Match 1 Recap

Classic < Curious
Zoun > Super
INnoVation > Patience
Dark > aLive
soO < Symbol
Dream > Bomber

SKT 4 - 2 Afreeca
Overall: SKT 1 - 0 Afreeca

Afreeca kicked off the season playoffs with a set of quick and dirty plays in Match 1. Perhaps fearful of the sheer power of the SKT lineup in standard games, their aggressive style also allowed them to avoid a long and tiring start to what could become a three-day grind. Another purpose of this approach might have been to hide strategies from their next opponents, who are watching each and every step of this duel with keen eyes, although given their expectations here, it's more likely that they're taking things one step at a time.

The evening began with a good start for the Freecs, as Curious was able to break Classic with an early roach ravager attack, knocking out SKT’s protoss ace. Then things started to spiral out of control quite quickly however: Super tried his luck with a proxy stargate against SKT’s mystery pick Zoun and did some damage to his opponent’s economy, but wasn’t able to hurt him critically. Instead he was met by an unexpected counter strategy involving the use of disruptors. Zoun eliminating Super was a heavy blow to Afreeca: The protoss had contributed so much during the regular season and was supposed to take an easy victory in this second match.

Patience, who killed several heavy-hitters in the regular matches, also wasn’t able to deliver: The Machine showed up freshly oiled and made short work out of the protoss player, putting SKT ahead. The next match proved to be the most frustrating of the night for Afreeca fans, as aLive secured a huge advantage with an undiscovered 4-rax proxy build. After killing several drones and a hatchery aLive did not go home or bunker up offensively, despite knowing Dark’s only option was counter aggression. He lost several marines to Dark’s hit-and-run ravagers, got chased back to his base under heavy losses and was ultimately busted by an overwhelming force of ravagers. However, soO returned the favour to Afreeca in the next match: His greed enabled Symbol to hit him with a ling baneling attack and keep his team alive for the time being.

Bomber now had the chance to force the ace match, but failed to react to Dream’s mech build on Frost. The SKT terran scored several heavy hits with hellion harassment and even secured a big economical advantage, which forced Bomber into desperate aggression. Dream held the bio-tank push and punished his opponent through a wave of perfectly timed hellbat drops, which left Bomber’s SCVs nowhere safe to run. He started a last offensive doomed for failure and then GG’d out.

Match 2 Preview - All Kill Format

If Match 1 is anything to go by, we might see more aggression from Afreeca. It is entirely possible however, that they’ll try more of a standard style this time, with less ability to plan specifically for map / opponent combinations. There haven't been any all kill match between SKT and Afreeca so far, so this will be a first.

Afreeca have played two All-Kill matches so far this season. In Round 1 Stats scored three kills against them and was stopped by KeeN, before Leenock finished the match off. In Round 3 they lost the opener to herO, but Curious was able to get two victories and bring them ahead. Of course we all know what then happened: MC came out with a vengeance and proved himself an excellent addition for CJ Entus by scoring a three-kill against the Freecs. So looking at this season Afreeca’s All-Kill record hasn’t been all too great. SKT have only played one more match than their adversaries, managing to win a final against Jin Air and an all-kill against CJ Entus—well, and being all-killed by KT. Still, this is more solid than Afreeca’s performances.

The Freecs showed amazing team play during the regular season with every player contributing something critical—even if it’s only a single map. But All-Kill rewards the star power of teams such as SKT so much more: Classic, INnoVation and Dark are all capable of taking out Afreeca’s entire roster by themselves. Backed up by names like soO and Dream this is truly a nightmare scenario for any team, even the ones watching from their comfortable semi-final and final seeds.

We also need to keep in mind that there isn’t much time for preparation between Match 1 and 2—historically the best counter to sheer star power. Afreeca have only a single day to figure out how best to manage the beast they’re facing on the maps they are given. That said, their sniper-capacity is quite good: They have the fabled Billowy, all-killer of KT. Curious has shown that he can end a match quickly. aLive had his game in the bag, but defeated himself. Symbol destroyed soO, one of the most solid ZvZ players this season. They certainly have the abilities they need.

Match Order

INnoVation <Frozen Temple> Patience
<King Sejong Station>
<Frost>
<Dusk Towers>
<Overgrowth>
<New Gettysburg>
<Frozen Temple>

After what we’ve seen in Match 1 the first game should definitely go in SKT’s favour: INnoVation didn’t leave Patience any room to breathe in their encounter, systematically destroying him through his drop play. With INnoVation, there is always the possibility of a failed cheese defence of course, so that might be the route Afreeca want to explore for this opener. Patience is certainly capable of throwing in an unusual build—and he already scored a huge win against SKT this season, so it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for him to triumph here.

Should he fail however, SKT will be in a great position. Patience is one of Afreeca’s most solid assets, so losing him is bad enough. To make matters worse the next map is King Sejong Station, one of INnoVation’s best battlegrounds. Cheesing him there will be tough, defeating him in a longer game even more so. The pressure really is on Afreeca with this starting pick from SK Telecom T1: They need a fast victory before he can get into his groove.

Predictions

Afreeca might be able to take out INnoVation—the terran is known for falling to aggressive styles after all—but if he can take a couple of wins before being kicked out of the match SKT will be in an excellent position to finish the series off a day early: They have so many ace choices, so much star power to stack against the Freecs. Their dream run might be about to end.

SKT 4 - 1 Afreeca

SKT to win 2-0 and advance into the semi-finals.