The penultimate day of the Ro16 saw one group finalize its standings while another one took another step toward tiebreakers. With his victory over STX_Trap in Group D, Azubu.SuperNova booked his ticket to the Ro8 while eliminating Trap in the process. With Maru confirmed for first place with a head to head advantage against SuperNoVa, the final standings in Group D have been determined and the Maru vs. Losira match on Thursday will be little more than a formality.
Meanwhile in Group C, the red hot LG-IM_First showed that PvZ might be his Achilles' heel as he dropped a series to the crafty STX_hyvaa. While a win would have put First through in first place, he must now contend with the possibility of a three way tie-breaker at 2 - 1 should Rain defeat Fantasy next week.
The tiebreaker seems all the more likely as Fantasy has already been eliminated and has nothing to play for, while Rain still has everything to gain. On top of that, Rain and Fantasy are teammates on SK Telecom T1, begging the question of why OnGameNet did not schedule their match as the first match of the group so both players would have full motivation to win. While professionalism and the spectre of the 2010 match-fixing scandal would certainly prevent a transparently low-effort game from Fantasy, the stakes are undeniably lower for him in this situation. It is an unfortunate situation for all the players involved, with First and Hyvaa relying on a player with no stake to send them through, while Fantasy is in a no-win situation whether he should win or lose his match.
Even with his elimination confirmed and only pride to play for, PartinG couldn't find a way to get out of his recent PvZ rut. In a short 2 - 0 series, Soulkey comprehensively picked PartinG to pieces, leaving the Soul Protoss to wonder how everything had gone so wrong in HotS.
The first game saw Soulkey show that he had PartinG's number in a macro game, going for the frustrating swarm host - brood lord composition to push PartinG back with a wall of free units. While PartinG played fairly well and managed to secure a strong four base economy, he failed to transition to a high tech army in time and was overwhelmed by Soulkey's far more efficient units.
Soulkey then finished PartinG off in a short game as well, going for a gas-pool-hatch speedling expand to exploit PartinG's tendency of gateway expanding without a probe scout. PartinG was caught totally off guard by the attack, suffering crippling early damage that saw him die after several minutes of futile resistance.
In another match where there were nothing but pride to play for, Flash rolled over Bbyong in a distinctly post-hellbat era TvT series. Banshee vs. counter-banshee was the name of the game, and Flash came ahead of Bbyong twice in a 2 - 0 victory. In game one he countered Bbyong's cloaked banshee attack with a raven and viking before returning the favor with a cloaked banshee of his own. Bbyong took too much damage from the counter-banshees and ended up not having the economy to deal with eventual Flash's frontal attack.
In game two, Flash went for mine drops into cloak banshees off of one base while Bbyong went for a quick CC into cloaked banshees as well. Flash managed to strike before Bbyong had proper defenses in place, with his unseen unit pairing dealing a huge blow to Bbyong's economy. Once again, Bbyong was left with too weak an economy to deal with Flash's follow-up attack and GG'd out.
After First made surprisingly short work of Rain and Fantasy in Group C, many viewers figured he would crush hyvaa as well to top his group with a 3 - 0 score. However, it was not to be as the crafty STX Zerg came through with a surprising 2 - 0 victory. Perhaps it should not have been so surprising, as hyvaa was the player who had handed First his last PvZ series loss, cheesing him to death in a Challenger League series.
Game one saw hyvaa look for an opportunity to catch First off guard, going for the same gas-pool-hatch speedling build that Soulkey had used to take a free win against PartinG earlier in the night. While First went for a gateway build as PartinG had, he also decided to probe scout and was forewarned to hyvaa's plans. First was able to adjust accordingly, hearkening back to the early days of WoL by going for a 3-gate expand against his opponent's early speedling threat.
The situation seemed to favor First after hyvaa's relatively low econ opener, but hyvaa was able to exploit some sloppy play from First to execute speedling runbys and roach surrounds on isolated units, pulling him back into the game. After that, with hyvaa transitioning to mutas and First gathering his troops for a big two base attack, there was no way for the game to go but into a base trade scenario. Unfortunately for First, he lacked the wherewithal to sneak out a probe in time to make hidden buildings and lost the game after his last pylon fell.
Game two saw hyvaa try to gain a build order advantage once more, as he went for a 6 pool rush in hopes that First would do something greedy. hyvaa ended up guessing right as First went for a risky nexus first opener. After a disastrous attempt at a probe defense, First had no choice but to surrender.
