Things That Happened in Week 3

• Prime Wilt Under the Pressure - At 2-1 to start the week and staring at the possibility of a playoff appearance in Round 4, everything unraveled for Prime as they were swept aside by CJ Entus and KT Rolster without winning a single map. It didn't look pretty, either.
  
  In the first map against CJ, MKP failed to take advantage of Bbyong's slow upgrades and overly cautious approach, allowing Bbyong to mass an army that MKP's pure bio could not beat. He was on the clock the entire game, and he neither pushed his advantage nor transitioned into Sky Terran. Creator lost to Hush in the second game, and it all came down to KassiA. Unfortunately for him, GuMiho's harassment proved too much as the Towel Terran roasted drone after drone for the easy victory.
  
  Tuesday night wasn't any less brutal as Prime lost 2 games against KT's benchwarmers. On Overgrowth, MyuNgSiK's oracle into 6gate caught DeParture with his pants down, keeping the Prime Zerg without a win all season. MKP had a chance to tie things up against Flash on Frost, but his hellion-viking-thor composition confounded more than it convinced as he was easily overcome by Flash's more traditional composition. Once again their hopes laid on the shoulders of Creator, but he too fell without trouble. The Prime Ace could not find a way to solve Sleep's use of lings to accompany his swarmhosts and corruptors, and all of his attempts to posture were easily deflected. Sleep eventually amassed his ideal army and flattened Creator, along with their hopes of a decent Round 4 finish.
  
  It looked so rosy for Prime heading into Week 3, but it looks like that optimism was premature. Samsung and Jin Air look like doable matches as they seek to claw their way back to the round playoffs, but going 0-6 this week was definitely demoralizing.
  
  
• KT Can Still Beat the Bottom Teams - KT looked like a team on a slump in Weeks 1 and 2, but a week against the league's bottom teams could not have come at a better time. They lost a single map against MVP and Prime, and 3 of their 6 wins came from unlikely sources. Action, MyuNgSiK and Sleep all stepped up this week to give KT's big four a reprieve, and their contributions will have to continue if they'll want a shot at winning the season playoffs. It's a little too soon to say if KT are back in form as they've struggled against their fellow playoff contenders, but at least they're starting to get something out of their bench. It'll be interesting to see whether their coach will use their remaining games to give their backups some experience, or use it to help TY, Zest and Stats rediscover their rhythm.
  
  
• Jin Air Are Experiencing Turbulence - Our new team in crisis. Ending Week 3 with a 1-3 record has to have signaled the alarms for Jin Air, as a strong round playoffs from Samsung could still see them drop out of the season finale. They've now lost two straight Ace matches (one each from Maru and sOs), and currently sit in 6th place on the round rankings. Fortunately for the team, they face MVP and Prime in Week 4, so there's still time to steady the ship plane.
  
  sOs has performed well so far this round despite his loss to Rain, but Maru's form has to be a concern. He is now 1-5 in Round 4, with his single win an ace match against RorO. Add his loss to Classic in the Code S Semi Finals, and Jin Air have to be worried about their superstar. Their trio of Cure, Rogue and TRUE have been okay, with a combined record of 3-5, but someone has to step up with the Marine Prince ailing. TRUE has looked impressive in Code S, but he's so far been unable to make his mark in Proleague. This week will likely make or break Jin Air's hopes of making the playoffs, so watch out.
  
  
• CJ Sweep the Week - CJ continued their dominant Round 4 with 2 sweeps in Week 3, albeit against the two weakest teams in the league. It has looked easy for Coach Park's men, and their 5-0 record and +11 map score suggest that they are the team to beat come the round playoffs, where they've already booked their spot with 2 weeks to go. And unless Samsung begin an epic tear and win first place this round, it looks like CJ have all but locked their place in the season playoffs. Zealously must be proud.
  
  
• TvT's Disappoint - We've come to expect great things from TvT after a history of being the most appreciated matchup in SC2 dating back to beta. Unfortunately, the 4 TvTs we were treated to this week all disappointed, as none of them were particularly close or exciting. The only game than even looked remotely competitive was MKP vs Bbyong, but MarineKing's bio composition was on the clock the entire time. KeeN's first move out demolished TY's absurd 4 CC (one ninja) build, and Flash's mech proved far superior to either MKP's or aLive's flavor. With the last TvT in Code S over 240 days ago, we were hoping Proleague would provide us with our favorite mirror. Alas, we got this instead.
  

by Zealously

Line-up Notes: Week 5

• Record-breaking amount of Terrans at 17 (that's more than a third!). 13 Zergs, 18 Protosses.
  
