Playoff Preview
An overview of the seven contenders

Bracket and standings on Liquipedia

World Team League - 2024 Summer Season

by Nakajin

After one last delay for the Esports World Cup, the WTL Summer season will finally conclude this weekend with the playoffs.

Top seeded Vitality and BASILISK come in as the championship favorites, but their victory is hardly assured in a format where a single player can have an outsize impact if they get hot. And who is hotter right now than Clem? The Liquid ace nearly led his team to the title last season, and now that he's in world championship form, TL once again threaten to crash the championship picture.

Schedule

• Friday, Aug 30 11:00am GMT (GMT+00:00):
  • Round 1: PSISTORM vs Platinum Heroes
    
  • Round 2: Team Liquid vs Round 1 winner
• Saturday, Aug 31 11:00am GMT (GMT+00:00):
  • Round 3: Shopify Rebellion vs Round 2 winner
    
  • Round 4: Weibo Gaming vs Round 3 winner
• Sunday, Sep 01 11:00am GMT (GMT+00:00):
  • Semifinal: BASILISK vs Round 4 winner
    
  • Grand final: Vitality vs Semifinal winner

Playoff Match Format

While most WTL fans should be familiar with the playoff format after all these years, it never hurts to brush up on one of the more complicated systems in StarCraft II (although, if you survived EWC, you should be good).

Unlike other SC2 teamleague formats, WTL playoff matches are based around a LOSE CONDITION rather than a win condition. Each team has four 'lives,' and the first team to reach zero lives loses the match.

As in the regular season, a match consists of several best-of-two series. Only the initial players for each team are predetermined, while the remaining players are chosen as the match progresses.

If a series ends 2-0, the winning player remains active and plays in the next series. The losing player is eliminated and their team loses a life. The losing team then picks a new player to play in the next series.

If the result of a series is a 1-1 tie, then both players are eliminated, both teams lose a life, and both teams must send out a new player for the next series.

Revives: Each team is allowed a single revive prior to the ace-match (see below), returning an eliminated player to the match.

Should the series go to an ace match, each team is given another revive. However, this 'ace-revive' cannot be used on a player that was already revived (no double-reviving).

Ace Matches: If a match ends in a 1-1 tie when both teams are down to one life, they will have effectively reached zero lives at the same time (the team that goes up 1-0 first does NOT win; the second game of the match must be played). In that case, a single BO1 ace match is played to decide the outcome of the series. Ace match players may be selected/revived as described above.

Playoff Preview: Team Overview

#7 Seed: Platinum Heroes + R8 – 13 points, 4-7 record, -13 map differential

Roster and regular season records:

• goblin (12-9)
  
• Kelazhur (8-11)
  
• YoungYakov (4-8)
  
• ShaDoWn (2-4)
  
• Nikich (1-1)
  
• Nicoract (1-6)

The Platinum Heroes were somewhat lucky to make the playoffs this season, as the get-in line of 13 points was the lowest since the WTL moved to its current format. With the Heroes only earning a single point against the six other playoff teams during the regular season, they're looking rather outclassed by the rest of the postseason contenders.

It's not all doom and gloom for the designated underdogs. That one point they earned against playoff teams in the regular season? They took it from their very first opponent in the playoffs, PSISTORM-NAVI.

Also, starting at the bottom of the gauntlet isn't necessarily a death sentence, since you never know who might catch fire for the playoffs—just ask last season's runner-up Team Liquid! Of course, there's no one like Clem on the Heroes' roster, but they have a collection of players who have proven they can punch above their weight class.

In particular, Goblin has been a revelation this season, putting up a 12-9 record while facing a tough slate of opponents. It's especially notable that he got better as the season progressed, finishing strong with 1-1 ties against ByuN, Reynor, and HeroMarine in the final three rounds. In many sports, it can be better to have momentum headed into the playoffs than to have a good regular season overall, and Goblin might be in position to make an impact.

Platinum Heroes will need to deploy their roster strategically and catch some breaks if they're to prevail against PSISTORM. There's a lot of complicated match-up dynamics to consider: Goblin has the best shot of upsetting MaxPax (a bad shot, but the best shot nonetheless) but he's on an 8-match losing streak to Spirit, Kelazhur has a puncher's chance of taking down Spirit but he's drawing dead against MaxPax with a 18-match losing streak, and so on and so forth…

It wouldn't be unrealistic for the Platinum Heroes to pull off a 1-1 upset tie against one of PSISTORM's big two, but to get the overall win, they need to achieve a 2-0 somewhere in the match. And that, unfortunately, does seem unrealistic.