The stakes for the final match of the night were clear cut: The winner would advance to the Ro8, and the loser was out of the OSL. Besides being an elimination match, it may also have held special meaning for SuperNoVa as his loss to Trap in Code A several seasons ago was what began his fall from Code S and led to his failure to attain the coveted Nestea award. In the rematch, SuperNoVa booked his spot in the OSL Ro8 as well as gaining some long overdue revenge.
SuperNoVa continued along with his aggressive tendencies despite the hellbat nerf, opening with a proxy reaper and proxy factory in game one. However, it wasn't any all-in measure for SuperNoVa, as he simply applied early pressure while transitioning into a normal game. SuperNoVa's actual kill timing came much later, with an SCV-pulled MMM attack off three bases. Catching Trap at the critical juncture between colossi and templars, SuperNoVa was able to overpower his opponent and go up 1 - 0.
SuperNoVa tried to work hellbats into his game plan in game two, but things didn't work out quite as planned. Trap's decision to go for late robo and rush to templar tech paid off big, and he was able to easily take the game with a frontal attack.
In the game deciding set SuperNoVa went back to what had worked for him in game one, building up on three bases before pulling his SCVs for another big all-in attack. Once more Trap didn't have the defenses he needed in time and GG'd out of the series.
So in case of a tie the 3 players will play each other again even though they already did and the tie could be solved by applying the (exact) results of these matches? That seems really stupid.
Hyvaa - First 2:0 First - Rain 2:0 Rain - Hyvaa 2:1
That would mean Hyvaa 1st, First 2nd in other tournaments without additional games needed. I don't know why they don't do it the same way here.
On July 17 2013 07:37 Paragleiber wrote: So in case of a tie the 3 players will play each other again even though they already did and the tie could be solved by applying the (exact) results of these matches? That seems really stupid.
Hyvaa - First 2:0 First - Rain 2:0 Rain - Hyvaa 2:1
That would mean Hyvaa 1st, First 2nd in other tournaments without additional games needed. I don't know why they don't do it the same way here.
They also failed to do team kill matches first, and they don't use mapscores as tiebreakers. This format could use some work, if they fixed those 3 issues then I think it'd be great.
On July 17 2013 07:37 Paragleiber wrote: So in case of a tie the 3 players will play each other again even though they already did and the tie could be solved by applying the (exact) results of these matches? That seems really stupid.
Hyvaa - First 2:0 First - Rain 2:0 Rain - Hyvaa 2:1
That would mean Hyvaa 1st, First 2nd in other tournaments without additional games needed. I don't know why they don't do it the same way here.
Um... while I agree OSL format is stupid, I think it is correct to resolve 3 way ties without counting map score. It is plausible for someone to go for risky build with 1 map advantage, and if advancing depending on the difference between 2:0 and 2:1, it would not be fair.
On July 17 2013 07:37 Paragleiber wrote: So in case of a tie the 3 players will play each other again even though they already did and the tie could be solved by applying the (exact) results of these matches? That seems really stupid.
Hyvaa - First 2:0 First - Rain 2:0 Rain - Hyvaa 2:1
That would mean Hyvaa 1st, First 2nd in other tournaments without additional games needed. I don't know why they don't do it the same way here.
Um... while I agree OSL format is stupid, I think it is correct to resolve 3 way ties without counting map score. It is plausible for someone to go for risky build with 1 map advantage, and if advancing depending on the difference between 2:0 and 2:1, it would not be fair.
But then they use bo1 tie breakers. So if I beat you 2-1 and then we go to tiebreakers and you beat me, then we're 2-2 but you still advance. Even worse is if I beat you 2-0 and then we tie and you beat me in the tie breakers, you're 1-2 with me and still advance over me. What they really need is extended series, lol.
Everyone keeps talking about how OSL is such a prestigious tournament, but as far as I can see it is run by a bunch of dunces. Not only does it have those three problems listed above, but there have been technical difficulties and strange maps. The Bo1 format was complete trash (the best players didn't necessarily go through and it upset standard build meta), and yet the first round was far more sensible than this three-week long trash they call the second round.
It's almost like they're experimenting with an experiment (OSL within WCS madness). There's nothing prestigious about it. Hell, the only redeeming quality is that they're letting Tastosis cast it. If it weren't for GOM, I wouldn't even be watching this shit...not to mention, there some pretty bad play.
