[deL]

SEAL Tier 4 Season Review

Awards
Award	Winner	Reason
Player	TADivinity	MVP with a 14-0 win record
Captain	AsGZealo	Great organisation and attitude
Manner	Bwodie	Excellent sportmanship
Team	Clan TA	A dominant 68 map wins
Rookies	KFC	2nd place and didn't play PDCL
Reliabile	Clan ToT	Took 3rd place and used only 1 WC
Momentum	Clan AsG	Late surge in the season
Spirit	Clan VB	Few walkovers despite low placing

First and foremost, everyone involved in the SEAL Tier 4 league should give themselves a pat on the back in congratulations for a fun and successful event. The tier proved to be one of the most organised and reliable right from the start as walkovers were kept to a minimum despite doubling the clan count of some other divisions. Even when the intensity stepped up with double matches on thursday nights the attendance was very encouraging and some teams and players started to stand out from the pack. In particular mention must go to the winning team TA and very close runners up KFC. All of the teams making the playoffs have also proven themselves in a tough arena that included two Grandmaster players and a multitide of both fresh and recently promoted Masters talent. The captains really lead the way and in most cases set the standard high for the other players in their team, leading by example. MiLes, Alopex, BASA, ChinkZ and others not only managed their teams but lead them from the front, participating in almost every round for their respective teams. In the end, though, the two-point ace match proved too decisive in gaining ladder points as teams with reliable aces rose to the top, culminating in a comprehensive victory by TA spearheaded by Divinity and KFC with Bukket and Nightmare. Of course depth played a bit part as well, as can be seen from teams like NaZ, who had a great ace player in Crispy and VB who had Rhuubarb but still couldn't break the top half of the ladder.

Nightmare fights the good fight but comes off second best in this clash of the titans.

Anyway you don't need me to tell you how well the season went, so let's hear from the winning team captain, TAMiLes!

+ [TAMiLes] +

deL) MiLes, you captained the winning team for the first season of SC2SEA's Clan League Tier 4. How much strategic input did you put in to the lineups and team? Was there dedicated practice and build order selection or did you just pick the strongest players week by week?

MiLes) Strategic input that was put into the overall roster were done mainly by deL with support from LoSt, we saw that there were a few masters players rostered in other teams so we negotiated Divinity to be dropped from Tier 2 because it was relatively full and he would not get so many games in that tier.

The Lineups was a combined effort of all our players involved, at first I made a list of what maps players preffered to play on so I had a rough idea of what maps I could field players on but as the season progressed I would just ask the players outright when the maps for the week were out, after running it by big deL and the players ensuring they could play for the week I would lock the lineup in.

As for practice and build order selection I tried to encourage players to play against each other or I would bug higher level TA players for practice games with the team such as Coach Corey (Avanar aka best protoss in SEA), dippa, pinder, Sivvon, Solid, Fourby, Champi, EdgE, Krunch, Light, Infeza and the list just goes on (sorry if I missed anyone I you all) because it was truly a team effort as a whole and I believe that the practice has helped strengthen our lineup over the season.

deL) How much confidence do you take from your dominant win rate going in to the playoffs? Especially seeing the second place team will not be competing.

MiLes) I feel pretty good about our chance of going well in playoffs, it is sad to see that KFC disbanded before playoffs because we saw them as the biggest threat in the overall league.

I’d say we have the extra bit of confidence knowing that we have beaten the other teams over the season, but we cannot disregard the other teams because quite a few of our matches were very close so we will continue to stick to our practice routine!

deL) It seems teams from the PDCL season like AsG and FaDe did well again in this season. TA was a notable omission from the playoffs in PDCL so how did they turn it around to dominate in SEAL4?

MiLes) I felt that we were much more involved as a team and clan this season, The contribution of higher level players that helped with match ups and builds definately motivated me to get much more involved and I think the other players would say so too.

