Table of Contents
Round 5 Week 5 Review
Spoiler Alert!
Holding the Fort
EG-TL/2
Most Wins Sealed
Flash
Games of the week
JYP vs Fantasy
Playoff Outlook
Matches that Matter
Round 6 Week 1 Preview
The Beginning of the End
SK Planet Proleague table and results at Liquipedia
Round 5 W5 Results
By: monk and Wunder
The final all-kill round is over! As we look back through the round we see that Woongjin has cemented their spot in the playoffs, KT has gotten a much needed boost in the rankings and former champion CJ has continued to plummet further down the rankings. Meanwhile, EG-TL shows a surprise result and round 6 abruptly begins.
Round 5 Week 5 Matches
May 30/31
Samsung KHAN vs Woongjin Stars
Shine <Neo Planet S> ZerO
RorO <Whirlwind> ZerO
JangBi <Bel'Shir Vestige> ZerO
JangBi <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Soulkey
JangBi <New Fighting Spirit> free
JangBi <Naro Station> sOs
Stork <Akilon Wastes> sOs
Woongjin Stars wins 4-2!
CJ Entus vs KT Rolster
herO <Neo Planet S> Flash
Bong <Whirlwind> Flash
Hydra <Bel'Shir Vestige> Flash
EffOrt <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Flash
KT Rolster wins 4-0!
Shine <Neo Planet S> ZerO
RorO <Whirlwind> ZerO
JangBi <Bel'Shir Vestige> ZerO
JangBi <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Soulkey
JangBi <New Fighting Spirit> free
JangBi <Naro Station> sOs
Stork <Akilon Wastes> sOs
Woongjin Stars wins 4-2!
CJ Entus vs KT Rolster
herO <Neo Planet S> Flash
Bong <Whirlwind> Flash
Hydra <Bel'Shir Vestige> Flash
EffOrt <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Flash
KT Rolster wins 4-0!
June 2
EG-TL vs SK Telecom T1
Oz <Bel'Shir Vestige> Brown
Oz<New Fighting Spirit>Rain
Oz<Akilon Wastes> PartinG
Jaedong<Whirlwind>PartinG
Jaedong<Naro Station>FanTaSy
Zenio<Newkirk Redevelopment Precint>FanTaSy
JYP<Korhal Floating Island>FanTaSy
EG-TL wins 4-3!
STX Soul vs Team 8
Trap <Bel'Shir Vestige> Terminator
Trap <New Fighting Spirit> Argo
Dear <Akilon Wastes> Argo
Dear <Whirlwind> Savage
Classic <Naro Station> Savage
Classic <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> TY
STX Soul wins 4-2!
Oz <Bel'Shir Vestige> Brown
Oz<New Fighting Spirit>Rain
Oz<Akilon Wastes> PartinG
Jaedong<Whirlwind>PartinG
Jaedong<Naro Station>FanTaSy
Zenio<Newkirk Redevelopment Precint>FanTaSy
JYP<Korhal Floating Island>FanTaSy
EG-TL wins 4-3!
STX Soul vs Team 8
Trap <Bel'Shir Vestige> Terminator
Trap <New Fighting Spirit> Argo
Dear <Akilon Wastes> Argo
Dear <Whirlwind> Savage
Classic <Naro Station> Savage
Classic <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> TY
STX Soul wins 4-2!
Holding the Fort
With 4 of their available players out of the country and their own Coach resigning them to 6th place at best, things were looking grim for our foreigner heroes. However, not all hope was lost as they showed this week: Almost every player fielded was thrown in against their worst match up, and yet they persevered and beat one of the strongest teams in Proleague. How did they do it?First off there was Oz, EG’s most recent Protoss pick up. Renowned in Wings for trying to fast expand in PvP, he was seen by many as a player with a quirky sense for PvP, which meant that he usually lost to tried and true builds. However, in Heart of the Swarm and against SKT1 last night, Oz showed his true colors, defeating Brown and Rain in quick succession. While he lost to PartinG in the next match, he had already done enough damage by taking out SKT1’s ace, which left one Protoss left for the Tyrant.
Weirdly enough they decided to field Jaedong straight after Oz, in the face of a ZvP, his worst match-up by far. His game against PartinG was strange, as after a standard opening from both players, Jaedong threw his army against PartinG’s and got it summarily destroyed. However, instead of rolling over and dying, he instead made 20 mutalisks in a single wave and caught PartinG off guard. With the tech switch successful, it was only a matter of time before PartinG was forced to make a decision, to which he was punished severely and Jaedong ravaged the Protoss army with his mutalisks and zerglings.
