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Incruit Starleague Approaches
The change of format advancing players to the Round of 16 is still questionable, as it is far more advantages to the previous Starleaguers to reappear in the OSL to come. There are only four new players out of sixteen when compared to last season. Though players coming up from the Preliminaries made up two thirds of the players in the Round of 36, only one-third of those groups had a player from the offlines advancing.
There have been some great games, and there have been some pretty horrible games in the second half of this stage. I’ve recommend what I think are the three most exciting games from these groups. Though some maps seem to be a bit repetitive for certain matchups, that may change as players adapt to the initial strategies. Both the player and map quality for the upcoming Incruit OSL appear to be promising and I am looking forward to watching the next champion arise from our sixteen Starleaguers.
Group G
(VOD)
Light > 
Violet on Plasma(VOD)
Light > Violet on Return of the King(VOD)
JangBi > Light on Plasma(VOD)
JangBi < Light on Return of the King – Game to Watch!(VOD)
JangBi < Light on AndromedaDespite falling behind early from an unsuccessful proxy, twice, Violet hung on to the first game for quite a while with some very impressive play. Though his play was impressive, it was not enough to come back from such a large deficit. As resources began to thin, Light was able to push his army in for the victory. Light took the second game as well, where Violet’s play was less inspiring.
Jangbi had to be the heavy favorite in the second match, as Light is not known for his TvP play while Terrans are among Jangbi’s favorite breakfast foods. Carriers come out on Plasma to take the victory in game one, which I foresee as becoming a common strategy for PvT on this map. But breakfast was over and Light was ready for some dining and dashing as he served up the cheese in the second and third games. Early aggression in both games put Jangbi at large disadvantages which led to fairly easy victories and an OSL slot for Light. The second game of this series was a breath of fresh air, well worth taking a watch if you haven’t, and very well played by Light.
Group H
(VOD)
Justin < han on Plasma(VOD)
Justin > han on Return of the King(VOD)
Justin < han on Andromeda(VOD)
Rock > han on Plasma(VOD)
Rock < han on Return of the King(VOD)
Rock > han on Andromeda – Game to Watch!Justin claims that Plasma is favorable toward Protoss, despite stats and other progamers declaring otherwise. Maybe it’s just because he isn’t top tier. Han takes the first series in three games determined largely by blunders of poor army control and timing. Justin made significantly more blunders though, with emphasis on games one and three, handing the match victory to Han.
In the games between Han and Rock, you can watch as one player loses his Reavers, and the other player doesn’t and goes on to shortly thereafter win that game. The new format puts Han into game six for the night, while his opponent, Rock, is still comfortably going into his third game. In an intense back-and-forth third game, advantages routinely switch from one player to the other. Rock, perhaps with experience, perhaps with less fatigue, or perhaps with the uncanny ability to somehow always make it to the OSL, is able to pull out ahead in the end and grab his OSL spot. Han makes quite a splash in his debut, almost making it to the big leagues; a player to watch in seasons to come.
Group I
(VOD)
Tester < Dongrae on Plasma(VOD)
Tester > Dongrae on Return of the King(VOD)
Tester < Dongrae on Andromeda(VOD)
Stork > Dongrae on Plasma(VOD)
Stork > Dongrae on Return of the KingTester and Dongrae battle it out first for the right to play against Stork, the real favorite to advance from these three players. In three sloppy games, Dongrae comes out on top. After watching his play in those games, Dongrae would really have to step up his play for the incoming games against Stork.
However, he doesn’t manage to do that. Stork rolls over Dongrae, as is expected from this group. He stomps on Dongrae, without even needing to go to Carriers for the win on Plasma. Though Stork easily could have had he wanted to, he was just that much ahead in economy. The second game is another sad story where Carriers are arriving before an armory is even made. Stork is just in a class above the other two players from this group. He grabs the spot for the OSL, finally making an appearance in both of the individual leagues after not having done so for several seasons.
Group J
(VOD)
go.go < BestGod on Plasma(VOD)
go.go < BestGod on Return of the King(VOD)
GGPlay > BestGod on Plasma(VOD)
GGPlay > BestGod on Return of the KingThis is another group where two lesser players duke it out for a chance to play against a star player. This time it’s Go.go and BestGod, perhaps a cut above our two previous lesser. GGPlay will be the giant ready to take down whoever advances between the two of them. An early proxy attempt from BestGod is thwarted, but it doesn’t stop him from trying it somewhere else with a little more success. The aggression allows for enough of a lead to eventually bring Carriers into the mix and win. BestGod wins the second game as well.
