• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 02:09
CEST 08:09
KST 15:09
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
RSL Season 1 - Final Week6[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall12HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0
Community News
Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed9Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll2Team TLMC #5 - Submission extension2Firefly given lifetime ban by ESIC following match-fixing investigation17$25,000 Streamerzone StarCraft Pro Series announced7
StarCraft 2
General
RSL Revival patreon money discussion thread Who will win EWC 2025? Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed Team TLMC #5 - Submission extension The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings
Tourneys
RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo) WardiTV Mondays Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 482 Wheel of Misfortune Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion Flash Announces (and Retracts) Hiatus From ASL Starcraft in widescreen BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ A cwal.gg Extension - Easily keep track of anyone
Tourneys
Cosmonarchy Pro Showmatches [Megathread] Daily Proleagues CSL Xiamen International Invitational [BSL20] Non-Korean Championship 4x BSL + 4x China
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile CCLP - Command & Conquer League Project The PlayStation 5
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Summer Games Done Quick 2025! Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 2024 - 2025 Football Thread NBA General Discussion NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Men Take Risks, Women Win Ga…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 471 users

Apples and Oranges

Forum Index > Final Edits
256 CommentsPost a Reply
Normal

Apples and Oranges

Text byGMarshal
Graphics byshiroiusagi
August 27th, 2012 18:50 GMT
[image loading]
[image loading]
[image loading]
[image loading]
[image loading]
[image loading]
[image loading]
[image loading]
[image loading]
[image loading]
[image loading]



soundtrack


In a time long past, when foreigners roamed the Korean scene, and Zerg was not felt, but known to be underpowered, there rose a champion that changed the way we thought about the race. We’re going to scrutinize FruitDealer’s play and ask, with the benefit of hindsight, why the man who took a broken race to tournament victory, the first such victory for Zerg, never managed it again.

First, anyone analyzing (Wiki)FruitDealer from our modern perspective should know that the early days of SC2 were untamed and unexplored, a wild west of strategy. While there was a shallow strategic metagame, and the occasional long game, matches were more often short, with players ending on two bases. The idea of timing attacks was understood, but they were nowhere near as developed as they are now. In fact, "timing attacks" tended to be things like pushes with six hellions, or two-port banshee rushes.

It’s also worth noting the maps were, and we’re being kind here, unrefined. The maps for that first GSL were Blizzard’s ladder maps, including such unforgettable (try as we might) gems as (Wiki)Kulas Ravine, (Wiki)Steppes of War and (Wiki)Lost Temple.

It was a young game, and one whose balance was stacked against FruitDealer [AKA Cool], who was playing the weakest and most underrepresented race in the tournament (there were sixteen Zergs in the round of 64). It seems reasonable to pose the question, how did he beat the odds?

There was one strategic and several tactical elements that defined his play, but it all boils down to the fact that FruitDealer took risks that his opponents couldn’t respond to, or failed to scout in time. He used those risks to obtain monumental advantages, rendering questions of balance irrelevant. While his micro was superb for the time, and allowed him to execute these builds, it was gutsy moves like going up to 70 drones with two zerglings, or going for a one-base nydus against a Terran, that gave him a vital edge.

When play like this failed he looked ridiculous, but when it worked he looked untouchable. These are the hallmarks of innovative, high-risk players; they either crush or are crushed. There is no middle ground. From the above, you’d be forgiven for thinking that FruitDealer just rolled the dice in every game he played, but rolling the dice can go a long way when you’re using loaded dice.


[image loading]


[image loading]

"His strategies are like apples and oranges." - Artosis

soundtrack


Some men are born lucky and, from the day of their birth, will never know adversity. Other men are cursed, damned never to rest, nor know comfort and security. Still others are fated for something greater, driven to some lofty goal. These are the kinds of people who, regardless of their background, forge their own destiny, their own brand of luck. It’s that special brand of luck that’s the end result of blood, sweat, and tears.

FruitDealer fits firmly in that last camp, a gambler in a wild and untamed space making his own luck. In order to understand what, at the time, often looked like remarkable fortune, we should examine FruitDealer's overall strategic style, the style that defined him as a player, and the key elements that allowed him to strangle his opponents.

The truth is that FruitDealer played with touch-and-go strategies, but it’s important to keep in mind the dominant styles of the time; the typical Terran play against Zerg was to harass them to death. This meant endless rounds of hellions, banshees, and reapers, with marine/tank pushes if the battered Zerg managed to limp out of the early game.
The dominant Protoss strategies against Zerg were also one-base plays, with the four-gate being the most common. Against these, Cool had two distinct approaches, the hyper-aggressive cheese, and what came to be known as the "eco cheese.”

Hyper-aggression

His particular brand of hyper-aggression found success because FruitDealer's opponents went into games knowing how they would play. Nobody had figured out the correct reactions to insane, all-in builds. This was a consequence of the game’s youth; players at the time had only played a few hundred games, they were still at the stage where sticking to a build would earn more wins than losses, at least against lesser players.

For example’s sake, consider game one of the GSL round of eight match between oGs_Inca and our favourite greengrocer, on (Wiki)Kulas Ravine. To save you the suspense, FruitDealer six pooled, in cross-positions, on Kulas Ravine, then the largest map in the pool… and Inca lost. Why?

Six pooling today is just shy of suicide against any competent player, especially on a large map, yet somehow Inca lost. The truth is that the impracticality of it is a big part of the reason for his success; it was the last thing Inca expected. In FruitDealer's previous ZvP series’ he had never gone for any build that wasn't economic or defensive. The "cheesiest" we'd seen from him (also on Kulas Ravine) was a twelve gas speedling-expand to the gold.
The second factor in ensuring Inca's downfall was that he either panicked or just didn't know how to react. Inca first failed to wall off when he saw the lings inbound, and then pulled all of his probes to defend, rather than leaving enough mining to still be able to build zealots. He was left with one zealot, a dozen probes, and no minerals. Throw in some superb micro from FD and there was no way for Inca to win. Had Inca either completed his wall or not overreacted, it would have been over for FD.

The second game was just as aggressive; FruitDealer opened with what looked like an econ-build, with a fast-expand before pool against a two-gate from Inca. He held the two-gate with minimal losses, but then threw down a baneling nest in response to Inca’s attempt to expand behind cannons. Inca discovered too late that, instead of droning desperately, FruitDealer would send wave after wave of banelings and zerglings at his base. Inca lost several buildings, a raft of probes, and an expansion. The game dragged out another few minutes, but the outcome had been determined by the time a swarm of roaches ended it.


Inca realizes that those are, in fact, not drones.


None of the games lasted longer than fifteen minutes. The key point is that all of the games in this series were based on screwing with his opponent’s perceptions of what was happening. In game one, FruitDealer gambled on Inca not knowing how to react, being prepared for something different, and the dice favored the Zerg primarch.

Game two, however, was based on exploiting what Inca thought FD’s reaction to two-gate pressure would be and doing the exact opposite. Because Inca wasn't prepared for this reaction, he had hardly any units, and lost there and then. This series illustrates just how few assumptions players facing FD could afford to make.

That said, the insane builds didn't always pay off. One shining example came in the case of game two of FruitDealer versus TOP in the round of sixteen, on Lost Temple. FD had secured a win with an economic gamble in game one (the infamous 70 drones with only two zerglings), and his opponent had been left off balance. This is the exact of moment at which Cool loved to pull the hyper-aggressive builds. He went one base lair, upgrading zergling speed. He then built a bunch of lings, throwing down a nydus network.

Here he made a critical error; he allowed his lack of expansion and fast lair to be scouted. While TOP had no way of knowing quite what was happening, he knew something odd was coming his way. Unlike Inca later, he kept his cool. He prepared for any possibility, pumping out marines (in case of a one base muta build), hellions (because he knew there were fast zerglings) and vikings (because he had a starport, and when being all-inned every unit counts). Then, he huddled in his base.

