Poletje WTL 2023 – Povzetek 7. tedna/Predogled 8. tedna

Ponovno objavil Platon

Spremljevalci: 0

avtor: Vosek

After a relatively uneventful Week 7 that saw the rankings stay completely unchanged, we're in store for a treat in Week 8. While I didn't go back and check the schedule for every season, this is easily one of the most entertaining regular season weeks in WTL history.

To start, we have a massive clash between two championship contenders in DKZ and ONSYDE, with Maru vs Oliveira being the opening bout. Then, PSISTORM will fight for their playoff lives vs TL, with new signee Spirit finally eligible to play. There's also a solid mid-table battle between Shopify and ABYDOS, with both teams looking to improve their playoff seeding.

On top of that, the matches that are less interesting on paper have some intriguing twists when you take a closer look. BASILISK might not be guaranteed to stomp Starlight Twinkle, RotterdaM will be making his WTL debut in that match. Also, iG vs Berserker is the darkly humorous 'who's finishing in last place?' match, which should be of great interest to the WTL's most devoted fans.

Opomba glede urnika: This week's games will be played on June 9th, June 12, and June 13th.

7. teden Recap

Najboljših 7 ekip se uvrsti v končnico.
Spodnji 2 ekipi se morata prekvalificirati.
Točke se dodelijo na naslednji način:
3 točke za zmago v seriji, ki ne zahteva asovske tekme
2 točki za zmago v nizu, ki zahteva tekmo z asom
1 točka za izgubo v nizu, ki zahteva as-tekmo
0 točk za izgubo v nizu, ki ne zahteva tekme z asom
Invictus Gaming 1 - 5 BAZILISKA
Pazi VOD

XY se je odločil, da se odreče siru in se odpravi na Serral v honorable macro games™ za začetek serije, njegova hrabrost pa je bila nagrajena z enostranskim porazom z 0-2.

BreakingGG je prav tako poskušal igrati z Reynorjem naravnost v svoji prvi igri, vendar je bil predvidljivo premagan v vojnah Roach. Nato je poskusil sir Nydus v drugi igri, vendar ga je Reynor preusmeril in dosegel zmago z 2-0 in zaklenil tri točke za BASILISK.

MacSed managed to salvage a map for Invictus against Trigger, taking the first game of their series by defending his fast expansion against Trigger's one-base all-in. Trigger took a map for himself to end the series, beating MacSed in a mid-game brawl between Gateway armies.

Platinum Heroes 2 - 4 ABYDOS
Pazi VOD

Mondo je vstopil v tekmo z rezultatom 0-4 in videti je bilo, da bi lahko bil šibki člen, ki je ABYDOS stal točk proti šibkejši strani Platinum Heroes. Vendar je Mondo tokrat potegnil svojo težo in dosegel svojo prvo zmago na zemljevidu v sezoni z 1-1 proti ShaDoWnu.

Mondo got his win immediately, beating ShaDoWn on NeoHumanity with mass Hydra-Ling-Bane before his opponent had sufficient splash damage. Game two followed a peculiar pattern, with Mondo starting off with a Speedling cheese but still somehow finding himself in a late-game standoff fifteen minutes later. Ultimately, Mondo had to tap out to ShaDoWn's golden armada, as he couldn't transition out of his Lurker-based force in time.

Creator then took a 2-0 over Goblin to put his team on match point. Game one was a dizzying Blink-Stalker duel, with both players constantly putting themselves in weird, semi-basetrade situations. Creator was just a bit faster and more decisive with his movements, which gave him the victory in the last of these exchanges. Creator closed out with defense in game two, holding his fast expansion against Goblin's one base Stalker all-in.

NightMare finished the job for ABYDOS by taking a win against DnS on the very next map. The two played an action-packed game on Gresvan, where DnS's proxy-Robo led to much early skirmishing. NightMare came out ahead in those trades (Disruptors!), and was able to compound his lead and force the GG. DnS got himself a tie in the final game, successfully defending against a Cannon + proxy Gateway rush.

Team Liquid 5 - 1 Berserker eSports
Pazi VOD

Ace igralec Clem je osvojil točkovni položaj za Liquid in dosegel 2-0 proti Spatzu za začetek stvari. Prva igra je bila za Spatza končana v prvih nekaj minutah, saj je izgubil 10 sond proti enemu samemu Hellionu, medtem ko je poskušal samega neuspešnega nadlegovanja Adepta. Spatz se je podvojil, ko je v drugi igri nadlegoval proxy-Gateway, vendar se je Clem temu izognil in dosegel 2-0.

