Hello ToT)ClouD(! Can you introduce yourself briefly?
Hi, I'm Carlo from Italy, I'm 20 years old, I play protoss and I belong to the awesome team Templars of Twilight.
So let's go over the TSL Ro16 Brackets, and share some thoughts on the upcoming games and players.
Oh well TSL Ro16 turned out just AWESOME. There's everything: the best and most discussed players and even some surprises and new talents. I'm sure this weekend we will have a lot of enjoyment and also some disappointment, everything hyped by some awesome Teamliquid cast.
Nice to see that you're appreciating it. Let's start with discussing the maps a bit. What do you think of the Ro16 mappool?
It was ok. I mean, it's Teamliquid Starleague so in the last part of the tournament it was obvious we had to play korean starleagues maps. Wuthering Heights and Othello will produce very interesting games (since no one of us had the time to practice them too much) and Blue Storm and Zodiac will just be the final challenge for close, well studied matches after a 1-1 score. Can't wait for it.
On to the predictions: Mondragon vs MYM.Dreiven. How do you expect this game to play out? Do you think the fact that Mondragon can pick the third map will play an important role?
Actually I think Dreiven is very unlucky. His PvZ standard - but well executed - style doesn't fit at all Mondragon's versatile and adaptive ZvP. The match won't come to a third game, so I think Mondragon's map choice won't influence the result. I can't really see Dreiven winning this, I'm sorry Grzegorz.
Ok before we can predict the rest, we'll have to make some assumptions on Group C. Who do you think will take first and second place there?
Oh well I think Ret is probably going to win against Castro. His TvZ is top-notch outside Korea and his ZvT is very good too. ZvP is his weak matchup, but I think he will win versus Yayba too. Regarding the second place I'm rooting for Haypro. He has shown awesome skills, but sometimes he can't just play at his best. I hope he makes it out of the group along with Ret ^^.
UPDATE: What ClouD assumed is exactly what happened.
Ok assuming Ret takes C1 and Haypro takes C2, let's move on to the next game: BRAT_OK vs Haypro. BRAT_OK has been really impressing me so far, do you think he will win this?
Err I'm sorry about this but I can't see Haypro winning this unless Brat_ok has a very bad day. There's a lot of difference in skills, and Brat_ok has surely been more motivated and active than Haypro in the last 2 months.
Next up: ClouD vs IefNaij. I don't think there's any way this ClouD newbie is gonna win. Seriously though: your thoughts?
I think Iefnaij is better than me. That doesn't mean I can't win, it's just less likely. I'm practicing very hard for it so I know games won't be easy for both. My prediction is I will lose 2-1.
Your MSN name currently reads "I need PvP practice". Is the overall absence of Protosses in ToT) limiting your practice? Who are you training with?
Well it's more like "wish me good luck I'm not as good as JF in pvp" but yes I got some very good players to practice with inside and outside ToT, but I don't want to tell their names atm.
Moving on to the next match: DinOt vs Rondo. As a protoss player yourself, would say he got lucky getting out of his sick group, or is he showing a lot of potential?
I think Rondo pulled off something incredible coming out of that hard as hell group. I can't do anything but congratulate to him, winning against such good players means only he has a lot of potential to unleash. However Dinot is showing even more impressive results as well so I'll say he will win 2-0.
The next match is a PvZ between Kr and your teammate GOsia. You probably have played a lot of games with GOsia, do you think his ZvP is strong enough to take this down?
The problem isn't really about Gosia skills. Skillwise I'd say he can pretty much beat anyone in this tournament, but he's very emotive and sometimes he lacks motivation and determination. I've seen him playing very bad lately, but I hope he will make an huge comeback in this TSL and show everyone what's he's made of. I think this will be very hard for Kr, but since he has shown impressive results lately i'd say he might take a game out of Gosia. So my prediction is 2-1 for Gosia.
Still in the assumption that Ret will take the first seed in group C, he'll have to play Nony in the Ro16. Like you already mentioned, Ret's ZvP is his weakest matchup, and Nony is really strong. Do you think Ret stands a chance?
I think overall both players are at the same level. However Ret doesn't stand a chance just because ZvP is his weakest and PvZ is probably Nony best. I predict Nony wins 2-0, but I'm cheering for Ret and I hope he surprises everyone winning this.
One of the most exciting games: Draco vs Strelok. A former champion against a current champion, one might say. They'll both have no experience on the new maps though. Any thoughts?
Maybe to boost my ego I should say Draco will win cause he raped me so bad in the groupstage. However I think Strelok will take this 2-0. He's very good lately and he practices with dedication, so he deserves to win more than Draco.
Last game: Idra vs White-Ra. I would say Idra definately has an advantage, with the Korean proleague maps being played and the practice he's been getting. White-Ra is really solid though. Do you think Idra will take this easily?
This will be the most interesting. Idra has an advantage over practice time and quality, but White-Ra is well known for giving his best only at important tournaments. I don't want to make a prediction for this, I think this match is just a big question mark.
That was it. Thanks alot for your insight, and good luck against JianFei. Any cookiemonster shoutouts?
Yes.
Haha you even have it as an MSN emoticon.
Of course.