Sleeping Giant
SK Telecom T1 - 2008 Shinhan Bank Proleague Preview
After dominating the Proleague in 2005 and early 2006, SK Telecom T1 spent 2007 in a slumber. As T1's old aces Slayers_'Boxer', iloveoov, Kingdom, and RainBOw lost their edge, other teams cultivated young talent that would form a new generation of Starcraft champions. While Lecaf Oz, MBCGame Hero, CJ Entus, and Samsung KHAN surged behind Jaedong, Bisu, sAviOr, and Stork, in the second round of 2007's Proleague SK Telecom T1 sunk to the bottom of the rankings. T1 finished the season with eight wins and 14 losses, placing tenth out of twelve teams (above only a fledgling eSTRO squad and the perennial Proleague punching bag ROKAF ACE).
However, the beginning of 2008's Proleague season brings new hope for T1 players and fans alike. With a major off-season acquisition, a revitalized coaching staff, and some up-and-coming talent, SK Telecom T1 has the potential to reawaken the monster that snagged four consecutive Proleague championships just two years ago. Here is a breakdown of the roster T1 will ride to a respectable (improved) finish in the 2008 Shinhan Bank Proleague.
Bisu - 김택용 - Kim Taek Yong
T1's big offseason move was the acquisition of former MBCGame Hero stud Bisu,
The Revolutionist. Bisu's tenure at T1 is off to a rough start, as he is 1-2 overall and still winless in a 1v1 match - though, to his credit, his losses were to Flash [
VOD] and Kwanro [
Diggity VOD]. I am confident that Bisu will prove an invaluable addition to T1's lineup.
In R2 of last year's Proleague, playing for MBCGame Hero, Bisu went 3-3 (2-0 PvZ) in 1v1 matchups and 5-3 in 2v2 matchups with his Zerg partner Saint. While unimpressive on the whole, it's worth noting that inbetween these matches Bisu was busy placing second in the MSL (losing to Mind's beastly TvP in the final [
Diggity/Moletrap VODs]) and third in the OSL (over UpMagic after going out to Stork). It's no coincidence, then, that two of Bisu's three 1v1 losses came on the map
Un'Goro Crater, which was in neither the OSL nor the MSL map pool. Focusing on the big money tournaments, it's unlikely that Bisu was adequately prepared for his Proleague matches on Un'Goro Crater. In a sense, then, the emergence of PvT gods like Flash and Mind is good for T1: with earlier exits from the major individual tournaments, Bisu will focus more on the Proleague. Bisu has already stated his goal for 2008 is to travel to GwangAnRi Beach, where (no coincidence) the Proleague Finals will be held.
Let's not forget that Kim Taek Yong is one drop dead sexy man. He said it himself in a recent interview:
QUOTE
[Q] When do you think that you are looking good?
[김택용] Hmm... am I not always?
I'm limiting myself to one picture per player specifically so I don't turn this into a Taek Yong Photo Gallery. If Bisu isn't going home with
the booth girls, nobody is. And that would be a defeat for gamers everywhere.
BeSt - 도재욱 - Doh Jae Wook
Though he maintains a lower profile than many of his teammates, BeSt is the most consistent player on T1's roster and was the silver lining in the team's 2007 Proleague performance. The Protoss stud went 10-5 in round 2, making him T1's most active and most winning player. With a ridiculous 72% winrate against other Protoss and an even more ridiculous 9-1 record versus Protoss during round 2, you can consider BeSt an auto-win in mirror matches.
BeSt is also coming off of a wicked run through his OSL group, where he defeated both NaDa [
Deus VOD Diggity/Combat VOD] and Spear [
Diggity/Klaz VOD] to advance in the tournament. His DT drop put NaDa so far behind that BeSt was able to spend the next ten minutes taking massive casualties to spider mines and still come out with a comfortable win. He was just trying to make NaDa feel better, really.
BeSt's PvZ needs some work if he's going to make it far in the individual leagues, but his other matchups are so solid that I'm surprised he's only appeared in one of T1's matches this season (a loss against puny Zerg Shark [
LostWraith VOD]). Given that BeSt's achilles heel is Bisu's forte, these two Protosses complement each other nicely - they are also friends and roommates. I hope that BeSt's MSL and OSL progress doesn't interfere with his important role on T1 this season.
Midas - 전상욱 - Jun Sang Wook
Midas is a veteran Terran baller who is famous for both innovative strategies and a massive untapped potential to succeed in individual competition. Though the progaming world saw glimpses of dominance from Midas during early 2006, including series wins over Boxer and Stork, his title hopes regularly fizzled out. Midas's best individual finish to date is third in 2006's 2nd Shinhan OSL, and he did not qualify for the current MSL or OSL.
Midas is most famous for pioneering the "Midas Rush" or FD build, which allows a Terran to apply early pressure to Protoss fast expansion and tech builds while safely securing his own natural. eSTRO Terran IdrA describes FD as follows:
QUOTE
1 fac, get a tank when it finishes upgrade mines while getting 6 rines, several vults after tank. if he looks weak you can try to pressure otherwise secure your expo and switch to tanks (fd = fake double(double = double cc ))
Lately, Midas is all smiles. He's a regular in T1's lineup and is playing very solid Starcraft. He secured T1's first victory of the season by edging out CJ Entus's Iris (or should I say Beserker (sic)?) [
VOD].
Jun Sang Wook is one clutch mook. Look to seek him getting a 1v1 match nearly every week. With win rates hovering near 60 for all three matchups, Midas is well-rounded and reliable.
