EPT
After the best Ro8 ever in ASL, we're quickly approaching the best Ro4 ever in ASL. Both TvZs, we get to see two drastically different versions of the same matchup. On one side, we have the steady, well-rounded, and calculated style of Flash and Zero, and on the other, we have the insane aggression of Soma and Light. The difference between these two matchups will be night and day.
With the complete absence of Inner Coven and Hitchhiker in this week's series, we're going to see more normal games. Both maps have been a blessing and curse, but it looks like we're definitely getting away from cheesy wins to more long-term planning from each player. Either way, it's going to be a great set of games. We're probably going to see every permutation possible of TvZ this week, so strap on your seatbelts and get ready for the ride!
Table of contents
Going the Distance
I’ve been in this place before. A Bo5 between 
Flash and 
ZerO. where ZerO has all the hope in the world going up against Flash only for the rug to get pulled from under him....
While those are results from a time long ago that it shouldn’t matter today, it bares some context to understand ZerO’s general tournament mindset.
Pros talking about ZerO and his mindset in tournaments
Thanks to jinjin5000 for translation and subtitles!
Both players have been practicing hard for each other. Looking at their sponbbang stats, both players have been exclusively playing this matchup with various opponents including each other. Their head-to-head this month is 2-1 in favor of Flash, which is unfortunately the story of ZerO in offline tournaments too. Make no mistake, ZerO is one of the bestZergs players of all time, but like the video above says, ZerO has a huge mental block when it comes to playing in these offline tournaments. He has trouble closing out the series, but maybe not all is lost considering how the Ro8 went for Flash too. Maybe he has learned something from Action he could apply.
Flash is coming into this series shaky. That Ro8 match against Action exposed the holes in Flash’s play. It showed that Flash falters if his information and expectations of what his opponent is doing don't match up. Of course, that doesn’t mean Flash’s crisis management is bad. It took Action a lot of work to finish Flash off even when he was ahead because Flash just kept making the most of his units with his limited economy. It should be mentioned that Flash's ability to keep is science vessels alive that series was pretty bad. Hopefully ZerO, who has very good muta and scourge control, can take advantage of that.
Map selection for this series is fairly safe; there’s no need to worry about Inner Coven since its banned. Opening up on Match Point, it's unlikely that ZerO will try to do something similar to what Action did. With a two player map against Terran, you don’t want to get in a split map situation, so we'll probably see a 2-hatch muta build, but a solid lurker opening could be the play based on Flash’s history against them in tournaments. Regardless, the advantage goes to Flash. The next three maps are where ZerO needs to take the series. Horizon Lunar Colony, Polypoid, and Neo Sylphid are all great maps where something similar to Game 1 could play out, especially Neo Sylphid, which is a bit more of a standard map. It's the type of map where you throw your bread and butter builds out. Hitchhiker is the real bust of the season. Nobody wants to play on this map, and it shows. But I do have a sneaking suspicion that if it comes to it, this is the map where ZerO has something prepared for Flash. I have no proof of it, just some form of intuition.
Meanwhile you can watch the Bo9 series between Flash and ZerO from June 2019
All in all, if ZerO sticks to what he normally does and plays his standard game, we’ll get good games and a solid series. These two have a great history of some of the best TvZs you’ll ever see, including the meme worthy game on Polaris Rhapsody where Flash basically built turrets all over his side of the map. I honestly believe that if ZerO somehow pulls it off, it's a bigger upset than if Action beat Flash. While it may not save ZerO from the problem of never winning a championship, beating Flash in a series is just as big of a win.
Flash > ZerO on 
Match Point
Flash < ZerO on Horizon Lunar Colony
Flash > ZerO on Polypoid
Flash > ZerO on Neo Sylphid
Flash > ZerO on Hitchhiker
Flash advances to the Grand Finals 3-1!
Flash and ZerO. where ZerO has all the hope in the world going up against Flash only for the rug to get pulled from under him....While those are results from a time long ago that it shouldn’t matter today, it bares some context to understand ZerO’s general tournament mindset.
Pros talking about ZerO and his mindset in tournaments
Thanks to jinjin5000 for translation and subtitles!
Both players have been practicing hard for each other. Looking at their sponbbang stats, both players have been exclusively playing this matchup with various opponents including each other. Their head-to-head this month is 2-1 in favor of Flash, which is unfortunately the story of ZerO in offline tournaments too. Make no mistake, ZerO is one of the best
Flash is coming into this series shaky. That Ro8 match against Action exposed the holes in Flash’s play. It showed that Flash falters if his information and expectations of what his opponent is doing don't match up. Of course, that doesn’t mean Flash’s crisis management is bad. It took Action a lot of work to finish Flash off even when he was ahead because Flash just kept making the most of his units with his limited economy. It should be mentioned that Flash's ability to keep is science vessels alive that series was pretty bad. Hopefully ZerO, who has very good muta and scourge control, can take advantage of that.