Still, the Heroes have earned a chance to roll the dice, and they will be hoping lady luck is on their side.

#6 Seed: PSISTORM Gaming + NaVi – 17 points, 6-5 record, +1 map differential

Roster and regular season records:

• MaxPax (20-5)
  
• Spirit (12-12)
  
• Gerald (4-16)
  
• Namshar (0-2)

The WTL format has always favored top-heavy teams with exceptional superaces, but somehow PSISTORM has never been able to capitalize like other competitors. In fact, during their previous five seasons in the league, PSISTORM have only won a single playoff match. While they're heavily favored to get their second win against Platinum Heroes, it will be much harder to notch win number three if/when they face #5 seed Team Liquid.

MaxPax is the linchpin of PSISTORM, playing himself into regular season MVP consideration with a 20-5 record. He's clearly a top two-Protoss in the world when it comes to online play, and he's capable of taking a 2-0 over anyone in his preferred setting (including the big hitters on BASILISK and Vitality). While the demure Dane has failed to convert his online prowess to WTL playoff success in previous seasons, it's not the biggest strike against him. Even Clem—one of the best players in the world for the past four years—underperformed in WTL for several seasons before going supernova in the last playoffs. The current version of MaxPax is the best we've ever seen, and he's in position to have a monster playoff run of his own. If he were to topple Clem and Team Liquid, then it would further enhance his mystique as the greatest online-only player.

Compared to last season's playoffs that saw PSISTORM fall to TL at the exact same stage of the gauntlet, PSISTORM come in with a stronger roster that's bolstered by Spirit (you'll recall that Spirit left PSISTORM on the eve of the playoffs to join NAVI, only to return as a mercenary months later). Spirit's impact will be slightly dulled against TL due to TvT being his most vulnerable match-up, but he's still a major upgrade over the hot and cold Gerald as the #2 option. Forcing a draw against Cure, Clem, or Skillous is very much within his abilities, and if he can score a clean 2-0, then the situation will start to look very rosy for PSISTORM.

Gerald is a wildcard as always, and it should be noted he was the only player to take a map off of Team Liquid last season (1-1 tie against Elazer). However, the Polish Protoss' form always seems to be seesawing in the WTL, and any positive contribution should be considered a bonus.

I expect a close series, but the momentum of TL and Clem seems a bit too strong at the moment. However, if PSISTORM can defeat TL in a match where MaxPax plays at 100%, they could very well follow in TL's footsteps and make a deep run of their own.

#5 Seed: Team Liquid – 22 points, 7-4 record, +13 map differential

Roster and regular season records:

• Clem (12-8)
  
• Cure (11-9)
  
• SKillous (9-6)
  
• Elazer (5-3)
  
• MaNa (4-2)

Last week, Clem took home the biggest ever StarCraft II payday for himself at the Esports World Cup, and in doing so, helped Team Liquid win a $4 million dollar jackpot in the EWC Club Championship. However, real StarCraft 2 fanatics know there’s a greater, more coveted honor that money can't buy: the World Team League championship.

Okay, probably not. But the point is, Clem is playing the best StarCraft II of his career, and he's primed to carry TL to the WTL championship that barely eluded them last season. Remember, last season's incendiary playoff run came on the tail of his DreamHack Atlanta championship run two weeks prior. Now that he's won the world championship, surely he'll be even better?

There are just two things that give me pause. The first is Clem's long-lingering problems with TvT. Just weeks before EWC, Ryung brought this weakness to the fore by smacking him down 2-0 in TL's final match of the WTL regular season. While Clem proved he's the best TvZ and TvP player in the world at EWC, he was also fortunate to dodge TvT entirely. The other question mark is the post-championship hangover. Of course, the skills gained from practice aren't just going to evaporate in the span of a week. But after winning $450,000 and achieving the biggest goal of his career, one could hardly blame Clem if he was not 100% focused mentally. While Clem did go on last season's legendary playoff run shortly after winning DreamHack Atlanta, he was still looking even further ahead to EWC at that point. Right now, I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't fully locked in, or was even excused from playoff duty entirely.

