Proleague is a funny beast. For the first two weeks, everything went as expected. Weak teams failed, KT couldn’t handle the heat of the new format and CJ dominated everyone. This week, the upsets started. CJ fell to KT, SKT went 0-2, Khan showed some good form and even STX got a win. The season is really starting to heat up and we saw some amazing games this week. Moreover, it seems like outfits are starting to adjust to the new format, holding back good players for set 5 and taking risks with rookies to try and bring their team home.

After such an interesting week in SPL, you can rest assured that we have some great content for you! Recaps and previews are here as always, and Xxio brings you another interview with TL veterans thedeadhaji and MrHoon, this time on the much debated topic of the new no ace match format. Moving a little closer to home, we’ve got an interview with the extremely popular Sayle about his English Proleague commentaries that have been revolutionising the way the foreign community watches broodwar.

In conclusion, here's a Merry Christmas from the TL SPL coverage team! We hope the spirit of the season carries you through these weeks and into the many, many PL games to come. We look forward to meeting you all in a new year filled with love, joy and Broodwar!

The result of STX’s current form is that when they go out to play it almost seems like a foregone conclusion that they will lose. Unfortunately for STX this was the case against a strong Khan lineup. Hero had his first showing of the season and was matched up against Stork but was unable to make anything of it, being rolled by solid storm control after his hydras only managed to destroy Stork’s wall. The second match featured Hyvaa once again getting stuck with his inferior matchup, ZvT, but he played an excellent game being able to deflect Reality’s attempts to bust him with 4 rax pressure and using the backdoor on electric circuit in combination with lurkers to give great success.

From this point however, it was all downhill for STX. Shuttle came out to face Jangbi and despite catching Jangbi with a nice timing attack was unable to capitalise, and once Jangbi got his reavers out the game was essentially over. Finally Roro came out to ruin some more anti teams against Mini, who looked so strong last week but simply rolled over and died, using a really weird build that involved multiple slow zealot attacks until finally dying to mutas because he had no anti air. This was a relatively strong showing from Khan to take the match 3-1.



This was match was the first in a series of upsets that would come to define this week in Proleague. SKT sitting at second on the ladder was expected to win but Stars was having none of it. Zero and Fantasy were sent out first, with Zero attempting a fairly all in ling bust followed up by 2 hatch mutalisk but Fantasy’s defence was just too solid, easily holding Zero’s attacks and finally crushing his base before defilers could play their role effectively. In the next match sHy showed some good form, crushing a helpless Soo with solid corsair play to counter Soo’s mutalisk based strategy.

Best and Light had a curious game, with Light attempting to take Best to the late game, a simple mistake that cost him dearly. Soulkey easily destroyed a helpless Sun, showing an extremely scary Hydra into Lurker contain tailored specifically for sniper ridge. Finally Bisu was bested by Free, who used a particularly greedy build to get an easy advantage in the game and Bisu was unable to catch up and eventually was defeated, giving Stars the unexpected victory.



With STX’s form in such a bad place coming into this match Ace were actually favoured to win, which is not something that you would expect to hear about Ace in any match ever. The clash turned out to be a tense one, going down to the final game but STX managed to pull out the victory, putting themselves on the leader board for the season finally. Great was sent out first and was trounced easily by a strong looking Modesty, who snuck some lings from a 9 pool the long way around and destroyed Great’s drones before he could react. Canata came out next against Hyvaa, who attempted a 2 hatch lurker build which was easily deflected, and once Canata was good and ready he moved out and easily broke Hyvaa’s defences.

FireBatHero was unsuccessful this week losing to a Dear in a disjointed looking TvP with Dear simply playing safe and taking an easy win. Piano brought the set back to 2-2 easily rolling over an out of form Bogus in a one sided TvT. Finally Last was sent out to save his team and was able to best the veteran Iris in a long and relatively standard TvT affair giving STX the victory they were so desperately searching for.



The battle of the protoss as some called it commenced with the marquee matchup of Bisu vs Stork right out the gates. Bisu attempted to do the build that Free did against him earlier in the week, but Stork was able to capitalise on Bisu’s greediness, catching Bisu’s goons out of position on two occasions and was eventually able to bust Bisu’s natural with a 3 gate reaver push. Turn was the surprise sent out by January and it paid off, with Turn implementing a strong 5 fac timing push that Sun was unable to hold off due to poor engagements against Turns aggression.

Fantasy saved the match for SKT, turning a disadvantage and a weird Drop Screen around against Reality to bring the scores back to 1-2. Unfortunately for SKT their comeback was not to be, with Jangbi trouncing Best with superior army control to seal the deal at 3-1 to Khan.



Stars, fresh off their taking down of a hapless SKT were out for blood against the powerhouse Team 8. sHy was sent out first and entertained the crowd with some fun hallucinated arbiter play, tormenting Sea with recalls and constant attacks until Sea caved to the pressure. Baby came out to equalise the scores at 1-1, winning despite his Justin Bieber theme song. Soulkey continued his good form, besting Killer even thought he had the build order disadvantage.

Free came out, fresh off his win over Bisu to face another TBLS member in the form of Jaedong. Unfortauntely for Free, he wasn’t able to get his second win of the week with Jaedong simply proving too strong by preventing Free’s expansion attempts with overwhelming force of numbers. This was where everything unravelled for team 8, with Stars still having their ace player Zero in the wings while Team 8 was forced to send in their out of form captain Jaehoon. Zero showed his class by easily crushing Jaehoon, winning the match for Stars 3-2.