Unfortunately he lost to FanTaSy in the next match, which allowed SKT1 to snowball and catch up, bringing it to the ace match, where EG-TL had no choice but to send out their only remaining player: JYP. Having a notoriously poor PvT in Wings, JYP has stated in multiple interviews that he wanted to shake the notion that he had a bad PvT since he was apparently doing well in practice matches. This was as good a chance as any to prove dissenters wrong, as EG-TL was pinned up against the wall and it would be unfortunate for them to throw away a match after securing such a strong lead.
Thankfully JYP pulled through in what was one of the most exciting PvTs that Proleague has seen this round. We’ll go more in depth in the Best Games section, but what was important about this match was not just the fact that JYP had to prove his PvT prowess or the fact that EG-TL needs any win they can get, but that what effectively was EG-TL’s B-team still managed to take out 3rd place SKT1. That fact alone should give them comfort heading into Round 6 where their final test begins. Having to field 6 players in the traditional format, having a solid core will be vital, and EG-TL looks set to make a final sprint and free themselves of last place.
Most Wins Sealed
Most Wins Standings: Players with > 20 winsPlayer | Team | WoL Win - Loss | R4 Win - Loss | R5 Win - Loss | Total Win - Loss |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Flash | KT | 19 - 11 | 3 - 5 | 15 - 2 | 37 - 18 |
Rain | SKT | 16 - 9 | 7 - 2 | 10 - 3 | 33 - 14 |
INnoVation | STX | 17 - 11 | 5 - 2 | 11 - 3 | 33 - 16 |
sOs | WJS | 18 - 8 | 4 - 3 | 5 - 3 | 27 - 14 |
Hydra | CJ | 18 - 10 | 2 - 5 | 6 - 7 | 26 - 22 | Zest | KT | 11 - 6 | 5 - 2 | 9 - 1 | 25 - 12 |
RorO | SAM | 16 - 10 | 5 - 0 | 4 - 5 | 25 - 15 |
herO | CJ | 17 - 9 | 5 - 4 | 3 - 4 | 25 - 17 |
JangBi | SAM | 12 - 13 | 4 - 3 | 8 - 5 | 24 - 21 |
EffOrt | CJ | 16 - 12 | 5 - 4 | 4 - 6 | 24 - 21 |
Soulkey | WJS | 11 - 7 | 7 - 1 | 5 - 4 | 23 - 12 |
FanTaSy | SKT | 14 - 13 | 5 - 1 | 4 - 6 | 23 - 20 |
TY | T8 | 8 - 13 | 1 - 4 | 14 - 6 | 23 - 23 |
free | WJS | 12 - 5 | 1 - 2 | 9 - 6 | 22 - 13 |
Argo | T8 | 14 - 13 | 5 - 3 | 2 - 5 | 21 - 21 |
HerO | EG-TL | 10 - 10 | 4 - 5 | 6 - 4 | 20 - 19 |
This week's matches also practically sealed the fate for the title of most wins throughout the season. Throughout the whole season, it has been a tight race, but by the beginning of last week, it seemed to come down to just three players: Flash, INnoVation, and Rain, each with 33 wins a piece. But while Rain and Innovation failed to secure wins this week, Flash all-killed an unsuspecting CJ Entus, propelling him way ahead of the pack. Because round 5 was the last all-kill round, it seems very unlikely that the other two players will be able to score enough wins to catch up to KT's ace. As it was in BW, it is in SC2 and Flash will almost definitely win the title.
Games of the Week
by kollin
EG-TL, against all expectations, managed to upset SKT T1 in a close 4-3 victory as they did in round 4. While there were a couple of notable games, JYP vs Fantasy stood out as the best by far as a TvP where JYP picked apart Fantasy from all angles up until the lategame, before delivering a killing blow.
