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1. Strategy/Build 2. Mind control/Concentration/Reaction 3. Micro and macro 4. Discipline/Practice/Stamina These "winning factors" - no progamer can ever be great at all of them, never. Never. I can say that from my 10 years of experience commentating countless games. I can say that with absolute confidence. Without hesitation, I can say that...and fool you... ...if you never watch Savior's games... -commentator Sungwon Yi Once among the most loved of all champions, Savior now is loathed as a true villain. The tainting of his formerly great legacy happened almost overnight. Gone is the once overwhelming desire to see his return, being replaced by scorn and mocking. But the match fixing cannot override or disqualify the beauty and quality of Savior's play. Whatever actions he may have taken outside the game do not change what he did within it, for it. Savior is probably the most studied player in history, yet to this day much of what he developed is still unknown. To demonstrate why his innovations made such a large impact, it is first necessary to understand the unmatched obstacles that Savior surpassed. The first obstacle is ZvT itself. Say and theorize what you want, but TvZ is statistically the most imbalanced matchup at both the average pro level and the very top. A cursory glance at the TLPD will show that on almost every map Terrans are either even, have won more, or often enough, a lot more than their Zerg opponents. It's not the maps themselves that are the cause; they just reflect the overall trend. In Starleague finals Terrans have emerged victorious 14 times to 7 against Zergs. The difference is most striking in comparing the very best themselves. First examine Boxer, Nada, iloveoov, and Flash for TvZ. Sit down, gaze in awe, and bask in their greatness. Not only are their records incredible or even unbelievable, the quality of their opponents and the lengths of their domination are also peerless. Now take a look at their counterparts: Yellow, July, Gorush, and Jaedong. Barely even comparable. The best of the Zergs is not at the level of the worst of the Terrans with respect to TvZ. Only Gorush is remotely near the Terran four in his success against the highest quality of opposition, but his was also by far the shortest duration of dominance at 5 months. If you drop down to merely excellent players at the matchup, it would take a full paragraph to list the two dozen or so TvZ all-stars while you can count on at most two hands the number of Zerg players who have been truly good at ZvT. That is the reality of ZvT history. Savior is the lone exception to the fate of his brethren, the only one to ever flip ZvT upside down. It is his ZvP that is most talked about because it was statistically better, but his ZvT is by far his defining attribute. Not only was he the only Zerg to truly succeed against Terran, he flat out dominated in by far the hardest conditions any player has ever faced. His play was so astonishing and of bottomless depth that it is with complete confidence that I can make the following claim: The peak level of ZvT was reached by Savior in February and March 2007. It is not to Jaedong, Effort, or Yellow[arnc] that we should be looking, but Ma Bonjwa himself. Savior's play was so beyond his time that for years everyone studied his games yet never saw the half of them. The Savior Difference Savior's dominant ZvT: 42-17 (71%) (April 2005 to March 2007) Series play: 12-0 2-0 iloveoov (19-2 (91%) vs other Zergs!) 3-0 iloveoov 2-0 Yooi (3-4 (42%) vs other Zergs) 3-2 Midas (19-7 (73%) vs other Zergs) 3-0 Boxer (19-4 (83%) vs other Zergs) 3-1 Nada (13-4 (77%) vs other Zergs) 2-1 Justin (5-3 (63%) vs other Zergs) 2-1 Midas 3-2 Hwasin (25-12 (68%) vs other Zergs) 3-2 Iris (9-10 (47%) vs other Zergs) 3-1 Nada 3-1 Casy (23-11 (68%) vs other Zergs) No, you did not read that wrong. Read it again and let it sink in. Twelve and Zero in ZvT series. Against iloveoov, Midas, Boxer, Nada, Hwasin, Iris, and Casy. Who comes close in series dominance? Boxer? Jaedong? Bisu? Flash? Nope, none are remotely comparable except Flash's TvT against pathetic opposition (11-2). Only the two greatest players ever, iloveoov and Nada, can come near Savior with 11-0 series win period in TvT (oov) and TvZ (Nada) against rather strong opponents. But Savior's series dominance is not just measured by how many times he won, but just who he beat and under what circumstances. Savior is the most dominating series player in the history of SC and his ZvT shows that better than anything else. The only players on that list above who didn't fit in tip-top S-class TvZ levels were Yooi and Justin. Everyone else, including the statistically out-of-place Iris, made the 6 dragons look like pushovers. If you had to gather the best lineup of players at one matchup of any period, nobody else would come close to these 7. Savior's performance is even more out of place next to the fact that only 4 out of the other top 10 Zergs held a >50% ZvT win rate from January 2006 to March 2007! And only one out of those 4 (Yellow[Arnc]) was actually winning games against Starleague caliber opponents. As a Terran player won every single league that Savior didn't participate in during the period, it's pretty safe to say that Savior was the only reason why that era was not the most dominating for Terran and worst period for Zerg in history. The King of ZvT Because Savior reached six Starleague finals in a row, he played solely versus the absolute toughest competition possible. As the score sheet shows, he repeatedly beat down the hottest Terran players of the day as well as the other three bonjwas in their best matchup. How many Zergs besides Savior does Nada have a losing record against (with a minimum of 5 games)? Three. Boxer? Zero. iloveoov? Zero. Yet Savior decisively defeated them all by unheard of margins when they were still dominating every other Zerg by the same margins. To further magnify his achievements, Savior played seven of those series within two months on the most unfavorable ZvT maps in history! The worst moment was when he played two Bo5's against Hwasin and Iris on consecutive days. Suffice to say, no player has ever went through as intense a period of as Savior did from January to March 2007. This was the worst semifinals I've had go to through. The maps were tough, and my schedule was very tiring as well. I don't even have time to be happy that I reached 5 consecutive finals because I am so busy and can't think about other things. Today was the semifinals and tomorrow is the semifinals too. -Savior after defeating Hwasin Because he was stuck in the same