On July 17 2013 09:00 nickbradvica wrote: Everyone keeps talking about how OSL is such a prestigious tournament, but as far as I can see it is run by a bunch of dunces. Not only does it have those three problems listed above, but there have been technical difficulties and strange maps. The Bo1 format was complete trash (the best players didn't necessarily go through and it upset standard build meta), and yet the first round was far more sensible than this three-week long trash they call the second round.
It's almost like they're experimenting with an experiment (OSL within WCS madness). There's nothing prestigious about it. Hell, the only redeeming quality is that they're letting Tastosis cast it. If it weren't for GOM, I wouldn't even be watching this shit...not to mention, there some pretty bad play.
that last part has nothing to do with how prestigious the tournament is. and is not worth mentioning
Giving a win to a team mate is not "match fixing" - the team interest overrides the individual interest. I'm looking forward to FanTaSy's very professional way to lose :-).
P.S. OSL is retarded to have created this situation.
On July 17 2013 09:12 igay wrote: Dam parting you sorted expect him to lose nowdays when he's playing a pvz shit how things have changed for him
His PvZ was only as unstoppable as it was in WoL thanks to the Immortal/Sentry All In.
It was the best build for the match up and he was the best in the world at executing it. Those are hard statements to argue against, but HoTS is a new metagame and when your entire match up is based on one build it's going to take some time to change things up.
On July 17 2013 07:37 Paragleiber wrote: So in case of a tie the 3 players will play each other again even though they already did and the tie could be solved by applying the (exact) results of these matches? That seems really stupid.
Hyvaa - First 2:0 First - Rain 2:0 Rain - Hyvaa 2:1
That would mean Hyvaa 1st, First 2nd in other tournaments without additional games needed. I don't know why they don't do it the same way here.
Um... while I agree OSL format is stupid, I think it is correct to resolve 3 way ties without counting map score. It is plausible for someone to go for risky build with 1 map advantage, and if advancing depending on the difference between 2:0 and 2:1, it would not be fair.
But then they use bo1 tie breakers. So if I beat you 2-1 and then we go to tiebreakers and you beat me, then we're 2-2 but you still advance. Even worse is if I beat you 2-0 and then we tie and you beat me in the tie breakers, you're 1-2 with me and still advance over me. What they really need is extended series, lol.
If you beat me 2-1 and we're tied, that means you lost to a player I beat.
On July 17 2013 09:00 nickbradvica wrote: Everyone keeps talking about how OSL is such a prestigious tournament, but as far as I can see it is run by a bunch of dunces. Not only does it have those three problems listed above, but there have been technical difficulties and strange maps. The Bo1 format was complete trash (the best players didn't necessarily go through and it upset standard build meta), and yet the first round was far more sensible than this three-week long trash they call the second round.
It's almost like they're experimenting with an experiment (OSL within WCS madness). There's nothing prestigious about it. Hell, the only redeeming quality is that they're letting Tastosis cast it. If it weren't for GOM, I wouldn't even be watching this shit...not to mention, there some pretty bad play.
I'm really getting annoyed at this community's view on competition. First, you complain that Ro1 results in too many upsets. Then, you complain that the Ro3 round resulted in more upsets than the Ro1 round. I have to say, I've never seen a sports community or competitive where the majority of people root against upsets happening and want to stack the decks in favor of the favorite. Why don't we just let the community vote on who's the better player, advance that player, and not even bother playing the games?
On July 17 2013 07:37 Paragleiber wrote: So in case of a tie the 3 players will play each other again even though they already did and the tie could be solved by applying the (exact) results of these matches? That seems really stupid.
Hyvaa - First 2:0 First - Rain 2:0 Rain - Hyvaa 2:1
That would mean Hyvaa 1st, First 2nd in other tournaments without additional games needed. I don't know why they don't do it the same way here.
Um... while I agree OSL format is stupid, I think it is correct to resolve 3 way ties without counting map score. It is plausible for someone to go for risky build with 1 map advantage, and if advancing depending on the difference between 2:0 and 2:1, it would not be fair.
But then they use bo1 tie breakers. So if I beat you 2-1 and then we go to tiebreakers and you beat me, then we're 2-2 but you still advance. Even worse is if I beat you 2-0 and then we tie and you beat me in the tie breakers, you're 1-2 with me and still advance over me. What they really need is extended series, lol.
If you beat me 2-1 and we're tied, that means you lost to a player I beat.
