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Weekly Focus

By What Measure?



All New

by munch

Munchkin365









Now though, it’s time for things to get serious once more. The VSL is a cute sidepot; the SSL an interesting detour, but this Wednesday sees the start of Season 2 of the GSL. With all groups determined (see



This also marks a change in our content style. We’ve been wanting to switch this up for a while, and it makes sense for us to make a clean break of it just in time for Code S’ return. Every Sunday, we’ll be putting out one article for the week’s games.



Section 1 will contain a preview of the week’s important storylines—for example, this week sees the return of INnoVation to the GSL, as well as Solar’s continued defence of his unbeaten record in the SSL. This will cover all three leagues, and allows us to address storylines as a whole rather than on a per tournament basis. Ever got bored about reading herO previews in all three tournaments? Now, you won’t have to (and, more importantly, we won’t have to try to write three different versions of the same piece again).



Section 2 will address the big storyline of the week—stories like the VSL Grand Finals this coming Thursday, or perhaps (spoilers) the upcoming foreigner brigade in the GSL. Finally, Section 3 will be a melting pot for everything else we want to chuck in, such as this week’s editorial on the comparative importance of the GSL by lichter. In addition, we’ll be putting out a weekly wrap-up article on Saturdays, summing up the major stories from the week’s events. Hopefully you enjoy the new approach; without further ado, let’s get on with the preview…







INnoVation - Stick or Twist?



Ever since he declared his return from League of Legends at IEM Gyeonggi, has been heralded as the champion incarnate of Starcraft 2. Beating Dark—the best zerg in the world—and thrashing Stats—the best protoss in the world—6-1 will do that for your reputation, and after shutting down Losira, ByuL, soO, and Classic in the opening groups of the GSL by a combined map record of 8-1, there’s no doubt that it was thoroughly deserved.



Now though, the losses have started to kick in. A 2-3 reverse kill by Stats in the GSL must have hurt—flashes of SoulKey echoing in his memory—while twin losses to aLive in Katowice and at the GSL Super Tournament have put a serious dent in his claim to the TvT throne. Even his dominance of the SSL has been challenged—up against Solar last week, it was the Splyce man who extended his series record to 4-0, taking firm control of the #1 spot.



Sure, by themselves, none of those results are that worrying. Stats was in the best form of his career, on his path to the GSL title; while similarly aLive is showcasing skills that we haven’t seen from him since 2012—especially in his traditionally strong mirror matchup. But taken together, they’ve all demonstrated chinks in his armour. While he’s still clearly a top tier player, he no longer stands unchallenged at the top of the scene. It's easy to forget that for all his "dominance" over the past five months, his only title in the period remains the relatively minor IEM Gyeonggi—not the GSL; not IEM Katowice; not the Super Tournament. With his GSL Season 2 campaign kicking off this week with an eminently doable group, not to mention his first SSL match since his loss to Solar, it's time for INnoVation to re-stake his claim for the throne.





Solar - SSL Dominance



Speaking of , he now stands alone at the top of the SSL standings at 4-0. While all four have been 2-1s—over Stats, sOs, Zest, and now INnoVation—we’ve already been shown by TY at IEM Katowice that it’s the series win, rather than your map record that truly counts once all’s said and done. Solar’s looked incredible in ZvT recently, whether with the hydralisk-powered style he showed against Maru in the Super Tournament, or with the more EU-style infestor / ultra / ravager mix he used at times against INnoVation in the SSL. Against a player unbeaten in offline TvZ since his loss to Nerchio in Paris in NationWars 4 (a loss he swiftly avenged in the subsequent rematch), it was a hell of a statement.



It’s been so long ago (and so many patches ago) that many might have forgotten, but Solar is still the reigning champion of the SSL. Seven months ago, his 4-3 win over Dark in the Grand Finals brought an end to the SKT zerg’s ambitions of becoming the first starleague champion since NesTea to defend his title. Halfway through the SSL round robins, Solar looks well on the way to keeping the dream alive.





sOs & Ryung - Where from here?



In every single GSL, players in the playoffs can be broken into two rough groups—those we can expect to see again at the same stage next season, and those we don’t. While Stats is a player who we certainly can expect to mount a strong defence of his title, and soO’s perennial consistency is a conundrum that will probably never be solved, the final two members of the semifinals are in much murkier waters.



Both and stand at opposite scales of the Starcraft achievements list. One is arguably the most up and down, inconsistent player in Starcraft history, capable of spellbinding play in both right and wrong reasons—yet stands today with a trophy haul that puts most of the scene in his shade. The other was one of the kings of his mirror matchup, at his peak in the time of GomTvT—and yet remains trophyless, eight years after his debut.



