Shinhan Proleague 2008/2009 Coverage by Riptide and Heyoka
This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper.
- T.S Eliot, The Hollow Men
After one year of grueling all-week gaming, and hours, weeks, days and months of preparation, planning and execution, the Shinhan Proleague 2008-2009 is finally drawing to a close. Twelve teams in all, six falling by the side and six moving on to glory or defeat. SK Telecom T1, a team that developed steadily throughout the season to perform brilliantly in Rounds 4 and 5, move on to finally oust Hwaseung OZ from #1, a spot that would have secured them a Grand Finals seed. If anything, this must be disappointing for Lee Jaedong, a man we called the harbinger of death in last week's update. The workhorse of the team, Jaedong kept up a steady performance for Oz while performing in both individual leagues and GOM. Despite tying with the Flash for #1 in the individual rankings, however, the Zerg destroyer was unable to lead OZ to a Grand Finals seed, a fact that will surely come into play as he balances his OSL/MSL/GOM related practice with the preparation his team has to put in to get through the Semi-finals and come face to face with SKT T1. As they wait for #3 through #6 to fight it out and approach them however, Oz cant help but feel nervous. Sending Jaedong as a veritable bulldozer in front of them, they managed to edge out STX and secure a Semi-final seed. In a bo7 setting however, OZ's chances are only going to decrease further, and while Lomo, Hiya and Backho did manage to provide some support to our Zerg hero in the round robins, the team is going to definitely have problems finding the extra players that they will now need.
Despite securing a Grand Final seed, SKT's title bid now centers around three young titans and their ability to mould a fighting unit around themselves.
Kim Taek Yong, another contender for top gun that we looked at last week, falls just a game behind his OZ and KT counterparts to finish with 53 wins and a measly 14 losses when compared to Flash's 19 and Jaedong's 21. While certainly entitled to feeling robbed, and no doubt a little peeved at Boxer and Mong for not allowing him that last game vs Violet, Bisu has other things on his mind. With the playoffs being played out in a bo7 format, the Protoss undoubtedly knows that his team needs to focus on winning four games, and having a wildcard or two to boot. As far as Bisu/Fantasy/Best go, SKT does have as solid answer for the opening sets. It is after this, however, that the team's lineup begins to look poor. While Canata is certainly a viable fourth player, could Boxer come out of hibernation for the Grand Final as well? Although clearly not at the top of his game, it's certainly possible that The Emperor will snipe a big name with a well prepared and perfectly executed build. This, of course, leaves the SKT Zerg department, a branch of the team that is notorious for doing badly. Will Thezerg and s2 leave failville and manage to pull through for a team that well and truly deserves a win this time around? Only time will tell.
STX, STX, STX, the darkhorse of the round, and indeed, perhaps the entire season. For a team that was even unsure of a playoff spot at the beginning of Round 5, the Kal/Hwasin/July/By.hero/Shuttle/Calm ensemble has done remarkably well. Though featuring no titans or currently peaking stars like Bisu or Jaedong, STX was, and is a force to be contended with, particularly as they go into a playoff stage that favours a deep lineup as opposed to one that revolves around one or two great performers. In their first playoff game, they will face Samsung KHAN, the defending champions, and ordinarily, this would worry an outfit.
STX, who went from zero to hero this round, look poised to take their playoff opener with ease.
Those who have followed this season will note, however, that the KHAN that makes these playoffs is not the same team that won the 2008 Shinhan Bank Proleague. Although sporting big name players like Stork, Jangbi, Firebathero and great, KHAN has performed abysmally this season when compared with their run last time around, and barely managed to hold on to a #6 spot by edging out KT, who fell behind by a single game, and two penalty points generously donated by KeSPA. They will face a solid STX, and most likely get destroyed in style. I'm sorry KHAN fans, but there isn't a lot going for your team at the moment.
Leta, type-b, go.go and Yarnc are the backbone of Hite, even if the latter hasn't been pulling his weight lately. Of course, a bo7 will also most likely see them down, although their first playoff encounter with CJ will perhaps have them at a slight advantage, especially seeing their recent performance. Though Effort/Kwanro/Skyhigh/Iris/Savior are all really big names, like KHAN, they have not been living up to their reputations. Effort, despite an early OSL exit, is their saving grace, but as we've mentioned time and time again in this piece, a bo7 does not favour a team that relies on a single powerhorse. While it is very well possible that an erratic Skyhigh and Kwanro could pull themselves together in time for the playoffs, one has to realise that they will probably have a hard time against Hite who are playing type-b and go.go, both of who advanced to the OSL Ro8 last week.
