Welcome to the Afterlife

by banjoetheredskin

As ByuL typed out against Zest in Week 6, his blank look indicated a numb acceptance. CJ Entus had been outplayed for the fourth time. At that point, their hopes of reaching the playoffs were one foot in the grave. The champions of the previous round were on the verge of losing the opportunity to defend their title. As rest of the week unfolded, the gauntlet of conditions for CJ to advance worsened. Their only consolation was that the first step was to beat Prime 3-0. Meanwhile, Jin Air would have had a difficult time advancing if they didn’t beat Samsung. Fortunately for them, Rogue managed to send his team through with an ace win over Solar. This played into CJ’s hand as well, and satisfied another criterion required for them to steal fourth place. KT beat MVP in a match as competitive as Samsung versus Jin Air, and all that was left for CJ was a 3-0 win by SKT. The final close call was the base trade in MyuNgSiK versus soO, and in a critical blunder MyuNgSiK lost the game, all but securing the final spot in the playoffs for CJ. So here they are, the first team in SC2 Proleague's history to advance to a playoffs with a losing record.

In just the past two years, CJ and Jin Air will suit up for their fifth head-to-head match in the playoffs. CJ’s victory in the Round 2 Finals evened up the score, and at 2-2, a budding rivalry will continue to develop in this bronze match. It began last season as CJ, a team that started out near the bottom, steadily improved and worked their way up into the playoff picture with a few spectacular performances. Jin Air came in as a frontrunner because of their great depth, and kept themselves in the contest for second place the entire year. In 2015, as CJ further improve and Jin Air iron out their weaknesses from last year, the two teams remain in close competition for first place, with SKT on their heels threatening. It’s a disappointment for both teams that one will have to be eliminated as early as the bronze match, and winning here will go a long way in grabbing a crucial bye or two when the season playoffs roll around.

[W/N: This year’s season playoffs follow the format of the round playoffs, unlike last year, so the overall first and second place teams will receive byes the way the top round robin teams do now.]

Roster Breakdown

CJ, like all of the teams that are typically successful enough to reach the playoffs, have a few mainstay players who will be sent out above all others, because they are just that good. Aces herO and ByuL will certainly play, barring an all-kill by the former, and it is likely that ByuL will be the final boss. Although he is not in every situation necessarily the best player, his individual league success, particularly a GSL finals, and winning record against Maru have solidified him as an equal substitute for herO when push comes to shove. In fact it was during the finals of Round 2 that ByuL was fielded as the fourth and final player, achieving the unlikely reverse-three kill to send his team home with the gold.

Moving down the hierarchy, there is Bbyong. Definitively a level above the remaining teammates, the Terran identified by his love for mech, an abundance of widow mine drops, and multi-pronged aggression is a clear third-best player on the team. Given the map order especially, Bbyong should be the third player CJ use, one before the final stop at ByuL, and may even have a crafty build prepared specifically for one of Jin Air’s heavier hitters. Further down the bench are sKyHigh, Hush, and RagnaroK. They have been scheduled the most as fourth men, though each has had limited success. Hush remains a PvP expert, and with Jin Air’s main Protoss player lined up first, it’s unlikely his name will be called. sKyHigh has struggled the most in TvT, with mixed results in TvZ and TvP as he takes after his teammate Bbyong with potent mech play and early factory aggression. RagnaroK must have a favorable reputation in practice, for he was scheduled to play three times in his first round after joining the roster. However, twice CJ won the match 3-0 before he had his moment. In his only actual game he lost to soO’s unbeatable ZvZ, so not much can be said for where RagnaroK’s skill is, but it seems unlikely that Coach Park will feel like he’s needed. Sora could perhaps fall into this category, after earning two games this round but losing them both from at the very least neutral positions. It appears more that CJ have been tossing different fourth men around to see if someone sticks, and Sora was just another one who didn’t. Finally, Bunny and Trust haven’t played all season, so don’t expect that to change.





Similar to CJ, Jin Air have a core of three great players and then a rotating fourth spot. Super ace Maru leads the pack as someone they can rely on to beat anyone. He has anchored their team in the all kill format with multiple kills just about every time he comes out, unless he’s there only to close out the win. With superb TvP and excellent TvT, the only real concern Maru should have is drawing his weakest matchup in TvZ. ByuL in particular has caused problems for the Jin Air Terran, so he will either look to avoid that entirely or design a build specifically to work around his flaws with only one formidable Zerg opponent. Right behind Maru are sOs and Rogue, two players who have had their share of ups and downs. Last year sOs finished tied for first in wins, and this year Rogue sits second. Rogue has also made two ace appearances, winning both. While sOs’ reputation has for a longer time been that of a crafty player who wins largely due to his preparation, Rogue’s notoriety for unveiling special builds has doubled over the past year. In the Round 2 finals against CJ, Rogue even earned a three-kill over herO, sKyHigh, and Bbyong with well-calculated responses to their respective tendencies.

Cure and Trap are the only two who have had substantial playtime to be considered a core part of the roster, and their utility is largely situational. Cure’s slump in TvT recently suggests his more well-established TvP and TvZ are ideal for Jin Air, so he might be expected to take care of herO or ByuL should it come to that. Trap has played only 10 games this season to Cure’s 20, and with only a run in IEM Katowice to judge him otherwise, Coach Cha will be the one to show where Trap is most useful. Just from watching his games, he is quite comfortable in PvZ, which diversifies Jin Air’s options against ByuL. The remainder of the lineup: Terminator, Pigbaby, Symbol, and Check have combined for four games. Like Bunny and Trust on CJ, it should go without saying that there are no conceivable situations in which they would be chosen, save a very specific snipe on a player like herO or ByuL.

Player and Map Analysis

Deadwing is by design a map Protosses have loved, and throughout its duration in Proleague it has seen by far the most PvPs. sOs is no surprise here, especially with another Protoss-friendly map, Echo, second on the list. In their previous meeting, CJ chose to start herO and drew a favorable PvT against Cure. They have repeated this tactic, but now, the odds are much more indecisive. sOs has historically done very well to take advantage of herO’s style and the ample amount of material he has left to study. However, there will be no proxy gates on a four player map, and proxy tech buildings (or hidden bases, since we’re talking about sOs) are more run-of-the-mill. When herO advanced out of the all Protoss group in S2SL, he showed marked improvement in the matchup. What was once his Achilles heel is now just statistically his weakest matchup, more akin to Maru’s TvZ. With a game that could go either way, a lot of pressure falls on this first map to set the team into a rhythm with a one map advantage, which allows for the flexibility of throwing away one player to attempt a snipe.

Further down the list is Expedition Lost, where it is quite likely Rogue will come out if he hasn’t already, or if he is needed. Cactus Valley, Vaani Research Station, and Coda offer good opportunities for the CJ Terrans to do some work, but that also applies to Maru. With Jin Air’s previously demonstrated confidence in Rogue to take the reins in the ace match, it’s not implausible that they will deploy Maru relatively early. If he can seal the match there, that’s great for them. If not, they still have a deadly Zerg without the fear of herO (with the exception of an all-kill, but herO has yet to accumulate more than two kills in a playoffs match). Even so, Rogue has a 3-1 record against herO in their recent meetings. Just like last time, the odds seem to stack up Jin Air’s favor. Everything played into their hands, and they were moments from a 4-1 stomp, when ByuL decided it was his time to shine. It was an improbable end to what would have been the teams’ most one-sided meeting in the playoffs. But in this format, we can always expect the unexpected.