EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/KizZBG/odtbanner.jpg)
Note: Superfight 5 results are not taken into consideration to be consistent with the Protoss and Zerg entries.
As you might expect, this entry is going to be pretty long. Please bear with me.
The list of Terrans in ODT is as follows:
Terran (22)
Midas[gm] T (Jun Sang Wook)
GoodFrienD T ( Lee Byung Min)
Light[Alive] T (Lee Jae Ho)
fOrGG T (Park Ji Soo)
dOnGraE T (Lee Hak Ju)
Yooi T (Han Seung Yup)
Hwasin T (Jin Yeong Su)
Sea.Up T (Shin Hee Seung)
iloveoov T (Choi Yun Sung)
FireBatHero T (Lee Sung Eun)
Lomo[fOu] T (Son Jooheung)
HiyA[fOu] T (Goo Sunghoon)
Sea[Shield] T (Yum Bosung)
XellOs[yG] T (Seo Jihoon)
Bifrost T (Won Jongsuh)
TheManiaMST T (Joo Hyunjoon)
Hery[Hyo] T (Kim Yoonhwan)
O.oc T (Kim Donggun)
Lee Youngho T
DArKeLf[S.siR] T (Kim Sunggi)
FreeDom.werra T (Jang Yongsuk)
Shine[Name] T (Ahn Sangwon)
Oh terrans -- the unrelenting warlords of starcraft -- the crusher of hopes and demolishers of dreams -- the crashing juggernaut moves to claim yet another victim.
(what the crap? what was I thinking when I wrote that just now??)
Moving on~~~
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Midas.jpg)
Dubbed "the Engine" for his overpowering and dominant attacks, (particularly TvP), he is one of the premier terrans gracing the leagues today. As one of the few terrans who have been able to push Savior to the limit at the height of his domination, he went 2-3 in Pringles 1 MSL and defeated Savior in the ro24 of Shinhan 3 Starleague. He selected Savior as his opponent twice in Shinhan 3, a move some deemed idiocy and some called bravery. In the end it did not end up well, as Midas lost to Savior 0-2 in the ro16. As a result, he will have to trudge through the demanding path of the ODT.
Also known as "Baby bear" for his countenance and similarity to Foru from back in his G.O. team days, he has gained love and hate as the one and only Emo Terran in the western world. His long and sullen stays in the game booths following a loss were a familiar and expected sight throughout 2006. However, these days we seem to see more smiles coming from him than ever before.
His in-game prowess should be well-known by now. An absolute master of the timing push in TvP, he would be named in any conversation pertaining to top TvP'ers. There are no weaknesses to his game, as his blend of both macro and micro form a formidable challenge for the foe in both TvZ and TvT.
Much of the criticism for his play comes from his often predictable game progression, taken advantage of most notably by Anytime in the Shinhan 2 semifinals. He has a tendency to follow set patterns in each matchup, allowing the opponent to prepare timings against his usual builds. He appears to be breaking this mold gradually though, as evidenced by his reaction to the loss against Anytime, and the fast Vessle build against Savior in the ro24.
Midas was known for quite some time as a solid but unspectacular and underachieving player. However, his 2006 campaign has risen his status as one of the truely elite players of the game.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/GoodFriend.jpg)
Once the master of TvT, he inexplicably became the doormat of the mirror matchup in late 2006. The prototypical "by the book" terran, GoodFriend has historically done everything well but nothing spectacularly. Residing in a team full of slumping players, GoodFriend graced the stage often in Proleague for KTF, and showed respectable results. Although he lost to July in Ever 2005 Finals, his play that day showed fan what he could be capable of given the right circumstances. It could be easily argued that he deserved to win that Starleague; his reaction to the imminent loss is a image that many starcraft fans have burnt into their minds.
He has been known to lament over his lack of fans, but this "unpopularity" has contributed to a rise in the number of fans in recent times. It is an "uniqueness" that has set him apart from other terrans. He has achieved the status of the most charismatically disliked player on the Teamliquid forums.
His league results for 2006 have been mostly strong and consistent finishes in the leagues, without too many extraordinary happenings. Pretty much your good ol' pal GoodFriend doing his thing.
For all the bashing he receives, Lee Byung Min is indeed a very strong player who would probably rank just below the very elite terrans of this generation. That is, if he can get his play straightened out again.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Light%5BaLive%5D.jpg)
Light was truely MBC game's Ace to fall back on during Proleague Season 2, even moreso than July, Pusan or even Sea. He seemed to clench win after win when it mattered most. He was clearly one of the most significant contributors to MBC game's championship run in the 2006 Proleague.