Final Rankings
Teams 1st SK Telecom T1 35W 20L +/- +36 (Overall Set Score 145W 109L) 2nd Hwaseung OZ 35W 20L +/- +31 (Overall Set Score 134W 103L) 3rd STX SouL 33W 22L +/- +34 (Overall Set Score 143W 109L) 4th Hite SPARKYZ 33W 22L +/- +22 (Overall Set Score 141W 119L) 5th CJ Entus 31W 24L +/- +22 (Overall Set Score 130W 108L) 6th Samsung KHAN 30W 25L +/- +3 (Overall Set Score 129W 126L) 7th KT MagicNs 29W 26L +/- +1 (Overall Set Score 126W 123L, Penalty 2 Points) 8th Woongjin Stars 27W 28L +/- -9 (Overall Set Score 117W 126L) 9th MBCGame HERO 26W 29W +/- -12 (Overall Set Score 118W 130L) 10th eSTRO 21W 34L +/- -17 (Overall Set Score 120W 137L) 11th WeMade FOX 21W 34L +/- -36 (Overall Set Score 105W 140L, Penalty 1 Point) 12th Air Force ACE 9W 46L +/- -79 (Overall Set Score 80W 158L, Penalty 1 Point) Deduction in points are due to KeSPA imposed penalties
So on Saturday the 18th of July, we enter what will be the last round of games for this season of proleague. Hite vs CJ, STX vs KHAN, the winners of which who will face each other, and then Oz. Our predictions for the STX vs KHAN encounter are pretty clear - July's boys are going to make short work of a flailing KHAN. Hite vs CJ of course is less easy to call, but despite CJ's 'deeper by name' lineup, we have to give Leta's merry men at least a slight edge given their recent performance.
If you've missed a lot of PL this season, and were wondering when to begin watching, well, now is certainly the time. These next few weeks are going to bring viewers the very best that professional Starcraft has to offer, and missing any of these great games would certainly be a disservice you do to yourself.
Something to note is that some maps from earlier rounds will be used in the playoffs, making the games a little less monotonous, and the preparation a little more difficult. One things for sure though - practice rooms are going to be bustling this week as plays are created, builds are rehearsed, and champions are forged. Who will fall? Who will prevail? The answers await, at the end of the line.
Erm, Canata is way better than BeSt, and Hwaseung is worse off in a Bo7 but it's still plausible because not all teams are like CJ or STX and most only have one more good player and/or one more mediocre player than Oz. JD and Flash has similar stats but the gap is huge so it's not like they're an auto-loss.
SKT got this with their insane lineup of best/bisu/fantasy/boxer/thezerg/oov/mong. maybe a stx vs SKT finals because i dont really believe in hwaseung Oz (remember finals of CJ entus Vs Oz)
I agree that STX and CJ have some terrifying depth. KHAN would look nice, if they hadn't been sucking ass for the last 3 rounds. And, while I think SKT is great in bo5, I'm not sure they've got what it takes in bo7...
Canata has been tearing it up in TvZ and TvT, and Best is still good for PvT an PvP, so SKT isn't in any big trouble for the finals. If Thezerg gets to play ZvT, he should be able to do pretty good there since that's what I'd consider his best matchup. I expect Mong to fill the sixth slot for T1. Mong showed us his neverending vulture harass, so if he lands in a TvP matchup that should also be good for SKT's chances.
SKT will be very scary to face in the finals if they snipe all the matchups correctly
All of the sudden CJ is the team with no depth relying on one Ace player? I know they've had their struggles, but to say EffOrt is their one saving grace is a little much, no?
SKT should be fine depth-wise. Bisu/Best/Fantasy/Canata/Boxer (last couple games he's played actually looked decent, he certainly has the potential to take a game depending on his opponent) + token zerg is a pretty solid lineup, followed by Bisu/Fantasy in the ace match as appropriate for map and opponent. Maybe CJ or STX is a little deeper, but depth starts having diminishing returns past 4 in a Bo7. They have enough.
