DongRaeGu Fan Club - Page 316

September 15th, 2014
Shaking Off the Rust: Dongraegu’s Championship Hopes
by CosmicSpiral

In SC2 years DongRaeGu is a grizzled warhorse, and like all such beasts he’s acquired a certain aura. Composed of half-melancholy and half-reverence, his mere presence sends thoughts drifting to happier times. A typical DRG appearance at a foreign event is headlined by a tone of barely perceptible regret. The casters do their best to be neutral, and they largely succeed, but their comments are tinged with nostalgia. They usually speak of him in two ways: a dear brother who’s walked off the proper path and a problematic cousin whose innate goodness must be constantly reassured. The former attitude manifests in wistful recollections of DRG’s past glories, the latter in constant reminders that DRG is a consistent Code S presence. It was a slightly facetious appreciation. The same kind of praise was lavished on Curious as a type of dry reparation. You’re a stoic and industrious worker, Curious. Thanks for guarding the door so the real men of importance don’t have to mingle with the plebeians. Maybe we’ll throw you a biscuit for your troubles.

It is the typical admiration of a player whose skill is more reputation than reality. Between Iron Squid II and Red Bull Battlegrounds, DRG had been going through his own weird version of hell. He had avoided the slow decay that afflicted almost every other non-KeSPA zerg, continuing a string of Code S appearances unbroken since October 2011. Nevertheless, one got the sense Dongraegu was running in place. Ever since GSL Season 3 back in 2012, DRG had been reliving the same failure like old stock footage of a galloping horse. He strolled through the Round of 32 like it was Central Park during the springtime, then blundered in the Round of 16 in ways that made you question how he made it there. Every time he reaches the end of the film, it looped back to the beginning.

Meanwhile his fans have had to endure praise over other zergs, chatter regarding their WCS chances and stakes to legitimacy, and questions concerning their potential. Considering how quickly KeSPA players acclimated to SC2, DRG was a wizard just for holding onto his meal ticket. All the greedy third nexuses, 1 base baneling busts and parade pushes in the world couldn’t knock him out of Code S. But that wasn’t an interesting tale in the slightest. No one was ever captivated by stasis. The world was more concerned with Soulkey’s struggle to be the only zerg worth a damn, TRUE’s Wild West approach, soO’s mastery of choke artist syndrome, Solar’s rise from relative nobody to near-IEM champion. It was depressing how quickly DRG was relegated to background status. The constant turmoil only reminded us how ephemeral the current zerg hierarchy had become. Before his heartbreaking loss to Life at Iron Squid II, DRG had produced a year and a half of excellence. He earned 8 first place finishes and 7 silver medals in that time span. NesTea took 3 GSL championships during his year as the king, revolutionizing the game in the process. Meanwhile Soulkey’s reign of terror lasted 6 months, and he essentially relied on 4 coin flips to seize his championship. Hell, TRUE was hyped up as the next big thing without even being good at ZvT.

So, is the long national nightmare over? It certainly doesn’t hurt that DRG reached the Round of 8. After 7 seasons of this nonsense, he must be utterly relieved: now he’s proven he has the chops to get to the quarterfinals. On the one hand he still looked cursed against soO, who now holds a 6-0 record against him. On the other hand, he defied predictions by beating TRUE and the Ultimate Weapon to secure his spot. His victory over the KT terran must have felt especially rewarding. Flash was advertised as one of the favorites following his win at IEM Toronto, and many people assumed he had too much momentum to be stopped. Dongraegu abused that confidence with some nifty tweaks to his regular playstyle. He tried a ling/bane/muta -> swarmhost transition in Game 1, exploited a small gap in Flash’s wall-off during Game 2, and snuffed out his predictable early CC play with 1 base speedling in Game 3. Anticipation, adaptation, relentless abuse of his mobility…all hallmarks of DRG at his very best.

Right now the way lies open for a possible GSL final. ZvT is his favorite matchup, the one least liable to extreme change in the early game, and he has looked strong in it since the end of June. Luckily he finished Group D in second place, meaning he won’t have to deal with Stats’ insane PvZ; in fact he won’t have to face a protoss until the finals. Advancement means he’ll either have to face Solar, whom he beat to take Red Bull, or the Jin Air wunderkind Cure.

Yet INnoVation won’t be nearly as naïve as Flash when it comes to strategies. Crazy plots are not Innovation’s forte, but he is surprisingly flexible for someone universally branded as boring. Besides the standard parade push with marine/medivac/widow mine, he likes to employ several alternate builds. All of them are based on manipulating expectations of the push and punishing the zerg buildup to defend it.

• On a map with a third far away from the natural, Innovation likes to make extra hellions in order to punch through a weak queen defense. Instead of the classic 6-8 hellions for slight aggression, he’ll produce 10-12 and try to run directly into the mineral line. He will likely try this on Deadwing.
• He reserves 2 base stim timings for rare situations. Most of the time he will wait until he gets a specific type of map: close positions with a natural ramp that extends perpendicular to the third. This way he can push a pocket force into the third while flanking everything that funnels through the ramp. Notably he skips the opening reaper and makes 2 marines instead; he follows it up with 2 more barracks and an engineering bay for +1 attack. He might attempt to kill DRG with this on Nimbus.
• If he’s ahead in the series, he occasionally goes full Korean Rambo with a 2 rax in the middle of the map.
• He is not a mech guy.

