[OSL] Take Off

Banner by SilverskY

by WaxAngel and Motbob

The Korean Air Ongamenet Starleague is about to begin.

Technically, it already began with the round of 36, but that’s just an extended preliminary, a stage that didn’t even have the title of ‘Starleague’ for eight years. The fans, the players, and Ongamenet know the truth: The Starleague starts at sixteen.

There’s an unusual buzz surrounding this Starleague, an aura of anticipation that I’ve never felt before. The roster isn’t as loaded as it has been before, but there’s something else in the air…

For the many corporations that have graced the OSL’s title, it was they who were proud to have their name alongside the illustrious Ongamenet Starleague. This time around, I see sky blue on every graphic, an analog arrivals & departures board motif to the subtitles, and the screaming of jets accompanying every camera switch. The Ongamenet Starleague is a rightfully vainglorious institution, and for the very first time, they are proud of their sponsor.

There’s a classical grandeur to Korean Air. To Koreans, their national airline is no Delta or United, far detached from one of those poorly run, money-bleeding messes that reeks of vomit. Korean Air still has some it’s 1970’s spirit left: We can now operate aircraft, the most advanced and expensive way to travel, a symbol of luxury, modernity, and class.

Or at least, that’s what OnGameNet wants it to mean. It's their vision for the OnGameNet Starleague. I hope their league soars, and fulfils those lofty ambitions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5T5Whc8eCg&feature=player_embedded
I was going to look for a picture that fit the text, but this is much cooler. NukeTheStars is amazing.

Korean Air Starleague Groups

Group A: (T)

Flash,

hyvaa,

Kwanro,

Kal
Group B: (P)

Movie,

Hwasin,

Stork,

BaBy
Group C: (Z)

Calm,

Pure,

ZerO,

fantasy
Group D: (Z)

Shine,

go.go,

EffOrt,

fOrGG

Group Selection
+ Show Spoiler [Group selection overview and results] +

The Ongamenet group selection is complicated, even for the players participating in it. I will try to clarify.

To begin, the top four players from the last tournament are seeded into four separate groups. After that, a box is prepared with twelve colored and numbered balls that correspond to the remaining spots in each group. In turn, the twelve non-seeded players blindly draw two balls from the box and can choose which of the two spots they would like to go to (if a player draws two balls for the same group, then he is forced to go to that group). The order of this draw is chosen at random.

After the non seeded players are done placing themselves, the four seeded players can exercise the right to swap players. This goes in reverse order, from the number four seed to the first. The right to switch a player goes as follows. All seeds are exempt from being moved.

Each of the seeded players has a single "golden ball" player who they designate before the group selection begins. If a seeded player exercises his golden ball right, then he can bring the golden ball player to his group in a straight up one-for-one trade for another player in his group. With the golden ball, the seeded player gets to decide both players involved in the swap.

For example, let's say Movie is in Group B and picked Savior as his golden ball player. The group selection finishes, and it turns out that Savior is in Group D, and Bisu, Hyuk, and Leta are in Group B. If Movie exercises his golden ball right, he could bring Savior to group B, and send any of the other players in his group to Group D in return.

The seeded players can also choose to not use their golden ball right and bring any other non-seed player into their group. However, in this case, the seeded player has no power over which player is traded in exchange. Instead, that right is given to the seed holder in the group that is being taken from.

For instance, let's say in the previous scenario, Movie doesn't want to bring Savior to his group. Instead, he wants to take Iris from Group C, where Calm is the seed holder. In this case, Calm can't do anything about Iris going to Movie's group. However, Calm can choose between Bisu, Hyuk, and Leta to take to his group in return.

Anyway, here's how it went down...

First pick: Pure
Draw: Groups A and C (picked C)
Pure said he would like to avoid Flash for now, and went to Calm’s group.
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash,
Group B: Movie,
Group C: Calm, Pure
Group D: Shine,

Second pick: Effort
Draw: Group B x2 (automatically group B)
Movie and Effort were uncomfortable at being placed in the same group off the bat.
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash,
Group B: Movie, Effort
Group C: Calm, Pure
Group D: Shine,

Third Pick: ForGG
Draw: Groups B and D (picked D)
ForGG said he preferred to play TvZ. Shine announced that he would try to make his group a one zerg vs three terran group.
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash,
Group B: Movie, Effort
Group C: Calm, Pure
Group D: Shine, ForGG

Fourth Pick: Stork
Draw: Group B x2 (automatically group B)
Stork was pleased with his pick because of the PvP matchup vs Movie.
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash,
Group B: Movie, Effort, Stork
Group C: Calm, Pure
Group D: Shine, ForGG

