[SSL] QF Preview: Fateful Eight Text by TL.net ESPORTS Graphics by v1 sSak and Last, now find themselves in the stands as they watch the new wave of top players compete for the crown.



The race distribution is perfect. Three Protoss players, three Zerg, and two Terran (despite Heartbreak Ridge being in the map pool). There are no group stages and other matchups to lean on. Each player will have to play their best to take three games from their opponent, which seems nearly impossible no matter who you look at. For example, Bisu's 64% winrate in PvZ sizes up perfectly against ZerO's 75% winrate in ZvP. Excited yet? This is just the first match up in what is to be one of the greatest rounds of eight in Brood War history.



Read on as BigFan BisuDagger. c3rberUs then BLinD-RawR and FlashFTW Sunday, Jul 26 10:00am GMT (GMT+00:00) !

Eight potential champions remain. Just eight. Eight players which happen to be the best eight in the world. Five of which have winnings records above 75% in at least one match up. In the last SSL, we saw Terrans mow their way through the bracket. Winner and Runner Up,sSak andLast, now find themselves in the stands as they watch the new wave of top players compete for the crown.The race distribution is perfect. Three Protoss players, three Zerg, and two Terran (despite Heartbreak Ridge being in the map pool). There are no group stages and other matchups to lean on. Each player will have to play their best to take three games from their opponent, which seems nearly impossible no matter who you look at. For example,Bisu's 64% winrate in PvZ sizes up perfectly againstZerO's 75% winrate in ZvP. Excited yet? This is just the first match up in what is to be one of the greatest rounds of eight in Brood War history.Read on as recaps the Ro16 while its best games are compiled bythen reports on one of the most exciting games, between ZerO and Last. Finally,and preview the first two Ro8 match-ups. Get ready, play starts on Table of Contents Ro16 Recap

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D



Battle Report

Last vs ZerO

Last vs ZerO

Recommended Games

Best of Ro16



Ro8 Preview

ZerO vs Bisu

ZerO vs Bisu Killer vs Mind

Killer vs Mind

Staff Predictions

Liquipedia Group A

by BigFan Group A was one of the most anticipated groups of the Ro16 due to its players' high caliber which included Effort, Mind, sSak and Movie. Effort, in particular, was someone that many people had high expectations for due to his ZvT matchup slowly rivaling and for some viewers, even surpassing the best ZvTers in the Afreecan scene. However, after Effort lost a long macro game against Mind on



sSak played his first game against Movie on





sSak's defense is broken!

This brought us to the potential final game of the group, Mind against Movie on



In the first tiebreaker game on La Mancha, Movie managed to get a strong three base economy going. However, he ended up having a terrible first engagement due to miscontrol and sSak's strong defensive position. After this mishap, sSak took the macro advantage and won more engagements to win the game. sSak's luck ran out when he went up against his kryptonite, Mind on HBR. Both players expanded behind a proxy rax and went up to 3 factories. Mind used his great foresight to completely block all of sSak's advances and dropped sSak's main causing him to gg. Mind was unable to close off the tiebreakers, stumbled upon meeting Movie on Circuit Breaker. After fending off Movie's reaver harass with no damage and establishing a strong three base economy, Mind attacked Movie's third base. However, a decently-controlled engagement from Movie helped him defend his base (gif) and continuous counterattacks using zealots, goons and carriers cemented Mind's defeat.





Movie's defense

In the second tiebreakers, sSak started off playing against Movie on HBR. He opened with a rax fac and got a bunker for defense, while, Movie went for a proxy gate with one cannon on the cliff and expanded behind it. sSak easily defended against this and the followup reaver attack. He managed to take down Movie's fourth base, however, bad positioning and strong macro from Movie decimated his army (gif) and led to his eventual defeat. In the next game, Movie fought Mind on La Mancha. He went for some early aggression, took a third and managed to deny Mind's third at the cost of his army. Mind was persistent and established a third then took out several expansions of Movie with a strong push to win the game. Mind finally closed off the tiebreakers when he played sSak on Circuit Breaker. Both players constantly tried to outmaneuver each other and fought for positioning in a fantastic all-out war. In the end, Mind eliminated sSak, the previous SSL champion.





Mistake



Mind: Mind is mechanically solid and has great positioning and foresight in his games. He understands the various matchups well and should go far if he keep playing at this level.

Mind: Mind is mechanically solid and has great positioning and foresight in his games. He understands the various matchups well and should go far if he keep playing at this level.

Movie: Oh Movie. Quite the anomaly. In one game, he can be very impressive with his aggression, macro and micro and in another, he can fail in engagements and give us advantages. His inconsistency, likely due to his lack of practice is his main problem that he needs to work on.

Movie: Oh Movie. Quite the anomaly. In one game, he can be very impressive with his aggression, macro and micro and in another, he can fail in engagements and give us advantages. His inconsistency, likely due to his lack of practice is his main problem that he needs to work on.

sSak: While sSak's positioning and micro are great, he needs to make better decisions in his games. He certainly could have went far if he didn't have a great TvT such as Mind in his group.

sSak: While sSak's positioning and micro are great, he needs to make better decisions in his games. He certainly could have went far if he didn't have a great TvT such as Mind in his group.

EffOrt: EffOrt is able to play a strong macro game and is very efficient with his units. It's too bad that he had to exit the Ro16 so early before we were able to see what else he is capable of.

EffOrt: EffOrt is able to play a strong macro game and is very efficient with his units. It's too bad that he had to exit the Ro16 so early before we were able to see what else he is capable of.

