Auction OSL - Grand Finals Preview Text by TL.net ESPORTS Graphics by HawaiianPig Photo: dailyesports.com



Regular OSL head Gmarshal went missing abruptly while organizing this week's OSL post, and we were not able to prepare a proper post in time. We apologize for being unable to have a post appropriate to a league with the stature of the OSL.





The legend of the fall is one of the oldest legacies of Korean StarCraft, older than bonjwas, gods, and even kongs. The first Protoss champion of the OSL, Garimto, won his two titles in the autumns of 2000 and 2001. Since then, his heirs have channeled his spirit nearly every fall, either winning the championship or barely failing to take the title. Now, By.Rain will attempt to join a legendary line, including players such as Reach, Anytime, Stork, and Jangbi.



However, he will face a new type of challenge, one that did not exist in the years of the past. The players of the eSF have had over two years to hone their craft in preparation for the inevitable KeSPA invasion. The charge of the elephants came with crushing force, and many players were toppled. But in the end, they defended their home, and prevented Rain from taking their ultimate prize. Now, the tables have been turned, and By.Rain is the only thing that stands between the OSL title and one of the best players the eSF has produced.



DongRaeGu is a man who can say he has done it all in his short, brilliant career. He's won on three continents, he's won MLG, DreamHack, and of course, he's won in the GSL. Correction: almost done it all. There's one major league he still needs to take, and it's the oldest one in the history of StarCraft: The OnGameNet Starleague.



Will the legend continue, or will the swarm and the eSF take a double crown? We will find out tonight.



Waxangel

The legend of the fall is one of the oldest legacies of Korean StarCraft, older than bonjwas, gods, and even kongs. The first Protoss champion of the OSL, Garimto, won his two titles in the autumns of 2000 and 2001. Since then, his heirs have channeled his spirit nearly every fall, either winning the championship or barely failing to take the title. Now, By.Rain will attempt to join a legendary line, including players such as Reach, Anytime, Stork, and Jangbi.However, he will face a new type of challenge, one that did not exist in the years of the past. The players of the eSF have had over two years to hone their craft in preparation for the inevitable KeSPA invasion. The charge of the elephants came with crushing force, and many players were toppled. But in the end, they defended their home, and prevented Rain from taking their ultimate prize. Now, the tables have been turned, and By.Rain is the only thing that stands between the OSL title and one of the best players the eSF has produced.DongRaeGu is a man who can say he has done it all in his short, brilliant career. He's won on three continents, he's won MLG, DreamHack, and of course, he's won in the GSL. Correction:done it all. There's one major league he still needs to take, and it's the oldest one in the history of StarCraft: The OnGameNet Starleague.Will the legend continue, or will the swarm and the eSF take a double crown? We will find out tonight.









Check out the 2012 Auction OSL on Liquipedia



Grand Finals Preview: DongRaeGu vs. By.Rain



By: Pokebunny



Antiga Shipyard - Entombed Valley - Ohana - Daybreak - Antiga Shipyard - Entombed Valley - Ohana



The first SC2 OSL finals are upon us. While a bit underappreciated in the modern tournament-saturated world of international SC2, it is important that we not forget that the OSL has historically been the premiere tournament in Korean ESPORTS™. Fortunately enough, the finals have also played out to become the largest stage for a battle between KeSPA and Starcraft’s newer generation, with By.Rain taking on DongRaeGu in a hopefully thrilling best of seven.





Errr, disregard that GomTV logo. By.Rain, who has now undoubtedly proven himself to be the best of the elephants thus far and a contender to the throne of the best Protoss in the world (some would argue he already is). Recently adding a WCS Asia gold to his trophy case, Rain has been a force in the past couple months in Korea, destroying everyone in sight (except Mvp). Rain has achieved at least a top four finish in all three of the most competitive Korean tournaments over the last month or two, and has looked stellar even in defeat. His list of recent victims has grown too vast to list, and really, we don’t need to list them as if they’re upsets or surprises – he has now cemented himself as a top competitor in the SC2 world.



