All Of This Has Happened Before...

by TheOneAboveU

One last match, and then Proleague fans will have only the Season Playoffs left to look forward to before the Korean scene's most regular feature goes on break. For the dual purposes of inciting nostalgia and creating excitement for things to come, there could be no better match to conclude the regular season than this. SK Telecom, KT Rolster. The eternal rivals meet once more, but contrary to their past duels this year KT come in as clear underdogs, having been bested by their opponents more times than they'd like to remember. A fitting end, too, as SK Telecom have dominated the 2015 season: they snatched three out of four first places in the rankings and won two Round Playoffs. KT, on the other hand,have more or less struggled the entire year, and failed to do either. With last season still so fresh in memory, 2015 has been a far cry from the team's surprising yet dominant 2014 performance. In this, neither the Protoss duo nor the acquisition of Life has brought KT anywhere near the efficiency of last year's seemingly immovable four-man core.

What’s worse though, is the overall score from this season's Telecom face-offs. Going by maps SKT are in the lead with 11 wins to 6 losses, going by matches they lead 3 to 1. KT's first and last victory came through an ace match victory in Round 1 (in January, mind). Facing an uphill battle like that, KT know they have their work cut out for them. And their rivals are trying everything possible to even extend their mental advantage. How are they doing this?

Round 4 Playoffs: SK Telecom T1 vs KT Rolster

by TheOneAboveU

Sunday, Sep 13 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00)

SK Telecom vs KT Rolster

Credits to xpaperclip



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Round 4 Playoffs - Finals: SK telecom T1 vs KT Rolster

Sunday, Sep 13 11:30 CEST (GMT +02:00)
SK telecom T1 vs KT Rolster
Billowy <Coda> Stats
<Iron Fortress>
<Cactus Valley>
<Vaani Research Station>
<Terraform>
<Echo>
<Coda>

The Path to Empire

In terms of Proleague results, SK Telecom have reached true dominance this year. Winning three of the Regular Rounds and having two Round Playoffs in the bag as well (and staying undefeated for 14 consecutive weeks along the way) matches everything we expected of their star-studded lineup last year. Winning Round 4 would further the case of Team One being the undeniable favourites to win the whole season, to crown an amazing year with the ultimate title. In spite of the player departures that marked the end of last season, there were few that doubted SKT's ability to at least compete That SKT would be able to ascend this path to imperial glory, in such determined manner, was unexpected.

Going through huge roster changes and losing a lot of star power after last season, T1’s line-up looked solid at best, but shaky and perhaps even inexperienced on paper. As we know now, such worries were silly. INnoVation, Classic and soO (despite the latter two's middling records last season) fulfilled their roles as veterans and leaders well, paving the way for new stars such as Dream and Dark who rose up to the challenge and followed their more experienced colleagues. Recently, even the rookie Sorry and the newly acquired Impact were able to rake in wins of their own, earning the full confidence of head coach Choi. He seems to understand the importance of growing new talent to take up the arms of older players, a theme that was common this year.

A balanced racial distribution, a mix of old and new stars as well as promising rookies – SK Telecom doesn’t seem to have an obvious weakness. And yet they decided to send a player that doesn’t really fit into any of these categories. A sign of arrogance one might think, as Billowy has only been fielded two times this season and lost both times. One of his games was in the match T1 lost to KT. It’s a message: “you aren’t even worth the time of our core players, so here’s Billowy.” Of course, Billowy’s past makes this decision all the more effective, because he is indeed a KT-Killer of renown. In 2014, when he was still with MVP, the Protoss went 6:1 against KT Rolster, not only beating Stats twice but also all-killing the team in the Round 2 Playoffs. And not only did he all-kill KT, he did so with almost offensive ease. Billowy being fielded now is basically the reason why SKT signed him after he had left MVP. And that fact makes T1’s message even scarier: “not only do we send a total nobody compared to our other players, this nobody is totally capable of destroying you by himself.” And indeed, if Billowy and Choya's merry mercenaries could conjure such mayhem, what could a team of SKT's prowess manage?

Of course this pick isn’t entirely without risk, as cheeky of a mindgame as it is. Billowy, as great as he can be with time for preparation, isn’t the same caliber of player that Stats or Zest are, and there is a high chance that KT can take the lead here. No team has a roster as deep as SKT’s, but sending Billowy out first takes one spot away from a champion-caliber player – a luxury problem, sure, but a very real one.

Deja vú

After all, even though 2015 hasn’t been a year of triumphs for KT, the last weeks have been good to the team. The very real risk of not making the playoffs must have shaken KT - since the risk became a real one, KT have maintained a streak of increasingly convincing victories. The win against Sbenu in the first Round Playoffs match constituted a real team effort, with Stats and Zest pulling important loads on the back of Life's initial victory. More importantly, though, Zest has been looking like a killing machine again, and the seemingly forgotten [E/N: expect outrageous and unrealistic fan fiction at some point] TY was finally allowed to bring out his guns. All-killing CJ Entus in the semifinals from his position as an off-hand starting player in order to enable his team to challenge SKT, TY has hopefully (finally) earned the respect of KT management.

Perhaps the pressure of this last round, the need to advance into the playoffs to even have a shot at defending their title -- facing elimination week after week -- has strengthened their resolve. KT’s will to triumph is as great as it has ever been, and they have the chance to turn the year around and crown a bad start with an amazing finish.

Both teams field some of the greatest StarCraft players of past, present and, not unlikely, the future. We might see a close series, but an all-kill is a real and exciting possibility of itself - we have seen it before. Under these circumstances, with both teams finally performing in ways worthy of their legacies, we might see the best Telecom derby in a long time.

Predictions

TheOneAboveU: SKT 4:3 KT
Zealously: SKT 2:4 KT
Thecrazymunchkin: SKT 4:2 KT
DarkLordOlli: SKT 2:4 KT