Editor's note: this article was written by thedeadhaji.
Cover image by KizZBG
Enter, Stage Left by thedeadhaji TeamLiquid: Final Edits
The makeup of an ideal squad for Proleague consists of a set of above-average singles players, one – preferably two – dependable 2v2 teams, and depth in the lineup that can make up for a given player’s periodic slumps. Oh, and a little bit of luck doesn’t hurt either.
This is all nice and dandy, but if you are a team that doesn’t have all of the above (or any of the above, for that matter!), how do you go about filling those holes? Professional Starcraft rarely affords a team the option of grabbing a star player off of free-agency like baseball or most other major sports (although recent events have definitely defied the odds on this one). On top of this, many of the teams don’t possess the financial muscle to make such acquisitions even when the opportunities arise (Hello there Hanbit.) Instead, talent must be sought from within their own roster.
From one season to the next, the players who are most likely to make great strides are what we may term the ‘minor leaguers’ in each team (apologies for the repeated baseball references, but it’s that time of year). Only in special circumstances (i.e. Casy, Goodfriend) can a veteran player find that ‘something’ that makes everything click, suddenly making him a force to be reckoned with. Furthermore, 2v2 teams are so unstable that it does not seem wise to put too much weight into them. Just look at the Hanbit 2v2 team, one of the most prolific during 2007 Season 1. Their performance was nowhere near this level in season 2. So if this proposed hypothesis is true, which teams are best equipped to capitalize in the coming season and beyond?
Of course, there are a handful of teams that don’t need much help to reach the top, as they already possess stacked lineups. But if the roster decisions by the two biggest powerhouses in progaming, SKT1 and KTF are any indication, even the most powerful of Proteams are looking at their young players to improve their chances. For a bit more on KTF’s choices, I’ll point you to pubbanana’s always excellent blog entry. If you need more evidence for the importance of the ‘kids’, look no further than MBC, whose once mighty lineup of singles players has now been shaved down significantly.
I initially started contemplating this theme back in October, during the earliest stages of last season’s Proleague. I made a list of players for each team who have shown promise and were likely to continue progressing, contributing to their team’s efforts by mid-2008 or so. Well it’s been nearly 6 months since then, and an entire Proleague season has gone by. Some teams’ prospects have remained relatively constant, others’ have improved quite nicely, and some would prefer that we not approach them with this topic.
Before I go into my take on the teams’ prospects, I should make one thing clear. This article seeks to identify the improvement potential of the teams that could thrust them upwards in the standings in the coming seasons. It is by no means a prediction of where the teams will finish next season. A clean way of saying it would be “how much unharnessed potential a team has”, as a function of the abilities of their underlings We’ll start from the bottom of the barrel and make our way to the top.
12. Air Force Ace Ranking back in October 2007 – 12 October 2007 – None March 2008 – None
I don’t think there’s any question that out of all teams, Ace has the least potential from improvement. Their current players are old and mostly out of form, and the new blood they receive are players who had a reason to leave their former team in the first place. In an age where the government is letting players defer their military service for great lengths (i.e. Yellow being a graduate student), a player must have a compelling reason to leave their current team – and their motives usually include sub-par performance.
Adding Oversky and Daezang ‘could’ have improved this team last year. Did it though? Not much right?
11. Ongamenet Sparkyz Ranking back in October 2007 – 11 October 2007 – None March 2008 – Go.Go
OGN is by far the most young-talent deprived team out there. The fact that their front line is suspect already makes for a bad situation, but the dearth of talent behind them is seriously alarming. Chalrenge made some noise early last year, but his macro is too suspect to expect the kind of stability desired from a Proleague contributor. Flower and Leta have been unconvincing.
I will probably get some heat for this choice, but out of the second-teamers in OGN, Go.Go stands out as the one with the most potential to make a difference in the coming year. He plays in a rather unusual style (oh how surprising for an OGN player) that has somehow proven successful over the course of the whole year. If I had to bet money on this I’d bet against him breaking out this year. But he is the only one who seems ‘different’ from the rest of the chumps in this squad.
10. WeMade Fox Ranking back in October 2007 – 8 October 2007 – Mind, Casy March 2008 – Casy
Why has Mind’s name been removed since October for WeMade? That would be because he is a known commodity whose potential has – for the most part – been realized. The team now has a solid one-two pair with Nada and Mind, but whether these two players will be abused a-la Anytime-Jaedong… we’ll have to see.