Regardless of whether he's playing as the second option or the ace, Cure will have to step up. Cure's reputation as one of the strongest WTL players ever has taken a hit since he joined TL, as he's been decidedly 'meh' in back to back seasons. Still, the DPG version of Cure is surely lurking somewhere in the recesses of his mind, and you can't rule out the possibility that he Hulksmashes a bewildered opponent. Even if Cure isn't playing at his best, the fact that he's a top three TvT player in the world relieves a lot of burden for Clem. To look many rounds forward, Cure has shown he can beat Maru in BO3 TvT matches, and that could be a huge difference maker.

As for their third rotation player, TL has the advantage of being able to choose between either SKillous and Elazer depending on the match-up. As much as we highlight the role of superaces, for a team to actually win it all, they need key contributions from their whole roster.

#4 Seed: Shopify Rebellion – 22 points, 8-3 record, +14 map differential

Roster and regular season records:

• ByuN (18-6)
  
• Scarlett (10-6)
  [*Lambo (7-5)
  
• Harstem (6-10)

Yet again, the Shopify Rebellion was one of the teams that best embodied the idea of 'the whole is greater than the sum of the parts,' narrowly besting TL to clinch the #4 seed. Unfortunately, while Shopify have become accustomed to entering the playoffs with a mid-high seed, they've also become accustomed to bombing out almost immediately.

The conventional wisdom says that this is due to the top-heavy playoff rewarding different types of teams from the regular season, but this doesn't totally add-up when you look at WTL history. Similarly constructed teams like Alpha-X (Zoun-RagnaroK-Astrea) and Maru-less iterations of Team NV (DRG-Creator-NightMare-Bunny) have both made final runs on the back of all-around strong performances from their balanced rosters. However, for whatever reason, Shopify's up and down players have been almost uniformly down in the playoffs.

I'm wary of making any definitive declaration, but I fear Shopify's championship window may have already closed. This version of Shopify is just barely clinging to that 'all-rounder' reputation, with this season having been more of a 'ByuN and friends' type experience. Perhaps Scarlett, Lambo, and Harstem are nominally players with strong upset potential as snipers, but they're not quite on the same level as they were 1~2 years ago. Also, their combined 27% win-rate against Clem and MaxPax does not inspire much confidence in this playoff bracket. One has to fear an outcome like last season's playoff match against TL: Shopify barely losing with ByuN going 7-3, while Scarlett and Harstem go 0-5.

#3 Seed: Weibo Gaming – 26 points, 9-2 record, +21 map differential

Roster and regular season records:

• herO (19-4)
  
• Oliveira (11-7)
  
• Jieshi (9-9)
  
• soO (6-4)

#3 seed Weibo Gaming has proven to be much more resilient than expected. After the departure of Dark in the off-season, it seemed like DKZ had lost their status as one of the league's superteams. Yet, thanks to a magnificent effort from herO, another solid campaign from Oliveira, and some fantastic contributions from Jieshi and soO, DKZ/Weibo Gaming have remained an excellent team, if not quite super.

The strength of Weibo Gaming lies in the versatility of their leading duo. Neither herO nor Oliveira have clear match-up vulnerabilities, meaning they don't have to deal with the tricky match-up machinations that ail other squads. In fact, both herO and Oliveira have taken on ace duties this season, with Oliveira actually playing in more matches. EWC showed that both players are in good form, and while winning a BO5+ against Serral might be too much to ask, they definitely have what it takes to neutralize any WTL ace in the BO2 format.

A potential weakness for WBG is the tag team of Jieshi and soO for the third slot in the line-up. Even though they defied expectations by achieving a 50%+ combined win-rate in the regular season, one has to wonder if the bottom will fall out in the playoffs. Still, the two have proven themselves to be solid mirror match-up snipers, and there should be plenty of valid targets for them in the playoffs.

If WBG can play their cards right, they definitely have a chance of upsetting stronger but more unbalanced squads. With Serral looking mortal once more, and Jieshi and soO being solid sniper options for ShoWTimE and Reynor, I can see Weibo beating the odds and reaching the grand finals.

#2 Seed: BASILISK + Showtime – 27 points, 9-2 record, +24 map differential

Roster and regular season records:

• Reynor (17-7)
  
• Serral (12-0)
  
• ShoWTimE (11-9)
  
• trigger (6-6)

Two weeks ago, I was ready to do what I always do and pencil in BASILISK as the future champions (definitely not trying to reverse-jinx them; no one would ever do that). However, after being the biggest BASILISK optimist for three seasons straight, I'm making an abrupt pivot to being a skeptic.

