Its hard not to conjure up the Legend of the Fall for Snow, who has been dangling very close to become a full on member of the kong line should he lose this, his run to the finals has been what some would consider lucky since he did not have to face Soulkey again, only a returning EffOrt and BarrackS. while BarrackS is a "Solid Terran" who kept the hope alive for Terrans all the way to the Ro4, failed like all "Solid Terrans" do to Snow. Can Snow overcome where he fell before in ASL5 and ASL8?

For Soma its like he's not missed a beat since his return from military service. His run to the finals has been phenomenal and his aggressive strategies have made him a proper heel in the eyes of a lot of fans, especially during the course of his Ro8 series against BeSt and the Semifinal series against Bisu. Will he be able to continue the era of Zerg that Soulkey has cultivated?

Also a very special Recap from Simplistik, our biggest Snow fan in TL staff.

Liquipedia

Semifinal A - Barracks vs Snow
Snow came into this series with a very dominant record over BarrackS. Their last meeting in the S18 Ro8 ended in a one-sided 4-1 of mainly shorter games. Snow is not invincible, but there is no doubt that he has the best PvT of all time. While Barracks has looked good this season (his play, not his hair...), the way he scraped past Mini in the quarters did not fill me with confidence that he could win here. The Pros largely agreed, with only EffOrt plumping for a Terran win (4-0!), a prediction that even Barracks himself dismissed laughingly as showmanship. The bulk of the predictions turned out to be correct and there was no miracle (Flash-guided) upset. That said, and despite the lopsided scoreline again, the underdog did not embarracks himself this time. He even treated us to the best TvP game of the tournament. Snow mostly looked serene, contrary to his self-reported practice struggles. Keeping it together on stage—despite doubts—augurs well for his chances this Sunday.


Set 1 - Barracks <Roaring Currents> Snow
We start on this season's whacky character map. Snow gets away with an uncontested nexus first opening. Barracks has a slower start, but recognizes that he can catch up with an extremely fast third base. Snow obviously picked this map for a reason and so we see a six minute stargate, before the second gateway even starts. Given Terran's superior economy, this could backfire, so ideally Protoss has to get active. But how does one do that with one gate production?



You elevator some units into your opponents main, while going for a backstab on their fresh expansion. Obvs. This pattern of engagement sets the tone for the rest of the series. Snow should really be called Water for his defensive Kung Fu style of avoiding direct confrontations. Barracks notices that something is up and scans the blinking stargates. In principle, all he has to do is push Protoss' brittle face in with a overwhelming firepower before the carriers become effective. We all know how it goes.



The Terran metal moves out and the Protoss defenders just melt away. Four carriers are out, but they need to have breakfast first after their long interstellar travel, so they hang around watching the oceans for a bit. The dragoons and zealots, all nine of them, in total, sneak around the North to cut off reinforcements.



When the carrier pilots have finished eating, they send out interceptors to blow up all the tanks, which are almost in range of the natural nexus. And then the ground forces clean up. Barracks is on four bases, and he is macroing well, but ultimately, he never manages to find that one favourable engagement to get ahead. Snow leaves a few small openings, like missing cannons at his forward island and transferring a round of probes through the Terran army. He's got a huge bank, but no zealot leg upgrade and so on. But none of that matters when you are accurately microing ten carriers on an island map.

I sometimes wonder if there aren't obvious weaknesses in Snow's multi-tasking and macro. But clearly he knows best what he needs to focus on to win. Eventually Barracks runs out of goliaths, and that is that.


[big]Set 2 - Barracks <Pole Star> Snow
The second game starts fairly standard. Snow tries his usual reaver harass shenanigans, while taking a third base, but he doesn't get much done. This gives Barracks an opportunity for a strong two base attack. The push gets to the Protoss natural very quickly, without taking any significant damage. And once again, Snow melts away gently to avoid a head-on collision. And just as the tanks start the siege, a gaggle of goons hits the relatively lightly defended Terran natural. Barracks missteps somewhat and his only two defending tanks get caught too far forward. And while the Terran challenger is busy damming the river at home, the tide rolls in.