Innovation is a hard challenge but not undefeatable. If there’s one player in the world whose playstyle can counter the parade push, it’s Dongraegu. With his keenness for flanking and counterattacking across the map, DRG’s force will always present a threat to Innovation’s economy if he moves out too far. DRG is shrewd enough to use an early roach attack or baneling bust but also extremely greedy when the map calls for it. Messing with Innovation’s mind will be the key to winning this series. Innovation thrives off bamboozling predictable players who are intimidated by his reputation. They become so scared of the dreaded parade push that they forget to scout and prepare for other possibilities. DRG knows how to beat it and should be actively searching for any aces up the terran’s sleeve.

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September 14th, 2014
The Aligned Stars
by neoghaleon55

Every so often, the celestial bodies align for a single player such that things fall seemingly into their places. Before this GSL began, a lot of people doubted DongRaeGu's abilities in Heart of the Swarm. He was a legend in Wings of Liberty but had underperformed since the arrival of the game's expansion. Yet lately, DRG has been on the rise as he has made it through two rounds of GSL Code S. By defeating both Flash and True to secure a place in the quarter finals, DRG has not only dashed away doubts about his caliber, but also proclaimed to the world that he is still relevant.

However, DRG's success lately is not without a bit of luck. In the round of 32 he was matched against the much less experienced Trust, who floundered around in his own nervousness. Then DRG fought Stork, a BW veteran who isn't very comfortable with StarCraft 2 and still makes newbie mistakes from time to time. In the round of 16, DRG easily defeated newcomer, TRUE, in a ZvZ match using superior mechanics and understanding of the Zerg race. He then went on to defeat Flash, the current IEM Champion, god of Broodwar extraordinaire...and also a Terran player. We all know how much DRG enjoys beating up a good Terran. ZvT is his comfort zone, his cradle to fame, his mother's milk. So after defeating Flash, guess who DRG will be facing off next? That's right, it's another Terran player, INnoVation. Who could forget that just under a year ago, DRG famously knocked Innovation off the Best-TvZ-in-the-world pedestal? And if DRG makes it through, there is a good chance he will be matched up against Cure, another Terran player. The road to the GSL trophy has been paved by the stars for DRG, now it's just a matter of him walking those starlit steps to the finals once more.

As an avid follower of all things DRG, I've noticed a few interesting technical deviations in his Code S plays lately. First of all is the use of early burrow against Protoss as seen against Stork and Trust in the round of 32. Burrow play is seeing a resurgence as of late. We saw Solar used burrowed roaches to great effect in ZvP to snipe off sentries and immortals. DRG, however, rarely researches burrow in the past, so it was a treat to see him try something new.

During his match against Flash, DRG tried a swarmhost style against Flash's BioMech army. Swarmhosts are rarely if ever used against Terrans in Korea as drop play would completely wreck all bases that the swarmhosts do not cover. DRG might have tried to use this style against Flash when he saw how many Thors were being made off 3 factories. It was a decent choice, however Flash hit a good timing while the swarmhosts were out of position and did critical damage to DRG's infrastructure. Although it didn't work this time, the style showed some promise and I would love to see it again in the future.

Another thing to note was that on King Sejong's Station against Stork, DRG made two swarmhosts and burrowed them in between the 3rd and 4th expansions. Just two swarmhosts were able to pick off a ton of Zealot run-bys. It is so refreshing to see swarmhosts used defensively in this way. The 4 locusts delayed the zealot squads long enough for reinforcements to arrive for the clean up. This strategy might be very map dependent, as the expansions are very close together on Sejong, but it was still really cool to see none the less.

Lastly, DRG showed off his new oversupply trick against True in the round of 16. Oversupply is a technique that I often wonder why people don't do more often. Basically, when DRG maxed out, he pulled a bunch of drones to build spore crawlers to free up supplies to make more banelings, then he cancelled the spores to reclaim his drones. At one point in the game, DRG was at 218 supply to True's 200. The 18 additional supply, which equates to 36 banelings, did so much damage to True's roach army that the battle ended in a wash in DRG's favor.

With so much changes in DRG's game and perhaps the most anticipated ZvT match against Innovation coming up, Code S this year has never been more exciting. Stay tuned for the preview of DRG vs Innovation, coming out soon.

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September 4th, 2014
Stacked
by neoghaleon55

There is no doubt that DongRaeGu has found himself in a precarious situation for the Round of 16. With him are three players on the hottest streaks of their career in StarCraft II: soO, a three times GSL runner up; Flash, a broodwar god, and recently, an IEM Toronto Champion; TRUE, a new generation Zerg player who thinks banelings counter everything (his win rate seems to support this claim). But what has DRG done lately? Well, he got top 8 at MLG Anaheim and he did win a pretty stacked Redbull Global weekend tournament. DongRaeGu is seemingly in his best form since Heart of the Swarm began. However, there is a lot of doubt whether he has what it takes to compete with the best of Korea at the moment. Being teamless as of recent has not helped his case in the least. What DRG does have is a lot of talent, fast hands, impeccable scouting, great game sense and undoubtedly the best fans on in the world! We'll just have to see if that will be enough for this stacked group.

Good Luck DRG!!