None of these doubts come from BASILISK's performance during the WTL regular season. The first few weeks were definitely rough, with Serral missing time for military training and ShoWTimE struggling to adjust to the new competition. However, BASILISK hit their stride in the second half, with ShoWTimE proving himself to be a big upgrade over trigger while Serral eventually rejoined the roster without having lost a step. In the last five weeks where BASILISK were at full strength, the team looked completely untouchable.

However, the Esports World Cup has changed my perception. Serral is coming off of his worst defeat of his career, going a combined 0-8 against Clem over the course of two series. That made me wonder if his difficult 3-2 win over Oliveira at DreamHack Dallas wasn't just a blip, and there's some weakness in his TvZ that's being masked by his peculiar domination of Maru. Not only that, but the EWC was a showcase for herO against BASILISK players. He achieved a combined 5-0 record against Reynor, while he pushed Serral to the limit in their second BO5 (though Serral did take a 3-0 in their first meeting).

With Team Liquid (Clem) or WBG (Oliviera and herO) being their likely opponent, I'm tempted to say BASILISK are actually the underdogs in the semifinals. If BASILISK do happen to prevail and reach the finals, I don't think it will be because Reynor got back in form or ShoWTimE came up big. It will be because Serral, once again, was punishing his doubters for thinking he was the slightest bit vulnerable.

#1 Seed: Team Vitality – 27 points, 9-2 record, +30 map differential

Roster and regular season records:

• Maru (19-3)
  
• Solar (19-4)
  
• Ryung (11-12)

Team Vitality is one match away from making StarCraft history in a small but meaningful way. In all of StarCraft's 2 major team leagues (GSTL, IPTL, Proleague, ATC, CTC/GTC, WTL), only a single team has ever managed a three-peat: the famously imba 2021-22 Dragon Phoenix Gaming in the WTL. Vitality has a chance to one-up that mythical DPG squad in an even more competitive WTL environment, where most of the top players in the world have joined in. While Proleague will never be rivaled in scale, a three-peat for Vitality would lock in their status as the greatest team of the post-KeSPA era (unless WBG claims both the DPG and KaiZi legacies, but that's a tangent for another day).

It won’t be easy for Vitality, even with the enormous benefit of having the #1 seed. Maru and Solar had mediocre to disappointing EWC runs (depending on one's expectations), while Ryung failed to make the cut to begin with. The obvious retort is that Vitality players have consistently played much better in the WTL than in individual leagues, clutching out big win after big win. However, the last few weeks of this regular season were very troubling, with Vitality almost fumbling what had seemed like an insurmountable lead. While that VIT clutchness did reveal itself in the end—with Ryung 2-0'ing Clem in the final match of the season—it was far too close for comfort. They're sure to be pushed to the edge once more in the playoffs—what if this time, they actually fall?

VIT fans will remind you of the old saying: ‘’Life Vitality finds a way.’’ BASILISK were the title favorites in the last two seasons (or at worst, co-favorites), but both times, Vitality were the ones who claimed the championship in the end. Both times they were saved by unexpected heroics, with Solar neutralizing Serral in WTL Summer 2023, and Ryung sniping Clem in WTL Winter. Preparation, discipline, and frankly, some inexplicable teamleague bulls***, have kept Vitality on top of the league. I have no doubts they will come to the finals with a brilliant plan and some clever builds, but their ultimate success may be determined by whether or not they can conjure that WTL magic again.

As far as realistic finals matchups go, Vitality would probably love a rematch against Team Liquid as they're well suited to handle Clem in TvT and Cure in ZvT. Against WBG, there aren't any match-up advantages to be found against Weibo, but Vitality should probably be able to take them out based on their slightly superior overall power level.

BASILISK is once again the most dangerous potential foe, but it all depends on the day-to-day form of the members of team science. Solar may have sucker punched Serral in ZvZ once, but subsequent matches suggest this was a huge outlier. Full-strength Serral, backed by merely okay versions of Reynor and ShoWTimE, should beat Vitality.

This is the shakiest Vitality have looked headed into WTL playoff weekend, and their chances of winning a historic third title in a row will hinge on who earns the right to challenge them.

Playoff Predictions

Round 1: PSISTORM Gaming + NaVi > Platinum Heroes + R8
Round 2: Team Liquid > Psistorm Gaming + NaVi
Round 3: Team Liquid > Shopify Rebellion
Round 4: Weibo Gaming > Team Liquid
Round 5: Weibo Gaming > BASILISK +Showtime
Round 6: Vitality > Weibo Gaming

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