Καλοκαίρι WTL 2023 – Ανακεφαλαίωση 4ης εβδομάδας/Προεπισκόπηση 5ης εβδομάδας

από: Nakajin

WTL Summer kept bringing on the surprises in Week 3—or at least, the Starving Camels did. The underdog squad forced BASILISK all the way to an ace match, further establishing their wild card credentials. The other surprise of the week was PSISTORM's 2-4 loss to Platinum Heroes, which may have started a crisis for last season's 3rd place team. PSISTORM owner Ο KJ έγραψε στο Twitter ότι έρχονται αλλαγές στο ρόστερ, αφήνοντάς μας μάλλον περίεργους ποιοι θα είναι οι ενισχύσεις.

Ενόψει της Εβδομάδας 5, ο μαρκίζας αγώνας φαίνεται να είναι Shopify εναντίον Team Liquid. Η TL είχε καλή απόδοση από τότε που πρόσθεσε τους SKillous, αλλά έχασε εύκολα στον πιο απαιτητικό αγώνα της εναντίον της ONSYDE. Μια νίκη εναντίον του Shopify θα μας έδειχνε ότι αυτή η ομάδα του TL έχει πραγματικά ανέβει επίπεδο από τις προηγούμενες σεζόν και μπορεί να κολλήσει με τις ομάδες των πλέι οφ.

Also, the Starving Camels are on upset watch again as they go up against ABYDOS. Perhaps ABYDOS didn't get the memo that SSLT are the most dangerous team in the league at the moment, deploying Mondo over NightMare or DRG. This gives the Camels a chance to force another ace match against a stronger opponent, or even get the win.

Ανασκόπηση εβδομάδας 4

Οι 7 κορυφαίες ομάδες προκρίνονται για τα πλέι-οφ.
Οι 2 κάτω ομάδες πρέπει να προκριθούν εκ νέου.
Οι πόντοι απονέμονται ως εξής:

• 3 πόντοι για μια νίκη σε μια σειρά που δεν απαιτεί αγώνα άσο
  
• 2 πόντοι για μια νίκη σε μια σειρά που απαιτεί έναν αγώνα άσσο
  
• 1 βαθμός για μια ήττα σε μια σειρά που απαιτεί έναν αγώνα άσσο
  
• 0 πόντοι για μια ήττα σε μια σειρά που δεν απαιτεί αγώνα άσο

瘦死骆驼 (Starving Camels) 3 - 4 ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΟΣ
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After some scheduling confusion, TooDming and Trigger opened the 4th week of WTL Summer (the Liquipedia graphic above lists the 'official' match order, but the actual match order was TooDming vs Firefly, Silky vs Serral, and then Firefly vs Reynor).

Things were seemingly benign for the Protoss player going through his build progression in game one, but only because he didn't realize the impending danger. Trigger only found out about TooDming's Roach-Bane all-in when it already reached the middle point of the map, and he ended up losing his vulnerable third base after panic-warping units behind some defensive sim city. Despite this, Trigger still had a card to play by hunkering down on defense and playing for a longer game, but he misread ToodMing's intentions once again. Trigger stepped out onto the map just as TooDming was getting ready for a second wave of attacks, which meant he ended up walking headfirst to his doom.

Looking to keep up his momentum, TooDming followed with a good old Queen-Nydus all-in on Altitude. Had his Nydus Worm been spotted a second earlier, his initial attempt in the main may not have worked, but luckily for him, hypotheticals don't go on the scorecard. TooDming took the 2-0 and put the Camels in a fantastic starting position. (By the way, just so everyone remembers they’re old, Trigger said in a post-match interview that he didn’t even know who TooDming was. Still, you figure SOMEONE who watches the WTL should have told him TooDming is one of the cheesier players.)

After stunning Shopify's ByuN with a 1-1 last week, Silky didn’t come close to delivering SSLT the needed upset this week against Serral (although we did get to see a pretty quirky Muta-into-Lurker build). Serral took the 2-0, leaving it to Reynor and Firefly to break the tie.