matchup on the same maps, his opponents had unparalleled mounds of data to develop counterstrategies while Savior alone had to incessantly innovate to avoid being overtaken by every other player working to unseat him. S-class pros are terrifyingly good at dissecting builds and preparing appropriate counters, yet Savior never allowed them that chance. To avoid becoming predictable and to prevent getting gunned down by precise timing attacks, Savior literally did something new every single game and continuously stayed ahead of the competition, something no other player has ever managed to do even in much easier circumstances. Maps Even with his star-studded opponents and overwhelming scheduling still not enough to bring him down, Savior's enemies had one final trump card: the mapmakers. The maps were so hard for Zerg I practiced so much looking for answers. I think even I can beat a zerg user using terran on that map...it is difficult to beat even our team’s practice partners on that map… -Savior on Longinus 2 On Reverse Temple: It is bad for Zerg. Not only do I feel bad after training for that map, but during the training I lose smooth(ly) [inevitably] -Savior Hwasin predicts that if the game extends beyond mid-game, then NaDa would win. Reverse Temple is just that good of a map for Terran users. Iris also came to the same conclusion. No matter what starting position the Terran is at, Terran is favored and Savior will have a hard time on this map. For the statistics lovers out there, here's the equivalent: Non-Savior Zergs: Overall 14-41 (25%) Longinus II 11-27 ZvT (29%) Reverse Temple 3-14 ZvT (18%) Map imbalance is quite hard to determine usually but in this case every indicator pointed to the impossibility of ZvT. But when the true elite have everything stacked against them... Savior: Overall 13-2 (87%) Longinus I & Longinus II 7-1 ZvT (88%) Reverse Temple 6-1 ZvT (86%) ...they surpass all possibilities and rise to a new level. Contrary to the rest of his colleagues, Savior showed his very best on the worst conditions of them all. Reverse Temple and Longinus are the icons of Savior's legacy, for they best represent the trials Savior had to overcome. It was here that Ma Jae Yoon did what was thought to be impossible over a dozen times. Not only did he win on these maps, but he won in decisive fashion and made them look advantageous for Zerg while doing so. Not to mention nearly all of his games were all against some of the best Terrans ever. You can't emphasize enough how much you need to be a paradigm shifter. -SaviorOne can at first interpret Savior's ZvT success to his revolutionary new strategies, and this conclusion is partially valid. When Savior first emerged with his new strategy of 3 Hatch Muta, pumping drones, and transitioning to lurkers while double expanding, into 4 gas defiler, he managed to outsupply Nada while having defilers out before ever fighting a battle! That's how far ahead Savior was of everyone else in terms of strategy, and he owed much, if not all of his early success, particularly the mind blowing 5-0 against iloveoov, to the strategic advantage of his many ZvT revolutions. Essentially every SC star has emerged sporting something new and shiny, whether it be revolutionary mechanics or a completely new concept or strategy. The more radical the idea or execution, the greater the subsequent dominance. Boxer, Nada, iloveoov, and Flash, in TvZ, Bisu in PvZ, Jaedong in ZvZ, and Savior in ZvP are just a few among many other examples. While all of these players initially won consistently because their opponents had no clue how to play against them, they experienced a slow, or sometimes rapid decline when their rivals figured out how to counter or equalize the previously dominant strategy. This has always been the case and will not change. Innovations only have a limited amount of time to be made use of before they are equalized or become obsolete. And once that period of time is over, that player always declines in performance for one reason or another. Only Savior is the exception to this rule. Savior's ZvT dominance began because of his new strategy of 3 Hatch Muta covering a double expansion with a fast hive. While it sounds similar to the more familiar variation everyone should know, it is actually conceptually different in many ways as it was optimized against the slower expansion builds of 2 Rax Academy CC and 2 Rax CC. He unveiled a mostly finished product on April of 2005, but in January of 2006 he was already running into trouble. Thanks to iloveoov and Midas in June of 2006 his original strategy was completely outdated after playing only 21 games. Everyone in the spotlight eventually gets gunned down. Well, almost everyone. But Terrans are not the kind of race to simply stop at equalizing Savior's brand new concept with just a faster expansion. No, iloveoov, Casy, Midas, Nada, Hwasin, and Iris tag teamed Zergs to oblivion by correcting their sense of timing, reactions to mutalisks, tech transitions, and totally reformed their anti-hive play. All of these changes were so far reaching that despite originating in 2006, they are still mostly the standard today. It looked like Savior would fall victim to what had happened to every other upstart player once their strategies were figured out. And yet with his brilliant strategy in shambles and his play found out and outdated, Savior started winning more against despite becoming increasingly handicapped by maps and scheduling! How did he do it? Well quite simply, he improved faster in unseen ways. The collective mind of every Terran, by far the most innovative race in SC history, failed to surpass him despite having an unprecedented amount of opportunities. With every other Zerg lagging so far behind, it was literally Savior against the World, and Savior won. Not only did he develop strategic equality in both economics and decision making that has survived to this day, but he created an entirely new area of ZvT: tactics. Much to their downfall, Zergs have rigorously copied Savior's strategic innovations but have mostly overlooked his tactical ones. It is tactics that separates Savior from every other Zerg, and tactics why he reached the highest level of ZvT three years ago. What are Savior's tactics? To keep matters as simple as possible, "tactics" is simply a broad term I use to explain Savior's battlefield actions because they do not fit under any previous concept. Tactics are more of a concept dependant on creativity and psychology than a specific set of actions. Different situations call for different tactics, and the examples picked out in these two articles are simply a portion of many that Savior