[SSL] Ro32 Preview - Bringing Sexy Back Text by kjwcj Graphics by Hyde





This edition of SSL news is slightly more filled out than the last, and begins in typical fashion with a love letter



The Ro32 has already served up some excellent games and a number of surprising results, and the final four groups promise to be just as good. With the offline stage of the tournament set to begin only a week after the conclusion of the Ro32, we'll be back in two weeks time to preview the Ro16 but in the meantime you can find full results and VODs in



Four down, four to go. After Killer kicked off the Ro32 by maintaining the status quo as he easily dominated group A, things got weirder and weirder as the Ro32 progressed, culminating in Sea's baffling 0-2 elimination last weekend. We also saw the debut of our newest ex-pro SOSPA competitor, sSak, whose dominant performance in group C immediately marked him out as a strong contender for place in the final. As was briefly mentioned in the last news update, the resumption of the SSL has seen the return of many familiar faces from Afreeca tournaments past, with this weekend's group F marking the return of our old favourite and TvZ bad-ass Sexy.This edition of SSL news is slightly more filled out than the last, and begins in typical fashion with a recap of the first four groups by TeamLiquid's number one Melbournian, Hyde. Following on from that we have Epoxide's tribute to former CJ progamer and Daum OSL finalist, Iris , who will be making his return to Brood War competition in group G later this month. Next up is BisuDagger's interview with one of the lesser known players from this SSL, uNiOn`Feat, and then finally, the culmination of my decline into senility, a preview of the final four Ro32 groups The Ro32 has already served up some excellent games and a number of surprising results, and the final four groups promise to be just as good. With the offline stage of the tournament set to begin only a week after the conclusion of the Ro32, we'll be back in two weeks time to preview the Ro16 but in the meantime you can find full results and VODs in ArvickHero's R&S thread or on the Liquipedia page. Table of Contents



Round of 32 Recap Part I



The Beserker is Back



Interview with Feat



Round of 32 Preview Part II



Liquipedia





Round of 32 Recap Part I

By Hyde



A Killer Performance



advances 2-0

advances 2-1

eliminated 1-2

eliminated 0-2 Killer advances 2-0 ErOs_Lucifer advances 2-1 Hint eliminated 1-2 Onicle eliminated 0-2

The 8th SonicTV Starleague kicked off with current champion sticking it to the amateurs, his selections at the group ceremony placed him with mostly unseasoned players so it should come as no surprise that he breezed through his group. Killer won all his matches effortlessly, landed the killing blow at first opportunity and swiftly advanced to next round. Killer was always going to advance, that much was guaranteed, the question here was which of the three amateurs would advance alongside the champion.



Of the three Protoss players, Hint was the only player who had a previous record in an SSL where he advanced to the Ro16 by beating Sexy and Minho. That made him slightly more favored against the likes of Onicle and Lucifer who we've never seen and know little about. However, as the night went on, Hint's previous record meant little as it became increasingly evident he was just as bad as they were.





This is just one of the many shuttles that was blown to pieces.

Games were plagued with sketchy execution - stacked panic-induced storms, scattered formations, and shuttles full of reavers that always flew into prime position to be sniped. The worst of the bunch was Onicle, a standard issue player who deviated little from the norm and only managed to grab a single game. Failure to act on other's mistakes while being punished for his own meant he was the first to be knocked out of the tournament.



The games between Lucifer and Hint didn't get much better, aside from the spotty execution there was also some bizarre decision making - like Lucifer's choice of always engaging in terrible positions, or Hint forsaking his reaver to a DT even though his shuttle was literally an inch away. It was hard to discern exactly what these two were doing right when so much was going wrong. One thing that stood out was Lucifer's macro, more units on the field and faster reinforcements gave him enough of an edge to nudge Hint out. Lucifer should consider himself lucky given his opponents, if his current performance was anything to go by he'll be in a world of hurt should he come across a more accomplished player - of which this tournament has many. The 8th SonicTV Starleague kicked off with current champion sticking it to the amateurs, his selections at the group ceremony placed him with mostly unseasoned players so it should come as no surprise that he breezed through his group. Killer won all his matches effortlessly, landed the killing blow at first opportunity and swiftly advanced to next round. Killer was always going to advance, that much was guaranteed, the question here was which of the three amateurs would advance alongside the champion.Of the three Protoss players, Hint was the only player who had a previous record in an SSL where he advanced to the Ro16 by beating Sexy and Minho. That made him slightly more favored against the likes of Onicle and Lucifer who we've never seen and know little about. However, as the night went on, Hint's previous record meant little as it became increasingly evident he was just as bad as they were.Games were plagued with sketchy execution - stacked panic-induced storms, scattered formations, and shuttles full of reavers that always flew into prime position to be sniped. The worst of the bunch was Onicle, a standard issue player who deviated little from the norm and only managed to grab a single game. Failure to act on other's mistakes while being punished for his own meant he was the first to be knocked out of the tournament.The games between Lucifer and Hint didn't get much better, aside from the spotty execution there was also some bizarre decision making - like Lucifer's choice of always engaging in terrible positions, or Hint forsaking his reaver to a DT even though his shuttle was literally an inch away. It was hard to discern exactly what these two were doing right when so much was going wrong. One thing that stood out was Lucifer's macro, more units on the field and faster reinforcements gave him enough of an edge to nudge Hint out. Lucifer should consider himself lucky given his opponents, if his current performance was anything to go by he'll be in a world of hurt should he come across a more accomplished player - of which this tournament has many.



