EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/pachi/banner/OSL_080730.png)
Thanks to GrandInquisitor and his R&S thread for the Incruit OSL.
With the "ODT" (aka OSL ro32) in the history books, we are left with what is undoubtedly one of the strongest OSL ro16 lineups ever to grace the scene. With the possible exception of perhaps 1 or 2 players, every single one of these survivors are stalwarts who will present a still challenge to any competitor. We have 6 Terrans, 4 Zergs, and 6 Protosses. That's as good a racial distribution as we could realistically hope for.
As for the maps, we have a good mix of styles available with the fourth map still a mystery. Plasma has shown us a broad spectrum of possible openings, from greedy triple command builds all the way to aggressive one base bulids. Proxy strategies involving a range of timings have been seen as well. While the map has gravitated towards the greedy builds for most players, there is a real opportunity here for creativity here.
Return of the King is what we may call a "macro map with a twist". It's not as much of a pure macro map as Andromeda, offering a little more space for ingenuity and slighthandedness. And there's Andromeda. We've really seen all there is to see here - the map should test the basic mechanical strengths of the player rather than the unexpected. While the games tend to be rather prerehearsed in nature, it nonetheless "completes the package" so to speak for this map pool.
And lastly, let's (p)review the 16 players vying for the most coveted title in the individual leagues.
Seeded Players from the Ever 2008 OSL
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/117.jpg)
1. (Z)July (STX SouL)The defending champion, July showed us his namesake last season in capturing the title in dramatic fashion. In recent years we've seen him back up towards the field in all facets of the game, but during the finals he showed us that he's still one of the very best when it comes to small scale unit management and executing from the sense of the game.
He definitely had the draw favor him last season by never facing a single Terran, and was hence never truly challenged in his weakest area - macro and economy management. This season we have one of the strongest Terran lineups imagineable, and it will take a rather bold person to place his money on July as the definitive favorite to win the event.
We'll have to wait and see what the OSL curse has in store for The God of War.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/16.jpg)
2. (P)BeSt[HyO] (SK Telecom T1)If Best had Bisu's PvZ, he may very well be the player with the title "Best player in the world". Known unofficially as a Pusan 2.0, Best is the epitome of PvP and PvT macro prowess. But on the other hand it was this greedy tendency that was so severely exploited by July during the last OSL finals.
Best's history so far suggests something similar to Stork or Midas - playing within his own world instead of perhaps "playing to the occasion". This trio of players has historically played a straight up game only to be crushed by the opponent who brought a superior set of prepared builds to the stage.
Whether Best has overcome the trauma of his 0-3 sweep, and whether he can now begin to "play to the occasion" should begin to be seen here, in this Starleage.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/190.jpg)
Well, we know enough about Luxury that not much interesting can really be said about him at this point. One of the best ZvZ's around along with his brother (Yarnc), Jaedong, and a few select others, along with one of the best ZvT's that usually follows the lineage of the Savior-Jaedong management + muta style, with imagination for envisioning cuter builds such as the one he showed against Flash on Troy.
While the above two matchups are fairly well documented, Luxury's ZvP should be on a cusp of reinvention. To put it bluntly, Luxury's ZvP has been terrible - but Jaedong's ZvP was absolutely miserable just 12 months ago. Luxury has a similar set of tools at his disposal - nearly as good control on his mutas, basically the same level of economy management, comparable hive tech control, and perhaps a bit lower grade on the ling control. In theory Luxury should be able to recreate the ZvP style that has brought Jaedong to the peak of his dominance. The first signs of this was shown in his game against Bisu during the Proleague Playoffs, showing great management instead of the normal unsuccessful hydra break attempts such as the ones he showed in the OSL semifinals.
It is truly a shame though that the OGN team is scarce on Protoss players with whom Luxury can sharpen his play against; he has the goods to really become dominant in all three matchups, instead of being a 2/3 player of the Boxer tradition.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/221.jpg)
3/4. (P)BackHo (Lecaf Oz)Everyone's favorite unfavorite player, Backho. Well no matter how much everyone of us other than the diehard Lecaf fans (author is guilty as charged) and a certain subatomic particle ID person hate Backho with a passion, certain traits of his gameplay are undeniable. His macro is, at worst, quite good and actually rather consistent - certainly better than his Lecaf counterpart and elder, Anytime, who is the epitome of inconsistency and faulty macro. His timing is... let's just say Backho probably leaves his watch in the Lecaf house when he goes to matches - oh and let's not forget that he has the most nonsensical (i.e. terrible) unit choice decisions ever known to man (refer to exhibit A, B, C... PvZ games no dragoon - only dragoon, etc).
