WEEK 9 Time Running Out Clocks Ticking Down What We Do



Venus Group



Jupiter Group



Fantasy GSTL



Week 10 Preview



With the top three in each group advancing, that leaves us with four teams that have to fight for survival. Two of them (Prime and IM) played last week, meaning this time around they have to sit and wait on results of their contemporaries to find out if they are in or out. FXO Korea and oGs have a chance to make it but must play this week, each needs a win to get through to the next stage.*



Their fate is in their hands, over two months of play coming down to a single match. Edges don't get much thinner. This will be the week when coaches show who they truly have faith in, which of their players has earned their respect and trust.





You can find more info on Liquipedia



*Actually oGs can lose by 1 and still advance With only 3 matches left before playoffs, time is at its most valuable. Already a third of the field is eliminated (F.United, SlayerS, ZeNEX, and FXOpen) with another third guaranteed to make the post-season (TSL, MVP, HoSeo, and StarTale).With the top three in each group advancing, that leaves us with four teams that have to fight for survival. Two of them (Prime and IM) played last week, meaning this time around they have to sit and wait on results of their contemporaries to find out if they are in or out. FXO Korea and oGs have a chance to make it but must play this week, each needs a win to get through to the next stage.*Their fate is in their hands, over two months of play coming down to a single match. Edges don't get much thinner. This will be the week when coaches show who they truly have faith in, which of their players has earned their respect and trust.

Week 9

Jupiter Group





F.United against Prime

by confusedcrib





+ Show Spoiler [Overall results] + ThorZaIN <Antiga Shipyard> BBoongBBoong

Fenix<Terminus RE> BBoongBBoong

Lyn <Xel'Naga Fortress> BBoongBBoong

Moon<Crossfire SE> BBoongBBoong

Prime 4 > 0 F.United 2/53/51/50/5> 0 F.United + Show Spoiler [MLG Spoiler] + Koreans got top 6 at MLG, but only because Thorzain and Fenix weren't there...



Right



RIGHT!? Jupiter GroupvsF.United against Prime



Our Swedish hero was up first against the impossible to abbreviate BBoongBBoong. First, BB held off Thorzain's neat hellion/marine timing. After, BB was able to counter with mutas, and against Thorzain's low marine count, killed over 20 workers with the harass. 37 SCVs against 80 drones sealed the deal. BBoo out of BBoongBBoong.



The Peruvian aggressor was up next. Despite a nicely timed hellion marine attack, he pulled his marines back a second too late, allowing zerglings to get a perfect surround and defeat the push quite handily. BB used a solid muta timing to take out a ton of SCVs and marines and put Fenix way behind (sound familiar?). By the time Fenix could finally move out, there were well... a few banelings waiting...







BBoong / BBoongBBoong



It was then onto Fox's Koreans to try and handle the situation, with Lyn going out first. In this game... Roaches are pretty good against hellions.







A quick ling follow up and that was the game...if Lyn hadn't decided to stay in for an extra 14 minutes just to be sure. This game put the B in BBoongBBoong, but nothing else.



As the last resort, Fox's Moon went out to try and prevent an all kill in his infamously mediocre ZvZ. I don't want to talk about it. Moon opened with terrible ling baneling micro and transitioned into not scouting his opponent at all and getting rolled over by mass roach as a result.



Let me sum up the day for you:



Hellion marine timing, hellion marine timing, and hellion timing. Oh I'm sorry, was there another game? I must have missed it.





Old Generations against SlayerS

by bobq





+ Show Spoiler [Overall Results] + Cezanne < Dual Sight > GanZi 3.5/5

SuperNoVa < Tal’Darim Altar LE> GanZi

SuperNoVa < Bel’Shir Beach 1.1 > MMA 3/5

SuperNoVa < Metalopolis 1.1 > Taeja 2.5/5

MC < Crossfire SE > Taeja 2/5

MC < Terminus RE > Ryung 2.5/5





oGs 4 > 2 SlayerS 3.5/53.5/5 (it gets a little old by the end)3/52.5/52/52.5/5> 2 SlayerS vsOld Generations against SlayerS



Ganzi blew our collective minds with a supply depot in Cezanne’s main, into a barracks in Cezanne’s main, into a series of bunkers in, you guessed it, Cezanne’s main. Cezanne actually dealt with that pretty well by maynarding all his drones to his natural, ending up behind on tech but reasonably even on economy. Ganzi then moved into the phase of his plan that called for a mass of poorly-microed blue flame hellions. While the hellions were utterly unable to deal any real damage, they gave Ganzi unquestioned map control. He used that to macro like mad and then beat Cezanne into submission.