The accolades he has received for his fearsome TvZ and rock solid TvP make the shortcomings in his TvT that much more visible. He has an atrocious TvT record for a player who is already being touted as one of the top players in the game today. Simply looking at the Shinhan 3 OSL reveals that he lost consecutive mirror matches to Midas, Nada and FBH. Additionally, he has suffered losses to Hwasin in GOM MSL, as well as numerous defeats in Proleague. Again, it is a perplexing phenomena for a player of this calibur. The saving grace is that he seems to be facing some of the very best terrans in his losses.
He is quickly climbing the ladder to join the very best terrans playing today, but he will have a steep test in front of him to get through some of the other 21 terrans if his statistics truthfully tell the tale of his mirror match abilities.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/fOrGG_V_.jpg)
A terran from the Lecaf team, I remember being enchanted by his play for some inexplicable reason. I cannot pinpoint any particular attribute or any specific play that he executed that made me think this way, but he somehow seems like a player who may develop into one beastly player. His units seem to have a sort of "swagger" to them that is not readily seen in most of the emerging terrans.
It appears that his greatest strength is the TvP matchup, where he has bested some of the best Protosses in Bisu and Free. Defeating Bisu in the Kespa Cup shows that he can defeat a top notch Protoss in top notch form. This is followed by his TvZ, where he has proven his capabilities by winning against GGplay twice over the last 3 months. However, TvT losses against Sea, Iris, Casy, Hery and FBH point to a sub-par mirror matchup that may cost him in the ODT.
He certainly hasn't accomplished much yet, but I have a gut feeling that this is a guy to look out for in the near or distant future.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/DonGraE.jpg)
Looking at Dongrae's statistics in every matchup, one has to wonder how he got into the Starleague in the first place last season. He went 2-0 in the Dual league, defeating Free and Cloud; but before this time, his record is littered with unimpressive losses to all sorts of players of all races. It is possible that he experienced a rise in skill level towards the end of 2006, but it is difficult to discern this with a win over Oov and losses to Much and Nada (twice) in the Starleague. A win over an Oov who had started to show some of his previous form, does however indicate the possible talent he may have.
Until Dongrae shows us something special, he will inevitably be known as "that guy who lost to Nada in the crazy BC game on Arkanoid".
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Yooi.jpg)
"Was that win agianst Savior a fluke?" Known to me as the guy with really really red eyes, and to the TL forum users as "that guy who used to date Seo Ji Soo", Yooi at times shows brilliant displays of skill and game management, but gets the short end of the stick much more frequently.
This trend was seen in the last Starleague, where he went 2-0 in the ODT against YellOw and GGplay, indicating a promising run in the league. But when all was said and done, he had gone 0-3 in the groups agianst Zergman, Hwasin and Jy, leading to an early exit. It's difficult to fathom what is going on inside him when he takes the stage.
I liken his play to a roll of the dice. 1 out of 6 times he hits the jackpot, and the rest of the time he comes home hungry.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Hwasin.jpg)
Although I laughed at first of his "Red Sniper" nickname given by MSL, there is a certain "sniper" quality to his skill sets. He is a true TvZ specialist, so much so that his acceptable levels of TvT and TvP look like bastard childs compared to his elite level TvZ. He is one of the few players to take Savior to 5 games, further emphasizing his expertise in the matchup. He also showed that he is fully capable of executing uniquie builds during the Desert Fox game (even though it didn't pan out in the end). To this date, he is perhaps the only terran to successfully deny Savior the double gas expansion on Longinus II, leading to a victory. I can still recall the shock that reverberated through the forums when Savior was defeated in the very first game of GOM TV MSL.
He is a fast rising star, especially on the depleted lineup of the Soul team. His relative shortcomings in TvP and TvT leaves some doubts as to whether he will rise to the upper eschelon of terran players. He boased the very best TvZ record in Proleague last season, but an inexplicable loss against Zergman's ZvT during the Starleague ro16 does leave some questions about the adaptability of his TvZ.
He has as good a chance as any top terran when matched against Zerg opponents, but his other two matchups may be the cause of an early exit from this ODT, where the depth of Protoss and Terran players is at a historical high.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Sea.Up.jpg)
When Upmagic first landed in the Starleague for the winter season, most of us were thinking something along the lines of "Upmagic who?". Things would change quickly though, as he would tear through the group stages unorthodox build after unorthodox build. He proxy factoried Yarnc on Longinus II, then infantry/scv rushed Anytime on Reverse Temple. After advancing 3-0 from his group, he would continue his bold play against Nada in the ro16 before falling 1-2.
