EPTRound 4: Galaxy Quest
by WaxangelWe're getting close to the finish line for the 2014 Proleague season. KT, Jin Air, and SKT won the first three rounds of the season, and now we're set to begin the fourth and final round.
While all eight teams would love to win the Round 4 championship, the unfortunate truth is that the result of Round 4 may have little to no implications in the big picture:
Season Point Rankings (Top 4 Qualify For Season Playoffs)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Waxangel/proleague/2014/bigpoint4.png)
Scoring Per Round
Group Stage Finish - 1st: 81 / 2nd: 71 / 3rd: 61 / 4th: 51 / 5th: 45 / 6th: 40 / 7th: 35 / 8th: 30
Playoff Finish - 1st: 40 / 2nd: 10
Scoring Per Round
Group Stage Finish - 1st: 81 / 2nd: 71 / 3rd: 61 / 4th: 51 / 5th: 45 / 6th: 40 / 7th: 35 / 8th: 30
Playoff Finish - 1st: 40 / 2nd: 10
As we broke down earlier in the week, the season-end playoff picture is almost set in stone. KT Rolster and SK Telecom T1 have effectively clinched their spots, while CJ Entus and Jin Air Green Wings are close to confirming playoff berths as well. For either team to drop out, they'd need to suffer a massive collapse. Not only that, but Samsung Galaxy KHAN would have to have an amazing round, even better than Round 1 where they recorded an unexpected 5-2 record.
Could Samsung upend the established order? It's highly improbable, but KHAN fans have some reason to hope. Stork has experienced some amazing growth as a StarCraft 2 pro, and is a legit Code S Ro16 class Protoss. RorO is a reliable zerg ace (amusingly enough, that's the exact opposite of what he was in Brood War), and Solar has shown us glimpses of amazing talent. CJ Entus' roster has been inconsistent this season, and Samsung fans could hope for a CJ disaster. If everything goes right for Samsung, with everyone hitting a good patch of form at the same time, they just might fight for a playoff spot.
Alas, key player Stork will be absent for a critical two game stretch next week as he heads to Germany to play in HomeStory Cup IX. That's a disadvantage that will be very hard for Samsung to overcome, given the weakness of their bench. If they don't get surprise contributions from the bench, then their playoff hopes could be dashed as early as week 2.
Still, if you're looking for miracles in the Proleague studio, then Samsung Galaxy KHAN are the team to watch.
Round 4, Week 1 Preview
by WaxangelLet the miracle watch begin! Depending on how CJ, Samsung, IM, and MVP perform in week one, the rest of Round 4 could be something we watch from the edge of our seats, or with muted disinterest as we wait for the playoffs.
| Round 4 Standings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | SKT | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| 2. | CJ | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| 3. | KT | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| 4. | Jin Air | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 5. | Samsung | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| 6. | IM | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| 7. | Prime | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| 8. | MVP | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
June 1
Team MVP vs SK Telecom T1
Swagger < Habitation Station LE > 
SoulkeyDongRaeGu < Overgrowth LE > soOSuper < King Sejong Station LE > 
FanTaSyBillowy < Frost LE > ClassicAce: Outboxer
Incredible Miracle vs PRIME
Curious < Merry Go Round LE > MarineKingHerO < Outboxer > SalvatioNTrap < Habitation Station LE > CreatorByuL < Overgrowth LE > KassiAAce: King Sejong Station LE
June 2
KT Rolster vs CJ Entus
Action < King Sejong Station LE > herOStats < Frost LE > EffOrtFlash < Outboxer > BbyongZest < Habitation Station LE > GuMihoAce: Merry Go Round LE
Samsung Galaxy vs Jin Air Green Wings
RorO < King Sejong Station LE > RogueStork < Frost LE > MaruArmani (BurNing) < Outboxer > sOsSolar < Habitation Station LE > CureAce: Merry Go Round LE
June 3
SK Telecom T1 vs PRIME
soO < Overgrowth LE > KassiAFanTaSy < Merry Go Round LE > MarineKingRain < Frost LE > SalvatioNClassic < King Sejong Station LE > CreatorAce: Habitation Station LE
Team MVP vs Incredible Miracle
Sniper < Merry Go Round LE > ByuLSuper < Outboxer > OzBillowy < Habitation Station LE > Luckyhyvaa < Overgrowth LE > TrapAce: King Sejong Station LE
Notable Changes and Lineup Notes
- No new players: Round 3 marked the deadline for teams to add new players to their rosters, so there won't be any newcomers in Round 4. Choya and eins have been removed from Prime's roster, while Trend has been removed from Samsung.
- FanTaSy returns: After playing a key part in SKT's Round 2 campaign, Fantasy was curiously benched for all of Round 3. How should we interpret his abrupt return, where he plays twice on opening weekend? Perhaps Fantasy has simply practiced hard enough to earn a starting spot again. Or perhaps now that SKT have locked up a season playoff spot, they feel the need to get Fantasy's confidence up to play in the Bo7's looming ahead.
- Mercenaries: Liquid`HerO and ST_Curious will be in action for Incredible Miracle. Both players are facing minor slumps in individual leagues lately, so it will be interesting to see how they perform in Proleague. Since they're going up against Prime players, they might end up getting an easy morale boost. However, should they lose...
Meanwhile,yoeFW.Leenock continues to be absent for Prime. The Flash Wolves-Prime partnership seems to be the most pointless one of the season, but getting to rent Leenock for one game was still better than renting him for none. - Unexpected appearances: There's a good number of bench players getting a chance to play this week. KT Rolster has brought out Action once more, who will look to improve on his 1-1 record from Round 3. Samsung Galaxy are giving Armani another shot, possibly because they were impressed with his abilities in qualifying for numerous foreign tournaments. For CJ, fan-favorite GuMiho will get a chance to test Zest's shaky PvT with his unusual builds. Finally, IM have brought out ex-FXO player Lucky.
Big ticket matches: Unfortunately, there aren't many matches that really catch our eye. If we had to pick one match as being the biggest of the week, it would beMaru vs Stork in a Code S rematch. If their last encounter was anything to go on, Maru should win with ease.
GG-Timings:MarineKing and FanTaSy are lined up to face each other in a game that's guaranteed to end with plenty of floating buildings and time wasting.
Escaping the Maze: Maze has been removed from the map pool. Although the concept behind the map was very creative, poor balance tweaking meant it never lived up to its potential. Pegged by every single team as a Protoss map, it ended up hosting PvPs almost exclusively. Some of those PvP's were quite entertaining due to the unusual nature of the map, but we'd like our Proleague maps to have some more match-up variety. - ByuN watch continues: We'd like to thank ByuN for giving us a great running joke this season. Wouldn't it be wonderful (and hilarious) if he made a surprise appearance in the final week?
- Race breakdown: 19 Protoss, 18 Zerg, 11 Terran.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/HawaiianPig/SPL/SPLstaricon.png)
