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Here we go again; the twelve teams of Proleague have completed their short week after WCG. This one was a week full of surprises as some of the most dominant teams out there are starting to show some cracks in their play. One of the oldest teams around also gave us a surprise (well it was to some) as they drop even lower in the rankings. The Emperor is drawing near to his end at ACE as his army service ends next month, things seem to be going from bad to worse for ACE. Beyond that there were quite a few upsets this week, lets take a look.
The Team Standings
Lecaf OZ has dominated the Proleague since the opening of the 08-09 season, only dropping one match up to week six. This week they went 1-1, defeating Air Force ACE 3-0 and losing a close set to STX (3-2). While this is no reason for OZ fans to lose faith it could be a sign of what is to come. Lecaf may have overextended themselves too early in the season and are now paying the price as every team is vying for their head. They still maintain a strong lineup with good ace players to back them up and I don’t see them going anywhere in the next few months.
After their defeat of top spot Lecaf STX jumped two spots and are now right on the OZ clans heels. This team also boasts a rather extensive roster with Kal, July, Calm and Hwasin around to put up when it counts. STX Soul is only one loss behind Lecaf at 7-3 (26-22) which could easily put them in the top spot after Week 7 if they win out and Lecaf drops one match.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/SpiralArchitect/Pl_stats_team.jpg)
Next up is Samsung KHAN a team known for their Proleague prowess, not to mention a finalist in both individual leagues and a winner to boot. Due to the by they have received already they are one game behind the two teams ahead of them. KHAN is at 6-3 (24-18) they maintain a better individual record than any team besides Lecaf. KHAN has one of the deepest lineups in Proleague, if not the deepest, and it really shows in their individual stats. After they beat ACE 3-1 they had to face STX, in the middle of a hot streak of six games KHAN was looking to continue. Soul would have none of it though, 3-2 even with Stork playing twice (he lost both games, noob).
OGN Sparkyz got a nice break this week, only playing one match after WCG. They went up against the KTF Magicns and managed to shut them out in a 3-0 victory. Though Flash made no appearance the other Golden Boy at KTF, Luxury played a game against Spear which he lost. OGN is now 6-4 (25-19) they are close to KHAN at this point and if they can maintain the strength they showed against KTF they could move up in the next few weeks.
Here comes a fact which many people will consider a surprise, personally I saw it coming for a few weeks. The Woongjin Stars have moved up to the fifth place position! Considering that as the Hanbit Stars they finished the season barely above ACE and eSTRO this is huge for them. The Stars have identical stats with OGN (6-4/25-19) they have really picked up the pace since discovering how bad ass Free is and getting GGPlay back in the lineup. They defeated SKT in the series which marked the return of Iloveoov to playing, he was defeated by Zero. GGPlay then went on to defeat S2 to seal the match at 3-1. I wish I could call this an upset but considering SKTs recent performance I expect these kinds of results from SKT.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/SpiralArchitect/KHANLOVE.jpg)
No I did not edit Stork out.
Two positions below Sparkyz is my old favorite team, home to Nal_Ra and Reach. Home to the Storm Zerg, even the mighty NaDa has rested his laurels here. But those days are no more as the KTF Magicns ride their aces like a dead horse and drop games to less skilled players. They are 6-4 (23-19) in sixth place, which would give them a playoff seat if this were the end of the season. Though it could be said they are doing just fine in the early season, they are not living up to their ace duo of Flash/Luxury. If you can’t even make it to an ace match those two don’t really matter that much. Come on KTF show the world you are better than sixth place.
MBC Hero has been giving it their all this season, though they are at seventh right now I expect them to move up sooner or later. They faced off with eSTRO and WeMade this week, losing to the former and going 3-0 against the latter. Their record stands at 5-4 (20-18), due to already receiving their bye they are behind the teams ahead of them, though without that by they could also be farther back. Their loss to eSTRO does nothing to reaffirm my belief that they are better than their spot, but only time will tell where this team is going.
WeMade FOX is the worst team in Proleague. There I said it. They have been performing to the definition of mediocre. With players like Mind NaDa and Rock they should be able to maintain a better record than 4-5 (17-23).
It breaks my heart to say it but CJ Entus is in ninth place right now. Going 3-5 (17-17) doesn’t make any sense when you look at who this team is fielding for their matches. Besides FOX and one other old school team CJ has failed to meet expectations the most this season.
