by WaxAngel

For years now, the OnGameNet has held an event where the players participating in the Starleague are allowed to have a hand in the determining the groups of the tournament. The exact format has changed a few times over the years, but in general it allows the top four players from the previous OSL to have a significant advantage in selecting their opponents.



Group Selection Format Explained
The current format of the Starleague group selection is a bit complicated, and even confuses the progamers at times. Here is a 'brief' explanation of how it all works.

+ Show Spoiler [Group Selection Format] +

Group Selection Report
In true TeamLiquid style, we bring you a detailed play-by-play of how the group selection went down. If you just want to see what the final groups are, they're right below. However, the group selection process contains some miscellaneous points of interest, such as which pros are being avoided by other pros, which pros are considered easy opponents, the race matchups pros are confident in at the moment, and some general trash-talking and humor.

+ Show Spoiler [Group Selection Report] +

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Final Groups

A: EffOrt, Action, Leta, Bisu
B: Flash, Hyuk, ZerO, HiyA
C: Pure, Sea, Jaedong, Hydra
D: Kal, free, Stork, Fantasy

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Odds and Ends
Besides the actual group selection itself, a major part of the ceremony has always been to give fans a glimpse at the personalities of Progamers. They are given frequent opportunities to speak throughout the ceremony, and the opening part of ceremony often features an entire segment based on the light hearted banter of the pros. This season, OnGameNet went with a lengthy four segments: Progamer Gossip, Progamer Dreams, Progamer Brain Maps, and "Dates" with the Stargirls (the eye candy in the gaming booths).

To be honest, all of the segments felt very contrived and childish. Nonetheless, they were all terribly entertaining. Come on, don't say you wouldn't enjoy watching Flash being awkward as he tries to talk to a cute girl. Milkis, the tireless translating tech, was on hand to translate most of these segments into English for our entertainment. Here's a little taste, to whet your appetite.



Check out the full post here: Highlights from the group selection.

Our expert team of writers got to work and wrote their in depth analysis of each OSL group. Then we invited the King of OSL, Kwark, to write about every player, because what's a TeamLiquid report without some brutally honest criticism?



by Flamewheel

To me, this group seems the most balanced and offers the potential for the best games. Obviously, most of the attention is going to be on EffOrt and Bisu since now they finally get to play the game that they were not able to play for the Proleague Playoffs. However, Action and Leta should be able to show us nice games as well, though neither is really known for getting deep into Starleagues. Since each player fights the other three in this round robin format, I'm going to give you my predictions at how things turn out.

EffOrt's matchups are all pretty solid, right? And by pretty solid, I mean he has phenomenal ZvZ and ZvP, though his ZvT (non-Flash) makes me chuckle a bit. Counting the disastrous OSL tiebreakers last season where EffOrt seems to have broken the slump, EffOrt is 18-2 in ZvZ. If we look at Jaedong's ZvZ record for around the same time he is 18-5. Dare I say that EffOrt vZ, for right now, is almost like JvZ? The current ZvZ ELO agrees with me. Interestingly enough, Shine is third. I wouldn't have guessed that. Anyway, EffOrt is going to beat Action, and I say that with conviction.

EffOrt's vP is nothing to be laughed at eitherl; after Jaedong and ZerO he is third on the list for ZvP ELO, and even though he hasn't played many Protosses (in the last five months he is 6-2 vP) the Protoss he's playing against is Bisu, who's currently on a 7 game win streak vZ in a time where ZvP is terribly imbalanced. I don't want to jump on the Bisu bandwagon, but I think Bisu is going to take this match.

And then we get to EffOrt's vT. Yeah, he's still fourth on the ELO list for ZvT (technically third, since Yarnc went bye-bye) but I think Leta has a chance to harass him to death. EffOrt's good in straight up games and has the APM but TvZ imba and wraiths are tricky. Still giving this to EffOrt though, but in my eyes it's like a 60:40 at best.

