There are only four weeks left in round three, as we progress through the round, the margin for error grows thin and the importance of each match has never been greater. Magnified by the fact that some teams are only one or two games away from over taking their opposition, the weeks to come are only going to get fiercer and bloodier. Now, I can come up with some fantastical scenarios where we get no telecom teams in the final four, but who's going to believe that. Looking at their current standings and their performance, here are the teams that I think will make the play-offs.



It must be a great time to be a Khan fan, get it? Great, nevermind…
Never have they been in such a dominant position and their chances of making the play-offs are looking fantastic to say the least. While they cannot boast about their game differential, they're sitting atop of the PL Mountain, just ahead of KT Rolster. With only four games remaining, they've pretty much guaranteed themselves a position in the final four. I suspect that'll take their game against ACE with ease, and netting another (or possibly two) win over one of SKT, T8, or the Stars. There's no need for a prediction here, KHAN will make the playoffs with their current performance and momentum. At this point, KHAN would have to put in effort to not make the playoffs.




KT fans are laughing right now, all the way to the playoff bank. Unlike the weak team everyone perceived them to be at the beginning of the season, Flash and his side-kick, Stats, has lead their team through some fierce competition, smashing everyone to reach the top with a whopping twelve game differential.

Flash has not lost a single game this season, without individual leagues to focus his attention elsewhere, Flash has all the time in the world to prepare his PL games and dominate. With no player in a real position to stop him, KT basically enters every game with an automatic win. Stats has also been doing quite well in supporting KT, holding a solid 64% win-rate to bolster KT's chances of winning each game, making him the second pillar for the KT force. Sprinkle in some KT Zerg, whom are been doing better than their SKT Zerg rivals, a dash of Wooki and you have yourself a pretty good team. KT is in a very real position to make the playoffs again, and with the way things are going for them, I wouldn't be surprised if they were the ones waiting at the top at the end of the season. Make no mistake; KT is well on their way to winning their third consecutive PL title.




Overall, SKT isn’t doing too badly, but they’re certainly not the force they were last season. A poorer than usual performance in round two meant SKT slipped below the half-way mark, and they’ve been slowly fighting their way up ever since. With their recent success over the Stars, SKT has moved up the third position, but the battle is far from over. They’re still within danger of dropping out of the top four, and SKT faces a real possibility that they may not make the playoffs.

Their overall supporting cast hasn’t been pulling through as much as last season. SKT Zerg’s have lived up to their name on numerous occasions. Rising Protoss rookie, Sun, has been less than stellar, going through an ugly five game losing streak and under performing most of the season. Bisu, while still maintaining a positive ratio, hasn’t been the PL dominator he was last season. Best sold his PvT skills to become a beast in his PvZ match-up, leaving everyone in astonishment by beating the likes of Jaedong, Soulkey, Effort, and Hoejja. Unsurprisingly, it’s Fantasy who has been holding down the fort. I’d like to take this moment to laugh at those who thought Fantasy was going to slip into mediocrity when news of Oov entering the army hit the stands. Fantasy is second only to Flash, going 11-2 this season. On a whole, SKT has been able to string together enough wins to keep them within reach of the playoffs.

However, SKT’s future remains uncertain at this point, while they maybe the favorites over STX and Team 8, by no means are they assured an easy victory. STX has had SKT’s number all season long, and Team 8 has shown that with a little strategic play they can take SKT down in one fell swoop. SKT still holds an ACE card, literally. ACE being their second to last match-up, SKT is almost guaranteed a win over the boys in blue, giving them a little more breathing room, a luxury the Stars does not have. If SKT can overcome either STX or Team 8, they’ll be in a good position to make the playoffs over CJ and Stars. It’s time to pull out that crystal ball and show what great preparation can do.




