by Zealously


New Look LG-IM

LG-IM started off the GSTL against FXO with a performance that was decidedly unlike the typical GSTL version of LG-IM. Though sending out the inexperienced Ruin as their starter was a move typical of LG-IM head coach Hirai, he quickly got serious and followed up with YoDa, and then more importantly Squirtle to take the win against defending champions FXO. It seemed very unlike LG-IM's typical team league strategy of the last year, which could be summed up as "make sure star players never get to play" and "winning is entirely optional." New LG-IM acquisition Squirtle looked very impressive, finishing the series with three wins over the FXO trio of Hurricane, JKS and Leenock. If the LG-IM coach can stay in this team league winning trance, and not return to his old ways of GSTL'ing, the veteran team looks like the heavy favorite in their second match, where they will face off against the sorta-foreign hope Axiom-Acer (now featuring a foreigner!)

The Starters: Acer.Scarlett vs. LG-IM_Mvp

Scarlett couldn't have asked for a more intimidating opponent in her Korean debut. LG-IM's Mvp is the face of Korean StarCraft II, and the greatest StarCraft II player in its 2+ year history. If one were to compare their career resumes, this match would be predicted to be such a beatdown that even the most die-hard Mvp fans could safely skip it. Mvp has won four GSLs, the most difficult and prestigious tournaments in the world. In contrast, for all the hype behind her, Scarlett hasn't even placed in the top four of a major tournament that included Korean competitors.

Whirlwind is the starting map, notoriously huge and a macro map almost without equal. Sprinkle in the medivac afterburners, and the safest prediction this entire year is that Mvp will go the way of every other Terran in HotS and utilize drops to pick his opponent apart.

So, what's the deal with Scarlett, aside from her being an actual foreigner in GSTL? Right now, I find her difficult to assess. On one hand, she recently lost 0 - 3 to MMA in the Wings of Liberty RSL4, which doesn't really bode well for her in HotS ZvT. In the Acer TeamStory Cup, she went 1 - 1 against team MVP, defeating Bang but losing to Dream. If she were going up against a different player in the GSTL tonight, you might be able to say "well, losing to MMA or Dream isn't anything to be embarrassed about, it's something that happens." However, this is Mvp we're talking about, a player who's certainly as good, and probably even better than all the Terrans Scarlett has faced so far. On top of that, Terran has looked good in general since IEM, while Zerg still seems to be struggling against the newer more drop-heavy style of Terran, and the starting map being Whirlwind certainly doesn't help Scarlett's case. Unless the Axiom-Acer Zerg pulls out a funky all-in (a possibility you can't count out), it will all come down to defense. If Scarlett can defend against the drops that will most certainly come, she is in a very good spot to take her first win in Korea. If not, then Mvp will most likely take the first victory for LG-IM.

Of course, there is also the other Mvp. The one who looks out of shape, slow and anything but precise. Though Mvp has had intermittent spurts where you had to wonder if he finally lost his edge, nothing at his most recent tournaments of IEM or MLG seemed to indicate that he was struggling any more with his shoulder/wrist injury than he was before. Some might even say that he looked healthier, more than capable taking advantage of the multi-task intensive playstyle that HotS brought about. So, it is unlikely that we'll see the return of the Mvp who got kicked out Code A last season, but the possibility is there and cannot be forgotten completely.

The Roster: LG-IM

LG-IM looked fearsome coming into their match against FXO, and with the coach showing that he might no longer be reluctant to play the team's star players (Mvp coming out as starter further strengthens this theory) there might be no stopping the team with almost as many GSL championships as players. Behind Mvp, the player he himself called the best player on the team – yoda, lies in wait. And although Yoda didn't look convincing last week when he went out against Hurricane, he can almost certainly be counted on to take out at least one player.

And then there's the Zerg line-up, featuring ByuL and Ragnarok – two players who have shown themselves more than capable of delivering in team leagues, and LosirA (now KangHo) who occasionally transforms from cat into tiger and rips a team apart. Even NesTea, a rare presence in the GSTL, is a dangerous foe Axiom-Acer have to keep in mind.

