ASL Season 21, the official league of StarCraft: Brood War (Star 1), enters the round of 24 starting on the 23rd.
ASL is Korea’s representative StarCraft e-sports league that has been running for 11 years since its launch in 2016. Based on the participation of legendary players and consistent famous matches, it has established itself as Soop’s representative original content. This season, Google Play is also expected to participate as an official sponsor, further heightening the excitement of the competition.
Various competition structures were formed through the round of 24 group formation. First, Jo Ki-seok (T), Yoo Seung-gon (T), Jeong Yun-jong (P), and Yoon Chan-hee (T) will participate in the Group A match held at 7 p.m. on the 23rd, and attention is focused on what kind of performance Jeong Yun-jong, who returned to the ASL stage after a long time, will show among Terran players.
In Group B on the 24th, Kim Min-cheol (Z), Kim Tae-young (T), Jeong Young-jae (T), and Choi Ho-seon (T) will face off. The main point to watch is what strategy the three Terrans will use against ‘Iron Wall’ Kim Min-cheol. Group C on the 25th will feature Jo Il-jang (Z), Yoon Soo-cheol (P), Lim Hong-gyu (Z), and Lee Young-han (Z). The survival of the one and only Protoss Yoon Soo-cheol is of interest.
In Group D, which will be held on the 30th, Lee Jae-ho (T), Kim Yun-hwan (Z), Kim Ji-seong (T), and Park Seong-gyun (T) will face each other, and a battle is expected between Kim Yun-hwan and three Terrans with championship candidate-level skills. Group E on the 31st is a four-person Terran matchup group consisting of Yoo Young-jin (T), Lim Jin-mook (T), Lee Young-ho (T), and Lee Young-woong (T). The main point to watch is the performance of the returning ‘ultimate weapon’ Lee Young-ho. In Group F on April 1, Do Jae-wook (P), Shin Sang-moon (T), Kim Myeong-woon (Z), and Jae-dong (Z) played, and it is considered a ‘group of death’ with strong players from each of the three races.
In this season’s round of 16, seeds Park Sang-hyun, Jang Yun-cheol, Kim Taek-yong, and Hwang Byeong-young join the 12 players who passed the round of 24. The round of 16 naming ceremony will be held on April 6, followed by the full-scale finals schedule. The round of 24 will be held in a dual tournament format with 4 players per group. Games 1 and 2 will be held on a single map called ‘Octagon’. The winner and loser matches will be held on the remaining maps after both players ban one map each from ‘Attitude’, ‘Match Point’, and ‘Jane Doe’, and the final match will be played on the remaining maps after banning the same maps among ‘Knockout’, ‘Neosylphid’, and ‘Polestar’. The final round of 16 will be a mixed tournament with singles and best-of-three matches, the quarterfinals will be a best-of-five format, and from the semifinals onwards, it will be a best-of-seven format.
This season will be held offline at ‘Freak Up Studio’ in Daechi-dong, Seoul, and tickets for on-site viewing can be purchased through the ticket link every Thursday from 5 PM.
A match prediction event will also be held for users watching the game. More details about the event can be found at the SOOP ASL official broadcasting station (https://www.sooplive.co.kr/station/afstar1). The live broadcast and VOD of this competition can be viewed through the SOOP eSports page (https://esports.sooplive.co.kr/).
Reporter Kim Yong-woo (kenzi@dailyesports.com)