JYP < Korhal Floating Island > FanTaSy - VOD
Fantasy opened with a reactor expand into hellbat drop, while JYP opened with one gate expand and fended off the pressure without too much trouble. Both players settled into the mid-game tempo comfortably, but JYP did an excellent job of denying Fantasy's third from landing and containing him with a colossus gateway army. JYP had a much faster third as a result and a bolstered economy. Fantasy eventually broke out and ramped up the multi-pronged harassment that he is famous for, even taking out JYP's forge mere seconds before it finished the +1 attack upgrade, as well as the templar archives. Both players expanded down opposite sides of the map and added on important infrastructure, while JYP danced around Fantasy's bases trying to find a mistake to exploit. Fantasy built up a an orbital command farm, but JYP became very persistent with warp prism harassment and zealot warp ins, while picking away at Fantasy's army.
Eventually the pressure became too much, and Fantasy crumbled to the fantastic storms JYP was hitting, as well as round after round of zealot warp-ins that gave JYP the upper hand in almost every battle. One major mistake Fantasy made was not sacrificing SCV's to replace with army supply; he failed to employ the numerous mules from his mass of orbital commands. It proved to be a significant contributing factor to his, and SKT's loss, and helped EG-TL's chances of a non-last-place finish all the more.
Fantasy opened with a reactor expand into hellbat drop, while JYP opened with one gate expand and fended off the pressure without too much trouble. Both players settled into the mid-game tempo comfortably, but JYP did an excellent job of denying Fantasy's third from landing and containing him with a colossus gateway army. JYP had a much faster third as a result and a bolstered economy. Fantasy eventually broke out and ramped up the multi-pronged harassment that he is famous for, even taking out JYP's forge mere seconds before it finished the +1 attack upgrade, as well as the templar archives. Both players expanded down opposite sides of the map and added on important infrastructure, while JYP danced around Fantasy's bases trying to find a mistake to exploit. Fantasy built up a an orbital command farm, but JYP became very persistent with warp prism harassment and zealot warp ins, while picking away at Fantasy's army.
Eventually the pressure became too much, and Fantasy crumbled to the fantastic storms JYP was hitting, as well as round after round of zealot warp-ins that gave JYP the upper hand in almost every battle. One major mistake Fantasy made was not sacrificing SCV's to replace with army supply; he failed to employ the numerous mules from his mass of orbital commands. It proved to be a significant contributing factor to his, and SKT's loss, and helped EG-TL's chances of a non-last-place finish all the more.
Playoffs Outlook
by monk
With the last round upon us, it becomes much more clear what each match means in the grand scheme of things.
Woongjin Stars:
Woongjin Stars has already secured a playoff spot and baring the Stars practice house exploding, they'll achieve the very coveted first place slot for a seed directly into the finals
Most important match: The first two-three
After winning the first two-three matches, Woongjin Stars will not only have secured a playoff spot, but first place as well. This will allow them a chance to practice solely for the playoffs, sending out their lesser players instead to give them some experience instead. Sweet deal.
KT Rolster
KT Rolster doesn't have a realistic chance of taking the regular season, so their priority should be holding their #2 spot. This will prove to be difficult as KT seems to be much weaker in the regular proleague format. Their supporting line-up is one of the weaker ones in the league and they can't rely on Flash and Zest all-kill in this format anymore.
Most important match: vs SK Telecom T1, STX Soul
Up on their tails is both SKT and STX. Beating either team will almost be worth beating any two of the other teams. Beating both teams will almost surely ensure a second place seed into the playoffs.
SK Telecom T1
SK Telecom T1 has to worry about both climbing up the ladder and not falling down any further. Their well rounded lineup is perfect for this round, but they'll have stiff competition from two of the best teams in the league.
Most important match: vs KT Rolster, STX Soul
Catching up to KT Rolster is definitely a doable task, and keeping STX Soul off their tails would be preferable as well. In the final round, SK Telecom T1 has both the most to gain and the most to lose.
STX Soul
STX Soul is in a similar spot to SKT with the same match score. But because SKT currently leads in map score and probably still will at the end of this round, STX will have to rely on beating SKT in match score in order to surpass them into third place.
Most important match: vs KT Rolster, SK Telecom T1, Samsung KHAN
Similar to SKT, STX is trying to catch up to KT and SKT. But is at the same time, they have to keep Samsung off their tails.
Samsung KHAN
Samsung KHAN is the only team that has a realistic chance to break into the top four slots. Their success heavily depends on RorO and they've had amazing rounds(Rounds 2, 4), abysmal rounds(1, 5), and average rounds(3), all depending on how well RorO has done. Samsung is truly a wild card and though on paper, their roster pales in comparison to SKT and STX, it would certainly be a mistake to count them out.