Another factor that I think may of contributed to TA doing better in SEAL T4 as opposed to PDCL would be the format, allowing multiple players to play at once knowing their matchups (so they can prepare in advance) instead of going in somewhat blind on the spot to play in a All-kill format (I do love the concept of watching your teammates play against other players and plotting who to send out to snipe a certain race/player though).

There was also a lack of abscences for our players, they turned up every week to their scheduled times so that there was no walkovers against our team. As Slowhands once said about one of our players not being on SEA a few minutes before their match because they were practicing on NA before at match “he would rather stick a pen up his uretha than let us down”.

deL) What were your thoughts about the league? Likes and dislikes? Any favourite moments or memorable games you care to share?

MiLes) Tier 4 was very well run by deL and Lemminks, I really appreciate the efforts that they put in to process lineups and maintain the league. Talking to the other team captains was a delight as well when discussing reschedules or any concerns, everyone was understanding and it was easy to communicate to them.

Favourite moments would be watching matches of TADivinity vs DrSayus and Nightmare that were really close and great to watch, hearing that our undefeated MVP TAFadey coming out of SWTOR with the big 1-0 took down a masters random player without dropping a game, TABlitz 4gating his way to victory over a player he thought he had no chance against, TASlowhand’s close game on metalopolis against AsGArmi where he started off 1 down and TADanny winning a TvP which is an achievement in itself.

Final Standings

Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	Record	WCs	Subs	Penalty	Points
1. TA	15	14	1	0	68/17 (+53)	4	3	0	43
2. KFC	15	13	0	2	63/23 (+40)	3	4	0	39
3. ToT	15	11	2	2	51/27 (+34)	7	1	0	35
4. AsG	15	10	1	4	56/32 (+24)	5	3	0	31
5. ZeroCraft	15	9	1	5	51/30 (+22)	5	1	2	28
6. FaDe 1	15	8	2	5	52/33 (+19)	1	1	2	26
7. ipr	15	8	1	6	43/41 (+2)	4	1	0	25
8. eXofG	15	7	3	5	45/40 (+5)	6	3	0	24
9. HDMD-KT	15	5	2	8	29/54 (-25)	6	0	4	16*
10. TCP	15	4	2	9	35/54 (-18)	5	3	1	14
11. SCT	15	4	2	9	32/53 (-21)	1	0	0	14
12. ToR	15	3	2	10	29/52 (-24)	6	1	1	11
13. FaDe 2	15	4	1	10	26/61 (-35)	4	1	3	13
14. VB	15	3	1	11	30/58 (-28)	4	3	1	10
15. NaZGaming	15	2	4	9	28/57 (-29)	7	3	1	10
16. iRL	15	4	1	10	27/61 (-34)	3	1	6	10*

Playoff Participants

Qualifiers
Seed	Team	Score
#1	Terror Australis	14-1-0
#2	Trick or Treat	11-2-2
#3	Ascension	10-1-4
#4	ZeroCraft	9-1-5
#5	FaDe 1	8-2-5
#6	Imperium	8-1-6

First of all you will notice that runners-up KFC will not be participating in the finals, as the clan disbanded directly after the season was over. It is unfortunate, but it gives a chance to the 7th placed team to make their presence felt in the elimination rounds! Despite this there is some good news too! Thanks to SC2SEA and nirvAnA we have a prize for the winning team in the playoffs. It should also come as no surprise that we see the two finalists of last PDCL gracing the playoff list in AsG (PDCL 1st) and FaDe (PDCL 2nd). Ladder results mean nothing now as it all comes down to the last few games of the season!

Prize: 20 KR Trial Keys

This means the winners will improve even faster as they get valuable practice on the Korea server! The top 6 teams from the ladder rounds (excluding KFC) will participate in the playoffs. While the main prize as offered by sc2sea and nirvAnA will still go to the top ladder placer, the above prize of 20 Korean server trial keys, as well as bragging rights for the true claim to the tier 4 title, will be awarded to the winner of the playoffs. The playoffs will span 2 weeks to keep it brief, and the finals will require the teams to play Sunday night.

