EPT
![[image loading]](https://tl.net/staff/BigFan/GomTV_MSL_S3.png)
Having finished watching Daum OSL several months back, I decided to continue my original goal and finished watching GOMTV MSL Season 3 recently. This tournament ran in 2007 and proved to be quite the tournament to boot with lots of old names as well as new ones, an intriguing storyline and good to expectational game quality in some cases. All this to say that it was quite the fun watch! Introduction wasn't as memorable as Daum OSL though. Other than that, this was the tournament where a dark horse came out of left field and defeated all the bonjwas and potential new bonjwas in quick succession leading to a lot of rage across the forums. Not to mention the potential new style of zerg that a certain player was sporting.
Maps:
There were 4 different maps used: Python, Loki II, Zodiac and Blue Storm.
Python - great as usual. The open center, far away corner thirds and the potential to take the "island" top right and bottom left corners all add to its charm. This is a fun map to play on as well as watch games on too and this tournament further solidified this thought of mine.
Loki II - I first stumbled onto this map when I watched an fpv of by.hero against PianO back in 2013. The map seemed really interesting due to its back expansion as well as the narrow center. I also recall watching a really epic back and forth FvJ game on it as well. Granted, it's supposed to be protoss heaven for PvT so there's that to consider, but otherwise, the map is ok overall. I have yet to play on this personally, but I can see myself having a blast here!
Blue Storm - ah blue storm. Yet another wacky map idea that is zerg favoured to my knowledgeable (this apparently changed in a later edition). I've played on blue storm plenty of times in the past and have watched plenty of games on it too prior to this tournament. It's quite the distinct map, but it's also another great map from my perspective.
Zodiac - this map was probably the worst of the bunch for me this tournament. While some games on it were really great and comparable to the best, I just could not get myself to like this map for whatever reason. Maybe it was the vod quality coupled with the white background or the fact that someone's choke can be sieged from a nearby base which is very imba or maybe, just maybe it was too wacky for even me (doubt it), who knows. Maybe my opinion will change if I played some games on it.
Round of 32:
The Ro32 was pretty good overall and was dual tournament format that is quite commonly used in ASL. Only difference is that it's all Bo1, instead of Bo3s. We had the odd TvT groups and some groups which featured a lot of big names. Granted, not every group had the best games possible, however, there were a lot of really cool games and stacked groups that deserve mentions.
Group A - a stacked group in iloveoov, Bisu, Flash and NaDa. One thing I learned in this tournament was that Flash was still the cheddar Terran haha. Trying to biorush Bisu on python then he eliminated NaDa with a BBS on Blue Storm before losing to Bisu on Loki II. Bisu got his revenge folks! XD
Group B - mostly a protoss group with a lone zerg. The highlight of the group had to be Nal_Ra's games against the zerg, Orion on Blue Storm. The building placement was really well thought out, I was impressed.
Group C - mostly notable for seeing Light's control in his game vs GoRush in the winners' group as well as him somehow winning against carriers in TvP. TheManiaMST eliminating GoRush I believe was unexpected, but not out of the realm of possibilities.
Group D/F/G - was pretty forgettable group overall aside from some interesting strategies used in Yellow vs Canada in both the first and the finals' match in group D. The same can be said for groups F and G which were all Terran groups. The TvTs that I managed to watch weren't bad though and were a good watch for anyone who likes heavy TvT action.
Group E - had Savior who many fans wanted to see go far and get another chance at beating Bisu in the finals. Highlight of this group was his game vs Sangho on Blue Storm. A long 30min+ macro game where both players kept pushing the other with Sangho eventually going mass dark templars with his mass corsairs to try to grab the win.
Group H - final group and had one of the most memorable TvZs in the whole Ro32. Kwanro was on the rise this MSL and many were surprised to see him dispatch lots of decent players. His winners' match vs JulyZerg was interesting due to the dynamic of the game and seeing JulyZerg winning from a position that seems really disadvantageous. Kwanro's final game with Sea went for the long game on Blue Storm as Sea's SK Terran went up against the ultraling(+defilers eventually) of Kwanro. Both players really gave it their all in an endless struggle and control kept switching all the times. A must watch imo!
