[Spoilers] OSL Semi-Final thoughts

Mind over mechanics you say ? I say Mechanics and mind over mind

Stop assuming players with excellent mechanics cannot match players with excellent mind in the mind department. It's the other way around; players with excellent minds cannot match players with excellent mechanics in the mechanics department, due to obvious physical restrictions. For me this series were considered to be the final, as a JvZ final against Yarnc - whom is good of course, but has no experience at this stage, will most likely be a onesided rape.

This post will mostly cover thoughts around the players, the first two games of the final, as the last two were far too onesided, and in my humble opinion quite meaningless to discuss. Only the psychological aspect around those two matches would be somewhat interesting, but regardless, I think game 2 broke fantasy, while game 3 was the nail in the coffin.

Let me start with Jaedong. Jaedong is an incredible player.
I no longer have any doubt that he is the most complete player in this age. I've never been a fan of him, but I've always admired him for his hard work, and been amazed by his play ever since his breakthrough two years ago. How can you not like this guy ? In his interview after the series he gave so good, and honest answers I could not help to think that this is a true champion, and a great person which made me respect him even more.

"I believe that the concept of the Bonjwa is just talk from an earlier period and I will just maintain my abilities until I reach my last days as a gamer."
- Words of Wisdom, by Jaedong.

He has the micro, macro, ability, mentality, game-sense, effort, drive, decicionmaking skills,etc. Jaedong doesnt battle his opponent, he is battling himself. Jaedongs work ethics have already been documented plenty of times, and that he has managed to deliver the results that he has in perhaps the longest year for a progamer ever deserves great respect. To put it in perspective, Jaedong has almost 5 pages of matches in the TLPD the last year. Oov had 3 pages in his most dominant year(october 2003~october 2004). He is about to complete the most impressive season ever seen in modern times. Quarters in GOM, semis in MSL, two finals in PL(WL included), and an OSL final. The first player to own the curse so thoroughly since NaDa back in Shinhan3, and with a possibility to be the third golden mouse winner, and the first serious contender for a possible platinum mouse(5 OSL wins). Did I also mention an oppurtunity to be the first back-to-back OSL champion since Boxer ? The gods will not be happy if Jaedong doesnt win this OSL. If he were to end up with no titles this season, I think every starcraft fan can agree that it would be bloody unfair. This please

Then there is Fantasy. A player who didnt stand out as an exceptionally gifted player early on in his career like for example Jaedong, or NaDa, but yet a player who understands the game more than most progamers. Yes he has a great coaching staff, and yes I attributed alot of his early TvZ success to iloveoov, but he should no longer be considered a "pure strategist", who has average mechanics. At first I only respected his TvT, but he has proven to be as good, if not better in TvZ, and most definitely in TvP.

Fantasy has improved alot in the past 10 months. When he was meching as never before against Zerg I was ridiculing his bionic TvZ, pointing out his awful M&M and vessel control. He has come a long way since that, and the first game from the PL final vs Jaedong, and his two first games in this final illustrates my point. His M&M control has vastly improved, eventhough he still loses many vessels. Then again he was playing Jaedong who is the best vessel killer of all time.

Still he wins the two first mentioned games comfortably, never really looking threatened. The last game - the 2nd game in the final, he also looked very good, and I was greatly impressed by his multitasking, dodging scourges with dropships, running around with his main force, irradiating stuff, all while maintaining a steady solid macro. He was everywhere, and it smelled victory again.

Is Jaedong a human afterall ? Yes he can make errors and misclick, believe it or not. In game 1 in the final we saw glimpses of this with his partly unsuccessful flanking of fantasys forces in the center of the map. I also saw something Id never seen from Jaedong before. He was throwing down TWO dark swarms on the same spot. Twice. One close to his entrance, and one in the path leading to his third. This is uncharacteristically for a player who has thrived on his defiler abilities in this matchup. Was it a sign of nerves from the Dong, or was it a simple error which could have happened in any game ? I think the former, due to the mistake being repeated in game 2, this time also outside his natural. I watched the match and was amazed at how many times Jaedong was cought out of position. Slowly I could see this face becoming more and more a reality :

Then the imbalance that is Jaedong tuned in and outmuscled him in the end, but Fantasy put up a very good fight. For Jaedong this game was a massive confidence-booster, while for fantasy it must have felt heartbreaking. He was playing so well but it just wasnt enough. Saying it was the mere fact that Jaedong opted to go hydra/lurker/filer instead of the standard guardian-defiler-ultra pattern that has become mainstream, as the sole reason for Jaedongs win is ludicrous. This was only a part of the reason Jaedong won. You could feel Jaedong focusing really hard on making correct decicions at every moment trying to drag the game as long as possible, never making any foolish attacks.

When he canceled his eggs on his ramp at 1 o'clock, was a great moment which showed that Jaedong was going to play as efficient as possible, always running away from unwinnable battles. Normally Jaedong wouldnt have cared and probably just let those lurkers finish because "obviously I'll have units there in time to save them". He took no chances, even trying to run away with those cornered lurkers beneath the cliff to the 1 o'clock natural. No doubt auto-pilot Jaedong was off, and his victory was hard earned through not only excellent mechanics, but through carefully calculated decicions. And this concentration
[image loading]

So what does it say when we look at their reactions after each game ? Obviously when they are losing, they are both professional enough to watch the replay afterwards, and "see what went wrong". Or were they ? When Fantasy loses game 2, it does not take a long time before he leaves his box to go back with Oov. Now this is a sign of weakness, and I think Jaedong might have noticed that. Is fantasy merely saying "I was outplayed, because he has better mechanics than me, theres no point in watching this replay." ? I think that by saying this he fuels Jaedongs confidence, which one could see was diminishing after the first game, and then reappearing at the end of second game.

Fantasy should by no means accept that "I lost because he had better mechanics", eventhough this was the case. Theres no reason to go to Oov, and ask for some sort of an explanation from him, because he knows the truth as well. And eventhough he is probably smart enough to fabricate another reason for the loss it wont help if Fantasy does not believe him.

My point isnt that fantasy is dependant on his coaches, or weak mentally, but that he has to go into a match knowing he is the better player, and not run to his coaches after a loss. Going to your coaches after a win is an entirely different thing. When Jaedong sees Fantasy running to his coaches after losing it boosts his confidence.

A small rant: The liftoff after the 4pool is reason enough to root for Jaedong alone. THIS DOES NOT MENTALLY AFFECT JAEDONG OR "TIRE" HIM, IT ONLY MAKES YOU LOOK SILLY, AND STUBBORN. ALSO IT FORCES AN ANTI-CLIMATIC GG THAT IS HORRIBLE FROM A SPECTATOR VIEW.
[image loading]

Thanks to ghostwriter for his translation of the interview with Jaedong, and for risingdragoons interesting post about Fantasy, and his coaches influence.

[Spoilers] OSL Semi-Final thoughts

Completed

Ongoing

Upcoming