by: Nakajin

We’re almost at the midway point of the season, and for the most part, things are starting to settle where we expected. Vitality are dominating yet another regular season, while DKZ have seized the #2 spot in the wake of BASILISK’s chronic no-Serralitis. The six playoff ‘lock’ teams are all in the upper half, with the one major surprise being Mystery Gaming butting their heads into the playoff picture.

Will normalcy and predictability reign supreme for the rest of the season? Or will we see more of the chaos and upsets that defined the first few weeks?

Before we move on to the results and previews, we have to bring you some updates from a very busy week for business in the WTL.

• HeroMarine joins OFFSYDE Esports as a mercenary: One of the most coveted players outside the WTL will finally make his debut with last place OFFSYDE Gaming. The timing is rather odd, but from Big Gabe’s Tweet, it seems like he suddenly found himself with more free time over the weekends than he expected. HeroMarine will without a doubt provide a huge boost to OFFSYDE, and may help turn a difficult season around. As usual, a two-round grace period applies to mid-season moves, meaning he’ll only be eligible starting in week/round 8.
• Weibo Gaming partners with Dragon Kaizi Gaming, team rebranded to Weibo Gaming: Chinese social media and esports giant Weibo has entered a partnership with the country’s top SC2 team. It doesn’t appear to be an out-and-out acquisition, and seems more like an ambiguous strategic partnership akin to Vitality-ONSYDE. As far as WTL fans are concerned, this should just mean that DKZ are now named Weibo Gaming/WBG.
• Coffee leaves Mystery Gaming: Mystery Gaming’s Cinderella run seems all but over as Coffee has been signed away by the Hong Kong-based All Gamers (surely eyeing club points at the Esports World Cup). Congrats to Coffee for getting the paycheck, but it’s a sad day for fans who were cheering on Mystery Gaming’s underdog heroics this season.
• KeeN leaves Little Fairy: Finally, it appears that KeeN’s stint with Little Fairy is over after just six weeks. TL.net regular and Chinese scene gossip-deliverer digmouse suggested that management was unhappy with KeeN’s performance, which certainly makes sense. What doesn’t make sense was why they signed him in the first place, as he had been almost completely inactive prior to joining Little Fairy. Russian Protoss Shameless has been promoted to the starting position, and it may not be a downgrade.

Week 5 Recap

Top 7 teams qualify for the playoffs.
Bottom 2 teams must requalify.
Points are awarded as follows:

Dragon KaiZi Gaming 4 – 2 Berserker Esports
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Berserker made the best of some favorable match-ups to fight evenly with DKZ for a bit, but ultimately couldn’t overcome their ace player herO.

BattleB traded maps with Jieshi to start, with Jieshi holding off a tank push in game one but falling to a 3-Rax all-in in game two. soO did soO things against DnS, getting destroyed by the Protoss deathball in the late-game but tying it up with early/mid-game Roach-Ling pressure in game two. As for herO, he proceeded to save the day without much trouble, beating GunGFuBanDa 2-0 to clinch three points for DKZ.

PSISTORM-NAVI 3 – 4 BASILISK-BIG
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BASILISK were up against the wall with Serral unavailable for their match against PSISTORM, but managed to get two points out of the match thanks to Reynor’s clutch save.

After a tie in the opening PvP, ShoWTimE and Spirit stepped up to try and swing the series in their respective teams’ favor. ShoWTimE tried to resurrect the good ol’ proxy Void-Ray/Shield Battery into hidden expansions strategy in game one, but Spirit was too solid to fall for it. However, ShoWTimE pulled out the tie in game two, holding off a Tank push from his opponent.

MaxPax put his team on match point in his first game against Reynor, succeeding with a Stalker-Oracle all-in on Amphion. The shadowy Dane tried to finish the job with Colossus-Stalker on Post-Youth, but Reynor successfully stalled until Lurkers and Vipers to force an ace match.

Both teams went with the obvious ace picks, sending MaxPax and Reynor back out to complete the BO3. The deciding bout on Ghost River played out similarly to their previous game, as Reynor withstood heavy harassment and pressure from MaxPax to win with his tech advantage in the end.

Starlight Twinkle 3 – 4 Twisted Fairy
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Twisted Fairy took an incremental step toward entering the playoff race, though they really would have wanted three points from this series.

It started well for SLT as Wayne busted Stats on Post-Youth, but a strong defensive game from the Shield of Aiur on Goldenaura tied the series 1-1. Krystianer made short work of KeeN in the middle match, giving the underdogs three chances of beating Classic to take the victory.

However, Classic’s chin proved to be rock solid, as he scored a 3-0 to save two points for his team. Cham’s unusual Muta-Corruptor play failed to vex Classic in game one, while his Ravager-Queen-Ling all-in failed to hit the mark in game two. Classic finished the job with a mid-game win against Krystianer in the ace match, punishing his opponent for getting too cute with his Blink Stalkers by forcing an engagement against a splintered force.