• Prime's match against Samsung determines whether or not they have a chance to make the round playoffs. This adds a layer of pressure to KassiA and SalvatioN, but in particular the team's ace MarineKing, who faces RorO on the third map. A loss for MKP will likely be the final nail in the coffin for Prime, while a victory at the very least opens up the way for Creator to try and bring the series home.
  
• CJ Entus apparently do not like winning, as they are once again fielding Bbyong on a map that isn't Habitation Station. Perhaps he fears that we'll have helped unlock the secret knowledge of his Bbuild?
  
• Two players with respectable amounts of anti-fans in Roro and Sniper face off on Tuesday. Both teams are definitely out of the season playoffs, and while Samsung still have a chance to make the Round playoffs MVP are mostly playing for pride. However, it's unclear how this will affect these players' abilities to destroy dreams when there are no dreams to actually destroy.
  
• MarineKing vs MarinePrince!
  
• We'll be treated to a true grudge match as Flash gets his rematch against PartinG. Last time, Flash was seriously upset over Parting's ruler ceremony. What can the Ultimate Weapon do to get back at Parting? Given that he's already killed a dinosaur to put Stork in his place, a ceremony feels obligatory.
  
• TurN makes a novelty appearance against Kassia. We can only guess at the reasons for his ByuN-esque disappearance, but it seems unlikely that we'll see him again for a couple of months.
  
• CJ Entus are all but confirmed for first place in this round with their incredible 5-0 (+11) record. They are so confident, in fact, that they are fielding the dishonored Sora, whose rapid transformation from rising star to slumping B-class Protoss has caused much headache for the team in the past. But given CJ's performance this round and the fact that Sora is set to play on the fourth map, he may not even see the inside of a booth again this season.
  
  

Matches to Watch: A Mixed Bag of Matches

With SKT, KT, Jin Air and CJ all but guaranteed their playoffs spots, the rest of Round 4 will be a fight over seeding for the season playoffs. Right now, Jin Air's failure to perform in Round 4 has given CJ a somewhat unexpected opportunity to finish the regular season in 3rd place. However, Samsung is still in the competition for a coveted playoffs spot, though they are lagging behind the three top competitors. Still, they need to be kept at bay so that no unexpected turn of events can overthrow Jin Air or CJ in the round's final moments.
Also to note is that KT's waning performance in Round 4 might see them surpassed by arch rivals SKT. On that note:

11:30 GMT (+00:00)
KT Rolster vs SK Telecom

Welcome to what might very well the final Telecom derby of the season, KT leads 2-1 in regular round matches (3-1 when counting Zest's Round 1 playoffs annihilation of SKT), but with SKT currently looking like they're in the better shape out of the two. Adding to this, they have received mostly favorable match-ups that will require KT to perform at a different level from what they have so far this round:



After his embarrassment at the hands of Parting following their last meeting, Flash beating Parting in this match will accomplish two things:
1) It will be his chance to get back at his Protoss rival, getting the last laugh of the season.
2) It will give KT a map win they desperately need to stand a chance to win the series. Beyond Zest, Stats and TY seem outmatched against Rain and soO respectively, so an initial win from Flash could at least allow for an ace match, in which KT's chances are very decent.

Also keep in mind that, despite his elimination from GSL at the hands of TRUE, Zest is still a double GSL champion and his recent record is still very good. Given the KT ace duo's strong performances in the Shoutcraft Invitational, it certainly seems like although KT may not currently have the depth to take on SKT's full line-up, two players is all they'll need.

10:00 GMT (+00:00)
Samsung Galaxy KHAN vs Prime

If you enjoy miracle storylines and clinging to a flickering hope of greatness then this is the match for you. Samsung could still theoretically reach the season playoffs, but it would require them to win their next three matches with a solid map differential of +6 or better in a manner unlike their somewhat lukewarm performances throughout the season. Their greatest asset now, compared to the start of the season, has to be Stork. Since the season began in December he has developed into a player capable of beating the majority of players in Proleague. Given how long he struggled with mediocrity, it would be a storyline worthy of Stork's 10-year legacy as a Starcraft player to be the one finally pulling Samsung through to the playoffs.



Unfortunately, the survival of one dream means the death of another in this match. As Samsung and Prime face off, both teams absolutely need to win to have any chance of reaching their respective goals.
After my attempts to hype their performances early this round and keep the seemingly impossible dream of a season playoffs spot alive fell apart, this match is a must-win for Prime to keep the chance of making the round playoffs alive. It's a step down from aiming for the finals to be sure, but it would still be an impressive improvement over their initial round. Is it going to happen, though? Just like Samsung's playoffs hopes are kept alive by Stork finally unlocking some of that TBLS potential, Prime has made it this far largely on the back of Marineking's revitalized skills. Unless he can defeat Roro, it seems unlikely (KassiA is an enigma worth noting) that Prime could take this match.