Olimoleague Grand Finals 2016

Centre Stage

ByuN vs Ryung

GuMiho vs soO

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

by munch and Mizenhauer

Centre Stage

From its humble origins as a weekly $100 cup, the Olimoleague has morphed into the most prestigious regular online event in Starcraft II. Not since the ESV Weekly has there been an online tournament focussed directly on the Korean scene, and in the past three years we've been given week after week of high quality games. When it arrived in 2014, it gave an outlet to an ailing Korean scene oversaturated with quality players lacking any sort of competition outside Proleague and the GSL. Now, it's helping to fill a corner of the market that's now more important than ever before; propping up a Korean scene reeling in the wake of the events of the past couple of months. The recent expansion to offline finals is another sign of intent for a tournament that's expanded like clockwork, drawing in more players and viewers by the month.

That there's one of the main reasons for the Olimoleague's success. Never before has there been a tournament catering so overtly to the Starcraft fan; a tournament where you can play (and lose!) against your heroes in the opening rounds before enjoying the high quality action as the pros converge in the later stages of the bracket. The allure of beating a Korean pro has kept LR heroes coming back week after week, as has the memey quirkiness of the Basetrade streams (Hoi Hoi Hoi).

While the Grand Finals bring a cap to Olimoleague in 2016, there's no doubt that there's more to come next year. Here's to 2017.

ByuN vs Ryung

Who would have thought a couple months ago that, among these two opponents, Ryung would be the teamless one? With the recent news that he has left MVP, Ryung finds himself in a state of flux. Quite why he’s left is still unclear—MVP are one of the few Korean teams left running after the KeSPA exodus—but undeterred by the recent upheaval, Ryung has been plugging away in online tournaments just as he has been doing all year. While ByuN was busy winning BlizzCon, Ryung is in the midst of his best soO impression, coming in second place in Olimoleagues 72-75. Along the way he has beaten, among others, Patience once and Stats twice. He also managed to win the OlimoLeague September finals by beating aLive, GuMiho and ByuN in succession. These victories over top Protoss and Terran are indication that Ryung is a force to be reckoned with.

Despite those triumphs, it’s difficult to infer too much from his TvT performances in October. As with most TvTers not named ByuN or TY, his consistency in such a punishing matchup isn’t great—he may have beaten the aforementioned Terrans on 4 October, but later in the month, he lost again to each of them in turn. That said, the sheer fact that he managed to defeat ByuN even once in his strongest matchup (82% winrate for 2016) when players like TY have failed so publically in recent times, should bolster Ryung’s confidence immensely.

After all, what can be said about ByuN that hasn’t already been said? His work ethic is unbelievable, his control is immaculate and his skill is undeniable. And yet, more and more as of late, he has found himself being the one to “gg” out of the game. Despite what many might assume given the unstructured environment in which ByuN plays, his greatest asset is his discipline. His builds are executed to perfection and his regimented approach to Starcraft 2 allow him to seize control and dictate the pace of the game. Lesser opponents find it difficult to gain traction as flawless macro and peerless micro steadily batter down their defenses.

It is when analyzing ByuN’s strengths that the cracks begin to appear. ByuN is an aggressive player who starts the game with a clear game plan of applying steady pressure which, when combined with his macro play, generates incremental advantages in his favor. He only lost one game to TY, but it was a game in which TY defended successfully against early pressure while taking the game to a more chaotic late game scenario. Ultimately, it was TY who won by manoeuvering himself into the better end of a basetrade.

The last two series ByuN and Ryung played against each other were both Bo5s last month. Ryung won the first meeting 3-1, while ByuN claimed revenge a week later in a tight 3-2 win. The two are fairly well versed in each other’s stylistic preferences by now—this will mark their 9th duel since the start of August. ByuN has won 6 of those encounters, with a 16-11 record in games. By every metric, ByuN has to be considered the favorite over Ryung. Despite that, ByuN has shown frailties as of late. His losses to soO and Solar in VSL were not exactly close, with both zergs exploiting his seemingly unstoppable reaper play. Whether or not this is an aberration or a sign that players are learning to adjust to his aggressive tendencies and strategies remains to be seen, but it does seem as if a recipe for defeating ByuN is being brewed.