used. Hopefully by examining various examples of Savior using certain tactics in certain circumstances one can get a glimpse at his truly terrifying understanding of the matchup. Still confused at what tactics are? Here's a helpful demonstration by the Maestro himself: Bonjwa Training Step 1: Hidden Lurker Ambush Not good enough? Maneuvering *Note that a video link fastforwarded to each tactical scene will be provided as seeing them in action are essential. When the fastforwarding is not available, the time of action will be provided* The central principle that all of the maneuvering tactics are based around is simply having more and properly placed units at the right place at the right time. Despite being almost always outnumbered overall, Savior generally had the upper hand when the two sides came to a clash. By keeping this principle in mind at all times, it will be much easier to understand just how his tactics work. The point here is not to focus on the individual tactics themselves. No one tactic is as important as the overall mindset behind it, for different situations call for different tactics and the number of possibilities are only limited by creativity. Preparing for every conceivable plan and movement his opponents could throw at him was impractical. Rather, Savior could instantaneously choose the best suited tactic to any unforeseen situations on the fly. Mobile Armies and Positioning The first, and perhaps most basic principle of ZvT maneuvering is to form a mobile, multi-purpose army that is free to roam around the map. The worst outcome in ZvT is to have the Zerg army trapped in their base as the Terran slowly batters down the castle. Savior would often use a line of sunkens and a few lurkers to defend his bases from any immediate blitz, while scattering his army far away from his bases. By doing so, Savior magnified his army's strength several times. He ended up using more sunkens than other Zergs, but the indirect benefits of his maneuvering always proved to be well worth the investment. Savior v Iris on Reverse Temple Iris goes to attack Savior's base while Savior runs his army to a key location. Savior's army here is doing 5 things: 1) Threatening a backstab on Iris's main (Savior's winning technique in this game) 2) Threatening an attack on Iris's army at any sign of weakness 3) Threatening to cut off reinforcements at a moment's notice 4) Defending Savior's natural and 3rd base 5) Hiding in the fog and staying completely out of reach of Iris's attack capabilities All five of these points are serious threats that his opponent must devote time and concentration to defending. Iris cannot have constant information of Savior's army location and movements, and thus has no way to know his intentions. Ergo, simply by running his army around instead of keeping it trapped inside his base, Savior forced Iris to consider every possibility and therefore greatly improved his situation without killing a single unit. Small details like the precise positioning of his army were absolutely key to Savior's success. Delaying the Attack Savior vs iloveoov on Ride of Valkyries Savior's game here is so remarkable because it so aptly illustrates how Savior used his tactics to allow him to cut many corners on timings, which was very important against the cheater himself. After helping himself to a comfortable early lead through a new 8 rax -> CC strategy, oov begins a threatening attack with 5 tanks, 40 infantry, and 2 vessels against a paltry 12 mutas and 7 lurkers. Such a unit imbalance all but assured oov an easy victory, if only he could actually fight a battle. Swooping in and out with his mutalisks and reburrowing his lurkers, Savior forced oov to continually regroup and advance at a snail's pace. When that battle was actually fought, Savior's army had more than doubled in size and despite oov's reinforcements the Terran menace was halted. Savior's dismantling of oov was used to show the growth of Savior's tactics. oov, always the clumsy and mechanically handicapped gorilla, was incapable of multitasking and his attack was unnecessarily delayed outside of Savior's shenanigans. As for Savior, he succeeded in delaying oov's attack sufficiently but he did not stop oov from reinforcing it. Thus he halted the monster, but could not crush him. Savior played oov here in January of 2006. Now let's fast forward and see how much more refined Savior was 13 months later. Cutting off Reinforcements Savior vs Iris on Longinus II Along with having a mobile army and delaying the Terran timing attack, the other basic step for all levels of ZvT is to prevent the Terran from reinforcing their main army. In other words, once that Terran ball moves into the middle, it becomes isolated from civilization—a suicidal squad, so to speak. These three steps are all that is needed in order to achieve relative superiority at the decisive point, the entire goal of midgame ZvT. This game is a fantastic example of how effective maneuvering can be. Iris began his attack at 10:39, and given how close the mains are in Longinus he could have arrived at Savior's natural entrance, the critical area, in 25 seconds. But Iris never made it to Savior's natural; his army was annihilated as soon as swarm was finished at 14:04! In other words, Savior with a much inferior army prevented Iris from making a 25 second trip in over 3 minutes and 25 seconds! By making so many different threats and forcing Iris to respond to them all, Iris ended up marching around in circles and never reached his destination. How did Savior turn a simple expedition into the trip from hell? Let's go through step by step: + Show Spoiler [Explanation] + The first key point to remember is how Savior won their previous game in the series on Reverse Temple, featured above. There a seemingly inevitable Iris win thanks to impossible positions and no muta damage was thwarted by a perfectly-timed backstab. On the equally Terran-favoured Longinus 2, Iris would be sure to not make the same mistake twice and Savior knew that. His backstabs were many times a game winner, but they were just as strong as a threat alone. Savior threatens a fake backstab as soon as Iris runs out, forcing Iris to turn southward to block it before resuming his northern march. Savior deploys two high ground lurkers to delay Iris's initial advance and to punish any sloppiness. Savior threatens a backstab as soon as Iris clears the way and starts advancing northward. Savior moves his army to block Iris's southern advance and snipes two careless Vessels. Iris gives up marching back and forth and just storms through and advances through the middle to the northwest ramp, preparing to assault