For these plays, Shin Hee Seung has been given the name of "Post Lim Yo Hwan" along with Casy. While his play lacks that spark in standard games, when the match counts most his builds and his mind truely shine. For this reason, he is probably less of a contributor to the E-stro team's proleague record than Tester or Cool[fou].
However, in an event like the ODT where every game may as well be your last one, expect him to make some trademark "grossly misplaced" buildings along the way.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Iloveoov.jpg)
As the heir to the throne of the terran empire, Choi Yun Sung is a player with a disctinctly different style than his mentor Lim Yo Hwan. He brought upon the 2nd revoltuion in macro-based play, dominating the scene from 2003 to 2004.
However 2006 proved to be a dark-age for iloveoov, as his "decline in motivation" caused him to drop out of the OSL and MSL for the first time in quite some time. From his public statements, a rediscovery of his passion for the game of Starcraft would need to come first.
He was absent for only one Starleague season and two MSL seasons, relatively short time spans compared to some of the other "slumps" that players have experienced. However, chasm left in his wake would be monumental. Especially in the Starleague, a league without Choi Yun Sung's presence was awkward indeed.
As the feared "Monster Terran" and "Cheater Terran", his excellent game sense in unit production, expansion and map control often resulted in overwhelming waves of units that would engulf the opponent's forces in any given matchup. He has displayed great moments of microcontrol, but this has always been overshadowed by his immense talkent for economy and production management.
Shinhan 3 saw the beginning of Oov's revival, as be went through one of the toughest groups in the ro24 with relative ease. However, he would soon be ousted by a Yarnc in top-form in the ro16, casting his return into doubt again. However, his games in the MSL preliminaries brought about a resurgence of his cheater form. In the game vs Zergbong on BlitzX, his unit use and strategic positioning allowed him to extract so much utility out of his army that he triumphed despite being significantly behind economically.
Whether or not Oov has rediscovered his "passion" is something only he can answer, but his game appears to be on a steady path towards reattaining his dominant form.
*side note* - Oov's face really is looking more and more like a gorilla, much more so than his 2004 days. "Waiter, please bring Mr. Gorilla Terran a banana please."
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Firebathero.jpg)
In assessing FBH's gamestyle, I would say that he is a extremely "solid" player with a special knack for the big games. In looking at his statisics, it does not seem that he would be a player to repeatedly make the Starleague. But looking back at his performances, the bigger the game is, the bigger his own game becomes.
Statistically, he is a player whose TvZ is at the forefront of his resume. However, he appears to have a consistent trend in losing to lesser players in less important matches while defeating better players in the biggest stages. The most lasting image of Firebathero must be his game versus Pusan on Longinus, where he falls victim to Pusan's superb control and amazing comeback. After the game, a tear was visible down the side of his visage.
The kind of heart he has shown in elevating his game when it is needed most, is an attribute not found in many players. Although his raw proficiency may still be lacking in comparison to the top tier of terrans, he may possess the mental makeup of a future champion.
*side note* - His ID: BraQ, may be one of the worst ID's ever conceived of. Please stick to Firebathero, Lee Sung Eun.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/noimage.jpg)
Although not much is known about this player, we see that he went though Clon, Magma and Jju in order to reach the ODT. Going through three cometent zergs, especially Jju, would seem to suggest that his TvZ is a matchup he feels comfortable in.
If he gets a lucky draw to receive zerg players in his group, we may see a new face in the Starleague.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/HiyA%5BfOu%5D.jpg)
Really a perplexing player. He showed extremely precise and sharp control of vulture mines during the 10th Survivor League, but in the very same games displayed impermissible levels of sloppy unit control, poor siege formations and attention to stray units.
He won agianst Jy and Pokju, got face smashed by 910, and showed good games but still lost agianst Goodfriend in Survivor. He then lost to Sheis in the MSL preliminaries while besting Nal_rA in the PSL to make it through his group. But then again, rA chose a goon-reaver-carrier strat that well, to put it short, failed horribly.
Hiya has shown occasional flashes of brilliance in his games, but is still short on consistency, multitasking and game sense that is required of a terran of this level.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Sea%5BShield%5D.jpg)
~ L'enfant terrible ~ Yum Bosung is a 15 year old progamer who makes any opponent feel uneasy. An absolute clutch player in the Proleague, he has defeated Boxer in the first game of Proleague season 1 finals as well as triumphing over GoRush in the Ace match of the Grandfinals. He has shown solid but unspectacular showings in the individual leagues, bowing out in the ro16 twice to Bisu and Gorush, respectively.
