|
For the past couple of months, Flash has been dominating the scene in ways I didn't think possible. Breaking various records, going on massive streaks, and demonstrating little to no weaknesses in any of his match-ups. He had the elusive aura of invincibility, and the constant hype from the commentators only bolstered this image, with repeated phrases like "Flash is beyond human" and "How can you hope to de-throne a god?"
And I bought into it. There was a point where I thought that Flash had "solved" the game in a way that even the bonjwas before him hadn't been able to. For a while, I thought "Okay, here's a guy who's got it all figured out. Where do we go from here? How can you improve upon perfection?"
In my opinion, Jaedong was the better player during his Nate MSL run... but that was then, this is now. I caught glimpses of Flash's mortality in his recent proleague games against Effort and Snow (particularly the latter), but I chalked it up to circumstance. At that point, a few stray games weren't enough to alter my perspective in a significant way. I went into today's OSL final series expecting a one-sided rapefest with a 3-1 final score at best.
This was an interesting series, not only because Flash lost, but because for the first time in months, Flash seemed just like any other player in the pro scene. I didn't feel the aura around him. His mental fortitude was not unshakable. Mistakes were made, and costly errors in judgment stacked the games against his favor. I watched Flash pave a path to transcendence only to fall from grace into the bounds of mortality. I witnessed Flash bleed like any other progamer would, something I thought was uncharacteristic of a player of his mastery and skill.
If Flash could've taken any of these games into a mid-to-late management game, his superior mechanics would've probably seen him through. That's hardly the point. While there were hints of his usual brilliance (the maphack-esque scans come to mind), his overall game sense was off. In fact, "off" is probably the most fitting word for his performance today; there was something in his gameplay that seemed awfully "off". He may be one of the best, if not the best, player in the pro scene right now, but if this series is indicative of anything, it's that he's certainly not "beyond human"; he makes human mistakes, and there are glaring weaknesses in his play that can be exploited for full effect.
As odd as it may sound, this series made me see Flash in a different light. It certainly makes the upcoming MSL event a lot more interesting, I think. 
|
god i don't know who i wish to win...i hate both jeadong and flash...but since flash is doing much better than JD lately..i hope flash would lose
|
A lot of people were "disappointed" but I think those people forget that Flash is just a kid who plays Starcraft. He made mistakes; every player does.
|
On May 23 2010 02:22 The6357 wrote:
god i don't know who i wish to win...i hate both jeadong and flash...but since flash is doing much better than JD lately..i hope flash would lose
have you seen a doctor lately?
|
umm.. did you not watch game1 and 2 or something? I really dont think you did.
|
Yeah, and even in the later games there wasn't a lot I saw that Flash did outright wrong, as in mistakes. Like, game 5, Effort earned himself a whole lot of useless extra gas and later timings just to fool Flash, and it worked like a charm.
|
On May 23 2010 02:44 Geo.Rion wrote:Show nested quote +On May 23 2010 02:22 The6357 wrote:
god i don't know who i wish to win...i hate both jeadong and flash...but since flash is doing much better than JD lately..i hope flash would lose have you seen a doctor lately?
LOL
|
On May 23 2010 02:45 Mobius wrote:
umm.. did you not watch game1 and 2 or something? I really dont think you did.
Yeah, watched the whole thing from beginning to end... monitor problems and all. Don't get me wrong, Flash played brilliantly in those games, which is something we've come to expect of him. I'm mainly focusing on aspects of his play that we WOULDN'T normally expect from a player of his caliber. Obviously, something went wrong, because Flash completely fell apart and proceeded to log three consecutive losses afterwards.
On May 23 2010 02:48 Turbovolver wrote:
Yeah, and even in the later games there wasn't a lot I saw that Flash did outright wrong, as in mistakes. Like, game 5, Effort earned himself a whole lot of useless extra gas and later timings just to fool Flash, and it worked like a charm.
Well, that's just it, isn't it? Effort decided to pull a fast one, and Flash took the bait. In game 3, this caused Flash to move out prematurely. In game 4, he risked a proxy barracks, which Effort was fully ready for. In game 5, he opted for a greedy build, but failed to account for early aggression. I would think most or all of these situations were avoidable.
|
He just needs to stay away from greedy builds...
In game 5 he could have leave the marines in the bunker and deal with 3 zerlings in his main with the next round of marines... he was on a 14cc advantage...
|
It's pretty clear that Flash's dominance at least in TvZ has come to an end, if it didn't with the last MSL finals already. It's no accident that many of his games recently (even those he won) have looked really uncomfortable; his opponents have figured out the right counters. Effort executed it beautifully.
|
I think Flash dropped the ball after game 2, i watched it on Kentors stream and it was painful to watch him effing throw game after game away.
Im still pissed, Flash deserved his Golden Mouse and now he gotta wait for the next OSL.
Damn it 
|
Flash looked so fucking invicible during game 1 and 2, he was just toying with Effort. Well, well everyone make mistakes.