Fifth Pick: Hyvaa
Draw: Group D x2 (automatically group D)
Hyvaa said he was happy to go to any group Flash isn’t in.
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash,
Group B: Movie, Effort, Stork
Group C: Calm, Pure
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Hyvaa

Sixth Pick: Baby
Draw: Groups B and C (picked B)
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash,
Group B: Movie, Effort, Stork, Baby
Group C: Calm, Pure
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Hyvaa

Seventh Pick: Hwasin
Draw: Groups C and D (picked D)
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash,
Group B: Movie, Effort, Stork, Baby
Group C: Calm, Pure
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Hyvaa, Hwasin

Eight Pick: Go.go
Draw: Group A x2 (automatically group A)
Put in a most difficult situation, Go.go had a few verbals jabs about the insolent youngster Flash, which Flash returned in kind by promising every sort of humiliation in their match.
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash, Go.go
Group B: Movie, Effort, Stork, Baby
Group C: Calm, Pure
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Hyvaa, Hwasin

Ninth Pick: Fantasy
Draw: Groups A and C (picked C)
Calm expressed his displeasure at the lack of Zerg players in his group. Fantasy said he simply picked the group the fans were calling for him to go to.
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash, Go.go
Group B: Movie, Effort, Stork, Baby
Group C: Calm, Pure, Fantasy,
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Hyvaa, Hwasin

Tenth Pick: Kal
Draw: Groups A x2 (automatically group A)
Kal piled on the Go.go bashing bandwagon, saying the blow of being landed with Flash is softened by playing with Go.go. Flash gushed about Kal’s great skill.
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash, Go.go, Kal
Group B: Movie, Effort, Stork, Baby
Group C: Calm, Pure, Fantasy,
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Hyvaa, Hwasin

Eleventh Pick: Zero
Draw: Groups A and C (picked A)
With the fate of his teammate Kwanro in his hands as well, Zero picked Flash’s group. Zero expressed his desire to avoid Flash in the quarter-finals, as players in the same group cannot be matched vs each other in the next round.
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash, Go.go, Kal, Zero
Group B: Movie, Effort, Stork, Baby
Group C: Calm, Pure, Fantasy,
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Hyvaa, Hwasin

Twelfth Pick: Kwanro
Draw: Automatically group C
+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash, Go.go, Kal, Zero
Group B: Movie, Effort, Stork, Baby
Group C: Calm, Pure, Fantasy, Kwanro
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Hyvaa, Hwasin

Number four seed: Shine.
Golden Ball: Hwasin (already in group).
Shine said he had made Hwasin his golden ball choice because he wanted to play as many Terrans as possible. With Hwasin already in his group, Shine decided to fetch Go.go.

Not quite understanding the rules and thinking he needed Flash’s permission to be sent to Group D, Go.go began to beg and apologize to Flash in the most pitiful manner, throwing in a heavy dose of flattery as well. Flash accepted his apology very gracefully, saying the shock of being automatically sent to his group must have addled his mind.

Shine politely requested Flash take Hyvaa back in return, to which Flash complied. Shine then took the time apologize to Hyvaa for putting him in such a pickle.

+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash, Hyvaa, Kal, Zero
Group B: Movie, Effort, Stork, Baby
Group C: Calm, Pure, Fantasy, Kwanro
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Go.go, Hwasin

Number three seed: Calm
Golden Ball: Zero (declined to use)

Calm declined to use his Golden Ball as he did not want to put two of the Woongjin Stars players (Zero, Kwanro) in the same group as a courtesy to them, even though Calm preferred to play ZvZ.

Instead, Calm decided to bring Hyvaa to his group from group A. This put Flash in a rough spot in choosing the other traded player. He was reluctant to pick Fantasy or Pure because he was close friends with them, and he didn’t want to pair the Woongjin players Zero and Kwanro in the same group either.

Fantasy suggested that Flash pick him and then use his #1 seed rights to switch him back later.

Flash ended up taking Kwanro with a mind to change the groups again later. Calm seemed a little disappointed at having traded a Zerg player for another.

+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash, Kwanro, Kal, Zero
Group B: Movie, Effort, Stork, Baby
Group C: Calm, Pure, Fantasy, Hyvaa
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Go.go, Hwasin

Number two seed: Movie
Golden Ball: Hwasin (used)

In order to separate himself and his teammate Effort, Movie exercised his golden ball right to switch Effort and Hwasin.

When asked why Hwasin was his Golden Ball choice, Movie said his parents had simply told him “pick the guy who’s last name is Jin, too” when he had asked them to choose any of the Terran players for him.