Man... What? I'm not sure five dragoons, five zealots and two reavers are supposed to beat eleven tanks and sundry. This is exactly the reason why hitting Snow was the worst-case scenario for Barracks. But, to his credit, our first-time semifinalist hangs in there. His macro never slips and so the supplies stay close for a bit. Vultures get active and prevent Snow from taking his next nearest main base. But the Terran third is quite slow. And, crucially, Barracks doesn't notice when Snow is taking the cross-map main.

At just past 170 supply, Barracks comes out with another big push, while also taking a fourth base. The Terran armour first chews through the Protoss natural, then the base at two o'clock, and finally starts laying siege to twelve o'clock as well. Snow can no longer walk units out of his main, but he now has a healthy number of gateways in the other corner, so he can keep countering.

Ultimately, Protoss reinforcements run over the Terran positions in the South, and a judicious reaver drop lays Barracks' chances to rest.




Set 3 - Barracks <Dominator SE> Snow
And so we come to the game of the series. It starts off conservatively enough, quick gas for Terran into factory expand and cybernetics core into nexus for Protoss. Barracks gets a little economic lead by having a late third marine and skipping the bunker.

Snow looks to be going for a quick third nexus, but a small squad of Terran units pushes his dragoons back into the natural.



Behind this, Barracks starts a somewhat unusual third factory for early pressure, but he needlessly throws away some vultures. Of course Snow has a reaver-shuttle on the way. Once the third tank rolls off the assembly line, Terran immediately heads out for a second swing. Dragoons are busy dealing with mines and blocking vultures, so Barracks' units make it to Snow's natural without being slowed down. What follows is a tense engagement that lasts for almost two minutes, with both players heavily committed to micro. Snow is stuck at 74 supply throughout, Barracks at 76.



The fight is close, and maybe if Barracks hadn't bled off too many vultures before he could have ended the game here. But, with unsurprisingly good reaver control, Snow holds and can finally transfer probes to nine o'clock.

Both players gear up for the midgame. Barracks tries some vulture harass, but a pylon wall is up. Snow loses a reaver to a mine and well-placed tank in the Terran base.

At around 130 supply, Barracks feels ready for another attack, this time with a substantial army. He slowly manages to secure the next high-ground slice towards his opponent. This gives time and space for an SCV to build a new command centre.

Snow's somewhat small army manages to hold its ground, but his fourth base is very slow. Siege tanks snipe a couple of reavers and when a low-health shuttle gets shot done by a missile turret, Barracks pulls ahead in supply.



Tanks and vultures push across two more gaps onto the high-ground just outside the Protoss main. Snow keeps up constant reaver production, but once a Terran army reaches a certain size, reavers lose their ability to conjure up miracles. And the push continues, inexorably.



Now 20 supply down things are starting to look desperate for Protoss. Psi storm has just come online, but there doesn't seem to be an obvious way to relieve the relentless pressure. With the tanks this close to the rally point, Snow has to fight. But he also can't risk getting his whole army trapped.

And then we get one of those small winter heatwaves, and some of Snow's units melt away and spill across the map, just before Barracks is able to shut the gate. It's kind of amusing to watch a small group of dragoons and zealots run around the map, looking for something, anything!, to do. Like a bunch of naughty teenagers running down the street, checking if any cars or front doors are open. Eventually, they find an open backdoor into the Terran third.



The teenagers accidentally wake up the dog though, so they have to run way. But the neighbourhood watch is on it they get cornered and arrested. Still, they put up a surprisingly good fight and turn the supplies back into a playable game.



To further complicate the game, Snow slowly trickles out some dark templars to drag mines and swipe tanks on the edges of the army. And still the push keeps inching forward.

Snow sends out another small relief force, while starting to secure the Northern main. But they don't find any target either.



Barracks has slowly and methodically manoeuvred his way into a winning position. And just when it looks like he should be able to end the game, things start spinning out of control. Snow's delinquent trespassers shut down Barracks' attempt to take a fourth base. Meanwhile, his own fifth base starts to produce income.