EffOrt < Eye of the Storm > Action
EffOrt < Polaris Rhapsody > Leta
EffOrt < Flight-Dreamliner > Bisu

Leta's cute. And he's got nice micro. However, I don't see him making it into the Ro8. Statistically, his TvP has been his weakest point. He had a rough enough time against Pusan in trying to make it into the Ro16 and was eliminated in the MST Preliminaries by Sky. Even though Bisu is determined to run Archons into siege tank lines, I don't think Leta can take him.

Leta vs Action should be exciting; last time they met in Proleague (Leta's most recent TvZ match as well) Action walked away the victor in the late game, and they're playing on Dreamliner, which is 1-8 TvZ. However, Leta's got that 1 in a match against Kwanro, in which he abused the short air distance to wraith Kwanro to death. And even though Action is great at lategame ZvT, he's still very easy to kill off early on and Leta's got just what's needed to take this match.

Leta < Grand Line SE > Bisu
Leta < Polaris Rhapsody > EffOrt
Leta < Flight-Dreamliner > Action

Sorry Action, I have you walking away 0-3 from this. Your ZvZ is not impressive when compared to EffOrt's, and your ZvP is not going to stand up to Kim Taek Yong. Between you and Leta, you'll be fighting for that single win, and I've already put down Leta to win it. After a nice early run, I don't think you're going to walk away from the Ro16, but hey, stranger things have happened still.

Action < Eye of the Storm > EffOrt
Action < Polaris Rhapsody > Bisu
Action < Flight-Dreamliner > Leta

And here we come to Bisu. I haven't talked about him at all yet but I've already put him down to win 3-0. I'm not sure if he's out of his slump yet, but he's definitely playing some good Starcraft. As long as he remembers to use storm and not fail with Carriers, he should do well against Leta's weak PvT. EffOrt vs Bisu is going to be the match to watch, and even though ZvP imba, I'm going to say Bisu's going to take it. Just wait and see. Sorry Action, you're not EffOrt, you're not good at ZvP, and if Bisu holds out any random bust or all-in you may try, he's going to walk away.

Bisu < Grand Line SE > Leta
Bisu < Flight-Dreamliner > EffOrt
Bisu < Polaris Rhapsody > Action

So overall, I say Bisu and EffOrt advance. Which, of course, is what should happen. They are the two better players in this group and both have a good shot at being the 3-0 player.

+ Show Spoiler [Kwark's Conjecture] +



by Motbob
I love this group. Each of the six games has the potential to be really fantastic. HiyA vs Flash? Flash vs a management zerg? Flash vs a scrub zerg? A ZerO ZvZ? Yes, please. I don't really want to break down each potential game, but let's look at each player and what they'll bring to the group.

Flash isn't playing like the best player in the world at the moment -- that honor currently belongs to Jaedong -- but he's certainly one of the favorites to win this tournament, and he'll almost certainly make it out of his group. His game vs Hiya will go a long way towards killing the image that his TvT is slipping badly... or it might cement that image! We won't know until the game is actually played. His games against Hyuk and ZerO will be fun to watch, if only for the pleasure of watching efficient vivisections... though if ZerO gets onto 4 gas the game automatically becomes great, so I hope that he's able to do that. After a month of seeing Flash flounder against unplanned opponents (or, at least, approach a 50% winrate), it'll be nice to see him play with some planning beforehand.

I'm going to assume that Zero's disgraceful 0-2 exit from the MSL was the result of collapsing after Proleague ended and sleeping for 4 days straight. Otherwise, I'd be pretty pessimistic about him being able to display his trademark lategame play against the excellent opponents in his group. ZerO recently showed why any ZvZ involving him has the potential to become an instant classic when he played Great in the MSL Loser's Game a couple weeks ago, and he's always fun to watch when he gets 4 gas vs Terran.

