Table of Contents
Week 4 Review
It's the final countdown
A Soul is Saved
STX qualifies for playoffs
How they lost
Upsets of the week
Games of the Week
sOs vs Parting
Flying vs Best
Classic vs Effort
Postmortem Analysis
Team 8
SK Planet Proleague table and results at Liquipedia
Week 4 Review
By: Wunder
Another week has come and gone, and along with it, another team secures its spot in the Playoffs. Sadly, Major and EG-TL, while performing admirably, lost their matches - with Major losing his debut Proleague match to Flash’s proxy marauders, and EG-TL having their streak broken in a close ace match vs Samsung KHAN. We also take a look at the tragic situation of Team 8 and their slow decline into obsolescence.
Round 6 Week 4 Matches
June 22
STX Soul vs Woongjin Stars
Trap <Bel'Shir Vestige> Soulkey
Dear <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> free
Classic <Neo Planet S> sOs
INnoVation <Akilon Wastes> Flying
Mini <Naro Station> Aria
hyvaa <New Fighting Spirit> BrAvO
Ace:<Korhal Floating Island>
Woongjin Stars wins 4-0!
CJ Entus vs SK Telecom
Bunny <Whirlwind> Bisu
Hydra <Neo Planet S> Rain
herO <Bel'Shir Vestige> PartinG
Trust <Naro Station> FanTaSy
EffOrt <New Fighting Spirit> s2
Bong <Akilon Wastes> BeSt
Ace:<Newkirk Redevelopment Precint>
SK Telecom T1 wins 4-2!
Trap <Bel'Shir Vestige> Soulkey
Dear <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> free
Classic <Neo Planet S> sOs
INnoVation <Akilon Wastes> Flying
Ace:
Woongjin Stars wins 4-0!
CJ Entus vs SK Telecom
Bunny <Whirlwind> Bisu
Hydra <Neo Planet S> Rain
herO <Bel'Shir Vestige> PartinG
Trust <Naro Station> FanTaSy
EffOrt <New Fighting Spirit> s2
Bong <Akilon Wastes> BeSt
Ace:
SK Telecom T1 wins 4-2!
June 23
EG-TL vs Samsung KHAN
HerO <Whirlwind> TurN
aLive <Neo Planet S> RorO
Zenio <Bel'Shir Vestige> Kop
Oz <Naro Station> Shine
Revival <New Fighting Spirit> Reality
JYP <Akilon Wastes> JangBi
Ace: Jaedong <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> JangBi
Samsung KHAN wins 4-3!
KT Rolster vs Team 8
Stats <New Fighting Spirit> Terminator
Action <Naro Station> Argo
Crazy <Korhal Floating Island> TY
Flash <Neo Planet S> MajOr
Zest <Bel'Shir Vestige> Savage
hitmaN <Whirlwind> Cure
Ace:<Akilon Wastes>
KT Rolster wins 4-2!
HerO <Whirlwind> TurN
aLive <Neo Planet S> RorO
Zenio <Bel'Shir Vestige> Kop
Oz <Naro Station> Shine
Revival <New Fighting Spirit> Reality
JYP <Akilon Wastes> JangBi
Ace: Jaedong <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> JangBi
Samsung KHAN wins 4-3!
KT Rolster vs Team 8
Stats <New Fighting Spirit> Terminator
Action <Naro Station> Argo
Crazy <Korhal Floating Island> TY
Flash <Neo Planet S> MajOr
Zest <Bel'Shir Vestige> Savage
hitmaN <Whirlwind> Cure
Ace:
KT Rolster wins 4-2!
June 24
STX Soul vs CJ Entus
Mini <Neo Planet S> Hydra
INnoVation <New Fighting Spirit> herO
Trap <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Bunny
Classic <Whirlwind> EffOrt
Dear <Akilon Wastes> Trust
hyvaa <Korhal Floating Island> Bong
Ace: <Naro Station>
STX Soul wins 4-1!