How does a team that looks so good on paper end up in the middle of the pack? More baffling is how a star-studded line-up went from the top in round one to the bottom in round two, could it be that CJ is just an average team? Whatever the case maybe, they're still within shot of making the playoffs. They've got some serious competition ahead of them [Team 8, Stars, KT, STX], and I think their primary focus should be beating Team 8, Stars, and STX to secure a position in the playoffs. CJ is mostly in contention with SKT and Stars, as they’re the closest competitors and currently one step ahead of CJ.

CJ is just unpredictable, they’re just as likely to win as they are to lose, and that makes predicting whether they’ll make it into the playoffs a little difficult. I hear the CJ coach is good at getting the match-ups he desire, this will probably be the best time to utilize such ability. With half the job done, the only remaining part left to play is for the players to perform. If they can do that much they should be safe. CJ also has ACE in their five remaining games, giving them a little breathing space. But the ACE card only matters if they can secure one or two wins before meeting ACE. One slip up could mean SKT and Stars pulling away further, it’ll be close.
My opinion on the matter is, through their shear (supposed) depth; they’ll scrap through (and probably choke in the playoffs).




Overall, Stars is a solid team with some great key players and decent support. That being said, the Stars are one of those teams that I'm not quite sure whether they'll make it or not, simply because it really depends on whether Zero can win, and whether Light meets a Zerg.

Zero, one of the supporting pillars of this team has had a rather rough season, starting out on a losing streak with another quickly following after, Zero just hasn’t been himself. There's really no reason why Zero should be losing so much when his team mate, Soulkey, is doing so well. The question that must be answered is, will Zero step up and start winning more often, because this late into the season, with teams separated by one or two games, every match is important. The other factor is Light, who's very important to the Star's arsenal. He's had a mediocre season, mostly because his TvP is still atrocious. Six of his nine losses can be attributed to Protoss.

Looking at their four remaining games, I think the Stars are going to have a hard time securing a position in the final four. It's not entirely impossible, but it will be difficult and daunting task to overcome the likes of CJ, KHAN, and KT. My prediction for the Stars is that they’ll just miss out on the playoffs to one of CJ or SKT.




It's hard to believe a team with such line-up is in the lower half of the ladder. Everyone had high hopes for this team and they were meant to blaze through all competition, but as we head into round 3, is it too late for Team 8 to turn things around? They're only one game away from being tied fourth place along with SKT and CJ, and it's not too farfetched to say that their chances are still decent. What remains to be seen is how well Team 8 will perform in their last five games.

The fact of the matter is, the majority of the team is under performing. Jaedong has been a little iffy this season. Both Tyson and Jaehoon are struggling to reach the 50% mark. I don't even know what's happened to Killer, he's only won two of his eight games. Sea, especially Sea, once dubbed the ProLeague Warrior, has fallen into some deep slump, unable to overcome his Protoss woes. Sometimes they show up well prepared, and other times it's almost like they didn't even both practicing. With the Stars, KT, and KHAN standing in their way, I honestly don't think they're going to make the cut. Not with the way the team is currently performing, with such a limited roster to work with and a coach that I feel is stubborn at times, Team 8 might burn up in the heat of the competition. As hard as it is for me to say this, Team 8 is most likely not going to make the playoffs. Prove me wrong, Team 8, prove me wrong.




Where do I start with STX. They've always had the potential to be the greatest team, yet they've never truly been able to show it. They go one week toppling a giant like SKT to being annihilated the next by ACE. While STX rookies are capable of taking down some very top-notch players, what matters is how often they can do this, and the answer is not often enough. STX has been mixing up the new and old, and they’ve yielded some very mixed results. Shuttle hasn’t won a single game this season, Modesty keeps losing in his best match-up, and their previous season ace [Bogus] has been on a losing-streak.

It’s not all bad, Calm (avoiding Terran all season long) and Last have been holding down positive records. Dear, who’s a one-trick PvT pony, has the highest win-rate of the team, but I’m not sure how much this actually counts for when his wins are over the likes of Sea, Light, and FBH.
The problem with STX is that they can’t string together enough wins each series to push them further up the ladder. At seventh place on the ladder and only four games left to play, they’re really going to have to dig deep to claw their way into the top four. It’s not entirely impossible given that the teams above them are only one or two games ahead, with a little a lot of luck [in the form of ‘strategic play’ or/and the other teams performing poorly] STX could make the playoffs. But I just don’t see it happening, not when CJ, SKT, and KT are standing in their way. The playoff dream might be a little too far out of reach for STX.




