So i had a bad day...

Part 1

Part 2

Pusan vs Casy

They both fell to better opponents. Pusan was no contest for his zerg teammate July, and his semi-final lasted a mere 30 minutes. So, for the second straight OSL season, he finds himself in the 3rd place battle, looking to avoid a trip to the Dual League. In his way stands Casy. Using the tag Really[Alive], Casy took oov to the brink in their semi-finals, staging an impressive comeback after dropping the first two games. However he was unable to finish the job in the final game. The third seed is extremely valuable, so lets see who walks away with the prize.

Game 1: Cultivation Period

Pusan (@6) opened the game by sending his probe directly to the middle of the map and making two proxy gateways. Casy (@3) started the game by sending his scouting scv directly to the middle of the map to find the gates. Casy was able to block his choke with a depot and was safe for the time being, while Pusan teched to dark templars. Pusan tried several times to break the choke of Casy, but he was unable to get the defenses down. Casy was playing it very safely, getting detection and simply massing from his factories. As a result, Pusan’s expansion was much earlier, and it would be almost 10 minutes before Casy could expand himself.

However, while Casy might not have been an economic powerhouse, he had been massing without losing any units for quite some time. When he finally emerged from his base, his Nada-like army pushed straight south towards Pusan’s main. Casy was finally able to take his natural, but in the meantime Pusan had expanded to 3 and dropped four stargates.

With an incredibly strong push knocking down his natural, Pusan essentially fled his main, and reinforced 9 going all out for carriers. Casy handled Pusan’s original camp, and then brought his tanks to 9 where he was met by carriers. Despite the air from Pusan, Casy plowed ahead with his army, doing as much damage as possible and preventing Pusan from being offensive with his carriers.



Casy presses his tank attack on Pusan, regardless of the air attacks…

As the end game closed in, Pusan had massed up 8 carriers and had shut down Casy’s expansion. His micro was excellent, and with all the buildings on cultivation period the terran goliaths were unable to make direct runs. Casy tried to expand to 12, but he was consistently denied by Pusan’s air. Casy never did get back on the offensive as the carriers wore down his forces and economy.

Pusan 1:0 Casy

Pusan played this pretty smart, abandoning the mined out base and tech, and taking the gamble to hold 3. Casy played really well after a very slow start, but was just unable to keep an economy going.

Game 2: Rush Hour II

The second game of the series opened with Pusan at 7 and Casy at 3. Amazingly for these two players both of them built their initial buildings in their mains. Pusan expanded after two gate goons and a robo, while Casy played very conservatively building an ebay, multiple turrets, and an academy while expanding himself.

Neither player engaged each other early, and Pusan showed shades of his old self, dropping down gates into double digits and frustrating his opponent with mass units. As Casy built up his army, he attempted to move out the top of the map, and then out the bottom. However each time he mobilized, there was a large goon/zeal force waiting for him. He was having a lot of difficulty crossing his bridges, as Pusan was willing to throw his entire army at him just to stall him.



Pusan throws his army at Casy every time the terran makes a move to cross the bridges of Rush Hour II


Finally, Casy managed to escape his third of the map, but by this time Pusan had more expansions and gateways up, as well as two starports warping into 9 o’clock. Pusan showed his first two carriers, but then reverted back completely to a land army after Casy started producing goliaths. As Casy mined from the 1 o’clock position, Pusan simply attack moved wave after wave of troops, until his forces could no longer hold.

Pusan 2:0 Casy

This was the Pusan from last season. No proxy gates or sneaky reavers here. Pusan power expanded, and then macroed. The commentators call this style Pusan’s “Spirit” style. It is in reference to his cruel spirit that sends masses of units to their deaths, because he can always just make more. He obviously learned the obless PvT style from FA.


Game 3: Ride of the Valkyries

Already up 2-0, Pusan was looking strong heading into the third game. RoV opened with Pusan in the west and Casy in the east. Pusan started with a gateway, and then a core… right outside the terran ramp. Casy blocked his ramp, but the dragoons emerged very close to home and the pressure was immediate. As Casy battled to hold his ramp against a zealot and dragoon combo, Pusan was teching to dark templars in his main. As the block depot fell, Casy scrambled to rebuild with multiple depots. However, Pusan broke through, cleared the path of mines with a goon, and then let his templars in for the slaughter.