So that leaves us with Casy, the much heralded transfer player. His most recent accomplishments include forcing Jy into retirement with a nuke build. But if one thing has remained constant from his OGN days, it is his abysmal macro abilities. His TvP seems to be on the upswing, but his economy management still leaves much to be desired. (His first person view on a TvP on Blue Storm demonstrated his lack of proficiency in unit production, along with very poor building placement) IF he can pick something up from Nada in this department, who knows what he can accomplish.
Keke is still ways from becoming a reliable contributor, and Hero is borderline at best.
9. Lecaf OZ Ranking back in October 2007 – 7 October 2007 – Lomo March 2008 – Lomo
The reigning champions of 2007 and the recipient of unfair bias from the author (me), actually have one of the weakest set of youngsters. It’s really no surprise, considering they fell to Samsung in season 1 due to a lack of depth in their singles lineup.
The only player who can make an impact to improve their 1v1 lineup is Lomo, who is, by all accounts, aother ‘generic terran’. He is quite strong in all matchups, and I’d much rather prefer seeing him in a singles match that ForGG, whose play is entertaining for the wrong reasons and is characteristically unreliable. Whether Lecaf can repeat as champions will hinge on finding a reliable 3rd and 4th singles player, because by god I am going to kill myself if I see Back-Fucking-Ho in a playoff lineup one more time.
Bright has some promise from the relatively little we’ve seen from him, but his role as a 2v2 player will limit his development. His performance most likely won’t reach relevant levels until much later than the 2008 season.
8. MBC Game Hero Ranking back in October 2007 – 9 October 2007 – Ruby March 2008 – Ruby
Not much has changed for MBC over the course of the last 6 months… aside from losing some Protoss player. They still have a very strong team, but are now coming alarmingly close to having a thin 1v1 lineup, having lost two of their biggest contributors last year.
The only two players of note in the second line are Ruby and Hyun - and the latter’s play has never shown that extra something needed to make me believe in him. Ruby on the other hand, while having mixed results over the course of 2007, has shown some performances that have bordered on spectacular. He has shown he can macro like a machine, and has shown he can micro with the best of them. He isn’t always ‘by the book’, which seems increasingly important these days. If he can put his best performances in each department and put them on the table at once, MBC is going to have a great asset in their hands.
Whether Ruby can harness this potential or not is going to be incredibly important for MBC in the coming seasons.
7. Samsung Khan Ranking back in October 2007 – 6 October 2007 – Jangbi March 2008 – Jangbi
Jangbi was always touted as one who could be “the next big thing”. The first half of 2007 certainly didn’t go too well for the youngster, as he crashed and burned in Proleague, was visibly nervous in his first ODT and generally underperformed. Despite his poor stats he would occasionally show dominant performances, befuddling many of us who watched him play on a regular basis.
His Proleague round 2 record was still atrocious, and yet he proved himself with a top 4 finish in Gom TV S4. It shouldn’t to too tall of a task to capture some of the magic he found in the individual leagues and put it to use in Proleague don’t you think?
6. STX Soul Ranking back in October 2007 – 2 October 2007 –Calm, Kal, Terror March 2008 – Calm
Back in October, Calm was coming off a season in which he had poor stats but showed a lot of plus tools in his makeup. It started to show in the second season, as he contributed greatly to a STX team that hardly played Sheis, one of their horses from the previous seasons. While his tools are rounding out, I can’t help but think there is a bit more left in his potential. Parts of his game are still unpolished, and if he can bring his management level one step higher, STX might find themselves with an ace for the one race that’s missing right now.
Kal was just a so-so Protoss, known for a penchant for shuttle play more than any other strong suit. He sure did improve this season though, to the point where I don’t see him providing much more for STX by marginally improving his already strong, consistent play. By virtue of him fulfilling his potential, he’s off the list of STX players who could ‘break out’. Terror on the other hand comes off the list for the opposite reason. He really hasn’t shown anything to make me believe that his growth will have the pace needed to contribute this year. It doesn’t help that he’s in a now suddenly deep lineup, being relegated mainly to 2v2 despite having shown quite scary macro in the past.