Canata - 고인규 - Ko In Kyu
Canata,
Boring Terran, is a fairly run-of-the mill Terran player with no deep individual league experience to speak of. Canata is worth mentioning here because, judging by his appearance in two of T1's matches this season, he is going to see quite a bit of action.
While Canata's TvZ leaves quite a bit to be desired (he missed qualifying for the current OSL with losses to sAviOr [
VOD] and Yarnc [
VOD]) his TvP is decent. Where Canata will shine for T1, however, is as a TvT sniper. He sports a very respectable 62% career winrate in mirror matches, and in his two Proleague appearances this year he has brought home the bacon against two fearsome Terrans: Flash [
PsyReaver VOD] and DarkElf [
PsyReaver VOD].
If Canata can steer clear of alien invaders in favor of good, old-fashioned, human-on-human warfare, he will be a solid contributor to T1 this year.
GoRush - 박태민 - Park Tae Min
GoRush is T1's captain and another relatively old-school member of the team. His claim to fame is a 2004 MSL title over NaDa (I refuse to write this MSL's full name because it is asinine). I'll never forget watching game six of this series - the stakes are high and the game is extremely unorthodox [
VOD].
GoRush went 3-4 in round two of last year's Proleague. While no slouch, especially versus Zerg, GoRush's glory days are over. He hasn't played in any of T1's three matches this year and I don't expect to see him make many appearances as the season progresses. As captain and MSL champion, however, GoRush is a good role model for T1's young Zerg Hyuk.
2v2 Players and Supporting Crew
Last season, Protoss Bul_T and Zerg Anomia split T1's 2v2 duties with Terran Shudder and Zerg LaKe[Name]. Neither duo could be relied on for a win. 2v2 teams are the equivalent of 3 and 4 doubles teams in tennis: they don't get much attention or the best players, but are crucial to team success. Being the third set of any Proleague match, the 2v2 either closes out a sweep, prevents one, or gives the team a pivotal psychological edge going into the fourth, and potentially final, game.
Good Proleague teams have good 2v2 teams, so a major question for T1 this season is whether any of its B-level players will form a dynamic duo. Thus far, T1 has fielded three different 2v2 teams and come away with a 2-1 record in the third set. I think Zerg duties should go to Rumble, who was on both winning teams and recently cracked the OSL (only to be absolutely brutalized by Flash on Troy [
Klaz VOD]). Bisu is simply too valuable a 1v1 player to devote to the 2v2 team, so Rumble will probably end up with Protoss MuJuK, who hasn't won a 1v1 since last October (and it was against Pusan, so it hardly counts). Ultimately, unless Rumble and MuJuK can find some sort of magic or the Zerg-Terran team of LaKe and In_Dove mature very fast, T1 will remain mediocre during the third set.
Examining the remainder of T1's roster, the standout is clearly the Zerg Hyuk, who is fresh out of the minor leagues but put up a great fight against TvZ monster Sea in his Proleague debut earlier this month [
VOD]. Look for exciting things from this young cat.
It's also worth noting here that T1 actually won the 2007 Minor League. If T1 can get one more solid player in their lineup, don't count them out of the playoffs. Can Shudder get his ass in gear? Will RainBOw exchange his cane for an optical mouse and a spot in T1's lineup? Or, can July settle his contract disputes with T1 with enough time to whip himself into fighting shape?
[Update: the answer to the last question is no.
July has been traded to STX Soul. T1 couldn't compete with Soul's steady hamburger supply, and I couldn't handle the concept of oov coaching July.]
Coaching
2008 ushers in a new era in T1 history primarily because of the changes to its coaching staff. After T1's disappointing performance in 2007, longtime head coach Joo Hoon left the team on January 28 of this year to become a commentator for OGN. Though Joo Hoon has valuable winning experience from T1's golden 2005 run, his departure is most likely good for everyone involved. Though he was coach, it can be said that during Joo Hoon's career he was never T1's leader: Boxer and iloveoov held that honor.
T1 is now younger, less experienced, and certainly less confident than ever before, and they need a fresh, involved coach to match their style. Unfortunately, due to Joo Hoon's unexpected exit, T1 is technically without any head coach at the moment. Park Yong Un has taken the job on an interim basis, while SK Telecom searches for someone to fill the position indefinitely.
I would say that being officially coachless is a serious obstacle to T1's success this year, but their exciting new assistant coaches more than make up for the suddenness of Joo Hoon's departure. Longtime T1 players iloveoov (pictured above) and Kingdom have signed on with T1 as assistant coaches, and I have no doubt that their experience and skill will help mold the team over the coming months. I love seeing Coach oov on the bench during T1's matches - you can see his competitiveness come out as he gestures at the monitors and comments on the game intensely.
The Future
SK Telecom T1 enters the 2008 Shinhan Bank Proleague season with no head coach, no dominant individual players on the scale of Boxer or iloveoov, and no established 2v2 team. What T1 has instead is a blend of young talent (BeSt, Hyuk, Rumble), proven winners (Bisu, GoRush, Midas), and questions (too many to put inside these parentheses).
I'm confident that under the leadership of oov and Kingdom T1 can find enough answers, and with them the potential to qualify for the playoffs this season. 2008's Proleague will be a long one - I only hope it's long enough for T1 to wake from the nightmare that was 2007 and emerge a Starcraft giant once again.
This post has been edited by JWD: Apr 25 2008, 07:54 AM
Sleeping Giant (Season Preview), A look at SK Telecom T1's roster for the 2008 Proleague season
Apr 24 2008, 07:08 AM