Group A was one of the most anticipated groups of the Ro16 due to its players' high caliber which included Effort, Mind, sSak and Movie. Effort, in particular, was someone that many people had high expectations for due to his ZvT matchup slowly rivaling and for some viewers, even surpassing the best ZvTers in the Afreecan scene. However, after Effort lost a long macro game against Mind on Neo Jade which saw both players constantly skirmish all over the map for bases and important positions, he decided to withdraw from SSL citing special treatment complaints. You can read all about the juicy details here . This withdrawal granted all the remaining players a free win.sSak played his first game against Movie on Circuit Breaker . He opened up with a rax FE to Movie's gateway expand build and focused heavily on his economy while defending Movie's harass. Movie decided to go for carriers and took more bases to fund this plan. Once Movie revealed his carriers, both players went on the offensive with Movie recalling several times unsuccessfully and sniping sSak's command centers while sSak retaliated by taking down several of Movie's bases. The game entered survivor mode as both players were depleted of resources with sSak barely hanging on with several goliaths to become the final victor. sSak's next game against Mind on La Mancha did not go as well. Mind grabbed the early advantage with a command center first then defended against sSak's drop. sSak kept up in the base count, however, Mind's strong macro, great positioning and mine placement were too much for sSak who conceded defeat after losing his army (gif)This brought us to the potential final game of the group, Mind against Movie on New Heartbreak Ridge . Mind played safe with a rax factory opening against the nexus first of Movie. He tried to inflict some damage and build a bunker using some SCVs, marines and a vulture, however, terrible control saw him lose it all. Movie counter-attacked soon after and ended up hitting the perfect timing with his bulldog, catching Mind right before he was able to utilize resources from his newly formed expansion. With this win, all players ended up with two wins and a loss to their name leading to the tiebreakers.In the first tiebreaker game on La Mancha, Movie managed to get a strong three base economy going. However, he ended up having a terrible first engagement due to miscontrol and sSak's strong defensive position. After this mishap, sSak took the macro advantage and won more engagements to win the game. sSak's luck ran out when he went up against his kryptonite, Mind on HBR. Both players expanded behind a proxy rax and went up to 3 factories. Mind used his great foresight to completely block all of sSak's advances and dropped sSak's main causing him to gg. Mind was unable to close off the tiebreakers, stumbled upon meeting Movie on Circuit Breaker. After fending off Movie's reaver harass with no damage and establishing a strong three base economy, Mind attacked Movie's third base. However, a decently-controlled engagement from Movie helped him defend his base (gif) and continuous counterattacks using zealots, goons and carriers cemented Mind's defeat.In the second tiebreakers, sSak started off playing against Movie on HBR. He opened with a rax fac and got a bunker for defense, while, Movie went for a proxy gate with one cannon on the cliff and expanded behind it. sSak easily defended against this and the followup reaver attack. He managed to take down Movie's fourth base, however, bad positioning and strong macro from Movie decimated his army (gif) and led to his eventual defeat. In the next game, Movie fought Mind on La Mancha. He went for some early aggression, took a third and managed to deny Mind's third at the cost of his army. Mind was persistent and established a third then took out several expansions of Movie with a strong push to win the game. Mind finally closed off the tiebreakers when he played sSak on Circuit Breaker. Both players constantly tried to outmaneuver each other and fought for positioning in a fantastic all-out war. In the end, Mind eliminated sSak, the previous SSL champion. Group B

by BigFan Group B contained the previous finalist Last, strong Zerg opponents, Killer and ZerO and a relatively unknown player, Olympus, who has made claims of being a Top 5 player and had a knack for unorthodox games. Though Olympus was someone to keep an eye on, the story of the group was none other than ZerO who trounced all his opponents to advance in first place with a 3-0 record. In his first game against Killer on Neo Jade, ZerO opened with an expansion first to Killer's pool first build. He attacked with zerglings early on, but, did not due much damage. Both players morphed some mutalisks and with some impressive micro, ZerO took the mutalisk advantage. He defended against countless numbers of scourge and zerglings attacks afterwards, before, countering to take the game:





Mutalisk micro galore

He played his next game against Olympus on Heartbreak Ridge. After opening with a pool expansion build, ZerO played a strong defensive game denying zealot and dark templar harass while opting for hydras. He managed to hide this fact from Olympus who had only a cannon, zealots and several high templars for defense once hydras attacked his natural. With good storm dodging, ZerO easily took the game. In his last game against Last on Circuit Breaker, ZerO withstood Last's +1 5 rax attack as well as his mech using queens then pushed back and counter-attacked Last's main and his undefended bases to take the game.



Killer was the second player to advance after showing some solid games. In his game against Last on HBR, Killer channeled his inner Jaedong and used his amazing double mutalisk control group micro to slowly tear down Last's army, turrets and expansion to take the game in a one-sided fashion. Against Olympus on Circuit Breaker, he defended his early aggression and scored some economical damage at Olympus's main by hitting an ee-han timing before retreating. He established a strong economy soon after and made a great decision by attacking Olympus' relatively undefended expansion while Olympus tried to forcefully break Killer's third which had a ton of sunkens for defense. From this point forth, Killer took more bases, became really aggressive and went for guardians to finish the game.





Jaedong?

The most disappointing player of this group ended up being Last. His only win of the group was against Olympus who tried some proxy dark templar shenanigans. After this was scouted and defended by Last using a bunker, Olympus tried a last ditch effort to break Last's front using 5 dark templars and a goon, but, with repair, Last survived, maintained his economical advantage and defeated Olympus in due time.





