After five action packed matches we’ve already arrived at the finals of the VSL Team League. Two of the four teams participating have been eliminated from the competition, two remain to battle for the crown.

So far, VSL managed to rewind the clock for old school StarCraft 2 fans to the nostalgic GSTL era, while also delivering the quality of production and gameplay sought by devout Proleague followers. This first edition of the league may have been tested on a small scale and lacked an English-language live broadcast, but fans of the Korean scene worldwide tuned in despite that. We don’t know how VSL will evaluate this trial run. Everyone who tuned in, however, definitely hopes for more StarCraft 2 action produced by the organisation in the future; even with the small scale of the event, this has featured some of the very best production all year long (The stream quality! Picture in picture harassment!). The addiction to Korean teamleagues somehow has to be fed after all.

For now though, we turn our attention to the finals at hand: Live at the G-Star gaming convention in Busan, the teams Yeoksam-dong and No Toss will duel for the title in what is most likely going to be a hard fought uphill battle for No Toss.


Recap: What happened so far…

Opening Day mostly delivered on expectations: ByuN’s squad TRAIN TO BUSAN defeated afniKKa in fairly solid manner, while INnoVation all killed No Toss to give his team Yeoksam-dong an easy ride into the Winners’ Finals.

There, the former SK Telecom T1 members got off to a great start with MyuNgSiK disposing of ByuN’s supporting cast, and finally challenging the reigning world champion himself. It looked like ByuN could turn things around for his group, as the Terran managed to put two victories on the board against MyuNgSiK and Classic, but ultimately a very well performing soO closed things out in favour of Yeoksam-dong (E/N: seriously, go watch that VOD).

In the lower bracket, No Toss continued to suffer loss after loss: As if being all killed by INnoVation had broken them completely, the team fell apart against Afreeca’s starter KeeN, who brought his team into the lead with a 3-0 score. Another all kill seemed inevitable. Finally though, No Toss put up some resistance: Solar—always a shaky asset in team leagues—denied the all kill and reversed the table with four straight victories to safe his team from early elimination.

TRAIN TO BUSAN were already waiting for them in the lower bracket finals. This time, the contest was much closer to begin with. Even though Ryung defeated Dream in a TvT to put TTB ahead, Forte stepped up to the challenge and went one step further than in his great mirror match performance against INnoVation from the first day—against Ryung, he actually managed to close the game out. Ironically, in Hurricane a Protoss player set back No Toss again by eliminating Forte as well as Armani, bringing the series to match point. Facing elimination a second time, Solar took the wheel and the responsibility for his team—and did not let them down. What had rarely worked out very well for SAMSUNG in Proleague proved to be the recipe of success for No Toss in VSL: Trust in Solar. The Zerg stopped Hurricane’s run, inflicted another ZvT loss to the world champion and won the ace match against TRUE.

Sorry guys, this train is not going to Busan. No Toss are.


Preview: Yeoksam-dong vs No Toss

Yeoksam-dong roster:
INnoVation | soO | Classic | MyuNgSiK

No Toss roster:
Dream | Forte | Armani | Solar Dark (we think)

There, consequently, No Toss will arrive as the clear underdog team. Here are the three biggest factors to consider going into this match.

Factor 1: INnoVation

The Machine has all killed No Toss on opening day, gaining a mental edge over the opponents for this following duel—after all it could happen again—and revealing every strategy No Toss had prepared for him. Eliminating INnoVation is no easy feat, especially as No Toss—staying true to their name—have no Protoss option available, which in 2016 has traditionally been the most successful way to get rid of the Terran. The silver lining in this scenario may be called Forte: The youngster has already delivered a very good performance against INnoVation, showing an impressive knowledge of the ex-SKT star’s game by countering him step by step in the early game, but wasn’t able to close the game out. Perhaps giving him a second shot might be the key to success for No Toss.

Factor 2: Solar Dark

Currently, No Toss’ win records read as follows:

Solar: 7-1
Everyone else: 1-9

With Solar currently enjoying life at HomeStory Cup, this puts them into quite the predicament. Against a team who’s already all-killed them once off the bat, they’re now missing the one player who’s dragged them this far in the first place.

It’s lucky then that they have a ready-made replacement. Dark’s currently listed as their only substitute player, and if losing Solar is a huge blow, then gaining the only zerg in the world who’s better than him is an equally fortunate piece of luck. Not only is Dark arguably a superior player, but he’s had a stunning run of form against SKT in 2016. He’s knocked Classic and MyuNgSiK out of the SSL; INnoVation out of Code A; and Classic again from the SSL Season 2 semifinals. In fact, the only SKT player who beat him all year long was Dream; a player who’s now on his team once more. Coincidence? Or does Yeoksam-dong hate Dark so much that they booted him from the squad in favour of an Overwatch player?

Factor 3: Depth and preparation

Of the eight maps No Toss had to win to get to this final showdown, seven have been won by Solar, while only one single game was won by Forte. Armani and Dream have yet to put a point on the scoreboard for their team, both going 0-3 so far. In contrast, Yeoksam-dong offer a much different picture. INnoVation has won four maps during his all kill, in the next series MyuNgSiK scored three kills and soO finished it off, while only Classic stays without a victory for now. No Toss was basically a one-man team, and none of changed when they swapped out their zerg starter. If Yeoksam-dong snipes out Dark cheaply, which, to be fair, is not an easy thing to do, they should be able to close things out quite easily.

What helps the former SK Telecom T1 squad is the lack of Protoss on the other side—enabling more focussed training against the two remaining races—as well as the fact that they have MyuNgSiK available to them, one of the best snipers in the scene. Dark can definitely challenge anyone of Yeoksam-dong in an even match and come out as the victor, but why would they play a fair match, when they can just let MyuNgSiK handle the greatest danger and get it out of their way with some dirty methods. Even if Dark kills one or two of their players, Yeoksam-dong still have that old SKT-luxury of being able to put out star player after star player on the battlefield. Classic and especially a seemingly in-form soO, fresh off winning the Olimoleague Grand Finals, are capable of all killing any team themselves. The prospect of a soO - Dark showdown is especially tantalising.

To triumph in this final, No Toss will need to get rid of INnoVation without suffering too many losses, and they’ll need Dark to beast it up, while surviving any snipe attempt on him at the same time. It would be helpful if Forte, Dream and Armani could at least achieve one or two map wins to help their ace out a bit.

By facing elimination two times and ultimately defying their fate, No Toss have shown certain resilience and courage—well, mostly Solar has—so they probably won’t be all too intimidated by Yeoksam-dong’s overwhelming firepower. After all, the odds have been against them in every match in this tournament.

Can No Toss avenge themselves and triumph, or will Yeoksam-dong finally put them to rest and finish what they started on opening day, proclaiming telecom dominance once more?

Predictions

Yeoksam-dong 4 - 2 No Toss