Savior's natural. Savior continues to threaten another backstab and kills some stragglers. Savior cuts off all reinforcement routes and keeps his army just out of reach in the shadows. At any point it can attack Iris's army out of the darkness from every angle. These Lurkers prevent Iris from reinforcing, killing some units when Iris isn’t looking. As soon as Iris's reinforcements clash with the retreat blocking lurkers Savior launches a pincer on Iris's now isolated army. Iris, instantly recognizing Savior's movements, barely escapes the trap intact, retreating and reorganizing his army. Yet even though he saved his army, his position is no better than a minute earlier and the defiler clock is ticking down. Iris is just outside of his destination but with no way to get reinforcements, moving quickly from the high ground is a grave risk when he doesn't know the location of the rest of Savior's army. Therefore he slowly pushes forward while keeping most tanks sieged and infantry in position. Iris pulls back his units to chase back the imaginary threat of a group of lings on his rear. Another movement slowing down any advance possibility. Savior plants his lurkers in order to prevent any retreats. They may seem useless at the moment but very shortly they will prove decisive. The delaying is over, consume is researched! Savior begins the swarm assault on Iris's trapped army. Note how his second swarm traps Iris in a tiny corner instead of pushing forward up the hill with 2 swarms and letting Iris potentially retreat. The last stragglers of a once mighty army... ...get torn to pieces. The main imbalance on Longinus, and the only map where this is possible, is that the Terran can actually make two timing attacks on favorable terrain before consume is out due to the extra income and rush distance. Preventing Iris from even reaching the sunkens given these conditions would be completely unthinkable if it were not Savior that was playing him. The key to remember is that from Iris's point of view, Savior's units, particularly his lurkers, could be anywhere. At any moment they could burst from the darkness and ram into his natural, or if he moved from the high ground he could be flanked by a wave of units from that high ground. It is only natural that Iris became increasingly paranoid, moving all his infantry to chase a dozen lings or redirecting his whole army several times to run after some lurker/ling. After all, he never knew what lay just out of sight in the shadows or underground. Yet at the same time that paranoia was necessary in order to save his army from the potentially devastating ambush that Savior sprung. In order for Iris to even make use of his army he would have needed to figure out from very limited information Savior's intentions and army location at every instance in order to know exactly when Savior would strike and when he was just faking it. Isn't that asking a little too much from poor Iris, or anyone for that matter? A noteworthy contemporary performance was demonstrated by Hogil here. Hogil's maneuvers were not as refined or purposeful as Savior's but they were more than adequate to dispatch Mind's potentially devastating attack after Hogil had failed to do any damage with his mutalisks. But what about an elite level modern Terran? Surely some fancy running around can't touch the most skilled Terran ever who has benefited from years of evolution? Savior's successor, Effort, showed that Flash was no better than Iris, Nada, or any of the others Savior repeatedly took apart when he decisively won on Heartbreak Ridge in this game. With neither side at an advantage, Effort succeeded in isolating and slowing Flash's attack purely by maneuvers. Flash moved out with a much superior army, but after a crisp maneuver half of Flash's total troop count was sitting at home, unable to link with the main force. After additional delaying of Flash's isolated army, consume was finished and Flash lost his army much like Iris. On such a Zerg map as Heartbreak Ridge, unlike Longinus II, losing your main army for nothing is akin to losing the game, and Effort finished Flash off within minutes. Army Blockades While blocking reinforcements to later crush an attack is all well and good, there's an even better way to use lurkers. Savior v Nada on Tau Cross The strength and viability of these listed tactics vary greatly. Some tactics are merely a useful stepping stone in the overall path to victory. On the other hand, some are so potent they can win an otherwise even game in one stroke. This particular tactic is the latter, where Savior seized victory in an instant despite having no visible advantage. Normally the Zerg wants to delay the Terran army and fight at the last minute possible, but here Savior had an opportunity for an instant win because he had the vital information of how much defense Nada left behind (not enough!). Savior and Nada's positions looked equal, but that equality was thrown out the window when Savior pulled off this brilliant maneuver. Savior pulls a win from thin air. As soon as Nada walked a few seconds away from his base, Savior took control and ran his army in between Nada's army and his base. Savior burrowed half of his lurkers behind Nada's army, blocking his path home. Meanwhile the rest of his army crashed into Nada's natural, eviscerating his main and fully shutting down all means of production. By the time Nada cleared a path back home, his war machine was at a fraction of its old capacity and not surprisingly he was overrun a few minutes later. Nada's base is overrun and his army cannot save it in time. Savior vs Midas on HitchHiker Savior sacks Midas's expansion while Midas watches helplessly. As soon as Midas moves out to attack Savior's expansion at 1 to the east, Savior raids Midas's 3rd base from the south entrance. Despite the fact that Midas was seconds away, he could only stand by and watch helplessly. This attack was not a game winner because Savior did not deal properly with the Science Vessels, but it inflicted a disproportionate amount of damage considering the disparity in army strength. Midas could have easily crushed Savior's army in a straight up fight, but Savior's maneuvering and position gave him much better results than simply attacking head on. Note that Savior gets several free marine kills on Midas's rescue army because Midas is too busy microing his men at his base that he doesn't change his previous attack order quickly enough. Troop losses like these are not an error; they are simply a result of Savior overloading his opponent and then putting himself in a position to take advantage of it with no downside. At first glance this tactic