EPTSK Planet Proleague Season 2 - Opening Day
English Cast by Pokebunny and Sayle
Hello, and welcome to the SC2 fan's version of an introduction to Proleague.
If you weren't aware, the SK Planet Proleague Season 2 begins on Sunday, May 20 3:00am GMT (GMT+00:00). This season will feature both StarCraft: Brood War and StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty, running from May til September. Proleague features the eight teams officially recognized under KeSPA, or the Korean e-Sports Players Association. These teams include, in order of last season's standings...
The Teams
*If anyone wants to contribute with a writeup of their favorite team and 5-6 key players, please do so! See IntoTheWow's CJ writeup for a great example.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/teams/1.jpg)
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SK Telecom T1+ Show Spoiler [Key Players] +
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/teams/2.jpg)
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KT Rolster - Summary/Preview by PangpootataA legendary team with a storied history, KT Rolster is one of the most interesting teams to follow in the proleague. Gone are the days of purchasing starleague champions to churn out proleague victories; KT Rolster now boasts an incredible lineup of homegrown talents such as Flash, Stats, and Hoejja. With a diverse team that boasts both breadth and depth, KT Rolster is guaranteed to produce exciting games. Be sure to look out for KT Rolster this season!
+ Show Spoiler [Key Players] +
FlashThe Ultimate Weapon himself. The best player in the history of Broodwar. Flash is the unstoppable force that will rip through the lineups of all the other teams, leaving progamer tears in his wake. With an overall winrate in excess of 70% and 6 starleague titles under his belt, Flash is a consistent and reliable player that his team can count on in times of need.
StatsStats is an all-rounded solid player with no weak match-ups. Although he has no individual league achievements to boast of, it is undeniable that he can challenge and beat S class players. In addition, he has the ability to perform well under stress, and can play ace matches in lieu of Flash (as can be seen from his whipping of Stork in last season's playoffs), relieving Flash of much burden.
HoeJJaHoejja is a creative player capable of unleashing unique strategies against his hapless opponents. While his regular season results were dismal, his 6-0 score during the playoffs (against the likes of Hydra, EffOrt, Leta, Best) is testament to his ability to deliver when it counts. Taking on the new appointment of Captain of KT Rolster, he will attempt to emulate the manly exploits of Reach and lead his team to glory. Also, he plays protoss in SCII.
ActionAction used to be an inconsistent player with a shaky early-mid game, albeit possessing strong late game play. However, the playoffs of the previous season, in which he went 5-1, saw him develop into a better player with more stable play. Look forward to his mafialings beating up his unfortunate opponents!
Crazy-HydraTowards the end of last season, Crazy-Hydra did not have as much playtime as the other zergs. However, his overall stats for last season stands at an impressive 10-4. With Crazy-Hydra to augment the already beyond-impressive Action-Hoejja duo, KT Rolster has the indubitable best Zerg lineup in the world (3-0 in last season's finals).
MindA past Starleague champion, Mind has fallen victim to the "KT buys Starleague champion ---> Said Starleague Champion slumps horribly" curse. Yet, he undoubtedly brings much value to the KT lineup through his rich experience.
BarrackSBarrackS is getting better and better. Despite being the fastest progamer on the KT lineup (10 marines from 10 raxes in 1 second), his past results have been far from impressive. Yet, BarrackS has shown increasing maturity in his performances last season (50% winrate, although only getting 4 games), i.e. he no longer has the tendency to inexplicably fall apart when both players are even. With the new purchase Mind faltering, BarrackS is likely to get more playtime as Flash's terran backup.
WookiWooki was a rookie who received much hype, even from Flash himself. Yet, having to contend with adjusting to a new team environment and living up to the expectations set for him, he disappointed. While his performances were at times woefully inadequate, flashes of brilliance and underlying talent could be detected. Perhaps with more experience, he can stop dying to stupid things like Bisu's cannon rush or Hydra's 9-pool.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/teams/10.jpg)
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Samsung KHAN - Summary/Preview by FusileroThe 2008 proleague champions and third place finishers last season samsung khan is a team to be feared, with an incredible one-two punch of stork and jangbi leading the way backed up wemade's "Fuck your anti team" duo of shine and roro and a nice supporting cast from the likes of grape, turn and reality they are a team who can beat anyone and have shown to be worthy of a proleague championship making them a team to always keep an eye on.
