Table of Contents
Round 5 Week 3 Review
Spoiler Alert!
KT Undefeated
6-0 this round
Games of the week
Games in spades!
Week 4 Preview
Half
SK Planet Proleague table and results at Liquipedia
Round 5 W3 Results
By: Wunder
We’re over the hump, as only two half-weeks remain in this round of Proleague. Closing in on our final round of the regular season, we review this week’s games, including KT Rolster’s undefeated streak. This week was also one of the best weeks we've ever had in terms of gameplay, which is reflected in our list of the games of the week. Long games, short games, epic games, strange games, we have them all! Finally, a short preview of next week's matches, a half week.
Round 5 Week 3 Matches
May 18
KT Rolster vs EG-TL
Flash <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> aLive
Flash <Akilon Wastes> TaeJa
Flash <Korhal Floating Island> HerO
Zest <Naro Station> HerO
Zest <Neo Planet S> Jaedong
KT wins 4-1!
Team 8 vs Samsung KHAN
Savage <Akilon Wastes> Reality
Argo<Naro Station>Reality
TY<New Fighting Spirit>Reality
TY<Korhal Floating Island>Stork
TY<Bel'Shir Vestige>JangBi
Terminator<Whirlwind>JangBi
Samsung Khan wins 4-2!
Flash <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> aLive
Flash <Akilon Wastes> TaeJa
Flash <Korhal Floating Island> HerO
Zest <Naro Station> HerO
Zest <Neo Planet S> Jaedong
KT wins 4-1!
Team 8 vs Samsung KHAN
Savage <Akilon Wastes> Reality
Argo<Naro Station>Reality
TY<New Fighting Spirit>Reality
TY<Korhal Floating Island>Stork
TY<Bel'Shir Vestige>JangBi
Terminator<Whirlwind>JangBi
Samsung Khan wins 4-2!
May 19
CJ Entus vs STX Soul
Bong <Korhal Floating Island> INnoVation
Hydra <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> INnoVation
EffOrt <Naro Station> INnoVation
herO[jOin] <New Fighting Spirit> INnoVation
STX wins 4-0!
SK Telecom vs Woongjin Stars
BeSt<Akilon Wastes>Flying
PartinG<Naro Station>Flying
PartinG<New Fighting Spirit>free
PartinG<Korhal Floating Island>sOs
FanTaSy<Bel'Shir Vestige>sOs
FanTaSy<Whirlwind>Soulkey
Rain<Neo Planet S>Soulkey
SK Telecom T1 wins 4-3!
Bong <Korhal Floating Island> INnoVation
Hydra <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> INnoVation
EffOrt <Naro Station> INnoVation
herO[jOin] <New Fighting Spirit> INnoVation
STX wins 4-0!
SK Telecom vs Woongjin Stars
BeSt<Akilon Wastes>Flying
PartinG<Naro Station>Flying
PartinG<New Fighting Spirit>free
PartinG<Korhal Floating Island>sOs
FanTaSy<Bel'Shir Vestige>sOs
FanTaSy<Whirlwind>Soulkey
Rain<Neo Planet S>Soulkey
SK Telecom T1 wins 4-3!
May 20
Samsung KHAN vs EG-TL
Kop <New Fighting Spirit> Jaedong
JangBi <Neo Planet S> Jaedong
JangBi <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Oz
JangBi <Bel'Shir Vestige> HerO
Reality<Akilon Wastes> HerO
RorO<Korhal Floating Island>HerO
EG-TL wins 4-2!!!
Team 8 vs KT Rolster
Terminator <Naro Station> Zest
TY <Korhal Floating Island> Zest
TY <Whirlwind> Stats
TY <Neo Planet S> Puzzle
TY <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Flash
Argo <Akilon Wastes> Flash
Cure <New Fighting Spirit> Flash
KT Rolster wins 4-3!