If one could frame a game of StarCraft and hang it like a painting, Firefly's game one against Reynor deserves a prime spot on his wall. After showing air-tight defense against Reynor's infamously slippery Lings, Firefly also pulled off a near-perfect hold against the committed Roach-Ravager-Bane-Queen attack off of cour bases. That left Firefly with four Colossus and a huge army, which he used to shove the Zerg's head under water and keep it there. For the second week in a row, Firefly had the opportunity to close a match with PvZ on Dragon scales. He chose a similar idea as last week's match versus Lambo, going for a Stargate into a greedy quick fourth with double-robo Colossus behind it. Despite his build being a bit safer than last week, Firefly could not psych out Reynor the same way he did to Lambo. Reynor's mass Roach hit while Firefly was still weak, cutting through him like a hot knife through butter.

Με τον Serral να μην βρίσκεται ανάμεσα σε έναν άντρα και το εγώ του, είδαμε τον Reynor να παρατάσσεται για τον αγώνα άσου για να αποφασίσει το BO3 του ενάντια στο Firefly. Ο Ρέινορ επέλεξε για άλλη μια φορά την επιθετικότητα με την παρενόχληση Roach-Ravager-Queen την οποία υπερασπίστηκε και πάλι η Firefly—αυτή τη φορά μέσω του ελέγχου του Blink-Stalker που δαγκώνει τα νύχια. Οι Camels θα μπορούσαν πιθανώς να γευτούν τη νίκη για ένα δευτερόλεπτο, αλλά ο Firefly παρασύρθηκε στην καταδίωξη, με αποτέλεσμα να χάσει πολλούς από τους Stalkers του για τίποτα. Με το παιχνίδι να επιβραδύνεται, ο Ρέινορ έδειξε την απίστευτη ικανότητά του να παίζει από πίσω, δημιουργώντας ένα άνοιγμα για τον εαυτό του με πτώση Ling στο κύριο Protoss ενώ πίεσε τον τέταρτο με τον στρατό του Roach-Ravager. Αυτή η κίνηση προκάλεσε μεγάλη οικονομική ζημιά, η οποία του επέτρεψε να ενημερωθεί με ασφάλεια στους Vipers και να κερδίσει το παιχνίδι καθαρά.

Overall, SSLT followed their eye-opening performance versus Shopify last week with another surprising showing, highlighted by Firefly's performance. The #7 seed and a playoff berth seems very much in play for SSLT, and taking a single point against Basilisk may end up being hugely valuable. As for Basilisk, dropping a point is far from the end of the world, but the #1 seed might become an unrealistic goal if ONSYDE continues to dominate and collect full points.

Berserker eSports 1 - 5 ΑΒΥΔΟΣ
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Δύο γνώριμα πρόσωπα οδήγησαν τον Berserker, αν και τελικά ήταν μια φόρτιση στην ήττα. Πρώτον, ο Spatz έπαιξε ένα σεβαστό PvP εναντίον του Creator πριν υποκύψει με 0-2. #3 Ο Φινλανδός Zerg Mixu κόντεψε να κλέψει μια ισοπαλία εναντίον του Cure, καθώς το Queen-Ling-Nydus του έκανε βασικό συναλλαγματικό έναντι ενός χρονισμού Hellbat-Marauder στο δεύτερο παιχνίδι. Ωστόσο, ο Cure διαχειρίστηκε πολύ καλύτερα τη χαοτική κατάσταση και έκλεισε το 2-0.

Continuing their rather endearing commitment to giving everyone a chance to play in the WTL, Berserker sent out their 8th different player of the season in TeebuL in the final match. The former DHM Oceania champion salvaged a point for Berserker in the very last game, thanks to every Plat-2 player's favorite build ‘’nothing into DT’’.