He has no weak matchups, is solid in straight-up play, and on top of this, is not afraid to cheese or all-in with unexpected openings. He defeated Boxer in said proleague game using a mnm tank rush on 815, while using similar infantry builds against Canata (I believe it was Sea that did it to Canata, and not vice versa... not too confident at the moment though). Some of his most recent games show wins over Casy, Anytime, GoRush, and Yarnc, along with losses to Canata and Jaedong. It is a rarity for Sea to lose to players considered "lower" than him in status.
If there is a weakness in Sea's makeup, it is perhaps his immature side to. He chose the SK terran build on old Peaks against Yarnc as a response to a fan's comments about his slow hands. A progamer of his calibur should have nothing to prove to a mere spectator, yet he allowed an outside source to intervene with his game plans.
A child to be feared.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Xellos.jpg)
Seo Jihoon, known as "The Perfect Terran", earned his namesake for being a truely elite terran player who excelled at all three matchups. Unlike his predecessor Lim Yo Hwan, Xellos did not have a glaring flaw in his TvP game. He has historically dominated Boxer in their face to face meetings, and will forever be remembered in his epic 5 game victory of YellOw in the 2003 Olympus Finals.
He has played a vital role in CJ's (formerly Greatest One) rebirth as an elite team. Additionally, he is the only true star player on G.O. that stayed loyal to the team and the coach, while rA, GoRush and Midas all defected from the team for one reason or another. This quality is one of the reasons why fans will never leave him, no matter how long his slump continues.
Although I am not familiar with his performances after 2003 Olympus, the OSL results threads indicate that in general he went in and out of leagues, usually finishing in the ro8. His performances took a turn for the better in late 2005, with a semifinals appearance in Ever 2005 and a quarterfinals appearance in So1. But in 2006, Xellos disappeared from Starleague, putting up consistent but untriumphant results in the MSL's.
His plays do not seem to have the flare that they once had, and the occasional games that demonstrate his full potential do not carry over to the following games. A frustrating phenomena for fans, he has been a tantalizing tease in showing some form, then cooling off, over and over again. The beatdown he suffered from July during Proleague season 2 finals couldn't have helped his psyche either.
I personally cannot specify any expectations on Xellos, but seeing him back in Starleague will please somewhere on the order of 500,000 fans.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Bifrost.jpg)
If Goodfriend has a rival in the "most disliked player for TL.net" title, it is most certainly this fellow. He has established a reputation as a boring, macro-turtle terran player who is reaping the benefits of the new-age maps. It also does not help when a player changes his ID every few months, as Won Jongsuh has used such ID's as TheMarine[Name], Casy[Name], Bifrost, and most recently, Justin.
He seems to be strong in macro but weak in micro as well as in adaptability, as he was downright embarassed by Savior in the MSL, losing to a 9 pool on Longinus II and then a 4 pool on Reverse Temple. Especially in the Reverse Temple game, he displayed an utter ineptitude for the fine scale control of infantry when it matters most; losing marine after marine to zerglings despite pulling all your scv's is not the way to show your skill to the fans. However, it is difficult to argue with his results, as he has been winning with his methods. A top 8 finish in the MSL, no matter how rigged the maps may be, is still quite an accomplishment for a relatively new player.
His play is strong, and this is an undenyable fact.
Another "new" terran who has made it to the ODT, TheMania was blessed with a fairly weak group for PSL. Becuase I do not watch many SC replays, I truely do not know his skill level or game style at all. Records indicate that he lost all his games in the 8th MBC Survivor to mostly strong players.
The best indicator is his defeat to Sea.Pure in the MSL preliminaries, which points out a probable deficiency in skill level to gain footing in Starleague.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Hery%5BHyo%5D.jpg)
Oh the bane of KTF fans worldwide, Hery[Hyo] cost his team quite a few points during season 2 of the proleague last year. Even his game vs Magma during Superfight 4 did not show much that could be seen as spectacular or noteworthy. Unlike some of the "unknown" new faces in the ODT, we have seen plenty of games from Hery; the fact that the general fanbase does not think highly of his skills is a warning sign.
The fact that he is played so frequently in proleague and other special events seems to suggest that his record in in-house games is rather good. Otherwise there should be no reason to play him so often. Perhaps he is afflicted with a case of stage-nervousness much like Iris, who certainly took his time before shocking many of us with his breakout season.