Barracks takes control of the area outside the Protoss natural, forcing the remaining Protoss defenders to retreat deeper and deeper towards the minerals, while tanks on the outside shell the gateways. Dragoons huddle behind the nexus to avoid siege tank shells.



The natural nexus goes down and Barracks starts leaning onto the relatively undefended base at nine o'clock. But Snow isn't finished yet. His units prevent the Terran fourth base once again, starving Barracks of desperately needed minerals. There is a decent-sized Protoss force out on the map. A few gateways are now connected to the aether at eleven o'clock. And, with shuttles made from a freshly warped in second robotics facility, Snow starts ferrying units out of his main base towards a Terran blind spot at six o'clock.



Come to think of it. Why didn't Barracks take this base? Surely, it would've been relatively easy to defend with his massive army nearby, and a line of turrets. Either way, SCV's do manage to start work at the mineral only outside his main, and his supplies are approaching max. Nine o'clock has been destroyed and a sizeable contingent of tanks and vultures is making its way North to put pressure on Snow's second home.

Then two fights happen at once. Snow hits five o'clock and Barracks pushes North. Snow loses his shuttle, but still trades effectively. Barracks cleans up the smaller attack, but perhaps overreacts by retreating his units back from the top-half of the map.

Still, if Barracks pulls together a reasonable chunk of army and heads to twelve o'clock he should just win. Instead, Snow takes the initiative. He arrives with a small gaggle of goons, a few zealots and a reaver at the new Terran base and starts what can only be described as a reign of absolute terror. Terran fans, look away.

Barracks wisely pulls most of the SCV's out quickly, but that reaver still ends up doing an insane amount of damage. On the first visit the reaver (already on ten kills from earlier) blows up two tanks, three vultures and two goliaths. The laughably small number of goons retreats, and the Terran army immediately mobilises.



Of course the reaver comes back and kills another four tanks, six SCV's, five vultures and three goliaths. Six SCV's. Five vultures. Four tanks. And three goliaths. Is this is some kind of countdown challenge?

Before these engagements, Barracks was comfortably ahead by ten supply, after them he is almost 40(!) down, while Snow (also taking some losses) maintains his army size.



Snow has a chance to take a decisive lead, but he blunders somewhat, throwing away some units and shuttles needlessly. The supply levels are also somewhat deceptive, as Snow has a lot more workers, including a bunch idling in his main.

Barracks pulls his units away from the contain and attacks one of the open Protoss expansions, while simultaneously putting pressure on twelve o'clock. Snow is still reavering away as best as he can, but, for a change, goliaths shoot down the shuttle.

The Terran army takes control of the entrance to the Northern main and the writing seems to be on the wall for Snow. Still, be brings two fresh reavers to bear on some unsuspecting SCV's.



Barracks is forced to evacuate, including flying the CC away briefly. This puts him somewhat low on detection. (He also plays with his fans' hearts a bit by letting the command center burn to a concerningly low level of hit points.) Snow is also finally reduced to mining from a single base, so he throws out a few hopeful DT's. And together with some reaver support they actually clear out the attacking tanks.



Barracks sends out his remaining units in a desperate attempt to finish the game, as his supply dips dangerously low to a mere 67. Snow still has two reavers, but the Terran forces carefully secure the twelve o'clock high-ground again and prevent mining at one o'clock. Snow kills a few more SCV's on the other side of the map when a few battle-hardened tanks, one with 13 kills, and vultures finally roll down the ramp and pull the plug.



I believe we are all victorious for having witnessed this incredible game. Let us appreciate for a moment that, in this nearly 30 minute game, only two bases were not mined, and yet, neither player ever got to level two upgrades. Given the income disparity, and the insane reaver shenanigans, Barracks must have, somehow, been supremely efficient with his resources. Snow looked dead several times, but there's apparently a lot one can do armed only with a reaver and a dream.


Set 4 - Barracks Snow
For the last two games we return to the pattern of the first two games, which gives the series a pleasing symmetry if you ask me. Barracks makes moves, but Snow pretty much has all the answers. In the fourth game, Barracks opens with a hidden command centre at another main, but Snow somehow figures it out super quickly, without seeing more than the edges of the Terran base with his reaver. Pretty incredible.



