Nal_Ra's Hallucination: Impossible Comeback

yes9111

United States420 Posts

May 26 2009 00:24 GMT

▶ May 14th, 2009 - Avalon MSL Survivor tournament
◆ Losers Bracket - Destination - Kwanro vs Lomo

Hello! This is Kang Min.

It was on May 14th. The deciding match between Lomo and Kwanro from the Loser's Bracket for qualification.

The two had battled before some time ago. Lomo had managed to win the first set and proceeded to win the second with a successful two port wraith harass strategy on Colosseum.

The game was important for both players because it was the MSL Ro16. In some ways, however, this match was even more consequential, because the loser would not qualify at all for the MSL.

SPOILER

The results were in Kwanro's victory. I don't know where he found such amazing inspiration but his comeback certainly shocked Lomo.

This game reminded me of the game between sAviOr and TT on the map Requiem. Since then, it has been a really long time since such amazing turnarounds were played. Even Kwanro himself said that he was ready to type GG if his attack failed.

◆ The fateful match begins...

How was such a miracle achieved? Kwanro probably knows the reasons best, as comebacks can happen in so many different ways and each player has his own philosophy of how to win.

I personally thought that Kwanro's mindset was something like this: even in times of disadvantage he didn't think of it as a disadvantage, and when he was about to lose, he thought of how he could win.

All these players' different views have one important thing in common, which is not to give up. Once you give up, your loss is certain.

So exactly how desparate was Kwanro's situation that he was ready to type out had his attack failed? Kwanro certainly had doubts of his chances.

In his mind however, he started thinking of something else and started using his keyboard and mouse more rapidly.

In the end, even if that hope was just 1% of his thoughts, it was enough to turn the game around.

After he beat Lomo, Kwanro obviously would have felt glad. But I'm sure that his shock of victory was even greater. Poor Lomo on the other hand, the shock would have been like a blow to his head with a hammer.

Let's get into the game. Lomo again, opted for 2port wraiths. As a result, for a long time his main force was mostly wraiths.

◆ Lomo readies his 2 starports

The wraiths were quite successful in this game. Counting until his very last wraith, Lomo managed to kill 35 drones. With zerglings and hydras, the number was around 50.

He killed almost 3 control groups worth of drones, 3 lings and overlords each, and 14 hydralisks, totalling 55 units killed.

Lomo made his fair share of mistakes before the wraith harass- he lifted his Command Center and lost many SCVs to Kwanro's timing attack. However, compared to the damage that he inflicted with his wraiths, his situation was clearly better than Kwanro's. Furthermore, his troops suffered minimal damage throughout the beginning.

Because Terran was so much ahead in the game, Lomo's regrets will number well over 10. Due to his advantage, Lomo could have pulled a variety of different options. To discuss every one of them will take to long, so I will only talk shortly about his tactical management.

Firstly, Lomo made exteneded usage of his wraiths do hurt Kwanro. But starting at the 11:55 mark, his pulled his wraiths back into his main. For well over a minute, the wraiths just stayed there and did nothing. When he brought the wraiths back into Kwanro's natural to kill his drones, the time was about 13:08. Lomo had wasted almost 1 minute and 13 seconds of free killing time.

◆ Lomo continues to get ahead by killing Kwanro's drones.

Lomo panicked when Kwanro attacked with his 7 hydras. When the hydras were gone, he could have used that to deal even more damage with his wraiths. Plus, he did not have to pull back his wraiths because he already had enough troops to defend without them.

Kwanro's puny force numbered only 7 hydras; Lomo already had 6 marines, a tank, and a bunker with 3 of the marines inside it. Moreover, he continuously pumped out more marines and tanks and if he had held the cliff advantage at the choke, he would have surely blocked the attack.

If the wraiths were low on health, Lomo should have quickly repaired them and continue to harass Kwanro's base. Or, he could have attacked the 9 expo which was a bit more safe.

In this situation, Lomo had the golden opportunity to finish off the game. Kwanro decided to do some damage while taking his nat and moved about 18 hydras to attack. Lomo defended this easily, killing about 12 hydras and only losing 1 tank and 1 marine.

Lomo seized this timing. When Lomo cross the natural bridge area, the unit count was 53 and 35 for Lomo and Kwanro respectively. It was an advantage that simply could not overcome. Even when Terran has the same unit count, its chances of winning are not small.

◆ Lomo uses the timing in counter of Kwanro's overambitious attack

I think that this was the biggest blunder for Lomo. He did not keep his Wraith production going, did not have Science Vessels, and did not choose to attack with mainly wraiths + dropships. Lomo was ahead by so much this game that he probably purposely ignored these better options. Admittedly the game was very one-sided at that time.

What if Lomo had ignored Kwanro's 9 expo and went straight for Kwanro's natural? Lomo probably would have been the one with the MSL qualification.

Lomo was ahead for several reasons: 1, he knew that he had killed most of Kwanro's army. 2, He could check how large Kwanro's force was with his wraiths and 3, check his tech, especially the spire. He saw everything that could be seen. Regardless of where and when he fought, it would have been difficult for Lomo to lose. If he had went for Kwanro's natural, he would have destroyed the Hatchery well before Kwanro's mutas spawned.

However, Lomo did choose to go for Kwanro's 9 expo. His troops spent over a minute at Kwanro's 9 expo. During this time Kwanro made the incredible decision to go mutas and proceeded to gain back some advantage in this game with them.

Even after he lost all his troops after destroying the 9 expo, the game was not heavily against Lomo. Actually, the game was still favorable for him. Had he went for vessels and late game play, the game would have still looked better for Terran.

◆ As if predestined by the gods, Kwanro pulls off a theatrical comeback

That day I wondered if the gods had chosen Kwanro to win. From the beginning, Kwanro was lucky enough to sight Lomo's center factory. During Lomo's wraith domination, Kwanro could have lost 2-3 more overlords. More importantly, he managed to salvage some resources from his 9 expo and distracted Lomo's attention with it. These reasons allowed for his comeback and became key factors in his success.

For Lomo, he was ahead by so much that he made many mistakes and underestimated Kwanro's strength. Surely his mistakes here were also crucial to Kwanro's success.

Kwanro's recent performance has been solid and I look forward to his games in the MSL.

For Lomo it was a painful loss but I'm sure he'll take this defeat for his progress and improve his play.

Both players belong to the top tier teams of the Proleagues, so I'm sure that these two will someday rematch in a consequential setting.

Surely we can look forward to another exciting match between them when that comes?

Article by Kang Min (Nal_Ra)