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[GSTL] Round Two - Day One Preview

Forum Index > News
88 CommentsPost a Reply
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[GSTL] Round Two - Day One Preview

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
Graphics byPathy
June 14th, 2012 13:19 GMT

Table of Contents






Group A, Day One
Intro



LG-IM vs Fnatic RaidCall
Preview



Check out the GSTL on Liquipedia



Introduction



The initial round of games is over, and we've moved on to what GomTV has dubbed "the pennant race." But no need to be confused, it's just another pair of double-elim, four-team group stages to decide which four teams will make it to the final bracket of the tournament. The opening match features the newcomers Fnatic RC facing a massive challenge in reigning champions Prime, a match that could end very poorly for the British backed Koreans if they don't bring their A-game.

Prime

FnaticRC



by NrGmonk


Where They Stand

Two seasons ago, Prime disappointingly lost in finals of the GSTL to only two of MVP's weaker players in Noblesse and Keen. In that series, Prime fielded a lackluster lineup filled with almost no big names, backed by a falling star in MKP. Prime's lineup simply looked incomplete and some wondered if it was a huge fluke that they made it to the finals in the first place.

But now with the rise of Maru, the return of Ghostking, the continued improvement of Creator, and the meteoric ascent of MKP, Prime has finally become a true championship team. At the moment, they are absolutely on fire. To their names, they hold the current GSTL title, the current IPL TAC title, and the current KSL title. The three arguably most difficult team leagues in the world have all been completely monopolized by this once struggling team. If that doesn't cement their position as best team in the world, I don't know what will.

Fnatic RaidCall comes into the war as a heavy underdog. They surprised everyone when they took out LG-IM, a team with legendary players and a favorite to take this season's championship. Everyone had pegged FntaticRC to drop out in the first round with a 0-2 score, especially after fellow "foreigner" team Liquid dropped out after a very underwhelming performance. But FnaticRC showed they had more in common with the Korean teams than foreigner teams. The whole team lives in a team house, practicing together in Korea, and has been for some time. In addition, a majority, five out of seven of their players are actually Korean. Fnatic has chosen a unique way to raise a pro-gaming team, and from recent results, it seems to be working well for them.


Key Players
Prime: (P)Creator, (T)Ghostking, (T)Maru, (Z)BBoongBBoong

Prime fans have a lot to be excited about on every single game day: Prime's MVP could end up being any one of many players. While MKP is Prime's best player and is always willing to play in clan wars, he gets the most kills for Prime in perhaps only one third of the matches. In terms of pounding out those wins, Creator is probably Prime's most important player. Known for his consistent and solid macro play, Creator almost rivals MKP for Prime's Ace. Maru is an extremely streaky threat, and he has all-killed twice in team leagues including once against Startale in the KSL. Ghostking, in his debut GSTL match for Prime, took the win for them from a 2-4 deficit against Startale. Even B4, though he doesn't show his best play in the GSL, is solid as Prime's main Zerg option in team competition.

If we've learned anything from the past GSTL seasons, it's that teams with a strong core of players tend to do better than teams with just a few strong individual league players (ahem, IM). And Prime's five man core exemplifies this principle more than any other team. As teammates, Prime members know that even when any individual fails, there will be four very capable players to pick up the slack.

FnaticRC: (Z)ByuL, (Z)Moon

Fnatic's recent success in team leagues comes not from their aces, Alive or Oz, and not from their foreigner Protosses, but from their two relatively unknown (in terms of results and skill) Zergs. In fact, all eight of Fnatic's wins this season have all come from these two players, ByuL and Moon. But still, 2 matches is a small sample size and this may not be a true gauge of their skill. ByuL, for instance, did worse at the MLG Spring Championships than all of his teammates who went, even Rain, who's been on an incredible losing streak lately. Moon also has basically no other recent results other than his GSTL performance. What we do know, however, is that both players have talent (in the case of Moon, enough to be one of the greatest Warcraft III player of all time), the potential to do serious damage to any team, and should not be underestimated.

Aces:
(T)MarineKingPrime


MarineKing is perhaps not the ideal Ace. Compared to some aces from some other teams, he is rather unpredictable in team leagues. Most often, MarineKing contributes one or two wins. Sometimes, he doesn't win at all. Sometimes, and often in important circumstances, he actually delivers his full potential. At last season's GSTL finals, he 4 killed Startale to close out the series and more recently, he all-killed Startale in the KSL finals.