A top six playoff system will be used, wherein the top two ranked teams from the round robin league will get a week's break while 3rd to 6th play off in preliminary semi-finals. The highest advancing seed from this round will play the 2nd seed from the round robin the following week in the semi-finals. The two victorious teams will then play in the Grand Finals on the following Sunday. Both the preliminary semis and semi finals will be played on the regular Thursday timeslots. The format for matches will be similar to the regular season, except that ace matches are no longer 2 points. This is to avoid the possibility of a draw delaying the brackets. The same process for lineup submission and maps will be utilised.

Schedule

Preliminary Semi Finals - Thursday 22nd March 9PM AEDT

Prelim 1: Ascension (#3) vs Imperium (#6)
Prelim 2: ZeroCraft (#4) vs FaDe 1 (#5)

Semi Finals - Thursday 29th March 9PM AEDT

Semi 1: Terror Australis (#1) vs Lowest Seeded Prelim Winner
Semi 2: Trick or Treat (#2) vs Highest Seeded Prelim Winner

Grand Final - Sunday 1st April 6PM AEDT

Semi Winner 1 vs Semi Winner 2

Top 10 Records
Rank	Player	Score	Maps
#1	TADivinity	14-0	28-5
#2	HoneyBadger	10-2	22-9
#3	FaDeRawfish	10-2	20-9
#4	TASlowHands	10-3	23-7
#5	AlopexToT	10-3	20-10
#6	JayAiWhy	9-0	18-0
#7	KFCBukket	9-1	19-4
#8	eXoCeephyr	9-2	19-8
#9	TCPDurrrr	9-2	19-10
#10	NaZCrispy	9-5	18-13

Top 10 Aces
Rank	Player	Score	Maps
#1	TADivinity	14-0	18-11
#2	NaZCrispy	9-4	13-6
#3	eXoCeephyr	6-1	11-6
#4	Nightmare	5-3	8-5
#5	nGenFlar	4-0	8-1
#6	AlopexToT	4-2	8-5
#7	AsGThor	3-0	6-0
#8	KFCBukket	3-0	6-1
#9	FaDeKratoS	3-1	7-3
#10	FaDeRawfish	3-1	7-3

Top 3 Zerg
Rank	Player	Score	Maps
#1	TADivinity	14-0	28-5
#2	HoneyBadger	10-2	22-9
#3	FaDeRawfish	10-2	20-9

Top 3 Terran
Rank	Player	Score	Maps
#1	KFCBukket	9-1	19-4
#2	eXoCeephyr	9-2	19-8
#3	Insurgence	8-3	17-7

Top 3 Protoss
Rank	Player	Score	Maps
#1	TCPDurrrr	9-2	19-10
#2	NaZCrispy	9-5	18-13
#3	seminaked	7-0	14-2

Fewest Walkovers
Rank	Team	Walkovers
#1	TA	0
#2	KFC	1
#3	ToT	1
#4	ipr	1
#5	AsG	2
#6	VB	5
#7	SCT	5
#8	ZC	6
#9	eXofG	8
#10	NaZ	11

Most weeks at #1
Rank	Team	Weeks
#1	TA	4
#2	KFC	3
#3	ToT	1

Consecutive weeks at #1
Rank	Team	Weeks
#1	KFC	3
#2	TA	2
#3	ToT	1

Race Winrates (Score)
Race	vs Zerg	vs Terran	vs Protoss	vs Random
Zerg	X	92-98	122-105	5-8
Terran	98-92	X	90-102	16-10
Protoss	105-122	102-90	X	8-9
Random	8-5	10-16	9-8	X

Race Winrates (%)
Race	vs Zerg	vs Terran	vs Protoss	vs Random
Zerg	X	48.4%	53.8%	38.5%
Terran	51.6%	X	46.9%	61.5%
Protoss	46.2%	53.1%	X	47.1%
Random	61.5%	38.5%	52.9%	X

Sub/WC Distribution

Here are my top 5 moments from the season!