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August 19th, 2014
Aiur on Fire: Dongraegu Advances Over Protoss Bodies
by CosmicSpiral

In retrospect it was silly to worry about DongRaeGu’s chances in this group. Stork was rapidly acclimating to top-level play but he was barely established compared to a man who made 13 consecutive Code S appearances. Ditto for the up-and-coming Trust, who had only recently made his bones in the qualifier for Red Bull Battlegrounds: Global. soO, the current best zerg in Korea, was the only real challenge to DRG’s advancement and it was highly unlikely they would play twice. However, it was awfully hard to forget how often he has flopped in such positions. His 61% lifetime record in ZvP included some of his most bizarre and sad losses, series where he looked like a rank amateur in terms of decision-making. Every time it seemed like he had figured out the matchup, some disheartening failure happened: a random loss to Scarlett at MLG, an ugly stretch during Proleague, weird collapses at Assembly Summer and IEM Singapore, etc. All signs pointed to another Ro16 appearance but it was hard to expect it without some trepidation.

DRG immediately made it clear that he would not let Stork get comfortable. Opening gas-pool, an old and aggressive ZvP build, he correctly anticipated Stork’s nexus first attempt and forced him to cancel it. Unfortunately that was all the economic damage DRG could muster. Stork calmly warded off the zergling pressure in his base without losing a probe, retaking his natural with cyber core -> 2 more gates. The game stabilized from there as both players elected to macro up, DRG focusing on roach/ling and Stork on blink stalkers accompanied by immortals. However, DRG’s early pressure let him take a quick third base and he turned the economic advantage into a huge army lead. The zerg poked and prodded with his mobile army, eventually backstabbing Stork’s third just as the protoss moved out. It was a perfectly coordinated timing as DRG’s spire finished at the same time, letting him transition into ling/muta against an opponent with no AoE splash. Besides some cute sleight-of-hand with hallucinated stalkers, Stork collapsed to the streams of roaches and mutas.

By contrast, King Sejong Station oscillated quite a bit as neither player could gain a strong foothold. After DRG’s pool-gas build did diddly squat against Stork’s nexus-forge opener, both players focused on cost-effective harassment. Stork’s retro phoenix opener ruled the map from the air so he could form the ultimate colossus-based army; DRG constantly backstabbed Stork’s bases with zergling hit squads as he first chose swarm hosts, subsequently switching into mass muta/corruptor. At first DRG dictated the pace of match with his mobility, picking off Stork’s natural several times and keeping him pinning at home. Yet even after blindsiding Stork’s army and killing all his colossi, he was unable to shut down Stork’s economy or interrupt his phoenix production. A powerful attack launched at Stork’s fourth turned into a rout as the phoenix flock easily killed all the corruptors. From that point it was a matter of time until Stork could afford archons. Once those joined the field, Stork boldly barreled towards DRG’s fifth and forced the zerg into an ugly engagement that he could not win.

Game 3 on Overgrowth cranked the crazy level to 11. DRG foiled Stork’s plans with a hatch block at the protoss natural, letting DRG start his hatch and pool before the nexus. This time Stork recognized DRG’s plan and went for a 7 gate blink all-in to punish an early third. Undoubtedly Stork assumed DRG would do the same followup from Game 1, and mass blink stalkers would have crushed a standard roach/ling army. Luckily for DRG, he got a very fast lair into hydralisk den. By the time Stork had set up an adequate line of pylons DRG already had hydras on the field and the range upgrade researching. Despite initially having the smaller army and being forced to pull drones, DRG’s speedling/hydra army chased Stork all the way home. Shortly afterwards A giant attack shut down the protoss third and all hopes for a comeback. Stork vainly moved out for a desperation push, meeting oblivion right outside his natural.

The winners match was 16 minutes of blood and disappointment. From an entertainment perspective it was a bad series. There was no lengthy back-and-forth between the players, no intimidating displays of micro, and no sight of a lair. It must have certainly been a bitter loss for DRG, who already had a losing record vs soO. Yet DRG did not look significantly weaker than soO in mechanics or strategy; if we take into account the maps, he arguably had the more stable approach in both games. Yet “stability” is an empty word when it comes to pre-roach ZvZ. Both times DRG made a single mistake that turned possible victory into an utter disaster.

Game 1 on Foxtrot was a fast and dirty affair. soO threw his hopes on a 10 pool baneling bust; DRG opted for the greediest possible opener, hatch -> gas -> pool. DRG saw the incoming zerglings and pulled drones to stop the banes from finishing at his ramp. From that point he had the game won…and tripped over his shoelaces. Somehow, DRG screwed up his surround and had half of his drones chasing after zerglings instead of focusing the morphing banes. 2 banes finished and the rest was history. Game 2 also came down to an unforced error, this time a bad assumption. The situation started off great when DRG exploited soO’s delayed geysers with a massive swell of speedlings. It was a strategically sound plan for Overgrowth, and soO only barely managed to get his evo wall up in time. But thanks to exceptional drone micro and a sturdy spine crawler, soO held the first wave with minimal losses. Several more pokes failed to break soO’s positioning before zergling speed finished. With both players finishing their baneling nests at the same time, the game appeared to be a stalemate. However, DRG didn’t know about his opponent’s baneling nest. With 4 banelings finished outside soO’s natural he tried the classic pick and roll tactic, zoning out the enemy army with banes so his speedling force could sweep into the base. Instead he lost a third of his army to 2 banelings at the chokepoint. This was soO’s cue to abandon his base and commit to a counterattack with all his remaining units. In the chaos that followed, DRG slowly lost his expeditionary force to queens and banelings while soO ravaged his opponent’s bases.

