WTL 2023 Summer - Viikko 4 Kertomus / Viikon 5 esikatselu

Julkaissut Platon

seuraajia: 0

kirjoittaja: 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 KJ twiittasi että listamuutoksia on tulossa, mikä jättää meidät melko uteliaiksi, keitä vahvistuksia tulee.

Viikkoa 5 silmällä pitäen teltta-ottelu näyttää olevan Shopify vs Team Liquid. TL on menestynyt hyvin SKillousin lisäämisen jälkeen, mutta hävisi kätevästi haastavimmassa ottelussaan ONSYDEa vastaan. Voitto Shopifyta vastaan osoittaisi meille, että tämä TL-joukkue on todella noussut edellisistä kausista ja voi pysyä pudotuspelijoukkueiden kanssa.

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.

Viikko 4 uudelleen

Viisi parasta joukkuetta pääsee pudotuspeleihin.
Alimman 2 joukkueen on päästävä uudelleen karsintaan.
Pisteet jaetaan seuraavasti:
3 pistettä voitosta sarjassa, joka ei vaadi ässäottelua
2 pistettä voitosta sarjassa, joka vaatii ässä-ottelua
1 piste tappiosta sarjassa, joka vaatii ässä-ottelun
0 pistettä tappiosta sarjassa, joka ei vaadi ässä-ottelua
瘦死骆驼 (nälkäiset kamelit) 3 - 4 BASILISKI
Katso VOD

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.

Koska Serral ei seisonut miehen ja egonsa välissä, näimme Reynorin asettuvan ässä-otteluun päättääkseen BO3:nsa Fireflyä vastaan. Reynor valitsi jälleen kerran aggressiivisuuden Roach-Ravager-Queen-pudotushäirinnällä, jota jälleen Firefly puolusti – tällä kertaa naulaavalla Blink-Stalker-ohjauksella. Kamelit saattoivat maistaa voittoa hetken, mutta Firefly ihastui takaa-ajoon, jolloin hän menetti suuren osan Stalkereistaan turhaan. Pelin hidastuessa Reynor osoitti uskomatonta kykyään pelata takaapäin ja loi itselleen aukon Lingin pudotuksella Protoss-päässä samalla kun hän työnsi neljännen Roach-Ravager-armeijallaan. Tämä siirto aiheutti suurta taloudellista vahinkoa, minkä ansiosta hän pystyi turvallisesti tekniikkaa Vipersille ja voittaa pelin puhtaasti.

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 ABYDOS
Katso VOD

Kaksi tuttua kasvoa johtivat Berserkerin syytteeseen, vaikka lopulta se johti tappioon. Ensin Spatz pelasi kunnioittavasti tiukan PvP:n Creatoria vastaan ennen kuin kumarsi 0-2. #3 Suomalainen Zerg Mixu melkein nappasi tasapelin Curea vastaan, kun hänen Queen-Ling-Nydusnsa vaihtoi Hellbat-Marauder-ajoitusta toisessa pelissä. Cure kuitenkin selvisi kaoottisesta tilanteesta paljon paremmin ja voitti 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’’.

Joukkueeneste 5 - 1 Starlight Twinkle
Katso VOD

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
Katso VOD - Osa 2

ONSYDE säilytti täydellisen kauden ennätyksensä kukistaen Shopifyn 6-0 ja parantuen hirviömäiseksi +20 karttaeroksi.

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
Katso VOD

Se oli toinen ennustettavissa oleva tappio iG:lle, jota rasittaa julma varhainen aikataulu. herO teki melko mielenkiintoisen rakentamisen pelissä 1 vs Macsed, meni pelin puoliväliin ajoitukseen myöhäisen Glaivesin kanssa DT-avaamisen jälkeen. Se oli melkein yhtä mielenkiintoista kuin se oli – BreakingGG vs Oliveira kesti pitkään, mutta ei koskaan ollut erityisen lähellä, ja XY vs Dark oli myös yksipuolinen odotetusti.Platinum Heroes 4 - 2 PSISTORM Gaming
Katso VOD

Kolmen ensimmäisen viikon kovien pelien jälkeen PSISTORM halusi saada kauden ensimmäiset pisteensä Platinum Heroesia vastaan.

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.

Viikon 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.