Ganzi’s hero reaper immediately scouted SuperNoVa’s early banshees, but he didn’t even come close to preparing for the follow-up marine-tank all-in. Ganzi’s reaction was...unexpected. Rather than try to defend, or even base trade, he let SuperNoVa trash his production while he lifted about half of his SCVs and most of his army out. From there the game became a bizarre cat-and-mouse farce, with Ganzi continually attempting to re-establish a base, and SuperNoVa showing up to knock it down before production really started. When Ganzi finally decided to actually fight his marines did a remarkably good job, but it was too little, too late.





Slayers, well aware that they were fighting for their last chance at the playoffs, sent out MMA. Both players proceeded to build a million hellions and then dance them around in the middle of the map. MMA supplemented his with primarily tanks, while SuperNoVa went viking-heavy. SuperNoVa used his superior mobility to take out MMA’s third in a battle that cost both players most of their hellions. And then both players were able to really focus: TANKS TANKS TANKS. MMA built some thors, and SuperNoVa kept throwing out some vikings here and there, but it quickly became clear that tank count was going to decide the game. MMA pulled of some slick drops, and had arguably better positioning/decision making, but after losing his third he just didn’t have the macro to compete and was eventually ground down.



Slayers went with Taeja next, hoping to capitalize on his momentum from last week's all-kill. Again, both players started with hellions and moved into tanks, but this time it was Taeja who seized both air control and a tank lead on the backs of two ravens and a billion auto turrets. Once he amassed enough of a force, he rolled right over SuperNoVa to even up the series.





oGs countered with MC, who rocked out a one-gate expand. Meanwhile, Taeja massed up a marine-marauder force and pushed out with a killer timing; getting three quarters of the way across the map before just sitting there waiting for MC to macro up and get units. Taeja eventually went home, leaving him way behind on expansion timing with absolutely nothing to show for it. When MC brought his colossi into battle Taeja was just beginning viking production, and that went...not so good for Taeja.



Slayers went with...a Zerg! No, just kidding, all of the players on SlayerS are Terrans. Ryung managed to survive some early pressure from MC, and then promptly snuck an expo at the 12 o’clock. MC kept a food lead until they finally had a meaningful battle almost 20 minutes in; Ryung’s MMM+tank ball was able to fight MC’s gateway+immortal army to a draw. Unfortunately for SlayerS, MC was able to re-macro his army faster, and just like that Slayers was eliminated from playoff contention.





Boxer, we know you love Terran. You don’t have to prove it to us. Please get someone on your team who you trust to play a non-Terran race. Even just one player. Sure having both a

Protoss and a Zerg would be nice, but we can take baby steps. Remember Alicia? Remember all the good times you had? Maybe just play him once?