Kop <New Fighting Spirit> Jaedong
JangBi <Neo Planet S> Jaedong
JangBi <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Oz
JangBi <Bel'Shir Vestige> HerO
Reality<Akilon Wastes> HerO
RorO<Korhal Floating Island>HerO
EG-TL wins 4-2!!!
Team 8 vs KT Rolster
Terminator <Naro Station> Zest
TY <Korhal Floating Island> Zest
TY <Whirlwind> Stats
TY <Neo Planet S> Puzzle
TY <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Flash
Argo <Akilon Wastes> Flash
Cure <New Fighting Spirit> Flash
KT Rolster wins 4-3!
May 21
SK Telecom T1 vs CJ Entus
PartinG <New Fighting Spirit> EffOrt
Bisu <Neo Planet S> EffOrt
FanTaSy <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> EffOrt
Rain <Bel'Shir Vestige> EffOrt
Rain <Akilon Wastes> Hydra
Rain <Korhal Floating Island> Bbyong
Rain <Naro Station> herO
CJ Entus wins 4-3!
PartinG <New Fighting Spirit> EffOrt
Bisu <Neo Planet S> EffOrt
FanTaSy <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> EffOrt
Rain <Bel'Shir Vestige> EffOrt
Rain <Akilon Wastes> Hydra
Rain <Korhal Floating Island> Bbyong
Rain <Naro Station> herO
CJ Entus wins 4-3!
Standings
KT Undefeated
Near the middle of round 4, we had said that KT was scrambling, searching for the answer to their problems. Funnily enough, it was right under their noses the entire time: The Ultimate Weapon. Thanks to the all-kill round, KT Rolster has remained undefeated this entire round, unleashing Flash on the unsuspecting players. Flash alone has racked up 50% of the wins for his team claiming victories over players like JangBi, INnoVation, TaeJa and Argo. All four of these players are aces for their respective teams, and he dismantled them all. The once vulnerable Flash that we saw in round 4 and in WCS Korea has been tossed out for a new model, one that is a monster in TvT, a relentless beast in TvZ and unstoppable machine in TvP. In fact, he’s only dropped one game in this entire round, against HerO, who proxy gated him and managed to find a crack in the armor.While Flash took up 50% of his team’s wins, some may wonder, what happened to the other 50%? Were they split between the lieutenants, Zest and Stats? The answer to that is: not really. Zest has shed many a name, from Wooki to P7GAB, and has come into his own in Heart of the Swarm, taking the rest of the pie with 45% of the team’s total wins. Just like his Terran teammate, Zest has been running a clinic on his opponents, but unlike Flash, who has displayed great play in all matchups, Zest has mainly claimed his wins off Protoss opponents, defeating the likes of sOs, Dear and HerO to name a few. While he has a few Terran and Zerg wins under his belt, it’s evident that his PvP is of a much higher standard than the rest of his match-ups.
So what’s next for KT Rolster? As mentioned before, they are still stuck in a bind in terms of usable players, with Puzzle, hitmaN, Crazy and Action all either underperforming at the end of round 4 or making a poor showing in this round. However, they have bought themselves a considerable amount of time with this huge win streak and have given themselves a nice buffer in the rankings should they slip up in the next round. Hopefully they have used this month to train their players and prepare them for the final hurdle, as a slip up now could cost them the playoffs.
Games of the Week
by kollin
In terms of high quality games, this week has produced more than its fair share. Whatever your tastes for games: solid macro play from both players, tense early game engagements, or long drawn out macro games, this week of Proleague has something for everyone.
Zest <Naro Station> HerO
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Zest, KT's main lieutenant, showed that he deserves his 80% winrate in PvP as he dismantled HerO on all fronts. Zest held off a 3 gate stargate timing (the third gate was proxied because why the hell not), and transitioned into an immortal heavy style. For a minute, HerO seemed to be ahead after holding off an attack fairly convincingly with colossus, however it was not enough as Zest had the quicker three bases and ran HerO over with a void ray archon composition. Zest showed that only having to practice for PvProleague massively improved that mirror matchup, and after such a dominating, clinical display it's fair to say he is one of the masters at it.
