Things have been going downhill for Lecaf, they've dropped their last three games to fierce competition, and the last game being a hard SKT1 smackdown. Lecaf gets their chance at some redemption against another top team, KTF Magicians. KTF has been struggling as well the last few weeks, taking a few losses to ESTRO and Hanbit while barely scraping by ROKAF. Both teams are in need of a win, with over 7 teams competing over the top four spots every win is proving to make or break their season.
In their first meeting, despite Flash's destruction of Hiya, Lecaf Oz managed to run all over KTF in an epic 3-1 victory that included BackHo's insane 2v1 comeback. Over the season however KTF has evolved into quite a force since then with the trio of 815, Lucifer, and of course Flash. They've taken a page out of Lecaf's book, as long as they win 2, Flash can win the rest. Their entire season has rested on that policy and Flash has not let them down. We'll be seeing two of the big three this week, as Lucifer gets some rest after a hard month in June. We have some solid matchups this week, with the CoTW match-up in game two between fOrGG and Flash and an excellent ZvZ in game four between Jaedong and newcomer 815. Expect some great matches ahead in the
Lecaf Oz vs KTF Magicians Match Preview
Game One
BackHo vs Haran on Andromeda
My boy BackHo has been playing outstanding as of late. He's managed to slide his way into the semi's of OSL, showing some fine PvP play. He's also in the Ro16 in the GOM, along with all Lecaf (woot woot!), managing to take a 2-0 series from Kal there as well. While his PvP has gone through the gauntlet, his PvZ is virtually unknown. The last real PvZ he played he cheesed his own teammate Jaedong out of the OSL. Today he's up against Haran, who made a name for himself last season with some stellar upsets against several big name players of 07, such as Mind and Much, but since then has not seen much play with KTF's trio taking most of the slots up the last few months. He did play against Lecaf this season, unfortunately against ZvZ beast Jaedong. He gets a chance for redemption here, but really with so little playtime there's no telling how good Haran really is and what shape he's in. I have to give the edge to BackHo, who has continually been impressing with his play in the starleagues.
Prediction: BackHo > Haran
Lecaf 1 - KTF - 0
Game Two
fOrGG vs Flash on Othello
fOrGG certainly deserves all the success he's been having considering the way he's played this season. He's deep in the MSL thanks to a bold victory over Kal, he recently just beat down Savior to make it into the top 8 of the GOM, and he's been rather success here in proleague. This week he meets his biggest challenge however, and potential MSL Ro4 match-up in Flash.
Flash stumbled a few games in June, but Flash is still the KTF's Ace and as dangerous as ever. His TvT is still the best around, and seeing that he has Lomo to take on in the MSL, must be working fiercely on his TvT, and will most definitely be prepared to take on fOrGG. fOrGG's worst match-up statistically is TvT without a doubt, but 2008 has been a big step for him, and he's made great strides in his TvT play, but last week's game against firebathero looked messy as he got torn to shreds throughout the entire match. I'm sure fOrGG has been practicing his TvT however, seeing his next MSL match will no doubt be a terran, but I expect Flash to take this match with his sheer TvT skill.
Prediction: fOrGG < Flash
Lecaf 1 - KTF 1
Game Three
inter.young/ShinHwa vs Reach/Yellow on Hunters
There's not way around it, inter.young/ShinHwa got beasted last time against one of the worst 2v2 teams in the league. ShinHwa lasted all but 2 minutes, getting run over without any effort by SKT1's Rumble/Bul_T. inter.young has not fared any better this season, getting continuously left aside in the end with lings and zealots swarming all over his base. Yellow has been playing well as of late, showing some signs of life in the GOM early on. With an experienced duo of Reach/Yellow, they can simply just out play Lecaf's young'ns into the ground. It'll be a massacre unless Hunters gets imba. Don't count on it though.
Prediction: inter.young/ShinHwa < Reach/Yellow
Leacf 1 - KTF 2
Game Four
Jaedong vs 815 on Bluestorm
Lecaf will be finding themselves in a familiar position as of late, going into game four and having to try and force an ACE match. This week however their fate will be in their Ace, the killer of Zerg's Jaedong. Jaedong's legendary ZvZ needs no mention, easily the best in the world with his ballsy strategies and intelligent play. 815 has been struggling the last few weeks, showing some signs of weakness after playing some absolutely stellar starcraft early in the season. His ZvZ is rather solid however. He managed to take down Jaedong last season as a matter of fact. 815 has only played one ZvZ this year however, and has a big challenge ahead of him in Jaedong. 815 may give Jaedong a challenge, and Jaedong's last ZvZ lost was on Bluestorm. In the end however I fully expect to see the zerg champ to take down yet another victim for the year and carry Lecaf into an ACE match.
Prediction: Jaedong > 815
Lecaf 2 - KTF 2
ACE Match
on Katrina SE
Destiny seems to have a funny way of working in Starcraft. I expect destiny to have Jaedong face Flash in yet another epic Bo5 series in the MSL, and I expect destiny to have a preview match of it here in the ACE match on Katrina, where Flash first destroyed Jaedong with an epic mech build. fOrGG could possibly get a call, as he may want more experience against the young gun, but destiny says Jaedong and Flash must meet for high stake games every time, and the stakes can't be higher as both are hungry to stay near the top of proleague. Get your popcorn ready for this highlight match.
Prediction: Jaedong < Flash
Lecaf 2 - KTF 3 (REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY FTW)
The Final Word
Its going to be a tough series. There are many things that could go wrong for both teams potentially, Haran could defeat BackHo resulting in a disasterous KTF sweep. fOrGG could beat Flash, giving Lecaf a 3-1 win. Things have not been going well for both teams in general, and disaster is likely to strike on of these teams. The most important match will be BackHo vs Haran in my opinion. The winner of the game will dictate the series. ALL IN BACKHO.
Alright, thanks for reading and I'll see you guys in the Lecaf OZ vs KTF Magicians Match Report. Later days Lecaf fans.