LG-Incredible Miracle continues their title defense tonight against Prime!

Both LG-Incredible Miracle and Prime were able to edge out wins with 5-4 map scores in their first Premier division matches against StarTale and Team SCV Life respectively.  They now meet in the third match of Group B, with the winner securing passage into the playoffs and a chance at the inaugural IPTL championship.  Check out the rosters, notes on some of their key players, and a prediction below!

Lineups

LG-IM:

• Seed (P)
• MC (P) (from partnership with SK)
• NesTea (Z)
• Mvp (T)
• Happy (T)
• First (P)
• YongHwa (P)
• YoDa (T)
• True (Z)
• LosirA (Z)
• Ready (P)

Prime:

• MarineKing (T)
• Creator (P)
• ByuN (T)
• Maru (T)
• BBoong (Z)
• Classic (P)
• AriA (Z)
• Salmosa (Z)

Potential Starters

LG-IM: YongHwa (P) or First (P)

As he is overshadowed by two GSL champion-level Protoss players in Seed and MC, it is easy to forget just how good YongHwa actually is.  YongHwa has already seen action this season, taking down Hack but falling to the up-and-coming StarTale Zerg Life.  While those results aren't stunning, YongHwa is capable of much more.  He has a recent all-kill to his name, coming out first in LG-IM's second match of GSTL 2012 Season 3 against Fnatic and defeating the entire lineup.  Even more recently, he emerged as the surprise champion of the WCG 2012 Korean Nationals, defeating Prime's ace player MarineKing in the finals.  If YongHwa can take some maps and force MarineKing out early, then take him down like he did at WCG, LG-IM will be sitting pretty for the series.

Prime: MarineKing (T)

Prime has been known to attempt the unorthodox strategy of throwing their star MarineKing into the fray as the first player to grab as many kills as he can before handing the reins over to support players, relying on Creator to clean up in the more traditional ace role.  This very tactic was used in their first IPTL match against TSL, with MarineKing taking the first map over a more typical starting player in RagnaroK, forcing the TSL ace Symbol out in the second spot to try and stop MKP's momentum, which he did.  Prime was somewhat lucky, as Maru managed to take down the TSL Zerg star, setting the table for Creator and Byun to finish off the opposition.  If Prime tries this strategy again, it may not work so well: LG-IM is so stacked that they have the two most recent GSL finalists and a host of other stars, and with that depth, they do not risk much by sending a stud player out to stop a surprise starter in MarineKing.

Key Players

LG-IM: SK.MC (P)

The Boss Toss MC did exactly what he needed to do in the last clan war, coming in as the last player with a 4-4 score on the board to take out the resurgent Curious and win the match for his partner team.  If he can continue to consistently put wins on the table, he will immediately become more reliable in team league play than either of the other multiple GSL champions in the stable for LG-IM.  He still puts on amazing  individual performances, placing in the top three of four major tournaments since the start of July.  Also, the only person who stood between MC and the most recent GSL title, Seed, is now his quasi-teammate; these two Protoss superstars combined for four of the five map wins in their most recent team match, and do not be surprised if that trend continues moving forward.

Prime: ByuN (T)

Prime saved ByuN for the final spot in their last match, and he certainly pulled through, defeating a very strong TvT player in Polt before taking down Shine to secure a fifth map win and the match for his team.  If Prime continues to use MarineKing in a starting role, ByuN will become very important in the success of the team; without their ace Terran player to anchor, Prime could find itself hurting for strong Terran play at the tail end of series if ByuN does not continue to produce.  ByuN will have to handle more stressful situations than he may have been used to in team matches, but so far he has shown that he can step up to the task.  He is a very capable player and a recent GSL semifinalist, so do not be surprised if he defeats any member of the LG-IM roster.

