EPT2009 Lost Saga MBCGame Starleague Group Stage
![[image loading]](http://pigmotel.com/suite105/files/2007/03/eee.jpg)
"The reason for falling into a slump is careless practice. The way to get out of a slump is to practice. I started again from the beginning. I must return to the time when I played with my own style, and when I determined the victory through strategies. And the strategies are a product of practicing more than anyone else. The key to success is to persevere through practice."
The person that looks for a shortcut is not a true professional. There is no shortcut to becoming the greatest progamer. -- by Lim Yo Hwan
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Group A
Bisu v 
sAviOrmaGma v ZerOWow. This, again. Bisu vs sAviOr. The Maestro vs The Revolutionist. Do I need to say more? Well, I will because I'm writing an article -- but I'd hope you all know your history. Yes, these two have met before. Twice, in fact! The GOMTV MSL Starleague finals was the more meaningful of the two, certainly. Bisu introduced to the world a new style (omg, yes -- The Bisu Build!) that just dismantled sAviOr. Ma Jae Yoon's style of play required a very greedy opener which exploited the inability of Protoss and Terran to punish him effectively. His late game play was so impressive that the early surge in resources was often enough to overcome any shortcomings in control. Bisu, knowing this, opened with his own greedy build that used a precise 2-base timing attack with either dark templar or reavers and corsair. MJY was unable to adapt, as he lost quite convincingly 0-3 to Bisu in those finals. The other series he lost was the EVER 2007 OGN Starleague, but at this point Savior was already slumping quite a bit and unable to really match Bisu's intensity despite quite a fun game on Katrina.
![[image loading]](http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/6852/dtdropbisuzr1.png)
What can I even say that you all don't already know about Bisu?
The pressure is on Bisu now, an early bust-out and he goes months hearing it from his coaches, fans, and teammates. He lets belief creep back into the minds of the other players, and loses his aura of invincibility that gives a Bonjwa that ability to continue succeeding no matter the odds. I'm now even more hyped for this matchup.
*Pre 03-03-2007*
Overall Record: 116 wins - 62 losses (65.17%) Overall Record: 31 wins - 19 losses (62.00%)
ZvP Record: 36 wins - 15 losses (70.59%) PvZ Record: 14 wins - 7 losses (66.67%)
![[image loading]](http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/3222/bvsjd1.png)
Overall Record: 61 wins - 61 losses (50.00%) Overall Record: 120 wins - 74 losses (61.86%)
ZvP Record: 25 wins - 18 losses (58.14%) PvZ Record: 40 wins - 19 losses (67.80%)
*Post 03-03-2007*
Bisu was Kung-Fu Hwaiting!
That cat was fast as lightning.
In fact it was a little bit frightening,
But he did it with expert timing!
They were funky templar men, from funky templar town,
They were chopping drones up, they were chopping spires down.
It's an Ancient Aiur art, and everybody knew their part,
With a fake into a drop, kicking sAviOr from the top!
Bisu was Kung-Fu Hwaiting!
--credit to SonuvBob
+ Show Spoiler +
If you're really into Bisu...
--Courtesy Yubee
Group B
Kal v Luxury
Leta v HyukLuxury vs Kal is the opening match in Group B, but sadly I do not think it is going to be very exciting. Kal is 4-0 against Luxury in his lifetime, with two of the wins coming in the Proleague this season. Both of the wins were quite dominating, and Luxury has not shown his skills in the later half of this year. Unfortunately I do not expect Luxury to put up much of a fight here, which is sad because I do believe he has a lot of talent and the ability to play with Kal. However, in previous matches he could not match the control of Kal, especially in the larger battles where his army was efficiently dismantled.
![[image loading]](http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/9731/kalluxmv0.png)
The only game that Kal and Leta have played was a 25 minute bore-fest on Othello in Proleague. Oh, and that little match in last season's proleague where Leta shut down Kal on Blue Storm for a solid 33 minute TvP. This, my friends, was a game to watch. I believe Leta is one of the only players in this MSL to have the control that matches Kal. Leta is also on a burning hot streak in Proleague this season, racking up a 19-6 record so far. The match is sure to be intense, but I'm predicting Leta to be the winner of Group B, with Kal placing a close 2nd behind him.
