[ASL8] Losers Final Action vs Rain

nikolaus8844

106 Posts

August 24 2019 23:55 GMT

Seems like those two will duke it out in some 10 hours from now. I couldn't find a thread about it, but it's not a shocker to see people uninspired about this match.
Hoping for some top-notch action, though it might be too much to ask for..

QOGQOG

834 Posts

August 25 2019 00:23 GMT

I think it will probably be one sided, but I'm not entirely sure which side it'll be. If Action puts a little more thought into how to follow through if his builds don't win the game right when he expects them to. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if Rain will actually try.

AttackZerg

United States7454 Posts

August 25 2019 02:06 GMT

???? hmmm this is a crappy blog. Not a tournament thread.

No thread and waiting for blind~rawr is better then this.

nikolaus8844

106 Posts

August 25 2019 07:24 GMT

True true...
If you think you can bless us with some dazzling introduction about the spectacular drama that will unravel between Action and Rain - please, do so. I'll happily delete my crappy post. I was just interested in what people think about this (and already saw one spot-on opinion). I too was waiting for Blind-Rawr but I think it's fair to assume he saw fit to spend his TL time on something more worthwhile.
So, what do you think about the match?

AttackZerg

United States7454 Posts

August 25 2019 08:04 GMT

I have no idea how to do it. I went to that thread and then tried to quote edit blind~rawrs last one and change things but I kept breaking the format and I don't see how to do it from the live thread, No banners I needed, ect.

I change my opinion and apologize for my insult. Blind~rawr is legend.

Anyway, now that I'm done being rude ...

Action v Rain

Their match comes at a very interesting time for PvZ. Since the ZvP revolution that Jaedong authored starting with the infamous ZvP vs Bisu on bluestorm. For years, zerg has had a stable way to deal with any variant of Toss Fe. Not that Protoss couldn't win but Zerg theory had several comfortable middlegame paths. Then. This year, everything changed.

Not 1 dominant Protoss, but a gaggle of them began to pick apart Zergs predictable greed and tech choices. The hive, compared to its history, have been getting stiff armed by Protoss players. Protoss, at least somewhat lead by Mini have been pushing every edge and at times just flat about abusing zergs predictability.

And now ... now after nearly 18 years, Zerg have returned to the original approach to ZvP. Hydra as fast as possible and keep making them while you take the map. Things are a changing in ZvP.

Not that the new build is an auto-win, it's not, but now for the first time since Jaedong and then Effort, we have Zergs building wild variants, abusing the darkness that hydra place protoss in and abusing the thread of hydra busts.

Action is not the Queen of Blades or the King of Dogcatchers but he is a strong macro zerg, who is definitely up-to-date with the brand new field of opening theory that has arrived. And he choked so hard in his last match that he is definitely in mood to attempt a Rain crush.

... Rain.

Rain is either the most overhyped (he's not) or the most slept on (he's not) protoss of our time. Everyone has pretty crappy opinions about him.

Rain is a champion. Period. He has never had the best micro or macro of any protoss. Or the best builds. According to some he is bad at every matchup or just good pvp or blah blah blah. The fact is, this guy shows up to tournaments and wins. He is the 1 in 7 billion player who is actually only his best self in incredibly stressful environments. A god damn unicorn.

But ... Rain. Rain choked hard against Flash. Not as hard as Action choked. But he definitely played below his best. Which is rare, because the dude normally becomes groot the second money is on the line.

Normally, I would root for Zerg but expect the Champion to beat the non-champion. But ... Action played so sloppy last week, I have no emotional support for the guy. Just a really lackluster display of zerg, from someone who literately made a name for themselves as one of the few people who could play Extreme late game ZvT. His choices and control were regrettable and bad enough to not be forgettable.

So, I think the current state of opening theory, gives Action a slight edge going into the series. I doubt Rain will be the Protoss to show us the 1-2-3 on the 9734 build. But the games that result from it are often scrappy and ugly and he has a much better shot at keeping composer.

Lots of words for - this shit is a toss-up.

KamMoye

United States721 Posts

August 25 2019 08:31 GMT

Personally I don't care about this match. What's on the line? How much money? I imagine it'd be hard for a competitor to truly give 100% in matches like these. Can't say I care who wins or loses. I feel like most of these type of sets are of poor quality.

AttackZerg

United States7454 Posts

August 25 2019 08:35 GMT

I have no clue why. In the other mind-sports I follow third place is a very respected placement. I have never understood why third and fourth are so under-honored in BW.

KamMoye

United States721 Posts

August 25 2019 08:39 GMT

~1700 US dollars is on the line. Loser is huaranteed 2.2K though. Is that enough to get them both to try? I'm not sure how that compares to their yearly income.

For comparison sake the difference between 1st and 2nd is ~17K.

AttackZerg

United States7454 Posts

August 25 2019 08:50 GMT

I am poor, so I would put in a week of 6-8 hours to earn $1,700 extra.

Not to mention I have a huge ego, and losing on TV and having it memorialized in video format would be enough to put in the work even with zero dollars on the line.

But, I see your financial incentive argument, I just can't imagine living in a world where I was okay getting pimp slapped on TV. At something I have spent 20,000 hours on. That sounds insane to me.

KobraKay

Portugal4231 Posts

August 25 2019 09:38 GMT

#10

Obviously they should take this seriously. Cant gather why this trend of dismissing 3rd place matches has come such a long way to infest everything.

If you are in it to win it, you must try to win everygame despite it not being your ideal scenario. Otherwise you should pick another job because you are fooling yourself.

Edit: I think this should be the link to the EN stream.