Map selection for this series is fairly safe; there’s no need to worry about Inner Coven since its banned. Opening up on Match Point, it's unlikely that ZerO will try to do something similar to what Action did. With a two player map against Terran, you don’t want to get in a split map situation, so we'll probably see a 2-hatch muta build, but a solid lurker opening could be the play based on Flash’s history against them in tournaments. Regardless, the advantage goes to Flash. The next three maps are where ZerO needs to take the series. Horizon Lunar Colony, Polypoid, and Neo Sylphid are all great maps where something similar to Game 1 could play out, especially Neo Sylphid, which is a bit more of a standard map. It's the type of map where you throw your bread and butter builds out. Hitchhiker is the real bust of the season. Nobody wants to play on this map, and it shows. But I do have a sneaking suspicion that if it comes to it, this is the map where ZerO has something prepared for Flash. I have no proof of it, just some form of intuition.
Meanwhile you can watch the Bo9 series between Flash and ZerO from June 2019
All in all, if ZerO sticks to what he normally does and plays his standard game, we’ll get good games and a solid series. These two have a great history of some of the best TvZs you’ll ever see, including the meme worthy game on Polaris Rhapsody where Flash basically built turrets all over his side of the map. I honestly believe that if ZerO somehow pulls it off, it's a bigger upset than if Action beat Flash. While it may not save ZerO from the problem of never winning a championship, beating Flash in a series is just as big of a win.
Flash > ZerO on Match PointFlash < ZerO on Horizon Lunar ColonyFlash > ZerO on PolypoidFlash > ZerO on Neo SylphidFlash > ZerO on HitchhikerFlash advances to the Grand Finals 3-1!
Eye of the Tiger
On the other side of the bracket, we have another TvZ. In this case, however, it’s less 8 Mile and more Rocky III. Light is still an untested champ, and in my eyes, he hasn’t proven he’s more than one-time champ material because he hasn’t really faced his toughest challenges yet. The recent KSL4 champion has been making splashes lately and stealing the limelight, but there’s a rookie on the block with his number.
In terms of offline results, he’s had arguably easy runs. His ASL run so far has included several TvT wins over weaker Terrans like Mind, ForGG, Mong, and BarrackS, which culminated in a suspenseful (but in my opinion, overwhelming) victory over Stork last week. Despite my initial skepticism in Light’s ability to mix things up, he used a variety of disruptive TvP builds which threw Stork off his game. Ultimately, though, I believe the series was proof that Stork’s brainiac moves were still not enough to cover his depreciation of skill since the Kespa days rather than a measurement of Light’s skill against a worthwhile opponent.
In the KSL, his tournament also moved forward mostly on the basis of beating up weaker Terran players (ForGG and Mind) as well as a victory over Soma. In the final against Rain, he surprised us as well with admirable macro and positioning against a superior opponent. But I think it’s worth noting that Rain was out of shape and rarely played Brood War anymore (as of writing, he’s actually playing SC2 again). A win is a win, but it doesn’t change the fact that Rain had grown complacent.
Light's triumph over the newcomer Soma
Online, things are completely different. Light is still in second place on Sponbbang.com, and even though his win percentage has dropped considerably from March to April so far, he’s still picking up a majority of wins. For the past two months, Light has been the player to beat. His results made him a giant. He dropped the W on practically everyone except for Flash. But realistically, has anyone been able to touch Flash in the last two years since Effort and Bisu left for the military? And in that sense, does Light deserve the same sort of spotlight as Flash? Is he a true Terran champion yet? No.
Likewise, Soma has been on everyone’s mind for the last two months. His online results have been incredible and launched him from low level amateur cheese status to a consistent top 10 player on Sponbbang. In his debut offline performance, he gave Flash a run for his money, and then in the KSL4, he jumped straight to the Ro4 with his unapologetically aggressive ZvP builds. He was stopped cold by Light’s reign of terror, but he didn’t let up in his practice.
Soma’s meteoric rise to the upper echelons of Brood War players is unparalleled in the modern era. A few rookies like BarrackS, Sorry, and MisO have emerged from the woodwork in the last 5 years, but for the most part, we’ve continued to be entertained by the Kespa-era heroes and post-Kespa superstars. But no one since the age of bonjwas can replicate Soma’s trajectory. From a no-name known for cheesing to a serious tournament contender, he is truly an anomaly.
And he’s hungry. He’s been practicing nonstop with aggressive TvZ players like Sorry, Rush, and Flash to get a grip on Light’s ultra-aggro style, and for the most part, he’s had little success with an overall record of 8-11 against those players. For any other player, I might contend that Soma isn’t ready for Light. But if we consider the massive improvement in his play in the course of only a few months, I think it’s very likely that he could shore up his play enough to take on Light this week.
Their styles are both characterized by ultra aggression. I think that both players have been working hard to mellow out their tendency to go ham and establish more solid play, but it doesn’t change the fact that Light and Soma both enjoy really weird low economy games. And whenever we see such aggressive styles clash, we usually end up with some crazy games.
Soma has been struggling as of late against revived 1-1-1 builds which counter his fast-tech preferences. However, as Effort showed us in his masterpiece against Flash in the ASL5, the best way to counter Terran aggression is by just being more aggressive. If he can properly abuse the holes in proactive Terran builds and strike at the right times, he’ll be able to set the tempo in his favor.