The SCV's run away and mostly survive, but the CC ends up burning down. All this is happening while Snow is going for some more Protoss tomfoolery. After the first reaver comes a DT, before Terran has any scanners. And an arbiter is on the way, too.



This kills three tanks and a goliath more or less for free and locks Barracks in. When he's finally ready to take a third base, Protoss is already on four, and in the process of taking another main. Oh yeah, and there's now an invisible reaver.



And if you think having to deal with invisible reavers, DT's and arbiters is annoying, then you'll be pleased to hear that carriers are next, as Snow completes another infamous omni-build. Remember that game against Speed?

Barracks scans the carriers and quickly moves out. The Terran army gets into the bottom left main without too much trouble. But when the carriers arrive, they outnumber the goliaths. And Protoss ground forces are cutting off reinforcements.



Killing the nexus is good, but losing all those tanks for free is terrible. Barracks is unable to churn out and concentrate sufficient numbers of goliaths and gets run over.


Set 5 - Barracks Snow
In the final game, frustration and/or doubt seem to have finally crept up on Barracks. He engineers an early opportunity to do some damage, gets a good mine connection, but then backs off instead of pushing his advantage.

While, during the next attack he goes slightly too early and then also overstays his welcome. Circling round the left side of the map and waiting for the reaver to fly North before pouncing was a good idea. But the reaver is back in time and everything gets cleaned up.



Snow can comfortably take a third base and macro up. Barracks, being somewhat contained and vulnerable to drops into his main is running out of options. He squeezes out as many units as he can from his five factories and orders an attack. As usual, Snow's units engages a little and then melts away.

A solid number of tanks pulls up outside of the Protoss natural pretty quickly. But Barracks is distracted by the drop into his main and the goons shooting up his natural. So he doesn't have enough time to spread out his attacking units before they get blindsided by scarabs.

Let's end this recap by appreciating Snow's reaver play.

To be honest, coming into this series, my head really says Soma. But I can’t help but scream about how much my heart wants Snow to win. The man has 2 runner ups, and now three straight semifinal appearances in the last three ASLs, each of them resulting in defeat at the hands of his tournament archnemesis, Soulkey. And now, his biggest roadblock to achieving a title he has pushed and longed for for so long… has been replaced by another overwhelming presence of a Zerg player in Soma.

I’m sure in the moment when Soulkey got eliminated in the Ro16, Snow was delighted, and a weight was lifted off his back. He must’ve thought: “Soulkey is finally gone, this will be my tournament, I can do this!” He advanced through the tournament, showing fairly good form in each group and series, ending both EffOrt and BarrackS in quick 4-1 victories. But at all times throughout his campaign, his eyes were glued on the other side of the bracket, staring down Soma who was picking off Protoss players one at a time. And as he watched Soma play Bisu in a thriller of a 7-game series, he was hoping, praying even, that Bisu would be the one victorious. In a PvP finals, Snow can feel confident in his ability to be the favorite, and bring home his long awaited trophy. But as he watched in horror as Soma’s zerglings flooded Bisu’s natural, forcing Bisu to GG, Snow realized yet another daunting PvZ test stood between him and his prize.

And yet, while PvZ is undoubtedly Snow’s weakest matchup of his three (56.2%), it’s a high bar when his PvT (68.6%) and PvP (65.2%) both look near unstoppable with his immaculate dragoon and reaver micro, both units being integral to his strategy in PvT and PvP. And, for all the criticism that Snow can get for his performance in the matchup, it’s undisputed that his PvZ has leveled up over the past 2 years, being forced time and time again to face off against Soulkey. In fact, it’s exactly his much improved army management and engagement decision making that has forced Zerg strategy to adapt into a more chaotic style of play, as his army positioning and storms in big skirmishes have been grinding Zergs down. Snow’s 8-9 gate mid-game attacks have looked near unstoppable, and even Bisu and BeSt showed that if Protoss can get to the mid-game unscathed, the 14 minute 1-2 timing attacks are too strong to stop. And not just that, but Snow’s been adding new tricks to his PvZ, tending towards more frequent nexus-first openings, and learning corsair micro against scourge. His threat of getting early game advantages with nexus-first may force out some 9 pool or even 4 pool from Soma, who definitely doesn’t want Snow to get any form of advantage as that makes the timing attacks all the more powerful. And in fact, we saw that during his series against EffOrt, Snow’s nexus-first threats forced EffOrt into opening 9 pool several times in the series, which Snow still deflected with ease and forced EffOrt into taking suboptimal decisions to try to claw back the deficit. It will definitely be the battle of two different styles, with Snow trying to keep the games as simple as possible, while Soma is looking to dial up the chaos and put Snow into uncomfortable positions.