While their places in history couldn’t be more different, they stand in similar positions in this upcoming season of the GSL. Both had somewhat easy paths to the GSL semis; both have failed in all tournaments since. Ryung’s TvT reputation was dealt a stinging blow by the ease of INnoVation’s 3-0 sweep at IEM Katowice, while his other two matchups have hardly looked that great either in limp losses to Losira and Classic in the SSL Challenge. Meanwhile, sOs too has looked below par in the SSL Premier—gimmicky play not quite bringing him results just yet.



Both start their GSL campaigns once more this week, and both have groups that might be more challenging than they seem at first glance. INnoVation and ByuL headline their groups, and should be considered heavy favourites to advance, but should Impact bring his VSL form to the table, and Dear translate his strong online PvT games to studio play, then things might soon get awkward for the duo.





Impact & ByuL - Zerg Rising



For pretty much the whole of 2016, there was only one zerg worth talking about. Dark stood so far above every other zerg in the world that even when Solar beat him in the SSL Finals, there was still no real question about where the true power of the swarm lay. Ever since then though, there’s been a slow leak of power. Dark has still looked pretty good—particularly at Katowice despite his eventual 3-1 loss to Stats—but there’s no denying that a brigade of zergs, led by Solar, are gunning to replace him on the throne.



hasn’t looked this good since his breakout silver at Dreamhack Bucharest. His VSL qualifying run might still be hilarious, but he’s since proved that his place was deserved with some strong play, reverse sweeping Zest on his path to the finals (more on that later). For his part, has similarly looked good recently—crushing Ryung and Dark in the Super Tournament, while his 3-1 record in the SSL puts him in 3rd in the table.



Still though, this is the GSL. While ByuL’s a proven quantity at the highest levels of play, this is a competition where Impact’s historical record reads: six exits in Code A, one exit in the Round of 32 of Code S. He might have proven time and again that he just isn’t cut out for this level of play, but in the best form of his career, this is his chance to defy his history.





Terran Tears in the SSL Challenge



When the initial ten players were announced for the SSL Challenge, it was hard not to imagine that it would prove to be a terran slaughter. TY, , and are three perennial heavy hitters in the Legacy world; had just come off his GSL semifinal; while and are more than capable of the odd upset victory.



Who would have expected then that three weeks in, five of the six would be rooted to the bottom of the table? Ryung, GuMiho, and jjakji are all but out with 0-2 records—all requiring two wins and some bracket luck if they want to progress; and TY and Bunny still very much in limbo at 1-1. While the latter two still have a game in hand over Classic and Losira (both 2-1), it's always better to have the wins already on the board. Only ByuN has a positive win-loss record at 2-1, but with a final game against adept-savant herO coming up, he too isn't quite safe yet.



The SSL Challenge rules state that three of the five members in each group progress to Stage 2 (a six-man round robin group), and so clearly at least two terrans have to make it through. With time running out though, they're going to have to up their game if they want that number to be larger.





