EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/pachi/banner/SPL_080930.png)
Welcome to the Week Three Stats Report for the Shinhan Bank 2008-09 Proleague!
I know there's a lot of games, but have no fear, TeamLiquid is here to help. Now that the OSL and MSL are entering their final stages, we will be bringing you the most comprehensive English coverage of Proleague every week.
Thousands of fans. Hundreds of players. Twelve teams. Six months. One winner.
This. Is. PROLEAGUE.
The Predictable
Despite the long break between Proleague seasons, there are a few constants that we can always count on. This season is no exception, as ACE and eStro lie on the bottom of the rankings, no surprise there. This season ACE is doing even worse, with Boxer and Oversky being their only breadwinners. Ace is 0-4 and the only remaining winless team. They've also only reached Ace match once. eSTRO's record is deceiving. They are currently 1-4, but each of their matches went to ace (thus making their ace record 1-4 as well). eSTRO has at least shown some potential by pushing good teams to the limit.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Sp1ralArch1tect/KTF_Group.jpg)
At the top of the rankings, Lecaf, KTF, OGN, STX, and of course Samsung make up the Top 5. This was to be expected, as these five teams are most likely going to make up the majority of the playoffs this year along with SKT or CJ. The performance of CJ Entus thus far has been decent considering their player crisis in the past few seasons. They are far from being a bad team but they will have to prove they can keep up in the long haul. With no ace matches in the first three weeks (though they've had one very recently), they are either winning fast or losing fast. CJ will have to be more consistent if they want to be a contender
The Not So Predictable
While a lot of factors remain the same this year, a shocking change has come about for SK Telecom 1. This was supposed to be their season at the top. They started the season off fine but then quickly deteriorated by losing to eSTRO. While they are now 2-4, I expect that to change, especially since they defeated KHAN this past week. Their lineup has so much raw strength that they simply cannot continue to be so bad. Their schedule has been tough so far, and losing to eSTRO was definitely not a morale booster. Their coach needs to learn how to pick ace match players better. Sending out Hyuk and Canata led to two losses. With the right decisions (Best, Bisu), SKT1 could be 4-2.
Also unexpected was the defeat of MBC Hero by the mediocre Woongjin Stars. The Stars recently got a new sponsor, which may have changed their name but hardly changed their skill level. The match was very interesting as it started out 2-0 for Hero before Stars turned the game around, going 3-0 behind two wins by free.
Team Standings
Lecaf is still undefeated and keeps the #1 spot. However, they went 3-2 against most of their opponents, so the skill gap is not that big. Lecaf has been a little lucky and definitely clutch in the ace. Their schedule has definitely not been an easy one, but they did earn a by this week and only faced eSTRO. Below Oz is STX Soul, now 3-1 with an 11-8 record. They are teetering on the edge of the top five, as the next few teams all have very close records. OGN, KTF and KHAN are nipping at their heels.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Hot_Bid/4Proleague/W3_team.png)
KTF is already looking to be better this season because of Luxury. They are 4-2 right now with a individual match record of 15-12. What happened to the KTF Protoss tradition that follows in the footsteps of Reach and Ra? KTF P's are a combined 0-6. Flash and Lux are keeping them in the running for the playoffs.
KHAN sits at the number five position this week and are really feeling the loss of 2v2 in the Proleague format. They are 3-2 overall and 13-11 individually. These stats are ugly for a former champion, but as long as their two Protoss aces Stork and Jangbi are consistent (combined 8-1), Samsung can take on anyone.
OGN Sparkyz is also surprisingly in the top five. They are definitely the dark horse this season, going 4-2 and 16-11 while maintaining a very good record against the rest of the top 5. Nobody expected them to do this, but Leta and type-b have really stepped up now that Luxury is gone.If they continue to play this way, they will be #2 in no time.
MBC, CJ, WeMade and T1 are floating in the middle right now. Of those four CJ is the most likely to make something out of themselves this season. CJ is 2-2 right now with mediocre individual stats (8-6). They have gone 3-0 against both Woongjin and ACE while losing to STX and KTF. Iris recently lost and Much is slumping, but CJ boasts the strongest Zerg lineup, one that single handedly beat SKT1 (two wins by EffOrt and a win by Savior).