+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash, Kwanro, Kal, Zero
Group B: Movie, Hwasin, Stork, Baby
Group C: Calm, Pure, Fantasy, Hyvaa
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Go.go, Effort

Number one seed: Flash
Golden Ball: Go.go (declined)

After some more begging from Go.go to make sure Flash wouldn’t bring him back to group A, Flash decided to switch Zero and Hyvaa. Flash said this was not at all his first choice pick, but he felt that it was more important to not force Zero and Kwanro to play vs each other.

+ Show Spoiler [Group status] +

Group A: Flash, Kwanro, Kal, Hyvaa
Group B: Movie, Hwasin, Stork, Baby
Group C: Calm, Pure, Fantasy, Zero
Group D: Shine, ForGG, Go.go, Effort

Official Maps

Eye of the Storm - Great Barrier Reef
[image loading]

Fighting Spirit - Match Point
[image loading]

Player Profiles and Group Predictions
All photographs by Kim Ji Man of Fomos (mani4949@fomos.co.kr)

Welcome to the "Beat Flash" OnGameNet Starleague - by WaxAngel

Lee Young Ho - Flash
Previous OSL finish: Destroyed everyone.

Writing about the best player at the present is always a challenge, because it’s hard to describe how good that player is without regurgitating the same old hyperbole and B-word bulls***. So to speak plainly, Flash is the most skilled player ever. I’m not talking about legacies, achievements or contributions to the game. As a simple matter of who would win in a hypothetical series, 2010 Flash would beat 2001 Nada, 2003 Iloveoov, 2007 Savior, and anyone who has ever played.

Flash has the complete skillset required of a championship class player. While Flash’s 19-3 in the Winners League was impressive, it only reveals a portion of his strength. The WL is a stage where players prefer to slug it out in a standard macro game, so it was a great opportunity for Flash display his dominant macro play which is the bedrock of his game. On the other hand, the OSL tends brings out more creativity and unpredictability in players. This plays into Flash’s hands as well, because he has an uncanny ability to defend early attacks with the fewest of troops. Not only is he a great macro player, but he is one of the very best at surviving any opening to turn it into the macro game he is so good at.

The icing on the cake? Flash loves to cheese. Before he was known for his overall domination, fans called him “that cheap-ass kid.” (There was a popular webcomic that depicted progamers as warriors in physical combat. Flash was portrayed as a fighter who took a baseball bat to the back side of his opponent’s head before the bell rang) He hasn’t put away those bunker rushing skills he honed early in his career. Flash might be the very best in the game at mixing standard and cheesy play at a golden ratio. He cheeses just enough so that his opponents are always nervous about opening with a greedy build against him. And at the same time Flash can always seem to entice someone into cutting corners, upon which they are quickly punished.

I agree with Flash, OnGameNet better get the golden mouse ready.

Han Sang Bong - Kwanro
Previous OSL finish: Insulted Stork and almost lost to his arbiters. Err, I mean he finished RO 16

The all-in master Kwanro has been a polarizing figure in the TeamLiquid community for a while now. His ability to finish games within the eight minute mark coupled with his pathetic hive game made him either the coolest or dumbest player you’ve ever seen. An MSL silver medal and respectable proleague results have gained him some more respect as of late, even though he’s essentially the same player.

What can I say? I’m one of those people who think Kwanro is COOL. How good are all-ins and cheese builds? Kwanro’s proved that they can be 2nd place MSL good, and Flash proved that they can be OSL 1st place good as well. Winning might not be all that matters, but it’s definitely the most important thing. Kwanro has found his own way to win consistently, and he deserves all the credit that comes with it.

Kwanro has all the tools an all-in rusher needs: The ability to give his opponent a false sense of security, a great feel for what kind of units and tech an opponent will have at a given timing, and the sense to delay his attacks by half a beat to confuse his opponent. But like I said before, he’s essentially the same player he was years ago, which means all of this cleverness goes away once he reaches the hive stage.

His recent travesty of a game against Flash in the Winners League serves as a good example. Kwanro got off to an excellent start, by doing heavy damage with an early lurker and zergling attack after he tricked Flash into going for fast valkyries in anticipation of mutalisks. Flash was left with 2 bases and a poor infrastructure, while Kwanro was at 4 bases going on 5. And then…. I guess the best way to put it would be to say Kwanro forgot how to play Starcraft...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSpS68Ape8k
The best and worst of Kwanro in 40 minutes.

For such an unbalanced player, I think Kwanro will make it out of his group. Unless you’re a top four player, consistency almost never gets you anywhere in the OSL. The OSL semis are always full of players who were “lucky,” and who’s a luckier player than Kwanro?

Shin Dae Gun - hyvaa
Previous OSL finish: Offline preliminaries

The OGN announcers and the more politically correct players can spew the usual “everyone in the RO16 is a tough opponent” drivel all they want, but in the end some players are bad, and one player must be the worst. While he faces stiff competition from Go.go, Hyvaa is a leading candidate.

