Keeping the Hope Alive: MVP and CJ Entus

When EG-TL was in dire straits last season and the only thing that could take them to the playoffs was a miracle, fans rallied behind them, eager to support the fan favorites are they attempted to create a miracle. While not making the round 1 playoffs is a small thing in comparison to finishing dead last, MVP and CJ Entus are in a similar situation to EG-TL of last season. They can still make it to the round playoffs by beating all of their remaining opponents, but it's a long shot for sure. Praying that your favorite team makes it, cheering your lungs out for the ace player hoping that he'll take it and by some miracle bring the team to the next stage, is simultaneously a great and terrifying feeling that certainly adds another layer of excitement to watching Proleague.

If you want to go through all that, here is what needs to happen for MVP to reach the first round playoffs:

• MVP wins their 3 remaining matches against KT, CJ and Samsung
  
• Incredible Miracle goes 1-1, losing 0-3 to Samsung and beating Jin Air 3-2
  
• Jin Air loses to both Prime and SKT OR Samsung loses their remaining three matches against IM, MVP and SKT

This would put MVP at 4-3 in matches, passing IM and either Jin Air or Samsung to finish 3rd/4th.

About as likely as: Bisu winning 2014 GSL Season 2

Now, if you wouldn't mind MVP hilariously failing to make the cut through three consecutive flops, here is what has to happen for CJ to make it to the round one playoffs:

• Jin Air or Samsung lose their remaining matches, preferrably by going 0-3 in all three matches.
  
• CJ wins their remaining two matches against Prime and MVP, going 3-0 against both.
  
• Incredible Miracle loses horribly to Samsung but somehow beat Jin Air by a landslide.
  
• DongRaeGu doesn't randomly remember how to carry MVP in team leagues

CJ making the round playoffs isn't just about winning the matches, they will have to rely on getting great map score differentials against Prime and MVP and the other teams forgetting how to play Starcraft over the weekend.

Slightly less likely than: Jessica forgiving all the ex-SlayerS players and joining Axiom as coach.

If you're a fan of medals, you're probably a fan of team IM. Although they've historically been fairly weak in team leagues, they still have a chance at redemption in round one. Hey, they're even fielding Mvp to see what happens. Here's what has to happen:

• CJ and MVP don't pull off a miracle and remain below IM in the rankings.
  
• IM beats Jin Air and Samsung (preferrably with 3-0 or 3-1 scores)
  
• One (or both) of Samsung or Jin Air choke in week 5 and lose both their matches along with one in week 4.

Just as likely as: An all-Terran group in Code S

Focus match: Fantasy vs TRUE

Fantasy is an enigma. Seemingly at random, he showcases almost unrivalled micro and aggression. It's the kind of play that saw him edge out Life in WCS Korea Season 2, and it's the kind of play that he put up when he faced Jin Air's TRUE last year. Both players are characteristically aggressive, favoring unrelenting attacks over a turtle-style of play. Much like the immortalised Gumiho vs Losira, Fantasy and TRUE's play styles interact in a way that will almost always produce extremely exciting games. Of course, it must be mentioned that Fantasy is not very good at macro. As Zergs learned to handle the Terran aggression that was almost impossible for many to cope with in mid-2013, the room for error in the economy department became a lot smaller. Judging by Fantasy's recent games in Code A, he still has some issues in that department. However, those same issues have been prevalent throughout HotS and they have never prevented him from playing extremely well on occasion. Proleague is where Fantasy grew up, in a manner of speaking, and the best of 1 format could end up favoring his inconsistency and allow him to take the game, showing that doubting the Terrorist is unwise.

But however much we harp on Fantasy for being a flawed player, TRUE is hardly a paragon of consistency. He hasn't played many games lately, nor have they been particularly impressive, but KeSPA players have a tendency to bring out their best in Proleague - whether it is because they feel more motivated or because the format somehow suits them better is debatable, but many of the Proleague heroes fail to consistently bring their A-game to individual leagues despite tremendous skill.

At the heart of it, this match is one of ifs and maybes. Will Fantasy play on the level where he apparently doesn't even need to macro well to win? Will TRUE play on the level he did when he last faced Fantasy? It's certainly possible. If I can recommend a single potentially great match to tune into this week, this is the one. Don't miss the oppurtunity.

Week 4 Predictions