Round of 16:
The Ro16 was the elimination round with 2 players facing off in a Bo3 to determine who advances to the quarterfinals. This led to some really fantastic back and forth series and upsets by newer players.
Mind vs iloveoov - I can't say enough good things about this series. Yes, it's TvT but knowing that iloveoov was a participant should say enough. The games were long, really long and featured different strategies. What was amazing was seeing how each player adapted to the other or went for risky strategies. Mind coming out of nowhere and eliminating iloveoov much to the dismay of his fans was pretty big to see. While it's true that iloveoov was probably not 100% at the time, you don't get that lucky against a bonjwa and the win was well earned.
July vs TheManiaMST - this series was all I needed to see regarding July. I felt like I understood his God of War moniker with the way he took his engagements against TheMania. It's just too bad that he ended up getting eliminated in 2 straight games. TheMania was solid in game 1, but not spectacular while game 2 was a 1 base 3 rax acad bust that July never scouted in time for a quick exit.
Free vs Lomo, light vs Kwanro, Nal_rA vs ForGG and Stork vs Savior were all pretty forgettable aside from several things: Kwanro beating Light 2-0 in a really bizzare game on Blue Storm where Kwanro kept losing drones to Light's wraith harassment. ForGG getting disqualified in the final game of his series vs Nal_rA despite his risky chosen strategy being almost 100% lock for a win aside he attempted a return cargo banned bug with his SCV to scout inside Nal_Ra's main. Finally, Savior trying a proxy hatch at the mineral only of Stork and it failed miserably lol.
Bisu vs Hwasin - this was one of the most enjoyable series of the Ro16. Probably because of the history of the two that I'm slightly aware of (Bisu beat Hwasin with scouts in Daum OSL and called him insurance). What was really cool to see was how Bisu defied expectations after he competely destroyed Hwasin's push on Python which was somewhat described in the TL LR community at the time as being strong (read: unstoppable?). Would definitely recommend this series for any TvP/PvT fans.
XellOs vs Canata - another TvT, but seeing Canata with his ~90% winrate in TvT losing to XellOs who despite being one of the TvT revolutionists alongside Goodfriend, seemed to have been struggling prior to this MSL was great. I read about him lowering himself to the B team to practice harder and it showed. Down 0-1 to Canata, XellOs ended up taking the last 2 maps in pretty dominating fashions with their python game being the most memorable in this series.
Quarterfinals:
Compared to the rest of the tournament, the quarterfinals didn't feel as back and forth. The first series of Mind vs TheManiaMST was mostly Mind utilizing his units better and just having better awareness than the TheMania who made many mistakes in later games. This lead to a score of 3-1 in Mind's favour. In comparison to Mind vs iloveoov, it felt lacking in awe-ness.
Likewise, free vs Savior was just Savior beating up on free aside from a single win with another 3-1. Bisu beat up on Kwanro with a 3-0 win blocking a large ling attack on Loki II while things concluded with XellOs vs Nal_rA where XellOs was clearly superior in their series. Poor Nal_rA fans. Granted, I feel like I get the dreamer moniker here as well considering one of the games was him planting a pylon then gateway in XellOs' natural then planting another two gateways in the back of the main on Blue Storm.
Semifinals:
Mind vs Savior - Going into this series, many had a hard time believing that Mind will beat Savior considering Savior's ZvT while not at its peak was still one of the best. Mind was also still an unknown having coasted on his TvT until now. It seemed like his road was going to be cut short. Alas, Mind would disappoint many of Savior's fans as he went 3-2 winning their final game on Blue Storm. The series itself was a lot of fun to watch especially when you consider the expectations on either side. The games were really solid and had everything from a BBS which almost worked (you can't cheese Savior was the saying) to a guardian lurker defense on Blue Storm by Savior that was cool to see. Mind earned some fans, but a lot of posters were mad after the win.