It just hasn’t been the best of times for Estro’s former Zerg mainstay. Only a year ago he was giving some gutsy performances in the Winners League, displaying a winning combination of determination and common sense. It’s been a downward spiral for him ever since, with his inability to win games getting him supplanted by the sub 50% win-rate Action.

Although he cannot win consistently and tends to look absolutely terrible in his losses, there’s something I like about Hyvaa when he wins. His mechanics are below average, but he’s one of those ‘smart’ gamers who understands the fundamental ‘more stuff > less stuff’ formula of Starcraft very well (yes, you can become a progamer without being terribly good at that). Hyvaa might win messily, but he gives you that feeling that he at least understood what he was supposed to do even if he couldn’t execute it with precision. His upsets over better players are usually well played games, not lucky strokes of fate. And then there are the multiple six game losing streaks…

For all the gloom I’m casting on his prospects, Hyvaa one big thing going for him in this OSL run. While his Proleague performances were dismal, Hyvaa made it to the OSL with a combined record of 8-1 in the preliminaries. Hyvaa used some very shrewed cheese rushes and overall good play to eliminate a heavily favored Leta and pushed aside Pusan easily as well. Maybe his heart wasn’t fully in the games during the proleague, and that he was saving his best for the most prestigious of tournaments? Or maybe it means nothing at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td7VjopUUrs
The cleverest four-pool you will ever see.

0-3 is the easy prediction for Hyvaa, but I dearly hope he can prove me wrong.

Kim Gu Hyun - Kal
Previous OSL finish: Offline preliminaries

Consistency is such a dangerous trap. Consistency is a 65% proleague win rate and a Top 8 Starleague finish every season. With a plethora of high league finishes in his career, you can’t exactly say Kal is a protoss version of Sea or Leta. But I have the suspicion that he is a Chojja or a GoodFriend; a great player who has the unfortunate skill ceiling of second place.

I know it’s a bit silly to doubt the big-game skills of player who made the semi-finals of the MSL last season, but it feels like it’s been awfully long time since Kal has had an impressive win against a great player. After a few months of easily chewing up inferior players in the Winners League, Kal got an interesting skill check against Flash a few weeks ago. Kal is a great player, so we know he can do well in Winners league or get top four in any league. What I need to know now is whether not he can win it ALL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8FcDl3qll8
A valiant effort, and inevitable doom

It was a brilliant effort from Kal, and helps convince me that he is a player who can win a Starleague. Just not this time.

Prediction: Flash and Kwanro progress

Flash will get through this group without much trouble. I wouldn't be surprised if he dropped a game however, considering that all three of his opponents are likely to and capable of trying some unexpected all-in build. Hyvaa is one of the two worst players in this tournament, and it's hard to give him anything more than a token chance.

While I think Kal is a better player overall than Kwanro, but Kwanro is the ultimate unpredictable player. In the OSL, I'm almost always going to take that as a positive. It's basically a done deal that Kwanro is going to pull out some sort of cheap all-in that leaves Kal or Flash's (or both!) fans very angry.

You never know when it's your last chance - by Motbob

Jin Young Hwa - Movie
Previous OSL finish: Lost in Finals

Do you believe in second chances? In this case, I sure as hell don't. Since losing to Flash in the finals of EVER, (P)

Movie has gone 5-1 against zergs and 4-7 against other races, a testament to his unique success in modern PvZ when compared to other Protosses. It's well known that Movie's weakness lies in his other two matchups, and for that reason he is going home before the tournament reaches the elimination bracket.

If this group contained zergs, this preview blurb would contain raves about Movie's zealot control, his shuttle control, and his overall understanding of PvZ. But since all Movie has as opponents are two Terrans and a Protoss, all I can say is that it's really too bad that Movie isn't playing a game on Great Barrier Reef, because his game on El Niño vs Light was completely and totally awesome. Also, uh, Movie likes to use arbiters. That counts as insightful commentary, right?

Movie was soft spoken and humble as usual at the group selection, but there was a single moment that told us what was really on his mind. Without being asked, and talking to no one in particular, Movie declared "I learned something last time. Second place is worthless. Winning is all that matters."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOsG7ZVBUms
this is what movie must hope to recreate

Jin Yung Soo - Hwasin
Previous OSL finish: Ro16

(T)

Hwasin is a great guy with an excellent philosophy on life:

- Lastly, have you ever regretted on being a progamer?
▲ Regret? I have absolutely no regrets. Even if I go back to the beginning using a time machine, I’m not confident that I’ll do as well as I am now. It’s because I tried really hard that I was able to bring out my talents. If I had not tried at all, I would probably have regretted it but because I came all this way after working diligently, there is no reason for me to regret it now.