Time flies fast in the StarCraft world. A mere three weeks ago, we were watching Stats dissect soO en route to the GSL Season 1 title, and anointing him as the Best Player in the World. Since then, we’ve had zerg dominance in the SSL Premier, some surprising results in the VSL, and herO’s community-enraging path to winning the first GSL Super Tournament of the year.Now though, it’s time for things to get serious once more. The VSL is a cute sidepot; the SSL an interesting detour, but this Wednesday sees the start of Season 2 of the GSL. With all groups determined (see Liquipedia ), it’s time for the return of the most venerated SC2 competition of them all.This also marks a change in our content style. We’ve been wanting to switch this up for a while, and it makes sense for us to make a clean break of it just in time for Code S’ return. Every, we’ll be putting out one article for the week’s games.Section 1 will contain a preview of the week’s important storylines—for example, this week sees the return of INnoVation to the GSL, as well as Solar’s continued defence of his unbeaten record in the SSL. This will cover all three leagues, and allows us to address storylines as a whole rather than on a per tournament basis. Ever got bored about reading herO previews in all three tournaments? Now, you won’t have to (and, more importantly, we won’t have to try to write three different versions of the same piece again).Section 2 will address the big storyline of the week—stories like the VSL Grand Finals this coming Thursday, or perhaps (spoilers) the upcoming foreigner brigade in the GSL. Finally, Section 3 will be a melting pot for everything else we want to chuck in, such as this week’s editorial on the comparative importance of the GSL by lichter. In addition, we’ll be putting out a weekly wrap-up article on, summing up the major stories from the week’s events. Hopefully you enjoy the new approach; without further ado, let’s get on with the preview…Ever since he declared his return from League of Legends at IEM Gyeonggi, INnoVation has been heralded as the champion incarnate of Starcraft 2. Beating Dark—the best zerg in the world—and thrashing Stats—the best protoss in the world—6-1 will do that for your reputation, and after shutting down Losira, ByuL, soO, and Classic in the opening groups of the GSL by a combined map record of 8-1, there’s no doubt that it was thoroughly deserved.Now though, the losses have started to kick in. A 2-3 reverse kill by Stats in the GSL must have hurt—flashes of SoulKey echoing in his memory—while twin losses to aLive in Katowice and at the GSL Super Tournament have put a serious dent in his claim to the TvT throne. Even his dominance of the SSL has been challenged—up against Solar last week, it was the Splyce man who extended his series record to 4-0, taking firm control of the #1 spot.Sure, by themselves, none of those results areworrying. Stats was in the best form of his career, on his path to the GSL title; while similarly aLive is showcasing skills that we haven’t seen from him since 2012—especially in his traditionally strong mirror matchup. But taken together, they’ve all demonstrated chinks in his armour. While he’s still clearly a top tier player, he no longer stands unchallenged at the top of the scene. It's easy to forget that for all his "dominance" over the past five months, his only title in the period remains the relatively minor IEM Gyeonggi—not the GSL; not IEM Katowice; not the Super Tournament. With his GSL Season 2 campaign kicking off this week with an eminently doable group, not to mention his first SSL match since his loss to Solar, it's time for INnoVation to re-stake his claim for the throne.Speaking of Solar , he now stands alone at the top of the SSL standings at 4-0. Whilehave been 2-1s—over Stats, sOs, Zest, and now INnoVation—we’ve already been shown by TY at IEM Katowice that it’s the series win, rather than your map record that truly counts once all’s said and done. Solar’s looked incredible in ZvT recently, whether with the hydralisk-powered style he showed against Maru in the Super Tournament, or with the more EU-style infestor / ultra / ravager mix he used at times against INnoVation in the SSL. Against a player unbeaten in offline TvZ since his loss to Nerchio in Paris in NationWars 4 (a loss he swiftly avenged in the subsequent rematch), it was a hell of a statement.It’s been so long ago (and so many patches ago) that many might have forgotten, but Solar is still the reigning champion of the SSL. Seven months ago, his 4-3 win over Dark in the Grand Finals brought an end to the SKT zerg’s ambitions of becoming the first starleague champion since NesTea to defend his title. Halfway through the SSL round robins, Solar looks well on the way to keeping the dream alive.In every single GSL, players in the playoffs can be broken into two rough groups—those we can expect to see again at the same stage next season, and those we don’t. While Stats is a player who we certainly can expect to mount a strong defence of his title, and soO’s perennial consistency is a conundrum that will probably never be solved, the final two members of the semifinals are in much murkier waters.Both sOs and Ryung stand at opposite scales of the Starcraft achievements list. One is arguably the most up and down, inconsistent player in Starcraft history, capable of spellbinding play in both right and wrong reasons—yet stands today with a trophy haul that puts most of the scene in his shade. The other was one of the kings of his mirror matchup, at his peak in the time of GomTvT—and yet remains trophyless, eight years after his debut.While their places in history couldn’t be more different, they stand in similar positions in this upcoming season of the GSL. Both had somewhat easy paths to the GSL semis; both have failed in all tournaments since. Ryung’s TvT reputation was dealt a stinging blow by the ease of INnoVation’s 3-0 sweep at IEM Katowice, while his other two matchups have hardly looked that great either in limp losses to Losira and Classic in the SSL Challenge. Meanwhile, sOs too has looked below par in the SSL Premier—gimmicky play not quite bringing him results just yet.Both start their GSL campaigns once more this week, and both have groups that might be more challenging than they seem at first glance. INnoVation and ByuL headline their groups, and should be considered heavy favourites to advance, but should Impact bring his VSL form to the table, and Dear translate his strong online PvT games to studio play, then things might soon get awkward for the duo.For pretty much the whole of 2016, there was only one zerg worth talking about. Dark stood so far above every other zerg in the world that even when Solar beat him in the SSL Finals, there was still no real question about where the true power of the swarm lay. Ever since then though, there’s been a slow leak of power. Dark has still looked pretty good—particularly at Katowice despite his eventual 3-1 loss to Stats—but there’s no denying that a brigade of zergs, led by Solar, are gunning to replace him on the throne. Impact hasn’t looked this good since his breakout silver at Dreamhack Bucharest. His VSL qualifying run might still be hilarious, but he’s since proved that his place was deserved with some strong play, reverse sweeping Zest on his path to the finals (more on that later). For his part, ByuL has similarly looked good recently—crushing Ryung and Dark in the Super Tournament, while his 3-1 record in the SSL puts him in 3rd in the table.Still though, this is the GSL. While ByuL’s a proven quantity at the highest levels of play, this is a competition where Impact’s historical record reads: six exits in Code A, one exit in the Round of 32 of Code S. He might have proven time and again that he just isn’t cut out for this level of play, but in the best form of his career, this is his chance to defy his history.When the initial ten players were announced for the SSL Challenge, it was hard not to imagine that it would prove to be a terran slaughter. ByuN , and GuMiho are three perennial heavy hitters in the Legacy world; Ryung had just come off his GSL semifinal; while jjakji and Bunny are more than capable of the odd upset victory.Who would have expected then that three weeks in, five of the six would be rooted to the bottom of the table? Ryung, GuMiho, and jjakji are all but out with 0-2 records—all requiring two wins and some bracket luck if they want to progress; and TY and Bunny still very much in limbo at 1-1. While the latter two still have a game in hand over Classic and Losira (both 2-1), it's always better to have the wins already on the board. Only ByuN has a positive win-loss record at 2-1, but with a final game against adept-savant herO coming up, he too isn't quite safe yet.The SSL Challenge rules state that three of the five members in each group progress to Stage 2 (a six-man round robin group), and so clearly at least two terrans have to make it through. With time running out though, they're going to have to up their game if they want that number to be larger. by