Do you really expect me to analyze Hyuk in any meaningful way? Fat chance. That guy is more inconsistent than Loudog's story. I don't even know what to say about his style; from what I can remember, his style vs Terran is the fly-all-your-mutas-over-the-MnM-ball style. From looking over his record, it appears that he does a better job of preparing for specific opponents than against someone selected on-the-fly (like in Proleague), so that gives me hope that he might provide us with good games. I really hope that Hyuk doesn't advance; he's going to eventually have a bad game/series and be eliminated. Let it be now so that he doesn't ruin a potentially exciting quarterfinals/semifinals match.

Hiya is such a cool dude! His flamboyant style of play and bold ceremonies have earned him a lot of fans over the past few months. It also doesn't hurt that he's been playing lights out since the beginning of July. He really doesn't have what it takes to win against Flash and ZerO if those two are on top of their game, but if ZerO is still in a vacation-induced coma and Flash still hasn't switched back to Pocari Sweat, anything can happen. Hiya seems like sort of a generic Terran, but that's what everyone was saying before him vs Free game 4. I'll definitely be watching his games.

For obvious reasons, I think Flash is going to advance. Of Hiya and Zero, I'd say that Zero has a slight advantage since it seems that ZerO does better in matchups he can prepare for. So I'll predict Flash and ZerO to advance, and Hyuk to definitely NOT advance.

+ Show Spoiler [Kwark's Conjecture] +



by Motbob

This is a group that is easiest to define. On the one hand, we have Jaedong, someone who will almost certainly 3-0 his group. On the other hand, we have Pure, Sea, and Hydra, who I predict will go 1-2 each, forcing themselves into tiebreakers that will probably go on for hours before someone breaks himself out of the pool of mediocrity.

Jaedong is Jaedong. He's the best player in the world at the moment, and he's the most accomplished player in the OSL. His style is the same style you know and love: aggressive when it needs to be; turtley when he needs to change it up; decisive and refined at all times. His ZvZ is still the best in the world, and his ZvP and ZvT are as good as or better than they've ever been. He's going to get to the finals unless he runs into Flash, guaranteed.

Pure is a genius. Please go watch Pure vs Pusan, a game that was played a couple weeks ago, and you'll see what I mean. Pure made the only decision that could possibly lead to a won game, as opposed to a draw, when he saved up 400 minerals and abandoned his base. He is really, really good at making the correct decision in his games and he's also very good at abusing game mechanics and keeping the overall flow of the game under his control. For example, when he gets an advantage in PvT, he doesn't give it up under any circumstances (see: vs Light a few weeks ago and vs Hwasin a few seasons ago in OSL). However, Pure will never ever ever beat an S-class progamer in a BoX. It's as if there's this ceiling that doesn't allow him to beat a gamer who is better than him. All he can do against really good progamers is to provide entertaining games against them (see: vs Bisu in PL playoffs). He has a chance to beat Sea and will probably beat down Hydra.

Sea is a noble figure in the world of Broodwar. When his team needed him the most, in the 2006 Sky Proleague Grand Finals, Sea came through against Gorush in the ace match and secured his team's place in history. However, Sea has a well-earned reputation for choking in individual leagues, and for a while was slumping hard in his traditional arena of choice: Proleague. At the beginning of this season, he suddenly became good again, and has become pretty darn good at all three matchups. However, I don't think he's going to overcome his individual league curse right after being eliminated from the Proleague playoffs.

Hydra is perpetually underrated. That won't change here. I don't know much about Hydra, and I'm not going to predict that he'll advance. If he does make it out of this group, he won't be just another A-teamer anymore.

Jaedong will advance, and if, at gunpoint, I were forced to choose one of the remaining three players to advance, I would pick Pure. His play against Light inspired me, and I think he can defeat Hydra.

+ Show Spoiler [Kwark's Conjecture] +



by WaxAngel

In one of the toughest OSLs ever, group D appears to be the so called ‘group of death.’ It’s funny then, that all four players are optimistic about their chances. Alongside the rest of the group selection, it reveals a trend where progamers evaluate their opponents based mainly on their race instead of overall skill. How else could four of the aces on their respective teams be happy with facing each other?


