Points to watch
1. GomTV MSL Start!
New maps, new players, new sponsor, same old dominating Savior. At the same time, this lineup is incredibly intriguing. I personally believe that this MSL has a nice mix of scary rookies and proven veterans. The racial balance could not be better, coming in at an ideal 6:5:5. So just by looking at the players, this MSL looks to be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, so did the last MSL (Pringles 2 MSL), which quickly turned into an uninspiring Zerg party. So knock on wood for this MSL. Let's hope MBCgame can finally capture some of that late-tournament drama that always seems to go Ongamenet's way.
The group draw is a "steal draft," which means the worst players get assigned to groups first. Than the better players can choose to steal someone else's spot, until finally the four seeds get to wield a lot of group-determining power. Remember last MSL's "Savior vs Sparkyz" group? All good fun and good drama. Hopefully the group draw ceremony will create even more storylines and drama for the fans to follow. Best of luck to GomTV MSL and all the players. (And can anybody stop Savior?!)
Currently qualified for the next MSL are:
Terran: Canata (SKT), Light (MBCgame), Hwasin (STX), Iris (CJ), Xellos (CJ), Bifrost (OGN)
Zerg: Savior (CJ), Silver (Pantech), Jju (Samsung), Jaedong (Lecaf), Aqua (KTF)
Protoss: Nal_Ra (KTF), Bisu (MBCgame), Pusan (MBCgame), Much (CJ), Free (Hanbit)
2. Proleague!
Take a good look at the current Proleague standings:
1. Lecaf OZ (6-2, +8) 〓
2. CJ ENTUS (6-3, +6) 〓
3. Hanbit Stars (5-3, +1) ▲1
4. Samsung Khan (5-4, +6) ▲1
5. Ongamenet Sparkyz (4-4, -1) ▲1
6. STX Soul (4-4, -2) ▼3
7. MBCgame HERO (4-4, -4) 〓
8. E-STRO (4-5, -4) ▼1
9. SK Telecom T1 (3-5, +0) 〓
10. KTF MagicNs (3-6, -4) ▲1
11. Pantech EX (2-6, -9) ▼1
Last week was the week when The Proleague Truly Went Crazy. Look at the standings. Suddenly SKT and KTF decided to be powerhouses again, grabbing CJ and Lecaf by the ankles and preventing either from securing the coveted top spot. Meanwhile, the middle section is a muddy mess. Which of the five teams in the middle will make the top four? Hanbit and Samsung look good, as both teams have rocketed up the standings in recent weeks. Hanbit particularly looks strong, with GGPlay, Daezang, and Free finding a groove and becoming a hard-to-beat 3 hit combo. Cable rivals OGN and MBCgame are both immensely talented teams who have been struggling with inconsistency this season. Their task is to put it together for two more games and get to the postseason. Meanwhile, STX Soul and E-STRO are freefalling after surprising early starts. Are they reverting back to their losing ways? Perhaps these two teams could not escape the culture of losing. In any case, they must right the ship before it is too late to make the most of their hot starts.
Each team has only one or two games left in the season (each team plays 10 games). Every game is a must-win game.
3. Dual Tournament
We will go through three more groups of ODT this week, giving us six more players who will make the big stage of the next OSL. Group G is the "mini group of death," because GGPlay, Stork, Yellow and Yooi could all easily be starleaguers. Yooi in particular went through a greuling 17-hour qualifying process just to make it to the ODT. He will not be an easy out.
[Schedule]
Nov 28st Tuesday (all times Korean time)
No scheduled matches.
Nov 29st Wednesday 18:30
OnGameNet Dual Tournament (OSL qualifiers)
Group D
Match 1: Bisu (P, MBCgame) vs DarkElf (T, CJ) on Tau Cross
Match 2: Chojja (Z, KTF) vs fOrGG_V_ (T, Lecaf) on Tau Cross
Match 3: Match 1 Winner vs Match 2 Winner on Arcadia 2 -> Winner advances to OSL
Match 4: Match 1 Loser vs Match 2 Loser on Arcadia 2
Match 5: Match 3 Loser vs Match 4 Winner on New Peaks of Baekdu -> Winner advances to OSL
Nov 30st Thursday 14:00
OnGameNet Dual Tournament (OSL qualifiers)
Group E
Match 1: July (Z, MBCgame) vs Free (P, Hanbit) on Tau Cross
Match 2: Cloud (T, OGN) vs Dongrae (T, Lecaf) on Tau Cross
Match 3: Match 1 Winner vs Match 2 Winner on Arcadia 2 -> Winner advances to OSL
Match 4: Match 1 Loser vs Match 2 Loser on Arcadia 2
Match 5: Match 3 Loser vs Match 4 Winner on New Peaks of Baekdu -> Winner advances to OSL
Nov 30st Thursday 18:30
GomTV MSL
Group Selection
Qualified players:
Terran: Canata (SKT), Light (MBCgame), Hwasin (STX), Iris (CJ), Xellos (CJ), Bifrost (OGN)
Zerg: Savior (CJ), Silver (Pantech), Jju (Samsung), Jaedong (Lecaf), Aqua (KTF)
Protoss: Nal_Ra (KTF), Bisu (MBCgame), Pusan (MBCgame), Much (CJ), Free (Hanbit)
Seeds: Savior, Silver, Nal_Ra, Jju
Dec 1st Friday 18:30
OnGameNet Dual Tournament (OSL qualifiers)
Group F
Match 1: GGPlay (Z, Hanbit) vs Stork (P, Samsung) on Tau Cross
Match 2: Yellow (Z, KTF) vs Yooi (T, STX) on Tau Cross
Match 3: Match 1 Winner vs Match 2 Winner on Arcadia 2 -> Winner advances to OSL
Match 4: Match 1 Loser vs Match 2 Loser on Arcadia 2
Match 5: Match 3 Loser vs Match 4 Winner on New Peaks of Baekdu -> Winner advances to OSL
Dec 1st Friday 18:30
CJ Media Superfight
SuperFight 3
Opening Match
FIFA Online
Korean Team vs Chinese Team, 2v2
Midcard
Tossgirl (T, STX) vs Jju (Z, Samsung) Best of 3
Tau Cross
Longinus
Blitz
Main Event
Nada (T, Pantech) vs Savior (Z, CJ) Best of 5
Arcadia II
Arkanoid
Blitz
Tau Cross
Arcadia II
*Weekend ProLeague*
SKY 2006 ProLeague Round 2
Dec 2nd Saturday 14:00
Pantech EX vs Lecaf OZ
Ongamenet Sparkyz vs STX Soul
Dec 3rd Sunday 14:00
Samsung Khan vs CJ ENTUS
MBCgame HERO vs SK Telecom T1
Dec 4th Monday 18:30
Hanbit Stars vs E-Stro
no games this week: KTF MagicNs
Current Proleague Standings:
1. Lecaf OZ (6-2, +8) 〓
2. CJ ENTUS (6-3, +6) 〓
3. Hanbit Stars (5-3, +1) ▲1
4. Samsung Khan (5-4, +6) ▲1
5. Ongamenet Sparkyz (4-4, -1) ▲1
6. STX Soul (4-4, -2) ▼3
7. MBCgame HERO (4-4, -4) 〓
8. E-STRO (4-5, -4) ▼1
9. SK Telecom T1 (3-5, +0) 〓
10. KTF MagicNs (3-6, -4) ▲1
11. Pantech EX (2-6, -9) ▼1
References:
jkillashark's ODT Thread (qualifying for 2006 Shinhan Season 3)
Current Survivor League Schedule
Anyname's Proleague Thread