Team League Reporter: MMA clinches SlayerS victory in GSTL week 1

Welcome to the GosuGamers weekly "Team League Reporter". Here we chew down, summarize and recap all the events from the ongoing team cups, namely IPL Team Arena Challenge, North American Star Team League and the Global StaraCraft 2 Team league.

Of course, we are not here to only list results in boring tables and numbers. Everyone hates that and not having at least a pinch of text makes it all the more barren. Thus, we shall try to analyze, recap and justify all the events during GSTL, NASTL and IPL TAC 2 to make the read more fruitful.

FXO e-Sports vs Team SlayerS

The first GSTL match for the year 2012 was played on Friday between two of the worst performing teams last season. Indeed, you are reading this correctly and in case you don't believe me/don't remember/furiously try to forget, SlayerS fell from two-times champions to a team that won only a single game, thanks to Taeja's all-kill of F.United. FXO had it even harder, finishing with less points than Slayers as the last team in the league.

FXO's 2012 debut was no perfume and roses as well, as they quickly dropped the first two sets to Crank - a relatively unknown protoss most famous with his Across the Galaxy top four. To save their skins, FXO called forth Lucky - a Zerg that has regularly represented his team in Code A, made it to the IPL 3 grand finals and, most recently, lost his Code S spot by finishing third in his group but defeating EG pride Idra. Lucky managed to get his team in the lead, trumping Clide and Puzzle in addition to Crank, making the score 3-2.

Knowing that they are two sets away from a loss, SlayerS would not gamble at all and summoned their ultimate weapon MMA. In three games in a row, the terran ace showcased why he is the holder of those MVP plaques as he slayed Lucky, Leenock (MLG Providence champion and GSL Grand Finalist) and Oz (their highly placing protoss player, holding a Code A silver and Code S top four).

Looking upon these matches it's hard to find a place where FXO could have strategized better. One might argue that playing the Gumiho card earlier to prevent a second win for Crank and forcing a longer streak for MMA could have been the solution. Mayhaps, although if MMA can slay three of your best players in a row without breaking much sweat, how can a player with average TvT results dethrone a guy that 4-1s MVP at a GSL final.

FXO e-Sports 3:5 Team SlayerS
Choya	<	Crank	@ Entombed Valley
TheBest	<	Crank	@ Dual Sight
Lucky	>	Crank	@ Belshir Beach
Lucky	>	Clide	@ Calm before the storm
Lucky	>	Puzzle	@ Daybreak
Lucky	<	MMA	@ Antiga Shipyard
Leenock	<	MMA	@ Metropolis
Oz	<	MMA	@ Cloud Kingdom

ZeNEX vs oGsTL

ZeneX and oGsTL were also two teams that did not make it to last season's playoffs. oGs' position in particular was made even harder when some of the players that used to come out and ace a victory for the team are now gone, lured by other teams.

What blew the top off, however, was a single protoss player, carrying the ID Treme. In three matches he made fans remember the stories of Taeja, Seed and, if we are to go prior them coming to fame, MMA and DongRaeGu who used to come strong to either all-kill an entire team or win games that they weren't supposed to.

Treme's first appearance at the GSTL was so powerful that he suddenly made it all about himself. In three set is a row, Treme would slash down oGs' top names, including all-time legend Nada, the promising young terran TheSTC and the BroodWar veteran ForGG. The score was thus turned to 4-3 for ZeNEX, making people remember, in a moment of shocking realization, a recent tongue-in-cheek article about the team. And without HuK or MC aboard the oGs roster, it seemed like the ZeNEX protoss would indeed reach a ripsnorting triumph.

Well, he finally lost to Supernova, who came as oGs last resort and did bring the team to a victorious 5-4 but that did not mitigate his success. Being one set away from defeating the core of oGs certainly makes him a player worth watching should he ever appear again.

ZeNEX 4:5 oGsTL
Line	<	Vines	@ Daybreak
Jjun	<	Vines	@ Cloud Kingdom
Avenge	>	Vines	@ Antiga Shipyard
Avenge	<	TheSTC	@ Dual Sight
Treme	>	TheSTC	@ Entombed Valley
Treme	>	Nada	@ Belshir Beach
Treme	>	Fin	@ Metropolis
Treme	<	Supernova	@ Crossfire
Life	<	Supernova	@ Calm before the storm

Next on GSTL:
StarTale vs HoSeo [February 3]
Team SCV Life vs Incredible Miracle [February 4]

StarTale vs HoSeo will be an interesting match. ST house a big roster of strong names as July, Curious, Parting and Bomber are there to sink the HoSeo boat. However, HoSeo has been on the rise since last season they absolutely owned a group that had both StarTale and former champions IM, and housed a goddamn GSL champion. Also, I bet Bomber still remembers Seal - that zerg that delivered the only loss for StarTale in the group.

TSL vs IM, on the other hand, should be easier than a walkover and more brutal than an episode of "Happy Tree Friends". Coach Lee is still struggling with all the turmoils within the team and the departure of Alive brings the roster to a line-up of underdogs (with the exception of Polt).

It's also a fun fact that Mvp is in possession of more gold medals than TSL is of players.



The North American StarTeam League just passed its second week now and the group leaders are beginning to take form. Of course, it is too early to make any even remotely accurate predictions of how the playoffs line-up will look like, so let's just go one step at a time.

