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Aotearoa39261 Posts
Big thanks to Daigomi for the banner
So we come to the twilight phase of Round 1 and glance back on what has already been a better tournament than Bacchus OSL. As strange as it may seem, we have come to the end of the first round of the OSL. Yes, that was very short! At the moment we have 12 players qualified for the OSL - and tonight we find the remaining 4 to join them. Regrettably, Manifesto7 was unable to save his report thanks to some computer troubles [read: power failure] so this post will be double length!
Group E was one of the better groups on show in the OSL. We had Sea/Deazang/Jangbi/Xellos all fighting for two spots - and what a show we were given. Breaking it down player by player how could you not be excited? Sea and Daezang are both similarly styled gamers and thus should create a really exciting game for us first up, while JangBi is on fire against a questionably formed Xellos. So let's see how everything went down in this group.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YZa7q-Cm1Ys
+ Show Spoiler [Game Comments] +Like i said in my preview post, when you get two players of similar style on a map that just begs for creativity and map abuse you're going to get a great game. Daezang opened up strong, but his lack of macro cost him in the long run. Sea played super agressive as well, true vintage Sea, which fully abused Daezang's slowing hands. That being said, this was an excellent game and a nice comeback win for sea.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wMOWS1QJ2Zo
+ Show Spoiler [game comments] +This was a rather sad game for any Xellos fan. Jangbi really ran away with his reaver harass and well, put on an entertaining show for the viewers. Although Xellos was note happy - he did storm out of his booth looking unusually angry. Nevertheless Jangbi looked very solid
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CAp9Z2viwKM
+ Show Spoiler [game comments] +This really was the most likely combination to advance, so no real upsets here. JangBi showed here that he's actually rather flexible and opted for Dark Templar drops - which proved to be very effective indeed. On top of that he decided to prove a point to Sea and followed up his Dark Templar antics with a fearsome macro - quite impressive actually. And with that victory he goes 9-1 against Terran in recent times with a 70% all time winrate against Terran; quite scary.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9su-vlhSltQ
+ Show Spoiler [game comments] +Dark Templar seemed to be loved on this map - and i suppose for good reason. Daezang shows us his interpretation of DT on Andromeda again Xellos and once again find success with the little ninjas. From there he was firmly in control and built up a strong economy which in turn overran a badly underdeveloped Xellos. DT's seem to be coming back in fashion! On a random note, Daezang played with 300+ APM this game so he's not getting slower in his old age!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0YsaFxSnDoY
+ Show Spoiler [game comments] +And so we see the two combatants from round one duke it out yet again - yay! On the sad side of things one of these truly great players needs to be eliminated... As noted in the previews, both players know how to exploit a map perfectly - and Daezang showed us this right at the start when he narrowed Sea's choke by killing his assimilators. And well, Daezang picked up from the strong start and followed into a strong and logical midgame. Then we entered the somewhat standard carrier vs expanding terran game which is always interesting to watch. And then Sea manages to macro up a ton of Goliaths and blasts his way to another comeback victory; moral of the day: if you dont' have the mechanics, you ain't going to qualify for a starleague 
And thus, the results are as follows:
Sea > Daezang Jangbi > Xellos Jangbi > Sea <-- Jangbi advances! Daezang > Xellos Sea > Daezang <-- Sea advances!
And now comes the group i just can't be excited about.. None of these players are going to win the OSL and will be knocked out with relative ease in the nest round. Nevertheless this was my assigned group and i will do my best to remain professional no matter how boring these games are. Obviously i have about 0% interest in this very anti-climatic end to Rnd 1. Oh well.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=A876MA10ISQ
+ Show Spoiler [game comments] +There was a mildly entertaining micro tussle at the start of the match, where upmagic got way behind when he lost way to many units early on. And then things just went down hill for upmagic.. His vulture tricks never really took off and Rock had his gameplan totally sorted - and he came away with the result. I can't blame him either - especially when your opponent plays so bad.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LuELW0byEak
+ Show Spoiler [game comments] +This game was an epic failure.. Yarnc tried to do some cute stuff like sac'ing his overlord to scout for tech and BestGod doing some Dark Templar antics - but at the end of the day Yarnc was less of a handicap and raped BestGod with pure mutalisks. At least i can't be disappointed because i didn't have any expectations xD
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gNNsFACAHkY
+ Show Spoiler [game comments] +I was actually surprised with this game. Rock reverted back to the incredibly manly Goon/Reaver strategy and Yarnc countered it beautifully with pure Hydra with burrow. There were critical moments where Yarnc was able to snipe critical shuttles and ultimately out play Rock and take the win. This game, i guess, it redemption for that last game
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5ukmizMMmi0
+ Show Spoiler [game comments] +God was clearly begging UpMagic to win this game, most notably when BestGod gifted his Shuttle into Up's turrets, and his reaver's scarabs glitching on a clump of ~10 SCVs but alas... Up was not listening. This was a very uninspired game and a rather boring drawn out slug fest - and ultimately BestGod (against all odds) dominated UpMagic..