BM Rising



advances 2-0

advances 2-1

eliminated 1-2

eliminated 0-2 Larva advances 2-0 kkong advances 2-1 -_- eliminated 1-2 Mae.pOse eliminated 0-2

Larva became the second player to walk away with a flawless victory after having manipulated his way into an easy group. As expected, none of the three players posed much of a threat to the SSL7 runner-up, using his late-game management strengths Larva beat down his opponents while pelting (what I assume to be) bm chat/ceremonies to mark his utter dominance.





Larva's way of telling his opponent to gtfo

Kkong, a former MBCgame Terran, made his debut by showing he was a cut above the amateurs with his experience and superior execution that carried him through games easily, but when it came time to face Larva, he suffered the same fate as the others. Kkong wasn't the only one making his first appearance though, this SSL marked -_- and Mae.pOse's foray into a serious competitive league.



Mae.pOse was the weakest of this group losing all his games, the first to kkong and then later to -_- when he failed to make good on his hydra bust. His losses were characterised by mid and late game weaknesses where he failed at maintaining map control against large armies, dealing with harass, and taking advantage of hive tech.



-_- had his fair share of problems, a series of bad attacks in heavily defended areas and recalls that made no impact meant he was dead when kkong pushed out in the first game. The second game ended quickly when kkong opened 2-fact into a stranglehold contain to eliminate -_- out of this tournament. Larva became the second player to walk away with a flawless victory after having manipulated his way into an easy group. As expected, none of the three players posed much of a threat to the SSL7 runner-up, using his late-game management strengths Larva beat down his opponents while pelting (what I assume to be) bm chat/ceremonies to mark his utter dominance.Kkong, a former MBCgame Terran, made his debut by showing he was a cut above the amateurs with his experience and superior execution that carried him through games easily, but when it came time to face Larva, he suffered the same fate as the others. Kkong wasn't the only one making his first appearance though, this SSL marked -_- and Mae.pOse's foray into a serious competitive league.Mae.pOse was the weakest of this group losing all his games, the first to kkong and then later to -_- when he failed to make good on his hydra bust. His losses were characterised by mid and late game weaknesses where he failed at maintaining map control against large armies, dealing with harass, and taking advantage of hive tech.-_- had his fair share of problems, a series of bad attacks in heavily defended areas and recalls that made no impact meant he was dead when kkong pushed out in the first game. The second game ended quickly when kkong opened 2-fact into a stranglehold contain to eliminate -_- out of this tournament.



Not the Sea Change We Wanted



advances 2-0

advances 2-1

eliminated 1-2

eliminated 0-2 sSak advances 2-0 HiyA advances 2-1 Cola eliminated 1-2 Sea eliminated 0-2

Already acknowledged as the most difficult group at this stage things got a lot tougher when negotiations between Sky and Sonic broke down and rumors emerged that an ex-pro was taking his spot. When the time came to play it was revealed that the ex-pro would be sSak.

Fresh from a pro-team environment with world-class coaches, a strict regimen and long practice hours, sSak dismantled both Sea and Cola without breaking a sweat. sSak is probably the most interesting entry into the SSL given his background and will surely be a strong contender for best Terran.





sSak displaying his prowess.

With so much talent in one group someone had to yield and Sea was the first fan favourite to be eliminated. This is not the first time Sea has stumbled at the first hurdle though, after being crowned the 11th SRT champion he was eliminated in the first round of the subsequent tournament. More surprisingly Sea was defeated in what was suppose to be his strongest match-up, TvT. Granted it was only one game against sSak but if his pro-gaming record was any indication he should have beaten both sSak and HiyA.