Hwaesung could definitely have issues, but ruling them out is silly. Their formula basically changes from Jaedong + (1 of Hiya/Lomo/Backho) + Jaedong to Jaedong + (2 of Hiya/Lomo/Backho/scrub/scrub) + Jaedong. Considering how well the former worked for the regular season as well as the fact that they actually did 3-0 pretty often, their playoff formula isn't that much of a stretch. A lot of Hwaesung's match will come down to the coaching actually IMO - if they can match their scrubs against the other teams aces, their odds increase dramatically.
CJ players aside from Effort have been slipping, perhaps due to individual leagues or whatnot. But, I expect Skyhigh, Movie, and perhaps Iris to start performing better even if they won't play at their peak level. However, it's entirely possible that they won't in which case CJ will have a hard time to clinch a Bo7. Hite will be a good match for them since their best performing players have to prepare for the OSL and the rest of the team has been unremarkable at the end of the season. STX should cruise through their opening game, all their players are performing up to par aside from July, which is understandable. Khan got the worst draw possible against the team full of ZvP specialists.
I hate all these labels that each team has.
For SKT, it's how BeSt completes the trio. He doesn't. Canata has been out performing him in every aspect. Individual leagues, results, fashion.
CJ's lineup cannot compare to STX's right now. They've gotten too complacent. Their "depth" isn't all too daunting.
Oz's is mostly correct, aside from Backho playing somewhat better than he did before his injury, though this is offset by HiyA playing beyond terrible.
Hite's is correct as well, though type-b or Hogil are a tad underrated.
Khan is slightly underrated at the moment. I don't give them a chance against STX, but FBH still has his strategic genius in TvT and he should be at least mediocre in TvZ. Stork is doing okay; he always has a chance to take anyone in a straight up game unless it's against a good ZvPer. Jangbi is a big question mark for me, but with no other obligations, he should have the honor to practice his heart out for his match.
"while Lomo, Hiya and Backho did manage to provide some support to our Zerg hero in the round robins, the team is going to definitely have problems finding the three extra players that they will now need."
Lomo + Hiya + Backho + Jaedong = 4 players, there are up to six sets plus the ace match in a Bo7, you need 6 players total (assuming a repeat performance from Jaedong)- Oz needs two more, not three.
"As far as Bisu/Fantasy/Best go, SKT does have as solid answer for the opening sets. It is after this, however, that the team's lineup begins to look poor."
Mentioning Boxer, TheZerg and s2 later on without mentioning Canata looks like an oversight. He's been playing at least as well as BeSt lately, and is a solid fourth choice- that plus a mandatory Zerg player, and T1 has only one more spot to fill.
Post Season brackets picture: STX Soul should be #3 Hite SPARKYZ should be #4 CJ Entus should be #5
I think you guys are underestimating OZ a bit. Obviously they rely on Jaedong, but in a bo7 they only have to win 4 games, and two of those (1 normal, 1 ace) JD can (and most likely will) take.
In that case, OZ really only has to win 2 games out of 5, which they are probably capable of sniping.
Schedule STX SouL vs Samsung KHAN Game 1 on OnGameNet (7/18) Set 1: Heartbreak Ridge Set 2: Neo Medusa Set 3: Shades of Twilight Set 4: Neo Harmony Set 5: Outsider Set 6: Destination Closer: Andromeda
Game 2 on MBCgame (7/19) Set 1: Outsider Set 2: Neo Harmony Set 3: Destination Set 4: Andromeda Set 5: Neo Medusa Set 6: Heartbreak Ridge Closer: Shades of Twilight Ace Match: Colosseum 2
Anyone know what's up with this two-day schedule? Looks like two Bo7 matches like that, same for Hite vs. CJ.
Made some edits, and most importantly added Canata to my analysis of SKT. That was an oversight on my part, and I apologise. Thanks for all the feedback!
Edit: Rectified the two/three extra players conundrum by simply going with 'extra players'.
On July 14 2009 13:56 TwoStep wrote: CJ players aside from Effort have been slipping, perhaps due to individual leagues or whatnot. But, I expect Skyhigh, Movie, and perhaps Iris to start performing better even if they won't play at their peak level. However, it's entirely possible that they won't in which case CJ will have a hard time to clinch a Bo7. Hite will be a good match for them since their best performing players have to prepare for the OSL and the rest of the team has been unremarkable at the end of the season. STX should cruise through their opening game, all their players are performing up to par aside from July, which is understandable. Khan got the worst draw possible against the team full of ZvP specialists.