Repair imba!



ZerO: Fantastic performance all around. ZerO showed solid macro, micro and great planning in his games. Considering his next opponent is none other than Bisu, he'll need to be in top shape if he hopes to upset the Revolutionist.

ZerO: Fantastic performance all around. ZerO showed solid macro, micro and great planning in his games. Considering his next opponent is none other than Bisu, he'll need to be in top shape if he hopes to upset the Revolutionist.

Killer: A macro beast and with great micro to boot. Killer is a great Zerg who once ruled the Afreecan scene and can reclaim that crown once again if he practices harder.

Killer: A macro beast and with great micro to boot. Killer is a great Zerg who once ruled the Afreecan scene and can reclaim that crown once again if he practices harder.

Last: Really disappointing performance from a previous finalist though he was up against some strong players in a matchup that he seems to struggle with.

Last: Really disappointing performance from a previous finalist though he was up against some strong players in a matchup that he seems to struggle with.

Olympus: Though Olympus didn't manage to win any games, his unorthodox games are always great to watch. He should plan better for his games and work on scouting some more. He has a lot of potential and is one to keep an eye on in future SSLs.

Olympus: Though Olympus didn't manage to win any games, his unorthodox games are always great to watch. He should plan better for his games and work on scouting some more. He has a lot of potential and is one to keep an eye on in future SSLs.

Group B contained the previous finalist Last, strong Zerg opponents, Killer and ZerO and a relatively unknown player, Olympus, who has made claims of being a Top 5 player and had a knack for unorthodox games. Though Olympus was someone to keep an eye on, the story of the group was none other than ZerO who trounced all his opponents to advance in first place with a 3-0 record. In his first game against Killer on Neo Jade, ZerO opened with an expansion first to Killer's pool first build. He attacked with zerglings early on, but, did not due much damage. Both players morphed some mutalisks and with some impressive micro, ZerO took the mutalisk advantage. He defended against countless numbers of scourge and zerglings attacks afterwards, before, countering to take the game:He played his next game against Olympus on Heartbreak Ridge. After opening with a pool expansion build, ZerO played a strong defensive game denying zealot and dark templar harass while opting for hydras. He managed to hide this fact from Olympus who had only a cannon, zealots and several high templars for defense once hydras attacked his natural. With good storm dodging, ZerO easily took the game. In his last game against Last on Circuit Breaker, ZerO withstood Last's +1 5 rax attack as well as his mech using queens then pushed back and counter-attacked Last's main and his undefended bases to take the game.Killer was the second player to advance after showing some solid games. In his game against Last on HBR, Killer channeled his inner Jaedong and used his amazing double mutalisk control group micro to slowly tear down Last's army, turrets and expansion to take the game in a one-sided fashion. Against Olympus on Circuit Breaker, he defended his early aggression and scored some economical damage at Olympus's main by hitting an ee-han timing before retreating. He established a strong economy soon after and made a great decision by attacking Olympus' relatively undefended expansion while Olympus tried to forcefully break Killer's third which had a ton of sunkens for defense. From this point forth, Killer took more bases, became really aggressive and went for guardians to finish the game.The most disappointing player of this group ended up being Last. His only win of the group was against Olympus who tried some proxy dark templar shenanigans. After this was scouted and defended by Last using a bunker, Olympus tried a last ditch effort to break Last's front using 5 dark templars and a goon, but, with repair, Last survived, maintained his economical advantage and defeated Olympus in due time. Group C



by BigFan Quite possibly the weakest Ro16 group, group C had no clear favorites to advance. After all the games were played, one thing was certain. While Hyuk has improved since the last SSL, he still had a habit of making critical mistakes that cost him games. Mong played his first player against Hyuk on La Mancha. He opened up with rax FE to the expansion pool build from Hyuk. After Hyuk morphed a spire, Mong found himself on the defensive against Hyuk's spectacular mutalisk micro that had the commentators state, "Jaedong is going to be jealous" (gif). Despite that, Mong was resilient and hung on to win the game after Hyuk made a terrible decision and lost his mutalisks due to overcommitment.





A sight to behold

Mong continued playing wonderful Starcraft against Free on Circuit Breaker. The Afreecan Flash showed us impressive multitasking, pinning down free with vulture harass and drop play while simultaneously expanding all over the map. By the time free realized what had happened, Mong already had a strong economy going, withstood several recalls from and kept taking down bases to force free to admit defeat. Unfortunately, Mong's streak came to its end when he met GuemChi. On Neo Jade, Mong opened up with his usual build, but, retreated to the low ground when his marines had to face a single goon from GuemChi's 2 gate goon build. Having just conceded the high ground and facing a goon force that kept growing in size due to great micro from GuemChi, Mong tried to hang on for dear life, but, the game was over in favour of GuemChi after he lost his last tank.



GuemChi played against Hyuk on Circuit Breaker. In that game, after making many cannons due to a smart decision from Hyuk (several hydras made), GuemChi outmacroed Hyuk and won the game with storms/zealot drops and good positioning in his engagements (gif). However, once again like Mong, GuemChi could not win his last game. In his game against free on HBR, GuemChi went for a proxy robo which was scouted and taken down by free. Free then took control of the game. He added 2 more gates, got his own robo for reavers and attacked GuemChi who did not have a strong army to withstand free's attack. After his last reaver was dead, GuemChi called the gg.