Most important match: vs SK Telecom T1, STX Soul
In order to make the playoffs, they'll have to steal the spot from either SKT or STX. Once either of the teams begin slumping, Samsung will need to smell the blood and strike.
CJ Entus
Realistically, CJ Entus has very little chance of making the playoffs. This doesn't mean they can't and won't try their hearts out though.
Most important match: vs SK Telecom T1, STX Soul, Samsung KHAN
To make it into the playoffs, CJ Entus would have to surpass Samsung KHAN and one of either SK Telecom T1 or STX Soul. But even with a 7-0 match score, they'll still require a lot of help in the form of two of the other three teams slumping absurdly hard.
Team 8
Like EG-TL, Team 8 has a slim to no chance of making the playoffs. Though they had an average run at the beginning of the season, they soon plummeted almost as hard as EG-TL.
Most important match: vs CJ Entus
Team 8 probably won't make the playoffs, but at least they can save some face by going for the 6th place finish. To achieve this, they'll have to trump a slumping CJ Entus.
EG-TL
Believe it or not, EG-TL can still mathematically make the playoffs. Take this hypothetical situation, the best possible one for EG-TL:
+ Show Spoiler +
- EG-TL wins every match with a score of 4-0
- Woongjin Stars wins every match except vs EG-TL with a score of 4-0
- KT Rolster wins every match except vs Woongjin Stars and EG-TL with a score of 4-0
- SK Telecom T1 wins...
- Team 8...
- CJ Entus...
- Samsung KHAN...
- STX Soul loses every match with a score of 0-4
# | Team | Match Score | Map Score |
---|---|---|---|
1 | EG-Liquid | 7 - 0 | 28 - 0 |
2 | Woongjin Stars | 6 - 1 | 24 - 4 |
3 | KT Rolster | 5 - 2 | 20 - 8 |
4 | SK Telecom T1 | 4 - 3 | 16 - 12 |
5 | Team 8 | 3 - 4 | 12 - 16 |
6 | CJ Entus | 2 - 5 | 8 - 20 |
7 | Samsung KHAN | 1 - 6 | 4 - 24 |
8 | STX Soul | 0 - 7 | 0 - 28 |
Combined with the current standings, we would get:
# | Team | Match Score | Map Score |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Woongjin Stars | 30 - 12 | 144 - 83 |
2 | KT Rolster | 25 - 17 | 127 - 92 |
3 | SK Telecom T1 | 23 - 18 | 131 - 112 |
4 | EG-Liquid | 20 - 22 | 109 - 117 |
5 | STX Soul | 19 - 23 | 104 - 127 |
6 | Samsung KHAN | 18 - 24 | 96 - 135 |
7 | CJ Entus | 17 - 25 | 107 - 127 |
8 | Team 8 | 16 - 26 | 101 - 128 |
EG-TL barely makes it in 4th place!
Most important match: vs CJ Entus
That being said, this situation is almost impossible and even losing one match would put EG-TL out of contention. Coach Park has intelligently revised his goal towards the 6th place slot and to do this, he'll have to take out CJ Entus. Look for this to be the match EG-TL prepares for the most this round.
Week 1 Preview
by Wunder
It's finally here! The final round of Proleague is upon us and with only a handful of weeks left, teams are scrambling to make a final dash to the playoffs. With only 3 matches this week, Team 8 and EG-TL are sitting out for the time being, which means that the teams playing are all in the top 6! With every match being absolutely crucial, it's a must-win for almost every team as a loss could cause you to fall out of the top 4 ranking. Read on to see our predictions for this week's matches, and don't forget to sign up for Fantasy Proleague!
Thanks to xpaperclip for formatting!