On November 09 2007 23:35 fanatacist wrote:
Everyone is bashing Mind for beating Savior... But you must realize that you are all like intrigue on IRC. This is the summary of that conversation:
intriguesomniac: MIND SUCKS
FanaBatHero: No he doesn't. It's not like Mind sucked every game and just stole wins from Savior.
intriguesomniac: But savior wasn't playing to his fullest!
FanaBatHero: That doesn't take anything away from Mind, because he performed well even if Savior for some reason did not. You can't say that Mind sucks and Savior just messed up and it would never happen again, like it was some sort of accident. Mind has skill.
intriguesomniac: Mind sucks for beating Savior
And I think that last underlined statement is what summarizes your feelings. It's not his actual skill level which sucks terribly (be honest - he's good. Even a slumping Savior would be hard to beat. Sure he has his flaws, but he's new, too!), it's the fact that everyone hates him for beating Savior and therefore he MUST suck.
As for "no-name" players beating such prestigious titles as "The Maestro," do you think no one started off at the very bottom and rose to the top? How many people really liked Savior when he just emerged as ipxzerg and started winning his games? Even Boxer must have gotten some of this hate as a "no-namer" that won tournaments way back in the day. It's a fact that "no-name" players evolve to become the Maestro, the Revolutionist, the Emperor, so on and so forth.
So everyone who posts ignorant statements like "MIND SUCKS AT SC LOL" or "i hate deez noname players T_T dey sux nd beet da best," get a reality check. The no-names of today are the leaders of tomorrow. And everyone who blindly classifies anyone who got to MSL semi-finals and beat Savior as a "one-trick pony," could be in for a rough awakening. Not every victory to a person who has lower or even non-existent stats is a fluke, not every rising unknown is a flash in the pan. Wake up.
It's okay to be upset that one of your favorite players is slumping, is losing, and losing to newer players. It's okay to resent the man that smited the king off his throne. But this is the MSL semi-finals. Don't take anything away from that player in terms of achievement or skill, because if you do, you just have your head up your ass.
This doesn't go to everyone who has posted, obviously. Just my 2 cents.
Everyone is bashing Mind for beating Savior... But you must realize that you are all like intrigue on IRC. This is the summary of that conversation:
intriguesomniac: MIND SUCKS
FanaBatHero: No he doesn't. It's not like Mind sucked every game and just stole wins from Savior.
intriguesomniac: But savior wasn't playing to his fullest!
FanaBatHero: That doesn't take anything away from Mind, because he performed well even if Savior for some reason did not. You can't say that Mind sucks and Savior just messed up and it would never happen again, like it was some sort of accident. Mind has skill.
intriguesomniac: Mind sucks for beating Savior
And I think that last underlined statement is what summarizes your feelings. It's not his actual skill level which sucks terribly (be honest - he's good. Even a slumping Savior would be hard to beat. Sure he has his flaws, but he's new, too!), it's the fact that everyone hates him for beating Savior and therefore he MUST suck.
As for "no-name" players beating such prestigious titles as "The Maestro," do you think no one started off at the very bottom and rose to the top? How many people really liked Savior when he just emerged as ipxzerg and started winning his games? Even Boxer must have gotten some of this hate as a "no-namer" that won tournaments way back in the day. It's a fact that "no-name" players evolve to become the Maestro, the Revolutionist, the Emperor, so on and so forth.
So everyone who posts ignorant statements like "MIND SUCKS AT SC LOL" or "i hate deez noname players T_T dey sux nd beet da best," get a reality check. The no-names of today are the leaders of tomorrow. And everyone who blindly classifies anyone who got to MSL semi-finals and beat Savior as a "one-trick pony," could be in for a rough awakening. Not every victory to a person who has lower or even non-existent stats is a fluke, not every rising unknown is a flash in the pan. Wake up.
It's okay to be upset that one of your favorite players is slumping, is losing, and losing to newer players. It's okay to resent the man that smited the king off his throne. But this is the MSL semi-finals. Don't take anything away from that player in terms of achievement or skill, because if you do, you just have your head up your ass.
This doesn't go to everyone who has posted, obviously. Just my 2 cents.