Ομάδα υγρού 5 - 1 Starlight Twinkle
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Spirit and SKillous clashed in their 63rd match against each other, this time with their teams' success in the balance as well. SKillous took game one, absorbing a lot of damage and surviving some scary moments before prevailing with his Colossus-Gateway army. Looking to get the 2-0, SKillous went for a two-base Blink attack in game two. However, a bit of anti-micro saw him lose his Prism during his first attack, and he had to content himself with a 1-1 tie.

Clem did not give an inch to Nice in our second BO2 of the night. On Gresvan, Clem denied any scouting by the Protoss and surprised him with a three-rax attack for the win. Things were looking more promising for Nice on Royal Blood, with his good defense against a Mine drop giving him a shot at winning with Glaive Adept + Phoenix all-in. However, Clem seemed to sense something and stayed on mass Widow Mines, and blasted Nice's army to smithereens.

The final match opened with Cham trying to be the aggressor in the Ling-Bane phase, but he couldn’t find any holes in Elazer defense. That strong initial Ling-Bane control proved decisive as Cham's follow-up Roach attack off of 45 Drones fell just short of breaking his opponent. It was then Elazer's turn to go on the offensive in game two, and he found much more success with a similar Roach-Ling attack on 45 Drones.

Overall, it was a strong showing for TL, who are looking more and more like a safe pick to make the playoffs. As for SLT, they're running out of 'winnable' matches, and a playoff spot could be out of their grasp unless they activate SSLT mode.

Onsyde Gaming 6 - 0 Shopify Rebellion
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Η ONSYDE διατήρησε το τέλειο ρεκόρ της για τη σεζόν, καταρρίπτοντας το Shopify με 6-0 για να βελτιωθεί σε μια διαφορά χάρτη τέρας +20.

Maru improved to 8-0 on the season with a 2-0 against Scarlett in the opener. Taking advantage of Altitude in game one, Maru busted out a battlemech composition to start. While Scarlett didn't get totally bullied, she wasn't able to impede Maru's ghost-mech transition at all, and eventually tapped out to a pre-Brood Lord timing. Game 2 was a weirdly impressive display from Scarlett, where she managed to keep things close for a while despite two absolutely boneheaded moments: losing a full hatch to three Reapers, and trading about 30 Banes for two tanks. Could she have stolen the tie otherwise? Perhaps—but as mentioned above, WTL doesn't deal in hypotheticals.

Solar and Lambo played a gentlemanly match on Gresvan to start, mirroring builds for much of the early/mid-game. Both players went for Overlord drop harass as well, but Lambo added Tunneling Claws on top of that. It seemed like the German Zerg got the better of the exchange by taking out 15 Drones, but Solar's decisiveness on the counterattack paid off. Possessing a temporarily higher Roach count, he secured a great fighting position outside of Lambo's fourth base and forced a fight that was enough to win him the game. In game two, Lambo once again found himself in an advantageous position, this time sniping Solar's third base with his early Ling pressure. But despite being a base down and on the same Drone count, Solar somehow not only kept up with Lambo's economy but actually overtook it. He expertly slipped in just a few more Drones into his army mix without exposing himself on defense. Solar then went on to defend Lambo’s Roach-Ling push, and from there rode his advantage to victory.

Ryung has yet to play a match that actually affects the outcome for ONSYDE, but he continued his quietly excellent campaign with a 2-0 over ByuN. The old fox out-positioned ByuN in two back-to-back marine-tank TvT's, completing the sweep for ONSYDE.