5. CJ Entus Ranking back in October 2007 – 4 October 2007 – Kwanro, TheManiaMST, Devil March 2008 – TheManiaMST, Devil
If there is one team that doesn’t necessarily need a fresh crop of players, it’s without a doubt CJ Entus. With the addition of GGPlay over the off season, they have an unbelievable lineup of Savior – Iris – Much – GGPlay – Darkelf – Xellos for their frontline. Ridiculous.
Kwanro really surprised me this season, having great results on top of strong play. However, I just don’t get the sense that he will significantly improve upon the skillset he currently possesses. He’ll continue to be his aggressive, powerful self, but I can’t convince myself that he will do something significantly better than what he did during the last few months.
TheManiaMST was completely unknown to me until the first ODT season of 2007, where he showed that he really had some serious potential. However, that was before I got to see over the course of more games that his micro was severely lacking. More often than not his macro covers for his deficiency, but it is still something he should, and undoubtedly will be working on. On the flip side, the fact that he has posted reasonable results with such a lack of micro (particularly in TvZ), means that with improved control, his performance has a very real possibility of rocketing up. You could say that he is a ForGG.Jr in a way – immense macro, shabby micro, and a fearsome proposition if they add some finesse to their game.
Most of you probably don’t remember/have the slightest clue who Devil is. As a reminder, he is the Korean amateur that went 1-2 against Hwasin in the WCG Korean qualification, showing July-esque micro + low economy play. Devil high upside but low probability. The biggest barriers for his growth will be developing management ability to complement his control (which should be facilitated by having Savior and GGPlay around), and perhaps equally as important: finding playing time.
4. KTF Magicn’s Ranking back in October 2007 – 5 October 2007 – 815, Haran, Lucifer March 2008 – 815, Haran
Firstly, Flash is a known commodity. He might improve upon his abilities even more this season, but his incremental increase in ability won’t have nearly the same impact as a brand new player rising to the task.
Back in October, Lucifer’s play was extremely unknown, having only shown himself in Survivor and nothing else. His subsequent play however was rather uninspiring, leading me to remove him from consideration for the purposes of this piece. I just don’t see him being able to really contribute any time soon.
Haran and 815 on the other hand, showed strong game after strong game. 815 used a somewhat unorthodox semi-Sauron style to great effect, in particular on Blue Storm and Katrina. On first glace you’d never think 815 has much of a chance in the ever competitive proscnece. He looks like a farm boy, has thick ass eyebrows, and has a map name for his ID ffs. It’s not like his gameplay is super-refined either, as he is often seen adding many hatcheries at once around the midgame. But what is undeniable is his results, and the fact that the force with which he has won has gotten stronger and stronger. Remember him losing to Anytime (I think) in ODT ro48 last spring? Those days are far gone as he continues to climb up the KTF ladder.
I really can’t put a finger on Haran. To be honest I don’t really know exactly why I think he’s going to develop. It’s one of those ‘gut feelings’ that he’ll make it happen, based on the kind of game he plays. It also doesn’t hurt that KTF has an absolutely massive roster filled with young players who could prove themselves worthy.
3. SK Telecom T1 Ranking back in October 2007 – 3 October 2007 – Best, Mujuk March 2008 - Best
SKT1 is in transition. Like KTF, they began making the switch to young players, but at the same time stuck to their old guns as well. As a result, they were left with neither wins nor player development. Whether T1’s younger players fully develop will depend not only on the players’ abilities, but also in the direct the team takes as a whole.
Best needs something other than his macro to take himself to the next level. He’s improved considerably over the last year, becoming a stabilizing presence in T1’s lineup. However, all around solid is good – but not quite good enough to fully carry a team. But his foundation is strong, and his play is incredibly steady. From what I’ve seen, he’ll continue to steadily improve on all aspects of the game, and while he may not advance much further in starleagues, he should become an even more valuable part of T1’s roster.
Mujuk I feel has slowed down in his progress compared to the end of 2006. At that time, he seemed to be ahead of his fellow T1 toss, Best in ability. While Best has steadily formulated a stable, steady style, Mujuk seems to be variable in his style, pace and execution methods. His arsenal is more versatile than Best and I still think his ceiling is higher than Best, but he has often looked lost in his game this season. I’m not really sure what he needs to reach the next level, and he certainly is an asset to T1 already. But if a T1 toss is going to inherit the throne from Kingdom, I’m still willing to bet it’s Mujuk rather than Best.
