by NrGmonk

How They Got Here

Prime had only one match this season, as they were seeded into the "pennant race" round of 8 of the GSTL by virtue of being last season's champions. Unfortunately for them, the fifth race of Warcraft 3, Spirit_ FnaticRC Moon, decided to kick it up a notch and show the type of play that could dominate an RTS. After both MKP and Byun were taken out by Moon, Creator was left with the formidable task of taking out four more of Fnatic's strongest players. And although his effort was admirable, even he couldn't climb that Everest-like mountain. So with that, last season's champions are now in the awkward position of being one match away from being completely knocked out of the GSTL.

SlayerS-Evil Geniuses, on the other hand, had the more difficult and arduous task of getting into the Ro8 after starting at the very bottom of the totem pole. After demolishing both NSHS and Zenex in round 1 of the GSTL, Slayer-EG moved on to face another former GSTL champion, team MvP. In a perplexing mid-match interview during that series, Slayers_Jessica admitted to not really trying or preparing particularly hard. What??? Is this a fake-out or did they really not care? Who knows, but we can only hope that they will be trying their hardest now that they are facing elimination. Coupled with a disappointing third place finish in the MCSL (a league they should have dominated, in theory), a Ro8 exit from the GSTL would be a tough string of results to stomach for a team that used to be a championship contender.


The Opening Match


Today's opening match features two players who debuted long ago, when Starcraft 2 was in its infancy. Both players fell off the radar for around a year, but have recently and unexpectedly burst back onto the scene with a bang. While Byun once made it to a GSL round of 4, he was then embroiled in a debasing match-fixing scandal, after which he was forced out of competitive play for a few months. After he returned, however, he showed no signs of rust. In his re-debuting GSTL match, he closed it out for his team, securing a playoff spot for Prime in 2012's first season. And in the last week alone, he has secured an OSL spot and a GSL round of 8 spot.

Alicia is in a similar spot, as while once he was known as the Chosen One of the Protoss race, his play in the last year has been nothing but mediocre, lackluster, and uninspired. Nothing hinted at all at his meteoric rise to relevance at the MLG Spring Championship where he beat scores of top tier players to reach second place. Not only that, he quietly qualified for the NASL finals along with only 7 other players, the likes of which include Puma, MC, Stephano, Hero, and his teammate Puzzle. Alicia's current momentum almost matches that of Byun and in this opening match, we will see what can happen when an unstoppable force meets another unstoppable force.

Key Players:
Prime: MKP, Byun, Maru

Prime's owes a lot of its success to its trio of Terran players, as they are often very clutch and each has the potential to take a large number of wins in any match against any opponent. These players would be a welcome addition to any team. However, unlike some more solid and reliable team league players, such as Creator, DRG, or Puzzle, Prime's Terrans are often very hit or miss. Just as often as any of these players can score 2-3 kills in a match, they can also walk away with a negative contribution. Prime easily wins matches as long as all of its Terrans don't happen to fail on the same day, and this game plan is what propelled them to win the last season of GSTL. But as we saw last week in Prime vs Fnatic, Prime crumbles in a hurry in that unlikely scenario.

Slayers-EG: MMA, Ryung, PuMa, ThorZaIN, Clide JYP, Crank, Alicia, CoCa, Miya, and Min, oh my!

I started out listing 3 or 4 players, then expanded it to 5 or 6, then added a few more until I pretty much just listed Slayers-EG's entire playable roster. With the partnership of two heavy-hitters in the Starcraft scene, Slayers-EG has the deepest GSTL roster in the entire league. With a roster consisting of one of the best players in the world, MMA, a Code S player, Ryung, and international champions, Puma, and Thorzain, you would think that Slayers-EG should have no problem with taking the title. However, such is not the case, as aside from Puzzle, Slayers has not yet found a core group of players that can consistently produce results. Someone, anyone from Slayers has to step it up and evolve into a player that can reliably support Puzzle, and while Slayers has a myriad of players who have the potential to do this, none seem ready for the challenge. Maybe it's you, MMA, the first ace of Slayers and true heir to the throne. Or you, Ryung, someone who's recently shown magnificent late game play versus DRG. Or maybe it could even be Thorzain, the Norse God, who was once the rock that anchored Mousesports.


Aces: CreatorPrime, SlayersPuzzle

Both teams may have better, more renowned, and more accomplished players, but in team leagues, Creator and Puzzle are no doubt the aces of their respective teams. Other players on their teams might be considered better by the general Starcraft II viewing public, but these are the two that are most often trusted with the fifth and final spot on the team. Besides being successful team league players, both of these players are known for safe and solid macro-oriented play. In fact, they are known for being the absolute two best "solely" macro Protoss in the world. Perhaps there is a correlation here? Hmm.....


Prediction:
Unlike some other successful teams in the GSTL, such as TSL, MVP, or Fnatic, neither Prime nor Slayers-EG is dominated by Zerg players. For viewers who are sick of Zerg domination, this is the match to watch.

There's a reason Slayers has not had true success in team leagues in a very long time and there's also a very good reason Prime is the definition of recent team league success. Prime know who their best players are, and have a proven plan: Use the Terran trio to get as many wins possible early, reserve Bboongbboong or Annyung as the single ZvX sniper, then sweep up with Creator if anything remains. On the other hand, Slayers-EG's plan is nowhere near as clear. Besides saving Puzzle for last and hoping to god that he can defeat multiple members of the opposing team, we've seen very little consistency to their roster choices. One would think that with their depth, they could throw any five players at their opponents and win, but that plan has only half-worked so far.

Prime 5 - 4 Slayers-EG