Second place came down to Cola and HiyA, a match-up Cola in all likelihood wanted to avoid given his atrocious record against the former Oz Terran. Despite showing some impressive play early on, history repeated itself and Cola's ZvT proved to be his bane yet again when he lost the last two deciding games, mirroring his elimination in the 12th SRT. Already acknowledged as the most difficult group at this stage things got a lot tougher when negotiations between Sky and Sonic broke down and rumors emerged that an ex-pro was taking his spot. When the time came to play it was revealed that the ex-pro would be sSak.Fresh from a pro-team environment with world-class coaches, a strict regimen and long practice hours, sSak dismantled both Sea and Cola without breaking a sweat. sSak is probably the most interesting entry into the SSL given his background and will surely be a strong contender for best Terran.With so much talent in one group someone had to yield and Sea was the first fan favourite to be eliminated. This is not the first time Sea has stumbled at the first hurdle though, after being crowned the 11th SRT champion he was eliminated in the first round of the subsequent tournament. More surprisingly Sea was defeated in what was suppose to be his strongest match-up, TvT. Granted it was only one game against sSak but if his pro-gaming record was any indication he should have beaten both sSak and HiyA.Second place came down to Cola and HiyA, a match-up Cola in all likelihood wanted to avoid given his atrocious record against the former Oz Terran. Despite showing some impressive play early on, history repeated itself and Cola's ZvT proved to be his bane yet again when he lost the last two deciding games, mirroring his elimination in the 12th SRT.



A Slight Change in Plans



advances 2-0

advances 2-1

eliminated 1-2

eliminated 0-2 Ample advances 2-0 Pusan advances 2-1 `iOps]..SenSe eliminated 1-2 ddugi eliminated 0-2

Another group that received a small lineup change after ZergMaN dropped out due to health issues and was replaced with an unknown Zerg named ddugi, which was rather unfortunate for the 1927 people who liquibetted ZergMaN. Not much is known about ddugi aside that he streams on Afreeca, his 5-pool debut didn't inspire much confidence and when that was easily swept aside by SenSe hopes of him producing decent results quickly faded.



Ample who





One of these is not like the others

Without a doubt the clear favourite here was Pusan, who looked slightly out of practice and I'm convinced he would have won against Ample had his control been tighter (as Ample's was) to augment his overall game plan. This left Pusan to play for second place against SenSe, a regular of the Defiler Tournaments but a newcomer to the SOSPA scene. SenSe was off to a good start but flaws began to surface as games unfolded. Most notably was SenSe's defensive reflexes which were painfully slow and something Pusan took advantage of - decimating entire worker lines with reavers. Retaliation didn't come easy for Sense either, his own attempts at reaver drops were often deflected or trapped by goons which kept him behind, so much so that it allowed Pusan to launch full frontal assaults to take the series. To SenSe's credit though he was probably one of the better amateurs and had he been in another group, say Group A, he probably would've advanced. Another group that received a small lineup change after ZergMaN dropped out due to health issues and was replaced with an unknown Zerg named ddugi, which was rather unfortunate for the 1927 people who liquibetted ZergMaN. Not much is known about ddugi aside that he streams on Afreeca, his 5-pool debut didn't inspire much confidence and when that was easily swept aside by SenSe hopes of him producing decent results quickly faded.Ample who received little in the way of votes had the strongest performance of the night. His victory further highlighted by beating veteran and SSL7 semifinalist Pusan with his crisp mechanics in a long drawn game. Ample walked away after the minimum three games and joins the likes of Killer and Larva who also have flawless victories. The number of votes he received are unsurprising though, looking at Ample's track record revealed a roller coaster of results where he's either eliminated at the beginning or advanced to but never beyond the next stage. If he can repeat this group's performance he might just make some headway this time around.Without a doubt the clear favourite here was Pusan, who looked slightly out of practice and I'm convinced he would have won against Ample had his control been tighter (as Ample's was) to augment his overall game plan. This left Pusan to play for second place against SenSe, a regular of the Defiler Tournaments but a newcomer to the SOSPA scene. SenSe was off to a good start but flaws began to surface as games unfolded. Most notably was SenSe's defensive reflexes which were painfully slow and something Pusan took advantage of - decimating entire worker lines with reavers. Retaliation didn't come easy for Sense either, his own attempts at reaver drops were often deflected or trapped by goons which kept him behind, so much so that it allowed Pusan to launch full frontal assaults to take the series. To SenSe's credit though he was probably one of the better amateurs and had he been in another group, say Group A, he probably would've advanced.





By Epoxide

Many of you might be extremely excited about Iris being back, and about the level of competition he brings to the field as a veteran. Some, however, might say that he does not stand a chance. I'm here to tell those people that they are wrong.



Who is Iris?

Name: Byun Hyung Tae

ID: Iris[gm]

Nickname: The Berserker Terran

Date of birth: 5th of February 1987 (Age 26)

Lineage: CJ Entus Terran (Preceded by , Succeeded by sKyHigh)

Playstyle: Offensive, Micro/Mechanics

Trademark builds: 1 Barracks Fast Expand (TvZ), 2 Factory (TvP)

Signature units: Marine, Dropship

Exceptional traits: Unpredictable. Passionate. Supremely entertaining series, with emphasis on game five. Name: Byun Hyung TaeID:Nickname: The Berserker TerranDate of birth: 5th of February 1987 (Age 26)Lineage: CJ Entus Terran (Preceded by XellOs , Succeeded byPlaystyle: Offensive, Micro/MechanicsTrademark builds: 1 Barracks Fast Expand (TvZ), 2 Factory (TvP)Signature units: Marine, DropshipExceptional traits: Unpredictable. Passionate. Supremely entertaining series, with emphasis on game five.