He knew that all he had to do was stop the all-in. For a moment, it looked like FD might have had it anyway, but it turned out that being scouted and giving his enemy enough time to prepare allowed TOP to secure victory. The risk had left FD one game from elimination.

Still, these builds, even when they failed served their purpose; opponents were scared into tentative, safe play. The end result was that, when Cool decided to go for risky economy-centric builds, he would be safer than any other player in the same position. His opponent had to be consistent in their scouting and prepared for him to suddenly go all-in, which meant they couldn't stop him from droning like a madman, gaining an insurmountable advantage.

Hyper-economic

We've already seen what happened in game two with that failed nydus worm rush, but let’s take a look at game one, on the now defunct (Wiki)Scrap Station. Cool opened hatchery-first without scouting TOP at all. TOP opted for a very fast gas before rax. Cool scouted a factory with a reactor pumping out hellions, and made two lings and five drones, throwing down a roach warren. As two hellions rolled into his main, he started production of four roaches, and six more drones. After all, who needs units when you have drones?

Seeing banshees, he built more drones. As his spire finished, he picked up a third. After all, seven mutalisks should be more than enough to defeat any reasonable Terran push. Protected by an anaemic nine mutalisk flock, FD decided to build more drones, and grab as much tech as he can afford (which, with only nine mutas, is quite a bit).

At this stage, TOP had two or three thors, a few siege tanks, and a handful of marines... all arrayed against nine mutalisks and two zerglings. All TOP had to do to roll over FD was push, yet he was pinned down by those nine mutas. Sitting at 80 drones and grabbing a fourth at the gold, FD decided that the time was right to start making offensive units.

His army bloated into something worth worrying about, a storm of mutalisks, banelings, and zerglings, with a handful of roaches for good measure. TOP had to get aggressive; he had gone from watching a passive Zerg, to seeing flocks of mutalisks and swarms of Zerglings darting across the map, wreaking havoc. The game ended when FD lost his army twice, took it in his stride, and then made fifteen ultralisks at once.
That’s easy to understate, but he made fifteen ultralisks and rolled over the shattered remnant of the Terran army. By that point, Cool couldn’t have cared less about "trading economically" or "unit retention," he could roll over TOP just by throwing minerals and gas at him, resources stockpiled by virtue of not having made any units until fifteen minutes into the game.


Marines are imbalanced you say? That's nice.


That goes some way toward explaining the logic behind that nydus worm. TOP would have been gearing up for some intense midgame aggression (it looked as though he was preparing some hellion drops), to prevent the same scenario unfolding all over again. As a result, that early cheese, intended to catch TOP off guard, seemed like a winning proposition.

Of course, we all know how well that worked out for FD. This set the stage for a third game on (Wiki)Kulas Ravine. Consider the series from FD’s position; he had won game one by relying on his opponent being too scared and slow to push, and it had worked. TOP had also just proven himself in the face of cheese. He would be especially wary of cheese now, on a map that was pretty set against Zerg.

FD built drones, an enormity of drones. TOP went hellion/banshee and FD built four roaches, and more drones. TOP transitioned into Thors, more hellions, and an expansion. FD built more drones, eight of them at the time; TOP couldn’t kill them quickly enough. A banshee picked off his queens, so FD grabbed the gold, teched, and built drones. There were four thors out, a bunch of marines, and the Terran was setting up a planetary fortress at the gold. FD picked up a fourth, and built more drones.

When he hit 60 drones, things changed. He could afford to build a few units, morph zerglings and banelings, drop them in the Terran main, and then get another fifteen drones. Somewhere in this match, he had gone from being down against a harassing Terran on an imbalanced map to having the advantage. Sure TOP has 200/200 thors, but he had an ultralisk cavern, and resources enough to pump out so many ultralisks it was hard to know what could possibly oppose Fruitdealer

In this position, it would be easy to let things start to slip. Instead, he took a fifth base. Sure, to the untrained eye the twelve thors barrelling toward the main seemed threatening, but he had an army and all those resources are burning a hole in his pocket. He had to lose that army so he could make another, and then another, like waves against a cliff to erode the Terran. It helped that ultralisks dealt splash damage to the Thors and cut through them like an axe through so much soggy cardboard.

This is how FruitDealer went into the game, and it dragged a little after he took out those Thors; after all, planetary fortresses are tough, but he had all those drones... TOP tapped out.


I have drones. Ultralisks too.


We could study more of FruitDealer’s games in which he crushed Terrans by overrunning them with sheer weight of resources, but the majority of them followed a similar pattern. The idea behind these "eco cheese" builds was simple; build an enormous number of drones, and keep your opponent pinned down.
When Cool lost drones, he just made more. He didn't care if he lost ten drones to a banshee; he’d make 25 more. It wasn’t until he was comfortably sitting at 60-70 drones and at least three bases that he got any kind of useful army.

This is the kind of luck that FruitDealer gambled on; it’s easy to beat the odds when you’re stacking the deck.


[image loading]

[image loading]

A good general can be a great tactician or a great strategist. A great general is both
soundtrack


If, with the strategies described above, FruitDealer managed to wrestle luck itself to his side, then it was with his shrewd tactics that he ensured his opponents couldn’t manage the same.

The Pin

By now, you should be aware that many of FD's hyper-economic builds relied on his not being attacked while he built up that critical mass of drones. One way he accomplished this was by using highly mobile units to keep his opponent in his base. Above, FD managed to keep a terrifying Terran army at bay using only nine mutalisks. He crucified his opponent in his own base, forced to keep everything at home to stop a few mutas picking at his workers.

Part of the reason this worked is because of the midgame timing of the pin; FD tended to time his harassment so it would hit just as the Terran prepared a push. This coincided neatly with his nearing 60 drones, which meant he could afford to be reckless. He would engage turrets and groups of marines with mutas, sometimes flying into range of thors.

As long as he could keep the Terran at home, he could afford to keep replenishing that stack of mutalisks and take a fourth base. Through most of the games the FD went for mutas, he neither upgraded nor overproduced. Instead, he capped himself around twelve; they weren’t meant to be the backbone of an army, they were never going to win any battles for him, not directly. They existed to pin the Terran back, winning the game by forcing opponents into inactivity.


Two lings and nine mutas, are not *quite* enough to stop two thors, three siege tanks, and a couple of handfuls of marines. Of course, they don't have to be...


Mutalisks weren’t the only unit to keep opponents at home, although they were the unit he employed most often. As we saw in game three of FD vs. TOP he also used overlord drops, usually zerglings when hitting bases, and banelings when hitting mineral lines, to force the Terran army to stay home to protect SCVs and production facilities while FD happily built drones, protected by the paper tiger of his aggression.

The concept was simple; with a smaller, more fragile, and more mobile army, he'd keep the Terran running around the map, trying to stymie assaults before all the SCVs and production facilities were lost.

Moreover, the pin afforded him awareness of everything his opponent was doing. The flocks of mutalisks, overlord drops, and nydus worms gave him the additional information he needed to be able to react early. If he saw marines pumping out of fifteen rax, he could build an appropriate number of banelings. If he saw masses of thors, he started gearing up for ultralisks.

The timing of the pin was such that it usually hit while he took his third base. As a result, FD was hitting 60 or so drones, the "critical mass" of resource collection to react to almost anything. It became the magic number at which FD hit his stride and became invincible, and the pin was what empowered it.

The Prod

The Prod is an early game technique present in almost all of FriutDealer's matches. The concept is simple; you push out with a handful of units, early in the game, in an effort to put your opponent under pressure, but also to see what he’s doing. What’s curious about Cool's method of prodding his opponent is that it seems always to be a response to his opponent’s opening.

FruitDealer didn’t often build units with which to prod, but used units that he had made in reaction to his opponent instead. If you take into account his overall strategic philosophy (those hyper-economic builds), this seems straightforward. Those larvae and resources weren’t spent on drones; they must be used to delay the enemy, to get maximum mileage out of those resources, to secure more drones.