In the OSL, Rain has come through in the clutch a couple times, always managing to get in control and advance through every hurdle. After a miraculous comeback versus MarineKing to open the tournament, Rain has fought his way through DRG, JangBi, PartinG, and a nailbiting series versus Last to make it to the finals. His semifinal against Last was especially impressive, as he showed a solid understanding of versatile Protoss gameplay in taking four straight sets after quickly falling behind 0-3. While of course we can’t just ignore the first three games and say he’s flawless, but it’s pretty clear that when Rain is on his game, he’s extremely tough to beat.





From the last time DRG won something. DongRaeGu. Once hailed as the best Zerg in the world (and possibly even best player), DongRaeGu hasn’t been quite as impressive as in his glory days, but he’s managed to fight his way to an OSL final. As I said last week, it’s really a testament to our expectations that we can manage to claim DRG is in a slump as he fights through the later stages of a major tournament, and if we look at it objectively, he’s not doing THAT bad – he just isn’t winning everything that he could. Still, making it to the finals after a decisive victory over MC has definitely done a lot for our confidence in him, and hopefully his confidence in himself as well. He did still fall painfully to RorO in Code A, but ZvZ is ZvZ and RorO isn’t really an embarrassing player to lose to – again, it’s just our expectations.



DongRaeGu’s OSL has progressed with relatively little fanfare, despite advancement through every stage. Coming from a Brood War fandom background, I’d think being in the OSL finals is pretty damn important, but the GSL had quite a head start on them, and had some of the best narratives of the fall, including the rise of the prodigy Life, Mvp's quest for a fifth title, and an epic KeSPA vs. Gom duel between Rain and Mvp. If Mvp hadn't already taken the honor of felling Rain on behalf of his GomTV compatriots, then surely this match would have been the center of attention.



DongRaeGu's loss to Rain in the group stage was disappointing, but he has otherwise overcome every obstacle on the way to the finals, with comfortable victories over Oz and MC in the playoffs. DRG has conquered his momentarily shaky ZvP, and with a third ZvP on the block against Rain this week, DRG will be pushed to his limit in the matchup as he duels the KeSPA superstar.



Taking a look at the maps, we see that as in the semifinals, we’ll see a seven game series play out on only four maps, with Antiga Shipyard, Entombed Valley, Ohana, and Daybreak in the map order, with the first three repeating. The map pool again is fairly even, with only the Protoss-friendly Entombed Valley sticking out as a possible danger zone for DRG. Map balance has traditionally been easily defied in a long series with plenty of time to prepare, as good preparation and mind games can offset any features of the map that may be disadvantageous. Still, if I were a Zerg, I wouldn’t want to go up against Rain on Entombed Valley with an 0-1 or 2-3 disadvantage, so they do serve as a bit of an obstacle for DRG to overcome.



Rain and DRG did meet in the group stage earlier, with Rain taking the victory in a straightforward Bo1 where DRG just kind of rolled over and died after a bit of macroing up. Rain has only looked more and more impressive since then, proving his mettle in all three matchups and continuing to slap down big names left and right. Maybe if DRG was in top shape we’d call it a really even match, but Rain just has all the momentum behind him and quite frankly has looked like the better player as of late. I’d pick Rain to win it fairly confidently, and I’d be slightly surprised if DRG dismantled Rain in the same decisive fashion as his last two victims. Whoever wins this match will be crowned the first SC2 OSL champion, so there’s certainly a lot on the line here, and hopefully we’ll see a fantastic match from these two excellent players.