Casy lays down two more depot’s in an effort to block out the invisible ninjas…


Amazingly, after losing vast resources, buildings, scv, supply, tanks… everything… Casy saved his base from the templars using only mines. However, it was a long ways back as he had barely seen the inside of Pusan’s base. As he finally got an army together and expanded, Pusan simply repeated his game two tactic and attack moved a huge army into the minefield and tank fire. Pusan lost incredible numbers of troops, but he also made incredible numbers of troops. Casy knew he was headed for the Dual league, and typed GG.

Pusan > Casy three games to none.

It was a really dominating performance by Pusan in this series. Casy was put on the defensive all the time, and never really launched a successful attack other than the first big push in game 1. Pusan also showed the world that his macro spirit was not gone, and that he was able to play a different kind of game when he wanted to.

Here is an interview with the winner Pusan, translated by HonestTea, as always, thank you very much



- You clinched a seed for the next OSL
▲ It's great that I don't have to go through the Dual Tournament. Last time, the Dual Tournament was so tough. In ODT, there is so little time between games that your body gets tired and you can't play to your best. I didn't make it to the finals this season, but I'll make sure I do next OSL.

- POS has 3 out of the 4 seeds.
▲ POS is in the process of becoming an elite team, a team that won't lose to anybody. We're looking to do well in the upcoming Proleague and individual league qualifiers and take that last step.

- You showed a lot of strategic play.
▲ I spent a lot of time thinking about strategy. In the Shinhan OSL I didn't get to show my Spirit often, and I could hear the fans complaining. I was a little dissapointed about it too. So I strategized to show it again for the 3rd place match. Game 1 was hectic, but starting from Game 2 I think I displayed my spirit again, so I'm satisfied.

- Your record is improving.
▲ I think I can say that my skill has gone up. The more games I play, it's very hard on my body but I do gain a lot of experience. Starting this April I'll be in both major leagues, so I'm even busier after the offseason. I trust I will get better the more I play.

- How will you manage both major leagues?
▲ I'll take care of my body over the offseason to get ready for next season.

- How was your semifinals with July.
▲ I was gutted because I had prepared so much only to lose so easily. We know each other's style so well, and July took advantage, while maybe I was trying to think too much. By losing 3:0 I didn't get to play to the fullest of my ability. I still say that PvZ is my best matchup, but I could hear people doubting me since that loss. I'll take my next zerg game as an opportunity to show what I'm capable of.

- Goals for next season?
▲ I'm winning the whole thing no matter what. I'll answer with my results.

--------------------------

Take it easy,
Manifesto7

This is the story of Park Ji Ho, known to us all as Pusan the beloved attack ground Protoss.



A Special Gamer

His macro makes jaws drop. His strategies set him far apart from others. Right now when we look at Park Ji Ho (Pusan) in top form, we see that the next generation Protoss players are doing more than their part.

When asked about their goals, all progamers state in unison “to win.” However, Park Ji Ho is different. It seems he has even bigger, more important priorities.

To understand the guy, one does not have to travel too far into the past. Renowned for his great appetite, I managed to lure him into a buffet to converse for a couple of hours.

He would even choose Starcraft over religion.
One summer holiday during his school years, a young Ji Ho followed his friends to a PC-Bang. It was as if he had been introduced to a new world. As someone who had been playing out on the playgrounds all his life, grasping a keyboard and a mouse and studying the screens on a monitor became his newfound passion.

Everyday he desperately wanted to play Starcraft. However at home he wouldn't dare to even hint at the idea of playing games. His parents naturally wanted him to work hard and find a fulfilling vocation. He was freely allowed to go out for study, whereas even a mention of going out to play got him a lot of beatings.
Park Ji Ho eventually thought up a cunning plan.
'Mother I’m going out to study at the local temple.'

The possessor of a very special brand of macro was special from the start. Had there ever been someone who chose a computer game over religion?

A regional representative Park Ji Ho

Still a school kid, Park Ji Ho earned the reputation as the best in the Junpo district of Pusan after a year of playing. He had come a long way since the times he managed to beat his very friends who introduced him to the world of Starcraft.

He decided there was no one who posed a worthy opponent and traveled to every PC Bang to face the best of each district within his region of Jingu.
Fortunately at the time Starcraft competitions were incredibly popular in his local area, and Ji Ho even won a Money Map competition in an anonymous PC Bang. This $50 he earned was his very first taste of success, as a gamer.

The Bewildering Broadcasted Debut

Even after entering the later stages of his school education, his passion for the game were far from subsiding. He played consistently and searched for the paths to becoming a progamer. However he was yet to find any.

