EPT![[image loading]](http://i46.tinypic.com/20jr5ed.png)
Life springs, it burns aflame with passion, it matures and ages,finally it dies...
The cycle of life is apparent in all things we do and enjoy. As our world cycles, so do the lives of thecreatures that inhabit it. After the death of a Proleague season a new one replaces it, the mirth and excitement that was absent in the doldrums of September has made a return and with the first round complete, it's time to start getting serious. Some teams have changed and others have stayed the same; each one hoping to prove themselves better than they were before, for some of those with ambition, passion, and courage: they just might want to be the best.
Spring
![[image loading]](http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/spring-image-wallpaper7.jpg)
New life, new hopes, new promise...
Spring is the season of new beginnings, the rebirth of that which had died, the lively start to a new cycle. A lot of teams have hit this season with high expecations, hoping to accomplish far more than they had in the past, hoping to prove they weren't busts. Some of these teams have new talent, others have simply improved the talent they have already had.
eSTRO
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/pangshai/estro10.jpg)
eSTRO came out this early season and surprised everyone by beating proleague favorites SKT1 and CJ Entus and immediately ranking 5th in the overall standings. UpMagiC has been performing past his expectations, playing ridiculously good ZvT against Luxury (even if he lost) and proving his might as a TvT titan. The new face to the team is Classic. Classic destroyed BeSt in his best matchup on his return to PL, a crushing blow to SK's morale and a huge boost to eSTRO's.
eSTRO is a team that has a lot of potential. UpMagiC is unstoppable in the mirror matchup, able to shut down FantaSy and beat almost any zerg sans Jaedong/Calm. Really killed it this season, going 6-3 overall. While Light is finally getting a fair amount of attention on TeamLiquid this round, Really has been shoved aside and ignored. Perhaps he is the heir to the title "Invisible Terran." hyvaa is an inconsistent player, to be sure, but at his best he's a killing machine. Flying leads a trio of SUPER hyped protoss (including Violet and Movie). He showed some excellent PvZ against the likes of great and has been playing well ever since. Even youngster, Action, has pulled his weight.
eSTRO have yet to severely disappoint me. Their lack of a dominant S-Class player will certainly prevent them from going too far. But with some promising young players, well performing veterans, and a new attitude; the future looks bright for eSTRO.
Airforce ACE
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/photo/1259481236_1.jpg)
Airforce ACE fans had a ball when they took down #2 Proleague team WeMade FOX in week 7. This is the strongest the military boys have ever looked, with Anytime and RuBy heading a deceptively strong duo of players. Reach, XellOs, and DarkElf head a backup roster more than capable of pulling a few wins out.
YellOw, sadly, hasn't performed well. The lack of a good zerg in Oversky has hurt ACE just a bit. However, no one is expect ACE to make the playoffs, or even finish in the top 6. Just keeping out of last place is a small victory for the Airforce boys.
Who knows what'll happen when Much joins them on the stage. Perhaps a top 8 position will be in their future. With rumors about NaDa perhaps joining soon flying around TeamLiquid, good things are coming for the men in the Airforce.
Summer
![[image loading]](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/159/397396361_13cb3ce339.jpg)
Summer is a season filled with heat, passion, romance, and most importantly heat. Did I say it was hot?When there is passion in play, in the game, in the hearts of the progamer; then you have a team that is on fire.
Pray they don't burn out...
KT Rolster
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/photo/1256037534_1.jpg)
What can I say about Lee Young Ho? What can a mortal say about a god? Winning a starleague and GOM exhibition tournament at the age of 15 (unbelievable) he went on to be the sole star for KT, beasting in proleague, and making it far in individual leagues only to fall short. For too long KT has relied on him to make it happen in the team leagues, the stress and pressure breaking him apart late in the individual seasons. Let me make this very clear. He has a team and the coach seems to have learned to use it.
FlaSh is probably the best Terran we've seen since Iloveoov and one of the few gamers who can stand to Lee Jae Dong himself with no fear. KTFlaSh as they were once called (or was it MagicNs? No I'm pretty sure it was KTFlash) are now the new and improved KT Rolster. With only one loss along the way, they have SMOKED the competition this round.
The dream team? FlaSh, Luxury, Stats, Violet, HoeJJa, and 815. Nothing to scoff at. Luxury has remembered to play the game his twin forgot and the protoss duo of Stats/Violet are more than capable of performing even in this map pool. HoeJJa has shown his ZvP to be outstanding and we wonder if he can become a well-enough rounded zerg to be an apt counterpart to Luxury himself. 815 has sniped his fair share of ZvZ matches, including taking a critical game off of Jaedong in their match against Oz.
KT Rolster don't look to let up in Round 2. The likes of Violet, 815, and Stats will only improve throughout the season, while Flash and Luxury are locks for a good performance. Expect the rollercoaster to keep on rolling.
WeMade FOX
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/photo/1255848391_1.jpg)
A lackluster performance in last seasons Proleague made WeMade FOX a team that not many people felt safe betting on. However, this team is real. False hope teams don't take down the likes of STX SouL and Hite Sparkyz. The fact is WeMade has a surprisingly good roster and a new spirit that has burst into a raging fire so quickly even I barely knew what had happen when I saw them rise through the ratings.
Mind/BaBy/NaDa/Midas, a deadly quadruple line-up of terrans. Mind is performing very well so far, winning a clutch game against Horang2 and proving he is one of the top TvT players still. His tornado style, inherited from NaDa, and impeccable macro has led him to solid victories in proleagues, individual leagues, and an MSL Championship. BaBy proves to be a potential TvP force but is an unfortunately inconsistent player. NaDa is the mentor, the teacher, the former bonjwa, yet he returns on occasion to prove something to people who thought he would never play well again. It wasn't too long ago that he played one of the highest level TvP series in history against JangBi in the LostSaga MSL and I expect his PL return will be a triumphant one. Midas has also been playing in good form.
