The biggest StarCraft league around has started up again, landing the vigilant Shinhan Bank as their sponsor for another season! For the uninitiated and the new, the Shinhan Bank Proleague is a six-month endeavour wherein the 12 teams duke it out. Twenty-two matches in total for each team, every match consisting of two pre-set 1v1 games, a pre-set 2v2, another pre-set 1v1, and then a 1v1 "ace match" if necessary, where both coaches can send out the player of their choice.
This update will encompass every result from the beginning of the season to the last games played, so it'll be a little larger than the next. These updates will occur every friday, summarizing the last week of play. Last season's undisputed champions Samsung Khan look poised to continue their streak of dominance, with plenty of other teams nipping at their heels. Let's get on to the results! As always, Terran, Zerg, and Protoss are represented by blue, red, and green, respectively.
Pusan < Stork
< Baekmagoji >
HyuN < oDin
< Un'Goro Crater >
TheZerg[alive]/n.Die_JaeHoon < Sigamari/FireBatHero
< Seongangil >
What could have been a competitive match between two of the strongest teams from last season turned into a total blowout in favour of Samsung Khan. Interesting to note that MBC chose not to seed last season's winningest player Sea[Shield] (who boasted an overall record of 18 wins and 5 losses, including regular season and playoffs). Samsung sent out a top lineup and it certainly paid off for them. Odin dodged a bullet in a sense, as he most likely would have fallen against any player besides Hyun. Samsung Khan takes their first match of the season 3-0!
Inter.Calm < Iris
< Monty Hall SE >
Hwasin > Savior
< Un'Goro Crater >
Terror[fou]/TheStC[GnH] < Sea.Jy/Much[gm]
< Hwangsanbul >
KaL > Kwanro
< Katrina >
***ACE***
Inter.Calm < DarkElf
< Baekmagoji >
CJ's strongest lineup is very similar to the lineup they put out for this match, the only substitution being DarkElf for Kwanro. Poor Calm lost two games on his first day in the new season, to two different opponents. Hwasin vs Savior is an excellent game, I highly recommend checking out the vod (Check thedeadhaji's current Final Edits article for more info!). Despite KaL playing well against Kwanro, I refuse to admit that he doesn't suck. This may lead to problems if he should ever take a game from one of my beloved MBC Hero boys, because if that happens I will be SO upset that I'll consider running away and joining a monastery. CJ Entus wins their first match of the season 3-2, thanks to DarkElf's ridiculous metal build on Baekmagoji.
UpMagic < JulyZerg
< Baekmagoji >
MaGma < GoRush
< Un'Goro Crater >
Cool[fOu]/Sangho[Shield] > Bul_T/AnomiA[S.G]
< Seongangil >
Tester < Best
< Blue Storm >
Last season eStro was the worst team in the league besides the struggling retirement home known as Air Force Ace. Despite fielding their strongest possible lineup, they couldn't do anything against T1, who didn't perform as well as they should have last season due to questionable coaching decisions and abysmal 2v2 play. UpMagic couldn't pull any DarkElf-esque heroics against JulyZerg on Baekmagoji, GoRush cooled Magma with ease, T1's 2v2 flailed about like injured children, and Best bested Tester. T1 will need Oov and Midas back in top form to be competitive this season. Nonetheless, they take their first match 3-1.
Rage < Hery
< Monty Hall SE >
MuMyung > HaZin
< Un'Goro Crater >
Qoo)Sunny/Clon < ZergBong/Reach
< Hwangsanbul >
OverSky > Nal_rA
< Katrina >
***ACE***
Oversky < Flash
< Baekmagoji >
Both of these teams failed to perform well last season. With ACE's lineup, which consists of retired players undertaking their mandatory 2 year military service, their performance isn't surprising. KTF has had problems getting their big names to perform for the last few seasons, and as a result new players like Hery, Hazin, and Flash get a lot more play time. KTF's 2v2 team of Reach and Zergbong, who went 9-2 last season, remain the sole lock in KTF's lineup. Oversky is the only ACE player besides Boxer who managed to qualify for a major league before entering the military, so he gets the call for Ace match after crushing Nal_rA. Unfortunately, KTF's golden boy Flash returns the favour, and KTF wins their first match 3-2. Interesting to note that of the four games played on Un'Goro Crater so far, three have been ZvZ.
Yellow[ArnC] > Nada
< Katrina >
Luxury > Pure
< Python >
Bifrost/NsP_Flower > Nal_keke/HoOny
< Hwangsanbul >
< Baekmagoji >
What could have been an epic match between Casy's former team and Casy's new team turned out to be not quite as interesting, as Casy isn't in WeMade Fox's submitted roster for the first month of play. The Zerg twins Yarnc and Lux provide a one-two punch setup, and a brand new 2v2 team delivers the knockout punch. WeMade continues to struggle after their sponsorship problems and Nada's recent poor form, and OGN takes the match 3-0.
