SPL '13-14
Season Playoffs

Introduction
The playoffs begin

SK Telecom T1
#1 Seed (20-8)

CJ Entus
#4 Seed (16-12)

Detailed information on
Liquipedia

By Zealously, jowj and Soularion

The regular season has ended and we are about to enter the playoffs. In the end, it was the four teams most pinned down as playoffs-quality that made it all the way here, and the order in which they did it in was similarly unsurprising. Sitting on top of the rankings with a 20-8 score in regular matches and 3 round finals appearances out of 4 possible are SK Telecom T1. Boasting the world's deepest line-up with a full five players easily championship quality, no other team can claim to match the many-time Proleague champions on paper.

Spearheaded by Terran prodigy Maru and master of Protoss bullshit sOs, Jin Air Green Wings advanced to the playoffs in second place with a regular round record of 18-11 and two round finals appearances. Pinned as a bottom dweller until weeks before the season started, Jin Air's dual acquisition of Maru and sOs has more than paid off despite the somewhat rocky start. Backed by a strong albeit small roster, Jin Air's Round 4 championship allowed them to finally overtake KT Rolster in the rankings.

In third place, KT Rolster. With minimal player turnover, the team of Zest and Flash has spent most of the season fielding the same 4 core players - Zest, Flash, TY and Stats. Although they have occasionally fielded players like Sleep and Myungsik, KT's track record this season and their weak Round 4 finish raises some question about their form as they head into the playoffs and their grudge match against upstarts Jin Air.

Finally, in fourth place, CJ Entus. Making a miracle recovery after a disastrous Round 1, the team once known for terrorizing IEM qualifiers has come quite a long way. Dominating most of Round 4, the board seemed all but set for CJ to enter the playoffs as 3rd seed, but a late breakdown against IM and SKT stopped that dream in its tracks. If CJ are to make the finals, they must now take the tough route past SKT rather than Jin Air, a team they would much rather face.

The playoffs semis are played out in a full Bo3 of Bo7 matches, with one match played out each day. The first Bo7 is played in standard Proleague format and third and deciding match (if needed) is played out in Proleague format. The finals are played out in a standard Bo7 Proleague match, taking place on the 9th of August. There will be more details revealed as we approach the finals.

FanTaSy(), BrAvO,, Sorry(?)
soO, Soulkey, Dark
Classic, PartinG, Rain, ParalyzE

SKT1 has the most stacked roster in Proleague. There isn't even an argument for the contrary anymore, as they have both of the most recent GSL finalists, plus a veritable ocean of consistency in Soulkey and Rain. PartinG, Dark and even the fairly inconsistent FanTaSy would all be strong A-teamers on most other teams, but not on SKT1. Here, they have no guaranteed spots in the line-up like they would on other teams. In fact, SKT has seemed to gravitate towards fielding soO/Soulkey/Rain (fielding soO in -all- of their games since their win in Round 3) with the fourth member varying. Classic and PartinG have both found success in the role, but Dark and FanTaSy are not to be underestimated, especially not in the all-kill format of Match 2 where unpredictability and preparation play an important role in a team's success.

The Question of Ace

A team with such a stacked roster is left with one oh-so-difficult decision to make: Who to use as the ace? That is, when an ace match is even necessary. For the most part, SKT1 have chosen Soulkey and Rain, both having been fielded and winning in one ace match each. They're arguably the most solid Proleague players on the team, maintaining the best scores. Soulkey in particular is sitting at a 78% ZvT winrate over 9 games, while Rain has also had success in the vT matchup. Where these two get the bulk of their losses is against protosses. Soulkey is 5-6, while Rain is 5-5. In a protoss-dominated league, this is by far the biggest issue both of them run into. The person they have to rely on for help in this matchup is the King of Kongs himself, soO. With a 71% winrate in ZvP, he's easily the top of the team (unless you count Dark's insignificant 1-0). It's gonna be mainly up to soO to take out the surprisingly strong protoss line-up of CJ, including the Smiling Assassin himself, herO, and vP specialist Hush.. This means that SKT1's success may hinge largely on soO and his ability to actually win against protoss, something that nobody else on SKT1 can seem to do consistently. Still, SKT1 boasts a 6-1 while using Soulkey in Round 4, and it seems strange for them to not use either him or Rain as their ace given their reliability in the past.