I hate all these labels that each team has.
For SKT, it's how BeSt completes the trio. He doesn't. Canata has been out performing him in every aspect. Individual leagues, results, fashion.
CJ's lineup cannot compare to STX's right now. They've gotten too complacent. Their "depth" isn't all too daunting.
Oz's is mostly correct, aside from Backho playing somewhat better than he did before his injury, though this is offset by HiyA playing beyond terrible.
Hite's is correct as well, though type-b or Hogil are a tad underrated.
Khan is slightly underrated at the moment. I don't give them a chance against STX, but FBH still has his strategic genius in TvT and he should be at least mediocre in TvZ. Stork is doing okay; he always has a chance to take anyone in a straight up game unless it's against a good ZvPer. Jangbi is a big question mark for me, but with no other obligations, he should have the honor to practice his heart out for his match.
On what you said about STX I think theres a good chance july's play will be back in shape in time. Especially given his GOM performance. He admitted in interview he had a personal issue to deal with and hadnt been practicing. Its not that he decayed as a player its that he simply wasnt practicing. He said he is back to full steam practice wise and before that he was on like a 10 or so winning streak in proleague (forget exact #).
For OZ to win, they have to win at least 3 games in the first 6, which will be difficult. So far, it looks to me that Jaedong has about a 70-80% chance of taking a game, but Lomo, Backho, Hiya are about 50%, and the rest of OZ are even worse.
I also have a question. In PL bo5, every race has to be featured once. Now it's bo7, so is it the case that every race has to be featured twice? If so SKT is screwed over.
On July 14 2009 13:24 geegee1 wrote: SKT got this with their insane lineup of best/bisu/fantasy/boxer/thezerg/oov/mong. maybe a stx vs SKT finals because i dont really believe in hwaseung Oz (remember finals of CJ entus Vs Oz)
lol oov, mong, thezerg.
sparkyz went to the finals and were crushed. redemption time for them.
On July 14 2009 13:42 Macavenger wrote: SKT should be fine depth-wise. Bisu/Best/Fantasy/Canata/Boxer (last couple games he's played actually looked decent, he certainly has the potential to take a game depending on his opponent) + token zerg is a pretty solid lineup, followed by Bisu/Fantasy in the ace match as appropriate for map and opponent. Maybe CJ or STX is a little deeper, but depth starts having diminishing returns past 4 in a Bo7. They have enough.
Huh? Shouldn't depth... increase it's returns... deeper... into the line-up...? ... ... ...
I'm perplexed as to why the Playoffs are formatted so radically differently than normal game play. This never happens anywhere else; it's not like in the Stanley Cup they start playing four periods, so why the major major change?
This format favors STX, and CJ, especially depending on the match-ups. I see four CJ players who I would consider solid or excellent players,
Lets go khan, prove everyone wrong and win this shit! most likely stork, fbh, jangbi, great, and juni/chavi/yoon/miracle/frozean will fill in the last 2 spots.
STX worries me a lot. They have a great line up thats doing well, better than cj's in my opinion. Calm, hero, kal, hwasin r scary. Shuttle is doing well. And july could play.
And oz winning a title is like no. Hiya, backho, lomo will have to be in tip top shape for oz to win this, same goes for jaedong.
Lets c for cj, while still great, they're slipping. While having a great line up, none of them are doing like they should. Effort isn't as monstrous he was before. Same goes for skyhigh. Much, iris, savior are still out of it. Kwanro and movie are still inconsistent as hell.
SKT has a good chance of winning this, best performing much better, bisu, fantasy. Thezerg is a decent z. Boxer is still better than some of the other players.
Hite relys on leta too much. It'll be hard for them to win this.
bisu 79%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! holy shet...yet it seems like far more ppl laud JD for his 81% ZvZ as opposed to bisu's 79% PvAll (as far as the PL is concerned) =(
On July 14 2009 12:55 riptide wrote: Kim Taek Yong, another contender for top gun that we looked at last week, falls just a game behind his OZ and KT counterparts to finish with 53 wins and a measly 14 losses when compared to Flash's 19 and Jaedong's 21. While certainly entitled to feeling robbed, and no doubt a little peeved at Boxer and Mong for not allowing him that last game vs Violet, Bisu has other things on his mind.