The other team with potential is #9 SKT. Oov and his boys got off to a rough start in week one and two, and this slump continued into week three. They lost to STX Soul and went 3-2 against bottom rung ACE. They should be able to bounce back, but only if their Zerg line (a combined 0-9) stops giving the other team a freewin and their coach starts picking BeSt or Bisu for ace.
WeMade has become one of the most dull team in Proleague, going 2-3 and 9-11. They have only been to one ace match this season (they lost). They will continue to beat the bad teams and lose to the good ones. MBC is in a similar position though they have the potential to breakout in the next few weeks, but only if their star Terrans Sea and Ruby play better (2-4 so far).
eSTRO, Ace and the Woongjing Stars populate the bottom of the ranking. While eSTRO and the Stars have shown some promise this season Ace has not. They are completely defeated this season and they are 4-12 individually. There is no silver lining to this cloud, ACE is a terrible team this year and it doesn't help that one of their strengths was 2v2. eSTRO and Woongjin have both been putting up a fight even if they have losing records. eSTRO is 1-4 with only a three game difference in individual stats (11-14), while the Stars are 2-4 and 10-16. Both teams have taken a match which they shouldn’t have this season, eSTRO against SKT and Woongjin against MBC. When they faced each other in week two, Stars used free to win two games in a row again, bringing them back from an 0-2 deficit.
Individual Stats
Surprisingly, the STX Soul Zerg Calm earned the top spot this week with a 5-0 record. Calm has never been a dominant player, but with Proleague as his only focus, he can shine. The Zerg-favored Raid Assault II also helps, but look for him to drop if he plays on other maps (he recently lost to Free on Neo Requiem). His performance this week has been phenomenal for STX. He defeated Chalrenge in the OGN match and then went on to beat Leta in the ace. A real stunner especially since July and Hwasin both lost to put STX at a 0-2 disadvantage.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Hot_Bid/4Proleague/W3_top25.png)
The rest of the rankings look much more like they should compared to last week with the exception of a resurgent Pusan. Flash, Stork and Jaedong are moving up and down amongst the top ten as they should, and Best rounds out the group of regulars. Flash is now 6-3, he has played more matches than any player in the top 25. His record against Protoss and Terran is 3-1, he has lost one game to a certain Legend Killer. Stork comes in at 5-1 his single loss was against type-b, a Zerg from OGN who did a lurker-ling cannon break on Andromeda. Stork and Flash are both often used as the ace when needed, Flash is 2-1 and Stork is 1-1 (his only loss was an ace loss). Also amongst the top ten is OSL finalist Fantasy who is now 4-1, 3-1 against Protoss and 1-0 against Zerg. The top ten will continue to be dominated by high-volume players like Stork and Flash.
Looking to break into the top ten are players like Bisu, Hwasin and forGG. Both Bisu and forGG are 2-0 right now which means they could easily move up next week if they manage to avoid losses. Hwasin is among the top ten in skill, but his record of 3-1 puts him just outside at number 14. Most notable of all the stats is our favorite Maestro, Savior, is back! Ma Jae Yoon returned to Korea with confidence after Blizzcon and is now 3-0, hopefully he can keep it up against stronger opponents in the coming weeks.
The rest of the top 25 consists of lesser known players who are the backbones of their teams. Players like type-b, Sea.Really and by.great are critical to their teams' success, especially if the team's ace has an off day. Sangho and Sea.Really are both 3-1 and in the Top 24. These two are the reason eSTRO pushes teams to ace.
Coming Up
That does it for this weeks edition of the stats report, I hope you enjoyed it as well as found it educating. The big dogs of last season are coming back from the bumpy starting weeks while some of the weaker teams show some promise. The next week is going to be huge for SKT and OGN. Can SKT turn things around, and can OGN keep it up? CJ and Hero are also looking to break from mediocrity and bust into the top six.
Thanks for reading and see you next week!
Credits
Grinq for maintaining the R&S thread.
Hot_Bid for helping all around.
Pachi for the banner.
Fomos for the picture
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