Poke!


One great example of the potential gains of a prod comes from game one of FruitDealer vs. TaeJa, in which FruitDealer made four roaches in response to hellions. As soon as he had fended off the hellions, they scuttled across the map to attack the Terran front. This had three effects.
  • It let him know what is going on. In this game, the roaches were repelled by hellions and marines, informing FruitDealer he had nothing to worry about. In another game (game one of FruitDealer vs. LiveForever) he saw marauders, and responded with a swarm of Zerglings.
  • It put pressure on the opponent. If he were unprepared, it would allow FD to deal damage (snipe tech labs, kill hellions, etc.). This is important because, at the time, Terrans yet to develop strong transitions; the time between hellions and, for example, banshees, left the terran vulnerable.
  • It helped to pin the Terran at home. In the game we’ve been looking at, it forced TaeJa to waste hellions microing around roaches, trying to stop them from wreaking havoc in his main, leaving drones mining unmolested in FruitDealer's base. By the time TaeJa had dealt with the roaches, defences were in place to deal with the hellions.

This early game prod is essential to understanding FruitDealer's reactionary style; it gave him enough information on his opponent to make informed decisions on whether he had to get anything other than drones, and bought him the time to buy an army should he need it.

The Counter Attack

In many ways this is a natural extension of the prod; if you’ve been forced to make units to defend, you might as well fling them at your opponent.

Perhaps the clearest example of this comes in the first game of FruitDealer’s set against GuineaPig. Having beaten back the four-gate, FruitDealer retaliates, taking all of his units (mostly zerglings) and throwing them at his opponent.

Often, FruitDealer would combine this with either a nydus worm (as in game three against LiveForever) or an overlord drop (as in game three against TOP). Occasionally, this counter attack would develop into a pin. With the overlord drop in his third game against TOP, it could be argued that the units he used to pin down TOP, keeping the Thor attack at bay, were made to defend, and that the units were really being used as part of a counter attack, rather than to pin.

It can be difficult to distinguish between pinning and counterattacking sometimes. Counter attacks have the benefit of forcing your opponent to react or base trade (and at this point of the game, most opponents were very uncomfortable with the idea of base trading, even with floating buildings). Counter attacks don't exist to force a response; they aim to deal damage. As an added bonus, they force the opponent to do something about it.

In combination, these tactics serve a single purpose. They allowed FruitDealer to take what looked to be insane risks, building drones almost exclusively (and getting as much value out of non-drone units he has to build). Of course, this is only part of the reason FruitDealer was successful, he also innovated in ways that put him ahead of other Zerg players.


[image loading]

[image loading]

Cool, a FruitDealer

soundtrack


Every little edge, every unexpected trick can mean a sudden and crushing victory over an unsuspecting opponent. It is important to understand that the process of outthinking an opponent begins before the game itself; with this understood, we begin to see some of the ways in which FruitDealer eked out those victories.

The Strength of the Queen
[image loading]

*Insert cheesy fruit related pun about queens and drones*


I’d be remiss if I neglect to mention the queen, even though FruitDealer's use of it was no radical departure from that of other players of the time. The queen was almost as important to FruitDealer as his drones, and his early game defense hinged on them. It was the strength of queens defending against hellions, reapers, and particularly banshees that allowed FruitDealer to drone so heavily. However, it wasn't the realization that the queen was a powerful defensive unit that made FruitDealer's use of them outstanding. It was his understanding of the power of transfuse that made it a notable unit in FruitDealer's arsenal.

FruitDealer was effectively the first Zerg to use the queen as more than just an early game defensive unit and a larva spawner. He thrust an active role upon the queen, having it dole out health. It’s because FruitDealer relied on so few units that he came to rely so heavily on transfuse. After all, when you only have nine mutalisks, the difference between 1hp and 120hp starts to seem significant. His use of transfuse on spine crawlers in the finals, as well as healing of mutalisks mid-battle against LiveForever, brought to light the fact that FD understood the power and versatility of this ability in both defense and offense.

This was nothing profound, though it probably won him the second game of the finals. It’s hard to judge how critical it really was, but it shows the kind of attention to detail and keenness to maximize resources that give an excellent perspective on what made FruitDealer such a scary player.

The Power of the Baneling

Back in that first GSL, banelings seemed to serve as the backbone of just about every Zerg army. FruitDealer didn’t invent banelings, nor did he invent the infamous "run an infinite number of banelings into marines with siege tanks and hope for the best" strategy. The majority of FruitDealer's baneling micro was less than stellar, the truth is that by GSL2 it was subpar. This was probably forgivable, given that marine splitting hadn't been invented yet, but Foxer (or MKP as he would come to be known) would make him pay bitterly for that lack of control.
All you need to know is this:


This!


FruitDealer pioneered burrowed banelings and, though he found little success with them, it was his use of burrow as a delaying tactic that stands out. Again, this was not a crucial discovery; it was just one more facet of his play that elevated him above other Zergs of the time. It’s a testament to his foresight that burrowed baneling play is even now becoming more popular. Burrowing banelings bought FD more time, and forced his opponent to waste time waiting for energy to build up on their orbitals.

After all, time is drones.

The Might of the Overlord
[image loading]

"Blaaaaaaaaarghhhhhh"


The overlord is perhaps the most boring unit in the game, valuable only for scouting, becoming overseers, and inching away from marines while making funny noises... except for FruitDealer. Instead, he chose to see overlords as a weapon zerg players would just happen to have lying around in every game.

Using overlords to scout was hardly a new concept, but FruitDealer excelled at it. For his time, he had the best placement going, covering the map with overlords so he could track his opponents’ movements. Because he relied on knowing what was coming, this intelligence would prove invaluable, and well worth the couple of overlords that met their untimely demise as a result. That said, what most distinguished FruitDealer's use of overlords was his understanding that overlord speed and drop are invaluable upgrades.

FruitDealer was more than happy to pay 300/300 in order to drop whole armies into his opponent’s main, pulling out again before they could react. This is a logical extension of the playstyle we’ve described until now.

He made few units, so he had to maximize their mobility. What is noteworthy is his use of overlords as a delivery system for banelings. By using overlords to drop banelings, he did two things. First, he surprised unsuspecting enemies more worried about the incoming zerglings and mutalisks than a cloud of overlords. Second, he remedied his lackluster baneling micro by not having to micro them at all. Having overlord drops allowed him to pin his enemy by dropping banelings into mineral lines and zerglings into bases, lending him additional means by which to counter attack.

Using overlords as yet another weapon gave FD an edge over other, less innovative Zergs, and allowed him to implement his tactics in new ways.

The Potential of Fungal Growth


It's important to realize that the modern fungal growth and the fungal growth that FruitDealer used are different beasts. The fungals that FD used dealt next to no damage, instead rooting enemies for eight seconds. Combined with banelings, this proved deadly, but even without banelings it suited FruitDealer’s style. It provided an instant stall, which played to FD’s strengths.

To understand FD’s application of fungal growth, watch the fourth game of the finals, FD vs. HopeTorture (now StartaleRainbow), in which he opted for a midgame infestor build, rather than the more common mutalisks. The goal was the same as the muta build’s – trap the opponent. Rather than pinning with harassment, do so with spells.

Even though the build failed (it would be the only game FD dropped in the finals, and the second in his whole GSL run), it’s a clear precursor to future infestor-heavy builds, though they would drop the hydralisks in favor of more infestors. The only major oversight was that he failed realize the destructive potential of infested terrans, likely because he saw the infestor as means to buy time, rather than an aggressive unit.


Fungal Everything.


Even if he hadn't pinpointed the full potential of infestors, his use of them was still better than that of other Zergs, if only because it served a definite purpose. In the above screenshot (from Game 1 vs. TOP), the fungal is both pinning the units in place for the banelings to drop and, buying time for eleven ultralisks to pop so that they can ravage whatever survives.