On July 17 2013 09:00 nickbradvica wrote: Everyone keeps talking about how OSL is such a prestigious tournament, but as far as I can see it is run by a bunch of dunces. Not only does it have those three problems listed above, but there have been technical difficulties and strange maps. The Bo1 format was complete trash (the best players didn't necessarily go through and it upset standard build meta), and yet the first round was far more sensible than this three-week long trash they call the second round.
It's almost like they're experimenting with an experiment (OSL within WCS madness). There's nothing prestigious about it. Hell, the only redeeming quality is that they're letting Tastosis cast it. If it weren't for GOM, I wouldn't even be watching this shit...not to mention, there some pretty bad play.
I'm really getting annoyed at this community's view on competition. First, you complain that Ro1 results in too many upsets. Then, you complain that the Ro3 round resulted in more upsets than the Ro1 round. I have to say, I've never seen a sports community or competitive where the majority of people root against upsets happening and want to stack the decks in favor of the favorite. Why don't we just let the community vote on who's the better player, advance that player, and not even bother playing the games?
Who complained about Ro3 producing upsets? Honestly, the arbitrary format of OSL gives the impression that they still think of themselves as the most important tournament (which is no longer true because of GSL) in the world and therefore can do whatever format they like.
On July 17 2013 12:33 CyanideXN wrote: I hope Rain and Fantasy give us some good games even though it doesn't matter for Fantasy.
But yeah, this is why double elimination is superior to round robin/swiss style. Remember Naniwa 7 probe rushing Nestea?
Round robin makes more sense for things like football where goal difference is used for tie breakers. Even using map score for tie breakers in SC2 doesn't make a lot of sense.
On July 17 2013 12:54 painkilla wrote: Round robin makes more sense for things like football where goal difference is used for tie breakers. Even using map score for tie breakers in SC2 doesn't make a lot of sense.
On July 17 2013 12:33 CyanideXN wrote: I hope Rain and Fantasy give us some good games even though it doesn't matter for Fantasy.
But yeah, this is why double elimination is superior to round robin/swiss style in sc2. Remember Naniwa 7 probe rushing Nestea?
Meanwhile in Group C, the red hot LG-IM_First showed that PvZ might be his Achilles' heel
Uhhh are you insane? Did you miss the part where first FUCKING DISMANTLED roro and leenock (both of whom have 60% + winrates in zvp) in the round of 32? Just because he was stupid enough to nexus first against a well known cheeser doesn't mean his pvz is bad... the way you guys write sometimes is really fucking stupid.
On July 17 2013 09:13 RHoudini wrote: Giving a win to a team mate is not "match fixing" - the team interest overrides the individual interest. I'm looking forward to FanTaSy's very professional way to lose :-).
P.S. OSL is retarded to have created this situation.
Um, this is not a team league. You're suppose to be playing for yourself. Letting someone else win is match fixing, no matter whose team they are on.
They should just stick everyone in a massive 100 player group and play 2x Round Robin with a home and an away game for every matchup. The winner is the one with the most points, no playoffs because what if someone get's a lucky bracket? That's unfair. Clearly this is the only way to get proper results.
On July 17 2013 07:37 Paragleiber wrote: So in case of a tie the 3 players will play each other again even though they already did and the tie could be solved by applying the (exact) results of these matches? That seems really stupid.
Hyvaa - First 2:0 First - Rain 2:0 Rain - Hyvaa 2:1
That would mean Hyvaa 1st, First 2nd in other tournaments without additional games needed. I don't know why they don't do it the same way here.
They also failed to do team kill matches first, and they don't use mapscores as tiebreakers. This format could use some work, if they fixed those 3 issues then I think it'd be great.
this is OSL. you won't get past those bw hipsters that played this format before it was.. well, uncool.
On July 17 2013 07:37 Paragleiber wrote: So in case of a tie the 3 players will play each other again even though they already did and the tie could be solved by applying the (exact) results of these matches? That seems really stupid.
Hyvaa - First 2:0 First - Rain 2:0 Rain - Hyvaa 2:1
That would mean Hyvaa 1st, First 2nd in other tournaments without additional games needed. I don't know why they don't do it the same way here.
They also failed to do team kill matches first, and they don't use mapscores as tiebreakers. This format could use some work, if they fixed those 3 issues then I think it'd be great.
this is OSL. you won't get past those bw hipsters that played this format before it was.. well, uncool.