Iris has a rich history that dates all the way to 2004. He started his career on the team Greatest Ones, and stayed with that team until his military service. In his first offline MST qualifier, he managed to get first place out of his bracket, having only lost two games. Unfortunately for him, he was knocked out by the big boys in both the MBC Survivor and at WCG Korea 2004 without winning so much as a single game. The rest of the year continued rather poorly: he failed to qualify at the Fall MST offline qualifiers (only beating one opponent in the process) and he dropped out of the OCL as well as the ODT. A small glimmer of hope for him did arrive when he won in his first Proleague appearance against Zeus, who was an OSL runner-up from earlier in the year.



First steps

2005 was a relatively good year for Iris, as he managed to qualify for both the 2005 EVER OSL and the 2005 Shinhan Bank OSL. He dropped out of both OSLs in the round of 24. He also ended up in 4th place in the CYON OCL. Additionally, he ended the 2005 Proleague season with a record of 8-7 with wins against players like July and NaDa. He had proven himself to be a promising player.



During the 2006-2007 period Iris did well. He managed to qualify for all three OSLs during 2006. He started the year by dropping out in the group stages out of a group that consisted of Midas, Stork, YellOw, and himself. He ended up in third place within that group with an overall score of two wins to three losses. His performance in group stages is most notable for his two victories over Midas, who was considered to be the greatest Terran at that time. In the second season of the 2006 Shinhan Bank OSL, Iris dropped out in the group stages once again. However, he was still able to advance because of a wildcard spot. He was knocked out by Midas in the quarterfinals in a close series.



First success

In the following season, Iris advanced all the way to the semifinals with only two losses against him. His opponent was sAviOr, who had finally managed to qualify for the OSL after having dominated the MSL for more than a year with appearances at four consecutive MSL finals, and victories at three of them. Iris surprised everyone by taking his match against sAviOr to game five. His performance was enough to place him in third place on the power rank, which noted that



In the 2007 Daum OSL, Iris faced sAviOr once again in the quarterfinals. Before meeting sAviOr, Iris first defeated Stork. After Iris eliminated sAviOr as well from the OSL, he completed the defeat of two opponents who had the best versus Terran records in the world at the time. Iris managed to get all the way to the finals of that season, where he faced GGPlay. Even though he got reverse-swept by GGPlay after being up 2-0, he still ended being ranked higher than GGPlay in the following power rank. Why? Because Iris had shown the he was one of the very best players in all three match-ups, something that no Terran other than iloveoov and NaDa had done previously.



Just standard again

After the loss to GGPlay, Iris looked like he used to. He had games where he won when he was supposed to and games where he lost when he was supposed to. He was knocked out in the early rounds of 2007 EVER OSL, 2008 Incruit OSL, 2008 Club Day MSL, and the 2009 Lost Saga MSL. He failed to qualify for the rest. He ended the 2008 season of Proleague with a record of 7-6.



Second success

In the spring of 2009, something had awakened the berserker. He was fielded multiple times in Proleague and he built up a solid record.



In individual leagues, Iris had two magic runs that stopped just shy of the last door. In the 2009 Avalon MSL, Iris had just came out of an impressive win against Bisu in the quarterfinals. Iris looked destined to face Jaedong, who was on the other side of the bracket, in the finals. Everything looked good until Iris was 2-0 against Kwanro, when he was once again reverse-swept three games in a row. The final between Calm and Kwanro ended up being the worst MSL final ever. His other run was in the last season of the GOMTV Classic. On the road to the final, Iris knocked out EffOrt 3-0 in the semifinal before losing to the wonderboy, Flash.



Fallen into slumber

After 2009, nothing really happened for Iris' career. He fell into mediocrity after joining ACE (like everyone except for firebathero). With the transition to StarCraft II, Iris decided to become a coach. Realising his true powers, Iris is now participating in SOSPA-hosted tournaments and events.







Reborn

Iris did not participate in the seeding matches or the group selection. This is seen by many as an indication he is not taking it seriously.



I beg to differ. Remember what happened to sAviOr in the quarterfinals? Iris is in the AZUBU dorm practicing every waking hour. Why? Last month he played Killer. He ended up being 3-2'd. Déjà vu. Two days later, Iris plays Larva. Larva rolls over and dies, 0-3. The berserker has emerged from his den.



Interview with Feat

By Bisudagger & David Kim

Hello, my name is Bisudagger and it is very nice to meet you. How long have you been playing StarCraft?

