The Round of 16 came to a close last week. Find out which players made it through and see who's facing off in the Round of 8 in this edition of the MSL Update._____________________________________________________________________
Inside Week 2
_____________________________________________________________________VODs by RanshinShow/Hide SpoilerPianO vs Canata
Game 2: P1, P2
Game 3: P1
fOrGG vs Calm
Game 2: P1
Game 3: P1
ZerO vs Pure
Game 2: P1, P2
Game 3: P1
Flash vs Kwanro
Game 2: P1, P2
Game 3: P1, P2, P3
EffOrt vs UpMagiC
Game 2: P1, P2
Game 3: P1
Iris vs Hwasin
Game 2: P1, P2, P3
Game 3: P1
Jaedong vs Kal
Game 2: P1, P2
Game 3: P1
Bisu vs fantasy
Game 2: P1, P2
Game 3: P1Around the Round of 16 in 80 SecondsShow/Hide SpoilerOkay, maybe a little longer then that. Little bit... Okay, a lot. Jeez!
Flash vs Kwanro - Series of the Week
Game 2
Classic bionic play, oh how I've missed you. Flash takes it back to '08 with a bio build and rocks Kwanro from top-to-bottom. Kwanro's two-hatched muta fail to set Flash back, giving the Terran full control of the game. The nail in the coffin happened late midgame when Flash dumped a medic-and-marine army in Kwanro's main, annihilating all the drones and causing massive damage in the area. Once Flash took down Kwanro's third a few minutes later, the game was over.
Entertainment Value:
Game 3
Flash one-rax expanded and transitioned into a SK Terrran build, but his poorly-defended natural became open season to Kwanro's three-hatch muta play. The mutalisk ended up doing much more damage then they perhaps should have, leaving Kwanro free to go for the Outsider ZvT build - guardians into teched out ultralisks. Flash caught the guards morphing and stopped that transition, but his SK Terran build had no chance against the million sunken colonies at Kwanro's door. Soon, Kwanro pushed out in a big way, dropping four ultralisk in the main while crushing the third with ultra/ling and engaging the natural with ultra/defiler. In a flash (zing!), Flash was down to one base mining. A fleet of science vessels kept things interesting, but Kwanro continued to overwhelm him in true Zerg fashion till the game - and series - was his.
Kwanro takes down Flash 2-1 to advance to the Round of 8.
Entertainment Value:Jaedong vs Kal
Game 2
It was all Jaedong in this game. Ling break-ins, dizzying lair-tech switches, and more pounds Kal straight out of the MSL. Indiana Jaedong takes a step further to the holy grail.
Jaedong trounces Kal 2-0 to advance to the Round of 8.
Entertainment Value:
PianO vs Canata
Game 2
Canata just played flat out solid. Both players went for a one-fact/one port build, but Canata took an early lead with a fast expansion. PianO tried to hit Canata from different angles, including: a vulture and marine push, a tank/vult push, cloaked wraiths, and finally wraith/tank/vult, but Canata held every attack off with next-to-nothing and kept expanding his lead - literally. By the end of the game, Canata was up four CC's to PianO's one-and-a-half.
The rookie completely disappoints in his first Round of 16 appearance and gets booted out of the MSL by the veteran 2-0.
Entertainment Value:
Pure vs ZerO
Game 2
Off his five hatch play, ZerO decided to go for mutalisks first, which quickly denied Pure from picking up an early third expansion. Pure pushed out to ZerO's third with archon/zealot/DT/sair, but ZerO's magical drones held the fort long enough for reinforcements to flood into the scene. ZerO just went all-out macro from here and wiped the floor, kitchen cabinet, and bathtub with Pure. Classy Zerg play here.
ZerOrapes2-0's Pure to advance to the Round of 8.
Entertainment Value:
Hwasin vs Iris
Game 2
Iris took a fast economic lead with a one-rax expand. Hwasin failed to deliver any economic damage to make up the difference, giving Iris full control of the game. Hwasin fought hard, but crumbled in the long-run to his opponent's trademark hyper-aggressive play.
Iris 2-0's Hwasin to advance to the Round of 8.
Entertainment Value:fantasy vs Bisu
Game 2
Bisu quickly sent out two scouting probes to hunt down fantasy and threw down two proxy gateways once he found him at the 9 o'clock position on Outsider. Zealots soon rushed into fantasy's main and massacred it, leaving only three SCVs by the end of the raid. fantasy hung on for hyuk's until Bisu outmacroed him to victory.
Bisu 2-0's fantasy and moves on to the Round of 8.