Maps:

Game 1: Roaring Currents

An interesting first map pick decision by Snow, who first picked this map against EffOrt, but EffOrt managed to take the game against Snow’s goon reaver strategy. Protoss has yet to beat Zerg on this map, with a 0-4 record this tournament (though wildly, it’s actually a pretty balanced map on ELOboard). While the early game air advantage for Protoss is good, Zergs have been able to deflect Protoss relatively well and get into a solid land game with later transitions into overlord drop and Greater Spire aerial armies. Snow definitely needs to have something cooked up, maybe we could even see a 1-base attempt or even 2-gate by Snow rather than the more favored nexus-first on this map.

Game 2: Dominator SE

Snow opened nexus-first here against EffOrt, which is crazy to think on a pretty short rush distance 3p map. There’s a lot of little tricks on this map, like good cannon rush opportunities for Protoss against hatch first, and the mineral only bases make it so that some Zergs feel a bit uncomfortable with their 3rd base gas location depending on the spawns. Reverse ramps aren’t the most impactful in PvZ, but it honestly could be a solid map for Snow to go center gates against Soma on, and it’s worked for him in the past as well against Soulkey.

Game 3: Radeon

A nice stock standard map, I don’t anticipate anything too wild here, but look for Soma to attempt some whacky strategies to throw Snow off, and depending on spawn locations, Soma could look to play some aggressive muta-scourge openings to find weaknesses in Snow’s defenses.

Game 4: Pole Star

This is one of the maps that I could expect a 2 gate from Snow, the other being Metropolis. Soma has shown some weakness to in-base 2 gates, losing games against BeSt and Bisu. This is also a good macro map, which means that I could anticipate Snow wanting to try to take this game to a late-game and utilize his storms and reavers to grind out Soma, as getting to 4 base Protoss on this map isn’t the most difficult.


Game 5: Metropolis

Another potential 2 gate map, this map can be tricky for Zerg as taking a fourth seems difficult. Protoss also has some chokes to abuse like if they can get the Zerg army pushed all the way back to their natural, making engagements difficult for Soma. It’s a smart final map pick from Snow. Definitely another map where I would anticipate a muta-scourge opener from Soma, though if Snow gets a vertical wall, we could see a muta fake into hydra bust.

Game 6: Knock Out

Knock Out is a tough map for Zergs. In the old days on Circuit Breaker, Zergs didn’t realize how important that 3rd gas was and going 5-6 hatch hydra with a mineral-only third felt almost all-in. It was either that or go late game and take another natural for 3 gas. Soma and Snow have both demonstrated why this map feels like a fairly good Protoss map for that reason, because if Soma chooses to take another natural, Snow’s ability to grind out Zergs is second-to-none, while taking the mineral-only means that Snow’s 8 gate is going to be all the more successful as Soma won’t have enough gas to put together a high quality army. Expect Snow to want to play as standard of a game as possible.

Game 7: Litmus

A fitting final game, Snow will definitely be on high alert so that Soma can’t do a ling run-by like he did against Bisu, but he might also try to take advantage of the backdoor minerals with a gate-first followed by mineral hopping the zealots into Soma’s main. After that, Snow will likely play defensive, as this map can be somewhat tricky with high drop potential and other shenanigans from Zerg. And if he manages to pull it off, Snow would finally get his hands on his long awaited trophy.

May our favorite foot clapper finally triumph and ascend to his frozen throne.