I never quite bought into the hype behind Shudder, and Fantasy has no other weapon than his macro that he can utilize. Hope for the best, but don’t expect dividends on these two investments too soon. They certainly have potential, but it seems to be too early.
2. Estro Ranking back in October 2007 – 1 October 2007 –Magma, Sangho, Cool March 2008 – Magma, Cool
I wonder how many of you guys remember the CJ Superfight Proleague back in early 2007. In the first round, we had the oh-so-amazing match between Hery and Magma. Magma absolutely sucked that game, and we rightfully labeled him a crappy zerg. Fast forward a year, and his reputation is that of a solid, reliable – albeit unspectacular – zerg. His improvement has been steady and constant, climbing the steps of progress one at a time. There is nothing flashy about his progress, but his improvement is simply unmistakable. Considering the manner in which he has advanced, and the type of gameplay he has been showing us, I don’t think he’s going to be slowing down any time soon. That’s right. I actually believe Magma can ‘make it’. While he may not be moving forward at a blistering rate like some others, he may end up ahead in the end when they all run out of fuel.
Sangho’s style is strongly reminiscent of Kal’s. Decent all-around, with a strong emphasis on harassment play. It is a characteristic of the “New-age mediocre Protoss” that I have been seeing, but that topic is for another article. But while he seemed to improve a bit from season 1 to the beginning of season 2, Sangho pretty much plateaued off in the second half of the season. It’s conceivable that he somehow pull a Kal and blossom into someone to be reckoned with, but I honestly doubt it will happen at this point.
Then there is Cool[fou], who has been a tantalizing figure on Estro along with Tester (please don’t get me started on Tester. his poor performance is simply inexplicable and downright ridiculous considering his phenomenal fundamentals. If there is such a term as a ‘losing player’, it doesn’t belong to Yellow or Goodfriend. That’s Tester’s territory.) He has given us overpowering performances, then confusingly weak showings in random intervals. In terms of upside, I don’t think many of you would argue against a high ceiling for him. However, Estro’s reliance on him as a 2v2 player has seemingly undermined his skills as a singles player. I’m unsure where he belongs, bug something deep inside me wants to believe that this guy can make it out of the hole he’s in right now.
1. Hanbit Stars Ranking back in October 2007 – 10 October 2007 – None March 2008 – Guemchi, Zero
Back in October, Hanbit had absolutely no one who could add to their singles roster. You know things are bad when you use Ganzi multiple times in a season. Repeat that out loud to yourself, and you’ll be shaking your head in disgust just like me. That all changed around December though, when two babyfaces came up.
In terms of pure upside I don’t think anyone can go toe to toe with Hanbit’s duo. Hanbit’s position atop this list is by virtue of how early in the development stages these two players are, despite having demonstrated both the mental and physical makeup to perform at the highest level.
Zero’s Proleague stats were pretty ugly, but showed that he has the balls to pull it out when it really matters, as he did against Odin in Survivor. Combined with an well-rounded but unsolidified playstyle, and I just see him having a lot of room to improve, and at a rapid pace at that. What really worries me though is GGPlay’s departure from Hanbit, leaving Zero without a mentor to directly instruct him. It’s truly a shame, since this will probably have a negative effect on his immediate development. On the other hand, Guemchi still has Free around to show him the way. He already showed last season that he is up to the task, opening 3-0 after his debut. And while his Proleague stats were unremarkable much like Zero, watching him play just gave me an indescribable feeling of amazement that he could come out and play in the way he did.
Both these guys clearly have enough talent, but the question is whether they can properly mold it into form. Maybe I am overestimating their potential, but this is Hanbit Stars, and you know what that means.
“Hanbit are not backed by the richest of sponsors. They are not a flashy team, and they do not have superstars. But they have history, they have a strong coaching foundation, and they always have veteran leadership. They are quiet not because they are timid or because they are scared. They are quiet because they are fucking Hanbit Stars, and GGPlay and Free will make sure you know, one way or another. And when the current aces move on or retire, there will be the next batch of aces ready to continue the tradition. Hanbit may not look like much, but they know their history and will fiercely defend it. Underestimate them at your own peril.” --HonestTea
They will definitely get chances, considering how badly depleted Hanbit’s lineup is, now that GGPlay has departed.
