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Aotearoa39261 Posts
Daigomi you are too awesome
With the awesomeness of TSL bearing down on us it’s easy to forget the most prestigious Starcraft Tournament in the world is still going on. Last Friday saw the opening to what we veterans are referring to as “the real OSL”. No more silly ODT brackets and stacked schedules – we’re into the real deal now. So what did happen on Friday? The 16 combatants of the OSL lined-up and were drafted like sheep into four distinct groups with more than surprising results.
Let’s recap what went down and dish out some awards (which sadly have collected a fair amount of dust…) then preview what’s in store this week for the OSL. Don’t forget about the Razer TSL Ro8 starting this weekend – there’s bound to be some more epic clashes in these Bo5 series. Don't forget about the Razer TSL Contest where you can win some top quality gear from the good folks at Razer simply for picking the winner of the tournament! Easy as that! Be sure to check out all the latest Razer TSL information at the Razer TSL website - http://razertsl.teamliquid.net/
But without further chatter, let’s look at the picks:
Group A:
 Flash -> (1)  GGPlay -> (8)  Rock -> (9) Sea
Group B:
Stork -> (2) JangBi -> (7) Best -> (10) NaDa
Group C:
Luxury -> (3) JulyZerg -> (6) YellOw[ArnC] -> (11) Rumble
Group D:
Bisu -> (4) Mind -> (5) Much -> (12) BackHo
And now for the coveted Mensrea group selection awards!
The Studliest Choice Award – JulyZerg. What’s the best way to get back at some prick who just chose you as his free win? You draft his brother into the same group as him. That’s right, for the first time on TV we’re going to see Luxury go up against Yellow[arnc]. A battle for their parents love, pride, and the title ‘number one twin’ – the implications are enormous. Bisu comes in a respectable second place here for picking his GomTV S3 Final opponent Mind. Bisu has a habit of picking superior players [read: jaedong] far too early on in the tournament and getting eliminated, so this is probably act of stupidity rather than manliness as there is little chance of Bisu walking away the victor.
The Group of Death – Group B. When you slap three of the strongest PvP players together into a single group, who also happen to have killer PvT your bound to end up with an insane group. To put the icing on the cake, you have NaDa making his triumphant return against the three best PvT right now. This group is wall to wall talent and will be closer than Fakesteve to Sea at a fan meet. Even if you hate PvP (which you might do by the end of the month if you watch the Razer TSL) you simply can’t overlook this stellar lineup.
The Guilliver Award to the player surrounded by lilliputian giants – Luxury. What do you expect to happen when you stick a 60%+ ZvZ monster into the first Zerg only group ever in an OSL? Rape is what you get. Ironically the only player that could possibly touch this monster is his brother.
The My Race Suxor Award - Terran. Gone are the days where Terran’s entered the OSL with 8 players to zergs 5 and protosses 3. Now they have been culled back to four of the pillars of the Terran legacy. But no matter where you look they are surrounded by vT giants making their advancement fairly difficult; it’s going to be an interesting starleague for them!
The Return of the King Award – NaDa. He’s been looking shaky lately, but as the only player who advanced into both Starleauges I’m starting to believe that the Genius will be gracing the winners podium once again. He’s got a long journey to go, and making it out of the toughest group in the tournament it but the first hurdle.
The “I belong in this Starleague” Award – Jaedong. Jaedong getting eliminated in the Ro8 is one thing, but the number 1 player at the moment not even making the OSL is simply incomprehensible. BackHo must be a soulless shell of a former human being after Jaedong was through with him at team headquarters. It’s sad to know that we won’t get to see the pinnacle of the Swarm do battle – Flash, Mind, Stork, Bisu, Luxury are all there just missing one…
The “I don’t belong in this Starleague” Award – BackHo. GTFO. Players like you deserve to retire and work in some third tier pizza joint in the Seoul slums. The mere fact you have deprived me of Jaedong is enough to warrant your death.