Bisu vs XellOs - In comparison to the series against Nal_rA, many felt XellOs underperformed, but I don't personally see it that way. In their first game on Zodiac, XellOs had an advantage for sure, but he respected Bisu's skills and didn't push out earlier when he should've imo. Bisu had some strong pushing himself which might've been the factor. Unfortunately, that helped Bisu get his gears going for the rest of the series. The second game was a ballsy bio push by XellOs which failed. The followup biomech transition was great, but fighting against reavers, storms and even dark archons is futile sadly. Third game was a 2 fac from XellOs that Bisu couldn't defend. Then Bisu closed out the series on close positions Python with a dark templar dropped that did a lot of damage! Gotta say, this comment from the LR gave me a good chuckle:
On November 11 2007 05:29 teamsolid wrote:
What the hell was boring about those games? Every single game turned out completely different, with each player doing totally different builds. There wasn't even any of that carrier auto-win games where you haters usually complain about.
If Xellos couldn't handle a DT drop, it's his own fault for poor micro. It could've turned into an epic game just like game 3 of Bisu vs Hwasin, but Xellos just couldn't handle the pressure. I don't remember Hwasin having the same problem now did we? In fact, Hwasin turned Bisu's build choice into a disadvantage, but Bisu still miraculously pulled off the win with his raw skill.
Frankly, I'm so much more pissed about Savior's loss to Mind than this result, which was pretty much expected IMO.
Be sad about Xellos' loss all you want, but Bisu's play was just fucking art.
What the hell was boring about those games? Every single game turned out completely different, with each player doing totally different builds. There wasn't even any of that carrier auto-win games where you haters usually complain about.
If Xellos couldn't handle a DT drop, it's his own fault for poor micro. It could've turned into an epic game just like game 3 of Bisu vs Hwasin, but Xellos just couldn't handle the pressure. I don't remember Hwasin having the same problem now did we? In fact, Hwasin turned Bisu's build choice into a disadvantage, but Bisu still miraculously pulled off the win with his raw skill.
Frankly, I'm so much more pissed about Savior's loss to Mind than this result, which was pretty much expected IMO.
Be sad about Xellos' loss all you want, but Bisu's play was just fucking art.
Finals:
Ah the finals. People were so confident that Bisu will win that we got these kinds of comments haha.
On November 17 2007 13:49 HonestTea wrote:
The odds of Mind winning are smaller than the odds of:
- Nada beating oov
- My vintage adidas Top Tens suddenly walking off on their own
- Monkeys sprouting wings and taking over a small country
- New York City turns out to be a sentinent being and announces that it will run as Democratic candidate for the 2008 presidential election, only to withdraw when the media uncovers a sordid sex scandal with Nantucket
- Jennifer Connely and Personified TL.net Bot flying over to Seoul to convince HonestTea's girlfriend that group sex is totally awesome and all they need is a guy.
The odds of Mind winning are smaller than the odds of:
- Nada beating oov
- My vintage adidas Top Tens suddenly walking off on their own
- Monkeys sprouting wings and taking over a small country
- New York City turns out to be a sentinent being and announces that it will run as Democratic candidate for the 2008 presidential election, only to withdraw when the media uncovers a sordid sex scandal with Nantucket
- Jennifer Connely and Personified TL.net Bot flying over to Seoul to convince HonestTea's girlfriend that group sex is totally awesome and all they need is a guy.
Suffice to say, Mind's timing attacks were scary good and on point throughout the whole series. The first game on Zodiac which is linked below probably had some of the most insane mine hits and Terran holds I've seen in a long time. The only game that Mind lost was a game where Bisu proxied a gateway and followed it up with a dt push. Mind decided to go into bio to take out the proxy+Bisu's army, but his detection was late and his army was measurably smaller by the time the dark templars walked into his main to win the game.
Final thoughts: Seeing Mind go through iloveoov, Savior then Bisu was just great. He did it all in his first major tournament appearance. Despite the fact that the MSL has no royal roader like OSL, this is essentially the equivalent. It's too bad that Mind never went as far in future tournaments to my knowledge and even in the post-kespa era, he had a single tournament win and at best, a quarterfinals appearance in ASL.
will you be recapping more tournaments?
thanks for the link regardless!