TY <Bel'Shir Vestige> JangBi
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Solid play from both players in a standard but long and well-played TvP. Nothing spectacular or revolutionary, but this would have been a top game in any other week. Very worth a watch if you have time. To quote someone from the LR thread, "That was a nice game".
Flash <Akilon Wastes> TaeJa
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Two of Wings of Liberty's best Terrans faced off in an excellent mech vs mech clash, which narrowly went in Flash's favour. Both players opened with hellions, and transitioned into similar compositions but Flash's consistent harassment whittled down Taeja constantly. Eventually Taeja found himself several bases down, with Flash sieging his natural and was forced to tap out to seemingly overwhelming superiority in terms of harassment, positioning and game sense.
Rain <Neo Planet S> Soulkey
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Both players play completely standard, safe and solid and one comes out the victor. No gimmicks here, no tricks, just two players trying to prove who is straight up better.
Reality <Akilon Wastes> HerO
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
The second game in HerO's slug-fest of a three kill against Samsung Khan was a peculiar back and forth that included manner nexuses backed up with manner cannons, huge colossus armies and a helluva a lot of SCV's dying. HerO started out by repelling some early marine hellion pressure, while wrecking his opponent's mineral line. From there, things tilted more and more into HerO's favor, and it was eventually enough for him to take the win in flamboyant style. This game was far from your standard TvP and showed off some of HerO non-standard play and game sense that has helped him become the player he is today.
TY <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Flash
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Ty likes hellbats. A lot. It would probably be fair to say he has the highest HPM of any Korean player (sadly Europeans still surpass him on this front). It was shown in this game, as he opened with a hellbat drop, which Flash just managed to hold off, while dealing significant damage himself. This game features any extremely scrappy, micro intensive early game with both players going for straight up offensive while each having little defense for their opponents' aggression. This resulted in a real nail-biter and highly unpredictable game.
RorO <Korhal Floating Island> HerO
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Now you've warmed up with the first few shorter recaps of the far inferior games, we can get onto the main story. Are you settled in, boys and girls? Excellent. Now, I'm going to tell you the story of the little carrier that couldn't. But first, some back story.
HerO's opening gambit to secure his eventual carrier was a cannon rush, which succeeded and caused RorO to expand to his third and fourth base locations. The follow up was a colossus gateway push, which ended up taking out the third and putting HerO in the lead. However, HerO had failed to scout RorO's mutalisk switch which would have been an enormous problem, had RorO actually attacked with him. Luckily for HerO, he didn't and the EG-TL Protoss added on two gates and started up the phoenix production, all the while taking out RorO's third (he had since retaken his natural from the nefarious cannon duo). Then, completely by accident, he got the carrier upgrade. It was completely illogical, but damn it carriers are awesome so we'll accept it and move on.
Both players built up fearsome air armies; HerO's archon, templar and phoenix count rose and rose while RorO's muta corruptor army did the same. Zergling run-bys from RorO devastated HerO's infrastructure, sniping off anything from pylons to nexuses. However, well placed templar and the emergency task force of phoenix rushing from location to location stopped HerO from being completely wiped out. Still, he was left with a single mining base. Both players kept up the harassment, keeping each other on extremely limited economies and neither player really maxed out at any point. HerO took favorable engagement after favorable engagement, and at some point in all this, the poor little carrier, who just wanted to be a phoenix was lost. RorO realized HerO's biggest advantage, the carrier, had disappeared and did a huge tech switch off around two mining bases to infestors. Despite getting every last one of his phoenixes fungaled, HerO managed to storm all of the inert infestors and even out the game again. HerO's bank was larger though, and RorO wasn't allowed the time to build up an enormous mutalisk ball again. Fantastic feedbacks on what remained of the infestors further tipped the scales into HerO's favor, and forced out the GG from the Samsung Khan Zerg.
