EPT
The best part of the best tournament
Just like some guy once wrote in a GSL Hype ranking (I'd dig it out if I weren't lazy), 2012 GSL Season 4 was the most insane season ever. The hype was through the roof, in part because Rain had apparently learned how to own Terrans really easily, in part because Mvp was once again in a GSL semi-finals, in part because Liquid had a player in the semis, but mostly - for me, anyway - because Life was in the semis. The enlightened few already knew that he was the best player in the world, but to our great surprise, many people didn't:
+ Show Spoiler [FOOL] +
On October 10 2012 12:22 Walitgon wrote:
I feel Taeja will roflstomp Life for two main reasons:
(a) Life's enormous choke against Happy in the GSTL shows that, beyond ling-baneling, he has some serious control and decision-making issues. Undoubtedly he is an amazing player but one bad muta or infestor engagement can cost him the game. The way that Keen played out that game is similar to how I think Taeja plays v Z (and not how MarineKing tried to play against Life).
(b) Taeja will very unlikely die to early aggression from Life. He's amazing at holding early aggression and loves to turtle on three bases which is basically a hard counter to producing early speedlings.
I expect the games to sort of go as follows:
(a) Early-game: some early battles with both players trading evenly;
(b) Mid-game: continued engagements as 3rd and fourth bases are taken
(c) Pre-late-game: Life tries to transition to infestor/Hive because he requires more cost efficiency as the game becomes split-map
(d) Taeja maxes on four bases and hits before a sizeable Hive army can be massed and crushes for the victory.
I feel Taeja will roflstomp Life for two main reasons:
(a) Life's enormous choke against Happy in the GSTL shows that, beyond ling-baneling, he has some serious control and decision-making issues. Undoubtedly he is an amazing player but one bad muta or infestor engagement can cost him the game. The way that Keen played out that game is similar to how I think Taeja plays v Z (and not how MarineKing tried to play against Life).
(b) Taeja will very unlikely die to early aggression from Life. He's amazing at holding early aggression and loves to turtle on three bases which is basically a hard counter to producing early speedlings.
I expect the games to sort of go as follows:
(a) Early-game: some early battles with both players trading evenly;
(b) Mid-game: continued engagements as 3rd and fourth bases are taken
(c) Pre-late-game: Life tries to transition to infestor/Hive because he requires more cost efficiency as the game becomes split-map
(d) Taeja maxes on four bases and hits before a sizeable Hive army can be massed and crushes for the victory.
+ Show Spoiler [Haha] +
On October 10 2012 17:13 Corrosive wrote:
IMO i hope Taeja wins solely because MVP/Rain vs life would be a stomp i think
IMO i hope Taeja wins solely because MVP/Rain vs life would be a stomp i think
Come on
In general, the Liquid hype overshadowed just how well Life had played up to that point, as people were very eager to bring up a sole GSTL game against Keen where Life didn't look very good and build an argument around it. The fact that a community of otherwise fairly intelligent individuals would favor Taeja over Life was a little disappointing to me, but I counted the seconds until more people would see the light. Would it be an easy 3-0 for Life, or would Taeja manage to snag a game with some kind of exquisite cheese? Questions, questions.
Poll: Most epic finals?
TaeJa vs. By.Rain (228)
45%
Mvp vs. TaeJa (155)
30%
Life vs. Mvp (72)
14%
By.Rain vs. Life (54)
11%
509 total votes
Mvp vs. TaeJa (155)
Life vs. Mvp (72)
By.Rain vs. Life (54)
509 total votes
Your vote: Most epic finals?
(Vote): TaeJa vs. By.Rain
(Vote): Life vs. Mvp
(Vote): By.Rain vs. Life
(Vote): Mvp vs. TaeJa
Well I suppose misclicks do happen
I admit that I was a little worried about Rain. Life's ZvP, though good, was less reliable and had brought him much trouble in the past. I was fairly convinced that he'd still be able to win a finals against Rain, but I cheered for Mvp in hope that it would maximise Life's chances in the finals he would inevitably make it to.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/SQGU6Hu.png)
The only match easier to call than this one was every time Life played a Prime Terran
While Artosis and Tasteless discussed who was favored in the match and why, they failed to note one key thing: Life's win rate on the first three maps was 100%.
How many maps do you need to win a Bo5, you ask? THE ANSWER IS THREE.
The first match on Abyssal City represented the hopes and dreams of all Liquid/Terran fans everywhere. Instead of going for the standard hellion build, Taeja quickly threw down 3 rax in an effort to repel any ling aggression before the mid-game. Playing non-standard is cool and all, but it's not going to help you if you DON'T RAISE YOUR DEPOTS. Which, unfortunately for Taeja, he didn't.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/GCwVVeg.png)
Pictured: exactly what you want to not happen
To be fair, Taeja actually managed to deal some pretty severe damage to Life across the map as a bunch of marines (and SCVs for whatever reason) walked into the natural and killed a bunch of stuff. It wasn't enough, however, as almost all of the SCVs died on their way back to base, interrupting Artosis mid-sentence as he was about to explain why Taeja might still be in the game.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/QdO92hH.png)
Take that, Artosis
On October 10 2012 20:20 Qwerty85 wrote:
If Life wins this, than I am 100% certain Mvp is 5x gsl champion.
So gogo Life!
If Life wins this, than I am 100% certain Mvp is 5x gsl champion.
So gogo Life!
I have some bad news for you
The way the match played out was, in my opinion, what solidified Life's position as a top Zerg in the eyes of the general community. People weren't exactly happy with the way most Zerg match-ups played out at the time, with BL/Infestor gaining popularity and aggression slowly disappearing from Zerg match-ups. Life changed all that as he played a completely different style, and did it really freaking well - arguably better than other Zergs played their own, safer styles.. Taeja might've been the best TvZ player in the world going into his semi-finals against Life, but he really didn't look like he was ever going to take the series, though he did play well in the individual games. It really didn't help the Terran fans that Life somehow made things work in situations he logically shouldn't be able to deal damage - be it through forcing mistakes or through annoying harassment, every opponent - Taeja being no exception - looked like a complete fool against it.
On October 10 2012 20:33 speknek wrote:
i dont get it.. failed cheese, stupid as fk ling attack into bunker and hellions, mutas with 0 harassment dmg, and still absolutely destroys the battle with 1 amove :/
i dont get it.. failed cheese, stupid as fk ling attack into bunker and hellions, mutas with 0 harassment dmg, and still absolutely destroys the battle with 1 amove :/
You seem mad. Are you mad?
To me, Life's series against Taeja (and in some part also against Marineking) was a series that showed an alternate style in a match-up of otherwise somewhat lacking in innovation. A little like Bisu's series against SaviOr, though obviously a little less impactful as other players were unable to replicate Life's style efficiently.
Still, October 10 was one of last year's most exciting days of Starcraft 2, and I hope Blizzcon can match all the hype and excitement the Season 4 semi-finals brought, even though Life won't be playing.
) and I really hope he gets another championship soon. 