Yes, very nice to meet you. I am Sang-Jo Lee and I use the name Feat. I have never met him but Bisu is a great player. I played in the middle of my 10th grade so about 3 years now. I went to the same high school as Beast[kal], who is playing in the 8th Sonic Starleague, so I learned the basics from him and I slowly developed my skill lol



Beast played on Kespa Team 8, were you on the Kespa team before they moved?

Feat No at that time I was an amateur player. I have done the online test when I was on the WoongJin Team. [T/N] He actually practiced with Soulkey and Zero often.



You play in the Round of 32 this Saturday, how have you prepared?

Feat Right now I don't have enough time to practice because of my college life/schedule so I'm preparing whenever I have time. In my group there are 2 Terran and 1 Zerg so I wanted to play Protoss but because of the Terran it seems like that will be difficult. I plan to play strong and show a great performance.



Beast is your best friend, what will your mindset be if you play him?

Feat Hmm well Beast is a veteran pro and he knows my style very well so it could be difficult but since it will be a same race battle I believe there will be a lot of variables.



Yes, Zerg versus Zerg can go many ways. sSak is now playing SC1, are you surprised how good he is?

Feat sSak has been on the proleague a few times and I've known that he is good. I knew he had great skills and I see him as a strong candidate to be a winner for this league.



What does the Sonic Starleague mean to you? Do believe that StarCraft 1 will be big like it once was?

Feat Starleague is what made me dream about professional gaming in high school and the thing that made me pursue my dream. I believe with a little more effort SC1 can be big again.



Thank you. It has been a great opportunity to have conversation with you

Feat Yes, thank you! I will do my best for this game.



Round of 32 Preview Part II

By kjwcj







Group E Group F Group G Group H Perfectman Mong Movie Shinee ZeLoT beast Perry Spire hero uNiOn`Feat Tyson Lazy Jeak.donggle Sexy Iris Shuttle



Group E

Friday, Mar 15 10:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)

Perfectman hasn’t exactly been pulling up trees since his Ro8 exit to Larva in SSL7, with Movie’s impressive performances slightly overshadowing the former Hwaseung progamer. Perfectman’s co-favourite hero has also faded slightly after a series of good showings in the latter part of 2012. Rounding out the group we have SOSPA regular and president of the hydralisk fanclub, ZeLoT and the slightly less well known amateur, Jeak.donggle.



While Perfectman probably deserves to be considered favourite to progress from group E in first place, his PvZ history, especially when considering his record as a progamer, is hardly impressive. Hero and ZeLoT have both taken some impressive PvZ scalps in the past and while neither player did that well in their seeding group, both pose a real threat to Perfectman, especially ZeLoT in the Bo1 opening game.





If only he took care of his shuttles as well as he takes care of his Stargirls.

Regardless of how Perfectman’s PvZ holds up, hero and ZeloT should meet in at least one Bo3. These two met quite recently in their SSL seeding group, with ZeLot taking a quick win over hero with what is becoming his trademark “cheese the progamer” style. Jeak.donggle isn’t particularly well known as a competitor in SOSPA leagues but is a reasonably high Fish ladder player and could give either of the Zergs a tough time.



This group is a slightly awkward one to call, with its outcome likely reliant on the result of the ZvZ series between hero and ZeLoT. Perfectman hasn’t been brilliant in 2013 but taking into consideration his performance in that 2-3 loss against LArva and the considerable motivation boost that comes with a tournament like SSL, he should pull through in first here.



and to advance.



Group F

Saturday, Mar 16 10:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)

Group F features three of the best “B team” progamers from the SOSPA scene, with all three players have done extremely well for themselves on Afreeca when competing against more high profile ex-pro opposition. Amongst those three, probably the most successful is Mong, who stands out as probably the most consistent streamer and competitor on Afreeca over the last year. Beast doesn’t really have consistency on his side, but has put up results almost on a par with Mong and has been reaping the rewards of a huge upswing in form over the last three months.



The third king of the B teamers is Sexy, who seemed to disappear completely after a disappointing showing in SSL7.uNiOn`Feat is a newcomer to the SOSPA individual leagues and as such, we know little about him other than he’s a strong ladder player. While in another group he may have had a chance to make an impact, against this trio he’s basically just along for the ride.





Them other gamers don't know how to act.

While beast has been excellent in 2013 and Sexy’s TvT was once very good, this group is Mong’s to lose. Against beast he will be playing in his best match-up, one in which he is equal to any other Terran on Afreeca, while versus Sexy he’ll be facing off against a player who has 3 months’ worth of rust to shake off and whom he has always had the upper hand over.



