• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 08:21
CEST 14:21
KST 21:21
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach5[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8
Community News
SC4ALL: II SC2 Complete Invited Player Lineup3StarCraft II 5.0.17 PTR Patch Notes (Sept 30, 2026)65Weekly Cups (Sept 21-27): herO and ByuN double2Weekly Cups (Sep 13-20): herO scores triple3BSL Season 2314
StarCraft 2
General
StarCraft II 5.0.17 PTR Patch Notes (Sept 30, 2026) How do you feel about the mass reverts in the 5.0.17 PTR? Awesome/Confusing SC2 BM SC4ALL: II SC2 Complete Invited Player Lineup [Old] StarCraft 3 Reportedly in Development
Tourneys
Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament 2026 GSTL Grand Finals Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) SC2 INu's Battles#21 [ 3-Days tournament ]
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Sweltering Sands [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 545 And Drops and Rifts Mutation # 544 Double Trouble Mutation # 543 Enhanced Defenses
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion BSL Season 23 Bot on ladder ASL22 General Discussion JaeDong's ASL S22 Ro. 8 Review
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro8 Day 4 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL22] Ro8 Day 3 [ASL22] Ro8 Day 2
Strategy
Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Replay Review Process - What do you do? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Total Annihilation Zero
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25! Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Artificial Intelligence Thread
Fan Clubs
Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
[ASL22] Ro4 Day1 Ticket Giv…
bITt.mAN
Escaping Into Video Games: G…
TrAiDoS
38 yo Retired SWE loo…
PurE)Rabbit-SF
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Regacy Esports:Our Goa…
regacyesports
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 14415 users

[Spoilers] Thoughts on MSL Finals

Blogs > konadora
Post a Reply
1 2 3 Next All
konadora *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Singapore66365 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-01-23 14:40:19
January 23 2010 14:31 GMT
#1
As I began my one hour journey back home, I slowly thought about how the finals could have been better handled.

And imo, they were more or less handled the best they could have been.

Let's begin with the key issue that trigger all the nerdrage in the LR thread. Flash was applying consistent pressure on the key 7 o'clock dual-gas expansion with his 2-2 MnM force, while Jaedong was on four gas and was slowly pushing Flash back. Flash was just about to start his mineral-only expansion. At this moment, the power fails and later on, after analysis by KeSPA, the game was given to Jaedong.

Now, many people posted about how there should have been a rematch. I, too, at first thought about a rematch. But then as I slowly calmed down and collected my thoughts, I felt that KeSPA made the best possible decision they could.

What they did was:
- Didn't ask players for opinions
- Analysed the VOD right til the moment of crash (not the replay)

I believe that their decision was a wise one.

Flash would probably have wanted a rematch because he would have believed that he would be able to take down the 7 o'clock soon. Also, what if he had dropships (which we would never know due to the non-existence of a replay) and was able to take down the 3 o'clock expansion? What if Jaedong forgot to make defilers and due to poor positioning, lost all his ultras? What if Flash then slowly made his comeback from there? You get my point.

Jaedong, on the other hand, would not have wanted one. His defiler usage is excellent, and being on four gas at that moment, he would have been confident in being able to fend off the pressure on 7 o'clock, as well as any other attempts by Flash to shut down his other mining expansions. Nydus canals were also placed down, which makes counting this possibility out rather unreasonable. Furthermore, he was ahead in terms of upgrades (while Flash was on 2-2, Jaedong's ultras were on 2 attack, 5 armor. Flash also had very little vessels for a 2-port SK Terran).

Logically speaking, Jaedong is the obvious winner, but for KeSPA, it isn't really that easy. If both players were to argue their case, what would KeSPA then do?

Go for a rematch?

Or not?

Either way, there will be talks of favoritism, which will further stain this already tainted MSL (as well as KeSPA, which was notorious for making rather brainless decisions). Hence, I believe this was the right move by the referees. If replays were available then it would have been much easier to come to a decision for which everyone would agree on, but since all players, observers and referee in the game were disconnected (although this makes me wonder, wouldn't there be the LastReplay auto-save? Or does it get corrupted?), we can't do much about it.

Well of course, KT couldn't just sit back and watch their young boy being handed out an automatic loss without fighting til the end. It's Starcraft, who knows what might happen? Did we know TT would lose to sAviOr on Neo Requiem 5 minutes into the game? I think not. Same went for game 3 of the clash between these two titans.

KT reportedly went to contest KeSPA's decision, which they felt was unfair. With KeSPA saying no, KT's coach, staff and the entire team decided to walk over, dragging Flash along.