Round 6 Week 1 Matches
June 3
Samsung KHAN vs KT Rolster
RorO < Akilon Wastes > Zest (P7GAB,Wooki)
TurN < Korhal Floating Island > hitmaN
JangBi < Whirlwind LE > Flash
Reality < New Fighting Spirit > Puzzle
Shine < Neo Planet S > Stats
Stork < Newkirk Redevelopment Precinct > Crazy
Ace: Bel'Shir Vestige LE
CJ Entus vs Woongjin Stars
Bong < New Fighting Spirit > ZerO
herO < Naro Station SE > Flying
EffOrt < Korhal Floating Island > sOs
Hydra < Neo Planet S > free
SonGDuri < Bel'Shir Vestige LE > Light
Bbyong < Whirlwind LE > Soulkey
Ace: Akilon Wastes
RorO < Akilon Wastes > Zest (P7GAB,Wooki)
TurN < Korhal Floating Island > hitmaN
JangBi < Whirlwind LE > Flash
Reality < New Fighting Spirit > Puzzle
Shine < Neo Planet S > Stats
Stork < Newkirk Redevelopment Precinct > Crazy
Ace: Bel'Shir Vestige LE
CJ Entus vs Woongjin Stars
Bong < New Fighting Spirit > ZerO
herO < Naro Station SE > Flying
EffOrt < Korhal Floating Island > sOs
Hydra < Neo Planet S > free
SonGDuri < Bel'Shir Vestige LE > Light
Bbyong < Whirlwind LE > Soulkey
Ace: Akilon Wastes
June 4
STX Soul vs SK Telecom T1
Trap < Newkirk Redevelopment Precinct > PartinG
Dear < Whirlwind LE > soO
Mini < Naro Station SE > Brown
hyvaa < Bel'Shir Vestige LE > Bisu
INnoVation < Korhal Floating Island > FanTaSy
Classic < Neo Planet S > Rain
Ace: New Fighting Spirit
Trap < Newkirk Redevelopment Precinct > PartinG
Dear < Whirlwind LE > soO
Mini < Naro Station SE > Brown
hyvaa < Bel'Shir Vestige LE > Bisu
INnoVation < Korhal Floating Island > FanTaSy
Classic < Neo Planet S > Rain
Ace: New Fighting Spirit
Samsung KHAN vs KT Rolster
Our first match of the final round pits Samsung KHAN against KT Rolster and at first glance it seems like an easy win for KT. With 3 strong players in the form of Stats, Zest and Flash, it would be hard to predict Samsung from pulling a win out. Funnily enough though, the head-to-head score is in favor of Samsung, with the boys in blue leading 3-2 this season. Their wins have been narrow 4-3 victories against KT though, while their losses have been 4-1 stomps in the other direction. Regardless, the game to watch this match will definitely be JangBi vs Flash as this would swing the match in either team’s favor and should also be a fantastic PvT.
CJ Entus vs Woongjin Stars
While Samsung looks to challenge KT, CJ is pit against the 1st place team in the form of Woongjin Stars. Even though Woongjin hasn’t been dominant throughout the season, with KT and STX taking a few first place finishers through the rounds, they have been damn consistent and have been rewarded as such, commanding a four game lead from their second place contender. Meanwhile CJ has been looking shaky as ever, after getting all killed by INnoVation they proceeded to get all killed by Flash as well, no doubt demoralizing their entire team in the process. Going into the 6th and final round, they have a lot of ground to cover and starting the round off with a win would definitely be a boon to their team. EffOrt vs sOs looks set to be the game of the match, with sOs coming off a Ro4 finish in WCS Korea while EffOrt is climbing his way back up with a solid performance in Proleague.
STX Soul vs SK Telecom T1
*This is one of the most important matches of the round, if not the entire season. SKT and STX currently hold third and fourth place in the rankings respectively. Whoever wins will have a chance to challenge KT Rolster for second place and whoever loses this match is in danger of falling out of the playoffs to Samsung KHAN. Keep in mind that there is difference between third and fourth place: third place gets to choose the maps in two out of the three matches in the playoffs.
With a stunning loss to EG-TL just yesterday, SK Telecom T1 has to rally back quickly and prepare to hold their ground against STX Soul. Leading their head-to-head score 4-1, SKT1 should have enough experience to defeat STX, but with the rapid improvement of Classic, Dear and Trap, STX now have a good core four to cause SKT1 to worry. Notable starters in the first match for SKT1 are both Brown and Bisu, players who found some success last round. Meanwhile FanTaSy takes on STX’s champion, INnoVation, in what will no doubt be the game of the night. While Fantasy hasn’t been looking as sharp as before, he did manage to qualify for the Premier League for next season’s WCS Korea as well as pulling off a few key wins in Proleague. It will also be interesting to see Innovation’s composure, coming off a finals loss against Soulkey just the weekend before, the wound would no doubt still be fresh and Fantasy could look to capitalize on his opponent’s moment of weakness.