Did they not do teamkill matches first even in BW? I imagine they did teamkill matches first in BW otherwise people would've complained and they would've figured that out by now cause it's pretty simple to fix.
Why did they even bother to count the 2-1 or 2-0 games when even if you win two games by 2-0 and loose one game 1-2 you still will be even with a guy who wins two games 2-1 and looses one game 0-2? That's just stupid imo.
On July 17 2013 14:47 shashk0 wrote: Why did they even bother to count the 2-1 or 2-0 games when even if you win two games by 2-0 and loose one game 1-2 you still will be even with a guy who wins two games 2-1 and looses one game 0-2? That's just stupid imo.
This is the definition of "trying to find something to bitch about", just because you don't like the format.
On July 17 2013 14:47 shashk0 wrote: Why did they even bother to count the 2-1 or 2-0 games when even if you win two games by 2-0 and loose one game 1-2 you still will be even with a guy who wins two games 2-1 and looses one game 0-2? That's just stupid imo.
you get that problem with GomTV's double elimination format as well. You could win 2-0 in the first set, and lose 2-1 in the second set, but because of the format, get screwed over, despite the score being 3-2 to you overall.
The way to fix it is to have extended series, but people bitch about extended series these days, so it's lose-lose w.e format you go with.
I agree with all the statements above, and would like to add that this idea of playing different groups the same day and to spread all the matches of a group on a 16 days period makes the whole thing really uncomfortable to follow.
On July 17 2013 08:08 Apoteosis wrote: OSL format sucks.
First, RO32 in bo1 format. Second, this bizarre tiebreak rule. Third, no teamkill first.
Really? You think its better when a toruney organizer says: "I don´t trust you and your professionalism" to the players? Please, these guys are professional and know what is when a match is fixed. I think all this suspicion here, tell me more about this community, not OSL.
On July 17 2013 18:13 BoYoB wrote: I agree with all the statements above, and would like to add that this idea of playing different groups the same day and to spread all the matches of a group on a 16 days period makes the whole thing really uncomfortable to follow.
I agree. I hope Blizzard will step in eventually and make everyone adopt the same proven format finally, if not at least to save us from meaningless matches.
On July 17 2013 14:47 shashk0 wrote: Why did they even bother to count the 2-1 or 2-0 games when even if you win two games by 2-0 and loose one game 1-2 you still will be even with a guy who wins two games 2-1 and looses one game 0-2? That's just stupid imo.
This is the definition of "trying to find something to bitch about", just because you don't like the format.
On July 17 2013 09:13 RHoudini wrote: Giving a win to a team mate is not "match fixing" - the team interest overrides the individual interest. I'm looking forward to FanTaSy's very professional way to lose :-).
P.S. OSL is retarded to have created this situation.
I hope you are kidding, That is as much max fixing as anything else since you completly destroy the tournaments legitimacy for the rest of the rounds. Not to mention people place real money on this events in betting expecting legit playing. Giving a win is never legitimate.
On July 17 2013 18:13 BoYoB wrote: I agree with all the statements above, and would like to add that this idea of playing different groups the same day and to spread all the matches of a group on a 16 days period makes the whole thing really uncomfortable to follow.
I actually like this part of it where each player has plenty of time to prepare for each individual match in their group. I wanna see this format done with double elim groups instead of round robin groups.
On July 17 2013 08:08 Apoteosis wrote: OSL format sucks.
First, RO32 in bo1 format. Second, this bizarre tiebreak rule. Third, no teamkill first.
Really? You think its better when a toruney organizer says: "I don´t trust you and your professionalism" to the players? Please, these guys are professional and know what is when a match is fixed. I think all this suspicion here, tell me more about this community, not OSL.
You act as if this never happens...Even just in SC2 I've seen players try to lose a group match to face a weaker player in the next round, Naniwa probe rush, thrown games for teammates, and of course there's Savior who everyone would've thought to be a perfect professional.
EPT
STX_Trap in Group D, 
Azubu.SuperNova booked his ticket to the Ro8 while eliminating Trap in the process. With Maru confirmed for first place with a head to head advantage against SuperNoVa, the final standings in Group D have been determined and the Maru vs. Losira match on Thursday will be little more than a formality.
STX_hyvaa. While a win would have put First through in first place, he must now contend with the possibility of a three way tie-breaker at 2 - 1 should Rain defeat Fantasy next week. 