Invictus Gaming 1 - 5 Dragon KaiZi Gaming
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Ήταν άλλη μια προβλέψιμη απώλεια έκρηξης για την iG, η οποία είναι πολύ πιεσμένη από ένα βάναυσο πρόωρο πρόγραμμα. Το herO δημιούργησε μια αρκετά ενδιαφέρουσα κατασκευή στο παιχνίδι 1 εναντίον Macsed, πηγαίνοντας για ένα timing στη μέση του παιχνιδιού με τον Glaives μετά από ένα άνοιγμα DT. Αυτό ήταν τόσο ενδιαφέρον όσο ήταν - το BreakingGG vs Oliveira πήγε πολύ αλλά δεν ήταν ποτέ ιδιαίτερα κοντά και το XY vs Dark ήταν επίσης μονόπλευρο όπως αναμενόταν.Platinum Heroes 4 - 2 PSISTORM Gaming
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Μετά από ένα σκληρό παιχνίδι στις πρώτες τρεις εβδομάδες, οι PSISTORM προσπαθούσαν να πάρουν τους πρώτους πόντους της σεζόν απέναντι στους Platinum Heroes.

DnS’s faked an Oracle against SpeCial's Reaper scout in game one, and the mind game was perhaps the reason why SpeCial marched a Cyclone, four naked Marines, and a Medivac across the map. There, he was welcomed by a couple of Stalkers and Phoenix that cleaned up the push. SpeCial doubled down on aggression, but that only deepened the hole he had dug for himself, and the game ended in a loss. DnS's early game success continued in game two, getting the build order-win with a proxy-Gate opening versus a Reaper-expand. After dealing disastrous early damage to the Terran, DnS held off a one-base all-in from SpeCial (which did look threatening at moments), to give his team an unexpected 2-0 lead.

That gave Goblin an opportunity to close out the series with a good PvP performance against Gerald. It started well for Goblin, as Gerald panicked when he couldn’t find his opponent's hidden second Pylon and played overly defensive in game one. After figuring out he was safe Gerald tried to move out with Immortals, but Goblin chose that moment to Blink into the main, forcing a frustrated Gerald to turn back after losing a bunch of Probes. The PSISTORM Protoss tried to go for some sort of last-ditch Disruptor play, but Goblin finished the game before they could reach critical mass.

A visibly distraught Gerald had the weight of his team on his shoulders and opened game two very safely against any possible threats from his opponent. The game progressed into a similar Robo vs Blink scenario as game 1, with Goblin gearing up for a two-base killing blow while Gerald transitioned to Disruptors. Gerald put up a valiant effort on defense, but he couldn't stop Goblin's all-in attack and had to sign off on another loss for PSISTORM with his GG.

MaxPax's 2-0 over ShaDoWn came too late to change the result. All in all, it was a great result for PH and a ponderous loss for PSISTORM.

I said after last week's 2-4 defeat at the hands of ABYDOS that it was not yet time for PSISTORM to press the panic button. However, we have passed that threshold and the button has been vigorously pressed.

While we wait to see what roster changes are coming, it should be noted that there's a waiting period for new signees to become eligible to play in the WTL. The current roster needs to hold the fort until the reinforcements are allowed to play, so there should be plenty of more stressful matches ahead for PSISTORM.

Εβδομαδιαίος MVP: PH.DnS

In a week full of one-sided matches, it was hard to pinpoint our ace. Reynor did manage an ace win, but considering he was a heavy favorite going into his match, it would be wrong to crown him. Conversely, Firefly did steal the best 1-1 tie of the week against Reynor, but he can't be MVP with an overall negative 1-2 record.

Elazer and Goblin put in valuable 2-0 performances for their teams, but I think another 2-0 winner had the bigger impact: Platinum Heroes' DnS. The Frenchman's 2-0 victory over SpeCial, who is ostensibly PSISTORM's second best player, was the main reason PH managed to prevail. While PSISTORM's losing streak might be what stands out first, it was also a crucial win for the Heroes that put them a step ahead of Berserker and IG in avoiding relegation.

Εβδομαδιαία MVP:

• Εβδομάδα 4. PH.DnS
  
• Εβδομάδα 3: Όλοι στο SSLT/瘦死骆驼/Starving Camels
  
• Εβδομάδα 2: ABYDOS.Θεραπεία
  
• Εβδομάδα 1: BASILISK.Serral

Προεπισκόπηση: Εβδομάδα 5 κανονικής σεζόν

Παρασκευή 19 Μαΐου 12:00 μ.μ. GMT (GMT + 00: 00) Αγώνες

Η ONSYDE φαίνεται πιθανό να συνεχίσει την τέλεια σεζόν της απέναντι σε μια ομάδα Starlight Twinkle που έχει έναν δύσκολο δρόμο μπροστά της.