Sexy’s likely match-up with beast is a slightly more interesting proposition, with the former OZ Terran’s historical strength in TvZ counterbalanced by his own inactivity and beast’s good form so far in 2013. When the two met in seeding group A, Sexy took a win which harked back to his glory days of mid-2012 when he narrowly lost to Killer 3-4 in the final of SRT9. While that game probably wasn’t entirely representative of the two players’ relative skill, it’s worth noting that beast’s recent good results have almost exclusively come in ZvZ and ZvP, with his only really notable ZvT win coming in a quick and dirty game against the desperately out of form Sea.



It feels slightly risky to bet against beast, given how many times he has confounded expectations already this year. However Sexy’s consistent success throughout 2012, along with his excellent return performance in his seeding group, make it a risk worth taking.



and to advance.

Group G

Friday, Mar 22 10:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)

Having quickly risen to the top of the SOSPA scene in SRTs 11 and 12, Movie’s progress through the early stages of his debut SSL ought to have been fairly straightforward. However the late inclusion of his former CJ teammate and fellow OSL finalist, Iris, has complicated things somewhat. Completing group G are former MBC and Team8 progamer Tyson and one of the more promising B team ex-pros, Perry.



With Tyson’s Afreeca career so far having roughly followed the trajectory of his professional career, that is, average but with enough surprise results to keep things interesting, he should only become a factor in this group if Iris’ current level proves to be much lower than expected. Perry also is likely condemned to irrelevancy but has an outside chance of emerging from a three way scrap for the second spot in the Ro16.





Movie sensibly chose to keep hold of his jacket. You can learn from this, Perfectman.

Obviously, the most interesting storyline in this group is the return of Iris to Brood War competition. While we know what Iris can and has done when at the peak of his powers (for a reminder, see



Everyone wants Iris to go through, if for no other reason than to see him play in an offline setting one more time. Unfortunately for us, Iris’ TvP could be his undoing, as it has been for so many other top Afreeca Terran in the past. While a win over Movie seems like a long shot, Iris at least deserves the benefit of the doubt against the much weaker Tyson and Perry.



and to advance.

Group H

Saturday, Mar 23 10:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)

Shuttle’s quest to continue funding his patronage of Gangnam’s famous “baseball parks” continues with what should probably be a fairly straightforward group for the former STX progamer. Joining him in the final group of the Ro32 is undisupted king of Fighting Spirit, Shinee, former MBC B teamer Lazy and SSL debutant, Spire.



While Shinee is a formidable opponent for basically anyone when the game is being played on Fish ladder, he always appears to fall short of his potential in tournament games. Up against Shuttle in what seems the most likely winners’ final, Shinee looks likely to struggle. Shuttle appears to have reached a reasonably comfortable level within the SOSPA scene, where he is not quite able to challenge the absolute top competitors but still easily dispatches the less well established ex-pros and amateur players.



Spire was around for a little while early in 2012, while purportedly active as a Team 8 practice partner and participated with mixed success in a handful of Afreeca tournaments. Since then he’s dropped off the radar slightly and looks like a fairly safe bet for last place in the group. Lazy has been similarly peripheral to the SOSPA scene in the last six months but is a slightly more well established player, having been an eSTRO and MBC progamer.





This is Spire. No further caption required.

It’s difficult to know what more to say, Shinee has a habit of losing to some surprising people in tournament series so it is possible for either Spire or Lazy to make it through at his expense. Shuttle’s playstyle can be a little erratic but he’s much too good to not make it out of this group. Unless Shinee can, for the first time in history, translate his 2000+ Fish ladder play on a non-Fighting Spirit map, Shuttle should take first place easily.



and to advance.





