EPT
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Having watched EVER OSL back in 2020, it was now time to watch the next tournament, GomTV MSL S4. This MSL ran back in 2008, from January till March, and featured a lot of the best players at the time. Games were pretty high quality overall. What follows is a general overview of the tournament, but there was one thing that I decided to do differently this time around.
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I decided to cast the games myself! This meant that I was more focused on the games than usual. It was a pretty fun experience, and I grew to appreciate the level of play even more. Above all, I could feel the highs, lows and all-in-between, but I'll leave that for you guys to decide: playlist
Maps:
There were 4 different maps used: Katrina, Loki II, Zodiac and Blue Storm.
Katrina - I don't think I'll ever get tired of this map. I personally really love the map layout and the inbase expansion as well as how wide the main is. I've played on it several times in the past, and have seen many pro-games which showcased a lot of different strategies.
Loki II - Another spicy, albeit 2 player map, with a back expansion with less minerals. The middle with a choke is similar to Blue Storm and Sin Peaks of Baekdu. Games have been interesting on this map previously. Though it was heaven for Protoss, I can't help, but still feel that it's interesting overall. It's somewhat like Crossing Field which was played on in a previous ASL, with slightly different symmetry and middle too.
Zodiac - A large space tileset map with a huge open center and island bases that can be taken. While my hatred of this map has decreased from the previous season, I still prefer either of the other three maps to this one, even though there have been some really interesting games played on it.
Blue Storm - One of my favourite maps of all time for some odd reason. The version of BS played during this tournament was the older version, which meant minerals at the expansion were closer to the edge making strong muta play tough to deal with. Nonetheless, Blue Storm is Blue Storm and I'll always enjoy watching games on this map.
Round of 32:
Dual tournament format with 2 players advancing from each group, for a total of 16 players from 8 groups (group A to H). Keep in mind that it's all Bo1, rather than Bo3. All in all, the games had a lot of back and forth action, and were really fun!
Group A - Mind/NsP_Zerg/Sea/ZerO
An all Terran and Zerg group. This group was soooo good to watch and cast for many reasons, not including the fact that we got all TvZ games! This part was amazing. The games showcased different strategies, including lots of lurkers, and crazy Zerg which was getting discussed as being heavily imbalanced and hard to deal with back in 2021, so it was nice to see how the pros from back in the day handled it (a bit different strat, but concept is same overall). When the dust settled, only the terrans advanced.
Group B - Jaedong/Bisu/July/Yellow[arnc]
Two superstars in JD, our EVER OSL winner, and Bisu, our MSL winner. Then you add in two other great zerg players, and this group could've been nuts, if only Bisu didn't end up being eliminated in last place in his best matchup by Yellow[arnc] lol. Jaedong showed really really solid gameplay, staying strong against Bisu's relentless aggression in their only game on Blue Storm.
Group C - Anytime/KaL/Ruby/sAviOr
On the one hand, this is another stacked group from my perspective. On the other hand, the protoss, Anytime and KaL were the main highlights of this group. Savior didn't play as well as one hoped, and Ruby's defense wasn't as good as it should've been against his protoss counterparts. The last game shows this perfectly, as Ruby tried to go for a third on Blue Storm while having a hard time defending against reaver harass due to KaL's fantastic micro!
Group D - JangBi/XellOs/Hwasin/Firebathero
A Protoss with 3 Terrans, must've been a dream for JangBi and he sure delivered! JangBi's opener vs XellOs on Zodiac was reminiscent of Bisu vs Hwasin on this same map, where carriers played a big part of winning the game. Ironic that we are seeing a lot of 2 base carrier in PvT nowadays in ASL, because carriers in large number with strong micro are insane to beat! XellOs was unfortunately unable to stand toe to toe with his Terran brethren, and it was Hwasin and Firebathero who stole the show with an epic game on Katrina that almost involved nukes!
Group E - UpMagic/Luxury/fOrGG/Memory
This was honestly quite the forgettable group. Only game that was interesting was the Luxury vs fOrGG game on Blue Storm where fOrGG did a nice proxy factory opening. Rest was nothing to write home about.
