It's my TeamLiquid account's first birthday. With milestone posts a TL tradition, I been pondering hard over a proper commemorative post that will fit the number crunching centric blog that I have took pride to work on over the year. Hopefully this is will qualify, but if not, there's always next year.
Problem Statement
Every GSL season, GOMTV collaborate with a K-pop group in a cross-promotion effort - the group gets international and domestic exposure to thrones of sex-starved young men, and GOMTV gets cute girls on the show. In GSL6, the "pop sensation" T-ara not only will perform at the Code S Championship, but also has been introducing each player at the beginning of every match.
Besides the Q-Ri Curse, have the other T-ara girls fared any better? Using the points system of FantasyGSL rules, I will objectively determine who is the best T-ara girl.
Salary Analysis
+ Show Spoiler [T-ara girls' Fantasy Salaries] +
None of the T-ara girls filled up their salary cap, a poor practice for any fantasy league. Even more troubling is that none of them picked Code A players, rather unfortunate considering that Code A players are better fantasy value than their Code S counterparts.
The most expensive fantasy team (HyoMin's at 975) is nearly three times the salary of the cheapest (HwaYoung's at 350). The girls can be largely separated into having two different fantasy strategies - premium versus value:
Premium:
975 - HyoMin's fantasy
850 - SoYeon's fantasy
825 - JiYeon's fantasy
800 - BoRam's fantasy
975 - HyoMin's fantasy
850 - SoYeon's fantasy
825 - JiYeon's fantasy
800 - BoRam's fantasy
Value:
450 - EunJing's fantasy
425 - Q-Ri's fantasy
350 - HwaYoung's fantasy
450 - EunJing's fantasy
425 - Q-Ri's fantasy
350 - HwaYoung's fantasy
Points Analysis
+ Show Spoiler [T-ara Girls Fantasy Points] +
JiYeon’s picks:
ro4: NaDa (7-2 still alive), NesTea (7-3 still alive)
ro8: LosirA (4-4), Killer (4-5)
ro16: SuperNoVa (2-2)
ro4: NaDa (7-2 still alive), NesTea (7-3 still alive)
ro8: LosirA (4-4), Killer (4-5)
ro16: SuperNoVa (2-2)
EunJung’s picks:
ro4: InCa (7-1 still alive)
ro8: anypro (5-5)
ro16: Polt (3-3), Alicia (3-2), FruitDealer (3-2)
ro4: InCa (7-1 still alive)
ro8: anypro (5-5)
ro16: Polt (3-3), Alicia (3-2), FruitDealer (3-2)
BoRam’s picks:
ro4: sC (8-1 still alive)
ro16: Virus (2-2)
Group: HongUn (0-2), Lyn (1-2), MarineKing (1-2)
ro4: sC (8-1 still alive)
ro16: Virus (2-2)
Group: HongUn (0-2), Lyn (1-2), MarineKing (1-2)
JiYeon boosts the best fantasy team, featuring two round-of-4ers and scoring 204 fantasy points. Q-Ri, as expected, scored an abysmal 8 points with all her players exiting at the group stage. Of the "premium" group, SoYeon scored the lowest at 25 points, but the biggest surprise is Eunjing's team, scored an astronomical 176 points despite picking a "value" team.
Premium:
77 points - HyoMin's fantasy
25 points - SoYeon's fantasy
204points - JiYeon's fantasy
91 points - BoRam's fantasy
77 points - HyoMin's fantasy
25 points - SoYeon's fantasy
204points - JiYeon's fantasy
91 points - BoRam's fantasy
Value:
176points - EunJing's fantasy
8 points - Q-Ri's fantasy
25 points - HwaYoung's fantasy
176points - EunJing's fantasy
8 points - Q-Ri's fantasy
25 points - HwaYoung's fantasy
Because the wide range of total fantasy salaries, straight points-comparison is an insufficient metric to evaluate the best fantasy team. An alternative measure, salary/points, can be useful to measure the comparative cost-efficiency of each team. Using this measure, EunJing has the most valuable team spending less than 3 per point, whereas Q-Ri again has the most worthless team, spending a ridiculous 53 per point.
Premium:
13/pt - HyoMin's fantasy
34/pt - SoYeon's fantasy
4/pt - JiYeon's fantasy
9/pt - BoRam's fantasy
13/pt - HyoMin's fantasy
34/pt - SoYeon's fantasy
4/pt - JiYeon's fantasy
9/pt - BoRam's fantasy
Value:
3/pt - EunJing's fantasy
53/pt - Q-Ri's fantasy
14/pt - HwaYoung's fantasy
3/pt - EunJing's fantasy
53/pt - Q-Ri's fantasy
14/pt - HwaYoung's fantasy
Note that JiYeon, EunJing, and BoRam still have players alive in the tournament that can bring in a potential 45 extra points (63 possible for JiYeon).
Conclusion
Jiyeon is far and away the fantasy winner with two remaining players (NaDa , NesTea) on both branches of the semifinals. On the remote chance that both of Jiyeon's players both falters in ro4, EunJung has a chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat if InCa delivers her a flawless performance. Regardless of the final results, EunJing already clutched the value-cup at an astonishing 3 per point. At this valuation, she could easily take home the FantasyGSL crown and won herself a free GSL7 pass.
The worst T-ara girl? Q-Ri, but SoYeon gets a honorable mention.
and the best T-ara Girl is...
a tie between JiYeon and EunJung
Because nothing is sexier than a girl that knows her StarCraft.
a tie between JiYeon and EunJung
Because nothing is sexier than a girl that knows her StarCraft.
Poll: Best T-ara girl
Eun Jung (41)
33%
JiYeon (39)
32%
HyoMin (16)
13%
SoYeon (10)
8%
QRi (7)
6%
Boram (5)
4%
HwaYoung (5)
4%
123 total votes
JiYeon (39)
HyoMin (16)
SoYeon (10)
QRi (7)
Boram (5)
HwaYoung (5)
123 total votes
Your vote: Best T-ara girl
(Vote): JiYeon
(Vote): HyoMin
(Vote): Eun Jung
(Vote): Boram
(Vote): SoYeon
(Vote): QRi
(Vote): HwaYoung
Full disclosure: I have not a fucking clue about kpop, and yes, I know the T-ara girls didn't pick the players themselves.