However, his admirable attitude hasn't led to good luck. As recently as the NATE MSL, Hwasin has been matched up against the worst possible players. Before he even played his Bo5 against Kal, he was predicting disaster, saying that out of the seven players he could face in the MSL, Kal was "the player I wanted to face the least." Hwasin has had bad luck in other instances as a progamer:

- Although you wanted to win a title so badly, you had to watch your teammates win before you. July, who had just moved teams, took the OSL title, and Calm took the MSL title. It must’ve been hard for you to just congratulate them.
▲ At first, I was upset even when I was congratulating them because I was jealous. However, there were so many times where that happened. I was team-killed many times.. by Kal and hero, and even by Shuttle at GomTV.

The hard luck continues in the Korean Air OSL for Hwasin. He's in a group both with two members of the race he is weakest against, and with a Terran on the rise. He has shown relatively weak play recently (Correction, March 31st: Hwasin did not compete in STX's Winners League postseason match against Woongjin Stars because he was not with the team due to family matters. It was not a performance based benching). He got this far by going 2-1 against a rookie zerg with a 4-14 record against Terrans. I don't like making predictions, because they're usually wrong, and I usually end up looking stupid. But if I were to make a single formal prediction about what will happen in the Ro16, it is this: Hwasin will not get out of his group.

If he does, though, I'll be happy for him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNwoomb7UI0
The editor was not a Hwasin fan,and could only find this video.

Song Byung Goo - Stork
Previous OSL finish: Ro8

When I wrote the first draft of this section, I said that (P)

Stork "hasn't been showing the spectacular play that we saw from him at this time last season." I was completely wrong; Stork has quietly (or maybe not so quietly if you've been paying more attention to the scene than I have) been showing really solid results throughout the Winner's League season. Since losing to Shine last OSL, he went 14-10, qualifying for the MSL and helping to lead Khan to 5th place in Winner's League.

What is there to say about Stork? He's a likable guy who's won a lot of silver medals. He seems to be everybody's second favorite progamer. He breaks Terran pushes better than any other Protoss, and he's probably the only member of his race who can stand up to Flash right now. He used to be really skinny, but not so much anymore:

- You seem like you gained some weight
▲ I was at 64kg at one point, but I went back up to 76kg. Although my face isn’t getting chubby, I’m gaining weight on my body.

Stork vs Flash was the finals that everyone wanted to see last season. Time will tell whether we get what we want this year. Getting to the finals, though, starts with getting out of this group, and with two Terrans with mediocre TvP and a Protoss with mediocre non-PvZ to contend with, Stork should roll his way to the Ro8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5de6SZX5oTI
Why hello Movie, welcome to Stork's PvP clinic

Jun Tae Yang - BaBy
Previous OSL finish: Offline Preliminaries

(T)

BaBy knocked out Jaedong! He's finally breaking out into the scene as a great player!

Well, maybe not. It's nice that Baby is finally, after a few years, the best Terran on his own team, but just because he knocked off Jaedong early in a tournament doesn't mean he's ready for the big leagues yet. I mean, whatever happened to Han (AKA Tyson)? Or Tempest? Baby needs to accomplish more than just a single Bo3 win in order to show that he's truly an S-class player. Looking at his really recent results won't help much in trying to foresee the future: He doesn't have the best of records, but his losses are to the best of the best. Among others, he lost to Flash, Bisu, and Jaedong.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Baby can do against players who aren't Zerg neo-bonjwas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqiVi5QK1vo
it's easy to get excited for BaBy after watching this performance

The Zen Garden of IDs - By WaxAngel

Kim Yoon Hwan - Calm
Previous OSL Finish: Destroyed in the semi-finals

Calm puzzles me. His stock has fallen since he won his MSL championship, but it’s hard to tell how far it has fallen was because we never knew exactly how good he was in the first place. Sure he won an MSL, but he had a lot of luck go his way in drawing consecutive ZvZs. Yet, he beat Jaedong in a ZvZ multi-game series. Thoroughly defeating one of the best prepared players who elevates his game for big events? A lot of value in that, but how much? His epic performance in Game 3 of the previous OSL's semi-final vs Flash shows what he can be at his best: A smart player with very good (but not excellent) mechanics.

A well fought 40 minute loss to Flash. Are we sensing a pattern here?

The Winners League often provides a window into a player’s form during the brief winter break from the Starleagues. This time around, Kal was the de facto ace for STX Soul and took on most of the high pressure games. Calm got a decent share of appearances, but did not beat anyone impressive. He went through lesser players in a very mundane fashion, but dropped his two real tests against Flash and Light in games decided by all-ins.