Viikon MVP:t:

Viikko 4. PH.DnS
Viikko 3: Kaikki SSLT/瘦死骆驼/Starving Camels
Viikko 2: ABYDOS.Cure
Viikko 1: BASILISK.Serral

Esikatselu: Runkokausi, viikko 5

Perjantai, 19. toukokuuta 12:00 GMT (GMT + 00: 00) Tulitikut

ONSYDE Gaming vs Starlight Twinkle

ONSYDE näyttää todennäköisesti jatkavan täydellistä kauttaan Starlight Twinkle -joukkuetta vastaan, jolla on vaikea tie edessään.

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.

Spiritillä on paljon parempi ottelu Solaria vastaan. Kaksi pelaajaa ovat olleet 50/50 toisiaan vastaan vuoden alusta lähtien, ja Spirit pelaa uransa parasta SC2:ta. Spirit ei ole vielä luovuttanut 0-2 tällä kaudella, kun taas Solar ei ole edes pudottanut karttaa. Kun yksi näistä sarjoista pakotettiin päättymään perjantaina, kallistun siihen, että Spirit saisi 1-1, mutta olisi vahva lausunto, jos Solar voisi pysyä tahrattomana.

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.

Muuttuvatko järkyttyneen yhdisteen muutamat aavistus mitään todellista? Epäilyttävää – ONSYDE on ollut loistava alistajien sulkemisessa.

Ennustus: ONSYDE Gaming 5 - 1 Starlight Twinkle

Invictus Gaming vs PSISTORM Gaming

Toista otteluamme ympäröi epämiellyttävä kauhun tunne. Tämän ottelun ja IG:n pitäisi olla siellä, missä PSISTORM pysäyttää alaspäin suuntautuvan kierteensä. Heitä suositaan kaikissa kolmessa ottelussa, ja heillä on lähes taattu ässävoitto, jos se jotenkin pääsee perille, mutta on jatkuva huoli siitä, että asiat voivat mennä pahasti pieleen, jos he antavat paineen päästä käsiksi. Jos PSISTORM pystyy tukahduttamaan viime viikolla osoittamansa hermot ja pelaamaan omaa peliä, heidän pitäisi pystyä aloittamaan paluunsa.

ennustus: Invictus Gaming 1 - 5 PSISTORM Gaming

Lauantai 20. toukokuuta 12:00 GMT (GMT + 00: 00) Tulitikut

瘦死骆驼 (nälkäiset kamelit) vs ABYDOS

Saamme Mondon ensimmäisen esiintymisen Code S:ssä! Yllättävää kyllä, Cure ei saa vapaapäivää Code S final fourin jälkeen, vaan Nightmare/DRG ovat vaihtopenkillä.

Ironista kyllä, Camelsin ylisuorituksen jälkeen uskon, että he eivät pysty hyödyntämään tätä onnenpotkua. Älä ymmärrä minua väärin, silti on hyvä mahdollisuus, että Silky tai Cyan sujauttaa jotain vastustajiensa ohi. Mutta koska Creator pelaa tällä hetkellä helvetin hienoa PvZ:tä ja Cure on ehkä maailman paras TvP-soitin, ABYDOSin pitäisi kestää heikko lenkki tällä viikolla.

Ässä-ottelu Curen ja Fireflyn välillä olisi kuitenkin herkku…

ennustus: Starving Camels 2 - 4 Abydos

Platinum Heroes vs Dragon KaiZi Gaming

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.

ennustus: Platinum Heroes 0 - 6 DKZ Gaming

Sunnuntai 21. toukokuuta 12:00 GMT (GMT + 00: 00) Tulitikut

Berserker eSports vs BASILISK

Liigan 2 parhaan joukkueen pelaaminen liigan alimman 2 joukkuetta vastaan pelissä pitäisi olla tehty, mutta voisimme saada hyödyllistä viihdettä. Se ei tietenkään tule Serralilta, joka siirtyy helposti 11-0-ennätykseen, mutta Spatz voi katsoa Triggeriä ihmisenä, joka voi järkyttää hyvän päivän.

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.

ennustus: Berserker eSport 1 - 5 BASILISKI

TeamLiquid vs Shopify Rebellion

Vaikka TL ja Shopify ovat usein näyttäneet samanlaisilta vahvoilta paperilla, Rebellion on menestynyt jatkuvasti WTL:ssä, kun taas siniset pojat ovat usein pettyneet. TL voi kuitenkin kääntää pöydät tällä kaudella, varsinkin jos se voi voittaa Shopifyn suoraan.

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.

ennustus: Team Liquid 3 - 4 Shopify-kapina