GuemChi's reaver/high templar attack

free's final match was against Hyuk on Neo Jade. Deciding to do things a bit differently, free skipped the stargate and used cannons to defend his nexi while opting for speedlots. His well-microed speedlot army was strong enough to take down Hyuk's sunken defense at his third. After the remainder of his army joined the fight, Hyuk had no army left and gg'd soon after. With this last win, Mong, free and GuemChi all traded blows and ended up with 2-1 records. We were off to the tiebreakers!



The first two games of tiebreakers showed the power of the dark templar in the hands of a capable user. On Neo Jade, free used dark templars to do a lot of economical damage to Mong, then easily beat him after taking several bases and throwing army after army at his front. GuemChi, who played free next on Circuit Breaker, also used dark templars to clean up a ton of free's probes when free didn't have an obs ready and won the game with a smaller army soon after. However, against Mong on La Mancha, GuemChi went for a nexus first against the rax fac opening of Mong. After scouting the opening, Mong went for a SCV pull with marines and vultures and killed lots of units. Followup attacks, especially the marine/tank attack won him the game and forced a second set of tiebreakers!





Please teach Mind!

The second round opened up with Mong battling free on La Mancha. free used his strong reaver micro to get many worker kills and expanded several times to gain an economical advantage. His great map control was paramount to his expansions working at optimal capacity. When the two players engaged, free took the engagement and later on, the game. Up against GuemChi on NJ, free caught GuemChi out of position after both players opened with a 3 gate and won the game after he gained the army advantage. With both Mong and GuemChi's SSL life on the line, they squared off on Circuit Breaker. Mong decided to go for a lot of vulture harass as he established a four base economy while GuemChi's dark templar drop was denied and he was forced on the defensive. Once Mong maxed out, he went on an unstoppable offensive which saw GuemChi lose most of his mining bases and the game.





Winner's CHUG!



free: free has strong macro and micro, but, needs to work on his foresight and planning for future games.

free: free has strong macro and micro, but, needs to work on his foresight and planning for future games.

Mong: Overall, Mong displayed some impressive multitasking, quick decision making skills and is quite resilient. He does need to change up some of his decisions but he's a threat to all of the remaining players.

Mong: Overall, Mong displayed some impressive multitasking, quick decision making skills and is quite resilient. He does need to change up some of his decisions but he's a threat to all of the remaining players.

GuemChi: Despite having strong mechanics, GuemChi needs to scout more and adapt to any given situation. He almost made it past this group, so, expect a stronger GuemChi in the next SSL.

GuemChi: Despite having strong mechanics, GuemChi needs to scout more and adapt to any given situation. He almost made it past this group, so, expect a stronger GuemChi in the next SSL.

Hyuk: Despite showing some impressive mutalisk micro, Hyuk's macro needs work and he still has a long way to go if he hopes to advance further in future SSLs.

Hyuk: Despite showing some impressive mutalisk micro, Hyuk's macro needs work and he still has a long way to go if he hopes to advance further in future SSLs.

Quite possibly the weakest Ro16 group, group C had no clear favorites to advance. After all the games were played, one thing was certain. While Hyuk has improved since the last SSL, he still had a habit of making critical mistakes that cost him games. Mong played his first player against Hyuk on La Mancha. He opened up with rax FE to the expansion pool build from Hyuk. After Hyuk morphed a spire, Mong found himself on the defensive against Hyuk's spectacular mutalisk micro that had the commentators state, "Jaedong is going to be jealous" (gif). Despite that, Mong was resilient and hung on to win the game after Hyuk made a terrible decision and lost his mutalisks due to overcommitment.Mong continued playing wonderful Starcraft against Free on Circuit Breaker. The Afreecan Flash showed us impressive multitasking, pinning down free with vulture harass and drop play while simultaneously expanding all over the map. By the time free realized what had happened, Mong already had a strong economy going, withstood several recalls from and kept taking down bases to force free to admit defeat. Unfortunately, Mong's streak came to its end when he met GuemChi. On Neo Jade, Mong opened up with his usual build, but, retreated to the low ground when his marines had to face a single goon from GuemChi's 2 gate goon build. Having just conceded the high ground and facing a goon force that kept growing in size due to great micro from GuemChi, Mong tried to hang on for dear life, but, the game was over in favour of GuemChi after he lost his last tank.GuemChi played against Hyuk on Circuit Breaker. In that game, after making many cannons due to a smart decision from Hyuk (several hydras made), GuemChi outmacroed Hyuk and won the game with storms/zealot drops and good positioning in his engagements (gif). However, once again like Mong, GuemChi could not win his last game. In his game against free on HBR, GuemChi went for a proxy robo which was scouted and taken down by free. Free then took control of the game. He added 2 more gates, got his own robo for reavers and attacked GuemChi who did not have a strong army to withstand free's attack. After his last reaver was dead, GuemChi called the gg.free's final match was against Hyuk on Neo Jade. Deciding to do things a bit differently, free skipped the stargate and used cannons to defend his nexi while opting for speedlots. His well-microed speedlot army was strong enough to take down Hyuk's sunken defense at his third. After the remainder of his army joined the fight, Hyuk had no army left and gg'd soon after. With this last win, Mong, free and GuemChi all traded blows and ended up with 2-1 records. We were off to the tiebreakers!The first two games of tiebreakers showed the power of the dark templar in the hands of a capable user. On Neo Jade, free used dark templars to do a lot of economical damage to Mong, then easily beat him after taking several bases and throwing army after army at his front. GuemChi, who played free next on Circuit Breaker, also used dark templars to clean up a ton of free's probes when free didn't have an obs ready and won the game with a smaller army soon after. However, against Mong on La Mancha, GuemChi went for a nexus first against the rax fac opening of Mong. After scouting the opening, Mong went for a SCV pull with marines and vultures and killed lots of units. Followup attacks, especially the marine/tank attack won him the game and forced a second set of tiebreakers!The second round opened up with Mong battling free on La Mancha. free used his strong reaver micro to get many worker kills and expanded several times to gain an economical advantage. His great map control was paramount to his expansions working at optimal capacity. When the two players engaged, free took the engagement and later on, the game. Up against GuemChi on NJ, free caught GuemChi out of position after both players opened with a 3 gate and won the game after he gained the army advantage. With both Mong and GuemChi's SSL life on the line, they squared off on Circuit Breaker. Mong decided to go for a lot of vulture harass as he established a four base economy while GuemChi's dark templar drop was denied and he was forced on the defensive. Once Mong maxed out, he went on an unstoppable offensive which saw GuemChi lose most of his mining bases and the game. Group D