Group F - Shine(name)/Light/GoRush/Nal_rA
This was a fun group, not only because it had the dreamer, but because the games were pretty high quality and we saw some unique strategies. Nal_rA's game against Shine(game) on BS was probably the highlight here, with him cannon-ing up Shine after a proxy gateway opener. In the end, however, the legends of old were eliminated with Shine and Light advancing to the next round.
Group G - Flash/Orion/iloveoov/free
Having an old Terran legend and an upcoming Terran meant this group was a must-watch. Albeit, Flash and Orion managed to advance, though free did put up a good fight while iloveoov was eliminated by Orion on Blue Storm due to the muta -> guardian strategy that was employed. Fun group, especially Orion vs free on Katrina.
Group H - Kwanro/Nada/Canata/SangHo
Not much to say on this group, aside from the fact that Kwanro topped this group, and Nada played some crazy games to advance. The game vs SangHo on Blue Storm with biomech, and the long game against Canata on Loki II that involved battlecrusier were so so good to watch. Tornado Terran in action!
Ro16:
The elimination round with Bo3 series, so lots of planned builds and mind games at play. Interestingly enough, half of this round ended up being mirror matchups, notably TvT:
Light vs Sea - a nice TvT between 2 strong players is the best way to describe it. Sea did manage to grab a win, but Light was the eventual victor in this bout.
KaL vs Kwanro - Kwanro has been making a name for himself since the GomTV MSL S3 where he beat some notable players, and has been doing great this tournament. On the other hand, KaL was a pretty decent protoss player who showed that he can PvZ by beating some Zergs and having a really good PvZ winrate. While Kwanro put up a good fight, KaL ended up sweeping him 2-0 showing some strong gameplay.
JangBi vs Orion - As good as Jangbi's PvT was, his PvZ was something like 25% so against an opponent who had a higher ZvP winrate, this was a tough series. While all the games were entertaining, JangBi's double probe hit squad in the deciding match on Loki II was the stuff of genius. Scouting the in-main second hatchery and preparing for a ling flood was huge to help him seal the win!
UpMagic vs July - sadly, this was quite forgettable. I expected much more from July, but it felt like he kneeled over and just died at what UpMagic was doing, which was pretty sad since his aggressive style is interesting to watch. Trying to bust a meching Terran on Katrina is prime example of this. Granted, UpMagic played really well by forcing the response through a vulture runby. All in all, this series could've been much better.
Jaedong vs Luxury - if you are interested in seeing prime JvZ, this is the series. Both players had pretty insane ZvZ winrates, with Luxury coming into the series with a 75% winrate if memory serves. And yes, Jaedong dominated Luxury by reading every single move that Luxury was throwing his way. I believe their Blue Storm game is a prime example of this, and for a ZvZ, this was quite entertaining.
Flash vs Hwasin - Flash was becoming known for his strong gameplay as he slowly shed his cheddar terran title and he would showcase yet again just how strong of a TvTer he was by trouncing all over Hwasin's Terran on Blue Storm and Loki II. Loki II was a bit better for Hwasin, but he was outplayed overall.
Nada vs Anytime - Man, this series was a nail-biter. After losing the first game on Katrina to dark templars with goon support, it felt like Nada was going to go out 0-2 against Anytime, but our Terran held out against the Protoss in amazing fashion and managed to win quite the thriller in the last game.
Mind vs Shine - another good TvT series that saw Mind win 2-1; was mostly forgettable.
Quarterfinals:
Bo5 series with 2 PvTs between well matched opponents, a TvZ between two players who will become rivals in future tourneys (FvZ), and a TvT series to close things off.
Light vs KaL - Considering the fact that Light is considered to have only understood TvP in the post-KeSPA era after his triumph over Rain in KSL4 finals, the fact that he managed to grab a game off KaL is great in and of itself. In the grand scheme of things, however, this was bad since Light would get knocked out as KaL showed that he can PvT really really well. Fun series overall nonetheless.