But somehow he's found a way to win. I've hated the Lecaf coach insisting on playing Backho in every Proleague playoff match possible, but now I guess I have to bit emy nails on this after he's somehow found ways to win.
In any case, he's fun to watch, if only for his absolute nonsense in decision making - and then somehow making to work - almost. If you've ever thought "progaming is boring b/c it's so predictable now, everyone is 'perfect' and I miss the days when there were mistakes being made that made the game more compelling," then this is the guy you need to root for.
Boolean Protoss fighting~~ ??.
From OSL Round 1
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/108.jpg)
(T)Sea[Shield] (MBCGame HERO)Much to our delight, the foreigner's favorite progamer, Sea[Shield], has made his way back into the Starleague. He has no weaknesses in any matchup, with a particular strength in "intelligence" in his gameplay - a facet that shines bright in his elegant TvT. Of course, Sea has thus far been unreliable in individual leagues. Whether it be beacuse of the absence of his teammates' comfort or beacuse of his predictable tendencies in build orders, we can't really tell - maybe he was just unlucky.
Well TL.net gave him a good peptalk in Paris, and if his skills havent diminished too much from bashing on ToT members we can claim all credit for his success this season whooo. Here's to having Sea bust out his TL.net shirt live on OnGameNet this season.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/424.jpg)
(T)By.Flash (KTF MagicNs)Flash hasn't been doing too hot lately, being dismantled by two Lecaf players - ForGG and Jaedong - on successive occasions. The defeat against Jaedong had to have been particularly painful, having stated that he only practiced for the GOM finals and basically ignored the WCG altogether.
He absolutely dismantled Effort, who in turn had convincingly defeated none other than Kal. There is enough evidence to suggest that Flash is in-form, but we won't know for sure how he stacks up to the competition until he faces his first S-Class opponent during this league. We know what to expect from Flash, as well as what we are worried about. Whether he will deliver, whether he will falter, is something we can only wait and see.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/142.jpg)
(P)Much[gm] (CJ Entus)What can we expect from Much this season? It's actually quite hard to tell other than one thing - that he will destroy any and every Terran he faces. He completely embarassed FBH and made him cry, killed ForGG who has basically the strongest TvP in the world, and topped it off by bringing Flash to his knees.
His PvP, prior to losing to Stork during WCG, was quite formidable. However he's going to be about 50/50 against the very best PvP players at best, and his PvZ, while consistent and strong, again shouldn't expect better than 50/50 from the very best Zergs. With this Starleague having an unusually even racial distribution, Much will most likely have the odds against him. Even though the ZvP lineup of zergs this season is below the norm, the mere existence of ROTK (4-0 ZvP) will make things that much harder, even with Andromeda and Plasma reaver sair homosexuality to help him out. Much should advance to the ro8 or ro4, upon which he should be expected to falter to another S-Class player... unless it's a Terran!
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/122.jpg)
As a 2v2 player from MBCgame, I'm sure most of us didn't expect him to make it into the ro16. After all, Zergbong played absoultey godawful despite being a stud in 2v2. But his 2-0 victory over Hwasin (that's right, ffs he beat Hwasin!) should give us faith in his singles play, at least enough to give us a decent showing - even if he cannot get out of the ro16. Thezerg's performance is going to depend largely on the draw he gets in his group, along with the maps he is placed on. As one of the weakest players in the field, he will be particularly stressed by the relatively unfavorable maps for zerg.
But it's these darkhorse players that sometimes give us the most worthy matches to watch. Thezerg surely won't be able to go toe to toe with the very best playing straight up cookie cutter, so it'll be really interesting to see what he comes up with to get past his opponent each week.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/146.jpg)
(T)Mind (WeMade FOX)Ever since winning the MSL in dramatic fashion over Bisu, Mind really hasn't been on the radar screen much. He's been solid in Proleague but perhaps unspectacular, and hasn't really shown himslef much in the individual leagues. In a world of "what have you done for me lately," Mind really hasnt' given us much to obsess over him. While he certainly cannot be discounted in any match, as a part of such a strong Starleague lineup he really doesn't stand out of the pack.