To close off the group selections the seeds got to pick their starting maps; Flash chose Hwarangdo, Stork chose Troy, Luxury chose Othello and Bisu was left with Andromeda. And hence the schedule you see in the calendar was produced. This leaves one question left – will the Winner’s Curse live on this season? With Flash in top form this looks unlikely – but we said that about Oov after EVER 2004. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
There’s two sets of games this week –
OSL Playday 1
Wednesday 19:30 KST
So first up we have the reigning champion against a former champion. Flash's form has simply been impeccable of late, with a single loss to Mind being the only chink in his otherwise glorious armor. GGPlay is no Knightsword these days and will ultimately succumb to the monster that is Flash. The map also works against GGPlay as Terran have proven very strong here against Zerg - if GGPlay wants a decent shot at winning his best bet lies in the magical 5 pool.
These two just can't separate themselves. They just got out of an ODT group together and then Best decides that he wants NaDa back in his group. And well I can't say i blame him - their last encounter was a dominating performance by Best on Hwarangdo which set the trend for future PvT's in the ODT. Troy is a map with strong Protoss tendencies and Best has shown that he knows how to exploit this map to it's full potential (see BeSt vs Sea). NaDa has his hands full here - if somehow he can survive the inevitable Dark Templar use then he just needs to stop BeSt from getting a dominant Carrier fleet going.. a tall order actually. BeSt is the strong favorite here.
Group C is simply a training ground for the ZvZ titan Luxury. The only person he should be afraid of is the beastly Jaedong, and now that the Jaedong factor is eliminated he basically has a free walk in his group. That walk starts with JulyZerg. No doubt he will be wanted to exact revenge against him for placing his brother in the same group as him. But no doubt July will come prepared. There is no better team for him to be on (in terms of history). Soul's proud Zerg lineage were some of the most dominant Zergs in history - and now July is trying to carry on that legacy. I have every faith that he will... just not against Luxury  The smart man places his money on Luxury in this match, the baboon places his on July. I, sadly, am the latter 
The final match this evening will be the anticlimactic rape of an underage boy by an old grandpa. A disgusting thought really  so turn your children away for this strictly R18 showing and cover your eyes because it will be bloody.
OSL Playday 2
Friday 18:30 KST
This should be a great game to kick of the festivities for the night. Rock is a well known PvT only monster while Sea is known for being the little monster. Nevertheless, Sea is hungry for OSL success having made the last god knows how many without passing the Ro8. I think MBC have realised this too and decreased his Proleague commitment. While the map favors Rock's style, I still have to pick Sea as the favorite here; he's got everything to take him to the next level of this game and im sure that this time he'll go all the way and make it big. That starts on Friday with Rock - so he better watch out!
What the hell was Stork thinking? He chose his teammate as his first choice which begs the question 'why?'. Stork is still the best PvP in the world right now, and there's not a protoss right now that can beat him in my opinion (except for perhaps Best). Jangbi is certainly not known for his PvP, notably after his loss to Kal. But that series was surprisingly close for two players with sub-50% winrates in the matchup. That being said i don't think Jangbi can go the distance and im rather confident Stork is going to take the victory.
I don't know how Rumble keeps qualifying for Starleagues. His ODT performance for one was rather impressive, I certainly was not expecting him to perform at the level he did. However, seeing as he has done squat in the real league he's quickly becoming the new Mumyung. Yarnc on the other hand is such a variable player; one moment he on the top of his game the next he is playing sloppy B-Level Zerg. I'm hoping he brings his A game on Friday as i don't want him to suffer the embarrassment of losing to Rumble. Yarnc is the favorite, but ZvZ is so random - so Rumble just might sneak through.
And this is the match we've been waiting for - a rematch of the GomTV S3 MSL Finals. Bisu had some huge balls to pick Mind as his first opponent - especially seeing as he has been so strong lately. However, Bisu is no pushover himself. I'm excited about this match for a number of reasons, but most notably because Mind always brings his brilliant TvP timing to the forefront went he plays top tier Protosses and thats always brilliant to watch. Bisu on the other hand is really playing PvT like Pusan/Best do (heavy arbiter/dark templar) which generally doesn't yield the best results but sure as hell makes for entertaining games. This is one match you simply do not want to miss. Mind is the favorite here, but it could just as easily goto Bisu.