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Zest, KT's main lieutenant, showed that he deserves his 80% winrate in PvP as he dismantled HerO on all fronts. Zest held off a 3 gate stargate timing (the third gate was proxied because why the hell not), and transitioned into an immortal heavy style. For a minute, HerO seemed to be ahead after holding off an attack fairly convincingly with colossus, however it was not enough as Zest had the quicker three bases and ran HerO over with a void ray archon composition. Zest showed that only having to practice for PvProleague massively improved that mirror matchup, and after such a dominating, clinical display it's fair to say he is one of the masters at it.
TY <Bel'Shir Vestige> JangBi
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Solid play from both players in a standard but long and well-played TvP. Nothing spectacular or revolutionary, but this would have been a top game in any other week. Very worth a watch if you have time. To quote someone from the LR thread, "That was a nice game".
Flash <Akilon Wastes> TaeJa
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Two of Wings of Liberty's best Terrans faced off in an excellent mech vs mech clash, which narrowly went in Flash's favour. Both players opened with hellions, and transitioned into similar compositions but Flash's consistent harassment whittled down Taeja constantly. Eventually Taeja found himself several bases down, with Flash sieging his natural and was forced to tap out to seemingly overwhelming superiority in terms of harassment, positioning and game sense.
Rain <Neo Planet S> Soulkey
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Both players play completely standard, safe and solid and one comes out the victor. No gimmicks here, no tricks, just two players trying to prove who is straight up better.
Reality <Akilon Wastes> HerO
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
The second game in HerO's slug-fest of a three kill against Samsung Khan was a peculiar back and forth that included manner nexuses backed up with manner cannons, huge colossus armies and a helluva a lot of SCV's dying. HerO started out by repelling some early marine hellion pressure, while wrecking his opponent's mineral line. From there, things tilted more and more into HerO's favor, and it was eventually enough for him to take the win in flamboyant style. This game was far from your standard TvP and showed off some of HerO non-standard play and game sense that has helped him become the player he is today.
TY <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Flash
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Ty likes hellbats. A lot. It would probably be fair to say he has the highest HPM of any Korean player (sadly Europeans still surpass him on this front). It was shown in this game, as he opened with a hellbat drop, which Flash just managed to hold off, while dealing significant damage himself. This game features any extremely scrappy, micro intensive early game with both players going for straight up offensive while each having little defense for their opponents' aggression. This resulted in a real nail-biter and highly unpredictable game.
RorO <Korhal Floating Island> HerO
VODS: Free Korean on Youtube - HQ English on Twitch
Now you've warmed up with the first few shorter recaps of the far inferior games, we can get onto the main story. Are you settled in, boys and girls? Excellent. Now, I'm going to tell you the story of the little carrier that couldn't. But first, some back story.
HerO's opening gambit to secure his eventual carrier was a cannon rush, which succeeded and caused RorO to expand to his third and fourth base locations. The follow up was a colossus gateway push, which ended up taking out the third and putting HerO in the lead. However, HerO had failed to scout RorO's mutalisk switch which would have been an enormous problem, had RorO actually attacked with him. Luckily for HerO, he didn't and the EG-TL Protoss added on two gates and started up the phoenix production, all the while taking out RorO's third (he had since retaken his natural from the nefarious cannon duo). Then, completely by accident, he got the carrier upgrade. It was completely illogical, but damn it carriers are awesome so we'll accept it and move on.
