EPT![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/issue/1241671519_4.jpg)
The Cerebrates
Lee Jae-Dong is the dominant Zerg player right now, the overmind if you will. If
Jaedong is the overmind, then under him are the four cerebrates: Calm, Kwanro, EffOrt, and ZerO. While by.hero, Shine, and type-b among others have tried to get into this group, none have been able to accomplish what these four have done under Jaedong's shadow.Calm won the Avalon MSL with some impressive ZvZ, including beating Kwanro's 5 pool with a 12 hatch right after ending the concept of "JvZ". Kwanro manages to win a lot more games than some say he should with a combination of all-ins and tricky builds. (he went 3 hatch before pool twice in a row vs
Bogus) When EffOrt's not slumping, he can play at an S-class level, and even when he's slumping he can beat 
Stork, Kal, and JangBi in straight up games.Yet the cerebrates are not the dragons. Calm had some atrocious play late 2009 which earned him the nickname "Clam" and kept him off the power rank despite a decent record. Kwanro looks abysmal late game and often plays sloppy, running ultras into mines against Flash for one recent example. Effort's ZvZ has looked mediocre since October, and his ZvT has looked bad since January. These players are not at Jaedong's level of play or consistency.
Who is Kim Myung Woon?
ZerO made it into at least the Ro16 in 5 different leagues in 2009, giving us some of the most entertaining play of the year. He's the only player in Brood War history to use Queens against all 3 races in televised matches. He holds the second most wins out of all Zergs in the 09-10 Proleague. He played (and lost) the shortest Bo5 in Brood War history. He can play a management style. He can play aggressively. And isn't he adorable?
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/issue/1241671519_1.jpg)
I was in B-team around 6 months, and that's short, it usually takes a year, 2 years. I wasn't that good, I lost many games, I lost a lot of confidence.
from Artosis' interview here
The Prince of Nothing
Coach: Zero... was affected by GGPlay the most. Zero was a player who received no attention from the coaches. I admit, we only accepted him because of his physical/apm. During his tryout, he lost all games except for one. Even afterward, he was so bad, we kicked him out of the team. But we eventually accepted him back, but only because GGPlay left to CJ and we had no zergs. Zero today is only possible because of the... 'pressure mode'.
We pressured him, "You better know the responsibilities you have on your shoulder." We gave him a lot of pressure as well as the leniency due to it. And now he made a name for himself.
We pressured him, "You better know the responsibilities you have on your shoulder." We gave him a lot of pressure as well as the leniency due to it. And now he made a name for himself.
ZerO didn't explode onto the pro scene like Flash. His ascent was slow and bumpy, going 7-11 in his first year as a starter, not making it past the Ro32 of an MSL (facing two Terrans in both GOM S4 and ClubDay), and failing to qualify for any OSL.
+ Show Spoiler [TLPD of ZerO as a rookie] +
http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/details.php?type=players&id=174&part=games&vs=all&league=147&map=any&from_year=2007&from_month=3&from_day=15&to_year=2010&to_month=3&to_day=14&action=Update
During ZerO's early days as a starter for the then Hanbit Stars, he got sent out on Andromeda 9 out of 18 times, signaling his team's confidence in his ability to play a management game (he went 1-3 in the non-ZvZ's however). ZerO won games against Hyuk and Bisu, starting his dominance over those two players, and lost to Kwanro, Flash, and Movie, who would all later knock him out of leagues.
8. Which progamer do you respect the most? If there is a player you want to model after, please tell us.
▲ I never had one particular player I thought of, but after thinking about it, I’d say SK Telecom’s )BoxeR! I think BoxeR is a player all progamers want to model after. It’s not just because he was a good player, but among all progamers, I think he had the most brilliant mind.
▲ I never had one particular player I thought of, but after thinking about it, I’d say SK Telecom’s )
BoxeR! I think BoxeR is a player all progamers want to model after. It’s not just because he was a good player, but among all progamers, I think he had the most brilliant mind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJw94qKycno
Rookie ZerO takes on SlayerS_'BoxeR'
ZerO Hour
On October 28, 2008, ZerO did not look like someone who was about to become one of the world's top Zergs. He had a total record of 17-29 in televised games, and outside of being a solid 9-10 in ZvZ, he had an 8-19 record against Terran and Protoss. He looked like an absolute failure, especially as a successor to GGPlay.
![[image loading]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/nakiko/05-5.jpg)
That's when the streak happened.
It was November 17, 2008. ZerO was already on a 2-game winning streak, having beaten
Sunny and go.go (not big names even then). But there was a far more important story. iloveoov was returning to Starcraft.On Nov 17 2008, 08:29 AM JWD wrote:
As my poem proves, Oov vs. Zero will be a Zerg bloodbath. We all know that Oov won the first 27 TvZs of his career, and so we shouldn't be surprised that he's making his return to T1's lineup on Raid Assault 2, where he's basically guaranteed a Zerg opponent. Fortunately for all of us win-starved T1 fans, Oov's opponent is not just any Zerg: he's the owner of one of the worst TvZ records of all time (4-10, which includes losses to Hery, Justin, and 2008 Boxer). ZerO's ZvP is highly underrated and his ZvZ passable, but he fails miserably against Terrans.
