• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 08:03
CEST 14:03
KST 21:03
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
RSL Season 1 - Final Week6[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall12HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0
Community News
Firefly given lifetime ban by ESIC following match-fixing investigation17$25,000 Streamerzone StarCraft Pro Series announced7Weekly Cups (June 30 - July 6): Classic Doubles7[BSL20] Non-Korean Championship 4x BSL + 4x China10Flash Announces Hiatus From ASL79
StarCraft 2
General
RSL Revival patreon money discussion thread The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings Weekly Cups (June 30 - July 6): Classic Doubles Server Blocker RSL Season 1 - Final Week
Tourneys
RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo) $25,000 Streamerzone StarCraft Pro Series announced
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome Mutation # 478 Instant Karma
Brood War
General
[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall Flash Announces Hiatus From ASL BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion A cwal.gg Extension - Easily keep track of anyone
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues 2025 ACS Season 2 Qualifier Small VOD Thread 2.0 Last Minute Live-Report Thread Resource!
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile CCLP - Command & Conquer League Project The PlayStation 5 Nintendo Switch Thread
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine The Accidental Video Game Porn Archive Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion NBA General Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Men Take Risks, Women Win Ga…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 720 users

Master's Coliseum - Group Stage Preview

Forum Index > SC2 General
12 CommentsPost a Reply

Master's Coliseum - Group Stage Preview

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
August 22nd, 2023 05:24 GMT

Master's Coliseum: Group Stage Preview

by Wax

There's a long gap between the two ESL Masters seasons this year, but there's been no lack of third party events to keep delivering high-level StarCraft in the meanwhile. We've already had Gamers8 and the World Team League playoffs in August—now it's time for Master's Coliseum!

Master's Coliseum

Held by WTL organizers SCBOY, Masters' Coliseum resembles an online version of Katowice. 24-players start in a round-robin group stage before moving on to a 12-player playoffs. However, there aren't any pesky offline time constraints as in Katowice, which allows for the playoffs to be held in a double-elimination format.

Tournament Overview

Schedule:
  • August 22-23 11:00 GMT (+00:00): RO24 Group A
  • August 24-25 11:00 GMT (+00:00): RO24 Group D
  • August 26-27 11:00 GMT (+00:00): RO24 Group C
  • August 28-29 11:00 GMT (+00:00): RO24 Group B
  • TBD-September 10th: Double-elimination playoffs

Prize money: ¥300,000 CNY (approximately $41,000 USD), ¥120,000 for first place
Stream: Open to community streamers— Check TL.net at match times!

Players and groups: (Note: Groups are played in A-D-C-B order)

[image loading]


Group Stage Preview

The top two players from each group start in the winners' bracket of the double elimination playoffs. The third place player from each group starts in the losers' bracket. The bottom three players from each group are eliminated.

Group A: Serral, ShoWTimE, GuMiho, Trigger, MaxPax, Maru

August 22-23 11:00 GMT (+00:00)

The story for Group A seems to be simple at first glance: Serral will lock up first place without any Zergs to challenge him, Maru will take the second place slot, and the other four players will scrap for the third place spot.

However, Maru might be more vulnerable than his reputation suggests. He had poor results at AfreecaTV Champions Cup and Gamers8 (RO8 eliminations), and has losing records against Serral, GuMiho, and even MaxPax in the last couple of months. If this mini-slump continues, there's a realistic worst-case scenario where he goes 3-2 and is eliminated on map score differential.

Among the other contenders, I give MaxPax the slight edge over GuMiho and ShoWTimE in terms of claiming the third (or second) playoff spot. All three players are similarly strong at their peaks, but MaxPax is by far the most consistent. Unfortunately for Trigger, it's hard to give him any chance at advancing at this time, despite his considerable growth in 2023 so far.

Prediction: Serral, Maru, MaxPax advance.

Group D: Lambo, Ryung, Cure, Cyan, DongRaeGu, Dark

August 24-25 11:00 GMT (+00:00)

The situation here is eerily similar to Group A, with Cure and Dark standing out as the two favorites to advance, the trio of DRG, Ryung, and Lambo duking it out for third place, and Cyan looking rather outmatched by his more accomplished opponents.

Again, like Group A, I think the projected second place player Dark could be vulnerable to being upset. ZvZ is very volatile at the top end of pro play, and both Lambo and DRG could easily deal him a loss or two. On top of that, he's really struggled against Cure as of late (especially in the late-game), so there's a 3-2 elimination scenario on the table.