SKillous je svojo ekipo postavil na rob zmage proti DIMAGI, tako da je vzel prvo igro svojih serij z Glaive-Adepti in sledil napad Zealot. Vendar pa je stari šolski Zerg uspel svojo ekipo obdržati pri življenju, tako da je vzel drugo igro, pri čemer je z obrazom udaril Psi Storms in premagal SKillousa v pravem slogu roja.

It seemed like Papi had a chance to continue the comeback against MaNa, as he took the lead in game one after holding off MaNa's proxy-Robo cheese. However, he dealt with MaNa's follow-up Immortal drop very poorly, which allowed MaNa to win with an unusual, one-base, two-Robo all-in. With all three points in hand, MaNa took a final win for the road to keep Liquid at #3 in the standings with a +17 map differential.

ONSYDE Gaming 4 - 2 瘦死骆驼 (sestradane kamele)
Pazi VOD

Opomba: Dejanski vrstni red tekem za to serijo je bil drugačen od načrtovanega vrstnega reda tekem, prikazanega zgoraj.
Medtem ko sta bila Ryung in TooDming prvotno načrtovana za igranje v tretji tekmi serije, sta se zaradi nekaterih prilagoditev razporeda premaknila na vrh prenosa. Ryung je zgodaj napredoval na obeh zemljevidih z nadlegovanjem Bansheeja, čemur je sledil z Marine-Tank v prvi igri in bojnim mehom v drugi igri, da je dosegel 2-0.

In a surprising twist, Ryung's 2-0 actually ended up being quite important for ONSYDE as Maru gave up his first map loss of his season against Firefly. The plucky Protoss stole a map off of Maru in an extremely close basetrade, where his Blink-Stalkers raced Maru's 3-Barracks Marine-Marauder in a destruction derby. While the finish was tight, the lack of Medivacs helped Firefly's Blink-Stalkers barely prevail in the end. Maru got his tying point very quickly in game two, going for a series of proxy-Starport Hellion/Mine drops that completely ravaged Firefly's economy.

Solar je zaključil serijo proti Cyanu in zadržal napade Oracle-Stalkerja, preden je protinapadel z Roach-Ravagerjem in osvojil prvo igro. Cyan je osvojil končni zemljevid z dobro igro Glaive-Adept, vendar je bila to le moralna zmaga, saj je ONSYDE že zagotovil polne tri točke.

Starlight Twinkle 1 - 5 Dragon KaiZi Gaming
Pazi VOD

Oliveira got his team off to a strong start with a 2-0 over Cham. Game one was a fairly one-sided beatdown, with Oliveira's bio mopping up Cham's Roach-Ravager army. The second game got a bit hectic after Cham forced a basetrade, but the superior firepower of Oliveira's bio won out once more.

herO je hitro povišal na 3-0 za svojo ekipo proti Nici, pri čemer je njegov posrednik-Stargate Oracle ujel Nica povsem nepripravljenega in povzročil veliko škodo. Nice je vzel točko nazaj na podoben način, kot je njegova hitra tehnika templarjev presenetila njo.

Dark je dosegel zmagovalno serijo zmag proti ReWhiteu in razbil Protosse v prvi igri z množičnimi Mutaliski. Nato je povišal rezultat na zadnjem zemljevidu in hitro zmagal z all-inom Nydus-Queen-Ling.

Shopify Rebellion 4 - 2 PSISTORM Gaming
Pazi VOD

Shopify ace ByuN got his team going by taking down Gerald on NeoHumanity in game one, winning with heavy 3-Barracks pressure while holding off proxy-Oracles. Gerald survived for longer in game two, but ultimately couldn't keep up with ByuN's multi-directional bio attacks and surrendered another GG.

SpeCial started his match against Lambo by channeling ByuN, opening with 2-Barracks and transitioning into non-stop Marine pressure. However, Lambo was held strong on defense, and eventually overpowered SpeCial with his superior tech and economy. SpeCial attempted to go for his signature BC-into-mech in game two, but Lambo had it scouted every step of the way. After defending against harassment and establishing a powerful economy, Lambo ruthlessly busted through SpeCial's defenses before they could be fully entrenched.

That left MaxPax to pick up a rather empty 2-0 victory against Scarlett to finish the day, wielding the 'herO style' Stalker-Oracle strategy expertly in both games. Still, if PSISTORM somehow pulls off a late-season run to make the playoffs, these map points may actually end up mattering.