VSL Grand Finals

by Olli

TL_Olli







VSL Finals: Impact vs herO



David against Goliath may be one of the most overused metaphors to describe an underdog's battle against an overwhelming favorite, but it really holds true in the finals of VSL's first season of the year. not only has history on his side against , with six Premier titles of his to Impact's zero, but form as well.



Previously on VSL...



was the first player to reach the finals of VSL Season 1, defeating and in two equally close series in the playoffs. He had previously finished his group in second place, outdone only by Stats.



's run was a bit different. He didn't drop a game after entering the final bracket, besting both and 3-0. He too had to take a loss in his group stage before, though, against ByuL.









After being largely anonymous in Legacy of the Void, herO has re-announced himself as one of the very best in the world with his GSL Super Tournament win. Unfortunately for Impact, that tournament run also included a very one-sided 3-0 over ByuL, one of the better Zergs at the moment, and Rogue (in VSL) followed shortly, with the same outcome.



Adding to all the above, herO won their last two meetings a month ago, in Olimoleague and the SSL Qualifiers. It's difficult to make out a clear way for Impact to win the series. However, he has shown himself to be much improved, and showed his ability to perform under pressure after Zest put him at a 0-2 deficit in the semifinals. Impact only has a single offline finals to his name, all the way back in 2014, when he faced the now infamous at Dreamhack Bucharest. Impact certainly can't have taken many positives from that series, however. Life was never troubled by Impact and won the series 3-0. But at the very least he has reached that stage of a tournament before.



Impact's best chance to win his first tournament lies in preparation. herO is no doubt the better player between the two, but he has historically been susceptible to opponents taking initiative to counter his playstyle. sOs displayed it for the world to see when he denied herO 100.000$, and players have looked to exploit predictable risks he has always been known to take. A Best-of-Five Finals certainly helps with that approach — two well crafted strategies and Impact could be looking at a great advantage.



I still won't pretend to give Impact a good chance in this match. herO is in great form, coming off a tournament win against the best Korea has to offer, and has no other responsibities this week. Impact on the other hand has Code S to prepare for as well. The series should be herO's, but I am ready to be proven wrong by Impact. Perhaps he has learned from his last encounter with goliath after all.