doesn't seem particularly amazing. After all, it appears to be just a fancier version of backstabbing. However, it's actually quite different. Normally when the Zerg army backstabs they have to wait for the Terran army to move quite a ways away, too far to retreat and save the base fast enough. Thus by the time the backstab arrives, the Terran has already made several rounds of reinforcements to defend. On the other hand, if the Zerg attacks immediately as the Terran leaves home, they might find a couple marines drunk on the job instead of the Maginot line waiting to greet them. In addition, it finely manipulates the psychology of his opponents. Because the army blockade backstab can strike when the Terran army is close to home, the Terran feels compelled to save their base but cannot due to the lurkers. Even if they did want to counterattack, there is always indecision and delay in trying to decide because of the innate pull to defend given the army's proximity to home. Even if they do finally decide to counter, their army quite a distance away. Normal backstabs carry the risk that the backstab can eventually be mopped up while the Terran counterattacking army razes the Zerg main. However, the psychological upsides of the army blockade variation almost entirely removes this risk, making it a very potent maneuver. It was partially because of this maneuver that Savior's threat of backstabs had such enormous effect. Some keen observers might remember that Luxury used this exact same tactic to mount an incredible comeback against Leta on Carthage in the Lost Saga MSL here. Simultaneous Attacks Simultaneous attacks are no foreign concept to high level Brood War. The Protoss army that engages to distract from a dark templar drop in the Zergs main, the Terran army that fights at the Zerg's fourth gas while simultaneously dropping the Nydus at the third; both of these situations and similar ones occur at least semi-frequently and are well incorporated into the knowledge of other races. Zergs, however, have restricted their usage of this principle to ZvP only and all too frequently ignore the power of drops late game in ZvT. Think around to all of Flash's late game TvZs and how one-dimensionally all of his opponents try to approach it. They repeatedly gather their masses of ultraling with defilers and just try to punch through his lines a few times, then follow it up by punching out after their ultra/ling evaporates to 20 tanks. Sure once in awhile they might try a drop far too late, but they never think about trying to create multiple side attacks in order to increase the success of their big blow. Behind this seemingly simple tactic lies its very counterintuitive nature: Savior accomplishes more in the big battle despite using less of his army! Diverting a few ultras and maybe a defiler with some lings here and there ends up magnifying his real army's strength despite fighting with less units simply because of the strain it causes on his opponent. Savior vs Nada on Longinus II + Show Spoiler [Explanation] + Savior drops a handful in the main to start off. Hidden units spring into action in Nada's fourth. Nada's army and vessels are all out of position. While Savior would likely have won the fight anyways, it is well worth seeing the sequence of events to see how little he lost for all his gains. Nada's tanks were left unsupported by his infantry and his vessels were all out of position because they were initially running over to go help support the first two threatened areas when the main mass hit. Savior vs iloveoov on Ride of Valkyries and part two While in most of his other matches where Savior used simultaneous attacks were against opponents who were playing aggressively due to the constraints of the maps and strategies, he also proved more than capable of winning against the original creator of Flash's now immortalized TvZ defensive setup. In this game from the very beginning of 2006! Savior illustrates exactly how every Zerg should be playing the late game against Flash and company. + Show Spoiler [Explanation] + Savior prepares for his center attack with a powerful drop that does almost nothing against the well prepared oov. The most epic attack you will ever see...and a complete flop. In preparing for round 2, oov must still keep a force solely for the threat of another drop. Note how the drop was a total disaster but the mere threat of it gives Savior a significant advantage in the next wave. oov's sorely needed men were busy stuck at home defending the mere possibility of a drop. Savior sneaks two ultras around the top before the attack, forcing oov to spend precious time running scvs, vessels, and units around. An important result of these two ultras is that oov saw them and instinctively sent his vessels and other reinforcements over to irradiate. However, that meant his vessels and units were not in position when Savior attacked a few seconds later, heavily contributing to his defeat. With oov's forces and attention divided in three places, Savior finally breaks through in spectacular fashion. While earlier in his career and not at his peak level, this game of Savior’s illustrates well how to attack a modern lategame tank-based defense. Multiple attacks spread across the map with liberal usage of drops help keep the Terran uncertain of the Zerg intentions and plans. Zergs must start fast and early with drops and simultaneous attacks instead of sitting back and eagerly massing up a big army to be used in one giant thrust. Above all the Zerg must not let the Terran have enough time to fully solidify their position. Had Savior waited any longer, he would have lost all chances once the middle became the Maginot line and alternative attacking options were blocked. Not surprisingly, Effort is the first to dissect Flash in complete Savior fashion and gave him his first real lategame loss since he perfected the Terran defensive system. Admittedly Effort did have a solid advantage from his early game trickery but his approach is still correct; the advantage just made victory faster. Simultaneous Counterattacks While similar enough to the previous tactic, counterattacks are really a whole different beast. It is one thing to plan and execute multiple attacks simultaneously, and quite another to react to an attack prepared at the enemy's discretion while planning and executing a counter at the very same moment. The very fact that Savior had the gall to send out sizable armies to counter when he was in a perilous position is commendable as it is, but the timing at which he coordinates both his and his opponent's actions is surreal. Savior vs Nada on Longinus II Savior's only expansion