Maru will be headed into his match with Nice just two days after the GSL RO4/Finals—Nice's only chance is if Maru is afflicted by a celebratory hangover or is in a catatonic despair state.

Το Spirit έχει πολύ καλύτερο αγώνα εναντίον της Solar. Οι δύο παίκτες έχουν 50/50 μεταξύ τους από την αρχή της χρονιάς και ο Spirit παίζει το καλύτερο SC2 της καριέρας του. Ο Spirit δεν έχει ακόμη δώσει 0-2 αυτή τη σεζόν, ενώ η Solar δεν έχει ρίξει καν χάρτη. Με ένα από αυτά τα σερί αναγκαστικά να τελειώσει την Παρασκευή, κλίνω προς το Spirit να πάρει το 1-1, αλλά θα ήταν μια ισχυρή δήλωση εάν η Solar μπορούσε να παραμείνει πεντακάθαρη.

If Spirit does in fact take a map (or two), Ryung will have to play his first consequential match of the season against Cham. It's not the best match-up for him to draw, as TvZ has been his weakest match-up since his return from military service. Also, with the GOMTvT going on at the AfreecaTV studio, we can bet that he has probably spent the last week practicing the match-up with Maru rather than preparing for the WTL.

Θα κάνουν κάτι αληθινό οι λίγες εννοήσεις μιας αναστατωμένης; Αμφίβολο—Η ONSYDE έχει καταφέρει να κλείσει τα αουτσάιντερ.

Πρόβλεψη: ONSYDE Gaming 5 - 1 Starlight Twinkle

Ένα άβολο αίσθημα τρόμου θα περιβάλλει τον δεύτερο αγώνα μας. Αυτός ο αγώνας έναντι του IG θα πρέπει να είναι όπου το PSISTORM σταματά την καθοδική τους σπείρα. Ευνοούνται και στα τρία ματς και έχουν σχεδόν εγγυημένη νίκη άσου αν με κάποιο τρόπο φτάσει εκεί, αλλά υπάρχει μια συνεχής ανησυχία ότι τα πράγματα θα μπορούσαν να πάνε τρομερά στραβά αν αφήσουν την πίεση να τους φτάσει. Εάν οι PSISTORM καταστείλουν τα νεύρα που έδειχναν την περασμένη εβδομάδα και παίξουν το δικό τους παιχνίδι, θα πρέπει να μπορούν να ξεκινήσουν την επιστροφή τους.

Πρόβλεψη: Invictus Gaming 1 - 5 Psistorm Gaming

Σάββατο, 20 Μαΐου 12:00 μ.μ. GMT (GMT + 00: 00) Αγώνες

Έχουμε την πρώτη κιόλας εμφάνιση του Mondo στον Code S! Παραδόξως, δεν θα είναι ο Cure που θα πάρει μια μέρα άδεια μετά το φάιναλ φορ του Code S, αλλά μάλλον για τους Nightmare/DRG που βρίσκονται στον πάγκο.

Κατά ειρωνικό τρόπο, μετά από συνεχόμενες υπερεπιδόσεις από τους Camels, νομίζω ότι δεν θα μπορέσουν να εκμεταλλευτούν αυτή την τύχη. Μην με παρεξηγείτε, υπάρχει ακόμα μια αξιοπρεπής πιθανότητα ο Silky ή ο Cyan να γλιστρήσουν κάτι από τους αντιπάλους τους. Αλλά με τον Creator να παίζει πολύ καλό PvZ αυτή τη στιγμή και το Cure να είναι ίσως το καλύτερο πρόγραμμα αναπαραγωγής TvP στον κόσμο, το ABYDOS θα μπορούσε να αντέξει να έχει έναν αδύναμο κρίκο αυτήν την εβδομάδα.

