EPT**THERE ARE RO32/GROUP D SPOILERS IN HERE**
**THERE ARE RO32/GROUP D SPOILERS IN HERE**
**THERE ARE RO32/GROUP D SPOILERS IN HERE**
**THERE ARE RO32/GROUP D SPOILERS IN HERE**
**THERE ARE RO32/GROUP D SPOILERS IN HERE**
Credit to Caladbolg to the format. Mad props for the inspiration. I only hope that this lives up to the high standard he set in the Group D thread. If you haven't read it already, you should.
Of all the Ro16 matchups, this one stood out in particular to me – the current champion against the odd man out of the TBLS quartet (as far as Group D love goes). The rest seem -- eh, uninspired.
The logic behind me writing this is simple: if Sea got a nice writeup, Stork certainly deserves one too.
Without further ado, I present to you:
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/610.jpg)
**
Introduction
Hydra is Chaos.
Only one sits upon the Zerg throne--this truth, held from the time of Savior, has come to define Hydra’s presence in the Brood War scene.
For years, Jaedong has been the undisputed Tyrant, one that ruled his race with an absurd domination of the mirror matchup. But after the Bigfile MSL finals, something changed. The Tyrant started dropping games, especially in his most consistent matchup and when it mattered most. An ace loss to ZerO when he had the strong build order advantage. Another ace loss to Hydra. And then, most inexplicably, he crashed out of the OSL through a loss to Hogil.
The cracks were in plain sight, the invincibility aura was broken. The opportunity to unseat Jaedong was there. And due to a pesky map called “Dante’s Peak”, the semifinals stage was set nicely for a civil war. Great, the elder statesman. ZerO, the innovator. Hydra, Effort’s protege. And Jaedong, expected to lay down the law and restore order to Zergdom.
This was Hydra’s chance, for it is in this matchup of volatility, where snap-second occurrences—a scourge dodge, the dance of the mutalisks, a zergling’s misstep, a drone’s death—decide the game, that he truly shines. In a spectacle of his ZvZ prowess, he defeated the Tyrant and crushed Great to take the MSL title.
Hydra has upset, at least fleetingly, the Zerg hierarchy—causing hushed whispers of the word ‘slump’ for the first time in months—nevertheless, for the time being, Jaedong is still the top Zerg, especially after his statement in Group D. He’s also used his newfound powers to gleefully pit four of Brood War’s best in a series of Bo1 gladiator fights (Eris would have approved). But now comes a different challenge; to show that the spurt of madness that was Swarm Season wasn’t just that, but a harbinger of his future accession.
Of course, it won’t be easy. Stork is no cupcake like Classic.
And ZvP is no coinflip.
Objectives
Ro8, Ro4
There are two themes at work here; one of succession, one of validation.
Jaedong has shown quite the resurgence of form recently, and fortuitously so, because none of the current Zerg challengers are fit for the mantle of the Overmind. Zero and Soulkey suffer from their bouts of inconsistency, and the former’s ace troubles are well-known. Calm seems to be experiencing a brief reprieve from his crustacean schizophrenic alter ago (in ZvZ, at least) but 2 games are hardly a trend. Roro continues to wander in the ghetto of glorious mediocrity, showing just enough good form to destroy some suckers’ anti-teams. Hydra has failed to capitalize on his MSL title, dropping games to Action, Killer and Iris, as well as winning around 40%~ of his games with mid A-class to S-class opposition (Really, Zero, Fantasy, Sea, et al.).
In other words, the void left by EffOrt’s retirement is still unfilled.
Hydra doesn’t necessarily have to win the title here, and indeed, odds are highly unlikely that he’ll repeat. But beating Stork in a Best-of series will be one part of cementing his bid as the Tyrant's successor. The other is laying to rest the questions surrounding his ZvT (while he did indeed beat an S-class TvZer in the Ro32, the victory proved to be more of a demonstration of Light's 'post-modern' tastes in simcity).
Should he lose, he risks joining an illustrious line of MSL single-title winners who never could quite recapture the magic that brought them the championship – Luxury and ForGG, most markedly.
There are worse fates, to be sure – but for the heir of EffOrt, and by extension, Savior, it is unacceptable all the same.