Seeing his struggle, one kind friend scoured through the e-sports association homepage and collected the email contacts of all progaming managers. Here, he was accepted for a trial from the Plus manager, who was in a desperate need for players, having seen eye to eye with the desires of Park Ji Ho.

During the trial games, he beat all Plus members and impressed his manager to no end. In only 3 days he was able to participate in the MBC Team League for his team. His first game was a monumental win against a certain Bertand (Elky) of Hexatron, displaying an unusual play style in doing so.

Events after Plus

Having moved to POS after a turbulent time with Plus, he was fascinated by the newcomer called Oh Yung Jong (Anytime) Watching him, he felt many things.

Recalling the times he used to be like a younger brother, trying very hard alongside him, though now they had become an oppositions, he was very happy every time he watched Oh Yung Jong's strong performances.
He was especially moved during the Dual Tournament final when he found that many of Yung Jong’s strategies and build-orders were his very own.

He now claims that, when watching Oh Yung Jong, instead of thinking “My, he has improved a lot!” he is rather surprised at his talent. One of his brother-like teammates had now become a personal rival. He did not feel insulted when Yung Jong was teasing him that he would beat him. Instead it felt good.

Park Sung Suk(Reach) and Park Yong Wook(Kingdom), Lim Yo Hwan (Boxer) and Choi Yun Sung (iloveoov), Hong Jin Ho (Yellow) and Jo Yong Ho(Chojja)...
All great players had rivals. Park Ji Ho himself now considered Oh Yung Jong a rival and became determined to compete.

Thoughts of his parents and looking back

In truth, the situation at home was always difficult. His parents who wished him to study than play games worked very hard to support his studies. His father worked as a street cleaner and his mother sold snacks at the local market to scratch together a living to raise their son. When Ji Ho asked for a computer so that he could “study” they worked determined to get him one.

On the topic of his parents, the mighty Pusan was lost in solemn silence. He lied so that he could play the game he loved and persistently hassled them for a computer. True, he was young and naive back then, however right now he is full of regretful thoughts and finding it difficult to compose himself in midst his thoughts.

That is why he will send his first month’s pay immediately to his parents, every last penny of it.

This is his only goal.



Every step a progamer takes is yet another step further into the fog. Fighting!

-Translated from FiFo by Fireblast

even though pusan loses;

Canata vs Pusan -> @ iStation Dual Tournament 2006?

Group B: (19/07/2006)
Yellow[Name](Z)<815 III>GGPlay(Z)
Pusan(P)<815 III>Canata(T)
Winners
Losers
Final Game

Fall from the big leagues
After entering Shinhan 1 OSL as the third seed, Pusan went 0-3 in a tough group for any protoss. Boxer, using his psychic powers (similar to the time he dodged the stop-lurker against yellow) predicted Pusan's fe -> dt build without scouting and rushed an academy for fast scan. It was only a matter of time he was scanning to victory. He also lost to Shinhwa on Peaks of Imbalance (old Peaks) and JJu on the PvZ hell Sin Pioneer Period.

Rising star
Canata carries on the proud SKT terran legacy following on from Boxer, Oov and Midas. Often Boxer has proclaimed Canata to be the next big thing; mostly due to the fact that Canata has the highest win rate in the SKT team ladder. Many fans, thus, are expecting big things from this relatively new face on the scene. He has fought his way from from the offline qualifiers to get to ODT stage 2, and perhaps this will be his chance to shine.

How it went down

Game 1 - YellOw[Name] (Z) < GGPlay (Z) @ 815 III
Game 2 - PuSan (P) > Canata (T) @ 815 III
Winners - GGPlay (Z) > PuSan (P) @ Sin Pioneer Period
Losers - YellOw[Name] < Canata (T) @ Sin Pioneer Period
Final - PuSan (P) vs Canata (T) @ Rush Hour 3

The final battle would be between these two great warriors - this is their game;

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

+ Show Spoiler +

Despite pusan losing, this is still one of my favourite games. Pusan's arbiter use throughout is simply amazing, and his comeback is inspirational. This game heavily influenced my style in the way that i have used arbiters heavily after watching this vod. There are many moments where it seems that pusan simply cannot hold it, yet, somehow he does - miraculous. Regardless, i was pissed off when Canata went 0-3 in his OSL group, denying the sexiness of Pusan's play in Shinhan S2