by Fionn

Startale

Startale's Offseason

Once the team with the most loaded line-up in Korea, Startale had a 'lackluster' off-season to say the least. With PartinG and Squirtle's contracts up, the team wasn't able to come to an agreement with either, and the duo of Protoss aces left for SK Telecom T1 and LG-IM respectively. What used to be their strongest asset - their depth - is now going to be questioned in the new season. They still boast the largest roster in the eSF, but there are a lot of unproven players in the mix.

Before you could be sure you'd see Squirtle, Parting, Life, Bomber, and Curious in some order, give or take one or two of them taking a match off, but now Startale will be needing to fill two pairs of giant shoes that have been left. We all know what Life can do in Heart of the Swarm after he won MLG Winter Championship despite massive complaints of Terran imba, but team league has never been his strongest point on Startale. On ZeNEX, right before they got absorbed into Startale, Life looked like an ace class player, going 9 - 3 in three matches. After he moved to Startale, Life's individual results have been extraordinary, but his team league play online and offline has barely been on the level of a multiple championship winning player. As a Startale member, Life's record in the IPL TAC/IPTL is an unimpressive 10 - 7, while in the GSTL, he's only 1 - 2.

Startale added only one new player this off-season, Booster, a Protoss who hasn't shown any games yet to give us a clue how he might fit into the army that is Startale.

Offseason Grade: They lost the two players who continually carried them in GSTL. Squirtle has already been a huge factor for LG-IM, getting a 3-kill in their first match of the season against FXO. With no proven players taking their place in the line-up, I have to give Startale a D for their offseason transactions.

The Core

So, with Parting and Squirtle gone, who will take their place? Luckily for Startale, TREME, the former ZeNex player has done well in HotS so far, doing well in Gisado's King of the Hill tournaments. TREME showed a lot of promise on ZeNEX, and was probably the second most intriguing prospect behind Life at the time. He might be finally developing into the player that Startale needs to become their new Protoss ace. The pressure will be immense for TREME, but his skills so far in Heart of the Swarm make him a player we're likely to see a lot more of in the future.

When it comes to the other core members, you have Bomber and Curious, two of the veterans and long time starting members who still remain with the team. Bomber was able to make it into MLG Dallas, where he destroyed TaeJa but fell to MC's oracle based builds that he seemed to have no answer for. Both Curious and Bomber will be called on more often with the departure of the Squirtle-PartinG duo, as the team will lean more heavily on two of their most senior members for victories.

Finally, one of the new members to the core seems to be Sound, the starter for the team's season opener. Sound had a so-so Wings career, getting into Code A few times and then falling out. The highlight of his career was a second place run at Homestory Cup IV (he lost to MC in the finals), but he hasn't been heard of in the foreign scene since. It's a bit of a strange choice to see Sound play as the point man, given that Hack was effectively' ST's #2 Terran for most of 2012. With this being a new game, Sound will get to show us what he has up his sleeve in Heart of the Swarm, trying to become a main fixture on the roster with a strong opening night.

Startale's Core Grade: Gone is the backbone of the team, but Startale still have Curious and Bomber. We will need to see how players like TREME, Avenge, and Sound end up in Heart of the Swarm, but they can definitely field three solid players before their ace. In addition, they have a long bench with some prospects who might turn some heads in HotS. Startale are no longer the deepest team in GSTL, but you'd still have to rank them in the second tier behind only MVP and LG-IM. With that said, I give them a solid B- when it comes to their overall, non-ace roster.

The Ace

It's no surprise that Startale's ace is Life, the youngest GSL champion in history, and a kid who has won more individual titles of anyone in the past year. He might have not played up to his best in team league before, having the safety net of Squirtle, Parting, Bomber and Curious to fall back on, but with his recent win at Dallas, all eyes will be on Life. There is no question anymore about whose team this is. With two GSL championships, an Iron Squid and two MLG championships under his belt before his seventeenth birthday, the future of Startale is only bright as long as Life is there.

Strong in ZvT, having taken down Polt, Last and then Flash, unquestionably three top class Terran players, he will be the perfect player to face off against HoSeo's ace jjakji if it comes down to a climactic seventh game.

Startale's Ace Grade: How can I give Life anything but an A+? He's young, proven in both Wings and HotS, and it only seems like he'll be getting and better with the summer approaching. You can talk about how you feel Zerg is too underpowered and how he hasn't been as good in team league as individual play when on Startale, but does that really matter? If you were starting your own team today in Korea, having the entire roster of Korean players to choose from, would you really take anyone with your first pick but Life? A true prodigy in Starcraft 2, Startale's ace will be the reason they win or don't win this season.

Startale's Goal

A championship. Out of all the teams who are still around from the very first GSTL, Startale is only the team without a title. LG-IM, Prime, and FXO (fOU), have all won the trophy at the end of a season. They might not have a proven Protoss line-up anymore, but a championship should still be their goal for the season. They have the best player in the world, two proven GSTL players in Bomber and Curious, and a gigantic roster with players who might impress in a new game. Maybe if they had won the title back in Las Vegas, the goal wouldn't be so lofty, maybe seeing this as a rebuilding season. But with no GSTL championship in the title cupboard, it's win or go home for the boys in the Red Bull garb.


