It seems like forever since the EVER OSL ended, but the wait for the new season ends this week when the Round of 36 begins in the Korean Air OSL! Take a look at the groups and the stories ahead in what is sure to be another memorable season of starleague play.

General Info

All Matches are Best-of-Three.

Map Pool
Game 1: Great Barrier Reef
Game 2: Fighting Spirit
Game 3: Eye of the Storm

Group A

Set 1: Kal vs. MVP
Final Match: type-b vs. Winner of Set 1

Group B

Set 1: HoGiL vs. Lomo
Final Match: Stork vs. Winner of Set 1




The Hype Machine: Three Players to Look Out For

The Winners League this season, while only in its infancy, has already produced a handful of stars. Here's a look at three:

1. Really. Proleague's breakout star this season has got to be without a doubt Sea.Really. He's played phenomenal StarCraft from top-to-bottom, and is riding some of the best Terran vs. Protoss and TvT in the league, arguably only second to Flash. Really has had difficulties advancing in previous seasons due to inconsistency, but if his Winners League performance is any indication, Really seems to have overcome those difficulties. He'll have one of the tougher challenges though, with 815 and Kwanro to contend with, but if he makes it through you can bet he'll be one of the biggest threats to watch out for this season.
   
   
2. Light. Lee Jae Ho has been one of the most underrated players in StarCraft... ever. Though he's struggled at the later rounds of starleague play, his overall game is much like his teammate Sea - standard, but efficient and high-quality when everything is firing on all cylinders. Light's sheer domination of Winners League has put him on the map as one of the new favorites in this season's Korean Air OSL. Hopefully he'll be able to channel his Winners League success into his OSL performance.
   
   
3. GuemChi. If you'd ask someone who they believed was the most dangerous player in Winners League right now, you'd probably get a lot of Flash, Jaedong, and Leta, but for those in the know, you'd most likely get Kim Seung Hyun, Woongjin Stars new best friend. At 10-1, he's Winners League most feared player at the moment. He cleaned up ACE on Day 1, all-killed CJ Entus on Day 2, cleaned up hite on Day 3, and finished up MBC just the other day. This is a man to be respected.

Group C

Set 1: Really vs. 815
Final Match: Kwanro vs. Winner of Set 1

Group D

Set 1: GuemChi vs. Killer
Final Match: Hwasin vs. Winner of Set 1

Group E

Set 1: fOrGG vs. Hydra
Final Match: YellOw[ArnC] vs. Winner of Set 1

Group F

Set 1: HyuN vs. FrOzean
Final Match: fantasy vs. Winner of Set 1




Second (Third, Fourth, and Fifth) Chances

fantasy came ever-so-close to OSL gold twice in his young career, but failed to make the final jump both times. Since then, he's gone the way of BeSt, heading in a downwards spiral back to reality as he fell out of the EVER OSL in the Round of 16. Despite the upsetting starleague season though, fantasy still seems to be full of life with his recent Winners League performances. Usually known as a player who is best with preparation, he's proven to be T1's best player in the recent stretch of games, carrying the team to several dramatic wins. fantasy will have to overcome MBC's secret weapon HyuN (I'm not even going to count FrOzen, sorry) to move on, but if his recent games are any indication, he's well on his way down the comeback trail with the momentum he's got off of Winners League.

Group G

Set 1: FireFist vs. PianO
Final Match: EffOrt vs. Winner of Set 1

Group H

Set 1: Bisu vs. Modesty
Final Match: go.go vs. Winner of Set 1




Bisu's OSL Run: Take 15 (Approx.)

The T1 star has been around the league a long time, winning three MSL titles including unforgettable 3-0 of sAviOr in the GOM Season 1. Despite his success, he's always had one fatal flaw in the form of his OSL performances. For one reason or another, Bisu always seems to drop out of Korea's most prestigious starleague - and in the worst ways.

In 2009 alone, he was upset in every way imaginable around the league, especially in the OSL where Shine and ZerO demolished him in the one matchup that he became famous for, and where his own teammate fantasy stunned audiences with a 3-0 sweep. Perhaps it is Bisu's innate ability to bring the best in players, or perhaps due to his overconfidence, but Bisu seems to fold at the worst - and most unlikely - of times for no real reason. This season, he's got what looks to be a safe and sound run with Modesty and go.go in his path, but you just never know what Bisu is going to show up. I predict Kim Taek Yong to progress, but I expect it to be a lot closer then it should be.

Group I

Set 1: Leta vs. hyvaa
Final Match: Pusan vs. Winner of Set 1

Group J

Set 1: by.hero vs. BaBy
Final Match: Jaedong vs. Winner of Set 1

Group K

Set 1: Luxury vs. Special
Final Match: Pure vs. Winner of Set 1

Group L

Set 1: Light vs. PerfectMan
Final Match: ZerO vs. Winner of Set 1


The Upset Meter: Three Possible Failures to Hyuk About

Every season, a few of the league's favorites get knocked out of the Round of 36. Here are three that you may want to close your eyes for:

• Stork. Birdtoss in general has been playing slightly below his usual standards with only modest wins in the Proleague. What Stork will have to watch out for is Proleague's most dangerous assassin, HoGiL. HoGiL may not be a title contender, but when it comes to shooting down Protoss stars, few do it as well as the hite Zerg. In the Proleague, he's already sniped Stork, Bisu, free, Movie and Kal this season. HoGiL tends to do worse against players of his status, however, so Lomo may be able to pick him off for Stork. If not, we might have the first upset of the OSL right here.
  
  
• Kwanro. The Woongjin Zerg continues to fly under peoples radar, but there's no denying that he's one of the stronger starleague contenders over the past few seasons. He's made one final, and reached the semifinals just this past OSL, so he's definitely no fluke. He'll have one of his tougher challenges here though when he faces the winner of Really and 815. Really has already been discussed, but 815 is one of the league's secret ZvZ ninjas that could really give Kwanro a major surprise.
  
  
• EffOrt. Everyone had high hopes for EffOrt when we witnessed his Proleague domination in early '09, but he has yet to make a real statement in starleague play, and I feel this may be the early exit that shuts the door on the Zerg. His grouping on first glance is difficult; firefist and PianO are not high and mighty names to be feared, but EffOrt's recent play suggests otherwise. His ZvT has wavered - though his competition's been strong - and could fall to PianO's deceptively decent TvZ play. firefist is a fairly good ZvZ'er and similar to 815 in upset potential. EffOrt's past starleague play has shown a lack of preparation and variance. If he doesn't change up for this season, I believe it could very well be curtains for the Zerg right here and now.

The Korean Air OSL starts this week, stay tuned for all the action!

Its great the osl that comes, but i have a question, what youll do with have the games on time, now that BaeZZi wont give more games on time, thank you, sorry for the bad english

Thanks for the report. It's another sad day for Much fans though. He lost to someone named "Princess." lol

Fantasy for the gold!

I made a chart of the OSL structure and format. You can check it out here:

***Spoiler Alert: I do have current results posted, in case you are going to catch some VODs***

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tGs...amp;output=html

Not as in depth as the info on SC2GG or TL.net, but I was struggling to figure out all the ins and outs of the OSL and MSL formats, and making this chart helped.

perfect way to describe it haha

fantasy hwaiting!