This led to the insanely long dragging of time. The poor commentators had to consistently think of new lines for almost 2 hours as people tried to get Flash back to playing. MBCGame had to constantly run commercials to fill in the blank time so as not to create chaos in the studio (although with mobile internet, this might still have happened anyway). We may not know what was on Flash's mind at the period of time (I have yet to check Fomos or Daily eSports), but there would be no doubt that this would have negatively affected Flash as he was stuck between the option of continuing the series as he's down 1 game "unfairly" (once again, this may change according to Flash's thought at that moment) and the option of just walking over in protest - something that just screams "no sportsmanship".

We may not have seen the actual Flash in the 4th game. Sure, most of his games on Fighting Spirit involved going standard opening (no 8rax, etc) and winning with sheer mechanics and may blame the decision made in the 3rd set for Flash's choice of build order in the fourth, but I think regardless of the outcome in the third, Flash still may have gone for 8 rax - a mindgame he was willing to play against Jaedong.

However, you can definitely notice some hints of Flash's concentration dropping, for example when he let Jaedong's ling get past his natural, check his main and giving away the fact that he was going 2 rax academy. The Flash on EVER 2009 OSL wouldn't have let this happen. Who wouldn't when you have:

  • Your father raging so hard that he had to be escorted out?
  • Your entire TEAM decides to make you walkover
  • You were just given a loss for a game you may have been able to win


Jaedong went on to simply outplay Flash in the fourth game, similar to the third game (though in the fourth set, Flash did seem to play slightly worse) and was crowned the winner of the Nate 2009 MSL.

From today's games, I feel that Jaedong deserves this title. Then yet again, questions flow into my mind.

"What if Jaedong won the third set after fighting it out to the end instead of being given a free win that left a bitter aftertaste on both players? Would Flash have chosen another build for Fighting Spirit? How greatly would that have affected the results today?'

"What if MBC was able to prevent this?"

These questions will forever remain unanswered, and I rest tonight with a bitter thought. How should I say this...

It's like going to a prestigious restaurant and having a meal of your life, but not without having a nasty encounter that left a bad impression on the place nevertheless. Something like that I guess.

*****
POGGERS
nttea
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
Sweden4353 Posts
January 23 2010 14:36 GMT
#2
pretty much agree with this. Goddamn that was the worst power outage ever
raga4ka
Profile Joined February 2008
Bulgaria5679 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-01-23 14:49:34
January 23 2010 14:41 GMT
#3
I'm gonna copy my own comment from the other thread .....

So the way i see it Kespa giving JD the win was the better decision . So the one who fucked up the series is not Kespa but MBC of course and to a good degree KTF and Flash's dad ? They raged out and started going berserk at the Kespa referee , when the more sane approach should have been just cheering up Flash and telling him to not lose focus on his next game .

It's unfortunate that Flash had to go through all that , but Jaedong's win is as legit as they come .....
29 fps
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States5725 Posts
January 23 2010 14:44 GMT
#4
if there had been a replay, would that have been better or worse?
4v4 is a battle of who has the better computer.
Marine50
Profile Joined September 2007
Australia1764 Posts
January 23 2010 14:44 GMT
#5
Would of been an epic game if this didn't happen
IRIS FIGHTING!!!
EvoChamber
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
France2505 Posts
January 23 2010 14:45 GMT
#6
Thanks kona, you're refreshingly sane.
That's not awful writing, DAMMIT. It's perfectly sensical english construction.
win8282
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Korea (South)454 Posts
January 23 2010 14:47 GMT
#7
Agreed... given the unfortunate circumstances, I think this was the best Kespa could do.

But yeah. Shitty fucking power outage.
konadora *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Singapore66365 Posts
January 23 2010 14:52 GMT
#8
On January 23 2010 23:44 29 fps wrote:
if there had been a replay, would that have been better or worse?

I believe it would have been better

We would get to check what was going on both players' base at that point of time, whether Flash was going to get another expansion, was his upgrades almost done to 3-3, was he getting dropships, etc etc.

My point is that the results would have been much easier to come to a conclusion to, and with hard and concrete evidence at hand, both parties would be satisfied with the outcome.
POGGERS
Xxio
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Canada5565 Posts
January 23 2010 15:02 GMT
#9
On January 23 2010 23:52 konadora wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 23 2010 23:44 29 fps wrote:
if there had been a replay, would that have been better or worse?

I believe it would have been better

We would get to check what was going on both players' base at that point of time, whether Flash was going to get another expansion, was his upgrades almost done to 3-3, was he getting dropships, etc etc.

