EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/pachi/banner/OSL_080730.png)
The Road to the Incruit Starleague
The new OSL season is upon us. Twenty-four players have fought their ways out of the preliminary qualifiers and are looking to continue that success and grab one of the twelve remaining spots in the Incruit Starleague.
The preliminary groups and results can be found here.
If you were not yet aware, the OGN Star Challenge and OGN Dual Tournament are no longer being used as the qualification rounds for the Starleague. A new format has arrived. Players are split into groups of three, two from the Preliminaries and one from the previous Starleague. One player will advance from each of these twelve groups. The two players advancing from the preliminaries will play a best of three and the winner of that will play another best of three against the previous Starleaguer for a spot in the Incruit Starleague.
The map order for these 36 players will be as follows: Plasma, Return of the King, Andromeda. If you haven’t seen the new maps yet you can check out the discussion here and download them here.
I’ll be giving a short profile on the 24 players to have come out of the preliminaries, the twelve others you should already know well enough from the previous Starleague and elsewhere as they all have secured reputations for themselves.
Schedule for the Round of 36
Group A:
Pure, 
Hyuk & 
SeaPureThis rising Protoss star has not-so-quietly been racking up wins in the last two Proleague seasons. In the most recent Proleague season, Pure won more individual matches for WeMade than any of their other players. With 14 wins, he had more than any other player in the Proleague aside from Flash. Despite his stellar performances, WeMade has yet to rely on Pure in an ace match, leaving one to wonder how he will hold up in a must win situation.
HyukHe has been SK Telecom’s primary Zerg for 1v1 matches this past season. Though not used often he did manage to win more games than he lost. His record on Andromeda is perfect so far, defeating players such as Luxury and Free on that terrain. If he makes it to a third game he should be getting a little extra confidence in taking the match.
Predictions:
Pure has much more momentum coming off a great Proleague season. Although he is new to the scene his performance speaks well of him and he should advance past Hyuk. Pure and Sea have met once before, in last year’s Proleague. Though Sea came away with the victory then, Pure has since improved by leaps and bounds. Combine that with Sea’s recent loss in WCG and his game against Protoss may be a bit shaky.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
Group B:
Kal, EffOrt & FlashKalMost of you should know who Kal is. A finals and quarterfinals appearance in the last two MSL’s is not two shabby, and both times saw him losing to the eventual winner. He is just waiting to break through into this league and without qualifiers for MSL or Proleague to worry about; all of his focus can be put to advancing himself here.
EffOrtHe made a killing in the Minor league for CJ Entus, and while Savior was slipping down to the B ranks for a bit, Effort got the chance to show his 1v1 skills in the big show. Unfortunately he drew some tough opponents in his first three times out, but managed to take down Firebathero in one of his games, which is something his teammate hasn’t been able to do in quite some time.
Predictions:
Kal shouldn’t have any trouble with Effort as he eclipses him in both experience and skill. Unfortunately, Kal would then have to go through Flash to get to his first OSL, which is not such an easy feat for any progamer. Flash has to be considered the favorite from these three as advancing back to the Starleague. Flash hasn’t missed an OSL in his career yet, and I don’t think he is ready to miss one now.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
Group C:
fOrGG, Shark & MuchfOrGGThe current MSL Champion shouldn’t need much of an introduction. Though he hasn’t qualified for an OSL since Savior took the title, he should be feeling like an unstoppable force as he is fresh off one of his own. With a title in one league, he’ll be looking to get one in the other league as well.
SharkThis guy has been around for a while. He manages to make the leagues occasionally, but never does well enough to get past group stages. Shark has been known to handle the tough situations though; MBC used him as the sniper back in the first season of SKY Proleague in 2006 to some success and a Proleague title. Though Shark’s individual records have never been amazing.
Predictions:
Forgg should have no trouble with shark after completely dismantling Jaedong in three games in the MSL finals. Much shouldn’t be able to stop him either; though he has a better chance of doing so than Shark. Forgg is a heavy favorite to advance from this group, and if you didn’t make the same conclusion then your hopes are either too high or you haven’t really been watching a lot of Starcraft lately.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
Group D:
Hwasin, Thezerg & RumbleHwasinAnother player who should need little introduction. Aside from WCG Korea last year, Hwasin has yet to win a big event, though often finds himself deep into the Starleagues. He is still in his prime as a player and I believe that eventually he will be able to finally come up with a big finish before too long. Perhaps he will start working on that right here.