1. Two players' promotion to GM

Nothing shows the level of competition and skill in the league than the "drama" surrounding the inclusion of Grandmaster level players in tier 4. While it was not without it's controversy, both of the players who achieved GM were legitimate recruits or subs in the team inducted at the Masters level. Never seeming indestructible the players even dropped games here or there and it was only because of their hard work and practice that they made GM this season. For other players in the league testing themselves and finding themselves competitive against future Grandmaster players should be a great boost to their confidence as we go in to SEASL and the second season of the team league!

2. Mid-season format switch

As an admin it was a concern for myself and Lemminks when we had to change the format mid way through the season to incorporate two matches each week. Even after polls and discussion it was not clear what the best option would be, but by the success of the league relative to others we got through a lot of games in a short period of time and I would consider it a success. Team captains were on their game and didn't miss a beat in adapting to the double rounds ad there were very few complaints so for that we thank you!

3. TADivinity almost losing in week 1 to xFgBASA

The end of season MVP TADivinity was not always the powerhouse he seems to be today. His presence in the Tier 4 team was due to his own lack of confidence in his form (which he apparently got back) and he nominated himself to participate in the league. In week 1, however, he had a major scare against a much lower ranked Protoss opponent xFgBASA. Divinity was hung over but had to play the game, with no option to reschedule, and narrowly won the first match. He lost the second game to a strong push from the struggling BASA as Divinity looked lost. In the final game of the series a late but effective DT strike by BASA all but sealed the deal doing a mountain of damage. Unfortunately, BASA withdrew the DTs whether by accident or design and threw away his chance to close the game off, whereupon a macro game ensued and Divinity came on top by a narrow margin against his less experienced opponent. Imagine how the league could have gone had Divinity lost this opening match and TA lost confidence in his position in the ace match!

4. FaDeSorathez reviving FaDe 2

Special thanks have to go to FaDe's Sorathez, a humble protoss member of FaDe's second team in the contest. After weeks of struggling to meet player number requirements and lineup submission the old captain of FaDe 2, Audacity, had announced that his team was in danger of pulling out of the league. One week when they had not submitted a lineup only FaDeSorathez was available and put his hand up to play his game despite having no teammates. From there he rallied the troops and in tandem with the admins completely reformed the team around a new group of active players, despite being in the lower end of the league spectrum. FaDe 2 avoided walkovers and started consistently hitting deadlines, narrowly avoiding the wooden spoon!

5. TA vs KFC rivalry at top of table

From very early on in the season the rivalry between the two ladder toppers TA and KFC was apparent. Constantly leapfrogging each other in the 1st and 2nd ladder positions as every new result came in, this battle lasted through the entire season and it was no surprise that these two were battling for the title. It was the classic match of "old" vs "new" as the established and well known clan TA did battle with the newcomers and under-the-radar team KFC, who had only competed as individuals in a sc2sea event before this league. Despite the match between these titans being anti-climatic we did have a thrilling ride throughout the season as no matter who the teams were playing against it felt like they were going head-to-head with each other.

Abundant and sincere thanks to all participants, captains, casters and admins of this event! I hope you all had as much fun playing in it as Lemminks and myself had both playing and organising it. It has honestly been a pleasure to run this league and I think we pulled through considering our numbers and hectic schedule! It was great meeting new players and following the week by week results, congratulations to the teams going to the playoffs and good luck in the future to all teams involved!