All of this leads us to his signature, the unit that defines his play…

Power Overwhelming, the Ultralisk

[image loading]

A dozen Appleisks please.


This is the unit around which his whole gameplan evolved, the bludgeoner, demolisher of tank lines. It is important to note that, while FD was using ultralisks, they took a long time to build, so buying time for them to pop was still a serious concern once the cavern was up.

The reason why ultralisks were so well suited to FruitDealer’s strategy, and the reason he was the only Zerg to use them, was that the ultralisk was an excellent unit against mech compositions, as well as bio-mech compositions without marauders. That is, of course, assuming you have enough funds to build a lot of them and overrun tank lines. Since ultralisks handle tanks so well, they were ideal to combat turtling Terran players. The Ultralisk’s splash damage also made it the ideal counter to the masses of thors that Terrans so loved to build.

The only composition that ultralisks in the numbers that FruitDealer built them would have had trouble with was marauder heavy builds. Since he seldom bought roaches after his opponents were done with hellions, Terrans very seldom built marauders. This proved unpleasant when the ultralisks arrived, as Terrans found that their planetary fortresses, thors, and tanks were insufficient defense.

It would be dishonest to omit the fact that the Ultralisks of the time we’re describing were better than the Ultralisks he and other Zerg players would have access to later. In patch 1.1.0, ultralisk splash was increased and the way it worked was altered. In that patch, splash was determined from the center of the unit targeted, and covered an area of the radius of the unit +2. This meant that ultralisks absolutely wrecked anything that was at all clumped. Mass thors (such as the huge clump of thors in game three vs. TOP) were annihilated by ultralisks. This also made ultralisks effective against planetary fortresses, as they slaughtered repairing SCVs in seconds. In patch 1.1.1 this was fixed, but while it lasted it rendered FD's ultralisks almost unstoppable.

By now, you’ll have realized that FruitDealer favored two types of units exclusively until he got Ultralisks, units that augmented his mobility (mutalisks, zerglings, overlord drops, nydus worms) to pin his enemies, and units that allowed him to slow the enemy advance down (burrowed banelings, fungal growth, transfuse). FruitDealer's entire game centered on obtaining an overwhelming advantage and forcing the issue with ultralisks.


[image loading]
[image loading]

The best series of GSL 1

soundtrack


Watch along with the best series from that first GSL: here.

Game 1

Now, let’s begin by analyzing that first game on (Wiki)Metalopolis. FruitDealer opened in the top position, while LiveForever began at the bottom. FruitDealer went for a fourteen hatch, which suggested he was going for a hyper-economic game this time around. FruitDealer's scout caught a glimpse of a tech-lab-equipped barracks and got the hell out of there, but it was already too late, there was a reaper and a rapidly rising bunker at his natural; all he had to defend was a queen and a handful of drones.


Not a good place to be


Things looked dire for FD. Despite getting four roaches out he lost the hatchery. Most Zergs would GG around there, but not FruitDealer. He stays calm, and does what he does best; he re-expands without dropping a beat, then he keeps building drones. He now has four roaches, what does a FruitDealer do with defensive units he no longer needs?

He lost all four roaches in exchange for a handful of marines, but managed to spot a Starport, warning him that LiveForever is going for banshees. In response, he started his lair and threw out fourteen lings, catching a lone hellion. FruitDealer lost eight drones to a banshee before his overseer finished, but remained ahead with 40 drones, and more morphing.

LiveForever expanded, prompting FD to grab a third base. He also saw the incoming timing attack and planted three spines at his second base, then poked in again, killing a few marines and forcing LiveForever to pull away, buying time for those spines to finish and meet the attack.

This attack was mostly marauders and marines, which tore down the third, while FD's mutalisks cut off reinforcements. This caused Live to stop reinforcing the army, which, after taking down the third and not much else, was cut off and facing about twelve mutalisks. It should have been an even battle, so LiveForever's marines stayed to fight. Unfortunately, FD knew a trick most didn't and transfused the mutalisk being focus-fired three times. The army that had taken down the third had evaporated and all it had cost was a drone to build the third, a handful of lings, and two mutas.


Transfusing Mid-battle.


Incensed, Live pushed out with his remaining forces; two dozen marines and a thor. A cloud of mutalisks flew by the army, spotting it and heading toward the natural. FD sat comfortably at that perfect sixty drones, and threw up two more expansions. The force pushing out had been drawn home by the threat of mutas, but was on the move once more, bolstered by more marines.

The back-and-forth had bought enough time to hatch zerglings, and morph about half of them into banelings, simultaneously picking up roach speed, infestor tech, and baneling speed. The time it takes for the attack to arrive was enough to gather his forces, and quash the attack. FruitDealer, no longer on the back foot, was up four bases to two, an imposing army to the Terran's dozen marines, and he looked like he was about to wreck his opponent.

LiveForever tried hard to make drops work, but he was consistently thwarted, the hive almost up. The game was effectively over, an ultralisk cavern under construction. LiveForever moved out in desperation, a few tanks, thors, and plenty of marines. He needed to hit before ultralisks hatched. However, FD knew just how to play it.

He fungalled, waited for the army to advance, and then fungalled again miring what should have been a lightning push across the map. The ultralisks hatched in time and, in heartbeats, the army was erased.


Gone in ten seconds


The game was over, 81 supply to 200. The Terran had lost. Sure, it took a couple of minutes for FruitDealer to end it with a nydus in the main and the destruction of the planetary fortress at the third, but it had been over already. LiveForever GGed.
FruitDealer centered himself, preparing for game two.

Game 2

FruitDealer had the initiative going into game two. He's just crushed his opponent from a position from which no Zerg could be expected to recover; this would be an ideal time for a hyper-aggressive build, and there is no doubt that LiveForever had that at the forefront of his mind. Game two was on (Wiki)Scrap Station.

Defying expectation FruitDealer opened with a fourteen hatchery, slightly delayed by LiveForever's harassing SCV, which threw down an engineering bay. FD's overlord scouted LiveForever going for reactor hellions and he dropped a roach warren. FruitDealer made three roaches and tossed them at LiveForever, forcing the hellions to waste time trying to slow them.
The three roaches were met by another three before attempting to storm the Terran main. LiveForever pulled SCVs to defend behind two bunkers. FD lost a few more drones to hellions and his pressure was deflected. At the cost of four drones, he stopped the harassment. Afterward, he poked with a few roaches, as a single viking chased down overlords.

By now FruitDealer's plan was on track; mutas came out as built his third. The mutas harassed, picking off a few SCVs. They also scouted marines and thor production. As the third went up he added a baneling nest. Having seen the marines and the thor FruitDealer made around eight banelings. The banelings burrowed in two groups outside the terran expansion.

As Live moved out he scanned and eliminated them, moving to take down the rocks at the middle bridge to attack. FruitDealer responded with the pin. He sent his zerglings to the Terran main, forcing the Terran home. Then he burrowed the zerglings and waited for an opportunity to backstab. The Terran, having dealt with the situation in his base, pushed at the bridge, but it had been too long. FD had reached his 60 drones on two bases, he had started building infestors, banelings, and zerglings. FruitDealer had known what was coming and he was more than prepared to handle it as he planted his fourth at the gold.


Any guesses as to what is going to happen to this army?


While the army postured, Cool feigned an attack towards the main on the left side of the map with lings and roaches. Again, the Terran was forced back in a desperate bid to defend. The mass of units that had been waiting for the Terran push had an unseiged target to hit. As LiveForever pulled away, banelings rained down on his now fungalled army and a tide of lings washed in.
The army evaporated, all that remained were dozens of zerglings, roaches, and infestors right outside an unprotected Terran base.


If you guessed "die horribly", you win


At this point FruitDealer didn't need to wait for ultralisks. He pushed with roaches and the Terran base folded. The base was gone, Terran hopes following close behind.