So there you have it! This weeks set of OSL matches and a brief preview of each group. Don't forget to check out the Razer TSL Contest and cast your vote to be in to win great Razer gear! TSL also airs on Saturday/Sunday so be sure to check out the star-studded lineups dubbed "Protoss vs the world".
Until then!
 Plexa
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Canada7170 Posts
I've got to agree with you, but I voted Nada- I can't help myself.
Excellent writeup, as usual!
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
If i weren't a Best fan i would have voted Nada too
he's infectious
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Bisu vs mind will be awesome.
Great writeup !
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Hoping Bisu passes 
Nice write up thx
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Wow, really good matches are coming
Hoping for NaDa and Mind :l
btw, its so bm by stork to pick his own clanmate...t.t
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Thanks. For the writeup! I have to ask though, was there a translation of the group selection that I missed? Also, is Razer always going to get text filtered to green? It's kind of distracting.
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Hmm, a couple of glaring errors bothered me, like repeatedly saying Bisu met Mind in GOMTV 4 MSL when it was season 3, and saying Flash lost a couple of games to Mind? The only recent TvT loss Flash had was against Canata in proleague.
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
not always CDRdude - i just thought my post was a little 'bland' without all the fancy graphics xD
I don't think there was a translation for the group selections - although if there were i'm sure it'd be in FT
On May 13 2008 23:45 ahole-surprise wrote:
Hmm, a couple of glaring errors bothered me, like repeatedly saying Bisu met Mind in GOMTV 4 MSL when it was season 3, and saying Flash lost a couple of games to Mind? The only recent TvT loss Flash had was against Canata in proleague. Sorry about mixing up S3 with S4 it's late haha
and Flash has dropped a game against Mind from the GomTV Surprise Tournament (which isn't in TLPD because its a special event).
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Great write up!
I'm looking forward to BeSt vs NaDa, Bisu vs Mind and Sea vs Rock.
The Return of the King Award – NaDa. He’s been looking shaky lately, but as the only player who advanced into both Starleauges I’m starting to believe that the Genius will be gracing the winners podium once again. He’s got a long journey to go, and making it out of the toughest group in the tournament it but the first hurdle.
Yessssssssssssss!
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The Guilliver Award to the player surrounded by lilliputian giants
the lilliputians were tiny
but otherwise, nice writeup
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great write up thanks!!
Though I don't really understand the thing about backho should retire and die and doesn't deserve his spot,since he does play pretty well and made quite a performance qualifying in a tough group.
I mean it seems really disrespectful , this guy deserves as much respect as anyone else imo
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
:p someone doesn't get the concept of an oxymoron
On May 14 2008 00:08 amoxicilline wrote:
great write up thanks!!
Though I don't really understand the thing about backho should retire and die and doesn't deserve his spot,since he does play pretty well and made quite a performance qualifying in a tough group.
I mean it seems really disrespectful , this guy deserves as much respect as anyone else imo just consider me a bitter fan who wanted to see jaedong in the OSL only to have my dreams washed away by a proxygate T_T and then to have Casy impale himself onto Backhos rusty spear just added insult to injury =[
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It's true that the Terrans are a minority, but their quality of play is much higher on average. Flash, Mind, and Sea are all capable of taking games off of anyone (and each other), and Nada is erratic but full of surprises.
Actually, this entire ro16 is so ripe for upsets. I'm really interested in GGPlay/Flash, as Hwarangdo isn't nearly as TvZ imbalanced as everyone makes it out to be, and also because GGPlay is very wily. Just look at him.