NS HoSeo

HoSeo's Offseason

When Sculp left, HoSeo was down to only two members who had been on HoSeo for more than a year. jjakji and Tassadar were the two remaining from the old, upstart HoSeo team that shocked the world with how well they performed in their first team league. Good coaching, the sniping ability of their unknown players, and a strong ace in jjakji paved their way to the semifinals. Since then, it has only been one player after another leaving the team, giving us an off-season that brought many new faces to the HoSeo line-up.

SalvatioN and Brave were on the team the season before, but were probably the greenest players to ever play in GSTL, being thrown to the wolves with how shallow the roster was for HoSeo. In have come Tible (aka EllenKey), the eccentric and entertaining MadBull, KySarr, and SSanaEE. Out of the players who we were able to see in the preseason, SSanEE showed the most promise, winning the first game of the preseason for the new look HoSeo team.

If these were the only new players to come in, I would have to give HoSeo a low grade, but they are also partnered with Western Wolves. With this team-up, they have gained access to Sting, SortOf and maybe even Arthur, three players who could be a big help to a team with a lot of unknowns.

Offseason Grade: Let me put it this way. HoSeo not dying this offseason already makes me give them a letter grade above a C. sculp left, but they've been able to infuse some new guys into the roster, and Sting and Arthur are already an upgrade over everyone from last season's team except for jjakji. With that being said, I give them a B+ for their offseason. They still are considered the weakest team in the league, but they're still alive and kicking with a much better squad than they had last season.

The Core

The real meat of HoSeo's team is the most unproven in the league. Tassadar, the only player on HoSeo besides jjakji to play more than five GSTL games, has never been one of the strong points of HoSeo. Used time and time again as an ace, he has come up short every time, letting down his team. He was once a player who made it all the way to the Code A finals, losing to fellow Protoss Puzzle when they faced off, but there was no question that he once had the makings of a future Code S player. Since then, he's dropped off tremendously, being jjakji's dopey sidekick that comes in after the real ace loses and gets beat down.

The Western Wolves trio will probably see a lot of time in the roster this season, already having more results than everyone on HoSeo except for jjakji. Arthur was one of the surprise players of the last season of NASL, ending up as one of the top players in the regular season. He lost a close series to Golden that ended his dream of heading to California, but he could be HoSeo's best hope at Protoss. SortOf got third place at that very same NASL, losing to Violet and then Polt in the 3rd place series. No shame in losing to two of the best players of their race. Finally, we have Sting, a player who has already shown some talent in HotS, a formidable back-up to jjakji in Terran line. He is very unlikely to be playing in the season opener after coming right back from the ESET UK Masters tournament (where he took 2nd place), but he'll provide some valuable Terran depth to the line-up as the season goes on.

NS HoSeo's Core Grade: While they had a nice offseason adding a lot of players and staying alive, they still have the weakest 2 through 4 in the league when it comes to filling out their roster. The Western Wolves and Tassadar might end up proving me wrong, but right now I'd have to give them a D+. A lot better than last season's team that would have gotten an F, but still outgunned by the seven other teams.

The Ace

The same as for Startale, there is no question whom this team belongs to. jjakji, the former GSL champion, has had a resurgence since switching to HotS, making it to the Ro16 of MLG Dallas before losing a close series to Rain. Having beaten DongRaeGu and MarineKing, two of the most decorated MLG players of all-time, to get there, you can't doubt jjakji's abilities heading into the match. Picking up some key victories for his team in the preseason and getting them into the semifinals, jjakji will need to continue to carry his team if they want to complete the miracle and make top five cut-line and get into the playoffs.

HoSeo's Ace Grade: jjakji, like his team, is still on the lower half of aces in the league when it comes to individual results in the past year, but he's always been one of the more reliable GSTL players. I would give him a B as an ace. You still have to be a bit worried if he can get back to where he was in the later stages of 2011, but his HotS games so far have been impressive enough to make you believe he has a chance to pull off a 3-kill or an even all-kill on his best night.

HoSeo's Goal

Don't finish last. Playoffs is a lofty goal, so HoSeo should be at least trying not to end up in last place. The seven other teams have a better line-up than HoSeo, so it is going to be hard to make it out of last place if their new players, the Western Wolves, and most importantly jjakji don't rise to the level they need to win some games in GSTL. Unlike Startale who lost two of their best players, but still should be eying for a title, HoSeo is in a true rebuilding season. Next season, if they're hopefully still around, when they've given guys like Madbull, Kysarr and Tible some much needed both experience, is the time to think for a top five spot and beyond.


Head to Head

Opening Match: NSH_Tassadar vs. ST_Sound

Tassadar was famous for his love of all-ins in WoL, particularly of the blink variation. If he goes for a super-fast, mothership core + blink stalker rush, he would certainly be living up to his image. On the other hand, Sound was a standard, macro Terran from what we got to see of him. We've barely seen either player in HotS yet, making this yet another GSTL opening match that's hard to predict. It's almost a toss-up, but Tassadar's superior GSTL experience should give him a little edge.

Overall outlook and prediction:

With the GSTL going to a condensed best of seven format in the regular season, the departure of Parting and Squirtle will hurt Startale a lot less. With the ability to throw out Life, Bomber, Curious and then a player of their choosing from a long list of players, Startale still is the heavy favorite to take this opening series. jjakji is the key for HoSeo if they want any shot of winning, and he will need to play up to the standard that brought him home a GSL championship if his team wants to go anywhere this season. Life's playing like Mvp more so than DRG in GSTL might be a bit worrisome, but when you just take a quick look at the rosters, you can't predict anything but a victory for Startale.

Startale 4 - 2 NS HoSeo