While Light has some 1-1-1 tricks in the bag, when I think of his TvZ, my mind always defaults to those fearsome 2-base rally pushes where Light makes a shitton of firebats and literally just ignores lurkers. He’s also quite consistent at setting up busts with up to four dropships after his first two vessels which allow him to ferry forces directly into the main around the lurkers. If Light can comfortably get to the macro machine stage of the game, I have no doubt that his constant pressure will put a heavy strain on Soma’s multitasking.
It’s going to be a crazy series, and I find it unlikely that we’ll get to three bases in more than one game. Light is good, but he can’t get lazy. Soma is looking to get his revenge and make his mark. Who wants it more?
Light > Soma on Matchpoint
Light < Soma on Neo Sylphid
Light > Soma on Escalade
Light > Soma on Polypoid
Light > Soma on Horizon Lunar Colony
Light advances to the Grand Final 3-1!
In terms of offline results, he’s had arguably easy runs. His ASL run so far has included several TvT wins over weaker Terrans like Mind, ForGG, Mong, and BarrackS, which culminated in a suspenseful (but in my opinion, overwhelming) victory over Stork last week. Despite my initial skepticism in Light’s ability to mix things up, he used a variety of disruptive TvP builds which threw Stork off his game. Ultimately, though, I believe the series was proof that Stork’s brainiac moves were still not enough to cover his depreciation of skill since the Kespa days rather than a measurement of Light’s skill against a worthwhile opponent.
In the KSL, his tournament also moved forward mostly on the basis of beating up weaker Terran players (ForGG and Mind) as well as a victory over Soma. In the final against Rain, he surprised us as well with admirable macro and positioning against a superior opponent. But I think it’s worth noting that Rain was out of shape and rarely played Brood War anymore (as of writing, he’s actually playing SC2 again). A win is a win, but it doesn’t change the fact that Rain had grown complacent.
Light's triumph over the newcomer Soma
Online, things are completely different. Light is still in second place on Sponbbang.com, and even though his win percentage has dropped considerably from March to April so far, he’s still picking up a majority of wins. For the past two months, Light has been the player to beat. His results made him a giant. He dropped the W on practically everyone except for Flash. But realistically, has anyone been able to touch Flash in the last two years since Effort and Bisu left for the military? And in that sense, does Light deserve the same sort of spotlight as Flash? Is he a true Terran champion yet? No.
Likewise, Soma has been on everyone’s mind for the last two months. His online results have been incredible and launched him from low level amateur cheese status to a consistent top 10 player on Sponbbang. In his debut offline performance, he gave Flash a run for his money, and then in the KSL4, he jumped straight to the Ro4 with his unapologetically aggressive ZvP builds. He was stopped cold by Light’s reign of terror, but he didn’t let up in his practice.
Soma’s meteoric rise to the upper echelons of Brood War players is unparalleled in the modern era. A few rookies like BarrackS, Sorry, and MisO have emerged from the woodwork in the last 5 years, but for the most part, we’ve continued to be entertained by the Kespa-era heroes and post-Kespa superstars. But no one since the age of bonjwas can replicate Soma’s trajectory. From a no-name known for cheesing to a serious tournament contender, he is truly an anomaly.
And he’s hungry. He’s been practicing nonstop with aggressive TvZ players like Sorry, Rush, and Flash to get a grip on Light’s ultra-aggro style, and for the most part, he’s had little success with an overall record of 8-11 against those players. For any other player, I might contend that Soma isn’t ready for Light. But if we consider the massive improvement in his play in the course of only a few months, I think it’s very likely that he could shore up his play enough to take on Light this week.
Their styles are both characterized by ultra aggression. I think that both players have been working hard to mellow out their tendency to go ham and establish more solid play, but it doesn’t change the fact that Light and Soma both enjoy really weird low economy games. And whenever we see such aggressive styles clash, we usually end up with some crazy games.
Soma has been struggling as of late against revived 1-1-1 builds which counter his fast-tech preferences. However, as Effort showed us in his masterpiece against Flash in the ASL5, the best way to counter Terran aggression is by just being more aggressive. If he can properly abuse the holes in proactive Terran builds and strike at the right times, he’ll be able to set the tempo in his favor.
While Light has some 1-1-1 tricks in the bag, when I think of his TvZ, my mind always defaults to those fearsome 2-base rally pushes where Light makes a shitton of firebats and literally just ignores lurkers. He’s also quite consistent at setting up busts with up to four dropships after his first two vessels which allow him to ferry forces directly into the main around the lurkers. If Light can comfortably get to the macro machine stage of the game, I have no doubt that his constant pressure will put a heavy strain on Soma’s multitasking.
It’s going to be a crazy series, and I find it unlikely that we’ll get to three bases in more than one game. Light is good, but he can’t get lazy. Soma is looking to get his revenge and make his mark. Who wants it more?
Light > Soma on MatchpointLight < Soma on Neo SylphidLight > Soma on EscaladeLight > Soma on PolypoidLight > Soma on Horizon Lunar ColonyLight advances to the Grand Final 3-1!