WRITERS: Hyde, Epoxide, kjwcj, BisuDagger

TRANSLATORS: David Kim

EDITORS: itsjustatank

GRAPHICS: Hyde

PHOTOS: kimbilly, dailyesports Many of you might be extremely excited about Iris being back, and about the level of competition he brings to the field as a veteran. Some, however, might say that he does not stand a chance. I'm here to tellthat they are wrong.Iris has a rich history that dates all the way to 2004. He started his career on the team Greatest Ones, and stayed with that team until his military service. In his first offline MST qualifier, he managed to get first place out of his bracket, having only lost two games. Unfortunately for him, he was knocked out by the big boys in both the MBC Survivor and at WCG Korea 2004 without winning so much as a single game. The rest of the year continued rather poorly: he failed to qualify at the Fall MST offline qualifiers (only beating one opponent in the process) and he dropped out of the OCL as well as the ODT. A small glimmer of hope for him did arrive when he won in his first Proleague appearance against Zeus, who was an OSL runner-up from earlier in the year.2005 was a relatively good year for Iris, as he managed to qualify for both the 2005 EVER OSL and the 2005 Shinhan Bank OSL. He dropped out of both OSLs in the round of 24. He also ended up in 4th place in the CYON OCL. Additionally, he ended the 2005 Proleague season with a record of 8-7 with wins against players like July and NaDa. He had proven himself to be a promising player.During the 2006-2007 period Iris did well. He managed to qualify for all three OSLs during 2006. He started the year by dropping out in the group stages out of a group that consisted of Midas, Stork, YellOw, and himself. He ended up in third place within that group with an overall score of two wins to three losses. His performance in group stages is most notable for his two victories over Midas, who was considered to be the greatest Terran at that time. In the second season of the 2006 Shinhan Bank OSL, Iris dropped out in the group stages once again. However, he was still able to advance because of a wildcard spot. He was knocked out by Midas in the quarterfinals in a close series.In the following season, Iris advanced all the way to the semifinals with only two losses against him. His opponent was sAviOr, who had finally managed to qualify for the OSL after having dominated the MSL for more than a year with appearances at four consecutive MSL finals, and victories at three of them. Iris surprised everyone by taking his match against sAviOr to game five. His performance was enough to place him in third place on the power rank, which noted that Iris had brought his very best, unlike Midas . Iris ended up stomping Casy 3-0 in the third place match.In the 2007 Daum OSL, Iris faced sAviOr once again in the quarterfinals. Before meeting sAviOr, Iris first defeated Stork. After Iris eliminated sAviOr as well from the OSL, he completed the defeat of two opponents who had the best versus Terran records in the world at the time. Iris managed to get all the way to the finals of that season, where he faced GGPlay. Even though he got reverse-swept by GGPlay after being up 2-0, he still ended being rankedthan GGPlay in the following power rank. Why? Because Iris had shown the he was one of the very best players in all three match-ups, something that no Terran other than iloveoov and NaDa had done previously.After the loss to GGPlay, Iris looked like he used to. He had games where he won when he was supposed to and games where he lost when he was supposed to. He was knocked out in the early rounds of 2007 EVER OSL, 2008 Incruit OSL, 2008 Club Day MSL, and the 2009 Lost Saga MSL. He failed to qualify for the rest. He ended the 2008 season of Proleague with a record of 7-6.In the spring of 2009, something had awakened the berserker. He was fielded multiple times in Proleague and he built up a solid record.In individual leagues, Iris had two magic runs that stopped just shy of the last door. In the 2009 Avalon MSL, Iris had just came out of an impressive win against Bisu in the quarterfinals. Iris looked destined to face Jaedong, who was on the other side of the bracket, in the finals. Everything looked good until Iris was 2-0 against Kwanro, when he was once again reverse-swept three games in a row. The final between Calm and Kwanro ended up being the worst MSL final ever. His other run was in the last season of the GOMTV Classic. On the road to the final, Iris knocked out EffOrt 3-0 in the semifinal before losing to the wonderboy, Flash.After 2009, nothing really happened for Iris' career. He fell into mediocrity after joining ACE (like everyone except for firebathero). With the transition to StarCraft II, Iris decided to become a coach. Realising his true powers, Iris is now participating in SOSPA-hosted tournaments and events.Iris did not participate in the seeding matches or the group selection. This is seen by many as an indication he is not taking it seriously.I beg to differ. Remember what happened to sAviOr in the quarterfinals? Iris is in the AZUBU dorm practicing every waking hour. Why? Last month he played Killer. He ended up being 3-2'd. Déjà vu. Two days later, Iris plays Larva. Larva rolls over and dies, 0-3. The berserker has emerged from his den.Perfectman hasn’t exactly been pulling up trees since his Ro8 exit to Larva in SSL7, with Movie’s impressive performances slightly overshadowing the former Hwaseung progamer. Perfectman’s co-favourite hero has also faded slightly after a series of good showings in the latter part of 2012. Rounding out the group we have SOSPA regular and president of the hydralisk fanclub, ZeLoT and the slightly less well known amateur, Jeak.donggle.While Perfectman probably deserves to be considered favourite to progress from group E in first place, his PvZ history, especially when considering his record as a progamer, is hardly impressive. Hero and ZeLoT have both taken some impressive PvZ scalps in the past and while neither player did that well in their seeding group, both pose a real threat to Perfectman, especially ZeLoT in the Bo1 opening game.Regardless of how Perfectman’s PvZ holds up, hero and ZeloT should meet in at least one Bo3. These two met quite recently in their SSL seeding group, with ZeLot taking a quick win over hero with what is becoming his trademark “cheese the progamer” style. Jeak.donggle isn’t