Game 3

LiveForever was on the ropes, helpless in the face of FD. He'd lost two games and only had one more to lose to end it all. He'd been at an incredible advantage, but never quite enough. He needed to figure something out fast.

Figuring things out requires time, so FD opted for cheese. This was, after all, his favorite time to cheese, when he had a significant advantage, with an opponent off balance. The game was on (Wiki)Kulas Ravine, the most Terran-favored map in the pool, which made cheese seem more like conservative strategy than anything else.

FruitDealer opened with a thirteen gas, fourteen pool, with no expansion in sight. LiveForever suspected nothing, in fact his SCV scout was running late and hadn't found FD's base yet. LiveForever started his reactor-hellions, while FD's roach warren came up, and a scouting overlord caught sight of the factory and reactor. Two hellions emerged as roaches poked towards LiveForever's base, forcing him to fall back, without scouting that FD is on one base. However, he'd grown cautious since last game.
He already had two bunkers with marauders and concussive shells on the way. Eventually, the hellions made it to the main. Live probably assumed that FD had expanded to the gold, his usual play on this map. With two hellions scouting the map, frantically looking for a base that doesn't exist, FD’s spire started to morph.


Nothing there Jimmy


LiveForever got suspicious as the spire was constructed, adding three more barracks. If some kind of nydus or roach all-in was coming, he’d need to have something to stop it. Stim finished as the first four mutalisks popped in FD’s base. Given the number of marines, this one-base gambit seemed to have failed already. Undeterred, FruitDealer threw down a hidden expansion, sent his four mutalisks in, and hunted down the last remaining hellion with his roaches, ensuring the secret base wouldn't be spotted.

The mutalisks spotted the marines and backed off as LiveForever’s turret construction began. It seemed like LiveForever had learned his lesson about being pinned; the moment the turrets were done he sent his whole army towards the Zerg main. He wasn't going to let mutas hold him at home while FD grabbed bases and droned up. No, he would run over the Zerg. FruitDealer could rest assured, had the Terran held on and killed his army, he would truly have had no chance. Instead, it had become a base trade, a coin-flip, and FruitDealer had a habit of winning coin flips.

FruitDealer started four spine crawlers and threw everything he had at the Terran main. Four mutas, about sixteen zerglings, and six roaches tore through the rax as the Terran army arrived at a deserted Zerg natural. FruitDealer tried to smuggle out some drones, only to have them torn to shreds by marines and marauders.

Meanwhile, every SCV in LiveForever's base had been eradicated, and buildings were burning. FD had gone up to eight mutas, an additional four having hatched in his secret base with hoarded funds. LiveForever overstimmed, and his units, in their frenzy to kill the entire Zerg base, were at death’s door. When the mutalisks swept in, the fight was brief. That untouchable Terran army had defeated itself, the secret base unscouted.


The fatal stim


With no units left and his base in flames a frustrated LiveForever had no choice but to GG, closing the best series of GSL 1, a series far superior to the finals, one in which the Terran refused to let FruitDealer play his own way, and in which FruitDealer did anyway. This series showcased FruitDealer's ability to delay, the power of his economy, and his skill in handling base trades.

The sad truth was that it was no surprise when FruitDealer took the finals 4-1 over Rainbow.


[image loading]
[image loading]

soundtrack


Having proven that Zerg could be played not only to the level of Protoss and Terran, but could depose both, FD would find that his unwillingness to bend, and refusal to accept that any style other than the one that had carried him to victory would work, would be a fatal flaw. That flaw that would see him crushed under the iron boots of MKP's marines, before vanishing. Gone, but living on as the first to lead the swarm to victory.

The Rise of BitByBit

[image loading]

Biiiiiiiiiiiiitbyyyyyyyyyyybiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit


The truth is that it wasn’t BitByBitPrime who would depose FruitDealer, but the rise of BitByBit-style play from Terrans. In GSL 1, Terrans seemed only to believe in harassment and killing drones, rather than attacking to utterly destroy their opponents with all-in timings. With the rise of volatile and highly aggressive all-ins, reactionary Zergs found themselves having to buy units to keep tabs on opponents.

All-in builds like this begged for base trades, so tactics like pinning wouldn't work against them. Those vaunted techniques that relied on holding opponents back were no longer effective. The fact that FD needed to prepare against this kind of play by getting units and defensive structures meant that his reaching critical mass took far longer than it had before.

The strengths of his play evaporated, the key factor (reaching those vital 60 drones) took too long; this would leave FD more vulnerable for longer periods of time. Crippled by this change in his enemies’ mentality, and their newfound fearlessness in attacking, his strengths had become gaping holes in his defence.

The Marine

[image loading]

Marines counter banelings


I mentioned earlier that FD's baneling micro was lackluster, and could be summarised with, "throw a lot of banelings at the enemy and pray". It is unfortunate for him that Fake Boxer, or MarineKing as we know him now, would pioneer marine-splitting in time for GSL 2. This was terrible for FD, and would prove crippling in future GSLs.

This improved micro meant that during engagements he had to focus on microing banelings. FD's micro was good, but against players like MKP, it simply wasn't enough. This meant that FD had to get yet more units. Once again, his reactionary style could never enough to handle these playstyles.

In order to survive, FD would need units as insurance, as against those early timing attacks. Once again, his pins and prods were hurt; his cloud of nine mutalisks, once enough to pin TOP in his base, crumbled in the face of MKP’s aggression. Forces that once required six banelings now needed a dozen, if you could engage on creep. This revolution would spell the death of FD in GSL 2.

Multiple Base Play


In simplest terms, the game shifted to be more macro oriented; Terrans went for fast-expand builds that put them on equal footing with Zergs in the midgame. This meant that FD could no longer bank on winning at the fifteen-minute mark; instead he had to either shut expansions or take bigger risks.

Furthermore, it wasn't practical to macro even harder. Ninety or so drones is the hard cap if a Zerg wants to own an effective army. This meant that FD had to change up his style to actually deal economic damage to Terrans. At the same time, the evolution of more refined builds with stronger transitions made hurting opponents trickier.

Transitions were figured out in such a way that, if a Terran went hellions, four roaches could no longer wreak havoc in his main, and expansion builds were safe from basic prods. This "tightening" of builds is normal for a developing game, but destroyed the majority of FD's all-ins. One-base muta, one-base nydus, and almost all other one-base Zerg plays were rendered obsolete. This meant that FD's opponents could afford to be confident, cutting corners in defense as well as in attack, no longer as exposed as they had once been. This nullified the advantage FD’s volatility had earned him. He had lost his weighted dice, and was forced to rely on his luck.

These were the developments that would lead Zergs to grab quick third bases, and which would give rise to fast roach builds. Yet, FD refused to adapt; he maintained that his style was superior and his decline was swift. FD's fall from Code S to Code A, and from there from GSL, was not a tragedy, but a confluence of his style stagnating and a refusal to adapt.



Better than anything I can say


While FruitDealer, the Zerg hero, may be gone, his legacy remains. In a time when Zergs were being counted out, he had become a legend other Zergs could emulate, the inspiration for NesTea's run in GSL2. He would be the beacon around which other Zergs rallied, having proven that wit, courage, creativity, and ingenuity could overcome issues of balance.


Art by fishuu


Old soldiers don't die, they just fade away.


Thanks to Plexa, motbob, SirJolt, Probe1, Heyoka, and shiroiusagi. With out them this article would have been a blog rather than a FE.


