It seemed almost unthinkable a few weeks ago, when Prime held the triple-crown of the IPL TAC, KSL, and GSTL championships, that they could ever lose a series. Since then, they've suffered two incredible all-kills at the hands of skillful young players, and their team league hegemony has come to a crashing end.
StartaleQ will try to make sure they don't suffer the same fate as last season's champions, as they go up against FXOpen in an elimination match tonight!
by WaxangelMatch results from Live Report Thread by opterown.+ Show Spoiler [Results] +CoCa the Slayer
– SlayerS_CoCa all-kills in 5 – 1 victory over defending champions PrimeOne day after
Byun earned a crucial shard of redemption in the GSL,
CoCa, Byun's accomplice in the
ESV Weekly controversy also found his moment to shine once more. With SlayerS-EG going up against the defending GSTL champions in an elimination match, CoCa ensured his team's survival with a tremendous all-kill over some of the best players in the world.
In an ironic twist of fate, CoCa's incredible run began with a victory over Byun. Banished from the SlayerS line-up for months after throwing a completely won game to let his friend have some additional practice, CoCa made sure that this time, the GG came from the correct side. Though CoCa couldn't change the indiscretions of the past, it was a vital step in writing himself a brighter future.
CoCa's toughest challenge ended up being
Creator, who was sent out immediately after Byun's defeat to quell the rising threat. Creator appeared have firm control of the game, incinerating several infestors and tearing down CoCa's greater spire with a drop as the two players split Daybreak down the middle. However, CoCa was able to punish Creator for being too liberal with his use of mass-recall, taking down several bases with brood lords and infestors while Creator lacked the energy for an all important vortex. Creator never recovered from that blow, and CoCa continued to push through Creator's side of the map until he received his opponent's surrender.
None of the other Prime players managed to put up much of a fight.
BBoongBBoong lost to CoCa's mass roaches and infestors, and even the dreaded combination of
MarineKing and Antiga Shipyard was crushed by CoCa's inspired macro play.
Prime saved
Maru for last, entrusting their fate to their very young but equally fearless Terran player. Maru chose to gamble on a two barracks bunker rush, but it was a risk that didn't pay off. CoCa stuffed the attack and took a solid advantage, and then repaid the favor by countering with a massive baneling bust. Maru's barracks wall wasn't enough to save him, and he conceded the final GG of the night as zerglings overran his base.
Player of the Night: CoCaAfter SlayerS finally let him out of the doghouse a few months ago, CoCa struggled to regain the form that saw him reach the quarter-finals of the GSL and the finals of MLG. Though he played well online, success in GomTV's Mokdong studio continued to evade him. While he's still mired in Code B for individuals leagues, this GSTL all-kill might just be the spark that rekindles CoCa's career.
Game of the Night: Game Three– CoCa vs CreatorCreator appeared to be in control for much of this half-map split PvZ on Daybreak. Though he seldom ventured onto CoCa's side of the map, everything seemed to be happening on Creator's terms. He took down CoCa's greater spire at a crucial moment and also roasted large numbers of infestors in a key battle. Sitting safe on five bases with a carrier transition on the way, Creator looked to be in a very comfortable position.
However, Creator's decision to expend his Mothership's energy on what was ultimately fruitless mass-recall harassment spelled his doom. CoCa still had a strong army of brood lords, corruptors, and infestors that needed to be fought, and without the help of a vortex, it was a fight Creator could not win. On the whole, this was an interesting "comeback" game, but one that's easily nitpicked.
by WaxangelWhere They StandStarTaleQ have been busy doing StartaleQ-ish things, getting pounded by an inferior NS HoSeo team while all of their Code S players failed to play up to their credentials. Honestly, it does feel just a bit unfair to single out Startale for that kind of inconsistency. The all-kill format lends towards incredible hot streaks, and many other teams have found themselves getting torn down by the unlikeliest of players. NSH's Sculp and Jjakji aren't the worst players to lose to, not by any means. Still, a loss is a loss, and STQ will need to do a lot better to avoid Prime's fate.
They'll get another chance to prove themselves against
FXOpen, who are similar to NS HoSeo in being a team that's inferior to StartaleQ on paper. FXO's top four of Leenock, Oz, Gumiho, and Lucky used to be the best four in the GSTL, but all of them have lost a lot of their luster since their peaks in late 2011. Even if Oz hadn't departed for FnaticRC, FXO would still be a team on the decline. Lucky's back in Code B, while Leenock and Gumiho have fallen far from being top Code S players. Even without Polt or Symbol playing a role, it wasn't much of a surprise to see FXOpen lose to a rising powerhouse in TSL.
The Opening MatchST_Hack Entombed Valley FXOasd (aka Nuclear)Entombed Valley isn't a great Terran map statistically, but it's one that Terran players seem to think is fairly playable.
From the Startale perspective, Hack is a completely unremarkable, safe choice. He's not one of their stars, but he's a player who does well in online tournaments, and I'm going to say it's a safe bet he's a strong player in practice as well. That's exactly the kind of player you see deployed as the point man in 50%+ of GSTL games (statistics supplied by: my gut).
We haven't heard much from asd in a while now, so it will be interesting to see how he plays in his first GomTV appearance in months. I wish I could say more, but asd just hasn't given us much to get excited about for a while now.
Key PlayersStartaleQ: The guys in the limelightStartale's team name is apt; they happen to have a lot of stars. The trouble is, they don't always play like stars.
Bomber and
Squirtle have been the streaky-inconsistent sort of team league stars since the early days, and it has almost become a fact of life we've come to accept. However, in the case of
PartinG, there's still room to hope he could become that solid player Startale needs, and as a result, room to be disappointed when he falls short. When PartinG came to prominence in individual leagues, he seemed to be the piece that would send Startale over the top as championship contenders. In reality, he's averaged less than one win per appearance in the GSTL, and Startale's success last season came in spite of his failures.
Since
PartinG has only played one and a half seasons in the GSTL thus far, there's still a chance that he could become a better player for his team. Interestingly enough, his single best performance happened to be when the stakes were the highest, in the GSTL finals. Maybe he'll feel similarly motivated now that his team faces elimination.
FXOpen: Zergs, the guys in the shadowsIn the past, you knew FXOpen was going to come at you with a line-up of
Leenock,
GuMiho,
Oz, and
Lucky, supported alternately by
Choya or
asd. Now that Oz has left the team, a spot has opened up for all the players who never got a chance last season. Last week,
Tear managed to come up big by taking two games off TSL, the most of any FXOpen player that night. Whether it's Tear or someone else, FXO needs their lesser known guys to seize this opportunity and fill in for the team's slumping stars.
On that note, it's bizarre how Lucky and Leenock haven't enjoyed improved results at all after the controversial queen patch. Leenock's case is especially strange because ZvT was his best match-up even before the queen patch, yet his results are even worse somehow. With many other teams riding the Zerg gravy train this GSTL, FXOpen will have to hope their Zergs figure out how to cash in as well.
Prediction:FXOpen are huge underdogs in this match. Given the preponderance of Zerg in this GSTL, I do admit there's a chance of Leenock, Lucky, and JKS finding a way to get five wins between themselves. But given the preponderance of overall skill in StartaleQ's roster, there's a way bigger chance that any combination of Startale players will secure the win for their team.
Whether you go purely by results or just by subjective judgment, StartaleQ has at least three or more players who I would say right now, are better than FXO's ace in Leenock. The cumulative strength of StartaleQ's roster is just way more powerful than FXO's, and FXO will need a minor miracle to prevail.
StartaleQ 5 – 3 FXOpen 
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they were doing so well at the end of last year, were one of my favourite teams