defense is shortly going to die. As Nada is preparing to attack the 12 expansion, he irradiates all the lurkers and one defiler atop the ramp but does not irradiate the other despite having the energy. Even when the path is cleared, his army and vessels sit around needlessly for several crucial seconds, giving Savior precious time to ready his defense. However, this otherwise inexcusable error has a very good reason. Rather than using his units to defend his key expansion, Savior goes on the attack! Instead of concentrating his attention on making a potential game winning attack, Nada is forced to retreat and defend his 4th base. While Nada is being stalled by moving SCVs, lifting his command center, and rerouting reinforcements to deal with the threat, he is not moving his units into the vulnerable expansion. On the other hand, Savior is doing damage and gaining the time he needs to mobilize his army and save the expansion. As Nada was slowed too much to effectively raze the expansion, he is forced to defend the ramp and wear down Savior's army. For the second time he misses a critical irradiate on a reinforcing defiler and some potential others on ultras as the rampaging ultras invade his mineral only and force him to pull more units and SCVs. Furthermore, the other half of his army is sitting inactive in the middle despite having the ability to raze Savior's natural as Savior's army is out of position (as Nada does do 30 seconds later). Nada is simply overloaded at the wrong moment! The result of little things adding up. Yes, those marines are plagued. Nada deserves praise for the entire sequence as well, as nobody but Casy would have managed to pull off half of what he did. Defending and evacuating two bases while keeping up non-stop production and yet still planning and executing an otherwise game-winning attack is asking quite a lot. Nada did the best almost anyone could hope for in such a situation, but Savior's tactics were simply too much. Savior vs Nada on Reverse Temple How could this be possible? As it appears on first glance, this situation is one of the most inexplicable mysteries of any finals. How could Nada let three lurkers devastate his only army and not react for 9 seconds!? Lack of scan energy is also not valid explanation as Nada would have stimmed and organized his units first. Pressure is not valid as Nada is [urlhttp://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=57918]the definition of clutch[/url]. No, Nada had not reacted at all. Why? The cause. The important point to notice is the exact timing of Savior's actions. He moves the 3 lurkers in attack range half a second before his muta/ling backstab comes into vision at Nada's natural. The only plausible interpretation of the above sequence is that Nada was so surprised at Savior's backstab and that it did not even come to mind that his army could be attacked during this time. Nada clearly reacted immediately to the backstab, pulling SCVs to surround the bunker. Yet normally Nada could have defended and macroed and we would never have noticed he wasn't moving his main army. Nada must have been so distracted that he did not even move his army forward to siege Savior's natural, much less do anything. It wasn't that Nada was overrun by necessary tasks for 9 seconds, he had completely forgotten about his main army in the face of immediate and unexpected danger. Nada quit multitasking and focused all of his efforts on defending his base for those key seconds. A horrific mistake to be sure, but then again, no opponent ever played Savior and did not make glaring forced errors. Why else would Savior potentially suicide 3 crucial lurkers at that exact timing if not in anticipation of the events that followed? Savior vs Iris on Neo Arkanoid Nothing can save the expansion. Near the end of perhaps the greatest game of all time, Iris destroys Savior's critical Nydus and runs thirty infantry and two Vessels into Savior's undefended mineral line where he can quickly snipe his remaining drones and hatchery. Savior's only defense is a panicking defiler consuming drones left and right and two horribly out of place lurkers and hydras who cannot save it in time. The game won once Iris moves down and snipes the hatchery and there is nothing left to stop him. Yet right before he was about to do so, he suddenly turns back for no apparent reason! Moments later, Iris retraces his steps and attempts the above plan but now two plagues are thrown on and Savior's lurkers have the time needed to be positioned properly. The once proud force that could have won the game fell apart and did absolutely no damage. In the entire game Iris made more than fifteen dangerous attacks of that nature and in no other case did he ever make such a glaring and unthinkable decision to pull back at the very moment of triumph. However, in no other point during the game did Savior make a sudden strike while Iris was also attacking. Why did Iris not level the expansion? Right at that heartbreaking moment for every Iris fan and Savior hater alike was a drop on Iris's 4th base at 6. Given that Iris couldn't really defend his expansion, he did not need to spend more than a glance on the drop: lifting the command center and running SCVs was all that was necessary. But either Iris panicked upon seeing the drop or his concentration was momentarily broken, it is impossible to know all the details. All that is for certain is if not for Savior's drop at that timing, Iris would have won the game. To a certain degree the way that these examples turned out is simply due to luck. All of Savior's offensive actions were justified in their own right; it is the particularly perfect timing in a simultaneous defense/offense situation that is astounding. It is highly unlikely that Savior masterminded each and every tiny outcome of the event, and much more probable that he was simply setting up a scenario where his opponent would likely make a mistake of some kind that he could act on. A pure luck explanation, however, is not valid simply because Savior does this kind of simultaneous timing successfully in so many different tactics in a wide variety of situations that it is quite clear there is a great deal of thought behind it. Furthermore it always turned out that Savior had allocated enough units to each respective task in order to assure victory at both. Just like with the simultaneous attacks tactic, Savior was accomplishing more casualties for less cost despite using fewer resources to do so at each point of conflict. At first this tactic makes it seem like Savior was just out-multitasking Nada and Iris, which is quite impossible. However, Savior was using two