I was really looking forward to Jaedong and Flash facing off in both starleagues, but in the end it's Jaedong's fault for being so careless in his games. Backho actually has an okay chance of advancing to ro8, simply because Much and Bisu are pretty unreliable at the moment.
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I think ur underestimating GGPlay... did u see his vt in the ro32? absolutely amazing. remember the daum final against iris? yeah right. If he pulls his act together he definitely can beat flash in a straight up game.
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On May 14 2008 00:09 Plexa wrote::p someone doesn't get the concept of an oxymoron Show nested quote +On May 14 2008 00:08 amoxicilline wrote:
great write up thanks!!
Though I don't really understand the thing about backho should retire and die and doesn't deserve his spot,since he does play pretty well and made quite a performance qualifying in a tough group.
I mean it seems really disrespectful , this guy deserves as much respect as anyone else imo just consider me a bitter fan who wanted to see jaedong in the OSL only to have my dreams washed away by a proxygate T_T and then to have Casy impale himself onto Backhos rusty spear just added insult to injury =[
I totally got it and it's a shame there's no jaedong here , but for some weird reason it always pisses me off to read this kind of stuff , like last time jangbi was the worst gamer in all starcraft's history.
Very good read though btw , keep the good job!
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I'm so pissed at Stork !! Why did he pick Jangbi, whyyyyy??? Is he jealous or something??!!! Did Jangbi badmouthed him? Does he hate his team?? Does he think he can get away with an easy win?
I love Stork and Samsung but SHIT I HOPE JANGBI WILL RAPE YOUR ASS SO HARD
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july will pwn luxury
im 99% sure - -;
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Great fucking coverage.
This isn't said enough. Good job... really.
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On May 14 2008 00:53 Squallcloud wrote:
I'm so pissed at Stork !! Why did he pick Jangbi, whyyyyy??? Is he jealous or something??!!! Did Jangbi badmouthed him? Does he hate his team?? Does he think he can get away with an easy win?
I love Stork and Samsung but SHIT I HOPE JANGBI WILL RAPE YOUR ASS SO HARD
The master fears of his own apprentice....it would totally suck to lose to the person who you taught PvP too in the finals, he probably would rather lose to a 5 pool than let this happen."i'll kill you off now so I wont have to lose to you in the finals!" argh.. stork. More e-drama ftw.
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United States12607 Posts
BeSt fighting!
Watch his game against go.go and you will see what a macro beast this Protoss has become...
15 gateways ez
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Plexa, awesome write up as usual!
I can't wait for this OSL. There are so many good games to look forward to. Even without Jaedong, Hwasin, Anytime and Savior (I know, the last two were utter disappointment lately, but hey, I'm a fan...).
My bet goes on Best this time. He showed amazing performances in all match-ups lately.
Oh! And Stork : please get raped. Picking your own teammate is just lame.
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United States42887 Posts
BackHo beat Jaedong, he's obv the best player in the osl (except maybe flash) and deserves to be like #3 on the power rank. I mean jeez, he beat the best, what more do you want from him?
BackHo was born to play bw. No-grasp-of-strategy-Toss FIGHTING!!!
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Belgium9947 Posts
you turn reporting into literature
this is what seperates tl from gg.net
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great writeup. and if ggplay wants to win, he should look at july's game vs mind from last month
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gogo best, bisu, sea!
i know flash will win
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You made a mistake in the OP. Flash' only loss is not to mind, but rather Canata.
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Bisu is seriously the second most manly toss ever to be able to pair hismelf with mind.
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Ahaha, I like how you gave BackHo the blank picture.
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Belgium6771 Posts
Awesome writeup as always plexa
you da man!
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I think GGplay can really pull it off. That game can be quite wild. I'm looking forward to it.
And while Stork's PvP is unbeatable and he's playing a mediocre PvP in Jangbi, I think Jangbi has a good shot at this. He's red hot right now, and if I learnt anything over the years, its to never underestimate a hot streak in OSL
All around some interesting games. I'm looking forward to it. I'm enjoying both leagues a lot right now
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Jangbi vs Stork is sadtimes I was hoping to see many more games from both of these players, now one of them is going to get eliminated early on?