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ajZikEgJU_E
+ Show Spoiler [game comments] +This game was an epic failure by BestGod. Well done on Rock using Dark Templars to win the path to victory.. and well what a very anti-climatic ending to Round 1 haha.
So, to recap; Rock > UpMagic Yarnc > BestGod <-- Yarnc advances! Yarnc > Rock BestGod > UpMagic Rock > BestGod <-- Rock advances!
So.. to recap; here is the list of players in this seasons 'real' OSL.
Flash
Luxury
Stork
Bisu
GGPlay
BackHo
BeSt[HyO]
NaDa
Rumble
Much[gm]
July
InteR.Mind
JangBi
Sea
YellOw[ArnC]
Rock
And well, one can't help but be underwhelmed by that lineup - and most nostably the lack of Jaedong and Savior.
So what happens next? Well it's highly likely that there will be a group drawing for the OSL groups sometime this week - which should be awesome as always. And from there, we should have games the following week. Awesome Both myself and Mani well be there bringing you premiere coverage of this prestigious league (and please don't forget about it in the hype of TSL ) and you may just see the return of a certain long lost TL feature...
Until then!
Plexa
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nice write up :D Wow 4 Terrans, 5 Zergs, and 7 Protoss 0_0
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Flash, Mind, Sea, NaDa. I'm definitely not underwhelmed ;o
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On May 04 2008 04:14 Darkmole wrote: nice write up :D Wow 4 Terrans, 5 Zergs, and 7 Protoss 0_0
Yea, thats quite surprising
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On May 04 2008 04:19 H_ wrote: Flash, Mind, Sea, NaDa. I'm definitely not underwhelmed ;o
Yea, but it could have been Flash, Mind, Sea, Nada, Savior, and Jaedong. But I'm still looking forward to this OSL because the maps don't suck.
Nice writeup Plexa!
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Underwhelmed? Someone sure has high expectations. I think that's a pretty decent line up. Didn't really expect Savior to make it, but too bad JD is out.
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It's gonna be hard watching so many PvP in this OSL although a nice goon storming is always welcome
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9070 Posts
damn , daezang was sooo close but sea is great too.I think i will put my money on a toss chap this season - maybe best/bisu-guy
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I think this line up is not underwhelming at all. The terran line up is KILLER. Probably the best four at the moment ( Nada - - ?? ) GGplay + Twins + July is a good Z line up. I mean, they are unfortunately missing their two best, but besides JD and Savior, that's a strong zerg line. Only rumble is the sux, everyone else is a top of the food chain zerg. The protoss line has Rock and Much. (O yeah, stork and bisu were considered the best two for a very long time, just prior jaedong)
So really, I totally think this line up is a very OSL worthy line up.
I'm hoping for a Golden Mouse though -_-;;
BTW - The battle report?? What has been missing for a long time???
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I hope the underwhelmed comment was sarcasm. Fucking great lineup. Though, I worry for the finals. Flash is god damn on fire, and I don't see a single person there who can go toe to toe with him and not be 3'0'd like a bitch, just as stork was. Nada...perhaps...if he was in form. He looks to be turning his game around slightly, but I don't think he will deliver this OSL.
Jangbi, Mind, and GGplay are the only people who would even be able to force Flash into the late game- but I don't really see them carrying any games against Flash. Jangbi is still inconsistent with his nerves, GGplay just doesn't have the bonjwa magic. As for Mind, Flash has fought him numerous times now and took the win everytime- wont be any different. Though mind will probably lose 3-1 or 3-2.
Anyways, looks like it will be a good OSL but Flash will just bend everyone over and have his way with them, when everything is said and done.
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This is a VERY strong lineup imo... and I wouldn't say Rumble is a bad Zerg. He has improved lately.
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the report for that last group was so depressing
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Think this is a very strong lineup. Considering who's playing good atm. Not underwhelming at all imo.
