EPTSPOTV Starleague 2015 Season 2
S2SL Challenger League Day 2
Super vs soO
Cure vs Soulkey
Trap vs Dark
Brackets andLeenock gs on Liquipedia
Starcraft II Starleague
A Trio of Zergs
by Destructicon, lichter and munch
Super vs soO
2015 didn't exactly work out as planned for 2014's Kong extraordinaire. After it was announced that SPOTV would hold their own weekly tournament, one of the prevailing questions was whether
soO could manage a double silver in a single season. He had developed an unnatural affinity for collapsing in finals, and it seemed par for course that he'd dominate the two Starleagues on his way to double heartbreak. Unfortunately, the disappointments came much earlier in the season: soO failed to qualify for either tournament. After over a year dominating as Korea's finest zerg, an inability to even advance from qualifiers filled everyone with mixed feelings. Was this just another piece of soO's Sisyphean narrative, or was this a sign of his broken spirit? Even though he maintained a decent record in Proleague at 5-4, he wasn't designated as a certain starter and swapped places with rising players such as Dream. It appeared to be a slow, austere decline for one of 2014's biggest names.
Yet, just as usual, soO brushed aside his despair for another shot at a title. He first made it through the GSL qualifiers with 2 quick wins over Bunny and Cure. Then, he qualified for S2SL by defeating SpeeD, Check, and DongRaeGu. While he did fall to PartinG, soO had managed to climb out of the cesspool of Code B in a single season. Other greats had been sucked in by the quicksand of failure, but not soO. He sent one of those former champions, Seed, back down to the depths in Code A: a routine 3-1 victory in what remains his weakest matchup. But weakness, despair, and hesitation have only ever stopped soO at the apex. He now starts his climb in S2SL against another protoss.
Without a doubt,
Super was one of the more uncanny players to qualify for both Starleagues last season. While he has always been a strong player with a backbone of powerful timing attacks, Super had always lingered in the ambiguous space of Code A before last season. He clawed his way past FanTaSy and Terminator—albeit two very erratic players—to reach the Ro8 of a premier tournament for only the second time in his career, but he flopped in a 0-3 annihilation at the hands of Dream. That was his strongest matchup, too, but it failed him when it mattered. To reach consecutive main events for the first time in his career, he'll have to overcome his worst.A HotS winrate of 58.26% does not inspire confidence, and he's only won 1 PvZ series against a Korean in 2015. His 9-11 record isn't that bad, but defeats against Sacsri and Armani certainly don't inspire confidence. He does have a win against Soulkey—a 4-2, no less—on the books, and it's strange how his penchant for big mid game attacks that somehow win the game hasn't translated well in PvZ. He's not going to want to play macro games against the best injector in the game, so expect a few clever builds and an all in or two.
Overall Thoughts and Predictions:
There are only two things to ask in this matchup. 1.) Do you still believe in soO?; and 2.) Does soO still believe in himself? Even though he still has the propensity for throwing away leads and overextending when he should reconvene, soO often has enough to win anyway against the league's pretenders. Super might be one of the most unusual success stories of last season, but it will take more than his Swiss army knife of blunt weapons to turn away a determined Kong.
Super 2 - 3 soOCure vs Soulkey
As far as individual leagues go
Cure has had a relatively quiet 2015. Despite doing great in Proleague with a 10-5 record, he failed to qualify for the first seasons of GSL or S2SL. Instead he managed to qualify for IEM Katowice after a marathon of qualifiers: he spent 24 hours on an insane playing spree through 13 different series in order to qualify. He wasn't as successful at IEM Katowice itself, running into herO in the first round, but the whole ordeal seems to have done Cure good, as he qualified for the GSL and got a seed into S2SL due to his Proleague performance. His chances look pretty good as he has defeated many zergs online recently, including Check, Sacsri, Solar and DRG, and also Dark in Proleague. His TvZ is his best matchup, but he should still be cautious as his few losses have come from high caliber zergs like soO and Life, two zergs who know how to plan a series as well as adapt on the spot.On a good day,
Soulkey belongs to that same tier of elite zergs. Yet he continues his struggle to regain his form from 2013. He was knocked out in the Ro16 of the GSL and lost to Rogue in the S2SL challenger, a disappointing turn out for only the best of players. His travels abroad also haven't been fruitful: defeat against Maru at IEM Taipei, losses to Rogue and PartinG at Gfinity Spring Masters. Worse still, he has even dropped series to foreigners in Fragbite Masters. This bodes ill for him as his recent record against terrans has been dismal, losing series to TY, GuMiho and even MarineKing. If Soulkey plays to his strengths and prepares very well for the series he could take it, but momentum is clearly not on his side.Prediction:
Cure 3 - 1 SoulkeyTrap vs Dark
After a successful 2014, it was a shock to see
Trap eliminated early in the qualifiers for both Starleagues. Combined with Jin Air’s reluctance to field their new protoss acquisition in Proleague, Trap’s opportunities were limited. His successful qualification for the IEM World Championship at Katowice, though, was the boost required to kickstart his game back into gear. From the start of qualification up til the finals, Trap went on an incredible run, racking up 19 series victories against a single loss, with a combined 40-9 in map score.Unfortunately, the past month has been one of regrets for Trap once more. Defeat to Zest at Katowice was compounded by a loss in the repeat fixture the following week in Proleague. Successful qualification for one Starleague provided some brief respite, but last night’s defeat in Code A will have been tough to take. Out-thought in the first four games of the series against Panic, it was only Trap’s superior micro that somehow kept him in contention going into the deciding map. For once on the night, he landed on the better side of the build order roulette wheel; for once on the night, a crucial error in control would hand Panic progression to Code S.
While the Jin Air Protoss might be undervalued, trapped in the shadows of more illustrious teammates,
Dark’s rise in prestige this year has been meteoric. His solid play and position as the ace player on SKT has seen him labelled by many as the brightest rising star in the Starcraft scene. However, for all the plaudits that he has garnered, his results last season possibly flattered to deceive. Dual Starleague exits in the Round of 16 aren’t insignificant by any means, but they do show that Dark still has some way to go if he’s to achieve his undoubted potential.Inevitably, the conversation turns to Katowice again, where Trap defeated Dark in a thrilling semifinal. In my opinion, the deciding game on Expedition Lost revealed a lot about the dichotomy surrounding both players. Dark builds his foundations on safety, on standard, predictable play; Trap revels in the chaos of unpredictability. With roaches ravaging his main base, Trap’s decision to basetrade forced Dark into his first questionable engagement of the game, which ultimately proved decisive. As ever in Starcraft when two players of such contrasting styles clash, the winner tonight will come down to seeing which player is able to impose their will on the game. I’m going for a repeat of their Polish adventures.
Prediction:
Trap 3 -1 Dark
