EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/KizZBG/starchallenge2.jpg)
image courtesy of KizZBG
StarChallenge 2008 Season 1 Group A
11 February 2008, 1830 KST/0130PST @ OnGameNet
For the first group of this StarChallenge, we have four players from four teams representing all three races. A nice, well-rounded group of solid players on a peculiar mapset – let’s see how it’ll likely shape up. Winner advances to the OSC playoffs, where he’ll have a chance to get the third seed in the next OSL. Group runner-up goes to the next ODT, where he has a chance to qualify for the next OSL. Third and fourth? Better luck next time; they drop to offline qualifiers.
It can be a bit confusing, so here’s a clarifying image:
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Hot_Bid/OSC4Dummy.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/350.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/175.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/187.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/liquibet/players/noimage.jpg)
< Katrina >
free[gm]Jy is here from the previous StarChallenge, having gone 1-2. Free advanced from PSL 2-0 over
Miracle, 2-0 over Nbs[gm], and 2-1 over everyone’s most-hated KTF, Hery[Hyo].You know what? I’ve figured out why Katrina is so +Protoss. It’s because Protoss has psionic storm. Must be Bush’s fault. Zerg is 13-26 against Protoss; exactly two losses for every dearly-bought win. IntoTheWow’s favorite black-Zerg, however, sports a rather dashing 6-2 ZvP record, with two wins over
Reach himself. He even scalped Best on Katrina, proving that ZvP on this map is not an entirely hopeless affair.Free is a mere 5-5 against Zerg recently, and is actually 1-2 against the Overmind on this battleground. All in all, despite the map and the relative eminence of Free, I see this upcoming game as closer than most will give it credit for. Free with the slight edge, but only because of Katrina. I wouldn’t be overly surprised if Jy were to take it down.
< Katrina >
BestGodBoth advanced to StarChallenge through the last OGN Offlines: Casy perfect against
Rage, 
Clay[fOu], and Reach; BestGod lossless against TT, Hon_GoZip, and Pusan.Katrina’s horrible PvZ stats are matched only by its atrocious PvT numbers. Adun’s race sports an amazing 20-7 against Terra’s defenders, for a cumulative 74.1% PvT record. Fast carriers really are instant-win here. However, as in the previous match, the map will not determine everything. Look at BestGod – 1-3 against Terrans on television. Furthermore, he’s only played Protosses to get past offlines. While a 2-0 over Pusan bodes well if he were to face free, it’s not exactly a convincing anti-Terran resume.
Casy went 2-0 against Protosses on Katrina, even besting my favorite mullyang Toss along the way. Despite a 1-9 record in his past ten TvPs, I have reason to believe his TvP has a chance compared to the “please don’t pick Protoss” Casy of before. In PCBang, he refused to have his games televised, and to me that is evidence that he has a secret Protoss-killer build prepared. I give SJM’s wonderboy the advantage here despite his terrible TvP and the terrible map.
Who the hell knows what’s going to happen? Even though the first two maps are so imbalanced, the players’ natures makes the result hazy. Troy is 2-0 TvZ, 2-2 PvT, and 2-0 ZvP. The sample size and gimmicky nature of the map preclude solid balance statements as of yet, so the outcome will hinge on who brings the better play and/or better strategy.
Free is average PvT (26-24, 5-5 in last 10). Casy is weak TvP. Will this be a comedy of errors? Protoss seems to have a good number of PvT options on this map, if we look at what
BeSt[HyO] did against Sea and what Much did against FrOzean. Still, Terran has two wins as well – it’s not overtly imbalanced as of yet. Simply because Casy’s TvP is that bad, I’d give Free the nod here.As I said before, ZvP is most likely Jy’s best matchup. As sAviOr’s teammate, he undoubtedly has solid instruction against the Khala empire. This map also seems healthy for ZvP at first glance, if only because Zerg mobility exceeds that of Protoss. Furthermore, Zerg has easily defensible expansions if it but kills the assimilators, whereas Zerg drop ability makes Protoss multis less defensible. BestGod is a wildcard, though, since he’s only played one televised PvZ in the past couple years. I would expect a Jy victory if this draw occurs.
Final Game
?
<Blue Storm> ??
To clear all possibilities: Protoss is even against Terran here, 20-19. Zerg trumps Terran 32-15, and has the slight edge against Protoss 26-18. Protoss is 21-21 against Protoss.
Here has way too many possible matchups, but I’m guessing Casy vs Jy is most likely. Jy sports a lackluster 6-12 lifetime ZvT, and is 2-8 in his last ten. What’s worse, one of his pair of wins came against the now-retired MBC commentator
Yooi. AdamaS, on the other hand, inherited the flaming TvZ style of Sync and the bionic control of The Emperor himself. His recent 4-6 is uninspiring, but the fact that three losses came against bonjwa-sAviOr and two came against Daum Champion GGPlay mitigates his failings somewhat. Casy would be the strong favorite in this battle, but the imbalanced map could swing it in Jy’s favor.I would bet on free/Casy to advance, as are most I suppose. Jy is the more likely spoiler, but BestGod has a shot with some luck.
I tried to incorporate some of the feedback, but I'd already written most of this one before posting the other one. I'll be experimenting with a different format for the Survivor Group B preview; we'll see how that works. Feedback is welcomed.
Love and Luck,
LR
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/mirror/layout/fe_new.gif)
and this will be the beginning of his comeback - with new, better TvP 