+ Show Spoiler [Key Players] +
StorkThe most well known silver miner since yellow and incruit OSL champion he's been widely regarded at the number 2 protoss behind Bisu since the protoss revolution, his most well known matchup is PvT where he is often regarded alongside team mate jangbi to be the best PvT player in the land his other MU's are just as good with great PvP and PvZ which makes him a versatile player who is almost always samsung khan's ace alongside fellow protoss dragon jangbi
JangBiThe reigning OSL champion and fellow silver miner to stork his best match up is also PvT where he made his name from his strong usage of psi storm (For a SC2 comparison think parting, always nailing the storms which zone out the terran and maximise damage he can win battles in an absurd fashion using flawless storm placements) like stork he's strong in the other match ups and shares the role as team ace.
ShineOne of the most infamous zergs in BW, primarily notorious for his tendency to suddenly go all in and beat players who people think will curb stomp him in particular bisu where he's been knocked out of star leagues by 3 hatch hydra busts which inexplicably catch players off guard no matter how well known it is, his ZvZ is also some of the best out there with an excellent +60% ZvZ winrate being attributed to excellent muta control which makes mass muta wins another speciality of shine he may not be the first player you think of when you say a "good zerg" but he knows how to get the wins
RorOThe other WeMade zerg with shine, well known for being regarded as a bad player by the community and then destroying anti teams in the fantasy pro league by simply winning too damn much (Yet people never learn their lesson and roro continues to be high in anti team lists to this day), he's a much more solid and well rounded zerg than his WeMade counterpart despite a lower win rate, he's a player who many see on an upwards spiral closing out his last season on wemade with an epic victory over bisu that highlights his skill and despite his struggles at the start of the season he's still a zerg to be contended with and nowhere near your fantasy anti team.
GrapeGrape is a pretty good protoss, I don't have too much to write about him he's currently in the OSL RO16 and has a win notched up he's had his ups and downs making the MSL RO8 in the past but struggling to match that peak overall he's a pretty good player who you will probably see often ready to play his heart out and can take wins off good players when he wants to.
TurN and RealityI decided to lump turn and reality together mostly because samsung's terrans aren't the most remarkable players out there, they're not trainwrecks or a massive liability but since firebathero left for air force ace terrans hasn't been a calling card for samsung, despite that both posted good results and have contrasting styles, reality is well... a terran he makes stuff, micros marines, sieges tanks and all that good stuff he gets the job done in a workmanship manner and at the end of the day victory is the most important thing. Turn on the other hand is a stranger card, to summarise him he's a terran who does not give a damn, he will kill best with marines as he damn well pleases his games aren't the cleanest but his scrappy play allows him to post the results he wants and if you enjoy funky borderline cheesy play turn is right up your alley, he doesn't play the cleanest or best game of starcraft but he plays a damn good one.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/teams/9.jpg)
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CJ Entus - Summary/Preview by IntoTheWowCJ (formerly hite Entus) is actually a team formed from a merge between Hite Sparkyz (formerly OGN, a team sponsored by the broadcasting studio) and CJ Entus. CJ Entus is/was a team with one of the richest stories in SC:BW, with lots of in-house breed players that went on to be very successful.
+ Show Spoiler [Key Players] +
- EffOrt: was the team's ace for a long time, had a very good ZvP. He won games from very good PvZers by just massing lings and expanding around, making for hilarious Zergling "conga lines" running around the map.
He also managed to steal an OSL (read GSL Code S equivalent) from Flash beting him 3-2 after being down 0-2, then retired from being a pro, which angered lots of Flash fans. He is now back on the team. Also he looks like an alien. - Horang2: Horang2 was for a long time considered only a cheesy player. But after a while of getting steadier results and shaping up his play, Horang2 became one of the most important players in the team. He's very good at PvP and he makes a lot of gateways, and some of the prettiest bases ever (this is a serious fact). Horang2 is a wordplay in korean for the word "tiger", he chose this nickname because he liked eating a lot of frosted flakes during mid-school, which have Tony the tiger on the box.
- Leta: Along with Horang2 Leta is one of the biggest assets hite brought to the CJ merge. They are both always smiling, in contrast to the rest of the CJ players who always made their characteristic "–_–" face. Here's a CJ player celebrating a win for reference purposes.