important factors to his advantage. First, Savior was the one initiating the counter actions, meaning that he was mentally prepared for what would happen. Nada and Iris were both caught completely off guard and this momentary lapse in their concentration from an unexpected source created a forced error. Secondly, Savior was making use of racial advantages. In any battle a Terran army that does not stim and engage properly is going to suffer an enormous drop in output, while unmicroed ultralisks and already burrowed lurkers are essentially as good as microed ones. Therefore, Savior could spend all of his attention after the initial movement onto the area which would demand more focus while his opponent had to triage something, meaning that one army or another was going to fight very suboptimally. Oftentimes his opponent would do everything poorly simply because they weren't expecting such a sudden overload of tasks. His everpresent ability and incredibly varied means to forcibly make his opponents play worse, is without question, Savior's most unique and unmatched skill. You do not just play against Savior, Savior plays you. Feigned Withdrawal Original Source: Savior v Light on Longinus II *13:22* For the impatient A key factor in winning ZvT battles is fighting when the Terran is not in proper formation. Rather than straight up charging into the fray, it is often better to let the Terran weaken themselves before engaging in battle. Normally the timing is very difficult to ascertain and follow through on, but Savior used a simple yet effective idea to ensure the right timing: deliberately weakening his own position as bait. Light's Army is hopelessly out of position. While Savior would normally prevent Light from taking the expansion's high ground, in this situation he created the opportunity to lead Light into a trap by not blocking the ramp. As soon as Light saw an open ramp, he seized the opportunity and bolted up. However, his haste to seize the 'opportunity' Savior provided him his formation disintegrated. For when Savior attacked scarcely a moment later, he fought against perhaps half the firepower Light had. Marines and tanks were cramped next to each other with no room to run. Tanks were unsieged, medics were out of place, many units were not able to attack all at once, and worse yet, the marines had no room to split or retreat. Once the lurkers burrowed, Light's army vanished. The unsurprising result. At first glance one might criticize Light's play here to walk willingly into a trap. But it was certainly not a poor play by Light nor a mistake against any other player. Had Light managed to safely get to the high ground, Savior's crucial expansion was toast and Light likely would have won. But because Savior intentionally lured him up by retreating his high ground units, Light lowered his guard and focused solely on maximizing his advantage, giving Savior all the opening he needed. This tactic is a good example of how Savior utilized normally correct decisions against his opponents. In virtually every one of these examples Savior's opponents were not making normally bad moves. It was simply Savior's genius that he could create and turn circumstances where the correct decision, one that any pro would instantly seize, was in actuality a seed of disaster. And when Terrans saw these chances and tried to take advantage, they opened a moment of weakness where Savior would crush them. Textbook Maneuvering Savior vs Casy on Reverse Temple In this much understudied match, Savior wrote the textbook of how to deal with an overpowering Terran midgame army. By maneuvering in a very calculated fashion, Savior ensured that Casy would have no choice but to enter a battle he was sure to lose. While some of the previous examples showed how to maneuver and attain relative superiority, this game featured the best maneuvering against a timing attack you will ever see against a highly skilled player making nearly all the correct decisions without a single wasted movement from either side. The pre-defiler timing attack is the most important moment of a typical 3 Hatch Muta vs 1 Rax FE game. At the highest levels of play, the outcome of the battle depends chiefly on how much damage the Zerg did with mutalisks. But Savior could not reliably do any damage with mutalisks against modern defenses, a normally fatal flaw on such a map as Reverse Temple. Yet despite his predicament, Savior annihilated Casy's army without microing before Casy ever reached Savior's base, an otherwise impossible feat. Savior makes a feint attack towards Casy's army. In order to delay the Terran advance, Savior makes a feint towards the advancing army in the middle of the map to make them cautious and move forward slower. When Savior moves in, Casy is forced to siege up and pull his vessels back in response, for he has no way of knowing if it is a feint or real attack. Once Casy halts and prepares for battle, Savior then retreats and runs up and around Casy's army, preparing for phase two. The timing and placement of Savior's feint was carefully planned, for it was neither too close to the Casy's target of Savior's natural nor too close to Casy's base. As we shall see, fulfilling these two criteria was extremely important. Let's think about the scenario from Casy's point of view: Savior charged but backed off without fighting. 'Clearly he feels that he can't win in the open field and is trying to buy time for more units and defilers. Since my army is momentarily paused I should use that period to reinforce my army to keep up his relative superiority while advancing towards Savior's natural to not give him the time he needs to get defilers. Because it will time to wear down the defenses of his natural my reinforcements will arrive just before he must attack, thus giving me the maximum possible advantage.' All of this is completely logical and the correct choice. And exactly what Savior predicted. After Savior retreats from the feint, Casy naturally unsieges his army and moves towards Savior's natural while bringing forward his reinforcements. Meanwhile, Savior's army retreats up and around the temple walls and descends upon Casy's rear lines, running smack into Casy's reinforcements while Casy's army is too far away to help! All of a sudden Savior's intentions are clear. Savior ambushes the reinforcements. Losing some of his reinforcements for nothing puts Casy in a pickle. Not only does this lower his absolute troop count, but it forces him to cease sending more reinforcements in order to protect his under-defended natural from the possible threat of a backstab. If he had sent any more reinforcements, he might even have to