by BigFan The last group of the Ro16, group D, featured fan favorites, Bisu and Larva, ZvP specialist hero and the one and only fishking, HiyA. hero stole the spotlight after showing fantastic gameplay against all his opponents. In his game against HiyA on Circuit Breaker, hero went for 3 hatch muta and kept HiyA's MnM army small with solid mutalisk micro. Despite HiyA recovering and fighting back with strong micro (gif), hero won more engagements and took the game after attacking HiyA's expansion. His next encounter was against Larva on Neo Jade. While Larva opened with a pool gas build, hero stuck to one base, got speed for his zerglings and had his mutalisks out first. He decided to commit to a large attack leaving a single sunken at home for defense. He ended up winning the game after taking down all of Larva's spores despite having all of his own drones slaughtered by Larva's counterattack.





HiyA's MnM Control

hero's final opponent was Bisu on La Mancha. Quite possibly the best SSL game played so far, both players were pretty aggressive and constantly fought for the positional advantage after opening with mostly standard builds. hero was able to delay Bisu's third base, establish a better economy at one point and dropped Bisu's fourth and fifth base while Bisu constantly picked off overlords with his corsairs, disrupted mining with dark templars and zealot/high templar drops as well as took some good engagements with his impressive micro (gif). After losing most of his mining bases, Bisu rammed his remaining army into hero's fourth base. After the dust settled, Bisu was left with one mining base and no army promoting him to gg out.



Though Bisu lost this game, he played quite the thriller against his remaining opponents. Against HiyA on Neo Jade, Bisu went for dark templar drops that didn't do much damage while HiyA opened standard with a rax fac. Both players went for the macro game with Bisu trying to buy time for his carriers to come out by attacking up ramp against HiyA's army. After getting crushed, he retreated and HiyA made his way to Bisu's fourth base, however, carriers came out just in time to prevent any major damage. HiyA lost his army and tried to recover, but, with arbiters also joining the mix, he could not stop Bisu's march to victory.





Bisu's micro

Bisu also dispatched Larva in a rather one-sided fashion on HBR. Bisu opened up with forge expand while Larva went for pool and double expanded. Larva decided to go for hydras and tried to attack from behind Bisu's natural, but, this was defended against through the clever use of dark templars. Once corsairs were out, Bisu managed to sneak one of his dark templars into Larva's main, prompting the whole Zerg army to withdraw before attacking with a speedlot and high templar army storming Larva's hydras and drones to win the game. Larva's only consolation in this group was his game against HiyA on La Mancha. Larva was able to get into a great position using stop lurkers and took several bases as HiyA went for mech play. He stopped a double drop and defended well against HiyA's attack on his fourth while he methodically took down HiyA's mining bases to take the game.



hero: hero has great planning, map control and is very strong at ZvP. He also has impeccable micro and will go far if he maintains the same level of play.

hero: hero has great planning, map control and is very strong at ZvP. He also has impeccable micro and will go far if he maintains the same level of play.

Bisu: Bisu is a great multitasker, makes great decisions and is very efficient in engagements. Despite losing to hero, his threat level is the highest in all of SSL because he's able to play very solid cheese and macro games.

Bisu: Bisu is a great multitasker, makes great decisions and is very efficient in engagements. Despite losing to hero, his threat level is the highest in all of SSL because he's able to play very solid cheese and macro games.

Larva: A master tactician who has improved his ZvT since the last SSL, Larva still needs to work on his multitasking and anticipating what his opponents will pull off if he wants to make it further next time.

Larva: A master tactician who has improved his ZvT since the last SSL, Larva still needs to work on his multitasking and anticipating what his opponents will pull off if he wants to make it further next time.

HiyA: Disappointing performance from HiyA who finished Top 4 in the last SSL. His macro was solid in his game against Bisu, but, he was not able to hit the right timing. His ZvT does not seem to be as strong as it once was, so, he has a lot to work for future SSL.

HiyA: Disappointing performance from HiyA who finished Top 4 in the last SSL. His macro was solid in his game against Bisu, but, he was not able to hit the right timing. His ZvT does not seem to be as strong as it once was, so, he has a lot to work for future SSL.