By contrast, his last match of the day was a joke. Calling his series against Trust a walkover would be an insult to default wins. Defaults wins have some redeeming qualities. They give us the opportunity to make jokes about N/A, the secretive rookie with such great multitasking that he manages to lose in all the brackets at once, and check e-mails. Or take naps in-between matches. Meanwhile Trust looked like a dead horse thrown in front of a firing squad of tanks. Trust showed no pulse going into the final match, falling flat every time he attempted to dictate the pace. DRG outmaneuvered him in both engagements and mind games. Both games were pure domination in a style we rarely see anymore in the matchup. Overall it was an easy, boring victory for the Dong.

Both players opened passively on Nimbus, Trust going nexus first while DRG opened 3 hatch before pool. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for the first few minutes until Trust dropped 7 gateways after his oracle failed to deal damage. It was the same ploy Stork tried on Overgrowth, only this time on a map with a longer walking distance. This time DRG didn’t even need the hydra transition to hold. Scouting the initial probe as it started its proxy pylons, DRG easily finished a spine and spore crawler at his chokepoint before Trust could start warping in reinforcements. The protoss army was already quite small compared to DRG’s speedling/roach force, and a good speedling flank crushed the push before it began. From that point the outcome was academic. Trust was behind in bases, tech, and army composition with no way to pressure the zerg. He tried to sneak a third with his depleted army. At that point DRG simply had too many roaches to fight.

Game 2 was equally one-sided with DRG flexing his micro skills a bit more. While Trust responded correctly to the fast pool, he failed to hold the poke as efficiently as Stork. A late wall-off, combined with slight mismicro from the protoss, allowed DRG to snipe 3 probes. Emboldened by his success DRG immediately took his third and got away with it. Trust tried a small sentry poke after retaking his natural, but was rebuffed by timely roaches. From that point it was a repeat of DRG’s Game 1 victory versus Stork. The ‘safer’ third on Cataliena meant nothing as Trust’s army was too small to deal with the roach/ling blitzkrieg. Once the aggression started it never stopped. A roach squad broke into the natural, another assaulted Trust’s army as it moved from the third to defense, and a final wave took out the third. By the time mutas reinforced the army, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. DRG had reached the Ro16, making his 'worst matchup' seem relatively easy.

DRG was excessively modest when he claimed he hadn’t improved in ZvP. He did lose the game where he failed to accrue a massive lead at the start, and lategame ZvP will continue to be an issue for him (and most zergs) for the foreseeable future. However, one pattern was conspicuously absent during his series: losses against gateway timings. Once a major sore spot, DRG took major steps to ensure he wouldn’t get hoodwinked by such shenanigans. In 3 out of 5 games he disrupted his opponent’s build by opening gas-pool or pool-gas, forcing nexus cancels and cautious play against possible speedling runbys. His hatch block on Overgrowth was especially inspired. In one swift stroke DRG ensured his hatch and pool would start before Stork’s nexus, got away scot-free with his third base, and influenced Stork to try an all-in that DRG immediately spotted.

While these decisions were suboptimal from an economic perspective, DRG didn’t care about getting the greediest start. Instead he prioritized map control as a means of taking bigger economic risks in the future. All his openers gave him access to fast zergling speed, which he used to deny forward pylons and scout possible pushes as they left the base. Like clockwork he followed up the pressure with a quick third and a precautionary roach warren. DRG’s plan in most of his Ro32 games was clear: keep them off kilter with builds that deny a fast nexus, prevent any goofy losses to 2 base play, and overwhelm the protoss when he tries to secure his third. So far it’s worked like a charm. We ought to expect more of the same if he needs to play ZvP in the next round.

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DRG's Mutalisk Impersonation

August 13th, 2014
Last Bug Standing
by CosmicSpiral

It was not the grandest of tournaments. Red Bull Battlegrounds: Global was a unique but small affair in the grand scheme of things. Only 6 players got to the main event. There was no live audience to cheer them on. Enthusiasm was slightly dampened by the abundance of zergs. In the end DongRaeGu only received $3,900 for his effort, a tenth of his earnings from 2012 GSL Season 1. Nevertheless, his victory over Solar in the grand final was a career landmark. It had been 2 years since DRG won his last tournament, a 3-1 beatdown of Alicia in MLG Spring Championship. Back then DRG was a mako shark in a small pool. With the exceptions of MarineKing and MMA, the feeble mortals he destroyed never stood a chance. He was undisputedly the best zerg and would arguably remain so GSL Season 4. Today he is one of many different sharks stuck in a fishbowl, cannibalizing each other in every GSL and foreign tournament with online qualifiers. With the pool of possible SC2 champions larger than it’s ever been, winning any tournament is worth celebrating.

On reflection, DRG was the perfect player to take advantage of Red Bull. DRG’s ZvZ has been his bulwark in 2014, keeping him in the public eye during the long droughts between ZvTs and the bipolar swings of his ZvP. It held him afloat in the early days of the Proleague season when he struggled against the new wave of protoss threats. ZvZ was the main reason he qualified for GSL Global, beating Hydra and Sleep back to back. Just a few months ago he garnered an impressive 15-4 ZvZ record at MLG Anaheim. Granted, most of these wins came against clearly inferior players; furthermore, he was knocked out by a zerg who bamboozled him with the most effective race switch in history. Yet despite his failures to capitalize on every opportunity, DRG’s proficiency shone in the long run.

And it didn’t take a savant to realize ZvZ would be the deciding matchup for this event. Only 15 possible combinations existed at the beginning, 6 of them being ZvZs, with the picking odds heavily skewered against the 2 terrans. MMA and Polt are excellent players in their own right but their competition was simply overwhelming. Solar was rapidly establishing himself as the best up-and-coming zerg in Korea; Impact had shown off improved form during ATC Season 2 and Dreamhack Bucharest; Hydra entered in the best shape of his career and a favorite to win the entire event. DRG himself remained a solid Code S presence. Considering the level of play they had to prepare and practice against every day, the 4 zergs were right to pick on their expatriate brothers. It was wise to eliminate the weaklings as fast as possible so they could get bigger slices of the pie.

