Week One: Koreans win, but not as much as expected
While the Challenger League preliminaries were completely dominated by Koreans, the lofty Premier League had some surprisingly foreigner-friendly results in the opening week. The Korean Apocalypse going out was no big surprise, but few would have expected the defending champion HerO and multiple GSL champion Nestea to get knocked out in the first round. Alas, Nestea could not hold out against Jim's two base all-ins, while HerO tried one cannon rush too many as he was eliminated by Scarlett.
Alongside Scarlett, Minigun also managed to make it through to the Ro16, meaning that we'll have at least as many North Americans in the live Ro16 as we did in season one. Yes, I'm sure everyone was trying to forget about it, but there really were just two players from any of the Americas in the Ro16 of Premier League season one. Anyway, on to the second week of games!
It's pretty clear who the favorites are here. Polt and TaeJa are two of the most successful Korean Terran players in history, and they have a good record of raiding foreign tournaments for prize money. However, they do have to face each other to start the group, so there is the lingering possibility that one of them won't be able to make it to the Ro16.
mOOnGLaDe showed he had really strong ZvT last season by defeating both Apocalypse and TheStC, but it's safe to say that TaeJa and Polt are on another level still. However, with just one race to prepare for, mOOnGLaDe does have an outside chance if he can play at his highest level.
Finally, there's XY, who had the weakest showing of the Chinese progamers to advance from the Challenger League, making it out of a three man group where he only had to beat Capoch (IdrA forfeited the group due to retirement). Although the Chinese players have been surprisingly strong so far, this group doesn't offer XY a good chance to advance.
This is one of the more difficult groups to predict. Jaedong looks strong as he comes in with back-to-back second place finishes at DreamHack, but he has to confront his inner ZvP demons once more. While he did manage to get revenge on Stardust at DreamHack Valencia, he did give up one seriously hilarious comeback win that allows us to keep mocking his ZvP for at least another few weeks.
MacSed and Snute both have strong cases to be called the favorites as well. MacSed performed very well through the qualifiers and Challenger League, beating players like qxc, JYP, TheStC, and Goswser along the way. Meanwhile, Snute comes in off a top eight finish in the last WCS Premier Season, and a really narrow 3 - 4 loss to TaeJa in the HSC7 grand finals. Either player could top the group if they are playing well on the night.
puCK will probably lose due to being American, but seeing as how teammate Minigun managed to make it through last week, we have to say there's at least a chance. The PvP against MacSed should be pretty even, and after that puCK can pray for a classic JvP throw. If puCK can't beat Jaedong, theognis is obliged to provide endless mockery. God, it was annoying to write this paragraph without using pronouns.
It's basically aLive's entire purpose in progaming to eliminate more popular players with his incredibly dull, sterile, but effective play, so I can't see him not advancing in this group. aLive getting eliminated would imply that the StarCraft II gods are kind, but we all know that they're really just sadistic and whimsical assholes. Expect aLive to cheese out Suppy and then win against Sage in a dreadfully standard series.
So, who will take second place then? Sage looks like the favorite since he happens to be Korean and all, but let's not count out the two Americans here. Suppy has a sneaky penchant for causing upsets, and he was able to defeat Ryung, Heart, and Scarlett in the previous WCS America tournament. As for theognis, he's a bit lucky to be here due to getting a walkover against Sen in Challenger League, but he also happened to 2 - 0 Jaedong and 2 - 1 State before that. Alright, now that the Americans have been given their token kind words, it's time to predict the Koreans to advance.
There's an unfortunate 'team-kill' between two friends in Crank and TheStC to start this group, with the two players being known to practice with each other despite being on different teams. If the two Koreans had started on opposite sides of the bracket I'd say they'd be the favorites to go through together, but this situation is a bit more precarious.
While hating on HuK will never go out of fashion, even the worst anti-fans will have to admit that HuK's been doing fairly well over the last few months. It's not just that HuK has been placing Ro16 at DreamHacks and hanging with skilled European pros, but that he's showing some semblance of consistency for the first time in what seems like forever. While being in a two Korean group makes things difficult, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see him take wins off Demuslim and Crank to reach the Ro16.
