[SPL] Hite Entus vs. STX SouL

Probably one of the worst games of a players career, but really not good from the other player as well. As for the entertaining part, it's there, but it's dirty.

Outmacroed, outthought, humiliated. Only this time, the players were playing well. Yes.

From what I saw, not even close. Nice micro by winner... I guess?

Exciting PvP, with excellent strategic play and good defense. Yes.

Using the enemies weapons against himself, oldschool. I enjoyed it.

One-sided ZvZ. No.

Excellent ZvP, and I'll have to say the loser played well. Yes.

The battle of the third and second team place will be fierce. SKT finally looks vulnerable again, and the teams were fairly equal the last time. While Hite has the bigger momentum, STX has the advantage of being better rounded... or at least it seems that way. Let's hear how our fans feel about it!

Big thanks to thopol (for writing the STX part) and BlackMagister (for writing the hite entus part)!

1. This is the battle of the second and third place team. How are you feeling? Anxious? Confident? Indifferent?

BlackMagister: Anxious, Hentus has trouble with a strong Zerg lineup and depending on who is sent out it will be difficult.

thopol: I have absolutely no doubt that STX will win. I am certainly excited, since a clash of titans is the metaphor of the day, and I like both teams. OGN Sparkyz was my favorite team for some time before I found my STX Soul. Unfortunately, many of the players I really liked were brought low by match fixing, and the attraction of the team has waned some. That said, I still like Hite Entus, and expect a good series.

A good series that STX will win. It is a great time to be an STX fan right now. With three awesome players climbing the OSL ladder and some success in ProLeague, it feels as though all of my hope and support is getting through somehow. The team's mindset has to be stellar right now, and I think that is our ticket to the stars.

2. Imagine a trade where you could take a player off the opposing team while giving away a player of equal value. Which players would you pick to strengthen your lineup? You can’t refuse the trade. Leta, Kal, and B-teamers can’t be traded either.

BlackMagister: I would trade Hydra for Modesty. Hentus has trouble with Zerg in my opinion like I said, it would be useful to have a ZvZ sniper.

thopol: I think this is probably an easy out, but I would trade Hero for Hydra. I really like Hero. Sorry dude, but you just haven't been putting up the results Hydra has lately.

3. Both teams are generally characterized as deep compared to other teams. Which of the teams is deeper and why?

BlackMagister: Estro, it’s at the bottom of the ocean… Too soon?

thopol: I don't see there being any team as deep as STX. Let me just give you a rundown of our bigger names to illustrate this point.

We have Kal and Calm. These guys are ace players, being very competitive, if not the favorite, against most of the best minds in Broodwar. Kal has been having a great year, and Calm is performing. Kal's first OSL ro16 game was a win was over Flash, which has to be a confidence booster. These fellows really need no introduction.

Next, there is the Terran line. These guys have really been the backbone for STX this year. Bogus has been a ProLeague tank, and Classic, the new acquisition, has not been disappointing. Frozen fills out the Terran trio with a lot of potential and recently disappointing results.

We also have Modesty, who has been tearing it up in the OSL. He's been playing some great Broodwar, and not only in ZvZ for once.

Finally, Protoss. Shuttle has been a PvP sniper with mixed results this season. Our other Protoss worth mentioning recently is Trap. He has won his two games since his non-Gom debut. While untested against players other than Idra, he could be the next up-and-comer everyone is hyping way too much.


4. Hite Entus was born after a merger between CJ Entus and Hite Sparkys in the beginning of the season. It went 1-3 soon after (only defeating OZ), but since week 3 it is has made a mad 8-2 dash. What is the greatest change you’ve noticed?

BlackMagister: Really I’m just hoping that Entus of Hentus starts smiling more. One of the biggest draws to becoming a Sparkyz fan was how happy some of them would get so it’s odd to merge with a team known for this -_- face. It seems like I've seen more smiling during the high five ceremonies.

thopol: There are a lot of factors that might contribute to their big improvement. That said, I really think that it isn't something that much should be taken away from. Hite Entus is a great team with a lot of talented players. I feel as though they deserve to be in the upper echelon when it comes to team ranking. Their hiccup at the start of the season doesn't reflect anything major within the team. I expect that if it isn't just some inauspicious clustering of inevitable losses, it is the fact that team chemistry is likely not as well developed.

Hite Entus is our newest team. It's made of experienced players, but as a group they are fresher than Star2 teams. I'm sure it took a little while before everyone's expectations could be modified and met, and I'm sure their friendships and appraisals of one-another's play styles had to develop.

5. STX is currently performing well in individual leagues. Will it have a negative effect on ProLeague, as some players have suspected? Or will it propel the team to greater heights?

BlackMagister: Calm and Kal’s match will have an effect on their practice schedule, but I doubt too much for this particular proleague series because they only have to play one game even if it against JD and the guy who all killed STX.

thopol: This will obviously hurt STX in terms of practice time. There's really no way that it cannot. Things are a little different than in previous seasons though. While I'm sure there is a great deal of practicing for anticipated players, with the matchups hidden until they are played, I expect practice puts more emphasis on matchups and maps. Since Icarus, Aztec, Benzene, and Circuit Breaker are all maps shared between ProLeague and the individual leagues, there is further lessening of success putting a burden on practicing.

The most important note on the subject though, is that STX has fewer individual league games to prepare for than Hite does. So while STX will be hurt by their success, it will affect their opponents comparably.

6. Icarus is missing! But don’t worry, in Imaginationland, you can remove another map to bring it back in its place! Would you use such an opportunity, and if, what map would you like removed? If not, why?