Cheater Terran oov
His barracks pump at light speed
Zerg blood overflows
His barracks pump at light speed
Zerg blood overflows
As my poem proves, Oov vs. Zero will be a Zerg bloodbath. We all know that Oov won the first 27 TvZs of his career, and so we shouldn't be surprised that he's making his return to T1's lineup on Raid Assault 2, where he's basically guaranteed a Zerg opponent. Fortunately for all of us win-starved T1 fans, Oov's opponent is not just any Zerg: he's the owner of one of the worst TvZ records of all time (4-10, which includes losses to Hery, Justin, and 2008 Boxer). ZerO's ZvP is highly underrated and his ZvZ passable, but he fails miserably against Terrans.
http://sc2gg.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=5041
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP9y0bDF8Iw
When Day[9] made his "how to play against Mech" podcast, I'm wondering if he dug around and watched this game at all. Because, instead of making lurkers or trying something funny, ZerO mass expanded and made hydralisks. This was before Destination, before Mech was big, and ZerO just knew how to play Zerg vs Mech. Instead of highlighting the game, let me quote the LR thread.
On November 17 2008 19:56 Plutonium wrote:
Mass Hydra v Metal? Does Zero think he's July or something?
Mass Hydra v Metal? Does Zero think he's July or something?
On November 17 2008 19:56 WebOfMaya wrote:
Does zero have two or three bases?
Does zero have two or three bases?
On November 17 2008 19:57 nihil2501 wrote:
or 4?
or 4?
On November 17 2008 20:04 krazymunky wrote:
endless stream of lings and hydras
endless stream of lings and hydras
It's like ZerO went into the future and read:
Day[9]: The big thing that Mech is good at is being really hard to kill. It has an unbelievably strong composition. There's no real good logical way to beat it. Like with MnM, you can just have four Lurkers and Swarm, and you're just like, “I can just hold off as much as I want.” But against Mech, you just need a lot of stuff. And really, that's the only important key to stopping it. Therefore, expanding a lot and abusing Mech's lack of mobility is like the key thing
![[image loading]](http://sc2gg.com/images/writers/players/iloveoov.jpg)
You never want to wreck a gorilla's homecoming party.
A week later, ZerO followed it up by beating 2008 Luxury and FLASH.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNfD_-IuQm8
On November 26 2008 11:01 Dromar wrote:
I'm really baffled how Zero managed to pull this off. Granted Flash didn't play like he used to, but I was just amazed at how Zero just kept going with the gas intensive units. First 2hatch muta (though not the all-in kind, but rather the "secret expo" kind), then lurker tech, then quick hive, then greater spire/guardians, then defilers, then ultras. He literally got every gas tech you'd ever get in ZvT, including speedlings early which he couldn't really use IIRC. I'm just amazed that his economy could keep up. Makes me wanna figure out how he did that. The only big problem I saw early game from Flash was that he built like a dozen turrets which didn't really get much action since Zero played smartly with his muta harass. I'm gonna have to watch this game again.
I'm really baffled how Zero managed to pull this off. Granted Flash didn't play like he used to, but I was just amazed at how Zero just kept going with the gas intensive units. First 2hatch muta (though not the all-in kind, but rather the "secret expo" kind), then lurker tech, then quick hive, then greater spire/guardians, then defilers, then ultras. He literally got every gas tech you'd ever get in ZvT, including speedlings early which he couldn't really use IIRC. I'm just amazed that his economy could keep up. Makes me wanna figure out how he did that. The only big problem I saw early game from Flash was that he built like a dozen turrets which didn't really get much action since Zero played smartly with his muta harass. I'm gonna have to watch this game again.
December Woes
Remember last December? ZerO got knocked out of the OSL and MSL by Movie and Flash respectively, but he also lost games to Calm and Shuttle, and just generally wasn't up to par. December 08 was even worse, as ZerO lost to Hyuk, Jangbi, FBH, Luxury and RorO during his 6 game losing streak. This wouldn't be the longest losing streak of his career, but we'll get to that.
Taek-Bang-Lee-Ssang in 76 Days
Despite the losing streak, ZerO actually had a very successful 08-09 winter, the highlight of which was beating Stork, Jaedong, Bisu, and Flash all within a 76 day period as an up-and-coming player. Besides the Flash game already described, there were:
January 14, 2009 - Sin Chupung-Ryeong, Proleague, beat Jaedong in a muta/scourge micro battle.
January 15, 2009 - Destination, Lost Saga MSL, ZerO defeats Bisu's Zealot/Archon build with muta/hydra.
February 9, 2009 - Sin Chupung-Ryeong, Winner's League, ZerO destroys Stork with a doom drop.
