EPTThe game today? GoRush vs NaDa. 2005 Iops OSL Semi Final Game 3. Dream of Balhae. This is one of my favourite VODs ever. A 45 minute hide and seek between the Genius Terran and the Magician of Management, both at the top of their game, constantly trading expansions displaying breathtaking macro and micro. But most of all, this game had an awesome STORY behind it.
In the 2003 You Are the Golf King MSL that had concluded only a week before this OSL showdown, NaDa and GoRush had in total ELEVEN games together. First GoRush lost out 3-2 to NaDa in the winner's bracket final. Then having stormed through Xellos (3-0) in the loser's bracket final, he had his sweet revenge by beating Nada 4-2 in a truly epic Bo7(last of its kind) series. Among these 11 games featured some unforgettable moments; the medic wall (the amazing game on Luna), the 2 vult drone massacre, the mutalisk vs goliath elimination game. People then thought they had stretched the ZvT match up to its limits. They thought wrong.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Carnac/yrtgksummary/gorush.jpg)
GoRush in his prime, the only zerg to serve a threat to Nada's TvZ in the pre-savior era
A few weeks later, here they are again, in yet another hyped up semi-final. The momentum firmly in GoRush's hands, the scoreline reading 2-0. I remember chatting to my friend online who had gone to see it live after the game, he said he bumped into a smiling GoRush going for a bathroom break during the 'half-time-break' when he was leading 2-0. After 45 minutes of stale-mate, the vessel numbers mount and despite his best plague+scourge efforts GoRush has to tap out after seeing his last hydra army decimated in a ball of nuclear sludge. 2-1. Probably one of the most excruciating GGs GoRush had ever had to type in his career. It was game on for Nada.
![[image loading]](http://image.fighterforum.com/showImage.asp?realFile=FFPHOT20050219003206005.JPG)
Relief~
And game on it was. Nada advanced 3-2 to the finals, where he met the other monstrous in-form Zerg- July. However he dispatched mr tushin with surprising ease to top off a largely uneventful Starleague. Furthermore for the first time after a semi-slump it placed Nada on top of the Kespa rankings, with Gorush and July close behind. (This period was dominated by these three, Gorush taking the MSL, July narrowly taking the KT-KTF premierleague- in a final vs Gorush and Nada taking the OSL) However Nada's miraculous comeback alone for me makes the Starleague one of the most memorable ones firmly imprinted in my memory.
[I'd insert a picture of Nada being his metrosexual Gryffindor-cum-inducing self but I can't find any, the links from previous threads are too old, so this'll have to do
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/FireBlast/IOPS_WIN.bmp)
If anyone remembers the Iops Starleague opening, it is infamous for the incredibly homosexual boxer and yellow stand off pose.
Iops OSL introduction for reference.
Of course Boxer vs Yellow rivalry provided further excitement and intrigue, extending from the 3:0 bunker rush controversy in the previous OSL where Boxer managed to bunker rush Yellow on the Dream of Balhae- an island map- lol! However the real story of this OSL was Gorush vs Nada, two monstrous players with their own unique playing styles on a rampage towards glory. Unfortunately since then these two have not met in an offical game. The records remain in Gorush's favour, 10-9.
This is one of the many things I find lacking from the over-commercialised progaming scene of late; exciting, consistent rivalries between two charismatic, skilled players that provide for some timelessly awe inducing games. I'm keeping my fingers firmly crossed for a Mantoss-Gorilla showdown at some point...
Off to sleep now. It's already tomorrow.
good read , i'll be sure to catch up on some of these vods sooner or later --;;