Shopify Rebellion 4 – 2 Mystery Gaming
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MYG put up a respectable fight against Shopify, but were unable to steal any points from the Rebellion.

Lambo took a comfortable 2-0 against Lemon in the opening series, which ended up being the difference-maker. Coffee put Harstem in a mid-game bind on Oceanborn, but ended up having to concede as he couldn’t deal with Harstem’s backdoor attacks. However, he still got his map win on Ghost River, breaking through with a two-base all-in. ByuN proceeded to finish the series against Strange, hitting with a game-winning Marine-Tank push just as Strange was trying to transition to Carriers. Strange did manage to get himself a consolation map, playing a nice defensive macro game on Oceanborn.

Team Vitality 6 – 0 OFFSYDE Esports
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Unsurprisingly, OFFSYDE couldn’t put a dent in their current/former sister team Vitality, with the league leaders jumping ahead to 15 points with a +20 map differential just five weeks in. Still, each OFFSYDE player had a chance to take a map, and perhaps they collectively deserve this week’s moral victory award.

Rex tried a cute all-in against Maru by taking his gold base on the ‘wrong’ side of the minerals on Dynasty, but Maru recovered from some early SCV damage to win anyway. uThermal came close to taking a map off of Ryung by simply playing solid standard TvT, but ultimately lost a close duel. Finally, Firefly tried to disorient Solar in a massive Mutalisk vs Stalker-Colossus basetrade, but we all know which unit comp has the advantage in that situation.

Team Liquid 5 – 1 Platinum Heroes-R8
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TL’s performances have been mixed this season, but this one goes in the positive column as they took care of business without any self-sabotaging.

Kelazhur put Clem under heavy pressure with a Tank-Viking-Liberator push off of two bases on Dynasty, but once the Frenchman broke the contain, it was smooth sailing. Clem got a fast closeout in game two, proxy 2-Raxing Kelazhur before he could even get started.

Befitting for a match on the day of the EU elections, Polish Zerg Elazer defeated French Protoss ShaDoWn with a German Taxi. In game two, the players continued with a denunciation of the tardiness of the European Parliament proceedings with a 30+ minute ZvP (As you might have gathered, I didn’t find it a particularly enthralling best of 2).

The series was already won on Clem and Elazer’s efforts, making Cure and YoungYakov’s series solely for map score. Cure took the first game on Amphion with mech, but YY got a win for the road on Oceanborn with some solid Hydra-Bane-Viper play (marking his first career map win against Cure).

Weekly MVP: BASILISK.Reynor

PSISTORM-NAVI posed a serious threat to the Serral-less BASILISK-BIG squad, but Reynor saved the day with a clutch 2-1 performance against MaxPax. It was a nice victory for the slumping Zerg, who showed some solid defense before finishing his opponent with tech units.

Classic was also closely considered for MVP, as he went 3-0 against SLT to save a potentially doomed series for Twisted Fairy. However, considering that Reynor went up against one of the league’s absolutely best players in MaxPax, while Classic played Cham and Krystianer (players with upset potential, but not players who will factor into the race-MVP conversation), Reynor gets the selection despite his worse map record.

Weekly MVP’s:

• Week 5: BASILISK.Reynor
• Week 4: MYG.Cyan
• Week 3: SR.Scarlett
• Week 2: OG.Firefly
• Week 1: SLT.Krystianer

TL.net Moral Victory™ Recipients: KeeN, Nicoract

Preview: Regular Season Week 6

Friday, Jun 14 12:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00) Matches

OFFSYDE Esports vs BASILISK + ShoWTimE

Look to my coming, at first light on the fifth day 8th week. At dawn (Eastern Standard Time), look to the east (US server), said Heromarine. OFFSYDE needs to hold the fort just a bit longer before the arrival of the biggest of Gabes, but until then, they’re going to have to suffer another beating.

If there’s ever been a time for a clutch performance from Firefly, it would be now. Getting a 1-1 draw against ShoWTimE seems entirely possible, but he needs to go above and beyond with the 2-0 if his team is to have a chance of getting any points.

That is in big part because Rex shouldn’t be able to do anything against Reynor. I’ve seen a lot of things in my days of WTL fandom—including Namshar killing Elazer with a 13-12, so I’m not one to proclaim anything is impossible. But yeah, that one’s impossible.

uThermal, on the other hand, is much more evenly matched against his opponent Trigger. He just had a very nice OSC King of the Hill run lately, beating NightPhoenix, Shameless, Ziomek, Ashbringer, Gerald, and Highdra—all solid Protosses. Trigger is a step higher than they are, but non-random uThermal should be able to at least split a map.

Overall, I think OFFSYDE will put up a decent fight, but fall short of forcing an ace match.

Prediction: BASILISK 4 – 2 OFFSYDE

Platinum Heroes + R8 vs Berserker Esports

We’re in for one of the most fascinating matches of the season between the Platinum Heroes and Berserker. MYG’s grasp on a playoff spot seems tenuous after Coffee’s departure, and both of these 4-point teams will look to start their postseason campaigns in earnest with a victory here.