KT is one of those teams that is so incredibly disappointing sometimes but always has an aura of strength around them, so when they were matched up against competition leaders CJ there was a lingering sense of doubt about whether CJ would take the win. That doubt was well placed as KT managed to take down the current leaders 3-2 in an exciting series of games. Flash was sent out first and had his way with a helpless Horang2 utilising vulture harass in a style that would be expected of Fantasy and eventually making far too many tanks for it to be practical for protoss to win. Leta returned the favour for CJ, easily destroying Crazy Hydra with a mech strategy that is becoming more and more common this season in TvZ’s.

Skyhigh saw his first game of the season and hit his ideal matchup in TvT where he showed why he is rated so highly in it, easily busting minds defences in the late game and avoiding wraith play for the most part instead favouring goliaths. Hydra was sent out against Hoejja and a 3-1 victory to CJ seemed a foregone conclusion especially when Hydra got a significant early game lead, but Hoejja showed us why he was KT’s clutch player last season, turning the disadvantage around with a good muta engagement. Finally Effort was sent out against Stats in a de facto ace match and unfortunately for CJ, Effort’s form finally faltered showing a relatively ineffective Hydra drop build that did little to no damage and despite stalling a number of Stats’ pushes his unwillingness to tech to Hive meant that eventually Stats was able to bust down his defences and take the match for his team.

SKT has had a rough patch this last week, but the sun is shining over the horizon already. ACE, after showing its’ teeth in the first week, showed some questionable lineups in the next two matches and furthermore, proved how vulnerable they are to bad matchups. Great hasn’t really improved much since he left KHAN in search for a revival, FBH fell short of Dear in a disappointing TvP, and Iris couldn’t come out of a disadvantage vs. Last, none of these are good signs for taking down the most successful team in Proleague history. Then again, miracles do happen. And oh boy, do we ever need a miracle for ACE to win, since all of SKT’s heavy hitters bar n.die_soO are performing like the gears of a well oiled machine. Bisu’s last two losses didn’t really show signs of a slump in any conventional sense of the word and Best showed just how scary his TvP can be, just in case ACE sends out a 4-Terran lineup again. If you are no Proleague affecionado, you might be tempted to skip this, but CJ vs. KT proved that miracles can happen, and even if they don’t – you might be getting to see Kal in action again. Good enough odds for me.
My prediction: Air Force ACE 1-3 SK Telecom T1




Team 8 really disappointed me last week. The talent is undoubtably there, and with all the new info and the maps not being dissimilar to maps they all should be familiar with, the team should be a major contender. The greatest disappointments are Jaehoon and Killer. I spent a lot of time in private conversations defending Jaehoon, pointing at his new quality of play, but when his nerves are strained, he can’t churn out a win. Killer seems to have the same problem, and the coach is very hesitant to send out the rookies. Furthermore, they are facing a soaring KHAN – the team that just beat down the mighty SKT, has depth unprecedented in the teams history, and morale that is definitely superior to the constantly worried faces of team 8. Even the matchups seem less horrible, but that might just be because the coach actually has an abundance of performing players to choose from and doesn’t have to nurse a dragon back to health by feeding him undeserved ACE matches. Baby and Jaedong should in my own biased opinion win their games, but the third win is where it gets tricky. The wonderful additions of RorO and the still performing Stork should give KHAN the edge they need. This should be interesting, but the weight of having to prove themselves is definitely rather on team 8.
My prediction: Samsung KHAN 3-2 Team 8




Even if Team 8 manages to pull a win out vs. KHAN, playing CJ at this time has to be scary as hell. Yes, yes, KT barely managed to beat them in a spectacular upset. But let’s be fair here – KT seems to base it’s entire image nowadays on creating upsets that would be less upsetting if the Zerg line would play with any sort of consistency. If you don’t know why I think CJ is scary, you haven’t been paying enough attention for the last two weeks – all their players are just in great form at the moment and everyone in their main lineup is good enough to win an individual league, if they haven’t done so already. Honestly, Team 8 was likely pushed too early into playing too many matches early on, and if CJ doesn’t fold over again after receiving every single snipe they wanted (I mean LOOK at the KT vs. CJ lineup and tell me how many matches were favorable for KT?), they should have this in the bag.
My prediction: CJ Entus 3-1 Team 8




Air Force ACE vs. Samsung KHAN is in a way a battle of generations. M18M, Firebathero, and great all used to have a KHAN background, and seeing these two teams clash just highlights how much KHAN has changed lately. To think - last season KHAN was thought of as Stork with support, and this was made even worse with Jangbi, Stork and great slumping near the end of the season. Now one half of the KHAN team that won the Proleague in '08 faces off against the Protoss half of it. On the other hand, FBH isn't as godawful in TvP any more, and M18M shows excellent mechanics. Unfortunately, great has been a disappointment every match he's played this season, but he might dust it off to play against his former team. I wonder how KHAN fans themselves must feel? Either way, I am fairly certain that New KHAN > Old KHAN (ACE) and that this new KHAN might very well find itself in the finals this season if they keep performing like they do.
My prediction: Air Force ACE 1-3 Samsung KHAN



For the last few days, I have been humming "Good Morning“ from "Singing in the Rain“ so long, I might take dancing lessons just to transform that banana grin into a tapdance number. It’s evident this has to end, so what I get for Christmas is SKT beating STX into the ground 3-nill. The STX coach is pretty much desperate to receive a satisfying performance from his team, with Bogus still on 0%(!) and most of the teams wins coming from BO wins in ZvZ-s. Rookies like mini, last and Dear will be fodder for the mighty guns of SKT, and this time, I’m struggling to think of a matchup that this could produce that would interest a non-SKT fan. Free win for SKTetty much.
My prediction: SK Telecom T1 3-0 STX SouL

Match of the week: Samsung KHAN vs. Team 8 – Two TBLS members, Baby on fire, Jangbi on fire, high chance of TvX, something a lot of TL members are looking forward to, seeing the recent explosion of PvZ.