GGPlay keeps the pressure going on Plasma. His play is a little sloppy, but his persistence makes up for it. ZvP on Plasma doesn’t appear to be a promising matchup, but GGPlay manages to slowly turn the game to his advantage and eventually a victory powered by and Ultra-Lurker-Ling combo. In his second game more Ultalisks and Zerglings demolish BestGod and GGPlay returns once more to the OSL.
Group K
(VOD)
SoO < fantasy on Plasma(VOD)
SoO > fantasy on Return of the King(VOD)
SoO < fantasy on Andromeda(VOD)
NaDa < fantasy on Plasma(VOD)
NaDa > fantasy on Return of the King – Game to Watch!(VOD)
NaDa < fantasy on AndromedaFantasy and Soo square off to face the next titan: Nada. In the first game on Plasma, Fantasy gains a huge advantage on expansions which give him enough of an economy to fight off the Carrier that were sure to arrive. Fantasy takes game one, but Soo forces it to a third game with a recall and frontal assault. Fantasy plays safe in the third game, believing he is the better player. He win with superior play and fight Nada for an OSL spot.
Nada needs to qualify to get a shot at staying one OSL title ahead of July. Fantasy has other thoughts though, as his build on Plasma comes in a bit more quickly that Nada’s and he takes game one. It isn’t so easy to roll over a legend though and nada fight back in the second game, pulling out a victory in an absolutely amazing game. Fantasy’s TvT is quite stellar as he goes into the third game, pressing a unit advantage to a victory and a place in the Starleague.
Group L
(VOD)
Midas > HerO on Plasma(VOD)
Midas > HerO on Return of the King(VOD)
YellOw[ArnC] < Midas on Plasma(VOD)
YellOw[ArnC] < Midas on Return of the KingThe final spot goes to one of these three players. Midas has finally made it past the qualifiers. After a couple uninspiring seasons he is ready to show that he can handle the big leagues once more. Hero is the first progamer in his way as Midas punishes him for a greedy build by going 2Fac on Plasma. Midas once again displays superior games sense and takes the second game as well.
Yellow[arnc] is the next barrier to Midas’ return. Valkyries and Goliaths fight against the Zerg air with efficiency. His mech build is plagued a bunch, but a larger army coupled with solid defense allows Midas to starve out Yellow[imposter], as he goes to the next game looking for his fourth win in a row for the night. He pulls off the sweep with relative ease and grabs the last of the OSL spots.
Our sixteen Starleaguers have been determined and are as follows:
From EVER OSL
July (STX SouL)BeSt[HyO] (SK Telecom T1)Luxury (OnGameNet SPARKYZ)BackHo (Lecaf Oz)From Round of 36
Sea[Shield] (MBCGame HERO)By.Flash (KTF MagicNs)Much[gm] (CJ Entus)Thezerg (MBCGame HERO)Mind (WeMade FOX)Bisu (SK Telecom T1)Light (MBCGame HERO)Rock (WeMade FOX)Stork (Samsung KHAN)GGPlay (CJ Entus)fantasy (SK Telecom T1)Midas (SK Telecom T1)Though the new maps are kind of stale as far as the game variety they have been producing they mostly seem balanced stat-wise, though it is still early to determine. Protoss seems like it might be at a slight overall disadvantage with the map pool. We will have to see which maps will be used for the remainder of the tournament. The sats thus far are as follows:
Plasma
TvZ: 3-1 (75%)
ZvP: 2-2 (50%)
PvT: 6-7 (46.2%)
Return of the King
TvZ: 2-2 (50%)
ZvP: 4-0 (100%)
PvT: 6-7 (46.2%)
Andromeda (Incruit OSL stats only)
TvZ: 1-0 (100%)
ZvP: 2-0 (100%)
PvT: 2-4 (33.3%)
With a solid player lineup, The Incruit OSL Round of Sixteen is due up next and is sure to produce some exciting matches.
Check out the Results and Standings thread, maintained by GrandInquisitor
-semioldguy