Even if Polt and MMA weren’t treated as underdogs from the start, their foes would have favored ZvT over the somewhat arbitrary ebbs and flows of ZvZ. Currently the ZvZ matchup is volatile in a way not seen since the days of speedling/bane aggression. If anything it’s a more grotesque version. While speedling/bane was won or lost depending on the smallest micro decisions, the volatility was both temporary and applied to both sides. The new Roach Heaven is less explosive but extremely reliant on upgrade timings, offering less wiggle room for comebacks. Uneven trades easily snowball into victories at any point in the game unless hydras/infestors are already out. Speed roaches vs non-speed roaches is a lost battle for the former unless they significantly outnumber the opponent; the same applies to +1 missile attack. In certain series such as Hydra vs Impact, players quit before the battles even ended. They knew that fight was lost and there was no way to stop the incoming army.

The unpredictable momentum shifts of ZvZ were on full display all tournament. Hydra, who burned white-hot during the qualifiers, started off strong with a Day 1 beat down on Impact. Seemingly confirming fears that he was the prime contender, he subsequently transformed into ineffectual fodder. After DRG gave Hydra the same treatment to start off Day 2, Hydra lost his swagger for the rest of the tournament. Conversely Impact set off no alarms for the first 2 days of competition. Prior to the last day he only played 1 ZvZ, a 0-2 loss to Hydra. Based on that, almost no one expected him to be a major threat on Day 3. But he rebounded very well, eliminating Hydra and taking Solar to a final match. Solar looked great throughout the tournament but could never generate any momentum. He and DRG exchanged wins in Days 2 and 3, with Solar coming out on the bad end.

Dongraegu was the only one who looked better than his contemporaries for more than 1 series. He ended Red Bull with a 6-2 ZvZ record and 10-5 overall; for reference Solar went 7-6, Impact 4-6 and Hydra 3-6 in the mirror. He heavily benefited from facing Solar 3 times, finished 4-2 against the Samsung prodigy. Even his loss on Day 3 was a secret blessing as he got to observe Solar’s tendencies all day. He made sure to apply his newfound knowledge in the grand final, eviscerating his tired opponent with excellent timings.

Now that the confetti’s run out, it’s time to measure expectations. DRG’s run was excellent. It was exactly what a recent free agent needed to promote his value and restore his confidence. DRG has been in the shadow of his reputation for a long time, and there’s always a creeping sense of dread lingering there: by definition my peak is the most successful I’ll ever be, so everything past it must be worse. This is especially true of players who find ‘satisfactory’ success after their legendary periods. DRG is currently in his 13th consecutive Code S showing. This alone makes him one of the most consistent players in the world. But it doesn’t mean he’s prime for resurgence. If anything DRG faces more challenges than your average prodigy. He must contend with the apathy bred from being good instead of great, concerns about the future that suck away his drive, knowing he’s “worse” than the 0.01% from all the games he’s played against them, stubbornness over sticking to his particular style, etc. It’s been a long time since he was an MLG/GSL champion, years since his ZvT was regarded with superstitious awe. Has he has given up on making that dream live again? Established veterans have their own set of roadblocks that impede progress and DRG is a wizened oak in StarCraft years. Can he break through those barriers to regain his past reputation?

His Code S group on Friday will provide the first important clue. Dongraegu will have to face Stork, who actually looks like a major threat these days, to open up his night. Then he’ll either get soO, the reigning Silver King and best zerg in Korea, or an exciting young ruffian in Trust. Even his most knowledgeable fans don’t know if his mercurial ZvP will survive the night. It’s a different kind of test from Red Bull, which prioritized adaptation and endurance above all else. Here it’s about preparation and confidence. DRG knows his ZvP has been a weak spot in the past and he needs to improve on it. He also knows that Stork and Trust are not Zest and PartinG. The former are less proven than him, less experienced than the opponents DRG normally fails against, and less liable to keep their nerve in bad situations. Maybe there’s something there DRG can exploit. Maybe he can beat them with sheer mental domination. If he pulls that off on Friday, well…the Dong will be one step closer to reclaiming his throne.

Relive the winning moments: VODS HERE:

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Photo thanks to RedBull

August 12th, 2014
The Final Boss
by [F_]aths


DongRaeGu is a GSL champion, with some foreign titles under his belt as well. But he is also known for his high-profile losses. He lost the ace match in a GSTL final. He went to the very last map in a Blizzard Cup after he came back from an 0-3 and lost the deciding map. He was an OSL finalist but lost. When GSL and GSTL finals were held in Busan, his home town of which he is so proud of that he chose his own nickname from the district he grew up in, he failed to qualify for Busan. On top of that, he let his team down as well which then was also not able to play in the final.

Recently he faced a foreigner who played offrace ... and DongRaeGu lost.

Each of these losses could break the spirit of a player. DongRaeGu however could always rely on his rabid fan support.

He rose to fame with his performance in team leagues when MVP could send anyone and save DRG as last player because he reliably all-killed the opposing team. DongRaeGu recently left MPV, leaving his fans puzzled about his future.

At Red Bull Battle Grounds, DongRaeGu recognized his Teamliquid fans with his t-shirt.