If he would at least crush worse players, I could make a stronger case for Calm. Unfortunately he's been in clam-mode for the last two months. Clam's profile reads almost exactly like the one I have for Mind: “An adequately good player whose mirror matchup is his best one, and has won an easily forgettable MSL through a combination of luck and skill. Unremarkable in victory and defeat, his lack of flair makes even his more impressive wins go relatively unnoticed. Capable of being your proleague ace, and beating any of the top players on a given day, but don’t bet on it. In other words, Light with an MSL championship.” Out of your shell, if you please.

Park Se Jung - Pure
Previous OSL Finish: Quarter-finals

As recently as January of this year, Pure was a lock in WeMade Fox’s proleague lineup, while he had fought his way to second consecutive top eight finish in the OSL.

Since then, he hasn’t made a single proleague appearance for his team. When we finally got to see him play again in the OSL RO36, Pure put together some absolutely atrocious performances versus the anonymous Special. Even though he managed to squeak out a victory, his play was so appalling that Fomos awarded him a 4.5 out of 10 rating, a record low for a winning player (they also refused to award anyone a daily MVP).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b9NFa6rYF0
Actually, don't watch it. It's thirty minutes of shame.

What is going on? WeMade Fox’s internal evaluations from February revealed Pure’s poor recent form extends to non-televised games as well, with Pure ranking in at 7th place out of eleven first team players with a win rate of 45%. As long as Pure can’t be counted on to even try hard, it is impossible to see him making any kind of impact in the OSL. A quick 0-3 elimination is in the cards for Pure unless his situation changes drastically.

Kim Myung Woon - ZerO
Previous OSL Finish: Quarter-finals

In the “Beat Flash” Starleague, we can talk about a player’s skill in many respects, but ultimately the most important measure of a player will be “can he beat Flash?” And on that point alone, Zero just might be the second best player in the OSL.

Although the end result was a 1-2 loss for Zero, he put up a good fight against Flash’s nearly invincible TvZ in the MSL. With the exception of Jaedong (who won a controversial victory over Flash in the Final), Zero could be the Zerg with the best chance against Flash. Zero’s case against Flash is built on his strong macro and late game play. While the idea of cheesing Flash five games in a row is tempting, the reality is that to beat Flash you will have to win at least one of his specialty 30 minute plus games. Seeing as no one has done it yet (minus Jaedong’s power outage victory), the chances are still pretty slim. But if we had to pick a Zerg to perform that miracle this OSL, wouldn't Zero be the natural choice?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQhyBaM4Ft4
Zero + 5 bases = 1 dead terran

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Zero’s average ZvZ is a real liability against the rest of the field. There is no lack of players who are used as ZvZ specialists in the proleague, including Calm, Shine, Kwanro and even Hyvaa. He has been eliminated several times from previous tournaments at the hands of such players. Also, his elimination at the hands of a merely “decent” Movie in the last OSL makes you question his ability to play to his best when it matters. Movie is no PvZ pushover, but it was supposed to be Zero’s best matchup by far at that time. Combined with his recent failure as Woongjin's ace in the Winners League playoffs, you might start doubting Zero under pressure.

Jung Myung Hoon - fantasy
Previous OSL Finish: Round of 16

It’s been rough for the former Crown Prince of SKT. No one’s called him by that name for some time now, but at the same time he’s not really ‘the terrorist’ anymore (a nickname given to him when he was less well-known, for his penchant for terrorizing the leagues by eliminating more marketable players). Unfortunately for Fantasy, another old nickname is coming back to bother him: Bionic (M&M) Fail.

The “Fantasy build” ran its course in the metagame cycle, and Fantasy was once again forced to use some form of standard M&M for a period. During that time, he lost, and lost terribly at that. Shine and Effort laughed as they booted him out of the OSL, while Type-B and Kwanro amused themselves with Fantasy's antics in the proleague.

There are no signs that Fantasy has recovered from the incurable disease that is being bad at TvZ (as far as modern medicine can tell). This time around however, the metagame cycle might favor Fantasy. A new non-bio TvZ strategy is seeing use lately, where terran puts down mass factories after playing the early game with a standard FE with 2 or 3 rax. Midas, Flash and Fantasy have picked up victories with this build, and so far, it doesn’t seem like Zerg players have a clear cut counter to it. Chances are that in a few months it will be figured out and dead, just like the old Fantasy build, or straight up mech terran openings. But for now, Fantasy has a valuable crutch for his lame TvZ leg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkwHnZslZ7c
It's only a bandaid, but maybe it will be enough for this OSL.

Besides that, Fantasy is always in a good position in the OSL. His TvT is top class, and his TvP vulture use is some of the best in the world. He has one of the best minds for using innovative and unpredictable strategies we've seen in years, which is a huge plus in a league where creativity fetches a high premium.

