Welcome to another look at IGN Pro League Team Arena Challenge, the StarCraft II tournament featuring the very best teams in the world. In each match the teams play a Best of 9, elimination style match, where the winning player stays on while the losing player is replaced by another player on their team. First team to five wins is the victor.
In this weekly column we preview the upcoming matches with some analysis of their current performance and their performance in the tournament thus far.
This week marks the Western teams last stand against the top Korean organizations.
TSL v Acer
Rosters
Acer
Bly, DarkHydra, Mondragon, Nerchio, ParanOid, Scarlett
TSL
RevivaL, Polt, Symbol, Hyun, Cyrano, Inori, Punisher, Shine, Dream, RagnaroK, Ultimate
Road So Far
Acer
- Won 5 - 4 v Eclypsia
- Lost 4 - 5 v Prime
- Won 5 - 3 v Mouz
- Won 5 - 1 v aTnType
TSL
- Won 5 - 0 v Check 6
- Won 5 - 4 v FXO
- Lost 4 - 5 v StarTale
Analysis
Acer keeps finding themselves in an underdog role and they keep plowing through their opponents. In the most recent match, the polls still put aTnType as the favorite, but Nerchio made quick work of their European rivals, winning 4 matches to close out a slaughter started by his teammate ParanOid.
TSL had a close match again, this time losing out to StarTale in a great comeback by Squirtle after StarTale was down 4-2. The lack of closing power is something that is uncharacteristic for TSL, usually Polt is a sure finisher, but Squirtle had too much momentum in this match.
Acer looks to be very strong with Scarlett joining the team, but this is still a team without a lot of depth, and not a single Protoss player on the roster. Even their only Terran player DarkHydra is suspect and is relatively untested and unproven. However, with three very strong players in Bly, Scarlett and Nerchio, it is very possible on of these could carry their team to an upset. All the stars would have to align for this to happen though, and I would say TSL will win a relatively close match; the depth of the TSL roster is far greater than Acer's.
Prediction - TSL 5 - 3 Acer
MVP v Karont3
Rosters
MVP
DongRaeGu, Dream, Finale, Keen, KeePing, Lure, Monster, Noblesse, sC, Sniper, TAiLS, Vampire, Galaxy
Karont3
LoLvsxD, LucifroN, Ryo, VortiX, AlastOr, MikOeL
Road So Far
MVP
- Won 5 - 0 v Evil Geniuses
- Lost 1 - 5 v IM
Karont3
- Lost 2 - 5 v Quantic
- Won 5 - 2 v Check 6
- Won 5 - 1 v Empire
Analysis
MVP looked surprisingly bad in their last match against IM. In what looked like it could have been a league final, IM completely rolled over MVP without using any of their top players. Only DongRaeGu managed to take just a single map before being defeated by Happy. They will need a much better effort against Karont3.
Speaking of Karont3, VortiX looks to be the hottest player in Europe right now after qualifying for TSL4, defeating HasuObs, Socke, LoWLey, Select and Golden consecutively, and then all killing Empire's best possible lineup after Violet left the team earlier this week. This Spanish team is proving it's here to stay with two of Europe's fastest improving players, capable of catching lightning in a bottle and then dominating any high level team.
Karont3 will need both their stars to be in top form to take this match as MVP is the most talented team they have played thus far. And while Karont3 has proven they can beat any Western based team, they still haven't had to go against a Korean lineup. MVP won't be able to look ahead however, as if they don't take Karont3 seriously, its very possible for them to lose. Still it's MVPs match to lose, and assuming they play at top strength, should be able to take this.
Prediction - MVP 5 - 3 Karont3
NsHoSeo v Evil Geniuses
Rosters
NsHoSeo
Sage, BanBans, San, Tassadar, Jjakji, Seal, Sculp, Sting, Freaky, Fairy
Evil Geniuses
DeMusliM, IdrA, iNcontroL, JYP, HuK, LzGaMeR, Machine, PuMa, ThorZaIN
Road So Far
NsHoSeo
- Won 5 - 3 v FXO.CIS
- Lost 2 - 5 v SlayerS
Evil Geniuses
- Won 5 - 3 v Infinity Seven
- Lost 0 - 5 v MVP
- Won 5 - 3 v DtG
- Won 5 - 2 v Dignitas
Analysis
EG recovered nicely after the thrashing they took from MVP Monster two rounds ago. They cruised past Dignitas behind a strong performance from HuK, who continues to make appearances and now finally has made his mark on an EG team league match. It seems as though EG may have fallen into a rhythm, however, as we stated last time, Dignitas was a team without a direction, and NsHoSeo will be much harder for them.
NsHoSeo could have beaten SlayerS, if they had used their best player and GSL Champion Jjakji. Why Jjakji was absent remains a mystery, but if he plays in this match, it will be much easier than SlayerS was for them. All of HsHoSeo's supporting cast are comparable to every player on EG, but with more consistency across the board.
Make no mistake, NsHoSeo will need Jjakji to win this match. All of EGs players have proven themselves at this point with HuK, IdrA, JYP and PuMa racking up wins in the tournament thus far. NsHoSeo remains slightly less proven though as none of their roleplayers have stepped up as a primary #2 player to Jjakji. EG has a really good chance at taking this match and I think it will be close regardless. However, at their best NsHoSeo is a better team, and I expect them to barely hold on to win this match.
Prediction - NsHoSeo 5 - 4 Evil Geniuses
Prime v FXO
Rosters
Prime
AnNyeong, BboongBboong, Byun, Creator, MarineKing, Maru, AriA, Classic, Dayfly, Salmosa
FXO
asd, Choya, Crane, Gumiho, jks, Leenock, Lucky, Sirius, Supreme, TheBest, Tear, Tree, Weekend, Whale
Road So Far
Prime
- Won 5 - 4 v Acer
- Lost 3 - 5 v Team Liquid
FXO
- Lost 4 - 5 v TSL
- Won FF v Quantic
- Won 5 - 3 v compLexity
Analysis
Prime had a stunning defeat at the hands of Team Liquid, or more specifically, Liquid`TaeJa who all killed Prime, the defending GSTL, KSL and Team Arena Challenge champions. Prime has now looked vulnerable in a few matches, with their near loss against Acer coupled with their loss to Team Liquid. While they haven't had one particular weakness in their game, they will need a stronger effort all around to defeat FXO.
Meanwhile, FXO has looked like they have taken a step back. While Tear has proven to be a top player now with big team league wins for several weeks in a row, losing Oz and the fall of Gumiho and Leenock is starting to show. Neither player are as good as they once were in late 2011, and while Lucky has been a bright spot for them, they will need more than just two players to carry the load. Unless FXO gets help from their former superstars, they will be in a lot of trouble against Prime.
Prime still has one of the top 5 players in the world in MarineKing, and Creator has proven himself to be the ace that Prime needs, winning in the clutch in a few matches. At only 15 years old, it's astonishing what Creator has been able to do in carrying his team through wins. FXO's only chance is a strong performance from Tear, and then Leenock, Lucky and Gumiho returning to their former glory. Prime will be just too good for them.
Prediction - Prime 5 - 3 FXO
What do you think about this week's matches? Can FXO reclaim their past riches, or will Prime continue it's team league dominance?
Let us know in the comments below and make sure you watch all of these great games on the IPL site and tune in next week for a wrap-up of these matches and our breakdown of Losers Round 4.
Source : ign[dot]com
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