Facebook Twitter Reddit
Moderator
sertman
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States540 Posts
August 27 2012 19:01 GMT
#2
interesting article. i will now go eat an apple
RedArmorZero
Profile Joined January 2011
United States31 Posts
August 27 2012 19:03 GMT
#3
I love Cool, such a legend. thanks for the write up.
BuGOuT
Profile Joined February 2011
United States22 Posts
August 27 2012 19:04 GMT
#4
It's unfortunate that the first word appears to be a typo. Otherwise looking forward to reading the article! I remember seeing FD transfusing mutas off creep on metalopolis and it blew my mind. Those were the days.
What's under there?
TAAF
Profile Joined March 2011
Switzerland226 Posts
August 27 2012 19:07 GMT
#5
Cool article!
Crouching probe, hidden cannon
TheDougler
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada8304 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 20:21:16
August 27 2012 19:08 GMT
#6
A new Final Edit!? YES! God I love you TL

Edit: God I got so nostalgic reading that... Those early GSLs were zany and just so exciting. I'm thankful for the more refined play we now see but those early GSL's were so fun.
I root for Euro Zergs, NA Protoss* and Korean Terrans. (Any North American who has beat a Korean Pro as Protoss counts as NA Toss)
HolyArrow
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States7116 Posts
August 27 2012 19:09 GMT
#7
Fuck yeah, FruitDealer! Still one of my favorite Zergs to this day. I will remember him fondly.
Andre
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Slovenia3523 Posts
August 27 2012 19:12 GMT
#8
Holy shit, so much fruit. He was a true hero in those days, zerg regarded as UP by everyone and no zergs in GSL left..

Insane article.
You must gather your party before venturing forth.
OminouS
Profile Joined February 2010
Sweden1343 Posts
August 27 2012 19:14 GMT
#9
Reading this I cannont believe how much have happened in the last 2 years. 2 expanisons left as well...
On the 6th day JF made Reavers and on the 7th day JF put his opponent to rest
HolydaKing
Profile Joined February 2010
21254 Posts
August 27 2012 19:14 GMT
#10
The Traitor: He went to LoL

Ah just kidding, he just didn't play well anymore so it's understandable. Nice article! :D
Sliver
Profile Joined April 2010
United States402 Posts
August 27 2012 19:16 GMT
#11
You forgot to include his greatest enemy..

[image loading]
partysnatcher
Profile Joined August 2010
156 Posts
August 27 2012 19:17 GMT
#12
Amazing article! Well done!

My 2 year old rage comic from the NEXLiveForever match:
http://www.dareg.net/GSL_ffffrrrruuuuuuu.png

(the one and only ragecomic I've ever made)
courtpanda
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
866 Posts
August 27 2012 19:17 GMT
#13
is this final edit because startale lol disbanded?
imEnex
Profile Joined June 2011
Canada500 Posts
August 27 2012 19:19 GMT
#14
On August 28 2012 04:16 Sliver wrote:
You forgot to include his greatest enemy..

[image loading]


SOJU!
Program yourself to Success
jubil
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States2602 Posts
August 27 2012 19:20 GMT
#15
Great read on a player who it's all too easy to scorn nowadays given how he faded away. Also an entertaining review of the early days of SC2.
Marineking-Polt-Maru-Fantasy-Solar-Xenocider-Suppy fighting!
sorrowptoss
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
Canada1431 Posts
August 27 2012 19:20 GMT
#16
With the images and everything, this reminds me quite a lot of an article made for SavioR, the god of the battlefield, some time ago (also because they were both zergs). Yep, Fruitdealer was a legend.
Endure
Profile Joined March 2011
Canada287 Posts
August 27 2012 19:20 GMT
#17
The most memorable gsl for me was gsl 1, the finals were somewhat intoxicating for me.
good article
Fionn
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States23455 Posts
August 27 2012 19:20 GMT
#18
On August 28 2012 04:17 courtpanda wrote:
is this final edit because startale lol disbanded?


This has been getting worked on for a long while. It's a great article.

Just pretty funny timing that FruitDealer's team disbands the day it's released. Oh well, time for FruitDealer comeback!
Writerhttps://twitter.com/FionnOnFire
soiii
Profile Joined July 2011
Germany266 Posts
August 27 2012 19:21 GMT
#19
Amazing writeup, brings back so many great memories
MrPuff
Profile Joined November 2011
Poland15 Posts
August 27 2012 19:22 GMT
#20
On August 28 2012 04:14 HolydaKing wrote:
The Traitor: He went to LoL

Ah just kidding, he just didn't play well anymore so it's understandable. Nice article! :D


I do not agree that "he just didn't play well anymore". As mention in the article, he had no will to adopt, and so he left to play somthing else. I thought the same about Idra (that he had no will to adopt, and he will stop playing) but he proved me wrong latley.
BBT: "That's right! You saw what you saw! That's how we roll in the Shire!"
Theovide
Profile Joined September 2010
Sweden914 Posts
August 27 2012 19:23 GMT
#21
Wow, sick article, wasn't expecting that.
Jaaaaasper
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
United States10225 Posts
August 27 2012 19:23 GMT
#22
Awesome write up. You did justice to a fallen legend.
Hey do you want to hear a joke? Chinese production value. | I thought he had a aegis- Ayesee | When did 7ing mad last have a good game, 2012?
sicQ
Profile Joined June 2011
Germany32 Posts
August 27 2012 19:24 GMT
#23
great article! fruitdealers games really got me into sc2!
StarboW wooohooooo!
Ojahh
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Ireland728 Posts
August 27 2012 19:24 GMT
#24
Nice recap of where we came from.
===== Barcraft Münster ===== www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=282905! ////// ♥ Nyovne is the new Manifesto
Dice17
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States520 Posts
August 27 2012 19:26 GMT
#25
Amazing read. FruitDealer will always be the legend that gave hope to zerg players around the world. Its sad to see that he is gone but hopefully people will remember him and someday I can tell my son about this legendary man
GamaBear #1 Fan! Sen fighting~
Gator
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States3432 Posts
August 27 2012 19:27 GMT
#26
awesome writeup. i love fruitdealer though i have to admit that the ultralisk bug fucked TOP over pretty hard
TSM
vanhio
Profile Joined November 2010
Niue1017 Posts
August 27 2012 19:27 GMT
#27
Great article !

One of the cool Legends =)
Leetley
Profile Joined October 2010
1796 Posts
August 27 2012 19:28 GMT
#28
I still miss you FD...
CeriseCherries
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
6170 Posts
August 27 2012 19:29 GMT
#29
T.T i miss you fruitdealer... best of luck in LoL was it?
Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
Book_SC2
Profile Joined August 2012
United States2 Posts
August 27 2012 19:31 GMT
#30
"I am EG.Tasteless and with me is MYM.Artosis"

Welp, blast from the past right from the get go with those VODs.
"Do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed. The bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress." -Charlie Chaplin
courtpanda
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
866 Posts
August 27 2012 19:31 GMT
#31
On August 28 2012 04:20 Fionn wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 28 2012 04:17 courtpanda wrote:
is this final edit because startale lol disbanded?


This has been getting worked on for a long while. It's a great article.

Just pretty funny timing that FruitDealer's team disbands the day it's released. Oh well, time for FruitDealer comeback!


oh yeah wasnt thinking. forgot these take a while to write
imMUTAble787
Profile Joined November 2011
United States680 Posts
August 27 2012 19:32 GMT
#32
fruitdealer will forever be a legend

for only a legend could make a gsl run without losing on kulas or steppes at any point
*eternalenvy fanboy*
BPLOL
Profile Joined February 2012
United States55 Posts
August 27 2012 19:32 GMT
#33
So nice to finally see one of these articles on sc2 I remember reading jd and flashs articles were just so inspiring !

Great work and thanks :3
★JD★MKP★DRG★BP★FIGHTING★
CuteZergling
Profile Joined November 2011
641 Posts
August 27 2012 19:32 GMT
#34
So well written and interesting.