Well-established names like MMA and Polt were the first victims in the Battle Ground, leaving the volatile ZvZ the only match-up remaining.

Solar was seemingly untouchable, keeping his three lives longer than anyone else. It was DongRaeGu who showed that Solar was not invincible.

However, Solar returned the favor and brought DRG down to just one life. He and the other remaining player, Impact, rather fought each other than to pick DongRaeGu.

At last, only Solar was left ... as well as the final boss. Channeling fan love of the TL fan club through his t-shirt, he quickly ended Solar's hope in a 2-0 sweep.

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Photo by GOMexp

July 24th, 2014
Bringing It Back
by CosmicSpiral

On July 16th, DongRaeGu took another Code S spot. Responses varied from lukewarm appreciation to yawns of acknowledgment. Somewhere among the great expanse of America, a single tear rolled down neoghaleon55’s manly face.

There’s no doubt DRG’s triumph last Wednesday was a good thing. The days when Code S and Code A designated a palpable skill difference are long gone. Those coming up from Code B are often weathered veterans desperate to establish a solid footing; the stragglers dropping from Code S vary from the standard gatekeepers to stars harshly punished for a momentary stumble. In light of the increased difficulty DRG’s current streak should be celebrated. With the exception of WCS Season 2 last year, DRG has maintained Code S status ever his debut in August 2011. That’s 14 tournaments, 3 years of success in a world where winners can disappear overnight. He’s managed to preserve through Terranfest 2011, the disparaging broodlord/infestor nonsense of 2012, the initial shock of HotS and hellbats in 2013, and the smothering inertia of 2014 Protoss dominance. Where the likes of Sniper and Symbol have slowly fallen into irrelevance, DRG keeps himself in the picture.

Eliminating valleys from his personal graph has come at the cost of diminishing peaks. Ever since his 2nd place finish at Iron Squid II, Dongraegu has slowly settled into something resembling vegetative stasis. While he has not gotten noticeably worse, DRG is no longer the typhoon that ravaged the scene throughout late 2011 – early 2012. At this point it’s safe to say he’s not even a tidal wave. Since GSL Season 3 2012 DRG hasn’t passed the Ro16; in the same timespan, he has zero finals appearances in foreign tournaments. The closest he got was the semifinals at IEM Singapore, where he played a grand total of 3 series before getting bounced out by herO. Going into his Code A group, viewers were not worried about a Code B stint. Advancement was almost certain as long as he didn’t yank out the keyboard? But what would that victory mean? Would it be another sign that DRG was in the twilight of his career? Or would it signal a potential return to glory?

In the upset of the century, DRG throttled TurN to take the first series. While DRG entered the first match as the favorite, the Samsung rookie failed to leverage his anonymity in any fashion. The sole advantage of a Code A newcomer is a lack of knowledge regarding his games; TurN could have exploited this with an off-kilter timing attack or an unusual unit composition. Instead, TurN tried playing a passive marine/tank macro style. The composition itself was disparagingly odd but not completely unfeasible in TvZ; Bomber had made marine/tank work time and time again even after HotS. But his success was built on the twin features of unrelenting macro and near-suicidal aggression, things TurN never displayed. Instead he was a mess of unforced errors and skittish indecision. He did nothing when he should’ve forced the issue, attacked while leaving his flank wide open, and harassed when they was no chance of success.

Meanwhile DRG played calm and collected. As the superior player, DRG’s prerogative was to let TurN kill himself through unforced errors; DRG would do nothing risky before the lategame. Accordingly he opened both games with boring standard builds, hatch -> gas -> pool in Game 1 and hatch -> pool -> gas in Game 2. From there he executed all standard transitions as if he was playing the AI. Game 1 on Sejong Station effectively ended once DRG crushed TurN’s ill-positioned scouting force with a speedling surround, letting him spread creep all the way to the terran’s fourth. TurN tapped out earlier on Overgrowth as the zerg exploited another grievous error to secure victory, this one being a total lack of a depot wall at the natural. One grand flurry of lings later, the Samsung terran lost all his SCVs at the natural and was subsequently contained until he was overrun with pure ling/muta.

MyuNgSiK required a bit more elbow grease to overcome. ZvP has been Dongraegu’s shakiest matchup for a long time, and its nature demands that the zerg take decisive action before the protoss takes his fourth. While DRG also won 2-0, it was off the back of heavy aggression with an interesting unit composition.

Both games began and ended the same way. Myungsik opened Foxtrot Labs and Overgrowth with half-hearted cannon rushes, thwarted both times by an unexpected kink in the plan. On Foxtrot he ran his probe up the ramp to scout the pool timing, nearly losing it to the nibbles of four pulled drones; DRG started Overgrowth with a blind 10 pool and forced the protoss to run back home. From there DRG elected for 6 queens with late geysers, opting to defend with lots of slow zerglings. Myungsik transitioned into phoenixes off a single stargate and followed it up with a robo for warp prism harass. This setup turned into the perfect compliment for DRG’s plan, as he easily defended all drops before his switch into spire tech. DRG produced a huge swell of corruptors in anticipation of Myungsik’s colossus production, gearing for a timing attack to eliminate the colossus count (the obvious transition for Myungsik’s build) while it was low. Despite losing his entire army both times, DRG pulled off his goal with a muta transition and a running fourth behind it. From there it was simply a matter of kicking the opponent while he was down. Without a running third Myungsik lacked the gas income to deal with DRG’s snowballing muta flock. He attempted to counter DRG’s army in Game 1 by adding 2 more stargates, but by that point he couldn’t even consistently produce out of all 3.