On the flipside, I can already see the /r/starcraft posts calling Demuslim an overrated newb who should retire if he should get eliminated. With iNcontrol successfully reinventing his image, IdrA retiring, and HuK performing reasonably well as of late, I fear that Demuslim could be in danger of becoming the SC community's next EG punching bag. Man, I hope he gets through.
No love for CranK? Was top 8 last season not enough? I'm sorry but even if HuK has good control and has been consistently decent, I don't see how that's enough to beat CranK. I would be very said to see it happen, not just as a HuK hater, but obviously I'm quite biased towards Axiom. I think Polt and Taeja, Snute and MacSed, Suppy and Sage (I believe!), and CranK and DeMusliM. Yeah, I said it. DeMusliM.
DeMusliM shouldn't be a punching bag. So far he's one of two people who made it to Premiere league from the Challenger league bracket stage having not originally been seeded into season 1 Premiere league. In that bracket he topped two future Premiere league players in XY and TheSTC. He was also a single map away from qualifying in the nerd-hell that was the Season 1 Premiere league open qualifiers. No matter what happens on Thursday, he's proved that he deserves to be where he is.
I really agree, the article is quite bad. First of all, Taeja and Polt are not the "two of the most successful Korean Terran players in history". MVP is the first, and then you could argue MarineKing's case with his 2 MLG titles, 4 GSL 2nd place finishes and MMA with all his winnings.
"It's basically aLive's entire purpose in progaming to eliminate more popular players with his incredibly dull, sterile, but effective play, so I can't see him not advancing in this group. aLive getting eliminated would imply that the StarCraft II gods are kind, but we all know that they're really just sadistic and whimsical assholes" - if this was a comment by someone, that person would be banned for a month, especially if it was about a foreigner player.
HuK is just bad for a long time, starting to resemble Jinros poor run after stellar results. So HuK's recent results would pale in comparison to some other player's recent results but they don't get the benefit of the doubit because, yeah well, they're not HuK... (I like HuK btw, its just that his results are mediocre at best)
Demuslim will not be a punching bag cause he is fairly solid and a good player. He is, IMO better than HuK.
lol @ the idea of Huk advancing from that group. but now after i said that, he probably will.
also i really don't understand the Alive hate that has been going on since... well, since he started playing pretty much. i don't see what people find so boring in his style compared to other terrans. i like watching Alive play.
On July 23 2013 05:22 Schelim wrote: lol @ the idea of Huk advancing from that group. but now after i said that, he probably will.
also i really don't understand the Alive hate that has been going on since... well, since he started playing pretty much. i don't see what people find so boring in his style compared to other terrans. i like watching Alive play.
All the games I remember Alive playing involved him just sitting back and turtling without really pressuring or attacking or anything. He used to only do hellbat drops in the beginning and then just macro and defend. Its quite boring.
On July 23 2013 05:22 Schelim wrote: lol @ the idea of Huk advancing from that group. but now after i said that, he probably will.
also i really don't understand the Alive hate that has been going on since... well, since he started playing pretty much. i don't see what people find so boring in his style compared to other terrans. i like watching Alive play.
All the games I remember Alive playing involved him just sitting back and turtling without really pressuring or attacking or anything. He used to only do hellbat drops in the beginning and then just macro and defend. Its quite boring.
ah, so i guess it's the same people that think Stephano's swarmhost ZvP style is boring? turtle to lategame, get a huge economy and all the fucking tech/upgrades, then choke the opponent to death. that's what i wanna see, not every game but a lot of the time.
On July 23 2013 05:16 Nedved wrote: First of all, Taeja and Polt are not the "two of the most successful Korean Terran players in history".
I think it's phrased alright. He didn't say they are THE two most successful Korean Terrans, just among the most successful Korean Terrans, which I think is fair. Polt has his triple crown, and Taeja made GSL ro4 twice, won a few foreign tournaments and tore up a few teamleagues. I agree that Mvp, Innovation, and maybe MKP and MMA were more successful overall, but Taeja and Polt are definitely in the top 8 or so.
Also, I can't understand why anyone would want to beat up on DeMuslim, bad results or no. He's just so nice.
On July 23 2013 05:16 Nedved wrote: First of all, Taeja and Polt are not the "two of the most successful Korean Terran players in history".