In terms of who claims the third place spot, it's a very tight three-way between DRG, Lambo, and Ryung. It's true that Ryung's TvZ is weak compared to his TvP and TvT, but that's only a fatal weakness against the absolute best Zergs. His two-base timings, proxy-Barracks cheeses, and late-game turtling could very well get him over the hump against DRG and Lambo. Alas, I can't see any plausible scenarios for Cyan to get through. However, like Trigger, he could throw a wrench in the works for someone else by taking a few maps or series.

Prediction: Cure, Dark, Ryung advance.


Group C: Solar, HeroMarine, Spirit, RagnaroK, NightMare, ByuN

August 26-27 11:00 GMT (+00:00)

It's not quite the group of death, but Group C deserves some notice for being the most even overall. ByuN and Solar might be slight favorites on paper, but all six players have a fighting chance of making it to the playoffs.

The two most interesting competitors for me here are RagnaroK and NightMare. RagnaroK achieved his best career result back at IEM Katowice, stunning Serral to finish in the top four. His subsequent slump made this seem like a flash in the pan, but various GSL interviews suggested RagnaroK had continued to maintain a high level of play on the ladder. Recently, he showed there was some substance behind this praise, reaching the top four of AfreecaTV Champions Cup. I think that's more in line with his 'true' level of play, and he's my pick to take third place in the group.

NightMare might seem to fall into the Trigger/Firefly/Cyan category as the designated last place player, but I think he's proven just enough to be considered a long-shot contender for a playoff berth. He's earned himself Code S 'regular' status over the last year (even if that means much less in 2023 than it has in the past), and had a very solid WTL regular season where he went 14-8 in maps and stole 1-1 ties off Reynor and ByuN. While I'm not predicting NightMare to advance, I'm looking forward to seeing if he can keep things competitive against stronger players and continue his steady improvement.

Prediction: Solar, ByuN, RagnaroK advance.

Group B: Clem, Creator, Reynor, Firefly, Elazer, herO

August 28-29 11:00 GMT (+00:00)

A few months ago, it would have been easy to pick Reynor, Clem, and herO as the three heavy favorites to advance. However, herO's slump has gone from concerning to catastrophic over the last few months, culminating in group stage elimination at Gamers8. At this point, I wouldn't blame anyone for picking Creator or Elazer to advance ahead of him (although both of those players were also eliminated in the group stage of Gamers8).

Personally, I'm willing to extend herO the benefit of the doubt for just one more event. He's still very strong in ESL Open Cups, and I'm a firm believer that weekly cup form translates to results in bigger events in the long term. It's more likely that this is a nerves/mentality crisis herO is going through right now, rather than one of skill. Considering his championship pedigree, especially that of being the only post-military player to win a Code S title, I believe he'll eventually get his act together and retake his position as a top championship contender.

Another Protoss I'm cautiously optimistic about is Firefly. His last two seasons in the World Team League were very impressive for a player of his stature, recording well over a 50% win-rate and taking 1-1 ties off of players like Clem, Neeb, GuMiho, and Reynor. However, he hasn't been able to convert this to individual tournament success at all, getting 'upset' by Coffee in the last two EPT China regionals. Even if Firefly has maxed out as a team league wild card so far in his career, for the sake of Protoss, I hope there's more potential for him to unlock.

Prediction: Reynor, Clem, herO to advance.



Credits and acknowledgements

Writer: Wax
Images: SCBOY/World Team League
Statistics and records: Aligulac.com and Liquipedia

Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
derkopf
Profile Joined July 2004
Germany77 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-08-22 08:26:50
August 22 2023 05:51 GMT
#2
Nice write up the predictions, sensible to me I agree, and would see the same one!
A word or two about (Z)Solar, and (T)ByuN would be nice!
I am excited for this tournament!
digmouse
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
China6329 Posts
August 22 2023 07:26 GMT
#3
I'm still proud at coining this name out of a Dragon Ball reference that is too long to sound nice.
TranslatorIf you want to ask anything about Chinese esports, send me a PM or follow me @nerddigmouse.
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France12792 Posts
August 22 2023 09:22 GMT
#4
Schedule seems wrong though, it starts at 1pm CEST according to LR thread + TL.net sidebar.

Otherwise, I kinda agree with the preview, Serral should be #1 easily without any zerg, while Maru is not guaranteed to advance, albeit he is the favorite alongside MaxPax. Group of death by far.
Ryung advancing in group D is kinda ballsy though :D, even if he tries to do 2 bases all-in, it being cross server vs Lambo, or against a prepared DRG, I doubt it will work enough times, but we'll see I guess.