With Rain, Soulkey and soO all pretty much garunteed a spot on at least the Bo7-Proleague portion, there's still a few spots left. SKT1 has a very talented supporting cast, with GSL champion Classic (despite his relative lack of success in proleague) and PartinG (contributing to the ever-dreadful SKT1vT matchup) both being in a position where they'd be the ace of most other teams, or at least constantly fielded. Yet, in the past season, Classic has been fielded 4 times (going an admittedly iffy 1-3) and PartinG has been fielded 3 times (going a much more respectable 2-1). PartinG has both great PvT and PvZ (going a combined 11-1!), but his PvP suffers greatly as a result, going only 4-7. Against a CJ Entus team with great PvPers such as Hush and herO, this is a big problem. Classic's PvP isn't nearly as bad as most of his team's, but its not really outstanding either. His PvZ is his statistically best matchup, but CJ Entus' two zergs have gone a combined 2-11 in the matchup. We can expect both of these guys to be fielded in the Bo7-Proleague portion, but its possible that we wont see either of them in the Winner's League match. Aside from PartinG as a potential Bbyong sniper, of course.

Who Sits on God's Bench?

Even the B-teamers on SKT1 are strong enough players to warrant a spot in the regular line-up on most other teams. FanTaSy's performance this year hasn't been stellar, but he has at least mustered an over-50% TvZ winrate. Unfortunately for the many-time OSL finalist, Zergs aren't really a threat to SKT. The same cannot be said for CJ. At worst, Dark is a relatively unknown player with a lot of potential. At best, he can build upon the potential he has displayed over the last few months and put on a performance strong enough to strike fear into the hearts of CJ. When Dark last faced Bbyong, he emerged victorious with a combined 4-0 score. Depending on how the ex-Slayers Zerg has done in the SKT team house, I wouldn't be surprised to see him come out as a either a sniper for a key player like herO, or as an all-purpose surprise pick to throw CJ off. GSL quarterfinalist ParalyzE might also find a spot here, despite not being fielded yet in Proleague (which should tell you something about the depth of the SKT roster). His surprising run in GSL ended with getting 3-1'd in a PvP that should've been a lot closer against SKT1-Team-Kill-Expert Classic.

Overall, if SKT are to field a player not part of their core line-up, I think Dark and ParalyzE are the two best options. Both have shown tremendous potential on various occasions, putting on performances that could earn them the title of ace on many other teams. FanTaSy has yet to find any success outside the vZ match-up, and it seems unlikely that he will be given the chance to now. Behind even them, the seldom used benchwarmer BrAvO is far too unproven to see any play in the playoffs.

Cutting to the chase, SKT are definitely the favorites in their match against CJ Entus. Their many strengths far outweigh their few weaknesses, but if they aren't careful their weaknesses (not having much success against protoss, fielding FanTaSy consistently), however few, may yet be their downfall. The biggest advantage SKT have going into this match is CJ's inability to use Effort. Having evolved from a weak overall player to a highly specialized ZvT sniper, CJ's secret weapon might very well be unusable in this match.
A loss here for SKT1 would be the most disapointing moment for them in a fairly solid 2014, while a win would just let them achieve what most already expect from them: a Proleague championship.

by jowj

Bbyong, GuMiho, Bunny, sKyHigh
Hydra, EffOrt()
herO, Hush, Sora, Trust

A Rough Start:

CJ Entus started out the season as a Will They/Won’t They story, with fans hoping that Coach Park would be able to whip the once-playoff-worthy team back into shape after a poor 6th place finish that was 1 loss away from being tied for last place during the 2012-2013 Proleague season. With players like herO, Hydra, Sora and Bbyong all showing a great deal of promise in international competition, the stage was set for CJ to steal the spotlight. Unfortunately, Round 1 of the 2014 Proleague season got off to a rocky start with 4 losses in a row to KT, SKT, Samsung and Jin Air. In fact, the only match wins CJ was able to garner at all was against the old ESF teams, and even then they still lost to Prime. Prime. Prime who finished last that round with a combined 7-20 map score.

During Round 1, herO played well for his team, but CJ was unable to find a reliable supporting cast and it showed - Sora and Hush took two games, Bunny and EffOrt took 1 game apiece, but herO and Sora were clearly trusted much more and were played in almost every match. CJ desperately needed to find a solid core consisting of more than one player to bring them out of the bottom of the rankings, but none other than herO seemed up to the task.

Fortunately, whatever magic Coach Park works in his teams began to take effect, and CJ finished the second round in second place, only behind a super powered Jin Air that had both Maru and sOs winning at the same time. In another twist, MVP took SKT1’s spot in the top 4, and made a beautiful run in the play offs, beating both KT Rolster and CJ Entus (a feat they would have struggled with during the regular round) before falling to Jin Air in the finals of Round 2.