Not So-Historical Representative
Vlad the Impaler, as he is more commonly known, also rose to leadership upon the bodies of his countrymen, securing the throne by killing the prince of Wallachia in hand-to-hand combat. He was not a kind ruler, as his namesake might suggest. Neither was Hydra, responsible for generating a collective fanboy gnashing of teeth not seen since the birth of professional Brood War.
Hydra, tenuously holding the MSL crown, has won the civil war, through a run consisting of 14 ZvZs. But how long can he defend it against a horde of distinguished outsiders? The campaign starts with a challenger from the cream of the Protoss royalty, Stork. Vlad’s path to greatness, or notoriety, lay in the formidable Turkish invaders, which outnumbered his own forces 3 to 1. Through a mix of cleverness, special tactics, and psychological warfare (it is said the Turkish sultan turned back after seeing 20,000 impaled corpses outside Tepes’ capital), Vlad the Impaler survived.
Will Hydra?
**
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/players/59.jpg)
**
Introduction
Stork is Fury.
What, pray tell, compels a Zealot to run through a minefield, knowing he will die long before he reaches the tank line? Or jump to his death, hopefully taking some Terran scum with him?
Such is the nature of the PvT matchup, or at least Stork’s interpretation of it, characterized by violent straight-up clashes of forces, overpowering the enemy by sheer force of will (as in his game vs. Sea on Aztec), and sublime control of the single most destructive unit in the game, the Reaver. And when the ground battles seem stalled, and the situation looks hopeless, he takes to the sky to rain down molten wrath upon the Terran scum.
Even in the matchup least suited to it (ZvP), he has sometimes shown that spark of righteous anger. Nowhere was this more obvious than his ace match vs. Jaedong on Aztec. For that day, the Zealots would not cower behind the cannons and forges; they rushed from the gateways warped cheekily in plain sight of Jaedong’s natural, punishing the drones for years of hydralisk-inflicted suffering.
But blind fury, without the tempering effect of strategic finesse, has often cost Stork. His attempt to put a dagger through Flash’s anti-carrier build through the standardest of standard play was met with one of the most lopsided crushings in OSL history. His blind faith in 1 gate reaver double expand build’s potential to overrun 1 rax FE with superior economy culminated in a dropship dismemberment on the fields of Pathfinder.
Fury’s associated lack of caution is also on full display in Stork's ZvP. The difference of 2 cannons kept him out of the 2nd Korean Air OSL Finals. His cut-every-available-corner strat against Zero in the Ro8 on Benzene resulted, quite literally, in Zero winning with his first 6 lings while executing 3 hatch before pool.
It’s worth nothing that the twisted reflection of fury, after all, is burnout—and Stork is no stranger to crises of motivation. It’s also worth considering, though, the great Plexa’s commentary at the end of the first Bacchus OSL finals:
With that defeat…Stork became the only player to ever lose two consecutive OSL finals. As much as I hate to admit it, Stork's time is up…Bisu and Stork won't ever get back to their levels of dominance, they will linger in the top 6 for a while then drop off. Which is rather sad really.
This was more than two years ago. Left for dead after multiple Starleague finals, Stork has found the fire to bring him into contention, season after season. He is Brood War’s ultimate survivor, and there would be no more appropriate time then now, in his waning years, to walk off the finals stage victoriously.
Objectives
Finals
The specter of military service creeps ever closer. This MSL, and the next season of the new-and-improved(?) OSL may be his last chances to capture his 2nd title. Perhaps, most preferably, he will do so while avenging himself against nemeses Flash and Jaedong, both who have thwarted his chances at a gold (in the Bacchus and EVER OSLs, respectively). He has dodged Hydra’s machinations in the Group of Death creation, and his Ro16 draw has avoided the three players that pose the greatest threat to his run (JD, Flash, ZerO). Stork is, arguably, ‘favored’ against the rest of the Ro16 field. Then again, that term can easily turn out to be an illusion, especially in the fickle matchup of ZvP. Just ask Shine, or Hyuk, or ZerO.
The fly in the ointment is Stork’s mental condition. Exiting 3-0 in both leagues obviously did him no favors, and he hasn’t shown signs of a full recovery yet.