T_T I'm so pissed at this. But after hearing BoxeR's apology in the post-match interview (yeah, Boxer can get an interview even if he lost the game), I find some relief.
On July 14 2009 13:42 Macavenger wrote: SKT should be fine depth-wise. Bisu/Best/Fantasy/Canata/Boxer (last couple games he's played actually looked decent, he certainly has the potential to take a game depending on his opponent) + token zerg is a pretty solid lineup, followed by Bisu/Fantasy in the ace match as appropriate for map and opponent. Maybe CJ or STX is a little deeper, but depth starts having diminishing returns past 4 in a Bo7. They have enough.
Huh? Shouldn't depth... increase it's returns... deeper... into the line-up...? ... ... ...
I'd say there are diminishing returns to having more and more good players on your lineup. Of course, this doesn't mean it's not a good idea to have lots of good players- just that, assuming equal skill level, each additional good player adds less to your lineup than the last after a certain point.
For a Bo7, you need 4 wins as a team- for a team with all its eggs in one basket like Oz, if JD can pick up 2 wins, then you only need two more wins between the other 5 players. Having a second and third great players who can win is very helpful; having a fourth adds more room for error; adding a fifth and sixth can start looking a little overkill (imagine a JD - Bisu - Flash - Leta - Effort - Fantasy lineup)- the goal is not to win 7-0 or 6-1, but rather, to win 4 games. If you're going to win 4-0 with an all-star lineup, then your fifth and sixth players won't even get to play, and are thus less crucial than the first four players. Heck, you could even make do with 3 players who win all their games (one of them making a repeat performance in the ace).
That said, yeah, depth is still a good thing to have in a Bo7- despite those diminishing returns. Realistically, there isn't any team that can expect to win 4-0 in the playoffs, and being able to contest each and every game will be a big help.
Schedule STX SouL vs Samsung KHAN Game 1 on OnGameNet (7/18) Set 1: Heartbreak Ridge Set 2: Neo Medusa Set 3: Shades of Twilight Set 4: Neo Harmony Set 5: Outsider Set 6: Destination Closer: Andromeda
Game 2 on MBCgame (7/19) Set 1: Outsider Set 2: Neo Harmony Set 3: Destination Set 4: Andromeda Set 5: Neo Medusa Set 6: Heartbreak Ridge Closer: Shades of Twilight Ace Match: Colosseum 2
Anyone know what's up with this two-day schedule? Looks like two Bo7 matches like that, same for Hite vs. CJ.
Im also curious about this. Is this really a bo15, but the players just cant be repeated until the next day. And can some1 potentially play a regular set, closer, and ace match on day???
Schedule STX SouL vs Samsung KHAN Game 1 on OnGameNet (7/18) Set 1: Heartbreak Ridge Set 2: Neo Medusa Set 3: Shades of Twilight Set 4: Neo Harmony Set 5: Outsider Set 6: Destination Closer: Andromeda
Game 2 on MBCgame (7/19) Set 1: Outsider Set 2: Neo Harmony Set 3: Destination Set 4: Andromeda Set 5: Neo Medusa Set 6: Heartbreak Ridge Closer: Shades of Twilight Ace Match: Colosseum 2
Anyone know what's up with this two-day schedule? Looks like two Bo7 matches like that, same for Hite vs. CJ.
Im also curious about this. Is this really a bo15, but the players just cant be repeated until the next day. And can some1 potentially play a regular set, closer, and ace match on day???
On July 14 2009 13:42 p4NDemik wrote: All of the sudden CJ is the team with no depth relying on one Ace player? I know they've had their struggles, but to say EffOrt is their one saving grace is a little much, no?
You're right it's crazy to say that. CJ has an incredibly strong lineup, particularly at the moment.