Prediction:



Impact 1 - 3 herO



VSL Finals: Impact vs herODavid against Goliath may be one of the most overused metaphors to describe an underdog's battle against an overwhelming favorite, but it really holds true in the finals of VSL's first season of the year. herO not only has history on his side against Impact , with six Premier titles of his to Impact's zero, but form as well. Impact was the first player to reach the finals of VSL Season 1, defeating ByuL and Zest in two equally close series in the playoffs. He had previously finished his group in second place, outdone only by herO 's run was a bit different. He didn't drop a game after entering the final bracket, besting both Stats and Rogue 3-0. He too had to take a loss in his group stage before, though, againstAfter being largely anonymous in Legacy of the Void, herO has re-announced himself as one of the very best in the world with his GSL Super Tournament win. Unfortunately for Impact, that tournament run also included a very one-sided 3-0 over ByuL, one of the better Zergs at the moment, and Rogue (in VSL) followed shortly, with the same outcome.Adding to all the above, herO won their last two meetings a month ago, in Olimoleague and the SSL Qualifiers. It's difficult to make out a clear way for Impact to win the series. However, he has shown himself to be much improved, and showed his ability to perform under pressure after Zest put him at a 0-2 deficit in the semifinals. Impact only has a single offline finals to his name, all the way back in 2014, when he faced the now infamous Life at Dreamhack Bucharest. Impact certainly can't have taken many positives from that series, however. Life was never troubled by Impact and won the series 3-0. But at the very least he has reached that stage of a tournament before.Impact's best chance to win his first tournament lies in preparation. herO is no doubt the better player between the two, but he has historically been susceptible to opponents taking initiative to counter his playstyle. sOs displayed it for the world to see when he denied herO 100.000$, and players have looked to exploit predictable risks he has always been known to take. A Best-of-Five Finals certainly helps with that approach — two well crafted strategies and Impact could be looking at a great advantage.I still won't pretend to give Impact a good chance in this match. herO is in great form, coming off a tournament win against the best Korea has to offer, and has no other responsibities this week. Impact on the other hand has Code S to prepare for as well. The series should be herO's, but I am ready to be proven wrong by Impact. Perhaps he has learned from his last encounter with goliath after all.Impact 1 - by



By What Measure?

by lichter

TL_lichter





In every form of competition, rating and ranking players based on their performances and successes is a past time that every fan enjoys. It is an integral part of fandom, and we comb through advanced statistics, win rates, matchups, and even subjective game quality in order to create something approximating a numbered list. All the effort that goes into this investigation seeks to answer a simple question: who is the best in the world?



In StarCraft 2, the answer has historically been rather simple. Whoever rules the GSL rules the world. The most prestigious tournament in StarCraft 2 duly deserves a weight that surpasses all others, and it dominated the debate from 2010 and 2011. Yet there is more to the game than just a single tournament as LANs occurred almost monthly, and OSL arrived on the scene in 2012. Since that time, we have seen the OGN StarLeague, KeSPA Cup, and Hot6ix Cup take turns in convoluting the conversation. However, it was not until 2014 that a more stable tournament changed the contest entirely. StarCraft II StarLeague has now been running for 3 years, although there have sometimes been doubts about its continuation. During that time, we have even witnessed cross finals that sought to determine, once and for all, Korea's ultimate champion.



Now, we have three regular tournaments that need to be considered. VSL is the new kid on the block, and we must reassess how we measure success in the capital of StarCraft.



The reigning rationale is that GSL counts for a little bit more than SSL due to higher prize money, greater history, and more perceived prestige. After all, it's the greatest show on earth according to Artosis. The cross finals attempted to settle the argument and tip the balance towards one winner's favor, yet the event received scant interest and was considered little more than food for thought. With VSL now in the picture, just how much of the pie does each tournament deserve?



On the one hand, all these tournaments have the same competitors and similar formats. On the other hand, the logo attached to each tournament is different, and the prize money accorded to the winners vastly unequal. Then, how do we approach a standardized system for rating these players?



Here are just some of the commonly proposed measures:

1. Tournament placings

2. Tournament prestige

3. Prize money won

4. Competitors/matchups faced

5. Head to head record

6. Level of in-game dominance

7. Consistency over a period of time

8. ...and even the amount of adversity faced



When you begin to weigh more and more tournaments against each other, the system becomes exponentially more complicated. Is a quarterfinal berth in GSL more impressive than a semifinal in VSL? How much more meaningful is a groupstage exit from SSL compared to an inability to qualify for VSL? How much does head to head record matter? And just how do international LANs factor into this?



The best player in the world is a mantle that very few players have unanimously possessed even for the briefest of periods. Mvp dominated a simpler time, as did NesTea. Players such as the banished Life, the machine INnoVation, and the artwork Zest have all claimed the throne at various times, but their uncontested reigns lasted shorter than the threads dedicated to those very discussions.



Yet what would fandom be without the endless deliberation, splitting hairs on maps won and single digit percentage points? Perhaps the way we prioritize details reveals a little more about ourselves than we would like to admit. After years and countless posts, the debate still rages on about the best player in the world. And more importantly, the elements that comprise our judgment.



by







