EPT
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The title for this weeks games in the OSL is perhaps the most appropriate title yet. Of the 8 games played in the past week, only two fell to the favorites. The upsets are coming thick and fast in this OSL and it's becoming increasingly unpredictable. Couple that with a general lack of sense when it comes to predictions on my behalf lately, it means that the predictions here should be taken with a grain of salt.
Predictions for the upcoming games is one thing, but also this news post will update you on the results of the Wednesday games and a brief comment on the games on Friday. Of course at this stage in the tournament, excitement is relatively low - and for good reason. The Razer TSL is entering the Semifinals this week and the lineup is amazing. You would have to be insane or in prison to miss these games so clear some space in your schedule this weekend! Anyway, because the TSL is so interesting right now, I'll forgive you for missing some for the games this upcoming week
Wednesday's Games
Firstly, let's discuss July's situation in Soul and his transfer from SKT. July on SKT, while at the time seemingly appropriate, never felt quite right as time went on. Perhaps it was the idea that he was stuck on a team with a history of success, a beastly lineup and then Oov retiring which made everything just seem wrong. However, his move to Soul literally has given me new hope. July's place is amongst a team finding their identity and strengths - just like POS. The fact that the entire Soul team turned out to support him was amazing to see - it really seems like he has found a home and a team where he fits in naturally. Those benefits must have spurred him on to beat the 2nd strongest ZvZ player in the world and has given me (slim) hope that July will see the golden mouse.
BackHo destroying Much in some ways justified his presence here. I don't know if he'll pass such a tough group - but if he manages to beat Bisu he'll likely break through to the Ro8. This intriguing thought has lead to me the conclusion that BackHo deserves some credit and a persona change. No more is he the lucky protoss who cheesed his way into the Ro16 - now he is a ruthless Protoss who has met resistance throughout his career; being abandoned by his family at age two and raised by a pack of savage wolves, he is out for revenge against the world which wronged him! ... Ok, too far, but his presence is now justified and my hate for him has subsided.
Best once again showed that he is truly "The Devil's Apprentice" and in a spectacular show came back to defeat NaDa. That being said Best's victory takes nothing away from NaDa - and i would go as far to say as the map is to fault for Nada's loss. Nada looked damn impressive, but just couldn't keep Best nailed in his coffin; on any other map the result would have been different which is a reassuring thought for our beloved Genius.
GGPlay played a stock-standard "i know im worse than you so ill all-in and pray" against Flash. And Flash came back and said "wtf yo, get your hands off me" and defended perfectly, no upsets for Flash! Yay! haha
Friday's Games
Group A
+ Show Spoiler [Game comments] +
This game demonstrates, if nothing else, that Rock knows himself very well. What do I mean by this? Simply that Rock knows his strengths, weaknesses and style better than most other progamers and he took those facts into account when he prepared for this game. This game was quintessential Rock, with a twist. He played to the map and opted to skimp on Goon range in favor of more Dragoons - which he then used to kill Sea's assimilator. From there he was able to play a very Rock-esque game with the inevitable Carrier transition. This map also suits Rock very well, so in reality with that kind of preparation, Sea never really stood a chance. Which is actually a sad thought seeing as his time is running out to preform in the major leagues before he is relegated to the offline prelims 
Group B
+ Show Spoiler +
Nazgul and Eri came out in the TSL Preview thread and said that PvP is determined by strategy. While this is true I argued that mechanics play a more important role when you have two Protoss of similar level. This game exemplifies my argument. Jangbi pulled ahead early on after coming out on top in a major battle thanks to superior micro. From there Jangbi cemented his advantage and eventually his economy overpowered Stork. With Jangbi defeating Stork, the PvP god of yore, he has differentiated himself from the Jangbi we used to know and hate - he now is arguably the second best Protoss in the world, behind Kal and ahead of Bisu. Jangbi's only blemish is his PvP only group in the MSL, but thats forgivable after watching this game. One thing worthy of note is that Best trained with Jangbi for this match. Now, i can't officially rank Best due to the lack of games and results compared to the other Protoss - but his last series against Stork was very strong. Best-Kal-Jangbi might be the third generation of Protoss kings. I was fairly entertained by this match and if you're not sick of pvp its definitely worth checking out
Group C
+ Show Spoiler +
I hate to make this simplification, but this was a build order loss by Yarnc. Andromeda favors the macro hungry Zerg - and a 12hatch nearly always beats a 12 pool. Not much else to say really, except that Yarnc did a good job at nullifying Rumble's advantage but ultimately it wasn't enough and soon Rumbles muta count just ran over Yarnc. Interesting to note is that July's decision to include the twins in the same group has really paid off. Both twins are now 0-1 and essentially their game decides the twin who advances (as the winner will have a chance to advance, while the other is almost certianly out). What a drama-filled match that clash will be
Group D
+ Show Spoiler +
And then came the most anticipated match of the night and it did not disappoint. Bisu has said in interviews that he feels that his televised PvT's don't do his PvT any justice (and thats not hard to beleive) and this game demonstrates how very true that claim was. Bisu played this game perfectly - his macro/micro/strategy were spot on in all regards. From the DT drop antics to force turrets and slow mind to the perfect timing of his arbiters. Bisu is in the best form I've ever seen. For the first time in my life I genuinely feel the force of Bisu. Mind's play was perfect - his trademark timing was impeccable as expected, but Bisu was just something else. This is Bisu's time to go for the Gold he deserves.