What did we learn, if anything, concerning Dongraegu’s form going into Season 3? Obviously the first series gave us nothing. DRG looked solid but he barely had to work for that impression. However, the winners match offered some insight into how DRG has changed his ZvP approach.

DRG’s forte is using extremely mobile armies, in conjunction with his knack for spontaneous reads, to cover all his priorities. If he wants to attack he can dictate when and where the fight occurs; if he wants to defend, he can split his army apart while maintaining map control; if he wants to exploit an opening, he can send a portion of his army before the enemy identifies the weakness. During his halcyon days DRG was the king of midgame engagements, arguably the best ling/muta user in the world and a master of snuffing out timing pushes with fluid positioning. Meanwhile the defensive posture of ZvP never quite gelled with his approach. In a macro-focused game it forces the zerg to be cautious, to be on the constant lookout for stray probes and telltale signs of an incoming push. Zerglings alone can’t serve as a bulwark against protoss aggression. They have so many natural enemies (zealots, sentries, colossus, high templars, archons) that zergs rarely ever use them as core units.

The ling/corruptor/queen push -> mutalisk switch gives him a partial answer to the former while making the latter obsolete. With 6-8 queens and 1/1 lings, DRG is more than prepared for the standard follow-ups to a stargate opener. This response lacks the sheer power of a roach army but makes up for it with its low dependence on gas and high resistance to dying. Between their high hit points and the saved transfusions, Myungsik struggled to pick off queens during any direct skirmishes. He had to settle for sniping overlords and the occasional drone. DRG would later soft-counter Myungsik’s map control with his early production of corruptors. If the composition accomplishes its midgame purpose, DRG perpetually keeps protoss on the backfoot with the muta switch. With this in place he doesn’t have to worry about utilizing the slow, lumbering armies needed to beat the protoss head-on. Instead he leans on P with an ever-increasing muta count that denies safe mining at the third. In some ways it tries to solve 2014 ZvP with the answers of late 2011 ZvT: constant expansions and harassment whenever the protoss army tries to move out.

It remains to be seen whether DRG can depend on it as a solid answer to his woes. Judging from his encore on Overgrowth, he is confident enough to use it against an opponent more than once. However, it may have been a specific response to Myungsik’s stubbornness in build orders. Stargate -> warp prism harassment is no match for mass ling/queen as long as zerg adequately protects the ramp, yet it struggles against traditional 2 base all-ins. Since it gets late zergling speed, it is particularly vulnerable to blink stalker timings and mass zealot shenanigans. In theory it should also be ineffective against the sOs 3 stargate style, which would easily deal with the ground units with zealot/archon. Nevertheless it’s encouraging to see DRG pursuing a style that makes him comfortable. Any protoss opponents who will face him in the Ro32 will have to account for this strategy, otherwise they will be swept away by the deluge that is the Swarm.

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July 21, 2014
GSL is Back!
by neoghaleon55

Hey, guess who's playing tonight in GSL? It's your favorite Zerggy player, DongRaeGu. He will be up against TurN, Panic and MyuNgSiK. Turn is mostly an unproven Terran player, cannon fodders that DRG eats for breakfast. Panic is a bit more formidable only because he plays Protoss. Then again, Panic is on Team Startale, when was the last time any of us heard anything from that team outside of 2012? Myungsik got famous by basically spamming phoenixes and random mass zealot attacks in 2013. These gimmicky strategies have fell DRG before, but if our Zerggy player have been practicing then he will likely come out on top of the group. Overall DRG has a very good shot of getting out of Code A as it is really hard to imagine him dropping any games outside the cheesy ones from Myungsik.

Tune in fans! History is about to be made when one man, one Zerg player will hit 13 Code S showings in a row!

GLHF, DRG!!

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June 21, 2014
MLG is Back, Baby!
by neoghaleon55


You know why MLG is back? Because DRG is in it. You know why you should be excited? Because Dongraegu just smoked Suppy, TooDming and Life with 2:0s through a grueling 8 hours open bracket lasting past midnight to be in pool play! That's right, folks. DRG is now officially in the MLG-proper tournament, and it really isn't an MLG without him. This Zerg player has been the absolute god of open brackets of any tournament so far. In the four last international tournaments(which included IEM, ASUSROG and MLG) he had crushed all opposition handily in open bracket to make it into the group stages of the event. We haven't had this level of excitement since 2012. I hope you guys are all with me when we get to hear: Zerg is the best race and for the Swarm, again.

Good luck have fun, DRG!!

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May 13th, 2014
Twelve
by neoghaleon55

DongRaeGu returns to Code S tonight and is set to go up against Maru, ParalyzE and MyuNgSiK in the round of 32 . This is his twelfth consecutive showing in the premiere league since 2011, the longest unbroken chain in history (not counting OSL and GSL Opens) DRG;s strongest competition is undoubtedly Maru,the child star that DRG once trampled over on his way to greatness is now all grown up, with an OSL trophy of his own and is widely considered the best Terran in the world. But Terran players are generally good for DRG; his tried and true style of mutalisk/ling/bling control has rarely failed him. In fact, the only times DRG ever lose to Terran players are exactly when they do something unexpected, like bunker rushing or playing mech... Cheese has been an Achilles heel of our great Zerg player since his beginnings, and it is likely this weakness what his Protoss opponents, Myungsik and Paralyze, will exploit. For those matches, expect a lot of proxy buildings from the Protoss, which really funnels the game into a coin flip, does DRG find those buildings in time or not? Overall this seems to be a hard group for DRG but one he is likely to be comfortable with. Added to that, DRG has been skipping out on Proleague matches to practice for GSL. Expect his form to be top notch going into the night.

