Terran Lineage

Slugbreath

Sweden201 Posts

December 09 2009 22:46 GMT

The time has come my fellow Terrans to rally to a new banner. In unity lies strength; already many of the dissident factions have joined us. Out of the many we shall forge an indivisible whole capitulating only to a single throne. And from that throne, I shall watch over you.

Much has happened since Arcturus Mengsk proclaimed himself leader of the Terran race. Battles have been fought left and right and with the tide of battle constantly changing, new innovations, strategies and tactics have been formed to ensue the continuous victories of the Terran race.

But what is the present if not a result of the past? What are the innovations of today if not a continuum of the innovations of yesterday? So lets stop here for a while and look back, shall we? Look back all the way to 1999 and the empire that Mengsk left us with. Who stood up and fought? Who brought fear into the heart of Protoss and crushed the relentless swarms of the Zerg?

Let's look back and see.

Disclaimer:
Since I am new to observing the proscene (read: since about june), I have missed a bit of StarCraft's history, say 10 years or so...! Thus, this list is how I have interpreted the Terran lineage from reading on (mainly) Teamliquid and watching VODs. I can not stress enough that I was not watching the scene back in the day and that I thus do not -know- who was significant and who wasn't.

If you think that I have missed somebody important from this list or that somebody is superfluous, please state so in a response and list why somebody should be added or removed.

I'm trying to sort them in chronological order but, once again, my knowledge is only based on what I can read online, so it might be incorrect. Please help me get it right.

Second disclaimer:
While I know that people like [GG99]Slayer and SsamJang did contribute a lot to the developement of Terran, they were racepickers and not strictly Terran players. That's why they haven't been included. I am willing to change this, however, if you can tell me how they affected Terran play.

Third and final disclaimer:
This article was inspired by the much better writing of Marencielo. Check it out!

Also, check out the fantastic writing of FrozenArbiter.

So without further ado, here's the people I have on my "notable" list so far:

[B-Blade]Leader

You know that going mech against Protoss is rather standard? You know how using vultures isn't a surprise to anyone? Well, such wasn't the case once upon a time and Leader is one of the reasons why that changed.

St.Eagle

St.Eagle showed us that we could use buildings to block the path of troops at our choke point so that marines can shoot from behind the buildings without being hurt. Walling in was born.

Maynard

The art of constantly building workers and then transfering them to expansions is these days, without a doubt, standard play. This process is called Maynarding after its innovator, Maynard.

TheMarine

The "By-the-book" Terran was one of the best terrans back in the days and went on to become a very popular commentator. He didn't play very originally nor innovative, but darn it he was good.

SoulKey

The SK Terran is a TvZ style of play that focuses on lots of Science Vessles with Irradiate to tackle Defilers and Lurkers. SoulKey was the innovator of this. Before his SK Terran, that was later perfected by other players, tanks were the way to go.

Oddysay

While I don't know a lot about Oddysay, I know that he was pretty good back in the days. Perhaps somebody can help me with more info about this guy?

SlayerS_`BoxeR`
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Any list of important Terrans wouldn't be complete without the Emperor himself being on the list. BoxeR has brought so many innovations to StarCraft that it's almost ridiculous. However, the most notable is his use of the Dropship that was radically different from what was common back then.

V-Gundam

V-Gundam invented the Gundam rush (also known as the Bamboo rush) that in the earlier days of StarCraft crushed quite a few Protoss foes.

Sync

Say hello to the creator of the Sparks Terran build that aims at breaking a Sunken Colony line by pumping from three early barracks, skipping a factory. The sunkens went down so fast that their destruction animations combined into what looked like fireworks or sparks, thus the name.

XellOs
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XellOs revolutionized TvT with his more mobile gameplay and changed the TvT matchup from a siegeline stalemate to one where the terran army moved around a lot more.

JoyO

While technically being a racepicker (he played PvT on island maps), he is most remembered for being the creator of the JoyO rush that caused a lot of trouble to Protoss players back in 2003.

NaDa
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The Tornado Terran is the most sucessful StarCraft player of all time and his vulture control is that of legends. His spot on the list is a given.

iloveoov
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BoxeR's pupil iloveoov is, together with players like Reach and maps like Luna, is a major factor to why StarCraft has shifted to a much more macro focused game than before. He macroed so hard that he always seemed to have more troops than what was probable, giving him the nickname "Cheater Terran".

Casy

Casy was called "The Neo Emperor" for his innovative play that was reminiscent to BoxeR. It gave him an OSL title in 2006. His TvZ was impressive.

Midas
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Midas was "raised" by iloveoov and was a monster at TvP, proudly carrying the Terran banner on!

Goodfriend

Goodfriend had a rather agressive style of play with double factory dropship builds against Protoss.

Iris
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Nicknamed the "Berserker Terran", Iris is known for being a very agressive player and was a presence to be reckoned within OSL, especially back in 2007.

Flash
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Flash probably needs no introduction since his climb to fame is rather recent. Being, arguably, the strongest Terran around, Flash has dominated with his Double Armory build, also known as the Flash Build.

Fantasy
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Being in the same team as both BoxeR and iloveoov has to have some benefits, doesn't it? Fantasy is proof of this and his Fantasy Build showed us that Valkyries were in fact not a useless unit. It only took us 10 years to come to that conclusion!