Brackets - Official Thread - Preview Thread - Midway Thread

Round Thread Archive
Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4 - Week 5 - Week 6 - Week 7 - Week 8 - Week 9

Quick Comments

	Maynarde:	AMAZING
	TAminimat:
	AxSGRiM:	Best Write up ever.... jesus deL
	Bukket:
	TAEdgE:
	TAriiChard:	grats everyone! ^^ and holy shit amazing writeup
	simon:	great write up
	VB_WhiplashJC:
	[TA]LoSt:
	TCPLemminks:
	TAScarecrow:	tier 1 level write up
	Stallion:	amazing review again <3
	Zealo:	♥
	Blitz:	incredible write up mate! GFJ <3
	nirvAnA:	Amazingly written + BEAUTIFUL to look at!!
	FaDeKerrigan:
	VB_Blake:
	inFeZa:	love the gif
	FSBenAD:	awesome writeup! :D
	NDG.Stitch:	dat presentation.
	ZCPooSmear:	Sick ass write up dude! Solid effort
	zenabi:	SICK!!
	TAEdarus:
	Trinion:	Congrats to all clans involved and especially to TA for winning the whole thing. KFC will be back >=)
	TADivinity:	that ******* gif lol. God damnit
	ToRCrispy:	that is a beautiful, beautiful thing :)
	Frogmite:	give this man a medal
	AxS.Sorathez:
	AlopexToT:	GAWDDAMN SON

[deL]

Oh also give thanks and rep to Lemminks who helped out a lot all season even when he lost his internet! And he helped collect stats!

[TAEdgE]

Morpheus enjoyed this!

[AxSGRiM]

I'm curious... who are the two gm promotions?

[syfMiley]

Originally Posted by EdgE

Morpheus enjoyed this!

Oh I bet you did!

[deL]

Originally Posted by nRvGRiM

I'm curious... who are the two gm promotions?

Two Terrans nGenFlar (ZC) and Nightmare (ToT)

[TCPLemminks]

You know the table position against map win/loss ratio is pretty interesting too.

Sides you did most of the admin work + ideas^^

Quick Comments

deL:

[TAScarecrow]

Sick job by the TA boys, so proud

[jayaiwhy]

damn, I missed out on top 3 Zerg

Really great league by the way, looking forward to the next one ^^

[Zealo]

Originally Posted by jayaiwhy

damn, I missed out on top 3 Zerg

i guess you just didn't play well enough

train harder! :P

[TCPLemminks]

Originally Posted by Zealo

i guess you just didn't play well enough

train harder! :P

He just didn't play enough^^.
100% win ratio is really insane though, but deL ordered it by no of wins.

[VB_Blake]

Great write up! Good job to all playoff clans and recipients of awards

[NDG.Stitch]

professional presentation. deL you are amazing.

Quick Comments

deL:

I imagined it in the voice of Stitch! xD

[KAshadowz]

nice writeup

should have a section on me though :P

[zenabi]

May i ask which teams are now in the up/down playoffs for Tier4/5?

[TCPLemminks]

we don't have up/downs for T4 and T5, what's going to happen next season is that we will scramble T3, T4, T5. meaning you will be placed according to your roster, similar to what happened at the beginning of the season.

[Zealo]

why did you not list the top 3 randoms del? pretty sure that's racism

also, need the maps for the finals

[Frogmite]

That is an awesome write-up.

Quick Comments

deL:

I did it for you froggy <3

[OsborneErna]

To my mind the SEAL Tier 4 is as interesting as W.Craft but unfortunately I think the graphics is not really good as it could be really better.

Quick Comments

	TAEdgE:	lol
	TADivinity:	Brilliant input
	TASlowHands:	bitch ilulie goku

[deL]

Originally Posted by Zealo

why did you not list the top 3 randoms del? pretty sure that's racism

also, need the maps for the finals

Haha considered it but then there'd be like 1 random player who isn't in the list and that would be sad for him.

Maps for the finals along with the lineups will be sorted out at the time of the game with whoever is available. This is because there won't be any wildcard or sub junk for the finals!

Originally Posted by OsborneErna

To my mind the SEAL Tier 4 is as interesting as W.Craft but unfortunately I think the graphics is not really good as it could be really better.

What is this I don't even... lol a league's graphics are not as good as a game?