I think it's phrased alright. He didn't say they are THE two most successful Korean Terrans, just among the most successful Korean Terrans, which I think is fair. Polt has his triple crown, and Taeja made GSL ro4 twice, won a few foreign tournaments and tore up a few teamleagues. I agree that Mvp, Innovation, and maybe MKP and MMA were more successful overall, but Taeja and Polt are definitely in the top 8 or so.
Also, I can't understand why anyone would want to beat up on DeMuslim, bad results or no. He's just so nice.
Ya I agree. I'd definitely list Polt and Taeja right after Mvp. Hell, as far as I'm concerned Innovation is still sort of proving himself. He's definitely the scariest Terran to hit the scene over the last 6 months or however long it has been but the aforementioned players have proven relevant over the course of years. If Innovation never takes another title would we remember him in a year or so as one of the most successful Korean Terrans? I'm not really sure but he has made one hell of an impression thus far.
On July 23 2013 05:16 Nedved wrote: I really agree, the article is quite bad. First of all, Taeja and Polt are not the "two of the most successful Korean Terran players in history". MVP is the first, and then you could argue MarineKing's case with his 2 MLG titles, 4 GSL 2nd place finishes and MMA with all his winnings.
HuK is just bad for a long time, starting to resemble Jinros poor run after stellar results. So HuK's recent results would pale in comparison to some other player's recent results but they don't get the benefit of the doubit because, yeah well, they're not HuK... (I like HuK btw, its just that his results are mediocre at best)
Are you reading?
The writer called Polt and Taeja two OF the most successful Korean Terran players in history. Not THE top two. Two OF the most successful, FFS.
Moreover, they were predicating HuK getting through on recent results, not how he's been doing for "a long time."
On July 23 2013 06:37 josiah wrote: Usually I agree with tl predictions, but not this time. Crank and jaedong not making it through would surprise me greatly.
Crank not making it through is unlikely... but not impossible
On July 23 2013 05:22 Negatiive wrote: "puCK will probably lose due to being American"
it feels like somebody wrote this up in 30 minutes and just said "fuck it"
can we get someone else to write these please.
Have you no sense of context? It's a pretty common claim amongst Starcraft communities that American players are pretty much bound to lose to pros from other regions (not SEA) due to america having no clear strong representative. This statement about puck is just playing on the general impression of American players in a community.
Those who think the article is biased is simply butthurt, learn to have a sense of context.
On July 23 2013 05:16 Nedved wrote: First of all, Taeja and Polt are not the "two of the most successful Korean Terran players in history".
I think it's phrased alright. He didn't say they are THE two most successful Korean Terrans, just among the most successful Korean Terrans, which I think is fair. Polt has his triple crown, and Taeja made GSL ro4 twice, won a few foreign tournaments and tore up a few teamleagues. I agree that Mvp, Innovation, and maybe MKP and MMA were more successful overall, but Taeja and Polt are definitely in the top 8 or so.
Also, I can't understand why anyone would want to beat up on DeMuslim, bad results or no. He's just so nice.
Ya I agree. I'd definitely list Polt and Taeja right after Mvp. Hell, as far as I'm concerned Innovation is still sort of proving himself. He's definitely the scariest Terran to hit the scene over the last 6 months or however long it has been but the aforementioned players have proven relevant over the course of years. If Innovation never takes another title would we remember him in a year or so as one of the most successful Korean Terrans? I'm not really sure but he has made one hell of an impression thus far.
I'd list Polt, MMA, and Innovation after MVP in terms of accomplishments. Taeja trails slightly behind them.
On July 23 2013 05:22 Negatiive wrote: "puCK will probably lose due to being American"
it feels like somebody wrote this up in 30 minutes and just said "fuck it"
can we get someone else to write these please.
Have you no sense of context? It's a pretty common claim amongst Starcraft communities that American players are pretty much bound to lose to pros from other regions (not SEA) due to america having no clear strong representative. This statement about puck is just playing on the general impression of American players in a community.
Those who think the article is biased is simply butthurt, learn to have a sense of context.
so common that I doesn't need to be repeated and is the single most boring and lazy way to write off a player as you could possibly come up with. never mind that the player in question has beat sage 2-1 hyun 2-1 and 2-0'd polt in a recent winners bracket no lets say ha an American nothing to see here.
EPT
Jim
Ryung
NesTea