My point is that the results would have been much easier to come to a conclusion to, and with hard and concrete evidence at hand, both parties would be satisfied with the outcome.


His upgrades were already 3-3, but yeah, replays are good lol
KTY
JWD
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States12607 Posts
January 23 2010 15:04 GMT
#10
As far as I can tell, this is the meat of your argument for awarding the game to JD?

Either way, there will be talks of favoritism, which will further stain this already tainted MSL (as well as KeSPA, which was notorious for making rather brainless decisions). Hence, I believe this was the right move by the referees

Useful post for someone who wants a recap of the events, but I think your position is pretty conclusory :/
✌
JohnColtrane
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
Australia4813 Posts
January 23 2010 15:23 GMT
#11
here's my opinion:

i don't think there is a totally fair solution to the problem. although it would definitely be unfair to call for a rematch when jaedong had the advantage, i think it would be even more unfair to give flash a loss
HEY MEYT
konadora *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Singapore66365 Posts
January 23 2010 15:25 GMT
#12
On January 24 2010 00:02 Xxio wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 23 2010 23:52 konadora wrote:
On January 23 2010 23:44 29 fps wrote:
if there had been a replay, would that have been better or worse?

I believe it would have been better

We would get to check what was going on both players' base at that point of time, whether Flash was going to get another expansion, was his upgrades almost done to 3-3, was he getting dropships, etc etc.

My point is that the results would have been much easier to come to a conclusion to, and with hard and concrete evidence at hand, both parties would be satisfied with the outcome.


His upgrades were already 3-3, but yeah, replays are good lol

I couldn't really tell, it seemed like 2-2 in the VOD

On January 24 2010 00:23 JohnColtrane wrote:
here's my opinion:

i don't think there is a totally fair solution to the problem. although it would definitely be unfair to call for a rematch when jaedong had the advantage, i think it would be even more unfair to give flash a loss


But then again, giving a rematch would be even more unfair to Jaedong than Flash. Kinda unfortunate for this to happen.
POGGERS
Hamster1800
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
United States175 Posts
January 23 2010 15:27 GMT
#13
If I were jaedong in this situation, as soon as the game ended I would probably agree to a rematch if the kespa referees asked me. When the referees instead just announce a win, I would take it, probably a bit surprised, and then expect game 4. But then instead I have to wait an hour while KT just argues with the referees. After that hour, if kespa asked me if I wanted a regame, I would say no immediately. It's one thing to be about even in the game, it's another thing to waste an hour of my time.
D is for Diamond, E is for Everything Else
fallingdream
Profile Joined December 2004
Romania452 Posts
January 23 2010 15:27 GMT
#14
I'm sorry but this blog post reeks of JD fanboism.

The decision to award someone a free win in a final is NEVER a good decision. The game ends when GG is typed and only then, everything else is re-game. We've seen much much bigger comebacks.

konadora *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Singapore66365 Posts
January 23 2010 15:29 GMT
#15
On January 24 2010 00:27 fallingdream wrote:
I'm sorry but this blog post reeks of JD fanboism.

Sorry but I'm not a Jaedong fan.
POGGERS
NarutO
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
Germany18839 Posts
January 23 2010 15:33 GMT
#16
On January 24 2010 00:27 fallingdream wrote:
I'm sorry but this blog post reeks of JD fanboism.

The decision to award someone a free win in a final is NEVER a good decision. The game ends when GG is typed and only then, everything else is re-game. We've seen much much bigger comebacks.



No one said it was a good decision, but it was the right one. Forcing Jaedong to play a rematch would be way more unfair.
CommentatorPolt | MMA | Jjakji | BoxeR | NaDa | MVP | MKP ... truly inspiring.
13ThirtySeven
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
99 Posts
January 23 2010 15:36 GMT
#17
GG MBC for making the players play in a virtual studio for no reason and not being able to prevent the blackout.
JohnColtrane
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
Australia4813 Posts
January 23 2010 15:47 GMT
#18
On January 24 2010 00:25 konadora wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 24 2010 00:02 Xxio wrote:
On January 23 2010 23:52 konadora wrote:
On January 23 2010 23:44 29 fps wrote:
if there had been a replay, would that have been better or worse?

I believe it would have been better

We would get to check what was going on both players' base at that point of time, whether Flash was going to get another expansion, was his upgrades almost done to 3-3, was he getting dropships, etc etc.

My point is that the results would have been much easier to come to a conclusion to, and with hard and concrete evidence at hand, both parties would be satisfied with the outcome.