The last group of the Ro16, group D, featured fan favorites, Bisu and Larva, ZvP specialist hero and the one and only fishking, HiyA. hero stole the spotlight after showing fantastic gameplay against all his opponents. In his game against HiyA on Circuit Breaker, hero went for 3 hatch muta and kept HiyA's MnM army small with solid mutalisk micro. Despite HiyA recovering and fighting back with strong micro (gif), hero won more engagements and took the game after attacking HiyA's expansion. His next encounter was against Larva on Neo Jade. While Larva opened with a pool gas build, hero stuck to one base, got speed for his zerglings and had his mutalisks out first. He decided to commit to a large attack leaving a single sunken at home for defense. He ended up winning the game after taking down all of Larva's spores despite having all of his own drones slaughtered by Larva's counterattack.hero's final opponent was Bisu on La Mancha. Quite possibly the best SSL game played so far, both players were pretty aggressive and constantly fought for the positional advantage after opening with mostly standard builds. hero was able to delay Bisu's third base, establish a better economy at one point and dropped Bisu's fourth and fifth base while Bisu constantly picked off overlords with his corsairs, disrupted mining with dark templars and zealot/high templar drops as well as took some good engagements with his impressive micro (gif). After losing most of his mining bases, Bisu rammed his remaining army into hero's fourth base. After the dust settled, Bisu was left with one mining base and no army promoting him to gg out.Though Bisu lost this game, he played quite the thriller against his remaining opponents. Against HiyA on Neo Jade, Bisu went for dark templar drops that didn't do much damage while HiyA opened standard with a rax fac. Both players went for the macro game with Bisu trying to buy time for his carriers to come out by attacking up ramp against HiyA's army. After getting crushed, he retreated and HiyA made his way to Bisu's fourth base, however, carriers came out just in time to prevent any major damage. HiyA lost his army and tried to recover, but, with arbiters also joining the mix, he could not stop Bisu's march to victory.Bisu also dispatched Larva in a rather one-sided fashion on HBR. Bisu opened up with forge expand while Larva went for pool and double expanded. Larva decided to go for hydras and tried to attack from behind Bisu's natural, but, this was defended against through the clever use of dark templars. Once corsairs were out, Bisu managed to sneak one of his dark templars into Larva's main, prompting the whole Zerg army to withdraw before attacking with a speedlot and high templar army storming Larva's hydras and drones to win the game. Larva's only consolation in this group was his game against HiyA on La Mancha. Larva was able to get into a great position using stop lurkers and took several bases as HiyA went for mech play. He stopped a double drop and defended well against HiyA's attack on his fourth while he methodically took down HiyA's mining bases to take the game. vs ZerO on Circuit Breaker by c3rberUs Last started at 5 o'clocked and opened with 14 CC while ZerO started at 7 going for a 12 hatch. Last added an early ebay and went for a +1 5 barracks. Going along with the build, he set off across the map to deny zerg expos. He scanned 11 o'clock and found ZerO trying to hide his drone, prompting him to send a lone marine to gun down the poor worker. ZerO, of course, needed to get his third asap, so he sacrificed a bunch of mutaling to divert Last away from another drone making its way to 11 o'clock. Last realized ZerO's scheme and went to 11 o'clock but ran into some lurkers. Due to his quick reflexes, he managed to save his MnM from getting impaled.





That was close O.O

In order to shake ZerO some more, Last brought some tanks to 11 o'clock and pushed up while simultaneously dropping marines at ZerO's main. ZerO was able to quickly contain the trouble in his main, but, Last was able to push up the ramp at his third. Then, with impeccable timing, a defiler blanketed the lurkers with a dark swarm and he went on to secure his 4th. Last initiated the mech switch and added expansions behind the maneuvers. With tanks rolling out of Last's factories, he put pressure on ZerO's natural and main, but, Circuit Breaker's bridges and dark swarm worked in ZerO's favor, so, Last detoured to bombard ZerO's new 9 o'clock expo.



Last's mech switch and expanding at the right side of the map went totally unpunished and the resource counter revealed the extent of his advantage: ~180 to ~90 supply. Even though ZerO was saving for ultras, his supply count looked dangerously low.





QUEENS

It turned out that ZerO was being very patient because he is amassing his signature unit, queens at a quiet corner of the map. During the game itself, it felt like it took forever, before, he unleashed them upon Last.





There's nothing like the sight of exploding tanks.

Following the revelation, ZerO began to assert his presence on the map with small parties of lings and ultras with a sprinkling of broodlings. He upgraded drops on overlords and used them to counter wave after wave of units from Last.





Counter to queens: EMP? Nah, the Year of Wraiths continue.

It's hard to tell if Last thought of wraiths prior to the match or if they were made on the fly, but, they worked well. Not only did he force ZerO's queens to disperse, but without proper anti-air defense at his bases, ZerO found himself being de-droned due to Last's wraiths.



ZerO, however, decided that he's going to completely ignore them and massed ultraling and assaulted Last's main. Unfortunately for Last, his tank numbers dwindled since queens appeared and as a result, his main base was devoured. Last did land a counter blow by taking down the base at 9 o'clock and a lot of drones.





Cracklings, ultras and more queens!

Despite Last clearing what seemed like a control groups of drones, ZerO's economy looked stunted for a few moments, but, his hatcheries keep on churning out ultraling and more queens. Shortly after the destruction of the bottom right, ZerO began clearing every expo of any terran structures and took over the map, forcing Last to the 1 o'clock main. To add insult to injury, he infested 2 CCs that we were left at the bottom and 3 o'clock expos.