Woongjin Stars vs SK Telecom T1
Light <Korhal Floating Island> FanTaSy
BrAvO <Bel'Shir Vestige> Bisu
sOs <Akilon Wastes> PartinG
Flying <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> BeSt
Soulkey <Whirlwind> Rain
free <Naro Station> s2
Ace: <Neo Planet S>
Woongjin Stars wins 4-1!
Mini <Neo Planet S> Hydra
INnoVation <New Fighting Spirit> herO
Trap <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Bunny
Classic <Whirlwind> EffOrt
Dear <Akilon Wastes> Trust
Ace:
STX Soul wins 4-1!
Woongjin Stars vs SK Telecom T1
Light <Korhal Floating Island> FanTaSy
BrAvO <Bel'Shir Vestige> Bisu
sOs <Akilon Wastes> PartinG
Flying <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> BeSt
Soulkey <Whirlwind> Rain
Ace:
Woongjin Stars wins 4-1!
June 25
EG-TL vs KT Rolster
JYP <Bel'Shir Vestige> Stats
HerO <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Flash
aLive <Neo Planet S> Zest
Oz <Akilon Wastes> Crazy
Revival <Naro Station> hitmaN
Jaedong <New Fighting Spirit> MyuNgSiK
Ace: <Korhal Floating Island>
KT Rolster wins 4-0!
JYP <Bel'Shir Vestige> Stats
HerO <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> Flash
aLive <Neo Planet S> Zest
Oz <Akilon Wastes> Crazy
Ace:
KT Rolster wins 4-0!
Standings
A Soul is Saved
With two chances this week, STX Soul had a good shot of guaranteeing themselves a playoff spot. However, a rocky start against Woongjin Stars threw a wrench into their plans as they lost 4-0. With Soulkey kicking it off, Trap didn’t stand much of a chance against the S-class Zerg and crumbled. Dear and Classic both tried their hand at halting the advance of Stars, but free and sOs continued marching on. Flying hammered in the nail in the coffin with a brilliant traditional blink stalker all-in that was amplified by a warp prism filled with sentries. No number of bunkers at Innovation’s natural would stop the relentless assault of Flying as he blinked into the main and force fielded the Terran’s ramp. With one match down, STX Soul looked towards their second match, as going 0-2 would place them in a dicey situation.Up against CJ, things didn’t start off too well, with Mini losing the first game to Hydra. However in one of the most crucial matches, Innovation managed to dismantle CJ’s Protoss ace, herO, and it was a clean sweep from there on out. CJ’s rookies Bunny and Trust lost their games against the STX Protoss, while EffOrt looked helpless against Classic. With that win in the bag, STX claimed the third seat in the playoffs, and while they can still be unseated by SKT1, they are guaranteed fourth at the very least.
How They Lost
A quick rundown on how some favorites and fan favorites lost their games this week:- Flying > INnoVation: Unscouted two-base blink stalker all-in, combined with a sentry drop to lock down the natural ramp
- JangBi > Jaedong: Macro game where one warp prism drop does wayyyyyy too much damage
- Flash > MajOr: Proxy marauders crush Major's dreams
- Flash > HerO: HerO trying to be too cute with the new warp prism
- Soulkey > Rain: 10 pool > blind nexus first
Games of the Week
by kollin
Classic <Whirlwind> EffOrt - VOD
If you've ever wanted to see a game with some of the most hated units in StarCraft II right now, then this is the game for you! That's right, we've got void rays, swarm hosts, colossi, swarm hosts, roaches, swarm hosts and even more swarm hosts! Hey, at least there aren't any hellbats. On a more serious note, this was one of those games that come along every once in a while and end up in crazy, low econ situations after both players have almost-killed-each-other-but-not-quite-succeeded. Classic's expansion timings for the first 25 mins were insanely quick, as he had five bases up by that time and found himself significantly ahead of Effort (At one point, we even saw eight-base Protoss). The CJ Zerg used a variety of interesting techniques to catch up, including nydus worms (yay!). While at one point Classic looked like he would lose, as swarm hosts battered down his army and his production facilities, some heroic DT's saved the day and forced Effort back to roach hydra tech after killing off all mining bases and most of the tech. Classic still had his gateways and double robo, and crushed through Effort's army easily and won the 45 min slugfest.