Obviously 3rd place in the round playoffs was a much improved standing for CJ, but the early portion of the round was still relatively shaky, with CJ continuing to struggle with their line up - the first week they fielded very “Round 1” line-ups, featuring herO/Sora/EffOrt/Hydra/bbyong, which got CJ utterly crushed by Samsung. The addition of Bbyong into the playing roster was a welcome change, despite not winning his match, and promised good things to come. In week 2 Bbyong and herO tag-teamed KT Rolster down with wins over Stats/Flash/Zest, and things started looking up for CJ. From then on they didn’t lose a single regular season match, even vs the league's strongest team SKT1 (with Bbyong and herO once again pulling their weight). Sora had faded to the background, and a better number 2 player had appeared, but now the search for a reliable 3rd core player began for CJ,. Unfortunately, without that coveted third core they could not stand up against MVP's Protoss-heavy line-up, and the dream of a Round Finals remained a dream.

Finding an Alternative:

As Round 3 started fans still crossed their fingers for their favorite team, especially with two difficult match ups starting it off for CJ in Samsung and Jin Air. Again the lack of a consistent 3rd stung, as even though herO and Bbyong had taken the first two maps Samsung was able to tie it up and force the ace where Stork could successfully snipe the predictable ace in herO. Versus Jin Air’s star studded lineup CJ miraculously went 3-0 with herO/Bbyong having their predictable successes backed by a surprising Hydra win against Cure. Unfortunately this did not herald a resurgence for CJ as they continued to struggle during the round vs any of the stronger teams, losing 2-3 to KT Rolster and 0-3 to SKT1 and winning vs weaker teams like IM/MVP. After getting herO sniped in the ace vs Samsung however, Coach Park began to vary his ace match picks, being so bold as to send Hydra out vs Prime to take the win over Creator. CJ Entus was still having trouble finding their third to cement their line up, but began to work with what they were given and play around their limitations. If they couldn’t find a reliable all-around 3rd, what was their next best option?

CJ’s regular round score, barely breaking a 3 way tie for 3rd/4th/5th, was enough to net them an entrance to the Round Playoffs yet again, where they faced Jin Air Green Wings, the team they had somehow defeated in week 1 of the regular round. Two protoss players grabbed 3 wins for CJ, with Hush and herO taking out Cure, Rogue, and sOs. Maru tied up the series and brought it to 3-3 for Jin Air. The fans looked to Bbyong, who had gone from nervous wreck in Round 1 to the team's unexpected savior in rounds 2 and 3. With strong TvT, a win against Maru seemed reasonable. Hope turned to horror as EffOrt (who had an abysmal 11% Proleague win rate at the time) was announced as the ace. EffOrt, whose 1-8 record was the absolute worst in the league? Who the round before had went an astonishing 0-5? But as puzzling as the decision seemed beforehand, EffOrt went on to win one of the most exciting and compositionally varied TvZs of 2014. CJ had won the first match of the play offs, but history dictated that there was no way to keep that streak going.

…was there? Next, CJ had to face KT Rolster, a team with a stronger 4man line up than anyone besides SKT1 - Flash and TY handled the Terran contingent of the team, and Stats and Zest carried the Protoss portion. There was no need for Zerg in KT Rolster. With regular season matches being best of 5 they barely ever had to worry about their fifth man - this aspect is what CJ had to exploit in order to stand a chance against KT. With only a solid core of herO/BByong CJ HAD to train up snipers to take out KT’s key players. The line ups were announced with a predictable yet exciting Flash vs herO starting map. Unfortunately, things did not start off going the way of CJ, with Flash taking down herO and Hush in rapid succession, leaving CJ with a decimated line up. In order for CJ to come back into it they were going to need a miraculous player. Or at least a player who put in a lot of EffOrt.

EffOrt was sent out to face down Flash, and fans did not know how to react. On the one hand, EffOrt had played awful for the duration of the whole year, never managing to really make a difference for his team until that match against Maru. On the other hand, that match against Maru had shown that EffOrt had the chops to compete with the best, if only he could do it again. Could lightning strike in the same place twice? As it turns out, not only twice, but *three* times as EffOrt took out Flash and TY in rapid succession. Stats was brought out to root out the TvZ sniper but that was all the space CJ needed, bringing their remaining Terran player Bbyong out to mop up Stats and Zest in back to back games. CJ had done it, despite not having a reliable core they had shored up their weaknesses with brilliant use of a sniper and moved their way on to the round finals.