Evil Geniuses score a second loss in a row, this time falling to FXO e-Sports. Once again, JYP was the only player able to win a game as his teammates (most notably Puma and Demuslim) are 0-for-two already. Lucky, asd and Leenock were the players that stroke true against the American team, the latter sealing the series by defeating EG's zerg ace Idra.

The night continued with Empire's utter domination against Quantic. The Eastern team was absolutely unchallenged and Happy, Aristeo and the newest addition to the roster ViOlet were all successful for the perfect 3-0. That left Sase, who was left as the eventual fourth-match player, unable to react and save his team-mate in any way. Unfortunately in every way, as him versus Kas would be an interesting PvT to observe.

Team Reign recovered from their loss to FXO in week one and beat down Russian-based RoxKis 3-1. This time, Reign gave recently acquired Axslav a chance to shine and the ex-EG protoss did not disappoint. His triumph was followed by the ones of Slush and Kiwikai to form the final score.

Mousesports and TeamLiquid were the only teams that reached an ace match this week, being tied after the initial four sets. TL took the 2-0 lead thanks to Zenio and Sheth but the all-European team sprung back through the Swedish duo Morrow and Thorzain. Thus, Thorzain carried the mouz torch to a final match against Ret but failed to prevail at it as well. Ret snatched a 2-1 win and pushed his team to number two in the current ranking.

NASTL Season 1 Week 2 results
Evil Geniuses 1:3 FXO e-Sports
Puma	<	Lucky	@ Belshir Beach
JYP	>	Choya	@ Tal'Darim Altar
Demuslim	<	asd	@ Artifice
Idra	<	Leenock	@ Antiga Shipyard
Team Empire 3:0 Quantic Gaming
Happy	>	theognis	@ Artifice
Aristeo	>	Destiny	@ Belshir Beach
Violet	>	Agh	@ Antiga
Rox.Kis 1:3 Team Reign
Abver	>	Artist	@ Artifice
fraer	<	Axslav	@ Tal'Darim Altar
Titan	<	Slush	@ Belshir Beach
LiveZerg	<	Kiwikaki	@ ANtiga Shipyard
Mousesports 2:3 Team Liquid
Bigs	<	Sheth	@ Artifice
Mana	<	Zenio	@ Tal'Darim Altar
Morrow	>	Ret	@ Belshir Beach
Thorzain	>	Hero	@ Antiga Shipyard
Ace Match Bo3
Thorzain	<	Ret	@ Ohana
Thorzain	>	Ret	@ Antiga Shipyard
Thorzain	<	Ret	@ Belshir Beach

Next on NASTL: Week 3, February 2-5

NASTL Week 3
Quantic Gaming	VS	FXO e-Sports
Team Liquid	VS	RoxKis
Mousesports	VS	Evil Geniuses
Team Reign	VS	Team Empirе

It's a week when the "losers" thus far will have to make some kind of a stand. This particularly goes to EG, who boast with one of the strongest line-ups in the foreign scene but thus far only JYP stood as a guy that can actually win a game. EG's next match is against Mousesports and it's going to be a hard one as the Europeans are, in my personal opinion, the best team out there.

Reign recovered from a loss in week 1 but are facing the current group leaders Empire. The Russian brigade is on the amazing +5 points and will be looking forward to further cement their leader position. Liquid and FXO, however, are having relatively easy matches so Empire should be on the lookout.



There were some hard fights over at IPL's team league with the Korean teams being very dominant during that first week. HoSeo came out with a 5-3 over Dignitas thanks to its protoss aces San and Sage with only Select managing to score some wins for the foreigners. The same results was observed between FXO and Vile where Gumiho opened with a very strong three-win streak; and between TSL and Team Regin, where the Koreans showcased an incredible Zerg line-up and snatched the win thanks to Revival, Ragnarok and Symbol.

In the all-Korean clash, StarTale prevailed with the most dominant score thus far, defeating ZeNEX 5-2. The Code S protoss Parting was the hero for StarTale that evening, winning four in a row to take away the series.

The foreign war between Mousesports and Quantic was a long and dramatic one. The best performing player for mouz, who was unleashed midway through the series to smack down Destiny, Agh and compatriot Naniwa before finally falling to Sase. In the end, Morrow was summoned on the mouz side as an ace player to crush the Swedish protoss and close the series 5-4.

Below are the set breakdowns for each series. I am putting it all in spoiler tag because it's a long, long table. There we go:

Next on IPL TAC 2: Completion of Winners Bracket Round 1

IPL TAC 2 WBR1
Evil Geniuses	VS (Jan 31)	oGs
Team Liquid	VS (Feb 1)	col.MVP
Prime	VS (Feb 2)	Team Empire

EG will have to show that their expensive, high-profile roster is not good only when it come to individual tourneys. oGs are currently among the strongest teams in Korea, although they suffered a heavy loss with MC leaving and were partially disgraced by Treme in the GSTL. I could still see them win, though, as EG have been producing some very poor team results lately.

What I am really looking forward to is Prime vs Empire. Prime were grand finalists in the last GSTL and Empire are currently crushing the NASTL and all in all it's a classic West vs East (or rather East vs Far East) battle of grandeur.

Finally, Liquid are meeting coL.MVP and it would be curious to see if the Korean monsters will step forth for the latter. Complexity's foreign line-up is not among the strongest but when backed up by DongRaeGu or Genius, things might go south for TL really, really quickly.

I hope you enjoyed the first edition of "Team League Reporter" and were thoroughly informed. See you next week!

All team logos are courtesy of Liquipedia