<3
Both players built up fearsome air armies; HerO's archon, templar and phoenix count rose and rose while RorO's muta corruptor army did the same. Zergling run-bys from RorO devastated HerO's infrastructure, sniping off anything from pylons to nexuses. However, well placed templar and the emergency task force of phoenix rushing from location to location stopped HerO from being completely wiped out. Still, he was left with a single mining base. Both players kept up the harassment, keeping each other on extremely limited economies and neither player really maxed out at any point. HerO took favorable engagement after favorable engagement, and at some point in all this, the poor little carrier, who just wanted to be a phoenix was lost. RorO realized HerO's biggest advantage, the carrier, had disappeared and did a huge tech switch off around two mining bases to infestors. Despite getting every last one of his phoenixes fungaled, HerO managed to storm all of the inert infestors and even out the game again. HerO's bank was larger though, and RorO wasn't allowed the time to build up an enormous mutalisk ball again. Fantastic feedbacks on what remained of the infestors further tipped the scales into HerO's favor, and forced out the GG from the Samsung Khan Zerg.
Week 4 Preview
by Wunder
The last seven matches of the all-kill round is split into two half-weeks. So because next week is only three matches long, we can take a little time to talk about each of them. Some exciting and important matches are abound, with EG-TL and Team 8 both fighting to stay in the race for the playoffs, while KT Rolster and SKT1 duke it out for second place. We might also get a sneak peek at the WCS Korea grand finals as Woongjin Stars goes head to head with STX Soul.
Note that there will be no weekend matches this week and the first matches start on Monday.
Round 5 Week 4 Matches
May 27
8th Team vs EG-TL
Cure (Speed) < Neo Planet S > Jaedong
KT Rolster vs SK Telecom T1
Action < Korhal Floating Island > soO
Cure (Speed) < Neo Planet S > Jaedong
KT Rolster vs SK Telecom T1
Action < Korhal Floating Island > soO
Team 8 vs EG-TL
At first glance, this match could easily be dismissed as one between the two worst teams in Proleague, both duking it out in a match that has no effect on the standings. In reality, this match is actually a life and death fight for both EG-TL and Team 8. With both teams tied at 12 wins, the winner would continue the dream of making it to the playoffs, while the loser would be relegated to 8th place and almost certainly be in a pit too deep to climb out of. With Cure and Jaedong set at the starting match, EG-TL should look to grab a quick win off the Tyrant’s strong TvZ. Afterwards, they should definitely properly prepare for the imminent threat of a Protoss who will no doubt come out to snipe the EG Zerg. Once again, it will be mostly down to HerO’s prowess at PvP and PvT to fend off the advances of Argo, Terminator, and the hellbat-loving, on-fire TY and hopefully clinch a win for EG-TL.
KT Rolster vs SK Telecom T1
With last weeks results behind us, KT Rolster has now boosted themselves up and over most of the pack, gaining a one win lead over SKT T1. This is coming to a head quickly, as SKT T1 seeks to challenge the second place throne with a head on collision, and both teams are sending out a Zerg to test the waters to feel out their opponent. With Action making his first appearance this round, it will be interesting to see if the KT Zerg has taken his losses from last round to heart and improved since then. Similarly, soO has been out of action since his Ro16 loss to two Zergs in WCS Korea, so hopefully he’s taken the time to sharpen his ZvZ a bit. All in all this should be an explosive fight, with Rain, PartinG and FanTaSy all waiting in the wings for SKT1 while Flash, Zest and Stats are biding their time in the shadows, looking for an opening to pounce.
Woongjin Stars vs STX Soul
While the battle for second place rages on, the leader of the pack looks for smaller prey, and finds STX Soul in the middle of the standings, still full of energy but battle-worn. Once again Dear is put out as a starter, almost like a lamb before slaughter, and STX will want to grab a few wins using Dear and hyvaa before bringing out their finisher, INnoVation. While he has been on fire in both individual and team leagues alike, this match against Woongjin might be difficult for the sole Terran, as just across the waters lies his opponent for the finals of WCS Korea, Soulkey. With that in mind, both players may be wary to face each other since they will undoubtedly want to reserve their pocket strategies for a match that is much more significant. Regardless, if it comes to a head, we will no doubt have a fantastic game on our hands.