His upgrades were already 3-3, but yeah, replays are good lol

I couldn't really tell, it seemed like 2-2 in the VOD

Show nested quote +
On January 24 2010 00:23 JohnColtrane wrote:
here's my opinion:

i don't think there is a totally fair solution to the problem. although it would definitely be unfair to call for a rematch when jaedong had the advantage, i think it would be even more unfair to give flash a loss


But then again, giving a rematch would be even more unfair to Jaedong than Flash. Kinda unfortunate for this to happen.


that's true, but the other option is giving the game to jaedong which imo is the most unfair solution of the two. its either nobody wins this set OR somebody is given the win
HEY MEYT
konadora *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Singapore66365 Posts
January 23 2010 15:51 GMT
#19
On January 24 2010 00:47 JohnColtrane wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 24 2010 00:25 konadora wrote:
On January 24 2010 00:02 Xxio wrote:
On January 23 2010 23:52 konadora wrote:
On January 23 2010 23:44 29 fps wrote:
if there had been a replay, would that have been better or worse?

I believe it would have been better

We would get to check what was going on both players' base at that point of time, whether Flash was going to get another expansion, was his upgrades almost done to 3-3, was he getting dropships, etc etc.

My point is that the results would have been much easier to come to a conclusion to, and with hard and concrete evidence at hand, both parties would be satisfied with the outcome.


His upgrades were already 3-3, but yeah, replays are good lol

I couldn't really tell, it seemed like 2-2 in the VOD

On January 24 2010 00:23 JohnColtrane wrote:
here's my opinion:

i don't think there is a totally fair solution to the problem. although it would definitely be unfair to call for a rematch when jaedong had the advantage, i think it would be even more unfair to give flash a loss


But then again, giving a rematch would be even more unfair to Jaedong than Flash. Kinda unfortunate for this to happen.


that's true, but the other option is giving the game to jaedong which imo is the most unfair solution of the two. its either nobody wins this set OR somebody is given the win

I was thinking about the possibility of ignoring the third set and adding on another map instead, then I realised that the map pool isn't big enough, players would have only practiced according to the given map order and etc.
POGGERS
Neobick
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
Sweden208 Posts
January 23 2010 16:03 GMT
#20
The best thing would be to forget this entire event, post-pone the finals one month and take it from there.
Use the force.
1 2 3 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Online Event
20:00
BamsPatch 1.0 Weekly #3
Liquipedia
CranKy Ducklings
19:00
Sea Duckling Open #150 (SHIN Mod Edition)
CranKy Ducklings120
CranKy Ducklings SOOP40
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Lowko287
SHIN 169
ProTech135
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 30067
Hyuk 1441
Shuttle 1318
Bisu 1271
Mind 356
Mini 296
Larva 268
EffOrt 259
firebathero 239
Soma 201
[ Show more ]
Last 128
ZerO 122
Leta 87
Zeus 75
Hm[arnc] 72
Pusan 67
Hyun 59
Trap 38
Killer 34
hero 33
Sexy 32
Bale 31
PianO 28
sorry 28
Aegong 24
ToSsGirL 24
Noble 15
yabsab 14
zelot 14
JulyZerg 9
Sacsri 8
ajuk12(nOOB) 5
Dota 2
Dendi1121
Gorgc1102
qojqva934
XcaliburYe490
XaKoH 386
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor1506
Other Games
gofns39949
singsing2552
B2W.Neo1060
crisheroes323
Happy301
DeMusliM227
Mew2King113
Livibee112
ToD93
ArmadaUGS43
ZerO(Twitch)9
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream180
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 61
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 8341
League of Legends
• Jankos1811
Other Games
• WagamamaTV217
Upcoming Events
FEL
3h 39m
AI Arena Tournament
4h 39m
BSL: Ladder Tournament
6h 39m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
21h 39m
INu's Battles
23h 39m
herO vs Classic
Percival vs Rogue
BSL Open Qualifier
1d 6h
BSL Open Qualifier
1d 6h
Replay Cast
1d 11h
Afreeca Starleague
1d 21h
Rush vs Light
WardiTV Weekly
1d 22h
[ Show More ]
Monday Night Weeklies
2 days
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
Soma vs Soulkey
INu's Battles
2 days
SHIN vs Cure
ByuN vs Zoun
PiGosaur Cup
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
INu's Battles
4 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-10-02
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Calamity Invitational

Ongoing

ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Acropolis #5 - GSB
Copium Cup
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSC
BSL Season 23
SC4ALL II: Brood War
BSL 23: Non-Korean Championship
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Custodian Cup
eXTREMESLAND 2026
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.