ThezergThis Zerg player has never qualified for a Starleague and the last time MBC used him for an individual match in Proleague was 2006. He advanced from a relatively easy group to get here. Expectations will not be high for Thezerg, which at the very least should alleviate some of the pressure he will feel against his first opponent.
Predictions:
Hwasin and Thezerg have met before. Hwasin dismantled him twice. Hwasin first built his reputation as a Zerg sniper nearly two years ago. Still he is considered a favorite going into a match against almost any Zerg. Rumble and Thezerg are really just unfortunate that Hwasin is in their group as it gives the both of them very little chance at advancing.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
Group E:
SangHo, JoJoBa & MindSangHoThe first game Sangho played this past Proleague, he won. He has lost every televised game since, putting him on a losing streak of 8 losses. Though if there was a chance of ending that streak, this would be the opportunity for him to do it. He shouldn’t be completely discounted. He has made it to the MSL twice in the past three seasons, so he is at least capable of making it to the big leagues.
JoJoBaHe played for CJ in the minor leagues, where he only got a single win. This will mark his first televised match. Everyone has to begin somewhere though, and this will be Jojoba’s beginning. Though he is currently overshadowed by most of the other Zerg players on CJ, it provides him with good resources from which to learn from where they have had the experience he is looking for.
Predictions:
Between Sangho and Jojoba, I don’t think it will matter too much who the victor is. Mind outclasses both of these players easily. Mind shouldn’t have too much trouble qualifying for the upcoming Incruit OSL.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
Group F:
Iris, Pusan & BisuIrisThe most individual wins this past season on the CJ Entus team goes to Iris with seven. Iris hasn’t been living up to what he once, was, but this could be the beginning of him bouncing back to that level. His last Starleague appearance was a year ago, when he fell after several rounds of grueling tiebreakers. Iris should be hungry to enter the fray once again.
PusanLike Iris, Pusan has also been absent from the individual leagues. He goes back a little further than Iris in that regard however, as his last Starleague appearance was back in the first Gom MSL, over a year and a half ago. Pusan has been active in the Proleague roster for MBC, though the most recent season saw him not do as well as he usually does.
Predictions:
This is a tough group. All three of the players have a decent shot at advancing with enough preparation. Iris should get the nod over Pusan. Pusan seems to be on the slight decline, while Iris seems to be on a slight rise. It’s been a while since Bisu has appeared at the top of his game as well, though he has still been managing to make the Starleagues while the others haven’t. When such high caliber players are all together, I have to give the advantage to the player with the most recent success in this case, which would be Bisu.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
Group G:
Light, Violet & JangBiLightGenerally Light does well in the leagues, but recently he has been losing a lot more than he has been winning. His advancing this far may be a glimmer of hope, or it could be that he had fairly easy preliminaries. Whatever the reason, he is going to have to find some way of getting back to his old self to make the Starleague. If he gets there his old self won’t do the trick of winning him the league, he’ll have to show he is better than that.
VioletViolet has been after a league qualification for a few seasons now, only getting out of preliminaries once to get swiftly stomped back down again. His group getting here wasn’t as easy as some of the others and I think Violet may finally be ready to do a little something to show us his potential. Others won’t be expecting much, but I think Violet can surprise them.
Predictions:
Violet should be able to handle a struggling Light without too much of a problem. Jangbi provides a considerable barrier. PvP seems to be Jangbi’s most suspect matchup though and could lead Violet into an upset victory on his way to his first Starleague birth. Jangbi should be considered the favorite here still, but I don’t think an upset is unthinkable.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
Group H:
Justin, han & RockJustinOccasionally finding his way into, and then quickly out of leagues, Justin just refuses to go away. The last Starleague game he won was on Desert Fox, which if any of you remember, is nearly impossible for Terran to lose on. OGN has since found other Terran players within the team that have done much better for them that Justin has, which leads one to believe that this progamers time may almost be up.
hanA week ago you probably didn’t know who Han was. He did make it to Survivor earlier this year, but met a quick exit. He beat Jaedong to get here, which is quite an accomplishment. The underdog who takes out a legend has to have a least a little bit going for him. His opponents have reason to fear him now, and maybe that could help push him to more victories.