Prediction: By.Rain 4 – 2 DongRaeGu







The first SC2 OSL finals are upon us. While a bit underappreciated in the modern tournament-saturated world of international SC2, it is important that we not forget that the OSL has historically been the premiere tournament in Korean ESPORTS™. Fortunately enough, the finals have also played out to become the largest stage for a battle between KeSPA and Starcraft’s newer generation, with By.Rain taking on DongRaeGu in a hopefully thrilling best of seven.Representing Aiur, KeSPA, and SK Telecom T1, we have, who has now undoubtedly proven himself to be the best of the elephants thus far and a contender to the throne of the best Protoss in the world (some would argue he already is). Recently adding a WCS Asia gold to his trophy case, Rain has been a force in the past couple months in Korea, destroying everyone in sight (except Mvp). Rain has achieved at least a top four finish in all three of the most competitive Korean tournaments over the last month or two, and has looked stellar even in defeat. His list of recent victims has grown too vast to list, and really, we don’t need to list them as if they’re upsets or surprises – he has now cemented himself as a top competitor in the SC2 world.In the OSL, Rain has come through in the clutch a couple times, always managing to get in control and advance through every hurdle. After a miraculous comeback versus MarineKing to open the tournament, Rain has fought his way through DRG, JangBi, PartinG, and a nailbiting series versus Last to make it to the finals. His semifinal against Last was especially impressive, as he showed a solid understanding of versatile Protoss gameplay in taking four straight sets after quickly falling behind 0-3. While of course we can’t just ignore the first three games and say he’s flawless, but it’s pretty clear that when Rain is on his game, he’s extremely tough to beat.Representing the Swarm, eSF, GSL, MVP, and his seaside hometown, we haveOnce hailed as the best Zerg in the world (and possibly even best player), DongRaeGu hasn’t been quite as impressive as in his glory days, but he’s managed to fight his way to an OSL final. As I said last week, it’s really a testament to our expectations that we can manage to claim DRG is in a slump as he fights through the later stages of a major tournament, and if we look at it objectively, he’s not doing THAT bad – he just isn’t winning everything that he could. Still, making it to the finals after a decisive victory over MC has definitely done a lot for our confidence in him, and hopefully his confidence in himself as well. He did still fall painfully to RorO in Code A, but ZvZ is ZvZ and RorO isn’t really an embarrassing player to lose to – again, it’s just our expectations.DongRaeGu’s OSL has progressed with relatively little fanfare, despite advancement through every stage. Coming from a Brood War fandom background, I’d think being in the OSL finals is pretty damn important, but the GSL had quite a head start on them, and had some of the best narratives of the fall, including the rise of the prodigy Life, Mvp's quest for a fifth title, and an epic KeSPA vs. Gom duel between Rain and Mvp. If Mvp hadn't already taken the honor of felling Rain on behalf of his GomTV compatriots, then surely this match would have been the center of attention.DongRaeGu's loss to Rain in the group stage was disappointing, but he has otherwise overcome every obstacle on the way to the finals, with comfortable victories over Oz and MC in the playoffs. DRG has conquered his momentarily shaky ZvP, and with a third ZvP on the block against Rain this week, DRG will be pushed to his limit in the matchup as he duels the KeSPA superstar.Taking a look at the maps, we see that as in the semifinals, we’ll see a seven game series play out on only four maps, with Antiga Shipyard, Entombed Valley, Ohana, and Daybreak in the map order, with the first three repeating. The map pool again is fairly even, with only the Protoss-friendly Entombed Valley sticking out as a possible danger zone for DRG. Map balance has traditionally been easily defied in a long series with plenty of time to prepare, as good preparation and mind games can offset any features of the map that may be disadvantageous. Still, if I were a Zerg, I wouldn’t want to go up against Rain on Entombed Valley with an 0-1 or 2-3 disadvantage, so they do serve as a bit of an obstacle for DRG to overcome.Rain and DRG did meet in the group stage earlier, with Rain taking the victory in a straightforward Bo1 where DRG just kind of rolled over and died after a bit of macroing up. Rain has only looked more and more impressive since then, proving his mettle in all three matchups and continuing to slap down big names left and right. Maybe if DRG was in top shape we’d call it a really even match, but Rain just has all the momentum behind him and quite frankly has looked like the better player as of late. I’d pick Rain to win it fairly confidently, and I’d be slightly surprised if DRG dismantled Rain in the same decisive fashion as his last two victims. Whoever wins this match will be crowned the first SC2 OSL champion, so there’s certainly a lot on the line here, and hopefully we’ll see a fantastic match from these two excellent players.– 2 DongRaeGu





Jangbi Carrier by Kiett Brought to you by the Auction OSL team: Antoine, GMarshal, kiett, kjwcj, Pokebunny, and SirJolt.