Berserker v Mr. Potential -- Interesting match, really. I'm quite sure JangBi can handle this, not only because of the maps. JangBi did lose one match to Iris in the GOMTV Season 2 on Destination, but he later beat Leta in Proleague on Destination and he did end up winning that match in GOMTV. So, I'm fairly certain he's prepared enough to handle Iris at this stage. JangBi, as you all know, is one of the six dragons renown for his tactical ability. I'm really expecting a 2-1 here from JangBi.
The next matchup is Tempest v Fantasy. The only game these two have played occured very recently in Proleague. It really was quite strange as fantasy attempted to bunker rush in TvP -- then switched to fast vults with mines. Tempest did not have trouble at all dealing with this and the match ended shortly after when three dark templar arrived at fantasy's base. I do not anticipate fantasy attempting the same risky strategy, however; Tempest has been quite good PvT lately. I believe Tempest will take a game here, but fantasy has what it takes.
Iris against Tempest will be interesting certainly, just to see the two players battle it out for another chance against fantasy. I don't believe fantasy has much trouble beating Iris at all. He's simply much better technically than Iris and TvT is a very precise matchup. The two have already faced each other on Neo Harmony, and fantasy handled Iris relatively quickly (for a TvT) which leads me to believe Fantasy will escape this group with a second seed by the skin of his teeth. Jangbi did lose to fantasy, but it was on Chupung Ryeong which seems to be fantasy's most practiced map in my opinion.
![[image loading]](http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/1199/jangbisl0.png)
This group honestly bores me. I'm not entirely sure why Doctor.K and Horang2 can't come out of this group. The chances for free making a mistake and not qualifying here are surprisingly low given how badly he's been playing as of late. I wish one player from Group F could move to this group so they could all participate in Ro16. Honestly, its a shame this group and group G spoil an otherwise extremely exciting MSL.
Thumbs down Doctor.K and Kwanro. Go ahead Free and Horang2.
This group just became five hundred times more interesting. Why, do you ask? + Show Spoiler +
by.hero just completely dominated Bisu in the OSL
Oh. Yeah, this isn't a mistake. No one accidentally screwed up the seeding or anything. This is really a group in the RO32. One of the more interesting facets of this group that I found while doing a little research was that FBH holds by far the better win percentage against these players than any of the others. I also noted that Hwasin was surprisingly adept at beating Jaedong. Jaedong hasn't lost to Hwasin in the latter half of the year, including 3-0 in the 2008 Arena MSL. JD and Flash have quite the history already, with JD beating Flash in the MSL and losing to him in the OSL. He also lost to Flash in the first English GomTV tournament.
Let me tell you what I think about Jaedong:
![[image loading]](http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/1157/bracketll4.png)
Okay. Now that we settled that... another important note is that Flash is on a 10 game TvT win streak. Who did he last lose to? FireBatHero. Yep, Firebathero will certainly be the player that has the most to gain from this group. Flash and Jaedong will almost certainly be predicted to escape from the group, but I don't have a doubt in my mind that FBH has the necessary skill and mettle to make it happen.
Hwasin? Oh god.
Mind 2-0
![[image loading]](http://www.mymym.com/gfx/nada1.jpg)
Stork will take this group handily. That is the one thing I am sure of about this MSL. My main concern lies in the ability of Stork to handle the latter matches against players with more skill. I'm predicting a swift win here, especially with the new Carthage map playing perfectly into the hands of Stork. His intelligent play should be able to be abused there. The only map he will need to avoid is Neo Harmony, where close positions will become a very tough game for him against these terrans.
We know fOrGG can do this..
but can he play?! Well -- He certainly beat the snot out of Sea in the MSL he stole. Other than that though, fOrGG is 0-7 against Sea lifetime. Ouch.
I am very much hoping Sea does not decide to choke this group again, otherwise Part II of
+ Show Spoiler +
![[image loading]](http://i39.tinypic.com/2ch3w9t.png)
--Credit to Atrioc for the nice image. Apologies for not including this.
Current Records:
This is provided to save you time researching past history if you don't care to watch all of the games and only want to know the result. (Shame on you!)
![[image loading]](http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/1885/excelstatsta9.png)
[This document is meant to be read left to right, NOT top to bottom.]
[The names at the top are simply to identify the opponent.]
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