Ένας αγώνας άσου μεταξύ Cure και Firefly θα ήταν μια απόλαυση όμως…

Πρόβλεψη: Starving Camels 2 - 4 Άβυδος

Platinum Heroes' bottomless roster strikes again, this time with HateMe and ArT making their season debut (they were mainstays in previous Heroes campaigns in the WTL). There probably won't be any fanfare for their arrival, considering DKZ are 5 to 1 favorites or better in all three matches according to Aligulac, but it’s still nice seeing the team's veterans getting a chance to play again.

Πρόβλεψη: Platinum Heroes 0 - 6 DKZ Gaming

Κυριακή, 21 Μαΐου 12:00 μ.μ. GMT (GMT + 00: 00) Αγώνες

Μια ομάδα των 2 κορυφαίων του πρωταθλήματος εναντίον μιας ομάδας της 2ης τελευταίας ομάδας στο πρωτάθλημα στο παιχνίδι θα πρέπει να έχει τελειώσει, αλλά θα μπορούσαμε να πάρουμε κάποια αξιόλογη ψυχαγωγία. Προφανώς δεν θα προέρχεται από τον Serral που θα περάσει εύκολα σε ρεκόρ 11-0, αλλά ο Spatz μπορεί να δει τον Trigger ως κάποιον που μπορεί να αναστατώσει σε μια καλή μέρα.

If Spatz gets the 1-1, that could raise Rotti's stress level going into Reynor's match. Since the last WTL season, Reynor has won only two out of his fifteen regular season matches (the same as MacSed). Now I’m not saying the youngest player with $500,000 in career earnings is cursed in the WTL… …but I’m also not saying he’s NOT cursed. So, here’s to hoping he somehow breaks his 1-1 streak with a LOSS to PAPI to make this narrative as funny as possible.

Πρόβλεψη: Berserker eSport 1 - 5 ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΟΣ

Ενώ το TL και το Shopify συχνά φαίνονται παρόμοια δυνατά στα χαρτιά, το Rebellion υπεραποδίδει συνεχώς στο WTL, ενώ τα αγόρια με τα μπλε συχνά απογοητεύουν. Ωστόσο, η TL θα μπορούσε να αλλάξει τα δεδομένα αυτή τη σεζόν, ειδικά αν μπορέσει να κερδίσει απευθείας το Shopify.

SKillous opens the match against the opposing team's ace Terran once more, and will again be looking to get a 1-1 for his team. However, ByuN is even scarier than Spirit, and the maybe-new-GSL-champion should be a favorite to get the 2-0 victory.

Clem's reputation as an unbeatable TvZ player has taken some hits over the years, especially when he's played against Korea's best players. However, a closer examination of the match-up shows that in the last year, he has lost exactly one TvZ against foreigners not named Serral or Reynor. Amusingly enough, Lambo is the foreign Zerg who managed to snatch that one win, but it's buried under a mountain of many more losses to the Liquid ace. I’m ready to give this match to Clem.

Elazer and Harstem have played 40 matches and 104 games against each other in their careers, and in that span, Elazer leads by a 2:1 ratio in games (76-38). Incidentally, that's the chance Aligulac gives Elazer to win a BO3, with the statistics website predicting a 2-1 as the most likely outcome. A 2-1 needs to be a 1-1 before that, so by that logic, I’ll say Harstem manages to take the tie and force the ace match.

If that scenario comes to pass, it will be interesting to see who gets TL's vote of confidence to face Shopify's likely ace in ByuN. Clem has lost to ByuN in previous ace matches, but Elazer and SKillous aren't exactly great alternatives against a player of ByuN's caliber. Whatever choice Liquid makes, ByuN is the favorite to close it out.

Πρόβλεψη: Team Liquid 3 - 4 Επανάσταση Shopify

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