Leta likes to make exotic openings and transition into normal play later, and plays a lot around map control. He opens 2 port wraiths a lot in TvZ, and he's a great TvT player. - sKyHigh: he's very very good at TvT, and at some points in time he was one of the strongest at the match up. He once made a reverse all kill in a ProLeague finals, going from 0-3 to 4-3 (beating a 4pool from Jaedong in the process). He has the full CJ face on when playing. He's now off the radar, but who knows if we will see the king of TvT back on SC2.
- Snow: Snow is excellent at PvT, and made a mark by playing a fantastic series of PvZ vs Jaedong, in which he established a very strong style of using reavers along with ground units, with a focus on relentless harassment, even in lategame. He's now not playing much since Horang2 is more solid all around.
- Hydra: Was at the shadow of other Zerg players for a very long time, specially EffOrt (CJ has been know to develop some very very good zergs). With the retirement of EffOrt he became the "team's Zerg", with very good mutalisk micro, which lead him to win an MSL. He's very good at ZvZ and ZvP and is a micro focused player. He also has the worst teeth ever and used to be very shy when giving interviews. Oh he's also practically blind from one eye.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/teams/6.jpg)
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Woongjin Stars+ Show Spoiler [Key Players] +
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STX SouL+ Show Spoiler [Key Players] +
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Team 8
+ Show Spoiler [Key Players] +
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/teams/12.jpg)
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Air Force ACE+ Show Spoiler [Key Players] +
The Format
Proleague format, while not complex or totally groundbreaking, is a little different from what we've seen in SC2. Every Proleague season is broken up into "rounds" - previous yearlong seasons have consisted of 5 rounds, while the recent SK Planet Season 1 had 3 rounds. SK Planet Season 2 will likely also have 3 rounds.
In each round, every team plays every other team once. Simple, right? Each match between teams is made up of two Bo3's, and then an ace match if they tie. The first bo3 - 3 sets, 3 different players sent out - are played on SC1, and the second on SC2. Maps are in a predetermined order. Players are chosen in advance by the teams, and it is unclear if the lineups will be announced before the games or on the spot. For the bo1 ace match, one player can be re-used from any previous set, and it is played on SC2.
However, there's a small catch. Each player must alternate between SC1 and SC2 for each match. So if a guy plays SC1 in his first match, the next time he's sent out, it must be for SC2 (and vice-versa). The ace match does not count for the normal requirement of a player alternating between SC1 and SC2. However, if you are put on the lineup for a series but it is not played, it DOES count. Players will be forced to actively practice and prepare both games. Players may use a different race for SC1 and SC2, but must play their specified race for the game they are playing. They may change these races once every month, if they desire.
Every week, four matches will be played. Games will be played on Monday and Tuesday at 15:00 KST, and Saturday and Sunday at 12:00 KST. Opening day will be a special exception.
Opening Day
Today is Opening Day. In celebration of this monumental transition, every team will play a match on opening day. This means there will be four matches - aka, A LOT OF FUCKING STARCRAFT. Matchups will be SK Telecom T1 vs Team 8, CJ Entus vs KT Rolster, Air Force ACE vs Samsung KHAN, and STX SouL vs Woongjin Stars (in that order). Expect around eight hours, give or take.
Casters and Streams
As far as we know, KeSPA is not yet providing an official English stream. The only stream is in Korean, presumably through eSportsTV - http://youtube.com/esportstv .
Fortunately for you, we have an English solution! As far as we know, KeSPA has not taken any action or made an official move to shut down re-streams of their events. Most foreign viewers watch through restreams. Myself and Sayle, a prominent foreign SC1 caster, will be providing commentary on both of our streams. To clarify, both streams will be showing the same commentary, a dual cast by both of us. Feel free to tune into either!
Pokebunny's stream: http://www.own3d.tv/live/276079/Pokebunny
Sayle's stream: http://www.twitch.tv/saylesc
Note: Stream chats will be monitored. Do not bash one game or the other too aggressively. We aim to join the two communities together to enjoy both games, not ruin the experience for one or the other.