As for group C, HeroMarine is not as good cross server but he has a good shot at advancing imo. Group B I fully agree with the prediction

Kinda hype event, but I am a bit sad that Oliveira cancelled his participation
WriterMaru
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33347 Posts
August 22 2023 10:30 GMT
#5
my bad I'm bad at clocks
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
JuanEchevarria
Profile Joined August 2023
1 Post
August 22 2023 11:12 GMT
#6
I am excited for it.
mintyminmus
Profile Joined September 2022
Australia127 Posts
August 22 2023 11:34 GMT
#7
Pretty sick. Serral vs maru to kick things off
xyfan
Balnazza
Profile Joined January 2018
Germany1141 Posts
August 22 2023 15:15 GMT
#8
Apparently SCBoy is the only one who can get Maru and Serral into match. Impressive!
"Wenn die Zauberin runter geht, dann macht sie die Beine breit" - Khaldor, trying to cast WC3 German-only
CicadaSC
Profile Joined January 2018
United States1619 Posts
August 22 2023 15:17 GMT
#9
this may be the only time ive seen maru last in a group
Remember that we all come from a place of passion!!
tlnetuser108
Profile Joined October 2022
83 Posts
August 22 2023 19:19 GMT
#10
Anyone have the liquipedia link?
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France12792 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-08-28 06:57:11
August 27 2023 18:03 GMT
#11
+ Show Spoiler +
Actually hats off! Group C on point
WriterMaru
StarHaven
Profile Joined May 2023
United States11 Posts
August 30 2023 08:56 GMT
#12
Pretty reliable prediction, although a little bit of a surprise on group D.
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6900 Posts
August 30 2023 11:02 GMT
#13
Solid predictions!

Pretty much everything right and Lambo/ Ryung was as close as it could get. Really a coinflip / daily form kinda thing. Hats off!
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
RSL Revival
10:00
Season 1: Playoffs FINALS
Classic vs ClemLIVE!
Tasteless3342
ComeBackTV 1866
Crank 1522
IndyStarCraft 313
Rex165
3DClanTV 124
IntoTheiNu 56
LiquipediaDiscussion
Sparkling Tuna Cup
10:00
Weekly #97
ByuN vs NicoractLIVE!
TBD vs Percival
CranKy Ducklings111
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Tasteless 3342
Crank 1522
IndyStarCraft 313
Rex 165
MindelVK 28
ForJumy 12
StarCraft: Brood War
Horang2 34988
Jaedong 3989
Pusan 838
BeSt 781
firebathero 643
Mini 609
Larva 415
EffOrt 251
Last 230
Leta 219
[ Show more ]
ToSsGirL 110
Dewaltoss 54
Sea.KH 32
Sharp 29
Shinee 28
Barracks 23
Hm[arnc] 21
Icarus 16
HiyA 13
IntoTheRainbow 12
SilentControl 9
GoRush 9
Movie 9
Noble 8
yabsab 8
Dota 2
Gorgc4771
XcaliburYe526
XaKoH 500
Counter-Strike
x6flipin575
edward60
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor360
Other Games
tarik_tv24338
gofns16145
FrodaN4685
singsing1784
B2W.Neo1170
DeMusliM476
shahzam449
crisheroes366
Happy363
KnowMe174
SortOf156
Pyrionflax112
Organizations
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 13
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH256
• StrangeGG 12
• Legendk 2
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota2148
• Ler68
League of Legends
• Nemesis1369
Upcoming Events
FEL
2h 57m
Elazer vs Spirit
Gerald vs MaNa
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
5h 57m
Bonyth vs Dewalt
QiaoGege vs Dewalt
Hawk vs Bonyth
Sziky vs Fengzi
Mihu vs Zhanhun
QiaoGege vs Zhanhun
Fengzi vs Mihu
Wardi Open
22h 57m
Replay Cast
1d 21h
WardiTV European League
2 days
PiGosaur Monday
2 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
The PondCast
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
[ Show More ]
Epic.LAN
4 days
CranKy Ducklings
5 days
Epic.LAN
5 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
6 days
Bonyth vs Sziky
Dewalt vs Hawk
Hawk vs QiaoGege
Sziky vs Dewalt
Mihu vs Bonyth
Zhanhun vs QiaoGege
QiaoGege vs Fengzi
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
HSC XXVII
NC Random Cup

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
Acropolis #3
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
2025 ACS Season 2: Qualifier
BSL20 Non-Korean Championship
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
Championship of Russia 2025
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters

Upcoming

CSL Xiamen Invitational
CSL Xiamen Invitational: ShowMatche
2025 ACS Season 2
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
K-Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
SEL Season 2 Championship
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
Underdog Cup #2
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.