ByuN is top dog going into the Olimoleague Grand Finals. The other players know this and will be preparing exhaustively for him. Part of being the best is that everyone is gunning for you. As newly crowned world champion, we’ll see how ByuN handles the pressure. Ryung will not and should not concern himself with the fact that his first opponent in the Grand Finals is statistically favored against him. Familiarity is his best weapon in this tournament, and with such a small field to prepare for, it’s perfectly believable that he will be able to use it to his advantage.


Predictions:

Ryung has shown promise against the recently crowned world champion, but he’s fallen short more often than not. Expect a close match, but one that eventually goes the way of the man who currently holds the title of Best Player in Starcraft 2.

ByuN 3 - 2 Ryung

GuMiho vs soO

2016 was a year of change for Starcraft 2. Not only did LotV introduce new units and strategies, but it massively shook up the established hierarchy in Korea. Among the many casualties and victors, two of the players who most characterize this shift are soO and GuMiho.

Simply put, 2016 was a disastrous year for soO. It could be argued that his form in 2013-14 was the pinnacle of Zerg play to date, but there is no debate that he has failed to equal those heights since. Reduced to the role of a ZvZ specialist in 2015, soO’s mastery of even that matchup eluded him for long stretches of 2016. Still, his displays in ProLeague were more than respectable (his eleven wins ranked third among Zergs) and he qualified for 3 of the 4 individual leagues. Unfortunately, his most impressive result in said competitions was reaching the Round of 16 in Season 1 of GSL, and his results beyond that paint a grim picture. He only managed a single match win in Starleague Season 1 and GSL Season 2 combined. Between the region lock and SKT’s refusal to allow their players to participate in online events, we’ve had very few opportunities to watch soO work.

We’ve seen a lot of GuMiho, though. His year has been one characterized by defiance and persistence. In ProLeague he was captain, ship, anchor and sail for MVP, a team that struggled mightily even when he was performing at his peak. His results in the last iteration of the team league were incredibly robust, including 3 ace match wins. A single round of 8 appearance in the starleagues might not have been as noteworthy in prior years, but in 2016, with only four opportunities to prove him mettle, he more than held his own. All of that success, however, was underlined by his constant participation in online tournaments. MVP was enormously accommodating, allowing GuMiho to slog through tightly contested fields of quality players week in and week out. It is not clear whether his upswing in form is a product of the frequent tournaments or the key to his success in them, but what’s undeniable is that GuMiho had his best year in recent memory in 2016.

Although obviously devastating, the disbandment of SKT appears to have revived the angry Zerg. soO has been streaming daily, putting his abilities on display for all to watch. Capitalizing on his newfound freedom, he participated in Olimoleague 75 and immediately made his presence known. His first appearance in the league was a resounding victory in which he conquered tournament stalwarts GuMiho and Ryung. He followed that up by massacring three consecutive Protoss and winning the October Monthly Finals.

soO and GuMiho have played against one another a fair amount lately, with soO getting the better of the confrontations. Besides their meetings in OlimoLeague, they participated in a showmatch as part of the GSL’s tournament to showcase the new balance patch. A 3-0 loss to soO in that event is difficult to read too much into given the drastically different metagame, but it could cause GuMiho concern. soO’s victory over ByuN in VSL (VOD) is further evidence that he is more than capable in ZvT matchup. One of the hallmarks of soO’s play during his dominant era in HotS was his bulletproof early ling defence—his 20 minute 3-0 dissection of Solar’s aggression in the GSL quarterfinals remains one of the most impressive shutdowns we’ve ever seen—and his ling control here was similarly fantastic. He succeeded where his ex-teammate Dark failed, constantly flanking ByuN’s reaper pack with lings, preventing them from escaping and regenerating their health.

This is the one of the final tournaments before the major balance patch comes into effect. Results in the GSL balance tournament (including soO and GuMiho’s) seem to indicate that the siege tank/medivac mechanic was more oppressive than many had guessed. For both soO and GuMiho, this tournament could be their final opportunity to dance the tenuous interplay that is Terran versus Zerg in the current incarnation of LotV. Both have shown proficiency in this matchup, but at the OlimoLeague Grand Finals, the biggest event either has been a part of in some time, the rubber truly does meet the road.

Predictions:

GuMiho won’t go down without a fight, but all signs seem to indicate that he doesn’t have what it takes to stop soO. Fueled by the disbandment of his team of 8 years, the angry zerg is on a mission to reclaim his spot among the game’s elite and looks poised to take a third consecutive Olimoleague title.

GuMiho 0 - 3 soO

Writers: munch, Mizenhauer
Graphics: munch
Editor: munch