EPT+ Show Spoiler +
Savior > Pusan
Silver > Much
Bisu > Canata
Xellos > Free
The last day of the MSL groupstages is upon us! In two hours, the eight players will battle for the four remaining spots.
The matchups are:
Savior (Z, CJ) vs Pusan (P, MBCgame) on Reverse Temple
Silver (Z, Pantech) vs Much (P, CJ) on Blitz X
Bisu (P, MBCgame) vs Canata (T, SKT) on Longinus 2
Free (P, Hanbit) vs Xellos (T, CJ) on Desert Fox
Time to look back on what happened so far.
The MSL started off with a splash. Right in the first game, the invincible and huge favourite, Savior, was taken down by a rookie, Hwasin from STX Soul. It wasn't the only surprise that day either. In the next game, Pusan reemerged back onto the pro scene with a convincing defeat of Lecaf ace Jaedong. In Group B, Silver showed why he didn't deserve to be in last season's finals by losing horribly to Justin, and Much completed Zerg's misery by beating Aqua with 2 gate.
The week after wasn't quite as exciting, but good nonetheless. Ra vs Bisu and Jju vs Light were disappointing (but at least Ra won and Jju lost), but Canata's win over TvT specialist Iris was impressive, and Xellos against Free was an extremely cool game. Bunker rush vs 14 Nexus into 7 goons against one tank and a few mines at Xellos' base into Free very nearly breaking Xellos' contain and Xellos barely winning. That sounds strange? It was, but a lot of fun.
The losers' games the week after perfectly displayed that ZvZ can be fun, but only at the very highest levels. Savior vs Jaedong was an awesome game, including mass offensive sunken/spore, while Silver's win over Aqua was stupid and boring. It's a real pity Jaedong's out already, he played a lot better than his 0-2 might appear. In the other two games, Bisu kicked out a horribly playing Iris while not looking too sharp himself, and Free beat Jju.
A week ago, in the winners' matches, Hwasin beat Pusan (or should we say Desert Fox beat Pusan? -_-), Justin gayed his way to victory against Much, Ra almost managed to lose after a huge lead, and Light surprisingly beat Xellos in his weakest matchup.
We are left with four matches to determine who will join Hwasin, Justin, Ra , and Light in round 2.
Savior (Z, CJ) vs Pusan (P, MBCgame) on Reverse Temple
Definitely the most interesting of today's matches. Savior has looking more beatable than usual lately, losing against Midas and Hwasin. Still, that does not mean much, and his win against Jaedong showed he's still at top form.
Pusan on the other hand shouldn't be underestimated. He's on a streak lately, beating GGPlay and Anytime in Proleague and Jaedong in MSL. His loss last week doesn't count much seeing as it was on Desert Fox, one or two of his decisions might've been off, but he played an alright game.
The fact that it is on Reverse Lost Temple makes the game even more interesting. Other than on many current maps, Much has impressively demonstrated that 2 gate is very viable on here. Pusan doesn't seem to be much of a 2 gate player, but he's shown before that he likes to mix up strategies.
My pick: Savior. Doesn't need an explanation, he's Savior.
Silver (Z, Pantech) vs Much (P, CJ) on Blitz X
Last season's fluke finalist against the in my opinion best Protoss rookie, this is going to be another tough one.
While Much has shown the power of his 2 gate several times, I can't remember him playing a single straight up PvZ game, and he'll have no option but to FE on Blitz.
On the other hand, has Silver ever shown us he can play straight up? No, all he does are allins, and I don't think those will work against Much.
My Pick: Much. He may be untested in long PvZs, but I'm not too worried, he's such a brilliant player overall. Die Silver.
Bisu (P, MBCgame) vs Canata (T, SKT) on Longinus 2
Another tough one to predict. Bisu's play hasn't convinced me at all lately, but he's 4-2 for December which isn't bad at all.
Canata on the other hand only played three games in December, two losses, against Ra and Saint, and his win against Iris.
That does not look too good, but I have faith in Canata. His win against Iris was very impressive, and right now I think he's the superior player. If he can survive early game, I give him good chances (don't 1 fac CC please, and don't be over-aggressive with your FD).
Free (P, Hanbit) vs Xellos (T, CJ) on Desert Fox
It's Desert Fox. Xellos will win. Yay.
Poll: Which game are you looking forward to the most?
(Vote): Maestro vs Buffalo
(Vote): Fluke vs Cool
(Vote): Overrated vs Nerves
(Vote): Overrated2 vs Sexy
LOL JUSTin.. hmm..nice nickname -__ -
