{"id":1798483,"date":"2023-01-07T18:27:29","date_gmt":"2023-01-07T23:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/plato-data\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing\/"},"modified":"2023-01-07T18:27:29","modified_gmt":"2023-01-07T23:27:29","slug":"esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing","status":"publish","type":"station","link":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/plato-data\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"ESL Open Cups #155 &amp; #156 &#8211; Balance testing"},"content":{"rendered":"<section>\n<p>Week #155 began another &#8216;off-season&#8217; for the ESL Opens, where cups cease to award EPT points due to the finalization of the EPT standings. ESL has decided to use this off-season to test out the upcoming balance patch, holding all of the games with the balance mod. <\/p>\n<p>Playing on the balance mod didn&#8217;t change the results all too much in Week #155, as the familiar trio of <b><a title=\"View Dark on Liquipedia\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/Dark\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"(Wiki)\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing.png\">Dark<\/a><\/b> (KR), <b><a title=\"View MaxPax on Liquipedia\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/MaxPax\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"(Wiki)\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing.png\">MaxPax<\/a><\/b> (EU), and <b><a title=\"View ByuN on Liquipedia\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/ByuN\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"(Wiki)\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing.png\">ByuN<\/a><\/b> (NA) won the three server cups.<\/p>\n<p>However, Week #156 delivered a few surprises. While the first two cups were won by regional stalwarts in <b><a title=\"View herO on Liquipedia\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/herO(jOin)\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"(Wiki)\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing.png\">herO<\/a><\/b> (KR) and <b><a title=\"View HeroMarine on Liquipedia\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/HeroMarine\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"(Wiki)\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing.png\">HeroMarine<\/a><\/b> (EU), the NA server cup was won by <b><a title=\"View Creator on Liquipedia\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/Creator\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"(Wiki)\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing.png\">Creator<\/a><\/b> who broke a months-long cup drought (last winning KR Cup #113 in March of 2022). Another surprise was his finals opponent: an invading HeroMarine who made a rare venture outside his home server.<\/p>\n<p>The EU server cup also had an unexpected runner-up, as <b><a title=\"View uThermal on Liquipedia\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/uThermal\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"(Wiki)\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing.png\">uThermal<\/a><\/b> fought his way to the finals with victories over SKillous, Spirit, and even Clem. While he lost 0-3 to HeroMarine in the finals, it was a fantastic run for a player who has shifted some of his focus from competition to content creation.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><span><span><b>Week #155 results<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><u><span><b><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/ESL_Open_Cup_KR\/155\">Korean Cup<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/u><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing-1.png\" alt=\"&#091;image loading&#093;\" title><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<p><u><span><b><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/ESL_Open_Cup_EU\/155\">European Cup (partial bracket shown)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing-2.png\" alt=\"&#091;image loading&#093;\" title><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/b><\/span><\/u> <\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<p><u><span><b><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/ESL_Open_Cup_AM\/155\">American Cup (partial bracket shown)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing-3.png\" alt=\"&#091;image loading&#093;\" title><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/b><\/span><\/u><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><span><span><b>Week #156 results<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><u><span><b><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/ESL_Open_Cup_KR\/156\">Korean Cup<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/u><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing-4.png\" alt=\"&#091;image loading&#093;\" title><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<p><u><span><b><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/ESL_Open_Cup_EU\/156\">European Cup (partial bracket shown)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing-5.png\" alt=\"&#091;image loading&#093;\" title><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/b><\/span><\/u> <\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<p><u><span><b><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/liquipedia.net\/starcraft2\/ESL_Open_Cup_AM\/156\">American Cup (partial bracket shown)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/esl-open-cups-155-156-balance-testing-6.png\" alt=\"&#091;image loading&#093;\" title><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/b><\/span><\/u><\/section>\n<ul class=\"plato-post-bottom-links\">\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-amplifi\">SEO Powered Content &amp; PR Distribution. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amplifipr.com\">Get Amplified Today.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-platoblockchain\">Platoblockchain. Web3 Metaverse Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoblockchain.com\">Access Here.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-source\"><span>Source:<\/span> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/tl.net\/forum\/starcraft-2\/605371-esl-open-cups-155-and-156-balance-testing\">https:\/\/tl.net\/forum\/starcraft-2\/605371-esl-open-cups-155-and-156-balance-testing<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1798484,"template":"Default","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","type":"","auto_type":false,"post":"","stream":"","stream_url":"","waveform_data":[],"duration":0,"bpm":0,"downloadable":false,"download_url":"","purchase_title":"","purchase_url":"","post-count-all":0,"like_count":0,"download_count":0,"editor_note":"","copyright":"","captions":[]},"genre":[78],"artist":[18702],"mood":[],"activity":[],"station_tag":[12278,3620,12802,27577,38181,3766,5928,3741,5894,13926,37812,37996,7943,36094,14847,7760,37915,3638,5405,5218,177,38048,37957,3747,3643,3715,3646,5613,35353,37961,5622,28787,24220,5226,6477,6043,13258,18719,18714,18729,3885,32405,18664,13425,5439,3674,10215,5962,38263,5748,5889,3690,3850,38176,5763,5640,3852,3700,18708],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/station\/1798483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/station"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/station"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1798484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1798483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/genre?post=1798483"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=1798483"},{"taxonomy":"mood","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mood?post=1798483"},{"taxonomy":"activity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity?post=1798483"},{"taxonomy":"station_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/station_tag?post=1798483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}