… Please? Our Swedish hero was up first against the impossible to abbreviate BBoongBBoong. First, BB held off Thorzain's neat hellion/marine timing. After, BB was able to counter with mutas, and against Thorzain's low marine count, killed over 20 workers with the harass. 37 SCVs against 80 drones sealed the deal. BBoo out of BBoongBBoong.The Peruvian aggressor was up next. Despite a nicely timed hellion marine attack, he pulled his marines back a second too late, allowing zerglings to get a perfect surround and defeat the push quite handily. BB used a solid muta timing to take out a ton of SCVs and marines and put Fenix way behind (). By the time Fenix could finally move out, there were well... a few banelings waiting...BBoong / BBoongBBoongIt was then onto Fox's Koreans to try and handle the situation, with Lyn going out first. In this game... Roaches are pretty good against hellions.A quick ling follow up and that was the game...if Lyn hadn't decided to stay in for an extra 14 minutes just to be sure. This game put the B in BBoongBBoong, but nothing else.As the last resort, Fox's Moon went out to try and prevent an all kill in his infamously mediocre ZvZ.Moon opened with terrible ling baneling micro and transitioned into not scouting his opponent at all and getting rolled over by mass roach as a result.Let me sum up the day for you:Hellion marine timing, hellion marine timing, and hellion timing. Oh I'm sorry, was there another game? I must have missed it.Ganzi blew our collective minds with a supply depot in Cezanne’s main, into a barracks in Cezanne’s main, into a series of bunkers in, you guessed it, Cezanne’s main. Cezanne actually dealt with that pretty well by maynarding all his drones to his natural, ending up behind on tech but reasonably even on economy. Ganzi then moved into the phase of his plan that called for a mass of poorly-microed blue flame hellions. While the hellions were utterly unable to deal any real damage, they gave Ganzi unquestioned map control. He used that to macro like mad and then beat Cezanne into submission.Ganzi’s hero reaper immediately scouted SuperNoVa’s early banshees, but he didn’t even come close to preparing for the follow-up marine-tank all-in. Ganzi’s reaction was...unexpected. Rather than try to defend, or even base trade, he let SuperNoVa trash his production while he lifted about half of his SCVs and most of his army out. From there the game became a bizarre cat-and-mouse farce, with Ganzi continually attempting to re-establish a base, and SuperNoVa showing up to knock it down before production really started. When Ganzi finally decided to actually fight his marines did a remarkably good job, but it was too little, too late.Slayers, well aware that they were fighting for their last chance at the playoffs, sent out MMA. Both players proceeded to build a million hellions and then dance them around in the middle of the map. MMA supplemented his with primarily tanks, while SuperNoVa went viking-heavy. SuperNoVa used his superior mobility to take out MMA’s third in a battle that cost both players most of their hellions. And then both players were able to really focus: TANKS TANKS TANKS. MMA built some thors, and SuperNoVa kept throwing out some vikings here and there, but it quickly became clear that tank count was going to decide the game. MMA pulled of some slick drops, and had arguably better positioning/decision making, but after losing his third he just didn’t have the macro to compete and was eventually ground down.Slayers went with Taeja next, hoping to capitalize on his momentum from last week's all-kill. Again, both players started with hellions and moved into tanks, but this time it was Taeja who seized both air control and a tank lead on the backs of two ravens and a billion auto turrets. Once he amassed enough of a force, he rolled right over SuperNoVa to even up the series.oGs countered with MC, who rocked out a one-gate expand. Meanwhile, Taeja massed up a marine-marauder force and pushed out with a killer timing; getting three quarters of the way across the map before just sitting there waiting for MC to macro up and get units. Taeja eventually went home, leaving him way behind on expansion timing with absolutely nothing to show for it. When MC brought his colossi into battle Taeja was just beginning viking production, and that went...not so good for Taeja.Slayers went with...a Zerg! No, just kidding, all of the players on SlayerS are Terrans. Ryung managed to survive some early pressure from MC, and then promptly snuck an expo at the 12 o’clock. MC kept a food lead until theyhad a meaningful battle almost 20 minutes in; Ryung’s MMM+tank ball was able to fight MC’s gateway+immortal army to a draw. Unfortunately for SlayerS, MC was able to re-macro his army faster, and just like that Slayers was eliminated from playoff contention.Boxer, we know you love Terran. You don’t have to prove it to us.get someone on your team who you trust to play a non-Terran race. Even just one player. Sure having both aProtoss and a Zerg would be nice, but we can take baby steps. Remember Alicia? Remember all the good times you had? Maybe just play him once?… Please?

Week 9

Venus Group





ZeNEX against New Star HoSeo

by confusedcrib





+ Show Spoiler [Overall Results] + Byun<Terminus RE> Tassadar

Byun <Daybreak> Seal

Hack<Antiga Shipyard> Seal

Jjun<Xel'Naga Fortress> Seal

(New ID- SuhoSin)< Seal

3/53/53/51/5 Line (New ID- SuhoSin)< Tal'Darim Altar 1/5 Venus GroupvsZeNEX against New Star HoSeo



In a battle of the teams that no one really knows the full roster of, ZeNex opened with Byun and New Star HoSeo opened with Tassadar. The match ended up being standard PvT, with Tassadar going mass gateway and Byun going MMMG. Byun's EMP's landed and his macro was better than Tassadar's so it was a pretty clean win. Nothing too exciting, but it wasn't boring either.



NSHS sent out Seal to try and defeat Byun.







Byun's bio opening did some nice damage and it looked like he was going to win with his huge supply lead. Unfortunately for him, Seal made a nice hold of the attack, putting him very far behind (as bio is for very aggressive oriented play, once you lose an army decisively it usually spells defeat). With no ghosts, Seal's infestors reigned supreme and took the game for NSHS.



Zenex sent out another Terran, Hack, to hack at a baby Seal (sorry for that Artosis). Seal ended up overcoming some poorly executed roach drops to take the game against Hack's meching Terran. Despite some good execution of mech from Hack, he didn't get the essential ghosts out to make the composition work in the late game.



JJun showed some pretty poor play in his match against Seal. He went for hidden mass hellions that didn't pay off against Seal's banelings. Seal won through both macro and a very smart engagement, getting a perfect surround on JJun's small army and taking the game quite handily.