Where unfortunately their run was stopped. SKT1 was the Final Boss of round 3, and here once again CJ’s core line up was lacking. Without any Terrans on which EffOrt could feed, CJ was forced to start him vs Soulkey in a ZvZ, where Soulkey demolished him. This in turn gave Soulkey some momentum which he used to take out CJ’s ace in herO. Bbyong did his best to make the series a fight and took out Soulkey and Parting, but the depth of SKT1 was too much, and eventually CJ was overwhelmed by Classic 4-2. Despite the loss in the finals, this play off round could only be seen as a success for CJ, as they had made valuable progress in their search for a playstyle that could let them work with their 2man core and “other” players. Ideally they still want to add members who have solid playstyles all around to their roster, but not every team can be SKT1, the strongest team on paper we are likely to ever see in sc2. CJ had worked with what they had and done beautifully taking home second place that round.

So far CJ had done well to keep themselves mostly in the top 4 (just excluding that awful round 1), and in the 4th round they would be looking to do the same. They needed to clinch that season playoff spot as well as give themselves the momentum they need to do well against whoever they would be facing in the playoffs.

Stumbling at the Finish Line:

The round started off for CJ with a match against KT Rolster where CJ took a surprisingly easy 3-1 victory – EffOrt, who had certainly made great strides as a TvZ player, still needed work in his other match ups and was beaten by Stats, while herO/Bbyon/Gumiho supplied wins. The round continued favorably from there as CJ continued to amass wins vs the top teams with Samsung and Jin Air joining KT Rolster in CJ’s “beaten” list. In fact, CJ looked neigh unbeatable until the final two weeks of the season, where CJ slipped and fell vs both IM and SKT1, resulting in a 0-6 score just at the very end of the round. This certainly hurt their position in the round play offs, but after such a commanding round-robin CJ still nailed second place for the round over all.

In the round play offs they would take 3rd place, facing Jin Air Green Wings and losing 4-2 due to what can only be called a fundamental line up issue. Vs Jin Air, a team with key Terran players, CJ had opened with EffOrt (who would face TRUE). True easily eliminated EffOrt, and CJ retaliated with Bunny who took down TRUE and rogue in back to back games. Jin Air played it safe and sent out Maru next who defeated Bunny/Hydra/herO for the 3kill and the match. Risking a key player in EffOrt in the opening match without a reliable answer to Maru was a huge mistake that surely haunts CJ’s coaching staff as they prepare for the round play offs.

Throughout the regular season there has been a pattern of CJ doing well, but never quite enough for first place. In Round 1 there was a problem of fielding even 2 consistent players, with herO lacking regular support. In Round 2, Terrans began to show up for CJ with Bbyong making his Bbeautiful debut and Bunny as well stealing a game, but in the end they stumbled vs the Protoss heavy line up of MVP in the play offs. In round 3 CJ had found their solid 2 man core and could even rely on wins from other lineup regulars like Hydra or Hush – on the back of this core CJ went to the play offs in 3rd place where they showed yet further growth, having developed EffOrt as a star TvZ sniper, demolishing Maru, TY, and Flash in exciting games, before ultimately the CJ train was halted by SKT1 in the finals.

Finally, in the 4th round CJ looked unbeatable until the last minute on the clock. They fell to IM and SKT1 in fluke series after absolutely dominating the rest of the round, and then made a line up mistake vs Jin Air in the playoffs. These are small mistakes, easily corrected; the team has come from not even top 4 to the season play offs where they will make their debut against SKT1, a team that CJ has beaten before.

If there is anything CJ has shown us in this season of soaring highs and pitch-black lows, it has to be that although they do not always perform, CJ has what it takes to overcome the challenges they are presented with. To say that they are the underdogs that keep fighting would be a cliché, but their evolution over the course of the season has been impressive. Round 1 was the story of herO alone keeping his team from falling to last place. Round 2 was the story of Bbyong rising to complement his lone championship caliber teammate and bring CJ closer to the potential the fans swore that they possessed. Round 3 saw Effort come through for the team despite abysmal performances across three rounds. And in Round 4, the team finally approached their full potential as the players put on a dominating 5-0 performance to start off the round, showing that whatever troubles they had they could also put aside.

CJ does not have the deepest or the most consistent roster in Proleague. To become competitive, the team has had to rebuild themselves more than once to match the demands of the world's toughest team league, and it's hard to argue that the team is perfect now. But if there is one thing that has defined CJ this season, it has been overcoming challenges, both their own and those presented by other teams.

And what better challenge to overcome than beating the best team in the world?

Writers: Zealously, jowj, Soularion
Images: KeSPA
Editor: Zealously