The Aces:

LG-IM: Seed (P)

Seed, though unable to close out the entire match for his team, satisfied expectations in the match against StarTale, taking out Life, Squirtle, and Parting--all amazing players--in succession before finally falling to Curious.  This is the sort of play we should see from a GSL champion, and should he continue to play like this, Seed could very well secure LG-IM's advancement to the next round mostly by himself.  His victories over Parting and Squirtle are a particularly good sign, as one of the major keys to defeating Prime is being able to effectively handle their Protoss beast, Creator.  Seed should be considered a favorite in every PvP he plays, especially considering the aforementioned map wins against StarTale, as well as the fact that Seed won his GSL finals over another very good Protoss player in MC.  Creator is no slouch, though, and put up a good fight against Seed.

Prime: Creator (P)

With the eccentric play style of MarineKing, Creator is a bit better of a fit for the traditional ace role on Prime.  Whenever he can, he plays a methodical and patient macro style, very well tailored to the current metagame.  The key to Creator's success is his ability to defend and keep his economy intact, while at the same time teching, upgrading, and building up an immensely strong late-game army, then knowing when and where to move his army once he has it.  These strengths are most evident in his PvT, but with the two arguably strongest LG-IM players being Protoss, Creator will need to bring his PvP A-game to do his part for Prime.  PvP is not known as a matchup where you can sit back and macro up; Creator will need to be able to defend all kinds of crazy aggression that either Seed or MC are more than capable of mustering.  He will have a tough task ahead of him if both of the LG-IM Protoss studs are still available when he is sent out.

Prediction

LG-IM: 5 > Prime: 3

The outcome of this clan war will come down to three things: how many kills MarineKing secures if he does start, ByuN's performance, and whether Creator's PvP is strong enough.  I think only one of these will go Prime's way.  If LG-IM leads with YongHwa, he will bring down MarineKing again, taking out one of Prime's strongest players right off the bat and setting the tone for the whole match.  ByuN will grab two or three kills, showing the strong play we expect from him, but Seed will come in to close.  The GSL champion should take out both ByuN and Creator, all but claiming the win for LG-IM.

This match will take place on Wednesday, September 26th.  Catch the live stream to see these two ridiculously strong teams have at it for the right to advance to the playoff bracket.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com Read More

A Battle of Champions: LG-Incredible Miracle vs. StarTale in the IPTL

Tonight's IPTL match featured the IPL TAC3 winners LG-Incredible Miracle and the 2012 GSTL season one runner-ups StarTale in a grueling battle of champions. LG-IM ended up winning the match in an extremely close series (5-4). StarTale put up a good fight, but LG-IM was able to continue their dominance in IPL team leagues, having won both TAC1 and TAC3.

Game 1: Hack (T) vs. YoDa (T)

To start the series, ST sent out GSL player Hack and LG-IM sent their own GSL player in YoDa. The map was Khaydaria, a new addition to the team league map pool. Both players opted for a cloaked banshee build, sending banshees to the others' worker line. However, better positioning, better unit control on marines and banshees, and a well-placed scan allowed Hack to take the first game.

Game 2: Hack vs. YongHwa (P)

Next up for LG-IM was team league all-star YongHwa and the map was Daybreak. Hack opened up with a gas-less fast expand, whereas YongHwa decided upon early stalkers. Hack transitioned into a strong bio-mech composition, building marines and tanks. YongHwa went for a sneaky dark shrine, using his dark templar to harass SCVs. The game was long and passive, with each player poking the other here and there. Every time Hack forced an attack in the middle of the map, YongHwa would counter with a drop in the Terran's main, which kept Hack on his toes, forcing him to micro his units in battle and back at home. The counter-attacks proved too much for Hack, and he was forced to gg.