Tedenski MVP: SR.Lambo

V 2. tednu je bilo veliko rezultatov 0-7, vendar so bili skoraj vsi med očitnim favoritom in močnim slabšim. Samo en zmagovalec z 2-0 je zmagal v tekmi, ki je bila po mojem mnenju nekoliko zahtevna: Lambo proti SpeCialu. Res je, da je bil Lambo zmerni favorit v tekmi – izbral sem ga celo za zmago z 2-0. Vendar pa sem moral zaradi pomanjkanja kakršnih koli bolj impresivnih 2-0 na teden, Lambu prikimati.

I did briefly consider giving Firefly the award for stealing a 1-1 against Maru, but I'm pretty reluctant to pick 1-1's over 2-0's. Also, the Camels ended up earning 0 points from the match, and it was hard for me to reward what was ultimately just a moral victory.

Tedenski MVP:

7. teden: SR.Lambo
6. teden: DKZ.herO
5. teden: Liquid`Clem
4. teden. PH.DnS
3. teden: Vsi na SSLT/瘦死骆驼/Stradajoče kamele
2. teden: ABYDOS.Cure
1. teden: BAZILISKA.Serral

Predogled: 8. teden redne sezone

Petek, 09. junij 12:00 GMT (GMT + 00: 00) Tekme

ONSYDE Gaming proti Dragon KaiZi Gaming

ONSYDE je igral s fiksnim vrstnim redom Maru-Solar-Ryung v vsakem tednu (razen v enem tednu, ko je igral Crank), zato se morate vprašati, kaj so mislili DKZ, ko so Oliveiro poslali na srečanje z Marujem. Vsi rezultati od marca dalje so potrdili, kar je večina ljudi že mislila o IEM Katowice: to je bila za Oliveiro čudežna vožnja življenja. Kljub temu mora obstajati razlog, da sta DKZ in Oliveira izbrala to tekmo – morda mislita, da ima svetovni prvak še vedno psihološko prednost pred zmagovalcem 6SL.

Ker mislim, da bo Maru zmagal z 2-0, bi morala biti Solar in herO pravi dvoboj serije. Solar je bil ves čas eden najboljših spletnih igralcev leta 2023, medtem ko herO v zadnjih tednih igra zelo dobro po kratkem padcu v formi. Mislim, da je 1-1 najverjetnejši rezultat v spopadu med dvema igralcema, ki absolutno uspevata v nastavitvi WTL.

The final match favors DKZ quite heavily, with Dark playing his best match-up against Ryung's clear worst. My 'bold' prediction here is that Ryung is going to all-out cheese against Dark, and whether or not he successfully hides his proxies will decide if he can steal a map.

Ultimately, I think a 3-3 tie is the most likely result in the initial three series, which would send us to a very exciting ace match. Both Maru vs herO and Maru vs Dark have the potential to be very entertaining, especially with Gresvan being pre-set as the ace map. I'm going to give Maru the slightest edge in a BO1, out of deference to his 6SL title and 13-1 WTL record.

Napoved: ONSYDE Gaming 4 - 3 Dragon KaiZi Gaming

Team Liquid proti PSISTORM Gaming

Following their loss to Shopify last week, PSISTORM are now five points below the playoff cutoff with matches against TL, ONSYDE, SSLT, and Berserker remaining. You don't have to go through all the match combinations to realize that this is a MUST WIN match if PSISTORM is to have any hope of making the playoffs at all.

Na srečo za PSISTORM je novi podpisnik Spirit končno upravičen do igranja. Poljski Terran igra najboljši StarCraft II v svoji karieri leta 2023, kar se je pokazalo tudi v WTL, kjer je dosegel rekord 8-3, preden so ga dali v začasno zaustavitev prenosa.

The transfer means Spirit is actually playing SKillous for the second time this season, with the two players fighting to a 1-1 draw during the SLT vs TL match. I don't think Spirit can settle for that result this time—he needs a 2-0 for PSISTORM to feel good about their chances.

The second match is a real puzzler, with Namshar making his season debut against Elazer. Gerald and SpeCial might not be in great form, but I have to think there were some outside-the-game circumstances for PSISTORM to reach so deep into their bench. The randomness of ZvZ might give Namshar a chance of stealing a 1-1, but a 2-0 Elazer win is the outcome I'm picking.

MaxPax vs Clem is a fantastic match to potentially end this series, with Europe's best Terran going up against its best Protoss. MaxPax has had a slight edge against Clem in head-to-head matches as of late, but the Aligulac.com odds still see them as being close to even. While I'd love to see this extend into an ace match and be decided in a pseudo-BO3, I think Liquid will be able to end things earlier with a 4-2 victory.