Now we come to the final three spots in the rankings. Populated by two teams one would and should expect to be there, and one team which should never ever be this desolate. Of course the first two I speak of are eSTRO and ACE. The proverbial losers of pro gaming, not much of a surprise there, though ACE has been doing worse than I expected. eSTRO defeated MBC this week; they are 3-7 (21-25) with wins over MBC, SKT and CJ. The third team, at the number eleven spot is SKT Telecom; there are not words to describe my disappointment, so their stats will have to do. 3-7 (19-27). Those stats are absolutely horrible. ACE is still in last place, going 1-9 (9-27) which puts them at -18, ten points behind SKT.
Individual Rankings
The mighty Proleague monster that is Flash (9-3) was knocked off his throne this week, mostly due to the fact that he never got a chance to play. Best (9-3) takes his spot thought his team has not been able to perform as well as he. Best and Bisu are the only SKT1 players in the top twenty five. One of my favorite players as of recent, Free (8-2), comes in at third. For a good reason too, this kid has been leading the charge for the Stars and it has paid off this week as they finally move out of the bottom half.
Full Individual Ranking (Click)
(Courtesy of Pop and TLPD, always current)
Pusan (6-1) and Calm (9-4) come up next in the top ten, the former after the latter, though if Pusan keeps his streak up he will overtake Calm. MBC has fallen a few spots in the last week, but they also had to go up against some rather tough opponents in previous weeks. STX has all their marbles on Calm as he leads them to second place this week, only Kal is near the top 25 for STX and even then he is a few spots away. Jaedong (8-4) and Zero are next in line, the Legend Killer is underperforming all across the board lately and PL is no exception. Zero is the second half of the Stars success he has gone 7-3. Zero and Free are responsible for over half of Woongjins wins this season.
Ace Match Statistics
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/SpiralArchitect/Pl_stats_ace.jpg)
Stork (6-3) and Jangbi (5-1) drop out of the top ten this week, but never fear for FireBatHero (6-3) is here! FBH has started to perform, finally, and now the three of them are just outside of the top ten looking in. KHAN has more players than any other team in the top ten, which really speaks to how deep their bench is. That may be the main reason why no KHAN player is in the top 25, they just have too many good players to give enough games to one of them. On a side note, Oversky (5-2) is responsible for over half of Aces’ wins by himself and is right behind the KHAN trio at number fourteen.
Luxury (6-4) has been trying his hardest to keep KTF afloat, along with Flash, they comprise the main strategy of KTF, but they need some more strong players. Flash and Luxury are the only two players from KTF in the top 25, the closest is Sair who is 3-2 and shows no signs of going anywhere.
Next are the twins from eSTRO, Sangho (4-2) and Upmagic (4-2). The two of them have been trying even harder than the KTF Golden Boys to keep their team from fading away. Through all their efforts they have moved out of the bottom two teams into the bottom three. Though they are ahead of SKT and ACE they really need a player who can seal up a match, the large majority of their games go to an ace and they have trouble ending it well.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/SpiralArchitect/Savior.jpg)
Savior and Co are not faring well this season.
Savior (4-2) and Iris (4-2) are the only two players in the top 25 for CJ. They are in 21st and 22nd place right now. CJ lacks a player in the top 20 and by product they are in the bottom half of the rankings so far this season, only ahead of SKT, eSTRO and ACE. If they aren’t careful they could find themselves behind eSTRO in a couple of weeks.
Roro (6-4) is only player in the top 25 for WeMade (Nada is now at number 26). I really don’t like WeMade this season, especially since Mind, Nada and Rock have all failed to perform up their names. Though Rock is not the best player around he can definitely put up a fight against the big names, and should be able to dispatch filler matches with ease. Mind is clawing his way into the top 50, the TOP 50! Go away WeMade, I hate you.
Terran continues to have troubles keeping a decent amount of players in the top 25 this week. The maps are mostly to blame though, along with the lack of a large group of dominant Terrans. Protoss and Zerg have quite a few members of that group while Terran players have been few and far between as of late. Flash and Leta are on top for the Human race but after them only FBH and Upmagic hold spots inside the top 20. There are more Zerg and Protoss in the top 10 than Terran in the top 20.
A Lesson In Failed Expectations
This entire week has been terrible for some of the most popular and strong teams in Proleague. MBC dropped a match to eSTRO, SKT fell yet another spot after losing to the Stars and CJ Entus continues to perform sub par. SKT1 is by far the team which is under performing the most, with Best, Bisu, Fantasy, Oov and a long list of non-ace players they should be doing better. Hopefully they will pick up a good Zerg soon, which is very possible due to the new free agents on the market this month.
That’s it for Week Sixes Stats Report. I hope you enjoyed it more than I; writing about how bad my favorite teams are doing isn’t too much fun. Stay tuned for the upcoming weeks matches and the report for them. Until then, take it easy TL.