Snow Wins 4-3 To Become the ASL20 Champion!

The following story you are about to read and events that unfolded may be unsuitable for nerds under 18...

Fifteen years ago, long before Soma made his ASL debut, he was just another teenage Zerg grinding ladder games in a dim net cafe tucked between chicken joints and karaoke bars in Incheon. He played until dawn, hunched over a borrowed keyboard, running on cup noodles and canned coffee. On one of those nights, destiny queued him into a Protoss named Snow. That name already meant something. Snow was a recognized talent on CJ Entus, backed by a full squad and staff. Soma was a nobody. But something clicked, and what followed was a silent best-of-25, game after game, the net cafe crowd thinning out as Soma began to pull ahead. No stakes, no fans, just raw APM and blurry vision. Soma won. Thirteen wins to twelve. He said nothing. Just logged off and walked into the night.

But outside the shop, the night took a different turn. Snow was there with his CJ Entus crew Kwanro, Hydra, and sKyHigh among them. They had seen enough. As Soma stepped into the alley, they followed, cornered him, and shoved him hard into the mud. Laughter echoed as Soma tried to pick himself up. One of them broke his keyboard, smashing it against the sidewalk. Then, in a final gesture, Snow picked up Soma’s mouse, scrawled his name on the side with a Sharpie from his jacket, and tossed it back at him like trash. Soma clutched it, humiliated but quiet, his pride washed out by the sludge. He told no one but his mother.

Fifteen years later, he still uses that mouse. If you look closely between games, just under the side grip, you’ll see “Snow” scratched in faded ink, almost rubbed off from years of play. Tonight, under the ASL lights, that same mouse will be used for something else. Not to forget what happened, but to finish what started in a back alley, when a kid from Incheon got pushed into the dirt by the name he now aims to bury.

When Park “Soma” Sang Hyun returned from military service earlier this year, there were questions about how fast he could catch up. He answered them quickly. After missing three ASL seasons, Soma returned in Season 20 and has not lost a single series. He’s now in the finals.

Soma’s campaign began in the Round of 24, where he defeated sSak and Mini to advance without dropping a map. In the Round of 16, he beat Larva in a ZvZ, then took down Light, a former champion, in a solid 2–1 series. He advanced to the quarterfinals having played four players and won against all four.

In the quarterfinal, Soma faced BeSt, last season’s finalist. After losing Game 2 to heavy Zealot pressure, Soma shifted gears. He took the next three games, including a messy win on Roaring Currents where BeSt misstepped. Soma won the series 4–2.

His semifinal match against Bisu went the full seven games. Bisu won early with clean mid-game execution, but Soma stayed in it with map control and a well-timed Roaring Currents win. Game 7 was played on Litmus, and Soma opened with a fast Zergling flood that caught Bisu unprepared. The series ended there, 4–3, with Soma into his second ASL final.

Map preparation has played a key role in Soma’s success. He’s undefeated on Roaring Currents, a large map that supports defensive Zerg setups and island expansions. This should set Soma up with a 1-0 start to the series. However, Litmus has to be the true Protoss villain of all maps. Soma has closed out his series against BeSt and Bisu with it. If Snow takes Soma to game seven, then we will have a true “Litmus” test to find out who is the better player.

This will be Soma’s second ASL final. In Season 10, he beat Snow 3–0 in the quarterfinal before falling narrowly to Queen 3–4 in the championship match. That win over Snow remains their only ASL encounter. Their paths diverged afterward as Snow became a frequent late-round player, while Soma took time away for service.

Now they meet again, both looking for their first ASL title. Soma has been fantastic all season. He’s won on every map he needed to, beaten two top-tier Protoss opponents in back-to-back series, and shown no signs of slowing down.

He’s sharp, his ZvP is well-practiced, and the map pool suits his style. Snow will fight for long games, but Soma only needs a few cracks in defense to break through. If he plays to the level he’s shown all tournament, this could be the one he finishes.

Soma Wins 4–2 To Become The ASL20 Champion!!!

Writers: FlashFTW, BisuDagger, Simplistik
Graphics: v1
Editors: BLinD-RawR