Cross-map swarm host nydus
sOs <Akilon Wastes> PartinG - VOD
Parting looked outclassed and outplayed by sOs at every turn in this game, as he struggled to hold off repeated pressure at the front while zealots were dropped in his main. Eventually the pressure was too much and Parting's main nexus fell to a large zealot hit squad that was warped in. sOs held off the following counterattack while establishing a fourth, and then smashed into Parting's natural with a colossus archon army to end the game.
Why you should zealot drop
Flying <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> BeSt - VOD
PvP is often fairly low economy, with both players often struggling to get their naturals up even as late as the 13 or 14 minute mark. This game was an exemplary example of that, as Flying's proxy stargate gateway all in locked both players in a stalemate, until Best eventually broke out after harassing Flying's worker line. Both players kept up the high octane aggression through out the map, and as the dust cleared Flying found himself with a large enough army advantage to steamroll through Best's defenses and take the game.
Archons: The new colossi of PvP
If you've ever wanted to see a game with some of the most hated units in StarCraft II right now, then this is the game for you! That's right, we've got void rays, swarm hosts, colossi, swarm hosts, roaches, swarm hosts and even more swarm hosts! Hey, at least there aren't any hellbats. On a more serious note, this was one of those games that come along every once in a while and end up in crazy, low econ situations after both players have almost-killed-each-other-but-not-quite-succeeded. Classic's expansion timings for the first 25 mins were insanely quick, as he had five bases up by that time and found himself significantly ahead of Effort (At one point, we even saw eight-base Protoss). The CJ Zerg used a variety of interesting techniques to catch up, including nydus worms (yay!). While at one point Classic looked like he would lose, as swarm hosts battered down his army and his production facilities, some heroic DT's saved the day and forced Effort back to roach hydra tech after killing off all mining bases and most of the tech. Classic still had his gateways and double robo, and crushed through Effort's army easily and won the 45 min slugfest.
Cross-map swarm host nydus
sOs <Akilon Wastes> PartinG - VOD
Parting looked outclassed and outplayed by sOs at every turn in this game, as he struggled to hold off repeated pressure at the front while zealots were dropped in his main. Eventually the pressure was too much and Parting's main nexus fell to a large zealot hit squad that was warped in. sOs held off the following counterattack while establishing a fourth, and then smashed into Parting's natural with a colossus archon army to end the game.
Why you should zealot drop
Flying <Newkirk Redevelopment Precint> BeSt - VOD
PvP is often fairly low economy, with both players often struggling to get their naturals up even as late as the 13 or 14 minute mark. This game was an exemplary example of that, as Flying's proxy stargate gateway all in locked both players in a stalemate, until Best eventually broke out after harassing Flying's worker line. Both players kept up the high octane aggression through out the map, and as the dust cleared Flying found himself with a large enough army advantage to steamroll through Best's defenses and take the game.
Archons: The new colossi of PvP
Postmortem Analysis: Team 8
by Wunder
Probably the most tragic case study, Team 8 was almost set up to be a failure from the get go. With their arguably best and most popular player, Jaedong, taken from them near the start of the actual season, Team 8 did not have the greatest of starts. Add to the fact that their players came from a multitude of teams that had closed their doors, and you can imagine the kind of morale in the team house. Regardless, in most of their videos and interviews, it is clear that Team 8 has bonded over their somewhat awkward situation and have worked together to try and make the most of what they have.