JangBi vs UpMagic - Up against a master at PvT, UpMagic had his work cut out for him. Despite trying some rather "interesting" builds, aka, biomech close spawns on Zodiac, UpMagic found out the hard way that JangBi is more than capable of defending against his strategies. Even normal mech play was not enough, though the back and forth dance between the two players in the final game was quite something!
Jaedong vs Flash - Was really hyped to watch this series and man did it deliver! FvJ always does. Considering all the games this tournament, I think this was one of the best series macro-wise. The endless bio army, the constant back and forths, the decisions and strategies, it was all so so great. Flash put up a great fight against Jaedong, but alas, it was Jaedong who took this series 3-1 to knock out Flash and advance to the semifinals. I think if there's one series to watch this whole MSL, it was this one! It's really too bad that Jaedong's level of play is no longer there nowadays, but at least we all know what he was capable of in his prime.
Nada vs Mind - How I wished that Nada would make it to the semifinals. The best Nada could do was manage to grab a single win from Mind, who looked quite formidable in this series. Not much else to say other than the fact that Nada at least made the Ro8 which is quite the high finish considering his history, and this lend credence to his consistency.
Semifinals:
Bo5 series with a PvP and TvZ series.
KaL vs Jangbi - Despite KaL actually having the better PvP winrate, Jangbi took this series to a decider, where KaL managed to beat him in quite the thriller. For PvP, this was a really great series overall.
Jaedong vs Mind - Prior to 2008, there was a series run by OGN where the OSL winner plays the MSL winner, and while I don't believe it was being organized anymore at this time, this was the closest we were going to get to it. Jaedong, the EVER OSL champ against Mind, the GomTV MSL S3 champ in the best matchup in BW (in my humble opinion). I was expecting a slugfest to the likes of FvJ, but aside from the first game which Mind grabbed due to a proxy rax, Jaedong made short work of our aggressive Terran to seal his fate!
Finals:
Jaedong vs KaL, another PvZ finals following the Jaedong vs Stork, PvZ finals of EVER OSL. There was one thing that was quite different though, Jaedong's ZvP has been tested against Stork and he emerged victorious there. He was no longer a player who coasted on his other matchups, he was becoming known for his PvZ as well.
Think of it this way. Jaedong's image has become that of a strong-willed player with no apparent weaknesses. How can he be beaten? On KaL's side, however, was his own insane winrate, 75% in PvZ and he's beaten several good Zergs this MSL too. This was going to be far closer and likely more interesting than anticipated.
Game 1 starts on Blue Storm, and KaL is playing some amazing starcraft, taking it to Jaedong and winning a long macro game against the Tyrant. You would think this loss would affect Jaedong, but then you get the next game on Loki II where Jaedong seems completely unfazed by his previous loss and takes the game using hive tech units; defilers, ultras, lings and lurkers. Game is quite reminiscent of his BS game against Stork with the same late game composition.
Fast forward to the third game on Katrina, and Jaedong does a fantastic job circumventing KaL's army to attack his main and expansion while beating back KaL's main army with some nice micro, including a beautiful shuttle into reaver snipe. Finally, we get into Zodiac, a map that is favoured for Zergs according to stats, and it seems like Jaedong has finally gotten into the groove because a pack of several zerglings manage to sneak near KaL's expansion at 7 o'clock, outside of cannon range, and get 7 probe kills. All the while, Jaedong gets his mutas out and kills the lone cannon guarding the main. At the mercy of insane muta micro, including lots of probe and high templar snipes, KaL concedes defeat, and Jaedong grabs the championship!
Final thoughts: While this MSL may not have been as memorable as some of the other tournaments, the game quality was pretty high and a lot of the series were quite the nail-biters. Nada making it to the Ro8, Flash getting another high level finish, Jangbi making the semifinals, Mind making it to the semifinals before beating defeated by the eventual champion, KaL making the finals to set up PvZ finals back to back. Of course, the biggest story this MSL was definitely Jaedong. Coming fresh off his EVER OSL win mere months back, Jaedong beat the best players in each of the matchups to win this tournament and grab his second title.
Whether this is when he got the nickname, the legend killer, is beyond my knowledge, but one thing was quite certain: Jaedong has arrived!