Kal's mind was in full-blown “at least I still have PvP” mode as defensive mechanism for his recent slump, which led to the odd sight where he was couldn’t stop expressing his glee at being in a group with Free, Stork and Bisu (before Fantasy made the fateful switch). Hopefully he went home and realized he’s facing some really good players.

Free played well to make it the OSL for the first time in his career, and it’s a surprise that it took him so long to get here. While he doesn’t have the best pedigree in the group, he’s definitely not wanting for pure skill. He has the skill and big-game chops to do well, but S-class gamers will be his bane as always. Free is great in a straight up fight, and he’s probably the best of the four at pure combat. However, he’s going up against three extremely clever players, who are easily capable of winning games without having to face Free in battles of evenly matched armies. It will be a test of Free’s strategic ability to get himself into a position where he can wield his strengths.

Stork is the best of the four, and the only OSL winner as well. After seeing his powers peak during his OSL win, Stork has been lumbering along rather unremarkably. I do think Stork’s PvP and PvT are always the most consistent of his matchups, with his PvZ being the decider of whether or not he’s going to be a real threat to win the whole thing. Interestingly enough, he lost to Baby(T) and Movie(P) to drop out of the last OSL, although I’m inclined to say that was a bit unlucky. I’m giving Stork a lot of credit for past performances, and I think with a group of only P and T, Stork can be almost as good as he was in 2008.



Even though it’s an all TvP group, I don’t think you can say it gives Fantasy an advantage. Regardless of matchup, he’s facing guys who are very skilled. Say what you will about Fantasy’s TvZ, but it would have been much better for him to draw something like Hydra, Action, and Zero than this Protoss trio. I think Fantasy has an even chance in this group, no more amd no less.

On a side note, Kal and Fantasy will also have to worry about the important STX vs SK playoff match next week, and the player on the winning team will have to focus all of his efforts on the Proleague Final against KT Rolster. While it will certainly tax their stamina to practice for both OSL and PL, their relative declines actually help them out in this aspect. Since they are no longer sure-fire Ace match picks for their teams, they might actually have a few less games to practice for each week.

Recent results are a bit inconclusive as to who is the best in the group, but in the end, I predict Stork and Kal will make it out of this group. Even though Kal is going through a slump, I like how he matches up against these particular opponents. The differences in skill level at top level PvP are very minimal, so I can’t really say Kal is at a disadvantage there. Also, Kal tends to lose to opponents who overpower him in TvP, but he is much better against finesse players like Fantasy (see his series against ForGG last OSL!). As for Stork, I’m going to count on his years of being excellent at PvP and PvT to see him through.

+ Show Spoiler [Kwark's Conjecture] +

The writing team presents: OSL Podcast

Though our fingers had become but bloody little nubs after writing this week's news post, the TL writing team still felt compelled to create yet more content. So GTR and I (that's WaxAngel) decided the trendy thing, and got together to record a podcast. We discussed the minor controversy that OnGameNet and SKT were embroiled in over the date of the group selection ceremony, and then we moved on to wonder whether or not the ceremony is really even that necessary. After that, we had a nice discussion over tea about who would make it out of their groups, and eventually win the Starleague (hint: GTR didn't pick either Jaedong OR Flash to win).

Clocking in at around an hour it's a hefty little thing. I would suggest listening to it in small installments while you're on the can, or maybe playing it softly to your infant child so GTR's sexy Australian accent can lull your baby to sleep (and create a young Starcraft fan in the process).



So download it, already.

Week One Preview
This is usually where we'd have our previews, but we wrote them already up there! This box will have more presents in it next week, I promise!

Wednesday, July 28th - 18:30 KST

EffOrt < Eye of the Storm > Action
Hyuk < Grand Line SE > HiyA
Pure < Polaris Rhapsody > Hydra
Stork < Flight-Dreamliner > Fantasy


Friday, July 30th - 18:30 KST

Leta < Grand Line SE > Bisu
Flash < Polaris Rhapsody > ZerO
Sea < Flight-Dreamliner > Jaedong
Kal < Eye of the Storm > free