Entertainment Value:
Calm vs fOrGG
Game 2
fOrGG continued his trend of Game 2 cheese with a forward eight-rax into proxy factory rush, but failed to do terrible, terrible damage to his Zerg opponent. The game got a little silly when fOrGG managed to destroy all of Calm's drones after much persistence, but Calm had amassed enough mutalisk and zerglings by that time to take the game. With next-to-no anti-air in play, fOrGG was forced to tap out.
Calm 2-0's fOrGG to advance to the Round of 8.
Entertainment Value:
EffOrt vs UpMagiC
Game 2
EffOrt slammed down an extractor and forced UpMagiC to go for a one-rax expand instead of his usual mech play. EffOrt made UpMagiC's life even more difficult with a zergling rush that killed several marines and SCVs, allowing him to expo twice. Up went for two, and eventually three-port wraith, but EffOrt's four gas macro allowed him to respond just about any way he wanted. UpMagiC gets rolled over the course of ten-to-fifteen minutes and eventually concedes.
EffOrt 2-0's UpMagiC to advance to the Round of 8.
Entertainment Value:Behind the ScenesShow/Hide Spoiler
Iris knocks out another opponent. Next up, NINJAS.
EffOrt continues to impress.
Bisu bringing back that disco. It ain't happening man, it ain't happening.
The beast... looks like he could use a nap.
Alone in the dark before the big match.
Fan picture of EffOrt! Kinda creepy actually lol.
Cool pre-game booth shot.
What the hell are you still doing here amigo.
Kwanro practicing his modeling for the fangirls.
Calm looking sharp.
fOrGG looking... not so sharp.
"What is that ************ doing up there! I'm ready for my close-up!!!"
I'm hip! I'm cool! West side!? East side!? Southcentral???
You Can't Stop What's Coming
The MSL Round of 8 Preview, Coen Brother's Edition
"Report Back to Me When it Makes Sense."
Jaedong vs Canata
Game 1: Outsider
Game 2: Carthage 3
Game 3: Byzantium 3
Game 4: Heartbreak Ridge
Game 5: Outsider
Game 1: Outsider
Game 2: Carthage 3
Game 3: Byzantium 3
Game 4: Heartbreak Ridge
Game 5: Outsider
Canata is still a huge surprise for me in this tournament, even though his last opponent was a walk in the park. The T1 Terran showed some solid decision-making and preparation in his series against PianO, but the fun ends here in the Round of 8 when he faces Jaedong. Unless Canata pulls off some crazy, crazy antics, it's got to be curtains for him. Jaedong, in any condition, should be more then enough to outmatch Canata.
I feel like this could be a double-edged sword for Jaedong though. He shouldn't have to prepare as hard as he would against someone like Bisu, which should help provide him some extra time to rest, but if he gets to complacent, Canata could pull one of the biggest upsets in the tournament off right here. I would be foolish to question Jaedong, but I am concerned about his health. Two things that will surely have helped him in these past few weeks, however, is the end of Proleague and his elimination from the GOM tournament. The OSL and Proleague Playoffs are still in his future, but finishing up the past two events mentioned should help him carry on at least through the Round of 8.
Prediction: Jaedong > Canata, 3-1.
"Call it, friendo."
EffOrt vs Calm
Game 1: Outsider
Game 2: Carthage 3
Game 3: Byzantium 3
Game 4: Heartbreak Ridge
Game 5: Outsider
We've got an epic showdown instore here. EffOrt and Calm were two of the heroes in Proleague this season. While EffOrt has come a long way since the beginning of this year and has already become one of the proven stars of the game, Calm still has a bit of ways to go before he finally gets the attention he deserves. A series win here would go a long way for the STX Zerg, however, especially after his difficult ace match losses in the Proleague playoffs. Unfortunately, the numbers aren't in his favor - at all. EffOrt's dominating ZvZ is definitely the favorite here, and his 2-0 beating of Jaedong in the GOM definitely solidifies it. Calm is a smart player that can find ways to take a game or two, but ZvZ is his worse matchup in my book, and not up to par with his opponent.
Prediction: EffOrt > Calm, 3-1.
Prediction: EffOrt > Calm, 3-1.
"Oh gee."
Bisu vs Iris
Game 1: Byzantium 3
Game 2: Outsider
Game 3: Carthage 3
Game 4: Heartbreak Ridge
Game 5: Byzantium 3
Game 1: Byzantium 3
Game 2: Outsider
Game 3: Carthage 3
Game 4: Heartbreak Ridge
Game 5: Byzantium 3
Bisu killed my doubts and steamrolled his teammate fantasy last round like it was nothing. Bravo. His PvT ride isn't over though as he faces Iris in the Round of 8. Iris has been as reckless as ever, but it's worked brilliantly for him. I think this is where that reckless style of play is going to let him down though. Bisu is not the type of player that lets people go unpunished for their mistakes, and he is not the type of player that will be harassed so easily, as he proved against fantasy. If people remember back to two seasons ago when Bisu made his title run, his Round of 16 victim was none other then Berserker's last opponent, Hwasin. Hwasin got swept 2-0 then, and firebathero got swept 3-0 right after him. If history repeats itself, then Bisu is poised to sweep yet another Terran victim off the list on his way to another MSL semifinal.