Biggest Strength: The Strongest Captain in Proleague
Out of the 7 captains in the Kespa teams, Argo is by far the best performing captain. If we take a look at some of the other teams, it will soon be evident that many other captains didn’t make as smooth of a transition to Starcraft 2 as Argo did. Calm, Leta and Hoejja have barely seen the light of day in Proleague and haven’t made a single Heart of the Swarm appearance, with Leta even getting removed from the roster. With Light from Woongjin Stars coming in at a distant second, Argo has done more for his team as a player than all the captains combined.
Biggest Weakness: Zergs
Throughout the regular season, almost every player in Team 8 took turns carrying their team to victory -
Cure(18-25) in round 1, Argo(23-24) in rounds 2 and 4, Terminator(16-18) in round 3 and TY(26-25) in round 5. One glaring weakness in their composition though, is their Zergs. While TRUE(6-10), Savage(8-17) and Check(2-8) have all grabbed a few clutch wins occasionally, none of them have had a breakout performance, and on more than one occasion have played subpar, dragging their team down. Looking forward, Team 8 will have to seriously assess their Zerg players and how they performed throughout the season, because if they don’t start pulling their weight, they could easily have a repeat result.
Greatest Moment: Round 2, Week 2
The first all-kill round was favorable to Team 8, with killers like Cure, Argo and Ty all performing reasonably well. With wins over Samsung, Woongjin, KT and SKT, their greatest moment came in the second week, where they not only beat KT and SKT in the same week, but Cure secured a 3-kill against KT, knocking out Flash in the process, and Argo grabbed a 3-kill on SKT when the chips were down, defeating Fantasy, Rain and soO in quick succession. Unfortunately their celebration wouldn’t last long, as just the week afterwards Innovation stepped into the arena and all-killed them.
Saddest Moment: Ty’s performance goes unnoticed in round 5
Possibly one of the saddest moments in Proleague, Ty’s hard work throughout the second all-kill round went unnoticed and to a large extent, didn’t have any impact in Team 8’s standings. While Innovation and Flash were in the spotlight, racking up all-kills and doing well in WCS Korea, Ty was quietly trying his hardest to keep Team 8 in the game. Sure, Flash had a 15-2 record for that round, but Ty was second place with a 14-6 record, and he was rewarded with an overall 2-5 match score for his team. With Ty failing to qualify into this season’s Challenger League, most viewers will have to wait a little longer for Ty’s reign of terror.
Player most deserving of an actual team: Argo
The captain of this band of misfits, one of the best PvPers in Proleague and the most consistent member of Team 8, Argo is a player that deserves to be on a top four team. Obviously I’m not sure what goes on behind the scenes in the Team 8 house, but being in 8th place as the placeholder team cannot be good for morale, and it is a wonder how Argo has managed to keep spirits high with their standings while consistently producing results. With his qualification through to the Challenger League, Argo will finally get his chance to shine and hopefully pick up some much deserved fans.
Player to keep an eye on for the next season: Pigbaby
While some might question his ID, Pigbaby(2-0) has not only shown that he can prepare and execute a build extremely well, taking out RorO and Zest in the two times he’s been fielded, but he’s also qualified for this season’s Challenger League, which shows he has the raw skill as well. While not the most flashy or stylish player, Pigbaby has shown potential and should be a player to look out for in the coming months.
The Key for Next Season: Avoid getting cut
With the rumors circulating from MajOr's(0-1) tweet that Team 8 is getting some severe player cuts to an already tiny roster, it is absolutely essential that Kespa avoids hurting Team 8 further by taking out key members out from the team. While some speculate they may be freeing up funding to allow the acquisition of a star player or two, one cannot assume that heading into the next season. On paper, Team 8’s core four of Terminator, Cure, Ty and Argo is actually quite a well-rounded team. As long as they manage to save those four players and possibly a Zerg and Pigbaby, Team 8 can and should feel ready to tackle almost any team. Good luck Team 8, we hope to see you next season!