Good Luck DRG!!

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April 9th, 2014
The Turn
by neoghaleon55

Can we please talk about Proleague for a moment? Whatever you might think about this year's Proleague, there is no denying that it has done wonders for DongRaeGu's career. He's happier, he seems better motivated and he definitely is playing a whole lot better than the mess that was 2013.

And who can blame him? 2013 was by far the worst year StarCraft 2 has gone through since its release at the turn of the decade. The austere WCS system all but washed away the competitive spirit from SCII. What was left were three major tournaments in the whole year [2 GSL and 1 OSL] that had a lower prize pool each than any of the previous premiere leagues in Korea. Even the 2013 Proleague was marred by production problems and the abomination that was BW/SC2 hybrid tournament. But most of all, it was the wait between tournaments that became the bane many players' professional pursuits, with DongRaeGu being no exception.

Although he appeared in both Code S seasons of 2013, even earning the fabled Nestea award, DRG's performance was lackluster and withered that year. Sure there were glimmers of hope here and there, such as the time he became the first person to defeated INnoVation in macro ZvT, DRG's play showed little trace of what has made him such a revered champion in the first place.

In comes 2014 with a new start, a new league and a new practice regiment. And with these things, DongRaeGu began showing a side of himself that we haven't seen in a long while: confidence. Having a Proleague match to prepare for each week has pushed him to hone his skills and sharpen his wits. Along with his co-Super-Ace-player...well...Super, DRG has led his rag tag band of MVP brothers from being the second worse team in Round 1 to the being runner up team in Round 2 of Proleague. He still flops here and there occasionally, by making odd mistakes (like forgetting to make a baneling nest), but they are more comical this year instead of plain tragic like the year prior. If 2013 was the flop of DRG's career, 2014 is shaping up to be his turn.

Which brings us to Code A tonight. DRG got here by losing his match in Code S Ro32 last season. A poor start for someone who's expected to be a championship contender on any given day, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt as earlier this year could still be the transitional period between flop and turn. His opponents tonight include Tassadar, Impact and Bbyong. Of this group, Bbyong seems to be the one most intimidating, but he's also Terran, which DRG is very comfortable playing against [unless somehow he gets cheesed]. Impact, a rising star in the Axiom roster, may impose some challenge by employing unconventional builds, but overall, he shouldn't be anywhere near DRG's caliber. Tassadar rounds out the group as one of the cheesiest Protoss player to have ever played the games. Unless DRG is caught completely off guard,Tassadar should not be able to take a game off him. This seems, at face value, to be a very doable group for the new-and-improved-2014-DRG. We're all wishing him the best.

Did you guys know that DRG is currently the longest running GSL Code S player of all time. Should he make it out of the group, tonight, it would make TWELVE consecutive Code S showings. Now that's a record any fan can be proud of.

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February 4, 2014
Enter Code S
by neoghaleon55

Code S is back, and with it, is the return of MVPDongRaeGu. Two years ago, in the first Code S of the year, DRG kissed his first GSL trophy. Since then, it has become tradition to herald the arrival of the MVP Zerg player with each coming GSL season. For over 2 years, Code S has shaped this player's career; and for two years, DRG has brought excitement and unforgettable memories to its stages. The two of them are now so entwined as such it would be difficult to imagine one without the other. As luck would have it, DRG will be playing in the opening group of the tournament along with herO[jOin], Rain and Solar.

After a disappointing 2013, DongRaeGu is starting out the new year strong. His flawless 4:0 in Code A could not be understated. In his group tonight, herO and Rain are the ones to look out for. herO is a recent 2x IEM champion, while Rain was the player who famously beat DRG in OSL in 2012. But if DRG's performance against the formidable Sora last week is anything to go by, then there's hope yet for our favorite Zerg player. One thing to keep in mind is that recently, DongRaeGu has considerably varied his build orders. In Proleague as with Code A, DRG has shown that he isn't afraid of executing a 6 pool or a speedling all-in. In doing so, it has become much harder to prepare against him in Code S. Fans will be eagerly awaiting what DRG has in store for his competition tonight.

All the best to DRG!

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January 22, 2014
Plus and Minus
by neoghaleon55

About this time of year in 2012, DongRaeGu was busy becoming the best player in the world. In 2013, he was busy spiraling down a whirlpool of tragically floppy games. Can DRG make it back to the top in 2014? Fans are about to find out as DRG will be playing his first GSL proper match in Code A today against Sora,Hack and Reality. In the last couple of weeks, DRG's record has somewhat improved from his abysmal 2013 form, but it's still scattered and choppy at best. Here's a run down on pluses and minuses recently:

-DRG actually lost to some nobody named eMotion in the first round of IEM qualifiers
+DRG made it through qualifiers to get into Code A of GSL 2014
-DRG lost to Roro during that same qualifier but managed to earn the second spot seed.
+DRG won his first Proleague game against CJ-herO
-His Proleague record is currently at 25% winrate
+DRG actually has a pretty decent group tonight against 2 Terrans (his favorite matchup) and a Sora.
-Sora is Protoss, which he (DRG) hates
+DRG still has the best fans in the world.

Keep on cheering fans. Tonight is opening night in the DRG business, and it may very well set the tone for the rest of this year.