It feels a little bit early to start proclaiming things like "MVP IS BACK!" After all, they're not 100% guaranteed a playoff spot yet (though they're pretty close). But hell, what they've done so far in round two is pretty damn amazing and worth musing about at length.

Hindsight: Not an absolutely abysmal Round 1

MVP came into the 2014 season of Proleague as a mystery team. Traditional powerhouses of the GSTL, they had placed 2nd place in their last GSTL tournament before switching allegiance to KeSPA. Even with the retirement of NAKSEO and duckdeok, the MVP roster of DongRaeGu, Dream, KeeN, Swagger, Billowy, Super, Shine, TAiLS and Sniper was a deep and well-rounded one, seemingly capable of overwhelming top-heavy but shallower teams. Even in the GSTL days, many fans wondered how MVP's depth would work for them if they could play in a Proleague format.

On the other hand, MVP came in with a glaring weakness in the lack of a reliable ace player. DongRaeGu had been a player who could almost single-handedly carry the team in 2011-2012, but the release of HotS had made him a shadow of his former self. Super had been fantastic as a replacement ace in MVP's last GSTL season in 2013, but he had also declined sharply since then. It was not pleasant to think about what would happen in a game five situation against a Flash or Rain.

In addition, it was questionable as to whether or not MVP's vaunted depth would mean anything in 2014. MVP's veteran roster of players had been Code S Ro32 and Ro16 regulars in the past, but there was every possibility that they would be surpassed by the KeSPA rank and file as the season went along.

How far could this collection of good-but-not-great players to go? Just beyond last place, apparently.

A 0-3 loss to SK Telecom T1 set the tone for team MVP's Round 1, and they finished in seventh place with a dismal 1-6 record. MVP only avoided last place by beating the eventual last place team Prime, who managed to somehow put in an even more saddening Round 1 performance.

Yet, as tragic as it was to watch MVP flop from week to week, in hindsight it wasn't ALL bad. That's not to deny that 7th place was a poor finish, or that we could have predicted their drastic Round 2 turnaround. However, there was a silver lining that suggested they could be at least somewhat better: MVP was the only team in round one to lose three ace matches. Here's how they went:

• vs CJ Entus: Super got killed by herO's proxy gate (funny in hindsight).
  
• vs KT Rolster: DongRaeGu's swarm hosts lost to Flash's mech after a very closely fought game (VOD).
  
• vs Jin Air: Super's sloppy play was mercilessly punished by Maru's hyper-aggressive attacks.

DRG still managed to fight a very close, very winnable ace match against Flash. If he had somehow won, MVP would have finished in 6th place ahead of CJ, and their Round 1 result wouldn't look quite as bad. And while it's a stretch to say that Super could have won against Maru given his play, his defensive micro against herO made you think he could have won if he had scouted out the proxy.

Who knows? If MVP had caught a few breaks, they could have finished in the middle of the table.

The Round 2 resurgence

MVP has caught a few of those breaks in Round 2. For instance, when they faced SKT in Round 2, DRG overcame a huge build order disadvantage in his ace match against Soulkey due to uncharacteristically passive from the SKT Zerg. But catching a few breaks alone doesn't take you from 1-6 to 4-2. Across the board, everyone just got better.

Most importantly, Super and DongRaeGu – the key duo that led MVP place second place in their final GSTL before leaving eSF – are playing like strong ace players again. Even if they're not playing on the level of one-man wrecking crews like Maru, they've combined for a very solid 8-5 overall record and have gone 2-1 in ace matches.

As for the bench (players besides DRG and Super), some of the fears have been realized. No one on the team except DRG was able to make it Code S season, the rest being edged out instead by a rapidly improving KeSPA players. Yet, in Proleague, they are actually improving and living up to their reputation as a solid bunch. After going 6-12 in Round 1, they've improved to a significantly better 6-5 in Round 2.

Altogether, MVP's old GSTL strategy of "Soften 'em up with four guys and clean up with an ace" has become viable again. They've even been able to take their last two games in straight 3-0 sweeps, crushing both Jin Air and Samsung.


Trying to make sense of it all

To be honest, it's hard to explain what is going on with Team MVP. The current format of Proleague is one of the most volatile ever, featuring the least games, the least teams, and the shortest series in a very long time. MVP isn't the only team creating shocking results: Samsung Galaxy have followed the reverse pattern by starting Round 1 strong and crumbling catastrophically.

And while it's entirely possible that this is all due to variance, at least our subjective viewing of team MVP's games suggests that the quality of everyone's play has improved. From improved decision making to the reduction of unforced errors, and just cleaner micro all-around, the MVP players don't look like they're being outclassed anymore.

One reason could simply be that they've acclimatized to the environment. That means getting used to playing in a new studio, getting used to the kind of practice that goes into preparing for just one map, and getting back into a rhythm after having had no competitive league to play in for several months (after GSTL ended, some of the MVP bench players might have had five official matches to play in five months).

Or maybe getting humiliated in round 1 simply motivated them to practice harder during the long break/playoff period between rounds. While some players like Flash will attest that it takes months to truly improve, anecdotal evidence from other players suggests that "cramming" really does work.

In any case, it's been a crazy month for team MVP. They are sitting at #2 on the table and might even preserve that position into the playoffs (the week 5 combinatorics are very complex). If that happens, they will return to the all-kill format of play that they have excelled at for years. If all of the progress we have seen in the past four weeks is real, then they will be a R2 championship contender. If not... well, at least we got to enjoy a great ride in Round 2.