BlackMagister: I would replace Circuit Breaker with Icarus simply because Icarus is a more interesting map aesthetically. Instead of just an open middle there are various paths you would need to take to flank enemy units.

thopol: Icarus is, without a doubt, a map that STX is disappointed not to have on the lineup. It has been a good map for Zergs and, more notably, is in the OSL map pool. With both Modesty and Calm preparing for games on the map, I would have liked to see it available against Hite. Calm will be going into the series fresh off of practicing for a ZvZ against Jaedong on Icarus. In all likelihood, if it were in the map pool, we would see a ZvZ with a very prepared Calm.

I actually don't have a huge preference regarding which map I'd trade off for Icarus. We can't lose Aztec for much the same reason that Icarus is attractive. I think I'll just say Empire of the Sun, since I don't like watching games on that as much as the rest of the lineup.

7. The Ace Match takes place on Bloody Ridge. Which team has the advantage? Who would you play as coach?

BlackMagister: Movie, the map seems Protoss favored so while it might be smart to send out Horang2 to try and snipe Kal, Movie should put up a better fight should they send Calm than Horang2 would even though Movie has been doing poorly recently.

thopol: I think that if it gets there, which I must make clear that I don't anticipate happening, STX will pick up the Ace match with ease. This map has had a lot of Protoss and Zerg wins, but Terrans are losing here. We will not be seeing Leta. I feel that Hite will send Hydra to either face off against Kal or to play a ZvZ. As such, it is a pretty easy decision to send Modesty. He's our ZvZ sniper, and he's fresh off a win against Hydra in the OSL to boot.

8. Both Leta and Modesty are on a 7(!) game winstreak. Can either of those streaks survive this match?

BlackMagister: If they meet of course Leta is going to be the one left with a winstreak.

thopol: I think both can survive. Modesty is good in ZvZ, but it is a fickle matchup at times. Losing a ZvZ is the only way I see Modesty losing his streak. This includes playing against Leta. I feel that while Leta is hot right now, Modesty is hotter. His last 3 games in his winning streak were against Fantasy, Killer, and Hydra. None of these guys are pushovers, all performing fairly well now. In the case of Fantasy and Hydra, we're talking top players at this juncture. Leta's streak has put down some good players, but when Turn and Sun are the prestige highlights of your winning streak, I'm just not going to put as much weight on it.

I think, and somewhat hope, that both come out of the match as fired up as when they went in, and with no black marks to feed the naysayers.

9. Describe how you think the match will turn out in Pokémon terminology. (Because it was so awesome in SKT vs. STX)

BlackMagister: + Show Spoiler [spoilered for length] +


thopol:+ Show Spoiler [spoilered for length] +

10. Name the biggest high and the biggest low for your team in this season thus far.

BlackMagister: The worst moment would be the 3 game losing streak and opinions that Hentus was overrated because of that. So far the best moment was their round 1 win Hwaseung OZ, not only was it their first win as a team but it was against Sparkyz’s kryptonite Hwaseung OZ. The win showed they were no longer the same team as before and have a lot more potential now even with the scandal due to their merger with CJ.

thopol: Two sides of the same coin: For me, following competitive sports is a two way street. You have teams that you like and support. Putting passion into your favorites is a big part of it, but it shouldn't be all of your passion. For maximum enjoyment, you need to have some teams you hate. In my case, that is SKT1. ProLeague has always been the thing I am most interested in, so when STX plays T1, it is a thing of gravitas. Our recent win against SK Telecom was delightful. It was easily the best I've felt about StarCraft this season. Our loss against T1 was likewise, the most painful and bitter moment.

I know this is more about me than my team itself, but that's just how it has to be.

Any last words?

BlackMagister: Both Sparkyz and CJ were hurt by the events of last season, Sparkyz more so, but now they’re fitting together into one of the strongest teams if current rankings are any indication. Their play is only going to continue to improve as well as different play styles are shared.

thopol:


STX Hwaiting!

Today, the 2nd and 3rd place teams clash in an epic battle. The two teams are at 9W5L (Hite) and 8W6L (STX) currently. Both teams have been doing well in R2, with Hite currently riding a 4-game winning streak. STX was on a 3-game winning in R2 as well, which included a win against SKT that ended their unbeaten streak.

The match between the two teams feature "Shin Combo" versus "Kim Combo", a battle of last names. Hite is led by Shin Sang Moon (Leta) and Shin Dong Won (Hydra). In SPL, Leta is on a 7-game winning streak, while Hydra is on a 5-game winning streak. STX is led by their ace players Kim Goo Hyun (Kal) and Kim Yoon Hwan (Calm).

Not only are the two Shin's of Hite playing solid, the supporting cast have stepped up also. Snow, Movie, Horang2, sKyHigh, and HoGiL have all also made contributions in their team's recent success.

Besides the one loss to MBC in R2, STX has not lost in R2. Like Hite, STX has a 4W1L record in R2.

When STX wins, they feature various styles of play: strategic (and cheesy!), macro-oriented, harassment, and others. Such unpredictability, combined with their deep lineup featuring Kal, Shuttle, Calm, Modesty, by.hero, Bogus, and Classic, STX seems to be one of the strongest teams right now.

In R1, Hite won the head-to-head battle with a score of 4:2. If STX can win today with a score of 4:2 or better, the team ranks will change. It will be interesting to watch what strategies Hite will prepare to counter the creativity of STX.


(includes OSL/MSL spoilers!)
Current standing:
Hite: 9W 5L +6
STX: 8W 6L +3
If STX wins 4:2
Hite: 9W 6L +4
STX: 9W 6L +5

Also, I should note that Modesty is 2:0 in his OSL group and about to advance, while Classic also made it out of his MSL group which included a victory against FLASH.