So in summary, here are the results:
[b]Rock[/b] < Troy > 
SeaStork < Othello > [b]JangBi[/b]
YellOw[ArnC] < Andromeda > [b]Rumble[/b][b]Bisu[/b] < Hwarangdo > MindOne quick note; Oov and Kingdom's effect on the performance of SKT is so evident from this round and their proleague comeback. Midas, Bisu, Best and i guess Rumble are preforming very very strongly and the results have been coming in for them.
Previews
OSL Playday 3 - Wednesday 21 May 19:30 KST
Group A
This is an interesting encounter seeing as Rock is strongest in this matchup, but Flash is on a separate plane to him in reality. The cold hard facts suggest that Othello favors Terran, given the high proportion of TvT on this map. Flash is also the destroyer of the Starcraft universe and currently resides as the strongest player (according to the Power Rank). However, Rock has shown that he knows how to maximize and indeed amplify his own strengths and dictate the play of the game. As long as Flash is playing on Rock's terms Rock is the huge favorite. But this is Flash we're talking about - he won't let that happen. Rock will try dictate the game to Flash but will be undercut by Flash's superior gamesense and look like a fool. If you want a favorite for this match it has to be Flash - but if you are a superstitious person vote for Rock (the winners curse should kick in any time now).
Group B
Ah a rematch of the game that made Jangbi a household name for good reasons. Namely for this incident. So let's get down to basics. JangBi is insane form on a map with 11-4 stats in favor of Protoss against Terran vs a desperate NaDa. If Nada wants to stay alive in this OSL this game is a must win, but i just don't see it happening. Jangbi is one sick player right now and in my opinion has the most impressive PvT out there right now. NaDa is coming off a loss to Best from a bad TvP map, and now he moves onto another TvP map and unfortunately will probably go 0-2 because of it. Jangbi is the favorite and should win in style, but with ease.
Group C
Ahh, the clash of the twins. Seeing as both players are 0-1, the winner stays alive in the running, while the loser is probably going home. While this is dramatic enough, the fact that its the twins in this situation provides an extra element of excitement and drama. Even though ZvZ is a luckfest, Luxury is the better player at the moment and on Hwarangdo i think he should be able to win. Given that the players know each other so well, we might see a daring move by either to cheese the other - so imo we could see a 4 pool in resentment of playing each other or to exploit the predictability of one of them. Whatever happens it will be interesting, so definitely check it out.
Group D
If this was any other map there is no question Mind would crush BackHo mercilessly. But this is Troy, and Troy is perhaps the worst map for TvP in the map pool. BackHo has shown that he can defend against cheese on this map (thanks Casy) and i think, purely because its Troy, that he stands a very good chance against Mind. I want to say that Mind is going to win outright with a sick timing push like he usually does but there are just so many chances for Protoss that BackHo can't be ruled out. I can't beleive im saying this, but there is a very real possibility that BackHo will topple Mind similar to Rock toppling Sea. The favorite is Mind, but if you appreciate the concept of map imbalance BackHo just looks so strong. A very tough game to call.
OSL Playday 4 - Friday May 23 18:30 KST
Group A
Both players here are fighting for survival having lost in the first round. Both GGPlay and Sea have the potential to go far in the tournament so this should be a particularly interesting encounter. Sea is still a dominant monster and I won't budge on that claim. While GGPlay is still strong, but just not in the same league as Sea. Terran have a slight advantage on Othello, but the number of TvT's make Terran look like the stronger race here. Couple this with Sea's talent and im pretty sure he'll be taking this game. And well he really does need this game - a loss would almost certainly put him out of contention as he has Flash left to play while GGPlay has Nal_"i can't PvZ"_Rock left to play. I think Sea should take this game by overpowering GGplay in the mid game.
Group B
Here's a new rule for the group stages, 'when in doubt, vote SKT' and this is a case where this rule is perfectly applicable. Stork is no push-over PvP but BeSt just looks great right now. Best only narrowly lost out to Stork in the Ro8 last OSL and this time he is in better shape and has the "Oov efrfect" backing him. Currently, Best is the stronger player and has all the superstition backing him as well; should be a clearcut bet. This put Stork in a bad position as he would be almost certianly out of this OSL.
Group C
I love July, and I love Soul. I love their spirit, belief and unity. I'm going to call against my rule and say JulyZerg is going to defeat Rumble. I feel that the atmosphere at Soul is just perfectly for our humble overlord and this should propel him to victory. That being said - i'm still voting Rumble in my liquibet because of the strength of SKT in this OSL. The safe bet really is Rumble, but July is just too cool to overlook.
Group D
When in doubt, vote SKT - Bisu is going to destroy Much. Bisu dismantled Much in the Ro8 last season and is looking in the best shape of his career. Much on the other hand is quickly becoming outdated and is playing very sloppy games. At this point i have very little faith in Much to do anything other than going 0-3 in his Group. Should be a clear victory for Bisu.
And there you have it! These games should be great, but if you can't watch them its understandable
make sure to tune into that TSL to compensate! That being said, grab from VODs from the small vod thread asap after the games so you make sure you don't miss out on all the OSL happenings. There is a ton of drama this week so you'll probably hear about it soon after in the Brood War forum anyway. But for now, enjoy the week of OSL & TSL!
Plexa