There will probably be a time in the future when Hery finally "finds it", at which point we will collectively utter a big 'ol WTF.
Although the PSL was the first time I had ever heard of this Samsung terran, defeating NsP_Destiny, s2[fou], and Rock[3.33] gives a certain credibility to even a new player. Taking a game off of GGplay (1-2) in the MSL preliminaries adds to his credit as well. Although he will most likely fall out of the ODT at an early stage, he appears to have a promising future ahead of him.
As is the case with most of the no-nickname players for this ODT, there is not much information on Lee Youngho. He is a KTF terran player who defeated BackHo[White], Sigmari and Spirit-Anomia to advance past the PSL. Sigmari has a somewhat funky playstyle, but should not be taken lightly; Anomia is no slouch either. Maybe KTF should be playing this guy more instead of Hery in the Proleague?
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/DArKeLf%5BS.siR%5D.jpg)
At first glance, we see yet another nondescript yet solid terran. But in reality, Darkelf has begun to separate himself from the terran masses by refusing to fold against solid players he is matched up with.
He defeated Luxury twice and won agianst Anytime 2-1 before falling to Bifrost 1-2; these are all respectable showings against very good players. However, losing to Jangbi on Desert Fox is somewhat inexcusable. In PSL, he went through Ever)Z(Drug and In_Dove, both of whom aren't exactly the ideal opponents to face.
While earning the contempt of fans for his frequent elimination of fan-favorites, his consistently solid performaces point to a player who has begun distancing himself from the rank and file.
- taken from a separate entry -
Having placed 3rd at MBC's Warcraft III prime league at the age of 15, Jang Yong Seok found success early in his progaming career. A member of the "Werra" online clan which housed notable players such as Anyppi and Showtime, his true fame came when he defeated Spirit.Moon after trailing 0-2 in the 2005 Ongamenet Invitational. But despite a successful career in Warcraft III, he declared his retirement from the game in December 2005 in order to pursue a career in Starcraft: Broodwar instead.
There were several reasons for this decision. He experienced a lack of motivation, but two other factors truely drove him away from the game. After defeating Moon, the symbol of Warcraft III in Korean, there was a monumental increase in the pressure and expectations placed on him. Unfortunately, he could not cope with this in an efficient manner.
Equally as important was the MWL (WBC Warcraft League) map controversy. There were three instances of "rigged" maps, one where Undead ghoul frenzy research time was an absurd ~10 minutes, and others where Orc units were made stronger and Nightelf units weaker. The dominance of Nightelf in Warcraft at the time spurred a mapmaker to make these rigged maps in order to make the games more "exciting". Freedom was a victim to this controversy, and this certainly contributed to his exit from Warcraft III.
As one of the two players in War3 progaming (the other being WCB.Rainbow) to have a consistent ~400 apm in all of his games, he certainly met the speed requirement for Starcraft. He was already a part of the Samsung Khan progaming team, so a transition to Starcraft progaming went much more smoothly than for an anonymous player.
Starcraft progaming is more talent-saturated than ever, making it difficult for new players to emerge out of the pack. However, it took only a relatively short 15 months for Freedom to rise again. Jang Yong Seok recently passed through both the OGN and MBC preliminaries, grabbing himself a spot in the ODT and Survivor leagues for next season's major Starcraft leagues.
Although his future holds much promise, his terran skills seem to be slightly short of the standards set for Starleague players. Coupled with an underwhelming opponent list in both PSL and MSL preliminaries, Freedom's chaces of advancing are somewhat dubious.
*Side note* - He may be the only terran player I will sincerely root for every chance I get.
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/Shine%5BName%5D.jpg)
A solid but unspectacular terran player, Ahn Sangwon's most noteworthy claim to fame to date has been is epic TvT match against Sea on Rush Hour 3 during proleague. His skills seem sharpest in controlling the mechanical units of the terran race, as his record indicates a powerful TvT, an average TvP and a TvZ that is statistically quite poor.
His recent YGclan interview has endeared him to fans, but there is a pressing need to clean up his vs Zerg if he hopes to make a name for himself. The next generation of zerg players are not going to be friendly against a terran with such glaring flaws, but he could also end the hopes of an unsuspecting terran player by wielding his best matchup.
Is it just me, or is there an overabundance of well-rounded, solid, but uninteresting terrans these days? Here's to hoping that they can each develop their own styles with time.