And last week, MKP only placed third at MLG Spring Championship. Only third? Most players can only dream of placing third at an MLG, but for MKP, third is a disappointment. Third is almost a washout for a player who has won two MLG championships and barely missed out on a full sweep in his past three MLG events. Alicia beating MKP in the losers' bracket finals might have well have been the biggest surprise of MLG weekend. For even great players and champions like MC, Leenock, or Alive, it's not a huge surprise if they place sub top 10, but for Marineking, this would be a travesty. This is a testament to how much we have come to expect from MarineKing. For a player who is in contention for the title of best player in the world, we expect the best in the world.

FnaticRC: (T)aLive and (P)Oz

Alive and Oz are called aces, because they have the best individual league results on their team, reaching the round of 4 and 8 in the GSL respectively. In fact, both players also placed higher than Byul at the recent MLG. But you might not know that from their GSTL results, as their combined record is a whopping 0-3. If their team is to advance any further, both Alive and Oz will have to really step it up. Both have proven that they're not completely slumping at the recent MLG, but neither is really taking the initiative to bring it to the next level. Hopefully, against Prime, these two will each manage at least one kill to earn their keep.

Prediction:

Prime is a strong team, no doubt about it, but no player actually looks invincible, not even MarineKing. Fnatic has also shown that they have at least four solid players, capable of taking games from the best. And from the English casts, we have learned that Fnatic is a very strategical team, researching their opponents' players beforehand and preparing sniping players for each of them. Last month, I wouldn't have given Fnatic much of a chance, but now that they've shown the ability to beat teams and the slightly greater depth than I though they had, it's not inconceivable that this matchup could turn into a very close slugfest. Still, you've gotta go with the team that's the unified champion of the world.

Prime 5 - 3 Fnatic







Writer: NrGmonk.
Graphics: Pathy.
Editor: Waxangel.
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TL+ Member
Orcasgt24
Profile Joined August 2011
Canada3238 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-14 13:28:06
June 14 2012 13:25 GMT
#2
Goodbye FnaticRC. MKP gonna get 3 kills I think.
In Hearthstone we pray to RNGesus. When Yogg-Saron hits the field, RNGod gets to work
Muskox
Profile Joined November 2011
Canada87 Posts
June 14 2012 13:27 GMT
#3
Go Prime!
I accidentally the whole Overseers.
Amestir
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Netherlands2126 Posts
June 14 2012 13:30 GMT
#4
Moon all kill. It is time.
We know nothing.
Niazger
Profile Joined August 2011
Germany41 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-14 13:35:22
June 14 2012 13:34 GMT
#5
nvm im stupid
glzElectromaster
Profile Blog Joined March 2012
Japan2474 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-14 13:37:17
June 14 2012 13:37 GMT
#6
Nice hypeup and analysis. Moon is an interesting player to watch. Ever since he switched to SC2 completely from playing WC3 and SC2 simultaneously, he has slowly gotten better.

Absolutely sure Prime will take the series either way, though.
RIP Kt. Violet | In solitude, where we are least alone
Elem
Profile Joined April 2011
Sweden4717 Posts
June 14 2012 13:37 GMT
#7
On June 14 2012 22:30 Amestir wrote:
Moon all kill. It is time.
I'm with you, bro!
#freeshauni
FalleNFOX
Profile Joined February 2012
Germany17 Posts
June 14 2012 13:39 GMT
#8
On June 14 2012 22:30 Amestir wrote:
Moon all kill. It is time.

This! Would be super super super awesome :3
Koreans own white dudes
HaXXspetten
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Sweden15718 Posts
June 14 2012 13:44 GMT
#9
inb4 Byul all-kill
NovemberstOrm
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
Canada16217 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-14 13:47:51
June 14 2012 13:46 GMT
#10
GhostKing all kill. Fnatic doesn't stand a chance IMO.

PS
GhostKing should be on the ace list for Prime.
Moderatorlickypiddy
Lazzi
Profile Joined June 2011
Switzerland1923 Posts
June 14 2012 13:47 GMT
#11
On June 14 2012 22:30 Amestir wrote:
Moon all kill. It is time.