Predictions:
This group makes me groan. Two of the players continue to make Starleagues, but fail at making impacts in them while the third remains a nobody until he does something significant. I doubt Han wants to be known as that guy who beat Jaedong once. Han should have an advantage over Justin who still struggles to win a game, let alone two. Rock will probably clean up whatever mess gets though as he tends to make OSL’s often. In fact Rock has made 10 previous OSL’s, but has never managed to get past the quarterfinals.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
Group I:
Tester, Dongrae & StorkTesterIf he advances it will be his first Starleague appearance, though he has made it to the ODT twice before now. Estro found some success with Tester in 2v2 this past season, though unfortunately all of his 1v1 attempts returned as losses. He can’t 2v2 his way into a Starleague though and hasn’t had an individual win yet this year. Lucky for him though, neither has his first opponent…
DongraeIn fact, he hasn’t even played an individual televised match in over a year, making it rather difficult to win one. Back then he’d make it to Survivor or ODT fairly often, though only was able to convert that into a Starleague appearance once, he even got a win versus iloveoov in that Starleague before falling out of it. Dongrae has made it back out of the offlines once more and is surely looking to advance.
Predictions:
Two players who haven’t even won a game this year or a Samsung’s ace with a total of more wins than both players have total games. I think the choice here is obvious and really doesn’t require too much analysis.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
Group J:
go.go, BestGod & GGPlaygo.goHe made it into his first Starleague by exploiting the return cargo bug. Karma found him though as he lost in the group Stages of the second Gom MSL. He hasn’t made it to a Starleague since. What he has done, is improve greatly in Proleague, being OGN’s second Terran after Leta. Though he still has more losses than wins, he definitely has the capability to win games.
BestGodHe has gotten past the preliminaries on several occasions, though never got to the point of qualifying for the actual Starleague before. The first game STX sent him out in 1v1 this past Proleague season ended with his victory, though he hasn’t been able to duplicate that individual win for the team since then.
Predictions:
Go.go has a little more experience and success than Bestgod, and the karma gods may feel that justice has been done to him by now. I see go.go as easily advancing past Bestgod, but running into some potential trouble with Ggplay. The final match between these two will be close, a coin flip. Since go.go should be off the momentum of a win right before he plays Ggplay, the momentum could carry over into the next match leaning the favor toward the Terran player slightly.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
Group K:
SoO, fantasy & NaDaSoOThough you might not have known it, Soo has been around now for quite some time, a Proleague regular since 2004. Recently he has moved on from being used in 1v1 matches and is now more of a 2v2 player. He has made it past preliminaries a few times in the past year though hasn’t been able to make it as far as the Starleague yet, a story that seems to be shared by many.
fantasyHe demolished the competition in the minor leagues, leading right up to his qualification for the most recent Arena MSL. Though he didn’t get a win in that MSL, he now known he is capable of getting to the Starleague and it could just be a matter of time before he is able to make his impact. He will be looking to make both leagues this season, a feat few players are able to do.
Predictions:
Fantasy shouldn’t have too much trouble with Soo. He even has a good shot at defeating Nada, better than most I would say. Nada is still the grizzled Veteran and still pulls out wins despite his age. Nada doesn’t look to be ready to go away just yet and still manages to qualify for Starleague after Starleague. There isn’t much standing in his way of making it to one more.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
Group L:
Midas, HerO & YellOw[ArnC]MidasOnce considered to be one of the few players who could go toe to toe with a dominant Savior and one of the best players of that time, Midas has since fallen a bit off the map. Welcome back Midas. He has always been an ace for SKT, and now he is finally making the trek back toward the individual leagues.
HerOHe made it to the last MSL, so advancing is definitely within his ability. His Proleague record has never looked horrible and he plays decently well. Hero may one of those players who will only ever make it into one Starleague and then fade into obscurity in the Starcraft world. He never seems to do anything amazing, just enough to get by and pick up wins here and there.
Predictions:
Midas, a TvP master, should dispatch Hero with ease. Yarnc will provide more of a problem however. Yarnc has been qualifying for Starleagues regularly since Midas left. Though he doesn’t get far, he never exits shamefully, always putting up good games. Terran is Yarnc’s best matchup while Midas’ is against Zerg. The game is either of theirs to lose.
+ Show Spoiler [Staff Picks] +
-semioldguy