Last, but not least, there's the most terrifying Protoss line-up in the world. Seed, Squirtle, YongHwa, First and their live-in mercenary, MC. Those five alone could form one hell of a GSTL team, and if they did, LG-IM would still have enough Zerg and Terran players left over to have a playoff contender team.

The Ace: Whichever good player is sent out last

It really is almost impossible to predict. A player like Squirtle could come out second, come out last, or not play at all. But that's the case for most of the players on the team. Losira, Yoda, Seed and MC all have experience aplenty in high-stakes games, but there really is no telling who will come out, and when. This is a huge problem for not just Axiom-Acer, but every team who faces LG-IM in the GSTL. Not only will it be difficult to prepare for anyone beyond the starter, it will be impossible to know beforehand who is most likely to come out as ace, taking away yet another vital aspect of preparing for a match.

The Roster: Axiom-Acer

After last week's match, it feels like we've gotten an idea of how Axiom-Acer will work in GSTL this season. First of all, they seem to rely on a fairly Terran-heavy line-up, with Ryung and Heart being reliable for at least a win each, and (though it might break Ryung's heart) MMA as the ace. Since release, MMA has shown that he once again knows how to win games, taking out the powerful MVP duo NAKSEO and DongRaeGu last week and doing the heavy lifting for Acer in the online Teamstory Cup. Aside from the Terran line-up there is Alicia, who despite his loss in the starting game against Keen looked very good in his first appearance in a long time. These four seem to be Axiom-Acer's strongest players at the moment, with player-coach CranK looking more coach than player against Sting at Eset UK Masters, Miya never having been able to show all his skill in the booth, and Scarlett being a foreigner and still largely unproven in HotS.

As for specific match-ups, Heart has an uncanny knack for winning in weird ways, with funky all-ins, SCV pulls galore, and a deceptively good macro style to change things up. Ryung remains one of the most solid TvT'ers in Korea, and MMA now seems able to knock down almost any Zerg if we are to judge from his impressive performance against MVP last week.

With this, Axiom-Acer's greatest weakness will be their vP. MMA lost to Sage in Teamstory Cup recently showing still somewhat shaky TvP, and Ryung's TvP has usually been his weakest match-up. So it falls to Alicia – he was heralded as the ”next big thing” for a long time, a long time ago, and he's going to live up to that billing in the present if his team is to survive.

The Ace: MMA

Sorry, Ryung.


Overall lookout and prediction

LG-IM's greatest advantage here is the depth of their Protoss line-up. Their Zergs and Terrans could both potentially be matched by the likes of RyungvT or MMAvZ, but there seems to be no player solid enough to consistently take on players of Squirtle or MC's caliber. With how successful Squirtle was last week, he is likely to come out again (although, predicting the choices of the LG-IM coach is impossible), and if LG-IM has come to the conclusion that Axiom-Acer is weak against Protoss, they have two more to throw out next to Squirtle. I'm still not completely convinced that LG-IM is no longer the ”GSTL LG-IM”, but a solid victory here seems likely if they play their cards right and use their stronger players in the match-ups that suit them best.

Of course, it is completely possible that LG-IM has decided that they want to play, for example, only with Zergs after Mvp, in which case Axiom-Acer is still in for a tough ride, which goes to show just how deep LG-IM's roster is. Heck, even in full "old LG-IM" mode, with a line-up of Mvp - Ruin - Ragnarok - ByuL, Axiom-Acer would still be in for a tough battle. All in all, Axiom-Acer is the massive underdog here. They can do it, but they will need the volatility of the GSTL to swing their way, with one of their players getting extremely hot, or several of the LG-IM players going very cold. If that doesn't happen, the foreign hope will simply drown in an ocean of championship players. This seems to be the best time for Axiom-Acer to answer this question: Are they here to fight, or to win?


LG-IM 4 - 1 Axiom-Acer