Since I'm a huge fan of Moon since 2006, I would just love that!
It's good to be back
opterown *
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
Australia54784 Posts
June 14 2012 13:49 GMT
#12
[image loading]

Annyung did surprisingly well today. Bodes well for tomorrow, as he is the starter!

However, I cannot LR this. Would appreciate it if someone could (check the sticky, page two, for the premade LR).
ModeratorRetired LR Bonjwa
TL+ Member
opterown *
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
Australia54784 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-14 14:14:38
June 14 2012 13:55 GMT
#13
some mistakes:
-ascent, not accent
-maru has allkilled once only? unless you spoiled a result and maru allkilled liquid in IPL TAC 3 lololol
-oz is a ro4-er?


-mkp is very rarely send out last, creator is possibly a better 'ace' option in terms of the word. most valuable player is mkp, but 'ace' is creator imo
ModeratorRetired LR Bonjwa
TL+ Member
Azera
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
3800 Posts
June 14 2012 14:09 GMT
#14

But now with the rise of Maru, the return of Ghostking, the continued improvement of Creator, and the meteoric accent of MKP, Prime has finally become a true championship team. At the moment, they are absolutely on fire. To their names, they hold the current GSTL title, the current IPL TAC title, and the current KSL title. The three arguably most difficult team leagues in the world have all been completely monopolized by this once struggling team. If that doesn't cement their position as best team in the world, I don't know what will.


Cmon guys, especially you, Waxangel. Ascent, not accent.
Check out some great music made by TLers - http://bit.ly/QXYhdb , by intrigue. http://bit.ly/RTjpOR , by ohsea.toc.
Nuubie
Profile Joined March 2012
Sweden66 Posts
June 14 2012 14:12 GMT
#15
On June 14 2012 22:55 opterown wrote:
-mkp is very rarely send out last, creator is possibly a better 'ace' option in terms of the word. most valuable player is mkp, but 'ace' is creator imo


I think 'ace' isnt played last in all-kill format, you can see this trend in almost all teams.


On June 14 2012 22:39 FalleNFOX wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 14 2012 22:30 Amestir wrote:
Moon all kill. It is time.

This! Would be super super super awesome :3



Playing his games from DreamHack?
He had the same don't-give-a-f*** attitude from his stream, where he all-ins every game and shamelessly plays three ads.
opterown *
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
Australia54784 Posts
June 14 2012 14:14 GMT
#16
On June 14 2012 23:12 Nuubie wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 14 2012 22:55 opterown wrote:
-mkp is very rarely send out last, creator is possibly a better 'ace' option in terms of the word. most valuable player is mkp, but 'ace' is creator imo


I think 'ace' isnt played last in all-kill format, you can see this trend in almost all teams.


Show nested quote +
On June 14 2012 22:39 FalleNFOX wrote:
On June 14 2012 22:30 Amestir wrote:
Moon all kill. It is time.

This! Would be super super super awesome :3



Playing his games from DreamHack?

the 'ace' was a term taken from SPL i believe, where the ace is the final player. may have changed with winner's league format though haha
ModeratorRetired LR Bonjwa
TL+ Member
Olinim
Profile Joined March 2011
4044 Posts
June 14 2012 14:28 GMT
#17
Prime definitely got this.
opterown *
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
Australia54784 Posts
June 14 2012 14:29 GMT
#18
and hrmm moon tod and nightend all at dreamhack, soooo fnatic's roster is not even five? o.O unless they use their academy dudes.
ModeratorRetired LR Bonjwa
TL+ Member
Dark supplydepo
Profile Joined April 2011
Sweden103 Posts
June 14 2012 14:31 GMT
#19
Moon probaly wont be there since he is in dreamhack
Supreme exellence is deafeting your opponent without fighting. It is also boring
LeLfe
Profile Joined February 2011
France3160 Posts
June 14 2012 14:35 GMT
#20
On June 14 2012 23:29 opterown wrote:
and hrmm moon tod and nightend all at dreamhack, soooo fnatic's roster is not even five? o.O unless they use their academy dudes.


byul alive oz rain departure ares were on the bench last week
Writer for Red bull (Fr) and Iron Squid (En/Fr) @ClemLeLfe on twitter
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