Prediction: Calm and Fantasy progress

There's no other way of putting it for Pure. He's garbage until he wants to stop being garbage. In time for your first game, if possible.

Picking Fantasy to progress from a two Zerg group might seem like risky business at first, but I think he will have learned his lesson from the last Starleague and not play standard bionic Terran this time. Actually, I bet he bunker rushes once, and does the weird late-mechanic build once. One of them has to work, and that will probably get him through.

Calm's ZvZ has been declining while Zero's has been slowly improving, but Calm is still at an advantage in their head to head. Also, asides from Zero, this is a group full of players who are likely to use a creative one-time-only strategy. I don't think Zero will be allowed to play to his strengths in a protracted macro game.

Is the opposite of "Group of Death" the "Group of Life?" - by Motbob

Lee Young Han - Shine
Previous OSL finish: Semifinals

I enjoy watching good ling and muta micro. Therefore, I like watching (Z)

Shine play. Though many people call what he does "one-dimensional play," those people need to remember that the variety of styles among progamers is what makes the game of SC:BW great. If Shine wants to dance out of the way of that archon instead of, say, keeping his minerals under 1000, good for him. It makes for a more interesting game, and, unless you're a Stork fan, a more fulfilling overall experience at the end of the OSL.

Unfortunately, Shine won't be muta dancing his way very far into the tournament this year.

Shine is only in the Ro16 on the merit of his fluke semifinals run last season. Since the EVER semifinals, he's gone 5-9, dropping out of the MBC Survivor League and helping lead WeMade FOX to disaster in Winner's League. It's pretty terrible for him that he has two Terrans in his group, since ZvT is far and away his worst matchup. Shine's aggressive style won't serve him well against the brutal timing attacks of fOrGG, and his chances against go.go and EffOrt are 50/50 at best. CJ fans will be pissed at me for even implying that Shine's chances against EffOrt are even, but I have respect for Shine's ZvZ, and Shine helped knock EffOrt out of the EVER OSL in the group stages.

Like I said, I like Shine a lot, and since he's a progamer, I'm not really qualified to give him advice on how to improve his chances of getting out of his group. But when the three builds most commonly used against you are

- engineering bay rush
- 12 pool
- cannon in min line rush

you know that maybe it's time to switch up your style a little bit. A version of Shine that didn't go low econ every game would be a force to be reckoned with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnp2acmdsh8
highlight video by: meeeeeeeee

Kim Chang Hee - go.go
Previous OSL finish: Ro16

- How do you feel about advancing to Ro16 for 3 times in a row?
▲ I wondered who would get paired up with (P)

Bisu in Ro36 for this OSL and I talked about how unlucky that person is, but my manager told me that I was the one. When I heard that, I lost all my motivation to practice. Because I thought of Bisu as that strong of a player, I’m even happier that I was able to advance after beating such opponent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaJh21hhbqI
He beat Bisu when Bisu didn't suck, too

In his post-game interview, (T)

go.go said that he felt like the unluckiest guy in the world when he learned he'd be playing against Bisu in the Ro36. In fact, it's obvious that he shouldn't have been worried at all. Go.go gave us hope that his TvP might not be as unbelievably awful as we've been led to believe in the past. Fortunately for him, he won't have to immediately prove that he's decent against tosses, since there are none in his group. To be completely honest, go.go is a mystery to me. I think he has a chance to advance, but you can't 2 fac or deep six Zerg or Terran, so that might be working against him.

go.go may not be the favorite to advance, but I would hate to see my favorite progamer up against him with the Ro8 on the line. It seems like go.go is the type of player who can win against anyone at anytime... but also the type of player who usually doesn't.

Kim Jung Woo - EffOrt
Previous OSL finish: Ro16

"You are the heir of Ma Jae Yoon. You are the son of the swarm. None shall stand in your way."

These words, written by riptide for the Oz vs CJ playoff match preview article, seem so distant today. CJ is one place above Air Force ACE in the Winner's League standings. EffOrt, ostensibly CJ's ace player, is a big reason why. EffOrt is slumping, and it doesn't look like the wins are going to start flowing in this OSL.

(Z)

EffOrt is in a worst-case-scenario of a group. He has to deal with

- Two members of a race he's notoriously weak against (8 straight losses to Terran... yikes)
- A zerg who knocked him out in the 2009 EVER OSL
- Someone who looked really, really good against zergs a few weeks ago.

Basically, if EffOrt gets out of this group, it'll mean that he's pulled his play to a higher level. As he's been playing recently, he really doesn't have much of a chance.

memories...