In under 3 months ZerO had shot up from the bottom to the top of the Zerg barrel. But the top Zergs didn't like the competition...
Fourteen ZvZs? In a row?
3. Compared to your gameplay against zerg, your other race matchups aren’t so great – why do you think that is?
▲ I don’t think there’s a specific reason – I just think playing against zerg is my skill. I still lack a lot T___T.
▲ I don’t think there’s a specific reason – I just think playing against zerg is my skill. I still lack a lot T___T.
ZerO ZvZed his way into the semifinals of the Lost Saga MSL, just as Calm would do later in Avalon. ZerO defeated Yarnc and a resurging Savior, and was on a 7-1 run of playing nothing but ZvZ. However, the next 6 games would prove disastrous.
Going into the semis against Luxury, ZerO played 3 winner's league ZvZ's against keke, hyvaa, and Calm, and lost all three. Things looked ominous going into a Bo5 with the second best ZvZer at the time, and ZerO got raped in the shortest televised Bo5 ever.
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/issue/1241671519_2.jpg)
Bouncing back
Although ZerO has slumps, he seems to come out of them faster than any other Zerg player. After his December woes he's fired back both times to great success in Winner's League and individual leagues. And after his 6 ZvZ losing streak (and a 7th straight loss after playing Stork) he bounced back and went 14-2, introducing a unit that would become his trademark.
The Prince of Queens
![[image loading]](http://media.tuzulo.com/images/5yplg/5yhd9/06262009-zeroexplosionv1.jpg)
When ZerO makes a Queen, you can be DAMN sure he's going to win the game. It's like Babe Ruth pointing toward center field, ZerO's going to metaphorically hit it over the fences with unreal Queen (and maybe infested Terran) micro.
On May 5th, 2009, ZerO did what everyone was thinking when they first saw Holy World: infested the neutral command center against Kal, suicide bombed him and carried the momentum over into a 2-0 domination of the dragon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaGtjWL5mZo
But that wasn't all. ZerO faced TvZ specialist Hwasin on the same map in the Bacchus OSL Ro16, and used infested terrans AGAIN, this time with Ultralisks, to dominate the Red Sniper.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENNvqkM5Jmg
On June 26 2009 20:09 TheFoReveRwaR wrote:
This whole game is a fuckin zero highlight video lol.
This whole game is a fuckin zero highlight video lol.
Despite the lack of command centers on a ZvP on Heartbreak Ridge, ZerO used Queens in a 3rd Bacchus OSL game against Bisu, using Spawn Broodling to snipe Bisu's templars in preparation for a hydra/lurker attack. He won the game beautifully, and the legacy of using Spawn Broodling against Protoss continues, as Shark was seen teaching Hyungjoon Queen usage in "Hyungjoon becomes a progamer".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66ipoH9okXQ
I didn't want to play a boring macro game, so I went for queens.
Finally, ZerO showed that ZvZ is not above a little Queen usage, using Ensnare to slow down type-b's Mutalisks and avoid elimination from the NATE MSL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7DqxyiGsRE
The Fresh Prince
ZerO is 39-22 in the 09-10 season, not Jaedong, certainly, but better than Effort, Calm, and Kwanro are doing at the moment. His ZvT, ZvP, and ZvZ have all looked strong with the exception of a few random losses (
Midas, Shuttle, and GoRush are all players he should be beating). Out of all the Zergs to face Flash since the Monster turned on God Mode, I've been most impressed with ZerO, who seemed to rely least on Flash's mistakes than any other Zerg who beat him on Match Point, and played decently on Odd-Eye as well.In a winner's league with a 62% TvZ win rate, Terrans have gone 1-5 against ZerO, mostly in long-ish management games. And yet, in an MST game at around the same time, ZerO in-base proxy hatched Hyuk. That's the thing about ZerO, he can play a management game, he can macro, he can micro (especially Muta Micro), he can cheese, and he can come up with some impressive builds and innovate the game of SC. He strongly hints that he'll be around for SC2 in the Artosis interview, and I can't wait to see what he does there.
Tonight, ZerO faces
Light (unless Light fails hard vs PerfectMan), whose superb M&M control beat him on Battle Royal of all maps. Beating Light, the current wins leader in Winner's League with 3 all-kills, would make a major statement that ZerO is not to be taken lightly. Now is ZerO's time to make his mark on Brood War, and I strongly feel that if he plays at his best he could win a starleague or help Woongjin win Winner's League or even all of proleague. The only problem is consistency. If ZerO brings his best to every game, there's no way he can lose (except to Flash, that kid's a beast).![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/interview/1247051465_1.jpg)
Bonus: Check out the replays from ZerO's second place finish at Blizzcon, specifically game 1 vs
sKyHigh where he goes mass Queens vs Mech.http://www.blizzard.com/blizzcon/tournaments/replays/sc/blizzcon09-sc-matches.zip
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