I feel like YoungYakov and GunGFuBanda are roughly even on paper, even though it’s hard to measure their relative abilities. YY has not played too many ZvP’s against players of GFBD’s skill level, while GFBD barely played any PvZ in the last few months. The last time they met in the EPT regional it was a 2-0 for YY, but I’ll predict a more conservative 1-1.

Kelazhur-DnS could be where Berserker takes the lead. Kelazhur is more dangerous than his WTL record indicates (getting Clem, herO, and Maru back-to-back will do that to you), but DnS seems to be in better form this season.

BattleB missed a good opportunity to play the hero for his team against Jieshi last week, but he could have another chance to do so against Goblin this time around. It will be a harder match, however, as Goblin has been solid in the limited PvT’s he’s played in 2024.

An ace match seems unavoidable between those two, and there’s a lot of options to pick from once it goes there. I truly have no clue who gets selected and who wins this one, but due to Berserker MJG’s comments on TL, I’ll send some energy their way (scandalous!).

Prediction: Berserker 4 – 3 Platinum Heroes

Saturday, Jun 15 12:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00) Matches

Team Liquid vs Mystery Gaming

Team Liquid has been better about not dropping points to lower half teams after their shock loss to OFFSYDE in week 2, and they’ll try to take care of business agains versus a weakened MYG.

TL will let out a sigh of relief if MaNa can take at least a game off Strange, as a Strange 2-0 feels like the most likely path to a MYG upset. MaNa will probably at least get the tie, if not get the win himself, but you never know with TL.

It will be very hard for Lemon to get past Elazer, and on paper it would be even harder for Cyan to topple Clem. However, Cyan has been on fire this season for MYG, while Clem suffered a crazy 0-3 against Firefly a few weeks back. Does MYG have one more miracle in their back pocket?

Prediction: Team Liquid 5 – 1 Mystery Gaming

Vitality vs Twisted Fairy

The league is still waiting for someone to make Vitality look any sort of vulnerable, and perhaps Twisted Fairy have a chance with their favorable match-ups.

Sacrificing Shameless to Maru gives Classic and Stats a chance to be the heroes of the week, although they’re not exactly in for an easy time. Stats didn’t reassure me on his PvZ against Wayne last week, and seeing as he’s currently on 4 match (and 6 map) losing streak against Solar, AND seeing how the starting match is Post-Youth, a draw is the best I can give him. Classic has a better shot against Ryung, but with WTL preparation and voodoo on the side of the Vitality talisman, I think Ryung can at least get a tie to set up the Maru closeout.

Prediction: Vitality 4 – 2 Twisted Fairy

Sunday, Jun 16 12:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00) Matches

Starlight Twinkle vs Weibo Gaming

Plucky underdogs Starlight Twinkle will try to give Weibo Gaming their “welcome to the WTL” moment, as their match-up cannons have lined up perfectly.

Cham is the perfect ‘sacrifice’ player against herO, where you can live with the 0-2 but still have a puncher’s chance of getting an all-in map win. Next, SLT actually have the advantage in the Krystianer vs Jieshi match-up, and a 2-0 could have Weibo wobbling on their feet. Finally, Wayne has every chance of beating soO despite his recent resurgence, and in my mind, he’s actually the favorite.

It will take a little mirror magic, but I feel SLT will bring back the trend of upsets from the start of the season.

Prediction: Starlight Twinkle 4 – 2 Weibo Gaming

Shopify Rebellion vs PSISTORM Gaming + NAVI

Spirit comes in as quite a heavy favorite against Scarlett, as he’s stepped up his game in the last few months and is looking mighty in all matches up. However, a TvZ on Post-Youth feels like a trap card waiting to activate, and Scarlett definitely knows how to take advantage of quirky maps.

In a sign that PSISTORM is taking this match seriously, they have called in their Ultimate Weapon. Yes, Namshar is back in the lineup! In 2023 he had 4 appearances in the WTL regular season, where he beat DIMAGA and somehow went 1-1 against Elazer, Firefly, and herO. ByuN should have no problem running all over him anyway, but then again that’s what I said all those other times.

Lambo vs MaxPax will close out the day. The Danish Protoss has won their last 7 confrontations, dropping a single map in the process—although before that Lambo did achieve a draw in WTL. Ghost River seems, to my untrained eye, a pretty good map for Queens walks or other kinds of all-ins, so maybe it boosts Lambo’s chances a bit. However, I fear it won’t be enough, and I’ll say Spirit and MaxPax combine for a 4-2 victory.

There’s a realistic chance of an ace match as well, in which case I would say it flips in Shopify’s favor with ByuN having the edge over MaxPax.

Prediction: PSISTORM 4 – 2 Shopify

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• Source: https://tl.net/forum/starcraft-2/627020-wtl-2024-summer-week-5-recap-week-6-preview