RorO and Shine are a zerg duo that are doing pretty damn well right now. RorO is beating everyone, ruining a sizable amount of anti-teams, and Shine just wrecked Bisu in the OSL as well as performing well in PL. Good zergs are essential to a well performing team this season but don't count Pure and LuCifer out of the mix. LuCifer is 2-0 right now, while Pure is performing just well enough to pull his weight in the team.
WeMade have a deep pool of A-Class players. If Mind returns to the form he was in during the GOMtv MSL, some lesser teams are going to get wrecked. But even so, WeMade FOX are not a fluke. This team is the real deal.
Autumn
![[image loading]](http://images-1.redbubble.net/img/art/size:large/view:main/1072108-2-vermont-autumn.jpg)
Autumn is the season of maturation. The young leaves darken, the colors are earthy and bitter. It goes from cold to hot and everywhere inbetween. These are mature franchises, they know who they are and they have known for a long time. Just like last season and every season before, they will be there. Winning games. Let's hope.
SK Telecom T1
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/photo/1255761248_1.jpg)
Is there a more important franchise in this e-sports? No. Love them or hate them, SKT1 have the biggest namepower of any team in E-Sports history. They have a fantastic lineup this year and with a well performing HyuK they are solid as ever. They haven't burned through the competition but they haven't failed. More than likely a playoff lock, they have the potential to go either way. SKT1 fans pray it isn't cold.
Bisu/BeSt head up the toss line. Bisu performing well as always, while I wouldn't bet any money on BeSt and his dohsairs, his PvT is still amazing. Time will tell what he can do in PvP but leave the zergs to HyuK and fantasy please.
FantaSy/Canata are a fantastic duo of terran players. Fantasy has been doing very well lately, going 2-1 in TvZ against the likes of Calm. Canata advanced through his MSL group, facing very strong players along the way.
What can I say about HyuK that hasn't been said yet? Already the "HYUK NEW BONJWA" cries through the Blog/BroodWar forums have been seen by everyone. Yes. We get it. He's not bad anymore and he is an SKT1 zerg. I expect a lot from HyuK this season, most specifically in ZvP and ZvZ. His inconsistency bites him in the ass from time to time, but at least they have a somewhat reliable zerg.
SKT1 are performing at the top tier of PL teams and no one should be surprised. The masters of the universe look strong as ever.
CJ Entus
![[image loading]](http://i46.tinypic.com/25auus8.jpg)
As expected, CJ's incredibly deep roster has paid off this round, but not as much as CJ fanboys would hope. I expect a better performance in Round 2. EffOrt still destroys everyone he faces. The real problem with CJ is their other players are good but unfortunately inconsistent.
sKyHigh and Iris are both in a slump, leaving CJ's once powerful terran line a bit weak. If both players return to form, CJ will rise through the rankings like a rocket ship, but for now a critical component of the Entus machine is missing.
EffOrt and sAviOr are a zerg duo of apprentice and master. While the young apprentice blazes through the competition with the techniques and style he learned from the master himself, the older and more experience sAviOr still somehow manages to perform well. His ZvP is still pretty slick and even though ZvZ is considered his weakest matchup, he managed to take out the likes of Jaedong by winning the micro battle. Think about that for a minute. Lee Jae Dong, considered the best mechanical player in the history of StarCraft, lost a ling battle to the maestro.
Amazing, right? Good things are in sAviOr's future and I really hope he performs well in the MSL this season. As far as protoss, CJ lacks in numbers (it hurts to lose a player like Much) but makes up for it in one skilled young player named Jin Young Hwa. Movie is inconsistent, it's true. On a good day, he dominates Stork, and on a bad day he gets destroyed by Killer.
Movie is shaping up to be one hell of a toss player though and everyone better watch out. CJ is gonna pull out all the stops in the next round.
Winter
![[image loading]](http://refriedteacher.com/images/winter2.jpg)
Just like it began, it all must end. The flower bloom, they grow fruitful, and finally they wither away; left alone in the cold to be forgotten. A young team blossoms, they blaze through the competition, they grow stagnant, and soon everyone is left wondering if they will ever win another game.
Hwaseung Oz
![[image loading]](http://img.dailygame.co.kr/news/200911/attachments/20091130_708ffd53b55ae4c1f0a09270ab77e577.jpg)
What happened to Hwaseung Oz? Last seasons finalists only won a total of 3 games this round, performing vastly below what was expected of them. With Samsungs best players finally getting back in shape, Hwaseung Oz is the only team that I predict abysmal failure from in the second round.
Jaedong is the only player on Oz who has the potential to win consistently and even he hasn't been able to do that. What good is a one man team if their one man isn't winning all his games? It isn't any good.
Sure, they managed to cop a win off of CJ, beating their most inconsistent players to bring it to ace for Jaedong but is that really how Hwaseung is gonna do it for the rest of this season?
While I do think Coach Cho is doing the right thing, that doesn't mean I think Hwaseung Oz are going to do anything substantial this season. Sure, ACE is performing worse than them, but the expectations are different. This is pathetic for a team that just made the finals. They better figure out what to do and soon.
This was originally going to be a week 3 of round 1 preview but I saved this material for a later broodwar post. Hopefully I didn't miss anything in the editing ;o
great writeup and definitly TLFE worthy