Formally known as Zenex Line, Suhosin was the last hope against Seal. Both players went ling baneling, with Seal having a slight edge from not ten pooling. Combined with Suhosin's terrible ling/bane micro, Seal easily took the win and All-Kill. In a battle of the teams that no one really knows the full roster of, ZeNex opened with Byun and New Star HoSeo opened with Tassadar. The match ended up being standard PvT, with Tassadar going mass gateway and Byun going MMMG. Byun's EMP's landed and his macro was better than Tassadar's so it was a pretty clean win. Nothing too exciting, but it wasn't boring either.NSHS sent out Seal to try and defeat Byun.Byun's bio opening did some nice damage and it looked like he was going to win with his huge supply lead. Unfortunately for him, Seal made a nice hold of the attack, putting him very far behind (as bio is for very aggressive oriented play, once you lose an army decisively it usually spells defeat). With no ghosts, Seal's infestors reigned supreme and took the game for NSHS.Zenex sent out another Terran, Hack, to hack at a baby Seal (sorry for that Artosis). Seal ended up overcoming some poorly executed roach drops to take the game against Hack's meching Terran. Despite some good execution of mech from Hack, he didn't get the essential ghosts out to make the composition work in the late game.JJun showed some pretty poor play in his match against Seal. He went for hidden mass hellions that didn't pay off against Seal's banelings. Seal won through both macro and a very smart engagement, getting a perfect surround on JJun's small army and taking the game quite handily.Formally known as Zenex Line, Suhosin was the last hope against Seal. Both players went ling baneling, with Seal having a slight edge from not ten pooling. Combined with Suhosin's terrible ling/bane micro, Seal easily took the win and All-Kill.

Week 10 Preview

by Heyoka





F.United against Old Generations

Starters: Moon, Cezanne vsF.United against Old GenerationsStarters:



F.United is already eliminated from the playoffs, but will likely still be giving their all. They are a team that plays for pride, a team full of hopefuls who will certainly do their best to show they can hang with the big boys.



Unfortunately for them, oGs absolutely needs to play their best because a loss knocks them out of the post season and gives Prime a chance in the bracket. Their whole team has been shaky here and there this season, never really coming together to work as a single unit but this week they are forced to and they are lucky to face one of the lesser teams in the league. oGs easily.







Starters: Monster, Clide vsStarters:



Both teams sitting at the top of their group, neither has a chance to fall out of contention with a loss. This seems like one of those situations where neither team will want to reveal anything they don't have to, which means we get to watch weird stuff from players who probably aren't that good. These are my favorite matches so personally I'm excited but I know most people require "high level gameplay" to be satisfied so your experience may differ.



I still think TSL isn't that good, despite what Revival and Killer have been showing, so I give an edge to MVP. In a no-lose situation though who knows. Meh, MVP.





Starters: Lucky, Bomber vsStarters:



In a more tense scenario, FXO Korea (fOu of old) can make it in with a win, but unlike oGs they have to face a wolf-in-goofy-logo by playing StarTale to do it. With Bomber starting for ST it seems like they're not messing around, meaning FXOKorea has their work cut out for them. StarTale should have the stronger lineup but with the quality of games players like TheBest have been showing maybe it is much closer than it first looks. Again, ST has nothing to lose by not performing so they can always choose the route of playing lesser-knowns to give them exposure and valuable booth time before more is on the line.



StarTale seems poised to take it but there are a lot of unknown factors working here, the variance is high in these situations. StarTale more likely. F.United is already eliminated from the playoffs, but will likely still be giving their all. They are a team that plays for pride, a team full of hopefuls who will certainly do their best to show they can hang with the big boys.Unfortunately for them, oGs absolutely needs to play their best because a loss knocks them out of the post season and gives Prime a chance in the bracket. Their whole team has been shaky here and there this season, never really coming together to work as a single unit but this week they are forced to and they are lucky to face one of the lesser teams in the league.Both teams sitting at the top of their group, neither has a chance to fall out of contention with a loss. This seems like one of those situations where neither team will want to reveal anything they don't have to, which means we get to watch weird stuff from players who probably aren't that good. These are my favorite matches so personally I'm excited but I know most people require "high level gameplay" to be satisfied so your experience may differ.I still think TSL isn't that good, despite what Revival and Killer have been showing, so I give an edge to MVP. In a no-lose situation though who knows.In a more tense scenario, FXO Korea (fOu of old) can make it in with a win, but unlike oGs they have to face a wolf-in-goofy-logo by playing StarTale to do it. With Bomber starting for ST it seems like they're not messing around, meaning FXOKorea has their work cut out for them. StarTalehave the stronger lineup but with the quality of games players like TheBest have been showing maybe it is much closer than it first looks. Again, ST has nothing to lose by not performing so they can always choose the route of playing lesser-knowns to give them exposure and valuable booth time before more is on the line.StarTale seems poised to take it but there are a lot of unknown factors working here, the variance is high in these situations.

This is where week 9 led everyone.Primadog is here with an impressively in-depth look at how fantasy GSTL shaped up and where things stand right now.And now, to look at the matches that will end our regular season., and there you have it. Have fun watching the games, there is a short break as GSTL playoffs don't begin until towards the end of September. Watch while you can!