Jaedong < Free
< Blue Storm >
Backho < GGPlay
< Baekmagoji >
Bright, Hiya > Fantastic_Namoo, Qoo)Max
< Seongangil >
Anytime > Ever)T(Piano
< Monty Hall SE >
***ACE***
Jaedong > GGplay
< Katrina >
Hanbit's woes continue in the first match of this season. The story is the same - their two aces free and GGPlay provide early wins, and the other team takes it home. Fate does not look kindly upon Hanbit; despite Fantastic and Max being last season's 2v2 MVPs, Hanbit just can't seem to get both free and GGPlay to win at the same time. Free was last season's 1v1 MVP, and GGPlay is fresh off his Daum OSL win. All the ingredients are there, and Hanbit still struggles to find success. Jaedong takes down GGPlay in the Ace match, showing why he currently wears the ZvZ crown. Lecaf squeaks a 3-2 win.
Yoonjoong > Stork
< Blue Storm >
SheIs < Freedom
< Baekmagoji >
Terror[fOu]/TheSTC[GnH] < Sigamari/TT
< Seongangil >
Calm > Frozean
< Monty Hall SE >
***ACE***
KaL > FireBatHero
< Katrina >
This match opens with an incredibly surprising rookie win over Stork. Afterwards everything pretty much goes as one would expect, Freedom shows some nice play against SheIs, Samsung's 2v2 dominates, and Frozean gets creamed. Samsung sends FireBatHero out to play in the Ace match, and he's met with KaL. KaL probably cheated somehow because I refuse to believe he could have won any other way, despite FBH's questionable TvP. Soul takes down last season's champ 3-2.
Sea> Savior
< Katrina >
Ruby < Iris
< Python >
Light/Miz.Peace < Jy/Much
< Hwangsanbul >
Shark < Darkelf
< Baekmagoji >
This is reminiscent of MBC Hero's problems last season. Sea would play first or second seed, dominate his opponent, and strut back to the bench. Then Hero would send out questionable choices in players and lose 1-3. Oftentimes one of MBC's choices would win a game, forcing a score of 2-2 and an Ace match, in which Sea came out and cleaned up. Unfortunately, in order for that formula to work reliably, Hero needs to get to the Ace match in the first place. DarkElf pulls the same trick he used last time he played TvZ on this map, and Shark falls for it just like Calm did. Sea vs Savior was an exciting match, I highly recommend the VOD. Nevertheless, CJ takes the match 3-1.
Tester < 815
< Blue Storm >
maGma > Nal_rA
< Baekmagoji >
Cool[fOu]/Bassen[fOu] < Zergbong/Reach
< Seongangil >
Upmagic > Flash
< Monty hall SE >
***ACE***
Tester < Nal_rA
< Katrina >
Almost the same story as KTF's last match, they take an Ace win over a team that struggled last season. Except this time, an old face takes the trash out as Nal_rA bashes Tester's skull in to take the win. KTF's premiere 2v2 team is rolling strong, and they take eStro down with a score of 3-2.
Clon < Canata
< Katrina >
fOrU < iloveoov
< Python >
Daezang/Oversky < Lake[Name]/Shudder_V_
< Hwangsanbul >
< Baekmagoji >
T1 brings two-thirds of their Terran king lineup, and it pays off in spades. Canata and oov absolutely wreck their somewhat outdated opponents. The unfortunate part of this match is that T1 won a 2v2 for once, and it happened to prevent us fans from seeing Boxer vs July. Pity. T1 sweeps ACE 3-0.
Whoo! That's all the matches to bring us up to date today, September 29th. Two matches happening tonight, so be sure to tune in, information at the right side of the page under the TL Calendar! Here's what the current league standings look like, showing their match score, and their overall 1v1 and 2v2 win/loss:
1. SKTelecom T1: 2-0
(5-0, 1-1)
2. CJ Entus: 2-0
(4-3, 2-0)
3. KTF MagicNs: 2-0
(4-4, 2-0)
4. Samsung Khan: 1-1
(3-3, 2-0)
5. STX Soul: 1-1
(5-3, 0-2)
6. OGN Sparkyz: 1-0
(2-0, 1-0)
7. Lecaf OZ: 1-0
(2-2, 1-0)
8. HanbitStars: 0-1
(2-2, 0-1)
9. eStro: 0-2
(2-5, 1-1)
10. ROKAF ACE: 0-2
(2-4, 0-2)
11. MBC Hero: 0-2
(1-4, 0-2)
12. WeMade Fox: 0-1
(0-2, 0-1)
Proleague Results & Standings thread coming soon!