In a last ditch effort, Last pushed ZerO out of 12 and made it his own. He left at least 6 tanks at his base, anticipating ZerO to come there. But at this point, ZerO can take his pick of bases. He went for Last's 1 o'clock base. What few tanks Last had left were blown up by the masses of queens and his wraiths were powerless to stop the streams of cracklings/ultras under the cover of dark swarm. GG



Last started at 5 o'clocked and opened with 14 CC while ZerO started at 7 going for a 12 hatch. Last added an early ebay and went for a +1 5 barracks. Going along with the build, he set off across the map to deny zerg expos. He scanned 11 o'clock and found ZerO trying to hide his drone, prompting him to send a lone marine to gun down the poor worker. ZerO, of course, needed to get his third asap, so he sacrificed a bunch of mutaling to divert Last away from another drone making its way to 11 o'clock. Last realized ZerO's scheme and went to 11 o'clock but ran into some lurkers. Due to his quick reflexes, he managed to save his MnM from getting impaled.In order to shake ZerO some more, Last brought some tanks to 11 o'clock and pushed up while simultaneously dropping marines at ZerO's main. ZerO was able to quickly contain the trouble in his main, but, Last was able to push up the ramp at his third. Then, with impeccable timing, a defiler blanketed the lurkers with a dark swarm and he went on to secure his 4th. Last initiated the mech switch and added expansions behind the maneuvers. With tanks rolling out of Last's factories, he put pressure on ZerO's natural and main, but, Circuit Breaker's bridges and dark swarm worked in ZerO's favor, so, Last detoured to bombard ZerO's new 9 o'clock expo.Last's mech switch and expanding at the right side of the map went totally unpunished and the resource counter revealed the extent of his advantage: ~180 to ~90 supply. Even though ZerO was saving for ultras, his supply count looked dangerously low.It turned out that ZerO was being very patient because he is amassing his signature unit, queens at a quiet corner of the map. During the game itself, it felt like it took forever, before, he unleashed them upon Last.Following the revelation, ZerO began to assert his presence on the map with small parties of lings and ultras with a sprinkling of broodlings. He upgraded drops on overlords and used them to counter wave after wave of units from Last.It's hard to tell if Last thought of wraiths prior to the match or if they were made on the fly, but, they worked well. Not only did he force ZerO's queens to disperse, but without proper anti-air defense at his bases, ZerO found himself being de-droned due to Last's wraiths.ZerO, however, decided that he's going to completely ignore them and massed ultraling and assaulted Last's main. Unfortunately for Last, his tank numbers dwindled since queens appeared and as a result, his main base was devoured. Last did land a counter blow by taking down the base at 9 o'clock and a lot of drones.Despite Last clearing what seemed like a control groups of drones, ZerO's economy looked stunted for a few moments, but, his hatcheries keep on churning out ultraling and more queens. Shortly after the destruction of the bottom right, ZerO began clearing every expo of any terran structures and took over the map, forcing Last to the 1 o'clock main. To add insult to injury, he infested 2 CCs that we were left at the bottom and 3 o'clock expos.In a last ditch effort, Last pushed ZerO out of 12 and made it his own. He left at least 6 tanks at his base, anticipating ZerO to come there. But at this point, ZerO can take his pick of bases. He went for Last's 1 o'clock base. What few tanks Last had left were blown up by the masses of queens and his wraiths were powerless to stop the streams of cracklings/ultras under the cover of dark swarm. GG by BisuDagger The round of 16 went to tie breakers as we all prayed would happen. This meant double the amount of games to choose from. Here's your handy guide to those that you shouldn't miss.



sSak vs Movie

Mind vs EffOrt

free vs Mong

hero vs Bisu

ZerO vs Last Day 1: sSak vs Movie



No game was a bigger head scratch-er then this one. Movie has a control group and some of carriers. sSak has no economy. Imba right? Then ending truly is a Game of Throws. Day 2: Mind vs EffOrt



The one EffOrt game actually proves an incredible one...for Mind. After watching this game, does a Zerg stand a chance against Mind. Day 3: Free vs Mong



Circuit Breaker is a map Protoss will now fear Terran. Mong tore PvT monster Free apart with multi-prong vulture harass and superior macro. This is a favorite for any Terran fan. Day 5: hero vs Bisu



No doubt every meeting between hero and Bisu will bring out the best of PvZs. The top dragon is given a tough fight from the highest APM Zerg in the world. Day 6: ZerO vs Last



This is by far the best game of the tournament. Last fighting for his life encountered everything in the Zerg arsenal including queens (lots of queens)! The entire map is used in this epic battle. Watch This Game! vs Bisu Sunday, Jul 26 10:00am GMT (GMT+00:00) by BLinD-RawR

One shall stand, One shall fall



A matchup worthy of a final, but instead our top 2 Elo players face off in the Ro8. Lucky for us unlike the last season, this season it’s a Bo5.



This may be the biggest match that will have to face in this entire tournament even expressing his concern about going against Zerg in this tournament (except Larva who will always end up doing his dishes) but the fact remains Bisu’s star power isn’t for show, he has repeatedly shown in this tournament itself that he is an extremely flexible player capable of busting out some great early game aggression and monstrous macro while being the foremost authority in the matchup. With the preparation that goes into a Bo5 we can say that the revolutionist is looking mighty powerful.





We’ll see if Zeratul’s blessing is truly with him



has also been on a roll this SSL going 2-0 in the Ro24 and 3-0ing his Ro16 group and now going up against Bisu with a favorable map pool that’s quite favorable to zerg. ZerO tends to favor playing to the late game against Protoss but its possible that with a Bo5 he’d choose a more aggressive style of play especially on HBR which is the opener and the closer to this Bo5, after all, what need is there to prepare two specific builds on the same map when you can just 3 hatch hydra bust.