During game 5 I was SCREAMING: "YEAH ITS IMPOSSIBLE THAT HES SENDING MORE ZERGLINGS RIGHT? NO NEED TO DEFEND, FLASH UR SO FUCKING DUMB"
|
Flash is capable of choking, that is all.
|
You make some good points, although to be honest I didn't ever see him as invincible or that he figured out that game. Thats happened before only for the players to fall. Of course not as dominating as Flash was/is but at the time it seemed unreal just like Flash's run. Although Flash shouldn't be doubted just because of that series. As long as he doesn't let it get to him and fall hard, he will be a better player because of it. Hes still the ultimate weapon and the best terran player right now.
|
On May 23 2010 03:01 shinjin wrote:Show nested quote +On May 23 2010 02:44 Geo.Rion wrote:On May 23 2010 02:22 The6357 wrote:
god i don't know who i wish to win...i hate both jeadong and flash...but since flash is doing much better than JD lately..i hope flash would lose have you seen a doctor lately? LOL
been 5 years since last doctors visit...
|
Philadelphia, PA10406 Posts
Starcraft Myth #1: Great players can just magically start playing bad.
Origin: People see a great player try a cute build, and they just get pummeled by it, or see them beaten by cheese. They think; "why did he play so stupidly?"
Fact: Great players lose games for many reasons, and usually those reason totally divorced from their actual skill. If a player is losing, it's usually not because their apm has dropped off precipitously, or that their multi-tasking has gone to pot. It's usually because they're (A) being read by their opponent, or (B) made a mistake early game that you didn't notice, and have suffered accordingly.
Example: Fantasy is an excellent example of a player whom the community mistakenly believes has terrible TvZ. In fact, while Fantasy's bio control is average, his understanding of TvZ is pretty insane. When fantasy tries a cute build and loses, it's not necessarily because the build sucked, or the execution sucked, but because the opponent may have luckily countered it, or inferred fantasy's intentions correctly. Watch fantasy's TvZ BoX's. He always plays much better than he does in random proleague matches.
EffOrt lost a few games of ZvP back in the fall, which were somewhat unexpected. These losses precipitated his bigger slump. Why did he lose? It's because players (JangBi and free, if I remember) saw that on certain maps, EffOrt was vulnerable to sair/dt. Similarly, EffOrt went 12 hatch a billion times last summer, and so when Calm 9pooled every game and beat him 3-0, it wasn't because the build sucked, or because EffOrt had started sucking at ZvZ. Calm just read him.
Micro mistakes, forgotten upgrades, building placement gaffes ... these are actual mistakes that justify saying a player is bad. When a Woongjin Terran, a Hwaseung Protoss, an SKT zerg, or great play, you can say that they're playing "bad".
***
In the OSL finals, Flash played an excellent Game 1.5, and then an even better Game 2. So where did all of that go in Game 3? Absolutely nowhere. EffOrt played well Game 1, and was outplayed in Games 1.5 and 2. In Game 3, he executed well, and fooled Flash into moving out.
Game 3 was crucial, because after Game 3, EffOrt had the confidence to do something like send his first overlord directly at Flash's BBS. Did Flash somehow lose his ability in Game 4? Not at all. But EffOrt had a huge BO advantage, and he defended perfectly. Game 5? Game 5, I'll concede that Flash played poorly. He didn't block a very predictable zergling runby. Which is to say that he did block it initially, but not well enough. Chalk it up to his mental state.
But did Flash suddenly start playing poorly starting Game 3? Of course not. Both players were extremely well prepared, and it showed. EffOrt just won the mindgames, and thus, the series.
It'd be wonderful if all Flash had to do was play safe, and he'd win every game with his superior mechanics except:
1) There are a few players, EffOrt being one of them who can match Flash's mechanics.
2) Safe play can be exploited if you know it's coming.
When Flash cheeses, or plays mech, it's not because he's bored, it's because these games set up the times when he plays a predictable one rax into expo.
|
Compared to the MSL ZvZ semifinal which was absolutely beautiful beautiful beautiful, this match seemed awfly rofley. Game 1 was a good play by flash, game two was very iffy defense by Effort, game 3 was a rofl-fest, game 4 was a rofl-fest and game 5 was a rofl-fest. Play safe flash! :p And good job Effort for dethroning a king!
|
I knew when he lost that people would make a bigger deal about it than it actually is. Hey, Flash has made 4 final appearances in 2 seasons. He's allowed to lose a few games. He's even allowed to lose a series, as ridiculous as that sounds! Even Boxer, Nada, Savior and Oov were allowed to lose games and even series in their prime
|
I think the nature of the match-up came into play here.
Terran is reliant on composure and tough defence, especially early game. Although Flash is one of the best players of all time he's not unshakable. If you can catch him off guard or trick him then you can unsettle his nerve slightly, that's what happened here.
In Game 3 Flash made an assumption about how many Zerglings Effort had. He made just a slight error and it shook his confidence. To his great credit once Effort had made Flash off balance he maintained the pressure and took the win.
|
effort luckboxed like none other. Flash was careless for two seconds in game three at a time where it shouldn't have even mattered and he wouldn't normally have had to have been careful which lost him the game. Effort's lings just happened to be at the right place.
Then Flash basically threw that next game, trying to cheese with that stupid BBS. It was over from the start. There was nothing interesting about that game, just effort's extraordinary luck in sending his overlord to the cross position.
The last game saw effort abusing the fact that flash would most definitely play safe and standard in the last set. It was a great move that worked out for him.
There was nothing particularly special about this series. The first two sets showed just how great Flash is, the third and fourth showed how a bit of bad luck can completely screw over even the best player in the world, and the fifth set showed once again that Flash can be pretty predictable.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