Game 3: YongHwa (P) vs. Life (Z)

ST's next choice was TeamLiquid Starleague 4 runner-up Life, who decided upon Cloud Kingdom to take down the team league star YongHwa. YongHwa opened standard, except he created a cannon before his gateway. Life opted for the long, macro game, dropping his third hatchery at four minutes. Again, YongHwa went for early dark templar after successfully hiding a probe in Life's main. Unfortunately for him, the proxy pylon was scouted. Immediately, Life dropped sporecrawlers to defend his bases and the dark templar were deterred. Life took advantage of the failed dark templar rush and held onto his lead, going for a ling-baneling drop into YongHwa's natural. The drop was successful, and YongHwa conceded.

Game 4: Life vs. Seed (P)

Who better to take down Life than the reigning Code S champion? The map was Entombed Valley. Seed opened Nexus first as Life went for a fifteen hatch. The game transitioned into an incredible, long macro game, with Seed going for a fleet beacon to produce a mothership, whereas Life opted for a brood lord, infestor, corruptor push. Life continually harassed Seed's fifth with his mutalisks, but thanks to well-timed mass recalls and a perfectly placed vortex, Seed annihilated Life's army in a forty-five minute game.

Game 5: Seed vs. Squirtle (P)

To take on the reigning Code S champion, ST decided upon sending Code S player Squirtle, who decided upon Antiga Shipyard. Both Protoss players opened up similarly, mirroring each other's builds. However, Seed produced an immortal first, whereas Squirtle opted for stalkers. Cunningly, Seed placed a Nexus in the top right corner of the map, which gave him the gas advantage to produce more colossi. Squirtle attempted to take out Seed's natural but was completely denied by well-placed forcefields and three colossi waiting for him, so he gg'd.

Game 6: Seed vs. PartinG (P)

As of late, Seed's best match-up has been PvP, so it was surprising to see ST send in PartinG as their next player. The map was Ohana. Both players opened similarly. However, Seed produced a colossi much earlier than PartinG, who decided upon two immortals. Due to poor unit control, PartinG lost his natural to Seed's aggression, pulling his probes to soak in the damage from Seed's colossi. Unfortunately, he could not hold and PartinG left the game.

Game 7: Seed vs. Curious (Z)

Next up was Atlantis Spaceship and GSL player Curious, who had a long road ahead of him. Not only did he have to defeat reigning Code S champion Seed, but he also had to defeat three more Code S champions after him. Seed opened gateway first with an assimilator, while Curious decided to create more units as opposed to workers, which seemed to put him at a disadvantage. However, Seed's bad positioning put the advantage back into Curious's hands, who had an answer for all of Seed's attempts of attack and harassment. Seed eventually gg'd.

Game 8: Curious vs. Mvp (T)

Game 8 on Metropolis was Mvp's second appearance in the IPL team leagues. He opened up with a quick three command centers, whereas Curious opened hatch first, prompting the long, macro game. Mvp went for a strong air-force composed primarily of ravens, vikings, and battlecruisers. Though he was able to take out Curious's forces here and there, Curious's economy was so strong that he could just remax in a matter of seconds. Curious ended up creating a whopping thirty-two infestors, which were able to wipe out Mvp's remaining battlecruisers.

Game 9: Curious vs. MC (P)

Curious seemed to be pulling off the impossible by taking out Code S champions. However, his next opponent would be just as challenging: the Protoss president himself, MC. The map was Whirlwind, another new addition to the map pool. MC opened standard, going Nexus first. Curious also decided on a long macro game, dropping three hatcheries. While MC had less units, his excellent micro kept them alive against Curious's harassment. Just as MC moved his army out, Curious sent his mutalisks in. Unfortunately for Curious, MC's ground army was far superior to his mutalisks, and Curious was forced to leave the game, giving LG-IM their first win in the Premier Division.

Player of the Match: Curious

Without a doubt, the player of the match was Curious. As the final hope for StarTale, Curious was able to take out Seed and Mvp, unarguably two of the best players in the world, and he managed to do it in long-winded macro games, proving his strong unit control and emphasis on economy. Though he wasn't able to close out the match, he still put up a great fight and showed a good performance.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com Read More