Drawing ZerO is easy, beating him is not



This match could truly go either way but one thing is for certain, regardless of the result the true winners are us the fans.

ZerO < New Heartbreak Ridge > Bisu



< New Heartbreak Ridge > Bisu ZerO< Neo Jade > Bisu



ZerO< Neo Jade > ZerO < La Mancha > Bisu



< La Mancha > Bisu ZerO< Circuit Breaker > Bisu



ZerO< Circuit Breaker > ZerO < New Heartbreak Ridge > Bisu

ZerO to advance 3-2. ZerO to advance 3-2.



A matchup worthy of a final, but instead our top 2 Elo players face off in the Ro8. Lucky for us unlike the last season, this season it’s a Bo5.This may be the biggest match that Bisu will have to face in this entire tournament even expressing his concern about going against Zerg in this tournamentbut the fact remains Bisu’s star power isn’t for show, he has repeatedly shown in this tournament itself that he is an extremely flexible player capable of busting out some great early game aggression and monstrous macro while being the foremost authority in the matchup. With the preparation that goes into a Bo5 we can say that the revolutionist is looking mighty powerful. ZerO has also been on a roll this SSL going 2-0 in the Ro24 and 3-0ing his Ro16 group and now going up against Bisu with a favorable map pool that’s quite favorable to zerg. ZerO tends to favor playing to the late game against Protoss but its possible that with a Bo5 he’d choose a more aggressive style of play especially on HBR which is the opener and the closer to this Bo5, after all, what need is there to prepare two specific builds on the same map when you can just 3 hatch hydra bust.This match could truly go either way but one thing is for certain, regardless of the result the true winners are us the fans. vs Mind Wednesday, Jul 29 4:00am GMT (GMT+00:00) by FlashFTW



The TvZ mastermind, (no pun intended), finds himself in his strongest matchup entering the Round of 8. Mind boasts an 82.5% vZ win rate in the post-KeSPA era, something unheard of even in FlaSh terms. Mind played an exceptional TvZ vs EffOrt in the group stages and has been dismantling hero since the beginning of 2015. While Mind has not played many official TvZ games recently (only 3 in the past 3 months), there is no doubt in my Mind (god this is too easy) that he will once again, show off his TvZ brilliance, particularly in an extended Bo5 series.





My MSL trophy needs some company...



’s vT is something to be desired for. While he boasts 75% win rates in both vP and vZ, those stats won’t help him in this matchup, especially against the best TvZ player on the planet. His game vs Last in group stages did show some signs of brilliance, as his all-in mass mutalisk build was able to whittle down Last before his zerglings moved in for the kill. Also, his overall recent performance in SSL 11 has shown that he is still one of the best Zerg, sitting at 6-2 in the tournament. Still, he’ll need more than just his standard ZvT in order to overcome the powerhouse that is Mind.



Mind has already gone 2-0 in TvZ in SSL 11, showing solid play on Jade and Circuit Breaker. Similarly, La Mancha is in many ways part of the same family of four-player maps with mains at the corners, nearby thirds, and limited cliffs/ridges, leaving only HBR more of an unknown. All-in's and cheese work sporadically, but asking a rusty Killer who plays sparingly for three wins is much too much.



Mind to advance 3-1. Mind to advance 3-1.



The TvZ mastermind, Mind (no pun intended), finds himself in his strongest matchup entering the Round of 8. Mind boasts an 82.5% vZ win rate in the post-KeSPA era, something unheard of even inFlaSh terms. Mind played an exceptional TvZ vsEffOrt in the group stages and has been dismantlinghero since the beginning of 2015. While Mind has not played many official TvZ games recently (only 3 in the past 3 months), there is no doubt in my Mind (god this is too easy) that he will once again, show off his TvZ brilliance, particularly in an extended Bo5 series. Killer ’s vT is something to be desired for. While he boasts 75% win rates in both vP and vZ, those stats won’t help him in this matchup, especially against the best TvZ player on the planet. His game vsLast in group stages did show some signs of brilliance, as his all-in mass mutalisk build was able to whittle down Last before his zerglings moved in for the kill. Also, his overall recent performance in SSL 11 has shown that he is still one of the best Zerg, sitting at 6-2 in the tournament. Still, he’ll need more than just his standard ZvT in order to overcome the powerhouse that is Mind.Mind has already gone 2-0 in TvZ in SSL 11, showing solid play on Jade and Circuit Breaker. Similarly, La Mancha is in many ways part of the same family of four-player maps with mains at the corners, nearby thirds, and limited cliffs/ridges, leaving only HBR more of an unknown. All-in's and cheese work sporadically, but asking a rusty Killer who plays sparingly for three wins is much too much.



ZerO Bisu BigFan (3-2)

BLinD-RawR (3-2)

amazingxkcd (3-2)

2Pacalypse- (3-2) BisuDagger (3-1)

v1 (3-2)

Falling (3-1)

bioboyAT (3-1)

GTR (3-1)

Stratos (3-1) Killer Mind amazingxkcd (3-1)

Falling (3-1) BisuDagger (3-1)

BigFan (3-1)

BLinD-RawR (3-0)

2Pacalypse- (3-1)

v1 (3-1)

bioboyAT (3-0)

GTR (3-2)

Stratos (3-2)



As we get ready for the elimination round, the TeamLiquid BW staff want to share their own predictions, with the anticipated result in parentheses:

