ Entus to finish Round 6 with the same overall record as SK Telecom T1 (20-22). If the first tiebreaker is head to head, EG-TL would hold the edge over SKT1 beating them in 4 of 6 Rounds. If the first tiebreaker is +/- Game wins, it's still mathematically possible for CJ Entus to finish with a better record than SKT1. What is the tiebreaker that has mathematically eliminated EG-TL and CJ Entus from contention?
Thanks for this post! I was too busy the 6 months to watch starcraft and missed the arrival of proleague to the sc2 scene. I now get what's going on am excited to watch the english vods!