Time for a banana.
Team owner of team QTLing
Lasbike
Profile Joined January 2011
France2888 Posts
August 27 2012 19:34 GMT
#35
What an article oO

Good job, thank you.
GoonFFS
Profile Joined April 2010
Denmark323 Posts
August 27 2012 19:35 GMT
#36
that was pretty great thanks
http://konvictgaming.com/ -> @KrugerFFS
Mudkipnick
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
Korea (South)241 Posts
August 27 2012 19:36 GMT
#37
I really wish Fruitdealer would come back in the scene. when I first got into the competitive scene of SC2, I remember him being the first Zerg I've ever seen play, and I was so impressed back in my bronze league days. I wish him the best of luck with everything!
Follow your dreams
[F_]aths
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Germany3947 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 19:37:26
August 27 2012 19:36 GMT
#38
Oh yes.

In the darkest hour of the zerg, when all hope seemed lost, he carried the swarm to an unheard victory.
You don't choose to play zerg. The zerg choose you.
AoWLuXus
Profile Joined January 2011
Korea (South)109 Posts
August 27 2012 19:38 GMT
#39
This writeup brings just all the good old memories back of the true God Of Zerg!!! I hope he will come back when HotS comes out and wins the first GSL again!! Fruitdealer fighting!
Zealously
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
East Gorteau22261 Posts
August 27 2012 19:38 GMT
#40
Amazing.
AdministratorBreak the chains
Chiharu Harukaze
Profile Joined September 2011
12112 Posts
August 27 2012 19:38 GMT
#41
A wonderful article that developed from an initial draft. Pleasure to read!
It's like, "Is the Federation's Mobile Suit some kind of monster?"
Aerisky
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
United States12129 Posts
August 27 2012 19:38 GMT
#42
Fantastic write-up GMarshal. Fruitdealer <3
Jim while Johnny had had had had had had had; had had had had the better effect on the teacher.
sbroon
Profile Joined November 2011
United Kingdom23 Posts
August 27 2012 19:38 GMT
#43
Great article, sometimes people forget how awesome and innovative FD was at the time.
www.starcrafthub.net / @starcrafthub - The home of StarCraft in the UK. @schubnews - For all your latest international scene news.
imperator-xy
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Germany1366 Posts
August 27 2012 19:39 GMT
#44
thinking about that old times nearly makes me cry. FRUITDEALER!!!!!
Ljas
Profile Joined July 2012
Finland725 Posts
August 27 2012 19:39 GMT
#45
Great article, even if the grammar nazi inside me keeps reminding that "enormity of drones" isn't quite what you wanted to say. Synonyms for enormity include "atrociousness, badness, depravedness, diabolicalness, evilness, heinousness, hideousness, monstrosity, sinfulness, vileness, wickedness".
fenrysk
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
United States364 Posts
August 27 2012 19:39 GMT
#46
I'll never forget when Samwise and the band was singing the "Swarm" song at BlizzCon 2011 closing ceremony
and i'll always remember also the showmatch of FruitDealer vs (real) Boxer at Blizzcon 2010, that was the first time i ever seen baneling drops used

"We are July, we are Losira! We are NesTea, we are FruitDeala'--- FRUITDEALAHHHHH"
+ Show Spoiler +


http://fenrysk-art.deviantart.com
Cink
Profile Joined April 2010
United States93 Posts
August 27 2012 19:41 GMT
#47
Ahh, a fruitdealer article! Good stuff guys! Open Season 1 seems forever ago now.
Samsung KHAN| Stork4Lyfe
Achaia
Profile Joined July 2010
United States643 Posts
August 27 2012 19:42 GMT
#48
I remember being completely stunned watching him take down that first GSL title. It was unbelievable to think that a Zerg could win that season. Too bad he fell off, at least we have NesTea now! :D
http://www.youtube.com/SCBattleGrounds
winthrop
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Hong Kong956 Posts
August 27 2012 19:48 GMT
#49
On August 28 2012 04:19 imEnex wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 28 2012 04:16 Sliver wrote:
You forgot to include his greatest enemy..

[image loading]


SOJU!

jinro
Incredible Miracle
Aelendis
Profile Joined February 2011
Belgium892 Posts
August 27 2012 19:49 GMT
#50
Amazing read, thank you!
Glenn313
Profile Joined August 2011
United States475 Posts
August 27 2012 19:49 GMT
#51
When I saw FruitDealer play, I was encouraged to play Zerg even more. FruitDealer is the man.
Hey man
Weavel
Profile Joined January 2010
Finland9221 Posts
August 27 2012 19:50 GMT
#52
Final edits are always something else. Awesome article. Hopefully fruitdealer won't quit eSports even thought ST lol team disbanded.
Life/Seed//Mvp/NaNiwa fighting! ZeNEX forever!
hiyo_bye
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States737 Posts
August 27 2012 19:50 GMT
#53
Great article, brought back some memories. Of course, my favorite Fruitdealer moment is:

+ Show Spoiler +
Random
nokz88
Profile Joined October 2010
Brazil1253 Posts
August 27 2012 19:53 GMT
#54
Feels good to have witnessed his magical run live. I'm having goosebumps right now...

Long live Starcraft 2.
in a state of trance
BobMcJohnson
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
France2916 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 19:56:00
August 27 2012 19:55 GMT
#55
(Z)Cool read

yay for the first SC2 FE, thanks GM, that was epic ! GSL 1 seems so far away, it's amazing how the game evolved since then
Romanes eunt domus
ACrow
Profile Joined October 2011
Germany6583 Posts
August 27 2012 19:56 GMT
#56
Ah, the memories, how many games I have lost to the shittiest of all-ins on Steppes and Crap Station
Fruitdealer will always have his place as the first champion of SC2!
Get off my lawn, young punks
renaissanceMAN
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1840 Posts
August 27 2012 19:57 GMT
#57
On August 28 2012 04:01 sertman wrote:
interesting article. i will now go eat an apple


hahahaha

Great writeup on one of the early greats. I'm glad that this was written so that younger-generation players know who to look up to when they think about revoltionizing builds.
On August 15 2013 03:43 Waxangel wrote: no amount of money can replace the enjoyment of being mean to people on the internet
Blazinghand *
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States25551 Posts
August 27 2012 19:59 GMT
#58
A great article about an interesting bit of Sc2 esports history. I should go rewatch those games.
When you stare into the iCCup, the iCCup stares back.
TL+ Member
klogg
Profile Joined October 2010
Sweden800 Posts
August 27 2012 20:00 GMT
#59
Great writeup, the two finalists from the very first GSL are still two of my favourite SC2 players.
http://fiddle.se/ - @klogglol
See.Blue
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
United States2673 Posts
August 27 2012 20:01 GMT
#60
I miss this guy. Always loved him. Great Cinderella story
Transparent
Profile Joined June 2011
42 Posts
August 27 2012 20:02 GMT
#61
What a great read and to greener pastures for the faded star
You can never be too precise!
dala
Profile Joined August 2010
Sweden477 Posts
August 27 2012 20:05 GMT
#62
Great analysis. Next one NesTea?
Roggay
Profile Joined April 2010
Switzerland6320 Posts
August 27 2012 20:06 GMT
#63
Great writeup! Amazing read.

On a side note, I laughed so much when I saw Artosis in the booth in that last video ahah.
cywait
Profile Joined December 2010
United States10 Posts
August 27 2012 20:07 GMT
#64
FD is the main reason I started playing SC2. I'll never forget his brilliance.
y0su
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
Finland7871 Posts
August 27 2012 20:09 GMT
#65
Great read! Especially for someone who didn't know about GSL until season 2...
RainSunShowers
Profile Joined August 2011
Norway152 Posts
August 27 2012 20:11 GMT
#66
Is Fruitdealer still involved with Startale now that the Lol team has disbanded?