On July 14 2009 14:45 tree.hugger wrote: This format favors STX, and CJ, especially depending on the match-ups. I see four CJ players who I would consider solid or excellent players,
This was Samsung's plan all along. They we're bored winning finals after finishing first place and they wanted to give a handicap to other teams by finishing in 6th place for the season. That way they will look all the better when they win the proleague title again in 2009. + Show Spoiler +
I'm so confident that SKT1 will win easy, so confident that I'm willing to bet my life. Bisu > anyone, except maybe >= Jaedong Best > T/P player, his T has improved A LOT, and he's not slumping like he did at the End of Last year. He sure is doing well to deserve his name. fantasy > P player, come on, it's fantasy, he 3-0 Bisu. What do you expect when he faces a P player? To lose? Yah right. Canata > T player, Canata, has been doing very well as well lately. you just can't expect him to lose. Thezerg > Cheesing player, remember when he faced XellOs? Yah, he defended and played so well, if his opponent cheeses, he already wins. Hyuk > P player, Hyuk's ZvP is good, and there aren't any good protosses ready enough to face him. BoxeR > everyone. It's BoxeR DUH! He's got the name "The Emperor" for a reason.
I think STX and CJ gonna win the first rounds. But either of them will loose against Oz, which in turn will be smashed by SKT... So in the end it seems to be of no use anyhow... But I hope for nice games. Thanks for the interesting article.
IMO the final standings speaks strongly on how much influence depth ( which most people define as the number of historically competent players) contributes for a team to perform well in the league.
SKT and OZ got where they are not just because of star players but because the rest of the team managed to pull through enough wins for them to edge out over other "deep" teams.
The biggest factor for me would be how well each team snipes players which given starcraft's nature would give less stellar players (Hyuk, Frozean, etc.) a chance to take down big names. Something they normally woudn't accomplish in a BOX.
On July 14 2009 19:05 ReCharge wrote: I'm so confident that SKT1 will win easy, so confident that I'm willing to bet my life. Bisu > anyone, except maybe >= Jaedong Best > T/P player, his T has improved A LOT, and he's not slumping like he did at the End of Last year. He sure is doing well to deserve his name. fantasy > P player, come on, it's fantasy, he 3-0 Bisu. What do you expect when he faces a P player? To lose? Yah right. Canata > T player, Canata, has been doing very well as well lately. you just can't expect him to lose. Thezerg > Cheesing player, remember when he faced XellOs? Yah, he defended and played so well, if his opponent cheeses, he already wins. Hyuk > P player, Hyuk's ZvP is good, and there aren't any good protosses ready enough to face him. BoxeR > everyone. It's BoxeR DUH! He's got the name "The Emperor" for a reason.
That's assuming some of the players get their best matchup. Sure, fantasy has beastly vP, but his vZ, for example, isn't that brilliant. Plus, none of them is really unbeatable. What if Bisu finds himself facing by.hero?
On July 14 2009 19:05 ReCharge wrote: I'm so confident that SKT1 will win easy, so confident that I'm willing to bet my life. Bisu > anyone, except maybe >= Jaedong Best > T/P player, his T has improved A LOT, and he's not slumping like he did at the End of Last year. He sure is doing well to deserve his name. fantasy > P player, come on, it's fantasy, he 3-0 Bisu. What do you expect when he faces a P player? To lose? Yah right. Canata > T player, Canata, has been doing very well as well lately. you just can't expect him to lose. Thezerg > Cheesing player, remember when he faced XellOs? Yah, he defended and played so well, if his opponent cheeses, he already wins. Hyuk > P player, Hyuk's ZvP is good, and there aren't any good protosses ready enough to face him. BoxeR > everyone. It's BoxeR DUH! He's got the name "The Emperor" for a reason.
Found this a bit scary as an Oz fan, i always knew the other players were bad but didn't realize they were horrid,except BackHo. I'd really love to see Killer / some other new guy play well so they could give Hiya the boot.
Can't see a way for Oz to win if it's CJ or STX whom they face, however somehow they always seem to beat hite, which very well could beat atleast CJ..
I feel like this format definitely helps Jaedong not hurts him. If his team can win two matches on the same day he can win 3 and send them to the final.
I really don't get CJ's double thumbs down on god's garden.
Both Much sAviOr and EffOrt are known/have shown fantastic macro skills especially in this 3 starting gas map, and since defense against airplay is something every progamer takes into account when entering this map it could have been a great spot to counter either Leta's 2port wraiths or dropship play or to secure an easy win.
CJ's got this, Much and Savior are really good with Gods Garden, i dont know if thats enough to win this but with 3 gas easy access it would make their macro easier.