Napoved: Team Liquid 4 - 2 PSISTORM Gaming

Sprememba urnika: Drugi dan iger je 9. junij
Petek, 09. junij 12:00 GMT (GMT + 00: 00) Tekme

Shopify Rebellion proti ABYDOS

ABYDOS ostaja ena najbolj zmedenih ekip v WTL, saj ima štiri najboljše postave v polni moči, a jih preprosto noče uporabiti. Medtem ko se Mondo vrača na klop namesto DRG, je to že tretji zaporedni teden, ko glavni igralec Cure ne igra. In še vedno imajo dobre možnosti, da Shopifyju odvzamejo nekaj točk.

Lambo versus DRG is basically a dead even match in my eyes, and I'll predict a 1-1 while knowing it could easily swing 2-0 either way. If ABYDOS somehow gets some points out of this match, it will be because DRG rolled high and got the 2-0 on the day.

The ByuN vs. NightMare match-up is the key advantage Shopify have, with TvP monster ByuN being heavily favored to win in a 2-0. NightMare is cunning enough to occasionally steal maps off stronger players in PvZ, but I just can't see him pulling it off in PvT.

Harstem vs Creator is the PvP mirror image of Lambo versus DRG, where I arrive at a 1-1 prediction as a middle ground amid the chaos. In the end, I'm predicting Shopify to win off the strength of ByuN in TvP, but the two mirrors could easily complicate things.

Napoved: Shopify Rebellion 4 - 2 ABYDOS

Starlight Twinkle proti BASILISKU

When ONSYDE Gaming's Crank made his WTL debut, he did it in the safest way possible against the winless Berserker eSports. RotterdaM and BASILISK are being a bit more daring, deploying the caster/captain/Protoss against the 2W-5L Starlight Twinkle.

While Solar and Maru had to rescue ONSYDE from Crank's 0-2 start, RotterdaM might be able to hold his own here. Unlike Crank, he's actually played some official tournament matches this year, and he managed to go 1-2 against Creator, 1-1 against goblin, and 1-2 against MaxPax in PvP. While he's definitely the underdog against Nice, a 1-1 tie isn't out of the question.

Of course, you expect Reynor and Serral to clean up with 2-0's if RotterdaM stumbles out the gates. However, you have to remember that Reynor hasn't completely beat the 50/50 allegations yet, and a ZvZ against Cham could be surprisingly tricky. I can definitely envision a scenario where Rotti goes 0-2 to start and Reynor goes 1-1 against Cham, costing BASILISK a point.

Napoved: Starlight Twinkle 2 - 4 BAZILISKA

Torek, 13. junij 12:00 GMT (GMT + 00: 00) Tekme

Invictus Gaming proti Berserker eSports

This is the highlight match of the season for a particularly perverse group of fans, as it's very likely to decide who suffers the ignominy of finishing in last place.

Three of the players involved in this match have zero map wins so far: Mixu (0-6), Spatz (0-10), and BreakingGG (0-12). Surely (hopefully), they'll all get a win on the board here?

In what might seem like a surprise, I'm going to give Berserker the slight edge due to DIMAGA. Sure, his 2-6 record is worse than iG ace MacSed (5-9), but I've been impressed by the quality of his play in straight-up macro games against strong players.

Napoved: Invictus Gaming 3 - 4 Berserker eSports

Platinum Heroes proti 瘦死骆驼 (Sestradane kamele)

The Camels currently stand at #6 in the rankings due to hugely overperforming against the stronger teams in the WTL—this week we'll see if they get the job done against an opponent they 'should' beat.

This match is awfully hard to predict, largely because of the pair of PvP's that start things off. DnS vs. Cyan and goblin vs. Firefly are essentially coin flips, though perhaps I'd give Firefly a slight edge purely based on vibes (the dude is just really good in WTL, man).

Želim reči, da je ShaDoWn proti TooDming dvoboj, kjer imajo Platinum Heroes očitno prednost, vendar ima TooDming nerazložljivo dobro sezono WTL z rekordom 5-5. Na splošno, čeprav so mi Heroji nekoliko bolj všeč na papirju, se moram postaviti na stran Camelov zaradi njihovega nemerljivega in nerazumljivega WTL buffa.

Napoved: Platinum Heroes 3 - 4 瘦死骆驼 (Sestradane kamele)