EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/keit/plNamdaemun.png)
The First National Treasure of Korea, Namdaemun, also known as the Great Southern Gate, as it stood in the heart of Seoul.
So, after the conclusion to R1, we find ourselves here at the start of round 2. If you've been with us since R1, welcome back, and if you've just joined us, where've you been all this time? You've already missed out on a great round! With no rest for the players, an updated set of maps, and lots more games to be played, there's plenty for us spectators to be happy about. As always, a new round is a fresh start on a clean slate - for some players, a chance to redeem themselves, for others, an opportunity to prove that their records in R1 were not simply a fluke. Will Flash continue his dominant streak? Will KHAN and Oz remain in their beleaguered states? Only time will tell, but rest assured, the proleague coverage team will be here bringing you the news.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/keit/star.png)
Let's cut to the chase. This week, MBC took off with a bang, continuing their performance from R1, crushing opposition STX Soul and hite SPARKYZ with relative ease. Their frontman, Sea, saw his matchup against Zerg brought to the test, but had no problems taking out Hero and Yarnc. His TvT duties were relinquished to Light, who had some difficulties in his game against Leta, dropping MBC's only game for the week. CJ made short work of SKT1 and KT, Effort making up for his loss against Canata by taking the ace game against Hyuk.
Other undefeated teams this week were eSTRO and WeMade, both coming in with a score of 1-0. WeMade's Lucifer lost the first game to Zero, but the clean up crew of proleague regulars, Mind, Shine, and Roro, finished the job to take it 3-1. eSTRO had a slightly harder time, but Really rallied from 2-1 behind to take it into the ace match, before finishing it 3-2 against Air Force ACE.
Samsung KHAN, R1's last place finisher, almost gave fans renewed hope with their 3-0 demolition of hite early in the week, even accomplishing this feat while fielding a proleague newbie, Turn. However, they later faced Soul and were dealt a similar defeat, making everyone wonder if the preceding 3-0 was simply the swan song before their eventual demise. KT, as well, finished the week 1-1, defeated by the same team that gave them their only defeat last round, CJ.
hite SPARKYZ, in a performance that mirrored early last round, started off slow with two consecutive defeats. They are joined by SKT at the bottom, both teams having issues with the lack of results from their players, Yarnc, Type-B and Fantasy not performing up to par. SKT's fielding of Canata over Best is perhaps a sign of some changes within the team, and it'll be interesting to see if they improve their play in the coming weeks. Nonetheless, this week, Canata had the Game of the Week in his game against Jaedong which featured a bunker rush, hold lurkers, and some creative play.
GOTW - Canata vs Jaedong on Fighting Spirit
By Pangshai
Five months ago, Avalon MSL ro8, Canata met Jaedong in a bo5 series in which he succeeded in taking Jaedong to a 5th game only to falter to 2 hatch lurkers due to a lack of detection. This time, the same opponent, but different stakes - his team, down 2-0, depended on him to win this game to bring it into the next. Be it fueled by revenge, or his obligation to the team, Canata was the epitome of determination.
Starting off with an 8 rax proxied just outside his nat, Canata signalled his intentions to end this fast. A bunker quickly commenced construction upon discovery of Jaedong's nat, to which Jaedong responded by pulling drones. Unfortunately, the bunker completed on arrival of the drones, and they were also unable to prevent the entry of a marine. Undeterred, Jaedong sent his drones to hunt down the rallied marines in a move reminiscent of Kwanro vs Really on Othello. Marine after marine fell, and Canata soon found drones in his defenseless main and lings also on their way down.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/pangshai/br22a.jpg)
Thankfully, he got a bunker up, and Jaedong decided to instead take down the bunker back at home, allowing the game to progress into the mid game. Canata, now ever so slightly ahead, started a CC above his ramp, while Jaedong headed for lair tech, dropping a third hatchery soon after his lair started, and a spire upon its completion.
Like in every TvZ, muta harass subsequently took place, Jaedong picking off a good amount of SCVs despite Canata's prepared defense. At this point of time, Canata decided to move out, trying to put pressure on the Zerg. A small group of marine medic headed out, but Jaedong had bought enough time with his mutas, and his lurkers were well in place, rendering this group useless.