Prediction: Bisu > Iris, 3-0.
"You said it man. Nobody ***** with the ZerO."
ZerO vs Kwanro
Game 1: Heartbreak Ridge
Game 2: Carthage 3
Game 3: Outsider
Game 4: Byzantium 3
Game 5: Heartbreak Ridge
ZerO has just been playing manly as of late. His team might not be in the Proleague playoffs, but his games in both the OSL and MSL have been absolutely amazing to watch. It's really impressive to see ZerO gain this much confidence and experience in such a short period of time. Kwanro has been around the league for a while, but he's playing some of the best StarCraft of his career right here and now. Both player's ZvZ I have to say are about average overall. They have the mechanics, but nothing that makes them as amazing as a player like EffOrt or Jaedong. Kwanro is a slight favorite here though. He's got stronger practice partners within his team and the better muta micro overall.
ZerO, however, is a creative kid that definitely come up with something to counter Kwanro. He's also pulled away from the exact same situation last season when he faced sAviOr. There's an issue that he's playing in two Starleagues right now, but both matchups are ZvZ, and the other is against Jaedong, so that leads me to believe that he'll be more prepared to face Kwanro here. Kwanro also has to prioritize Proleague playoffs for CJ, which is certainly more the important of the two events for him. It's too bad, because this season may be Kwanro's best chance at Starleague success, but his priorities will be in ZvT for Proleague, so this one is going to ZerO in my book.
Prediction: Zero > Kwanro, 3-2.
ZerO, however, is a creative kid that definitely come up with something to counter Kwanro. He's also pulled away from the exact same situation last season when he faced sAviOr. There's an issue that he's playing in two Starleagues right now, but both matchups are ZvZ, and the other is against Jaedong, so that leads me to believe that he'll be more prepared to face Kwanro here. Kwanro also has to prioritize Proleague playoffs for CJ, which is certainly more the important of the two events for him. It's too bad, because this season may be Kwanro's best chance at Starleague success, but his priorities will be in ZvT for Proleague, so this one is going to ZerO in my book.
Prediction: Zero > Kwanro, 3-2.
Films in order from top to bottom:
Burn After Reading
No Country for Old Men
Fargo
The Big Lebowski
Thanks to keit for the graphics!
Burn After Reading
No Country for Old Men
Fargo
The Big Lebowski
Thanks to keit for the graphics!
_____________________________________________________________________
Schedule for the Round of 8
_____________________________________________________________________Complete ScheduleShow/Hide SpoilerThursday, July 23, 2009 - 18:30 KST
Group A: Jaedong vs Canata on Outsider
Group B: EffOrt vs Calm on Outsider
Group C: Bisu vs Iris on Byzantium 3
Group D: ZerO vs Kwanro on Heartbreak Ridge
Thursday, July 30, 2009 - 18:30 KST
Group A: Jaedong vs Canata
Game 2: Carthage 3
Game 3: Byzantium 3
Game 4: Heartbreak Ridge
Game 5: Outsider
Group B: EffOrt vs Calm
Game 2: Carthage 3
Game 3: Byzantium 3
Game 4: Heartbreak Ridge
Game 5: Outsider
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - 18:30 KST
Group C: Bisu vs Iris
Game 2: Outsider
Game 3: Carthage 3
Game 4: Heartbreak Ridge
Game 5: Byzantium 3
Group D: ZerO vs Kwanro
Game 2: Carthage 3
Game 3: Outsider
Game 4: Byzantium 3
Game 5: Heartbreak Ridge
The MSL Challenge Hits Round 3
After two long rounds, the MSL hits the accelerator towards the final stretch of the season, which means it is time for the final round of the MSL Challenge to begin. Head over to this thread now to cast your ballots if you haven't done so yet. The thread closes at 11:59 PM EST Wednesday, so get your ballots in now while there is still time left!_____________________________________________________________________
Sorry for the delay on the standings, it will be up within the next day or so.
Conclusion
That's it for this edition of the Weekly. A big thank you goes out to keit for graphics, and of course to Protoss_111 as well for the banner. Next week, I'll be covering the first week of games in the Round of 8. Stay tuned for that and more in the next edition of the weekly, later days SC2GG.