Matches and Results
vs + Show Spoiler +Fantasy < Neo Jade > Jaehoon
n.Die_soO < Neo Ground Zero > Sea
< Neo Electric Circuit >
BeSt < Entombed Valley > Neo.G_Sang
By.Sun < Ohana > Jaedong
< Antiga Shipyard >
< Cloud Kingdom >
Fantasy < Neo Jade > Jaehoonn.Die_soO < Neo Ground Zero > SeaBeSt < Entombed Valley > Neo.G_SangBy.Sun < Ohana > Jaedong vs vs + Show Spoiler +great < Neo Ground Zero > Juni
Kal < Neo Sniper Ridge > TurN
< Neo Jade >
M18M < Ohana > RorO
Iris < Cloud Kingdom > JangBi
firebathero < Entombed Valley > Reality
< Antiga Shipyard >
great < Neo Ground Zero > JuniKal < Neo Sniper Ridge > TurNM18M < Ohana > RorOIris < Cloud Kingdom > JangBifirebathero < Entombed Valley > Reality< Antiga Shipyard >
vs + Show Spoiler +Calm < Neo Ground Zero > Light
mini < Neo Sniper Ridge > ZerO
Last < Neo Jade > free
Bogus < Ohana > sHy
Trap < Cloud Kingdom > Neo.G_Soulkey
Classic < Entombed Valley > Flying
< Antiga Shipyard >
Calm < Neo Ground Zero > Lightmini < Neo Sniper Ridge > ZerOLast < Neo Jade > freeBogus < Ohana > sHyTrap < Cloud Kingdom > Neo.G_SoulkeyClassic < Entombed Valley > FlyingBasic Viewer's Guide to StarCraft: Brood War
TvP: Both players generally open with some sort of fast expand off of a Gateway / Core and Barracks / sometimes Factory, with protoss staying on purely dragoons for a little bit, eventually mixing in zealots with speed and later high templar. Terran uses a composition of vultures, tanks, and goliaths, often incorporating in drop play or timing pushes, or choosing to turtle up a bit more with upgrades and a faster 3rd base. Protoss generally wants to stay ahead in bases, look to flank or delay the mech army while teching towards arbiters or carriers. In the late game, we see a protoss on many bases using recall or carriers to abuse the terran immobility and attempting to trade reasonably when the terran is out of position. Engaging a terran mech army almost always results in disaster with a fully upgraded large tank count. Vulture Spider Mines and observers are very important throughout the game for both sides to maintain vision and map control.
TvZ: Probably the most strategically diverse and exciting matchup. Zerg will go hatch first 99% of the time, and then has two basic options: two hatch or three hatch. Three hatch has a stronger economy but later tech, two hatch with faster tech that looks to punish greedy play. Zerg has two main midgame tech choices, mutas or lurkers. Mutas are used to contain the terran with light harassment (or heavy harassment, depending on the style) while the zerg secures a third base and begins producing lurkers, possibly teching toward hive as well. Gas is the key resource for zerg, as standard ZvT heavily relies on finesse with tech units such as lurkers, mutas, and defilers. A terran player will respond to this generally with some kind of FE, into either bio or mech. Bio is probably more common in the midgame, with marine/medic used aggressively to deny a 3rd base. Mech transitions are often seen late game if the terran did not opt for full mech, as bio lategame is very hard to play against a properly controlled hive zerg.
PvZ: Protoss will generally open with FFE and zerg with fast 3 bases and 4-5 hatches, somewhat similar in concept to SC2. Corsairs are commonly used for scouting and light harassment, with possibility of transitioning to the (somewhat uncommon nowadays) corsair/reaver or corsair/DT harassment based strategies, but more commonly transitioning into a HT/zealot based army. Gas is key for protoss here, as the core of their army relies on templar, archons, dragoons, and later reavers or even other units, all very gas heavy. Zerg has a lot of options in the midgame, and to be honest I'm not all too sure what the standard is nowadays - we've seen a lot of hydra+muta play, hydra+lurker, among others, before teching to hive and ultralisks.
ZvZ: very simple mirror, but can be chaotic and unforgiving. Low drone counts, early ling wars, transitioning into mutas. We have seen some lategame ZvZs moreso than a couple years ago, but your average ZvZ will be both players trying to tech towards muta with more drones and gas than their opponent without dying (or allining).
TvT: Heavy positional game, similar to mech v mech in SC2, except with a lot more drop play. Vultures are often used early on, but the core of the army is very gas based - tanks, goliaths, along with dropships and/or wraiths. We often see very positional games, with stalemates sometimes moving into battlecruisers.
PvP: Generally, the opening is played mostly with ranged dragoons, transitioning into a variety of options, including DTs, reavers, expansion/storm, or combinations of the above. My knowledge of PvP is also not really up to date but these are the basics you will see.
, can't wait for opening day, there's gonna be so many games!!!