particularly well known as a competitor in SOSPA leagues but is a reasonably high Fish ladder player and could give either of the Zergs a tough time.This group is a slightly awkward one to call, with its outcome likely reliant on the result of the ZvZ series between hero and ZeLoT. Perfectman hasn’t been brilliant in 2013 but taking into consideration his performance in that 2-3 loss against LArva and the considerable motivation boost that comes with a tournament like SSL, he should pull through in first here. PerfectMan and ZeLoT to advance.Group F features three of the best “B team” progamers from the SOSPA scene, with all three players have done extremely well for themselves on Afreeca when competing against more high profile ex-pro opposition. Amongst those three, probably the most successful is Mong, who stands out as probably the most consistent streamer and competitor on Afreeca over the last year. Beast doesn’t really have consistency on his side, but has put up results almost on a par with Mong and has been reaping the rewards of a huge upswing in form over the last three months.The third king of the B teamers is Sexy, who seemed to disappear completely after a disappointing showing in SSL7.uNiOn`Feat is a newcomer to the SOSPA individual leagues and as such, we know little about him other than he’s a strong ladder player. While in another group he may have had a chance to make an impact, against this trio he’s basically just along for the ride.While beast has been excellent in 2013 and Sexy’s TvT was once very good, this group is Mong’s to lose. Against beast he will be playing in his best match-up, one in which he is equal to any other Terran on Afreeca, while versus Sexy he’ll be facing off against a player who has 3 months’ worth of rust to shake off and whom he has always had the upper hand over.Sexy’s likely match-up with beast is a slightly more interesting proposition, with the former OZ Terran’s historical strength in TvZ counterbalanced by his own inactivity and beast’s good form so far in 2013. When the two met in seeding group A, Sexy took a win which harked back to his glory days of mid-2012 when he narrowly lost to Killer 3-4 in the final of SRT9. While that game probably wasn’t entirely representative of the two players’ relative skill, it’s worth noting that beast’s recent good results have almost exclusively come in ZvZ and ZvP, with his only really notable ZvT win coming in a quick and dirty game against the desperately out of form Sea.It feels slightly risky to bet against beast, given how many times he has confounded expectations already this year. However Sexy’s consistent success throughout 2012, along with his excellent return performance in his seeding group, make it a risk worth taking. Mong and Sexy to advance.Having quickly risen to the top of the SOSPA scene in SRTs 11 and 12, Movie’s progress through the early stages of his debut SSL ought to have been fairly straightforward. However the late inclusion of his former CJ teammate and fellow OSL finalist, Iris, has complicated things somewhat. Completing group G are former MBC and Team8 progamer Tyson and one of the more promising B team ex-pros, Perry.With Tyson’s Afreeca career so far having roughly followed the trajectory of his professional career, that is, average but with enough surprise results to keep things interesting, he should only become a factor in this group if Iris’ current level proves to be much lower than expected. Perry also is likely condemned to irrelevancy but has an outside chance of emerging from a three way scrap for the second spot in the Ro16.Obviously, the most interesting storyline in this group is the return of Iris to Brood War competition. While we know what Iris can and has done when at the peak of his powers (for a reminder, see Epoxide’s piece ), we have only a handful of games to work with when trying to estimate his current level. His showmatch games in TvZ, versus Killer and Larva, indicate that if he is to make it through to the Ro16 he could make a real impact given the right match-ups. However, his 0-2 record against Shuttle suggests that he may struggle against the whirlwind aggression of SOSPA’s alpha Protoss, Movie.Everyone wants Iris to go through, if for no other reason than to see him play in an offline setting one more time. Unfortunately for us, Iris’ TvP could be his undoing, as it has been for so many other top Afreeca Terran in the past. While a win over Movie seems like a long shot, Iris at least deserves the benefit of the doubt against the much weaker Tyson and Perry. Movie and Iris to advance.Shuttle’s quest to continue funding his patronage of Gangnam’s famous “baseball parks” continues with what should probably be a fairly straightforward group for the former STX progamer. Joining him in the final group of the Ro32 is undisupted king of Fighting Spirit, Shinee, former MBC B teamer Lazy and SSL debutant, Spire.While Shinee is a formidable opponent for basically anyone when the game is being played on Fish ladder, he always appears to fall short of his potential in tournament games. Up against Shuttle in what seems the most likely winners’ final, Shinee looks likely to struggle. Shuttle appears to have reached a reasonably comfortable level within the SOSPA scene, where he is not quite able to challenge the absolute top competitors but still easily dispatches the less well established ex-pros and amateur players.Spire was around for a little while early in 2012, while purportedly active as a Team 8 practice partner and participated with mixed success in a handful of Afreeca tournaments. Since then he’s dropped off the radar slightly and looks like a fairly safe bet for last place in the group. Lazy has been similarly peripheral to the SOSPA scene in the last six months but is a slightly more well established player, having been an eSTRO and MBC progamer.It’s difficult to know what more to say, Shinee has a habit of losing to some surprising people in tournament series so it is possible for either Spire or Lazy to make it through at his expense. Shuttle’s playstyle can be a little erratic but he’s much too good to not make it out of this group. Unless Shinee can, for the first time in history, translate his 2000+ Fish ladder play on a non-Fighting Spirit map, Shuttle should take first place easily. Shuttle and Shinee to advance.Hyde, Epoxide, kjwcj, BisuDaggerDavid KimitsjustatankHyde Writer