The maps of course, play out oddly. The initial maps seem to favor Zerg, although Fortress SE makes any Zerg starter snipeable. This could be a risk that both teams should be willing to take, it seems, as the first game will definitely dictate the tempo of the game. The later maps are more favorable towards Terran. Protoss is playable on any of these maps, overall. The best chance SKT has is to try and bring Flash out by Aztec. Of course, Empire of the Sun is also a comfortable sniping venue. I could honestly see Bisu being brought out early. Stats, after all, isn't an automatic win against Bisu as everyone pouts it to be, and despite the maps Bisu is on a different class when it comes down to it. The goal is to bring Flash out early so he could be sniped as soon as possible -- although I could see Action and Crazy-Hydra with a build designed to take down Bisu, but even that is very risky. It's not as one sided as people make it out to be, I think. My prediction is that KT will win 4:2 if they win the first game, and SKT will win it 4:3 if they take the first game. It'll be a pretty close series.



Now this is going to be a sticky situation for SKT. It all comes down to who they will attempt to field against Flash. My guess? Bisu. His PvT has been very shaky in the past, but the driving factor here is the map order. The last four maps, in order, will be Circuit Breaker, Aztec, La Mancha, and finally Empire of the Sun. Bisu has a solid chance of facing down Flash on all four of these maps, and with the first few maps not Flash's favorites, it's likely that Flash will come out later in KT's lineup. Now the key here will be whether KT will save Stats to try to take down Bisu. It definitely is a possibility, especially considering Bisu’s PvP performance as of late. As a result, they might leave Stats for their Ace slot, and place Flash third in their lineup. The only problem with that idea is that then Flash is far more likely to come out and be forced to play on Aztec, which will be a big problem map for him. So KT might have enough faith in Flash to just place him last to have him hopefully dominate Bisu.



Now there is one real problem area for KT. Aztec. Aztec seems to favor Protoss, so should Flash come out on this map, Bisu should knock him down easy. But the thing is that fantasy has a 4-1 record against Protoss on this map, destroying Snow, Jaehoon, Tempest, and Stork. So I'd say that he has a fair chance of taking down Stats on this map, should he meet him. So where to send out Stats? Perhaps the most prudent choice might be to send out Stats early, to reduce the opportunity of a fantasy snipe. So Flash would just practice on the last 3-4 maps, which would reduce the uncertainties that he'd have to face.



But while the maps essentially determine where Flash is getting sent out, they are also the kink in SKT’s plans. The early maps are Bloody Ridge -> Fortress -> Icarus. Both Bloody Ridge and Icarus are Zerg favored, and KT has traditionally fielded Crazy-Hydra or Action on those two maps. Now the question is who to field on these maps? I can't really say that SKT has a good XvZ specialist other than Bisu, so their best chance on these maps might be to counter fire with fire and send out s2 or another one of their Zergs. However, Fortress is a tricky map for Zergs, so if it comes down to ZvZ on Bloody Ridge, the winner might just get taken out immediately afterward.



One problem for SKT is that fantasy’s best maps are spread out among the map pool. fantasy’s style is best suited for Fortress, Circuit Breaker, and Empire of the Sun. Then what to do? My preferred option is to send fantasy out as a snipe as opposed to a mainstay of the team. In fact, if fantasy trains to snipe Stats, I’m confident that he’ll put up a good fight against him on any of the last four maps. Best case scenario is if fantasy can face down Stats on Aztec, and given that SKT will likely throw their Zergs out early in the game, fantasy should have a good chance of facing Stats on Aztec.



SKT will undoubtedly get stronger as the match progresses, but the early maps are a problem for them. I feel that if SKT is able to get one win on the first three games, then they will be able to make the series close, and that it will come down to either a 4:3 SKT or 4:3 KT. However, if SKT is unable to nab a win on the first two/three maps, then KT will come out on top 4:2 or possibly 4:1.