Weak.
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excellent write up Plexa, funny AND informative!
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On May 14 2008 00:25 diehilde wrote:
I think ur underestimating GGPlay... did u see his vt in the ro32? absolutely amazing. remember the daum final against iris? yeah right. If he pulls his act together he definitely can beat flash in a straight up game.
Funny that you should mention the final vs Iris, because in the semis of that same tournament he faced Flash and won 3-2. But Flash has improved a *lot* since then, and I'd definitely bet on him this time around.
And I hope Jangbi owns Stork.
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you all laugh now, but this OSL belongs to BackHo
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Nice write up, man I can't wait for the twin zerg battle!
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Solid write-up.
Actually, Group B is even worse for Terran killing than for Protoss killing. Jangbi, Stork, and Best are all top 5 PvT right now IMO. I would put the top 5 (in no particular order) as Janbgi, Stork, Best, Bisu, Much. Anytime also possibly deserves mention, but I think Janbgi, Best and Stork are all stronger PvT right now. In PvP, Best and Stork are probably the top 2, but Jangbi is way down there IMO. I'd put Stork, Best, Much, Bisu, Free, Anytime, Kal, Rock, Pure, Reach, Pusan,... etc above him. Until recently, he couldn't win for shit against Protoss. He's doing okay right now, but I'm not super impressed by his PvP play. Jangbi's PvP isn't *so* bad that I'd say he's an auto-loss or anything, but to me it seems like his PvP is B grade among progamers; I really don't trust it enough to call it A grade. I categorize his PvZ the same way.
Also, why didn't you give Stork the DEE DEE DEE award? Unless he's planning on throwing his game against Jangbi and then planning to win his other 2 matches, Samsung's odds of getting 2 players out of that group are dubious at best.
Also, why didn't Jangbi choose a Terran? Was he afraid that any Terran would pick a Zerg?
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BISU.
PLEASE BRING YOUR A GAME.
god knows that still might not be enough against mind..
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I truly hope Bisu has a plan to deal with Miond. He's going to need one.
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this looks amazing, nice write up as always plexa. Shame jaedong is gone though :/
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Cant wait for this, Much got the easiest group imo. Which is good for me :D
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Nice man! and I agree with you on all the shit you wrote there.
BackHo deserves to get raped, if he beats Much by some sort of miracle, I hope he gets raped by Flash. Beating Jaedong with a proxy gate was wtf, and he fluked that game against Casy.
And I'm rooting for Best/NaDa, I know that NaDa is coming back and he'll win his 4th osl and msl. Go Lee YoonYeol!
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Valhalla18444 Posts
great writeup as always but whats this about nada being the only player in both leagues? a number of players are in both
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Good writeup, I am rooting for NaDa also :D
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I think OnGameNet may have made a huge mistake lettign this happen. I hope they don't do it again
I (generally) hate mirror matchups...
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
On May 14 2008 15:58 FakeSteve[TPR] wrote:
great writeup as always but whats this about nada being the only player in both leagues? a number of players are in both He was the only player to qualify for both leagues from Survivor/ODT rather than be there by virtue of seeding
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Plus the idea of NaDa in both leagues is pretty damn sexy. I don't normally cheer for Terran players, but NaDa has a special place in my
heart
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Trinidad/Tobago1177 Posts
I don't know if Nada can come out of that group. Even though I wish he does. Some exciting fast paced ZvZ action coming up !
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On May 13 2008 23:30 Plexa wrote:
The “I don’t belong in this Starleague” Award – BackHo. GTFO. Players like you deserve to retire and work in some third tier pizza joint in the Seoul slums. The mere fact you have deprived me of Jaedong is enough to warrant your death. [/b]
I don't think you are fair to the poor BackHO, it can't be always luck don't you think so? He beat Much as well
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EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Daigomi/Banner__Ever_OSL_2008.jpg)
