ISL Round of 16 Preview

ALL Elo and Overall data taken immediately after the Group Stage ceremony - this may be inaccurate at time of publication or reading. I REALLY HOPE THIS FORMATS PROPERLY Match 1 Elo Matchup Form #1 Solid.Maniac - 2192 7-5 ✅❌✅✅✅❌❌✅✅✅ #18 Checker - 2051 10-5 ✅❌✅✅✅❌✅✅❌❌ Solid.Maniac is an overwhelming favourite in our first knockout match, although they have shown weaknesses in the vT matchup previously. Opportunities do exist for Checker who is an expert in attack and might be able to exploit his opponent’s defensive frailties, especially if the maps in this Bo3 are kind. Match 2 Elo Matchup Form #32 《AST》 Sylvanas - 2076 4-3 ✅✅✅✅❌❌❌✅❌✅ #6 Dribb10r - 2106 5-5 ✅✅✅✅❌❌❌❌✅✅ Dribb10r is a much better player overall, and is very well rounded, but we have all seen how Zergs have been dispatching Protosses this season. Despite being the lowest seed 《AST》 Sylvanas managed to top their group in convincing fashion ,but they will need to be cooking up some aggression to win this matchup. Fortunately, aggression does often work. Match 3 Elo Matchup Form #13 🦆 Lady Esquire - 2091 8-3 ❌❌✅✅✅❌✅✅✅✅ #22 k3nya [United] - 2053 9-4 ✅❌✅❌✅❌❌❌✅✅ Two players in arguably their strongest matchup each. k3nya [United] has been in shaky form recently so will be looking to steady the ship and 🦆 Lady Esquire will be hoping their excellent scouting will help them pick the best follow ups, otherwise they aren’t favoured in the longer games. Overall, neither player is excellent at aggressive gameplay so whoever picks the best builds and strategies is likely at an advantage. My money’s narrowly on 🦆 Lady Esquire Match 4 Elo Matchup Form #4 🐍 Leonhardt 2204 10-2 ✅✅✅✅✅✅❌✅❌✅ #26 LBF Sigmamaxxing 2132 7-3 ✅✅✅❌✅✅✅❌✅✅ A titanic matchup of players in the top 10 right now. Both players in excellent form BUT LBF Sigmamaxxing hasn’t played this matchup since the 9th of September. As a result I think 🐍 Leonhardt will take this on recent TvP form. I hope so too, Leo needs to help bulwark against the Zerg threat. Match 5 Elo Matchup Form #3 )BuSa. Nitro 2168 6-5 ❌✅✅✅❌❌✅❌✅✅ #20 Brogan [Enrgy⚡] 2086 7-5 ✅❌❌❌✅✅❌✅✅✅ )BuSa. Nitro comes in off the back of some excellent performances but has never really put it all together against Terran opposition. They have smashed Zergs, bullied Protosses, but look vulnerable against well microed bio. Despite this, they should have enough in the tank to get over the line against Brogan [Enrgy⚡] and be eyeing up a possible semifinal berth after seeing the players in match 6. Match 6 Elo Matchup Form #30 Segovia 2133 8-5 ❌✅❌✅✅✅❌✅✅ #12 Gunky 2095 5-3 ❌❌❌✅❌✅✅❌✅❌ OK. This is a matchup of two players who have overperformed to make it here and one of them WILL be getting seeded into the season 2 group stage. Mad. Gunky taking a win off Leonhardt was impressive, even if it was defending a surprise all in but Segovia dominated his group so has momentum on his side. I guess he’ll win then. Match 7 Elo Matchup Form #31 Garfield 2082 8-6 ❌✅❌❌❌❌✅✅✅✅ #17 Firestorm x5 2103 5-1 ✅❌✅✅✅✅❌❌✅❌ Another example of a more rounded Protoss against a Zerg. Of course the Zerg seems to have a much better time in the matchup, so I expect that Firestorm x5 will win this one, but it will be close - I expect a 2-1 win with lots of twists and turns. Match 8 Elo Matchup Form #2 Solid.Julundur 2202 13-2 ✅❌✅✅❌✅✅✅✅✅ #25 🦆 Moominzerg 2081 8-6 ✅✅✅✅❌✅✅✅❌✅ What a mismatch. Solid.Julundur was many people’s pre-tournament favourite and well, they look to have a very favourable matchup here. OK - he’s shown weakness in Winner’s League but he hasn’t shown any weakness in the ISL yet, winning the group with a perfect 6-0. Sorry 🦆 Moominzerg , you had a tough zerg from Solid Devs in Maniac in the group, and it’s straight into the arguably scarier big brother. 2-0 Julundur. Overall we saw a very entertaining group stage - we got to see [FAT🫃] mayOnnAisE ’s gambit of calling in his teammate end up with both of them eliminated (I wouldn’t want to be in that teamhouse!) and we saw 5 of the top10 seeds knocked out. As we enter the final 16 the stakes have never been higher. Win and not only do you stay alive in this edition but you avoid the qualifiers next time. Do not look away - this should be exciting. Zerg - 7 Terran - 5 Protoss - 4