23 games since league exits: 13-10
23 games before league exits: 19-4
The numbers don’t lie. On the other hand, guess when Stork started his 19-4 hot streak? The PDPop MSL Ro16. Looking back further, Stork fell into a mini-funk after JD defeated him in the Korean Air Semifinals, so perhaps there is a 2-3 month recovery period for Stork's destruction-mode, which would be fortuitous timing since...
...needless to say, Stork’s current form won’t carry him through this tournament, even if he beats Hydra. Mind (who beat Stork in the Ro32), Soulkey, or Leta awaits him in the Ro8, and should he pass that trial, he will need to defeat history itself to take down Jaedong, his likely opponent, in the semifinals.
It’s not so long ago, though, that Stork was considered a viable contender for dual golds. And what was, can be again.
Not So-Historical Representative
Hannibal Barca.
Cannae, 215 BC: Hannibal introduces the world to the ‘battle of total annihilation’ in devastating fashion by killing Rome’s two consuls and 30% of its Senate in the span of one afternoon. Flank. Encircle. Destroy. These simple concepts had been demonstrated before, but never with such terrifying clarity.
With a 68% win-rate in PvT, Stork also shows a mastery of the decisive battle. Unlike the natural ebb and flow of M&M in TvZ, or Bisu-esque zealot pokes in ZvP, to commit in these two matchups means putting your entire army on the line. To waver carries a steep price—seeing the last rank of dragoons disintegrate to the parting tank volleys, on top of the pointless sacrifice of countless zealots.
But the ultimate prize—the capture of Rome—eluded the Carthaginian. As Maharbal remarked, “You know how to gain a victory; you do not know how to use it.” So, too, has Stork made a number of remarkable runs to Starleague finals, exhibiting incredible dominance (his match vs Hiya—no TvP slouch—on Pathfinder is one of the most one-sided beatdowns I have ever witnessed), but almost invariably, the title has slips cruelly from his grasp.
Hannibal, after Cannae, was eventually foiled by the Dictator Fabius Cunctator ‘The Delayer’, who fought a war of slight harassments and territorial denial until Barca no longer had the resources to occupy Italy. Stork, similarly, sometimes seems out of his element during these sorts of campaigns—where the Protoss has no option to engage, but instead waits behind his cannons, hoping to outlast—evidenced in his Ro8 series against ZerO.
Stork’s road to the championship, now, lies through some perilous territory…
**
Analysis
On paper, this matchup seems to be defined by the opening map –
Hero > Snow – Hero crushed Snow on two separate occasions in their Ro32 group, and Snow’s PvZ was not sharp at all during their games either.
Roro > By.Sun – 4th ELO Zerg vs. chronic SKT1 underperformer
Hyun > Perfectman – lol Perfectman
Ggaemo > Trap – Have you seen the latter in a PL lineup? I didn’t think so.
Tyson > Where – P > Z
Shine > Paralyze – not really surprising.
Grape > Killer – This qualifies as a semi-upset, no? And it’s in favor of the P. That said, Grape has played some absolutely beautiful games recently.
Can anyone really be surprised by the results here? I’m still not convinced that there’s a serious ZvP imbalance here (or that its not nearly as bad as the map stats indicate), as variance seems like an acceptable explanation for these results. Thus, all three maps are very much in contention.
Another observation: Hydra likes his mutalisks in ZvP when faced with high-caliber opposition. In his win against Bisu on Circuit Breaker, he managed to thin out Bisu’s corsairs twice, once with a mutalisk raid into the main. The damage was done, the corsairs were unable to stall the explosion of the zerg economy, and a hydra (no pun intended) transition sealed the game. Hydra’s loss against Kal also involved a mutalisk opening, but he was unable to destroy enough corsairs during the initial critical engagement, allowing them to rout the mutas before they did any significant damage.
(Astute readers will point out that he did a hydra to lurker opener on Benzene against Stork, but I attribute that to the abusable cliff on that map.)
Thus, it is highly likely that Hydra puts the game in the hands of his scourge control by forcing the issue with mutas at least once, and possibly several times.
Predictions?
I’m going to qualify this by saying that literally any outcome would be reasonable. Hydra’s ZvP against high-tier players is still fairly untested, and Stork hasn’t won against any good Zergs since his dual league exits. I’m going to go by current records, nevertheless—Hydra seems more solid right now, so I predict he will pull this one out in the last set, 2-1.
(I do hope that Stork wins though.)
