Ah Rain, here we are again. It should come as no surprise that Rain is once again in the finals. He is by far the best Protoss player since Bisu's departure and one of the best players in the scene, so you expect a deep run from a player of his caliber. His safe, macro-oriented playstyle mirrors Bisu in a lot of respects but with quirky hints of shuttle drops and dragoon flanks. You could go so far as to say he's Bisu's successor, both in name and playstyle.

Of course, Rain is also notorious for his ability to choke during important games. Who can forget his epic versus Larva in the ASL4? After a long struggle on Gold Rush where Larva continually fended off drop after drop, Rain finally gave into impatience and ran his army down the middle into a sea of lurkers and sunkens to lose the game...and then did it again the next game for the series loss. Or how about Jaedong's surprise 4-0 sweep of the Korean Protoss in KSL1? Or Rain's stunning loss against Sharp in the KSL2? The list goes on. Rain chokes hard when it really matters. However, there is one exception to this rule: PvP.

Rain's PvP is godlike.

With no more Bisu, Rain is 100% the single best PvP player on the planet. The record speaks for itself. Over the last two years, Rain has gone 27-8 in professional matches, which is a 77% win rate. In addition, Rain has gone either 3-1 or a clean sweep in every BoX series, and if you watched the games, the skill disparity is readily apparent.

Rain's dragoon control is insane. Everyone in the Brood War community has seen the famous clip of Bisu's dragoon control, but what many people don't seem to appreciate about Rain is his ability to win fights against equal numbers of dragoons. This edge alone gives Rain so much more confidence to move around the map and put pressure on his opponents in a way that no one else can mimic at the moment.

Rain's second major advantage is his large army control. One of the most difficult challenges for Protoss in the late game is moving their army and setting it up properly to fight so that zealots are in the front, templar are in the back (and split), shuttles are protected by dragoons, and dragoons are spread out evenly to produce a wide arc. It's a lot to keep track of on top of basic things like macro, but Rain seems to blend these elements together seamlessly. It allows him to take good fights at good times in good places. In action, it looks like the stars align perfectly for him, but for Rain, it's all calculation and skill.

Finally, it doesn't seem like anyone understands the matchup as well as Rain. His scout timings are immaculate, and he always seems to find a time to attack when his opponent is just slightly unprepared. Take, for instance, Horang2's pressure build while expanding. While Horang2 sits at the bottom of the ramp dissuading Rain from moving out early, Rain reads the build like a book and immediately pushes out when his fifth and sixth dragoons pop out. In a split second, Rain counts the dragoon numbers, calculates reinforcement time, and recognizes his first targets. It's that sort of understanding that makes Rain the most dangerous opponent to play against.

With all of that in mind, there's no possible way for Rain to lose this final. Mini has slowly been gaining ground, but Rain is the post-final boss—you know, the boss you need cheat codes for. At best, Mini catches Rain off guard with a build or two, but in most cases, viewers can expect a direct, humiliating 4-0. Sorry Mini.

Rain 4-0 Mini