Realising that Canata's defense was stretched thin, Jaedong then went for the jugular, bringing his units in for an attack at Canata's nat. Canata's two bunkers held, and his returning forces cleaned up Jaedong's lurkers, although his marine count was severely depleted. With Jaedong's hive tech already done, things weren't looking too cheery for the Terran player.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/pangshai/br22b.jpg)
He did what he had to do - push out with his forces and force Jaedong to swarm his way across the map. Jaedong was in no mood for play, however, and he sent a fresh group of lurkers to stop reinforcements, while laying a trap for Canata's vessel-less army with a hold lurker ambush. Baiting the army into his lurkers with some lings, Jaedong sprung his trap and took out a large chunk of Canata's forces, before a flank finished the job. At this point, Jaedong probably had more lurkers than Canata had marines, and he simply sent them into Canata's nat even before his defilers' arrival, drawing the GG and ending the game.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/pangshai/br22c.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/pangshai/br22d.jpg)
Jaedong's response to the bunker rush was flawless; without hesitation he knew exactly what he had to do. Had he instead chosen to take out the bunker with a drone/ling surround, he would have ended up further behind to Canata's fast expo follow up. After defending the rush, Jaedong's play was immaculate - muta harass to take his third base, countering a weak Terran defense, and hold lurkers to top it all off. Canata played well, but in the end, he never had a chance after his rush failed.
Of course, how could we forget the coming week. This week's games were somewhat drab, with none really leaving a huge impression over the rest. Next week, however, looks set to change all that, with a huge installment of kickass awaiting, and Konadora brings us a preview of next week's games.
After Flying's outstanding performance in the STX Masters, he has yet to take a solid win that will further push forward his status as eSTRO's rising Protoss. Kal, on the other hand has been on fire lately, advancing into the Round of 16 in the MSL and slowly accumulating wins for his team. This game will no doubt show if Flying truly has the skills and the nerves to be eSTRO's future Protoss player, or if he is just another one-hit wonder.
YellOw is kicking butt lately. He has yet to kick some A-Class player's butt, but he's definitely kicking butt alright. His recent achivements include defeating Boxer three consecutive times (though it was more of Boxer and his weird plays backfiring for two of those games), going 4-0 in IeSF so far and even winning a ZvZ recently against the then-100% winrate Action. Movie, though, is slightly above these players in terms of skills, so it will be interesting to see these two face off - the battle between the Old, in a bid to prove he is not out of the picture yet, and the Young.
Oz fields Spear once more, hoping that he'll be the next Killer - losing many games in the beginning but eventually starting to win games later on into the season. After a devastating loss to Really, it will be interesting to see how he fares against Midas, who amidst speculation of not being able to get enough playtime on the Terran-heavy FOX has surprisingly won more games than one might have possibly imagined. With the latest update to Heartbreak Ridge proving that it's now leaning fairly strongly in favor of Terrans, this game is more or less set to be entertaining to those that are sadistic and enjoy watching Protosses get raped (and for Midas fans too). The question on everyone's mind at the end of the game though, will be - "Will BackHo continue to be Oz's only usable Protoss player?"
The Man of Proleague faces off against KT's strongest Protoss, denying us a possibly epic TvT with Flash but blessing us with a potentially epic macro TvP game. Sea (and the whole of MBC in fact) seems unstoppable at the moment, but if there is just one team that can stop them at its current state, it's KT in its current form - the KT where Flash is basically undefeatable except by the
BeSt and the rest are not simply sucking anymore. No longer is KT a one-man team, it's now a fortress. The Dinotoss faces off against BeSt, at one point the unstoppable PvP Monster. Both are looking deadly at the moment, with both having defeated Flash and advanced in their respective individual leagues (OSL for Stork, MSL for BeSt). BeSt is no longer the macrobot - he's now the smart macrobot, going for harassment, while expanding, while massing zealot/dragoons, while teching, even when going for a DT drop build first. He's smarter and deadlier, and this is BeSt's good chance to make their score an even 5-5. And what better map than Outsider SE, the perfect place to display the two players' level of skills, wits, and game sense.
While we may have been denied a Ruby vs Jaedong series in the MSL (Thanks a lot, Firefist), we thankfully have these two facing off on Fighting Spirit. Ruby's TvZ is smoking hot at the moment, be it with bio or mech. However, the Player of the Year is ready to return from his so-called 'slump' and silence doubters once and for all. Get set for an epic non-Mech (Fighting Spirit, such a beautiful map *tears* ) TvZ.
We bring an end to the proleague update here. To those who miss the weekly fantasy proleague updates, Pachi has unfortunately been caught up with some other stuff, and that will have to be put on hold indefinitely. To everyone else, grab a seat and strap yourselves in, for round 2 has only just began, and you don't want to be going anywhere.
This Proleague update was brought to you by Team Liquid's PL 2009-10 coverage team - riptide, heyoka and pangshai. Thanks to keit as usual for the stellar graphics and Konadora for the Round 2 Week 2 previews!