Oh the Sea vs Daezang game was pretty nice ^^
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Surely looking forward to it. ^^; In a way I'm happy savior isn't in this, it's hard to watch him getting raped all the time lately. :|
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3 Lions
United States3705 Posts
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CA10828 Posts
very few terrans this OSL, but each one of them has a very legitimate chance at taking the title this season!
i will be cheering them on!
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I think it'll be interesting. Flash is clearly the favourite but, some stuff might happen.. I wonder how well July will play for example, and I hope Bisu gets his shit together and perhaps we'll see Best do some serious dmg.
Nice writeup, will be great to follow this season, although I REALLY miss JD in that lineup...
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last osl we had 4 terrans as well and we end up with a terran champion.
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Great reading I think Jangbi might be dangerous this time
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Sea getting into the OSL is a great thing. SHould be an exciting OSL, I just hope Bisu performs.
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On May 04 2008 07:42 3 Lions wrote: WEMADE FOX FIGHTING!
indeed, GOGO NaDa man I piss my pants if you win another title
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I thought the pure PvT group was very very boring (and that the first game was really lame since it was mostly daezang's mistakes that made the end result) and found yarnc's use of the "savior build" (mass mutas map control while defending your expos with sunkens) pretty good, since it showed that Yarnc isn't as bad (against P) as people say he is.
I don't know where all your pessimism came from, but I'd say that there is absolutely a possibility that Yarnc will perform well this year.
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4 best terrans are here, I bet they all make Ro8
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4 terrans and tons of protoss... im still not used to this xD
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
Yea, the four terrans are absolutely top tier... but the Zerg/Protoss lineup is kinda.. bleh 
looking at the players we started with its kinda sad that we ended up with what we got
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"Set 3: Winners" Shouldn't be labeled like this if there are going to be spoiler warnings, it just ruins the purpose, completely gives away who wins the first two sets.
I enjoyed reading though, gg's I wonder who will win this one
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for all those confused souls
On May 04 2008 04:19 H_ wrote: Flash, Mind, Sea, NaDa. I'm definitely not underwhelmed ;o
+ Show Spoiler + edit: ty for nice write up, too bad xellos didnt make it :'(
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why is no one talking about stork? that bird can still deliver!
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rofl. i just saw the recent PR.
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no jaedong and savior? what's happening !! 
but sea is pretty hot right now. wow, goliaths+goliathindropships >> dragoons.
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last season had 4 Terran as well, nothing to geeweez about. Mind is upgraded version of Xellos and Frozen. Nada is still effy. I hope they all make Ro8.
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NaDa, Rock and Mind! Yeah! :D It's always NaDa & Rock or NaDa & Mind... But now... Muahahaha. :D
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
On May 04 2008 13:32 Gandalf[RTG] wrote: "Set 3: Winners" Shouldn't be labeled like this if there are going to be spoiler warnings, it just ruins the purpose, completely gives away who wins the first two sets.
I enjoyed reading though, gg's I wonder who will win this one lol this ain't no spoiler free environment! Obviously a newspost about the OSL is going to reflect results - if you're that worried just avoid it ;;
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Hoping for a Luxury v. Flash finals. That would be super fucking badass. (Shoulda been the final last year -_-)
But yeah, Flash FTW. I'm gonna be SO fucking depressed if (I guess its only a matter of when) Flash starts to slump.
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Spenguin
Australia3316 Posts
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Is this Mind's first OSL ? If it is i'm expecting a Royal Road from him , eihter that or the zerg lineup .Still it's a miss to not have JD Savior and Anytime
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How does the OSL work exactly? Like who goes against who in the round of 16? hmm
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hoping for a bit oldschool this season, july or nada in the osl and good old yellow in gomtv classic
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
On May 05 2008 02:49 ScarFace wrote: How does the OSL work exactly? Like who goes against who in the round of 16? hmm There will be a group drawing on friday to determine the groups
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yea, i am also surprise to see so many protoss advanced this seoson but i only see very few of them playing well (while Stork is falling). but terran, although only 4 of them advanced, they r the best ones. zerg, like u all say, really felt sad 4 the absence of sAviOr and Jaedong. they both dint qualified because of cheeses and rushes. sAviOr lost a stupid game by getting a scouted proxy, but no actions were taken. Jaedong lost to both proxy and bunker rush. the only match ups i saw without cheeses against Jaedong and sAviOr is where sAviOr plays against NaDa. that was a very good play for NaDa, we cant blame sAviOr for that. anyway, i'm glad NaDa advanced , hoping for his 4th osl tittle.
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Why isn't Jaedong in the list? what happened? anybody?
I hate Rock by the way!!
Go NaDa!!!! I believe!!!!
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