Veterans cannot maintain their form forever. Literally every single great thus far has experienced a fall from grace, beginning with Boxer, Yellow, Reach, extending into oov and July, and reaching even Savior and Bisu. There is no guarantee that a team that is strong right now can sustain its dominant form for even a year longer – and when that time comes, they must inevitably find a replacement to the star.
When the season starts in the coming weeks, I will be keeping an eye on these players mentioned above even more so than our favorite sons. They are the ones that will sustain the team’s glory, the ones that can propel them to success. Out from the heroes’ shadow, they will start to shine.
Last edit: 2008-03-27 08:10:03
@Hot_Bid on Twitter - ESPORTS life since 2010 - http://i.imgur.com/U2psw.png
Very nice and well articulated. Agree with 90% of it.
I've always like eStro for some reason, they've got decent players, but with flawed finesse.
I like Sangho, he's got the essence of an all-around good fighter, but having no strengths is a major weakness. Cool/Kwanro are the ZvT wonders for their teams. Both aggressive as hell, and incredible when their in top form. Magma has shown great vs P skills, something eStro definetely needs.
BTW this "devil" seems interesting. He showed impressive moves in that series vs Hwasin, but it was the nerves that got to him imo. + Show Spoiler [WCG games] +
But I have serious doubts about Guemchi. His style is reminscent of an outdated Pusan but seems to blow so much at it. Mensol has got great mechanics, standard modern zerg, really young, so who knows what will become of him.
I personally think Fantasy is an amazing player, he has all the elements of another iloveoov, minus the aggressive gene.
Mujuk is pretty mediocre, he's been around for so long and he continues to do outdated builds in his games and screws up advantages. OSC game vs Zergboy and that PvP on Nemesis vs Anytime is an example. Best is awesome, Pusan on roids. Really wish Stork didn't luck out so badly on that game.
O yeah, as odd as it sounds I think frozean deserves some mention. He's improved a lot, one of the few terrans to have winning recs on Katrina, beat Jaedong, and made both leagues. Yeah sure, he looks like a fem-boy and there is nothing spectacular about his play, but he somehow wins games
:D
Daigomi South Africa. March 27 2008 09:03. Posts 4302
Thanks Haji, I've missed your presence on TL, and this is a very nice article, even though I disagree with you a bit.
Firstly, I'd put KTF even higher up. Yes, I am a KTF fan, but of all the teams I really think that KTF shows the most potential, with multiple players showing potential, rather than one or two. After that I would move eSTRO way down. Cool is no longer up-and-coming in my opinion. He has had his chance ot shine, and has shown no consistent results. Magma is a steady player, but he doesn't show as much potential for growth as say Ruby or 815. I would move eSTRO to behind MBC.
Watching Zero's games have done nothing for me. He's macro seems potentially good, but his unit control, decision making, and just general game sense seems dreadful. Maybe this year will prove me wrong, we'll have to see. Guemchi has potential, but it still shows sporadically, so I'd move Hanbit down to sixth position.
Calm seriously impressed me at the end of Proleague R1, with among other wins, a good victory over Bisu. On comes R2, and Calm just doesn't seem to win, and he doesn't qualify for any leagues either. I have lost some faith in Calm, but can still see him doing something.
I agree with you fully on go.go. More than just their player with the most potential for growth, go.go would be my go to guy in OGN at the moment. Both the twins are unpredictable, and it seems like only go.go (with his unpredictable playing style), delivers consistent results. I've always liked him as well- a little arrogant brat that made TT throw a temper tantrum and laughed about it afterwards. He seems to have a bit of zest that some players are lacking.
CJ I agree with you completely. Kwanro performed incredibly well, and then seemed to get caught in a creativity rut where he showed nothing new in game after game. TheMania and Devil both show potential for growth though (and I consider the Mania a very decent player already), so I'm looking forward to watching CJ next season.
Samsung... Their position feels right, but they don't seem to have any up and coming players. Jangbi seems to me to be established already, so I wouldn't really include him, and they're not trying out anyone new, so I'd probably move Samsung down considerably. The only player that I still feel has great potential for growth is FBH, even though he's a strong player already.