Park Ji Soo - fOrGG
Previous OSL finish: Ro36

What an anomaly this guy is. In 2008, fOrGG won the Arena MSL by beating Sea, Kal, Flash, and Jaedong in BoX's... and then never accomplished anything again. Until recently, he wasn't even making consistent lineup appearances for either KT or his old team, OZ. But the significance of his victory in Arena was so great that to this day MBC still plays "The Pretender" after games that he wins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT4V_jc6I9E
a great song, a great intro

Timing attacks used to be fOrGG's trademark, and his entire gameplan sometimes seemed to be centered around having more stuff than the opponent. Nowadays, for whatever reason, that reputation for incredible macro is gone, and Flash is the progamer flooring us with incredible timing attacks vs Protoss. Today, though, fOrGG has a weapon that is much more useful than mere macro:

Q: Your TvZ seemed perfect today
A: In the past, my TvZ’s been sloppy and I couldn’t make the correct decisions. However, lately, I gained the ability of reading the Zerg player’s mind. I kept thinking how I can make it hard for the Zerg, and I think that’s how my record is improving.

fOrGG has an enormous fanclub based solely on something he accomplished one and a half years ago, and he's been showing signs that he might be able to go all the way once again. KT has been showing faith in him, putting him out as the starter for many of their matches this season. He completely demolished (Z)

Hydra and

YellOw[ArnC] in the Ro36, using devastating timing attacks that used to be his TvP trademark. As long as he doesn't do any more of this, he should be OK.

Opening Week

March 31st, 18:30
(T)

Flash < Eye of the Storm > (Z)

Kwanro

Stork < Great Barrier Reef > (T)

BaBy

Calm < Match Point > (P)

Pure

EffOrt < Fighting Spirit > (T)

fOrGG

April 2nd, 18:30
(Z)

hyvaa < Great Barrier Reef > (P)

Kal

Movie < Match Point > (T)

Hwasin

ZerO < Fighting Spirit > (T)

fantasy

Shine < Eye of the Storm > (T)

go.go

Now close your eyes, we'll arrive there soon enough....

+ Show Spoiler [In-flight entertainment for the restless] +

Miscellania from the group selection ceremony

Starleaguer Polls

Who do you think has kissed a girl?
Hwasin: 9 (votes)
Stork: 5
Go.go: 1
Everyone: 1

Who do you think has never kissed a girl?
Baby: 8
Fantasy: 4
Go.go: 2
Shine: 1
No comment: 1

Best first impression?
Zero: 6 (Kwanro: It did teach me that first impressions aren't everything)
Stork: 4
Kal: 3
Fantasy: 1
ForGG: 1
Effort: 1

Worst first impression?
Kal: 4(Everyone: Too tall!)
Effort: 3
Go.go: 3
Shine: 1
Movie: 1
ForGG: 1
Baby: 1
Hyvaa: 1

Who would you date if you were a girl?
Hwasin: 4 (Hwasin: I'd date me)
Zero: 3 (Zero: This is the group of guys I would date *points to self,* and those are the guys I wouldn't date *points to rest*)
Stork: 3
Kal: 2
Go.go: 1
Flash: 1 (Stork: He's young and he's rich)
Calm: 1 (Calm: Bah, I just like me)
No one: 1 (Kwanro: There's no one to date here)

Who would you never date if you were a girl?
Go.go: 9(Kal: I feel like he might hit me if he got mad)
Hwasin: 2
Kwanro: 2
Baby: 1
Effort: 1
Movie: 1

Go.go and Flash exchange words.

*Go.go draws Flash's group*
Go.go: If I play Flash, I'll offensive command center him and knock some sense into him. The kid wins a few and he becomes insolent.
Flash: After saying you didn't want to play against me before, I think you've just given up now that you don't have a choice. If you want it that way, I'll use CC rushes, nuke rushes, and every sort of humiliation.

*Shine takes Go.go from Flash's group, but Go.go doesn't understand the rules properly and thinks Flash needs to give permission for the trade to go through.*

Go.go: I'd like to apologize to Flash. I lost my senses earlier on, and I didn't mean to say those things. I spoke without thinking, so please let me go and take Hyvaa as your insurance. Flash, you've always been my favorite progamer. He's such a cool and awesome player.
Flash: Like I said, I think he was just distraught from having no choice. If he wants to apologize now...

*Flash is up to make the last change in the brackets*
Go.go: Flash is so good, I think Flash will be this strong for at least another year. If he wants to get to the next round easily, he shouldn't pick me.. ..I mean what if I do an all-in rush and win by luck? Um I mean of course that would never happen. Err, like who expected me to beat Bisu? Anyway you're my favorite progamer!

For his efforts, Go.go won two round trip tickets from Korean Air Lines to anywhere in South Korea.

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