retreat his army in order to protect the natural, buying Savior even more time. Or else, Savior can merrily charge into the Terran base, winning the game right there with a backstab. Either way, the Terran will be confronted with a big choice and likely will pause their movements in a moment of indecision, giving even more time and possibly a chance to attack. But Savior is not done yet... Savior lays a trap for Casy's army but Casy is too quick. Savior positioned two lurkers at a spot so that when Savior started to attack Casy's reinforcements, Casy's army would run into these two lurkers. Savior correctly reasoned that Casy's attention would be first drawn to the army attacking his reinforcements and the simultaneous movement of Casy's main army would recklessly run into the trap lurkers before Casy would realize and start microing. Unfortunately for him, Casy's inhuman awareness and speed let him micro and retreat his reinforcements, retreat his main army after only one marine was lost, and irradiate Savior's trap lurkers instanenously! While this trap ended in failure, it was a good example of threats Terrans always had to be prepared for at any time. Savior's tactics are too much for Casy's micro. Even though Casy avoided the lurker trap, his position was still grim. If he retreats, he loses any opportunity to put pressure on the Zerg and gives Savior freedom to make drones and expand faster than he should. If he doesn't retreat, he is forced to fight a battle greatly outnumbered. Casy chose the best option, to press on, yet despite his stellar micro the overwhelming hordes overran his once mighty force and Casy's position quickly collapsed from there. This series of maneuvers is the perfect demonstration of the great advantage that tactical mastery can give. Casy's relative army strength dwarfed Savior's when he first pushed out. Had Savior fought on Casy's terms right then and there, he would have been clobbered. He would still have been clobbered had he simply waited for Casy to arrive at his doorstep like every other Zerg who didn't do muta damage on such a tough map. But because Savior danced around the Terran army, disrupting Casy's attack while buying critical time to amass his own army at the pre-determined battle location, Savior far exceeded Casy's relative battle strength at the key fight. And Casy was given no choice but to fight and lose that fight. Such a series of maneuvers forces the Terran into several no-win situations. If the Terran refuses to bring his reinforcements and simply pushes on, all Savior has to do is delay him a little bit more and prevent any reinforcements. In this scenario the Terran army will be outnumbered just the same as normally and will certainly lose in the same fashion. If Casy retreats to secure his reinforcements, Savior can simply repeat the process and delay Casy's army again, forcing the same decision and same situation. And note that if Savior succeeds in delaying the Terran army too long, defilers will be out and the Terran attack will have failed. Savior has other possibilities as well: a backstab is always an option, as well as a surprise flank on an unready Terran army. In short, Savior gains every advantage simply by running around with a purpose. In the worst case, he might lose a few units from poor control, doesn't kill anything, and only delays the Terran army for so long. This scenario is still good enough to win the key battle with ease anyways. In the best case, he gains a decisive advantage when modern Zergs would simply pray for equality. The pre-defiler timing push timeframe is a period of the game that the Zerg normally dreads, for there a mistake will lose outright, while good play will merely make the game even or give them a small advantage. Savior took this perilous phase and flipped it around: with best play the Terran ends up well behind, with a mistake or even just solid play they end up dead lost. But it was not that he had one perfect answer, rather, he redefined the system that Terran players had previously created to their advantage. In Savior's system, both players had many options, but so long as Savior chose correctly at every turn he would always end up better. And because he created the new paradigm, he understood it far better than anyone else and thus always made better decisions than his adversaries. The average Starcraft viewer and player is naturally attracted to the openly flashy, micro intensive player. It is hard for anyone to claim that when they were new or even a veteran to SC that they did not enjoy watching someone like Boxer, Nada, July, Jaedong, or Bisu. Savior is not that kind of player where everything, or rather almost anything, is visible to the untrained eye. Looking back it is apparent that his best plays went completely unnoticed. In fact, he earned many detractors for supposedly doing the same thing every game! Savior is unique type of player whose play becomes more and more beautiful as it is examined at a deeper level and it really is astonishing just how deep his play and thought process is. The degree to which Savior placed and timed every little detail can only be described as inhuman. At some points it seems like he just would get lucky, multiple times every single game, with how perfectly everything worked out. However, given the sheer number of instances where everything seems to go exactly as if Savior was controlling both players himself it's quite clear that luck is not an answer, just Savior. So yes, keep on loving the flashy, dynamic players that you have always loved. But take a little more time and effort to really look at the best of Savior and you will see something that nobody else has consistently displayed and probably ever will. For Savior is one of a kind, someone who is so far beyond anyone else in the area of battlefield tactics that it doesn't seem odd at all that he possibly reached the peak of ZvT almost three years ago. And the best part? The Maneuvering tactics illustrated above are only the beginning. The more intricate Ambushing tactics take Starcraft to even another level. The unparalleled obstacles that Savior faced demanded more than just the maneuvering illustrated above, and when confronted, he always rose to the occasion. | ||
Bub
United States3518 Posts
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MourningWould
United States110 Posts
On April 29 2010 13:00 flamewheel91 wrote: ^_^ Dude apparently shit blogs do work! Thanks to whoever changed it back! I think it's because he asked in a clear coherent manner and was generally polite throughout the request | ||
moopie
12605 Posts
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