Finally, I think MBC can be a bit higher. Ruby shows great potential, and I enjoy watching him play. Shark has recently shown an upsurge in form, and it seems like he has worked on his less than brilliant macro as well, so I think he could improve more too, and Hyun... at the very least he delivers entertaining games. I think he has what it takes, and MBC seems to be playing him fairly often in the proleague, so they have faith in him too.
That's my opinion on the matter! Thanks for the great write-up, it's one of the most interesting articles I've read in a while. Hope to see you participate a bit more again!
EDIT: And as much as it pains me to say so, I'm still unsure about Haran. He has shown brilliant wins so far, but he hasn't shown flexibillity yet. Once he wins a game with hydras or mutes I will agree with you.
Last edit: 2008-03-27 09:06:26
fusionsdf Canada. March 27 2008 09:06. Posts 15354
SKT_Best: "I actually chose Protoss because it was so hard for me to defeat Protoss as a Terran. When I first started Brood War, my main race was Terran."
JoMal Trinidad/Tobago. March 27 2008 09:13. Posts 1177
I personally feel that MBC has a very nice set of rookies coming through, as do CJ and SKT. SKT has Best (<3) and they didn't win the rookie league for no reason either! CJ have a handful of great talent there. While MBC have Ruby and Hyun (as well as some recent intakes like Nsp_rang, yu yu jin fighting!)
KTF basically have Flash and 815. 815 is overrated imo, sure he's a beast on Blue Storm, but im reserving judgement until i see something on other maps. Hanbit has great spirit, but a lack of veterans (now) to pull through with a premiere lineup of rookies.
~ Spirit will set you free ~
Last Romantic United States. March 27 2008 10:48. Posts 20146
I think KTF's minor leaguers that didn't see much ProLeague play [Tempest)Is(, Violet[Name], By.Barracks, By.SaiR, By.RaiD] are amongst the best of the up-and comers as well; for that reason I'd move KTF up. And because I'm a fanboy but shhh.
But yeah. Interesting read - I agreed with most, disagreed with some, but enjoyed it all.
ㅋㄲㅈㅁ It's not four straight wins, it's 2^2 wins in a row for ACE - DCinside
NeoIllusions United States. March 27 2008 11:30. Posts 17898
On March 27 2008 11:30 NeoIllusions wrote: Nice to have you back writing, even if you're not reading. 1v1 haji?
I actually think you have it backwards there, he reads but deosn't post, which would account for the fact he banned someone but i havent seen a post from him in a while, hence hotbid posting this. I think he just reads and doesn't really post anymore, but when he writes something like this he can't hide it thankfully
<3's Mani and Seraphim, thx for the second chance. TSL Name: TSL-mSLeGenD
Pangolin United States. March 27 2008 14:43. Posts 998
Really interesting article. Makes me excited for the next season of proleague. I agree with HonestTea that some teams seem better at developing rookies. I would think the reason for this would be both quality of coaching and how much the better players want to act as mentors.
It's easier not to.
useLess United States. March 27 2008 17:36. Posts 4781
I would have mentioned FireFist in the wemade section. Although, he hasn't done much flashy things and failed to qualify in individual leauges, but that is not the point here, right?
But maybe, I just like him more than he deserves, what do you think?
On March 27 2008 12:01 HonestTea wrote: Thank you Haji!
Now here's a thought: do you think some teams develop their players better than others? Or do they just luck into quality rooks?
For example, SK Telecom is pretty atrocious in developing rooks... and so was KTF, except they got real lucky with Flash.
On the other hand, Lecaf, MBC, and CJ seem to always have a knack for developing in-house talent.
But on one hand this isn't entirely reflected in the rookie league results nor the number of champions each breed.
Lecaf are pretty terrible at training a mass of rookies, but they train champions from their small pool. MBC are great at training a mass of rookies, but they're not as good at training champions (July was kinda before the whole mbc rookie invasion)
CJ.. i dont know, i have mixed feelings about them. I feel they are halfway between MBC and Lecaf to be honest.
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Last Romantic United States. March 27 2008 10:48. Posts 20146
1v1 haji?
March 27 2008 12:01. Posts 5000
MoNKeYSpanKeR United States. March 27 2008 13:30. Posts 2869
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