His builds are a work of art when he really does put his mind (ha ha ha...) to it, so I really do hope he finds his magic again.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/125.jpg)
(P)Bisu[Shield] (SK Telecom T1)Could this be the triumphant return of Bisu? He defeated Iris, who in turn had gone past a fairly in-form Pusan, to reach the ro16. Bisu's achilles heel has always been PvT, and with a FLAWLESS Terran lineup this season, he's going to need whatever he can get in PvT. He's got all the Terran practice he needs inside the SKT1 house, but there's going to be some practice tensions with so many T1 players in the Starleague.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/109.jpg)
(T)Light (MBCGame HERO) (*)I wonder if there's been anyone as wishywashy and up and down as Light in recent years. He was so good already at the 2006 stage, and has been in a virtual standstill in winning a few games here and there, then losing a few games here and there: never really coming up on top when it mattered the most. It's a bad sign when the games that come to mind first are his losses in Proleague playoffs.
With a surplus of great PvT and especially TvT players in the field, it is going to be difficult for Light to make it past the ro8 even if he escapes from his ro16 group. If he can get lucky in avoiding Terran players, he'll have a good chance, having beaten two strong PvT'ers in Violet and Jangbi to make it this far in the first place.
![[image loading]](http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/6788/rockcq9.gif)
The Starleague would be nothing without a little Nal_Rock to spice things up. Hopefully he shows us some epic fail, some decent ceremonies, and gives us a pinch of frustration as he once again defeats one of the favorites.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/59.jpg)
(P)Stork[gm] (Samsung KHAN)Very strong PvT. Very strong PvP. Suspect, out of date PvZ. That is the definition of Stork as a player. The focal point of Stork's Starleague journey will not be how he plays or who he beats. It will be how hard he chokes when he gets past the group stage. Expect the same tired old safe openings from Stork throughout his Starleage March.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/167.jpg)
Aside from Casy, has anyone fallen off harder, deeper, and faster than GGPlay post-OSL triumph? Once the definition of ZvT and ZvZ prowess, his past dominance is nowhere to be found. While the old faithfuls will be supporting him in full-force, the rest of the casual onlookers won't be expecting him to get too far in such a stacked field.
He hasn't shown us too much for us to have much faith in him, and it'll be up to him to prove us wrong this season. Well what can you say. A Starleague isn't quite right without that totally out of form oldschooler that somehow goes far (Reach anyone?). Let's hope GGPlay can recapture the magic that made him one of the most feared players around.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/6.jpg)
(T)by.fantasy (SK Telecom T1) (*) (**)Fantasy has gone from "I only know how to macro" 2007-Fantasy to "Flawless" in a real hurry. It seems like only yesterday when he was being played exclusively on macro-style maps like Tau Cross or Monty Hall, and now he comes out and shows us Micro, Macro, rush build orders: the whole package.
With Boxer Jr. Looks along with the overall balance and strength of Midas, Fantasy is not going away from your radar screen any time soon. If you're going to follow one player this season (aside from Sea), make it this guy.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/4.jpg)
(T)Midas (SK Telecom T1) Will he be the emo Terran that couldn't close out a series to save his life, or the Baby Bear that rolled opponents left and right? He's been T1's best player for quite some time now, holding the fort as his contemporaries retired or fell horribly out of form.
It had to have been heartbreaking for him to not play a single match against OGN, and bite his nails as T1 dropped out of the playoffs. It's hard to find any holes in Midas' game throught his three matchups, and the biggest opponent between him and the title will undoubtedly be his own psyche.
Two additional points of emphasis from the ro32
1. Keep an eye out for Effort in the coming Proleague matches. He's one of hte few "new" zergs who have shown considerable ability and style, as well as poise on the stage. With the Proleague going to the 7-man match system next season, he's bound to gain more playing time - and that should be a real treat for us fans.
2. Tester blows as usual.
This should be a GREAT Starleague!
edits:
added (Yarnc) for clarification.
changed Much's section slightly according to stastical errors pointed out to me by Barbarne.
What a challenge for July.