Oh Ace, everyone's beloved team. Currently at the bottom of the ladder, with only five games left their chances of getting into the playoffs is nil. They still have some very fierce competitors [KHAN, STX, SKT, KT, CJ] ahead of them and unfortunately there is no other ACE team to provide them any relief. Even if they were to win all their remaining games, they still wouldn't make the cut, which is a real shame because they started off the season rather well and it would have been a dream to see them competing in the playoffs. Sometimes, you have to enter into battle with the full knowledge that you're going to lose in the end, and while they may not make the cut, there is no doubt in my mind that Ace is going down swinging and they'll put their lives on the line to win their remaining games.

So in the end I think our top four are going to be KHAN, KT, SKT, and CJ. Fear not those who support the teams not listed, I think it’s worth noting that we’ve had a wild ride this season, having upset after upset. The standings are still very close and who knows what might happen, maybe the team you’re rooting for will make it, maybe they won’t. One thing is for sure, this is going to be one vicious (and probably cheesy) round.

Woongjin is a perennial darkhorse favorite for the Proleague. A line-up of generally well liked players who like to engage in some creative strategies, particularly in the Zerg department, have led to constant high hopes for Woongjin. Unfortunately, these hopes never materialized into a strong Proleague performance, and oftentimes, Stars isn’t even a playoff contender.

The story seemed set to repeat as we kicked off this new season, with Woongjin resting uncomfortably in the lower half of the league rankings. Slowly but surely, however, Stars managed to climb its way up the rankings into the top four, and has a real shot at making a big splash in the playoffs.

Woongjin is notorious for their inconsistency. Zero and Light are all capable of taking on the very best, but only half the times. Zero can go from taking on Flash head to head one day to losing to a no name B-teamer the next. Light’s TvZ is continuously competing with Flash as the pinnacle of the match-up, but his TvP leaves much to be desired.

Fortunately for Woongjin, they have Soulkey. Lauded as Zero’s successor and the new hope of Zerg, Soulkey gave some good breakout performances, and then gave some average, forgettable games, and seemed to be on track to sink back to mediocrity. This season, however, Soulkey seemed finally to be living up to our hopes and expectations, with a staggering 11-3 record, with one of the toughest opponent lists for the season. I do not hesitate to proclaim that Soulkey is the number one Zerg on the scene right now.



Soulkey’s incredible consistency against immense competition has been crucial to Stars’ success. Veterans Zero and Light, Protoss one-two punch free and shy, and the young rising star hOn_sin are all capable of bringing wins home for Stars. Capped by Soulkey’s dependable victory, it is little surprise that Stars has seen a steady climb in the rankings. The combination of shaky inconsistency coupled with infinite potential that defines Woongjin remains, but it seems one of their players is finally ready to step out of that shadow and unyieldingly realize his potential.

The advantages of a strong, dependable ace player cannot be stressed enough. Even without an ace match, having someone that your team can truly rely on and rally behind is tremendously helpful to the team’s atmosphere. Stars’ playful and relaxed spirit forges a strong bond between the team members, and now, the trusting and collaborative can be manifested into victories as Soulkey leads the charge. Right now, Stars shows no signs of slowing down, and if they can continue with their current level of play, top four is not only a realistic goal, but a certainty.

Right after Newton postulated is Laws of Motion, he postulated his lesser known Laws of Proleague, the first of which states that teams who are winning tend to continue winning. When you have players with unlimited potential, all that is needed is one spark, one little push to convert the potential into an unstoppable force. Potential and momentum have finally come together for Woongjin, and they are looking to tackle the Proleague playoffs with the strongest line-up they’ve ever had. Prepare yourself, the Stars have aligned.