And with that we have reached the present. What innovations awaits us in the future? Who will rise to power and lead the Terran race forward? Or has evolution finally come to a halt? Is there still room for innovation?

Much has changed since 1999 and much has been learned, but with StarCraft 2 on the horizon new challenges will arise. With these new challenges new, brave and cunning Terran players will rise up and once again and with them will come new innovations and solutions.

And it is as Mengsk once said:

Gentlemen, you've done very well, but remember that we've still got a job to do.

neobowman

Canada3324 Posts

December 09 2009 22:50 GMT

Nice read, but each of the player's bios are pretty damm short. More info on each of them would be great.

Aka, too much bone, not enough meat.

Slugbreath

Sweden201 Posts

December 09 2009 22:56 GMT

Yes, I do agree with you, neobowman. Sadly, I don't know too much about each individual player (since, as I stated, I pretty recently discovered the proscene) and also wanted to just write about the very basics of how they affected terran play.

However, I did link every player to their Liquipedia page, so more info about them can be found there.

DivinO

United States4796 Posts

December 09 2009 22:56 GMT

Good write.

Thanks!

We don't get Leta for the wraiths here?

AzureEye

United States1360 Posts

December 09 2009 23:00 GMT

On December 10 2009 07:50 neobowman wrote:
Nice read, but each of the player's bios are pretty damm short. More info on each of them would be great.

Aka, too much bone, not enough meat.

This. Research more first

Heyoka

Katowice25012 Posts

December 09 2009 23:07 GMT

Still a fun read, good work

.risingdragoon

United States3021 Posts

December 09 2009 23:08 GMT

needs a lot more research

the so-called "fantasy build" was beaten right after incruit, including everyone who used it - fantasy, midas, iloveoov.

hyst.eric.al

United States2332 Posts

December 09 2009 23:13 GMT

commendable effort

enjoyable read, especially as a fellow terran :D

Slugbreath

Sweden201 Posts

December 09 2009 23:13 GMT

I had suspisions that people would complain about the amount of info about each player. Thing is though, that info about them is hard to find. I have tried!

That's why I need your help to fill in the blanks. Let's work together, shall we, to make the article better!

Thanks heyoka, El.Divino and hyst.eric.al for the kind words.

Xiphos

Canada7507 Posts

December 09 2009 23:13 GMT

#10

Man, could've included Leta for his Wraith.

Kenpachi

United States9908 Posts

December 09 2009 23:53 GMT

#11

If iris is up there, Leta and possibly UpMaGiC should be there

bigsack

Korea (North)220 Posts

December 10 2009 00:09 GMT

#12

On December 10 2009 08:53 Kenpachi wrote:
If iris is up there, Leta and possibly UpMaGiC should be there

Totally agreed. Leta's wraith micro should be up there. As well as UpMagic for his unorthodox builds. Also I don't know if this is true, but is Boxer the one that made good use of ghost to cast Lock-Down on carriers and annihilate them with goliaths?

This article is a good read though. Some of those early players beside Boxer that I've never heard(started following SC pro-scene in mid 2006 from Crunchyroll.com) about. It is interesting to learn how the term "maynard" came about. Please continue to update if you have more infos to write! I'm bookmarking this page.

DyEnasTy

United States3714 Posts

December 10 2009 00:11 GMT

#13

Well I dont think every decent Terran can be included. But the part about Flash being arguably the best Terran right now, wrong, he is the best Terran player right now.

Note: Flash fanboyism only makes up 50% of the above statement.

PangO

Chile1870 Posts

December 10 2009 00:12 GMT

#14

Gundam, what a great guy.

Bamboo Master !

Nice reading, ty so much.

EvoChamber

France2505 Posts

December 10 2009 00:14 GMT

#15

You might want to sort the Terran players in recent times by their teams (SKT Terran, CJ Terran, Sparkyz Terran, MBC Terran, Pantech/Wemade Terran, etc.), otherwise you basically have just a long list without any structure to it.

GreEny K

Germany7312 Posts

December 10 2009 00:14 GMT

#16

That's cool, now make for for Protoss!!

drug_vict1m

844 Posts

December 10 2009 00:21 GMT

#17

On December 10 2009 08:53 Kenpachi wrote:
If iris is up there, Leta and possibly UpMaGiC should be there

upmagic MUST be there.he may have not been the most successful terran out there but damn he is the most creative one for sure.

VanRyk

3 Posts

December 10 2009 00:54 GMT

#18

[GG99]slayer ?

nvm -.-

seRapH

United States9719 Posts

December 10 2009 01:19 GMT

#19

On December 10 2009 09:14 EvoChamber wrote:
You might want to sort the Terran players in recent times by their teams (SKT Terran, CJ Terran, Sparkyz Terran, MBC Terran, Pantech/Wemade Terran, etc.), otherwise you basically have just a long list without any structure to it.

yea i was thinking this would be better.

skt lineage is an epic one for sure. wemade is a pretty interesting lineage as well.

Misrah

United States1695 Posts

December 10 2009 01:32 GMT

#20

Where is the red sniper? or dare i say it- upmagic?

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