OT: Awesome article
Founder of CTL http://choboteamleague.enjin.com/home
RoninShogun
Profile Joined November 2010
United States315 Posts
August 27 2012 20:11 GMT
#67
Fruitdealer was simply amazingly crazy. 6 pool on Kulas? NOT BAD. How about a Nydus on the same map? Yeah, did that too. In the grand finals.
Good write up
Artosis: Yeah I was gonna probe rush but someone did that yesterday
Full.tilt
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United Kingdom1709 Posts
August 27 2012 20:13 GMT
#68
I hadn't watched that Fruitdealer video for at least a month, thanks for the reminder :D

Nice article, the first should always be remembered
Aunvilgod
Profile Joined December 2011
2653 Posts
August 27 2012 20:13 GMT
#69
On August 28 2012 04:22 MrPuff wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 28 2012 04:14 HolydaKing wrote:
The Traitor: He went to LoL

Ah just kidding, he just didn't play well anymore so it's understandable. Nice article! :D


I do not agree that "he just didn't play well anymore". As mention in the article, he had no will to adopt, and so he left to play somthing else. I thought the same about Idra (that he had no will to adopt, and he will stop playing) but he proved me wrong latley.


Not playing well anymore and not willing to adapt are the same thing.
ilovegroov | Blizzards mapmaker(s?) suck ass | #1 Protoss hater
leo23
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States3075 Posts
August 27 2012 20:14 GMT
#70
Against all odds:

Fruitdealer
banelings
intOx_HH
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States30 Posts
August 27 2012 20:15 GMT
#71
TL;DRM

drm-didn't read most ;D

User was warned for this post
There's no time, man!
Flonomenalz
Profile Joined May 2011
Nigeria3519 Posts
August 27 2012 20:16 GMT
#72
FRUITDEALER WILL ALWAYS BE MY GOD
I love crazymoving
DarkPlasmaBall
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States44250 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 20:18:35
August 27 2012 20:18 GMT
#73
I do miss him... him tearing apart Rainbow in the finals was just amazing back then *-*

Thanks for the write-up, guys!
"There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100
Bamm
Profile Joined January 2011
Sweden279 Posts
August 27 2012 20:19 GMT
#74
FruitDealer such a legend .... Nice write up , hope for more sometime!
Bamm and the dirt is gone!
enemy2010
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Germany1972 Posts
August 27 2012 20:20 GMT
#75
Man, those were the times :D

lol, seems like decades have passed, but it's just two years ago...

:')
1on1 auf azze no he no flash no awp only holztor. | Ja, da meint der ich hätt' abgeschmatzt, aber dat is Quatsch, verstehste?
GrandMaster_07
Profile Blog Joined June 2012
Peru52 Posts
August 27 2012 20:24 GMT
#76
This guy had very innovative play. He also dealt me some fruit.
I am owning.
PhoenixVoid
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
Canada32740 Posts
August 27 2012 20:24 GMT
#77
What a great article, really reflects the time invested on it. Sad seeing the fall of such a great player who simply refused to adapt, but we still have so much to respect and owe to FD.
I'm afraid of demented knife-wielding escaped lunatic libertarian zombie mutants
bgx
Profile Joined August 2010
Poland6595 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 20:26:44
August 27 2012 20:26 GMT
#78
Fruit Dealer in a way was a Boxer of SC2. He showed that weakest race can be strongest if played properly(and Zerg at that time had much lower winnings than sad zealot/marine times). Its true that at that time his opponents didn't know how to counter inefficient nowadays style of "teching to everything". But his tactical plays made it possible. Kinda like Boxer used his dropships and micro tactics.

The way he foresaw HopeTorture's drop play and prepared roaches near gold base on Kulas Revine made my jaw drop. It was fun period in SC2.
Stork[gm]
Aunvilgod
Profile Joined December 2011
2653 Posts
August 27 2012 20:28 GMT
#79
Amazing how much the game has changed in so little time.
ilovegroov | Blizzards mapmaker(s?) suck ass | #1 Protoss hater
[F_]aths
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Germany3947 Posts
August 27 2012 20:29 GMT
#80
Until Leenock won the recent MLG, Fruitdealer was still ranked top-10 in SC2 earnings.
You don't choose to play zerg. The zerg choose you.
Proof.
Profile Joined August 2011
535 Posts
August 27 2012 20:33 GMT
#81
I'm sure other people might feel the same way but this guy basically confirmed my choice of zerg when I got the game. His games were amazing as hell during that time too! <3 FD
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how
Kazeyonoma
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States2912 Posts
August 27 2012 20:34 GMT
#82
always love new final edits. FD being very deserving of one. I can't wait until the day comes when Nestea and MVP and MC get their's =D
I now have autographs of both BoxeR and NaDa. I can die happy. Lim Yo Hwan and Lee Yun Yeol FIGHTING forever!
awwnuts07
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States621 Posts
August 27 2012 20:34 GMT
#83
I remember the early days of GSL. Those games are god-awful compared to now, but they do serve as a great history lesson in how far a game can develop in such a short time. Glad FD found a home in LoL after his SC2 career fizzled out.
I'm a noob
TheRealNanMan
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States1471 Posts
August 27 2012 20:36 GMT
#84
Such an awesome article! I love looking back at the early days of Sc2! :D
Sc2 Caster | Host of Sc2 Up & Coming | The Godfather of Team LXG | Sc2 Historian | Youtube.com/NanMan | Twitch.tv/TheRealNanMan | Twitter.com/TheRealNanMan |
NeMeSiS3
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
Canada2972 Posts
August 27 2012 20:38 GMT
#85
Sorry what is a"Final Edit" like I've read them multiple times but what do they mean specifically? Like it's the last time anyone will write about them?
FoTG fighting!
TheDougler
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada8304 Posts
August 27 2012 20:39 GMT
#86
On August 28 2012 04:39 fenrysk wrote:
I i'll always remember also the showmatch of FruitDealer vs (real) Boxer at Blizzcon 2010, that was the first time i ever seen baneling drops used



Same here, I thoroughly enjoyed those games, even though I was rooting for Boxer
I root for Euro Zergs, NA Protoss* and Korean Terrans. (Any North American who has beat a Korean Pro as Protoss counts as NA Toss)
Bayyne
Profile Joined January 2011
United States1967 Posts
August 27 2012 20:39 GMT
#87
Wonderful write-up that went very deep into his games and the complexities (or lack thereof) of his play. If you watched that first GSL, you will never forget that run by Cool. It wasn't only because he was the first to win, or because he was a zerg at that time. For me, it was the way in which he won: exciting variety of unit compositions, innovation, risk (as you mentioned).
Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
Luisa_2
Profile Joined August 2011
Germany200 Posts
August 27 2012 20:39 GMT
#88
Impressive article! Thanks for the writing, I really appreciated it
"Tasteless,why did the Colossus fall over?" "Why?" " Because it was imbalanced"
TsGBruzze
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Sweden1190 Posts
August 27 2012 20:39 GMT
#89
damn i miss fruitdealer i remember season one when i watched the final with a bunch of friends ;(
''you got to yolo things up to win''
unoriginalname
Profile Joined November 2010
England380 Posts
August 27 2012 20:41 GMT
#90
Now I remember why I dislike watching old VODs. They're so bad. "Good creep spread" and it's barely out of the base.

I was never a fan of fruitdealer, the only people I was interested in GSL Open Season 1 were IdrA and TLO. It was NesTea and MarineKing a season later that seriously impressed me (and continue to).

But the article was a nice insight into how much of a pioneer he was.
Hmmm
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33357 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 20:45:59
August 27 2012 20:45 GMT
#91
fruitdealer, smart enough that range 3 roaches are useless and not to be relied upon
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Zeon0
Profile Joined September 2010
Austria2995 Posts
August 27 2012 20:48 GMT
#92
nice one, altough the game was pretty terrible, the memories are awesome
Hater of MKP since GSL Open Season 2 | Fanboy of: NesTea Stephano IdrA DIMAGA MorroW ret DongRaeGu Snute SaSe Mvp ThorZaIN DeMusliM
Advantageous
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
China1350 Posts
August 27 2012 20:50 GMT
#93
sadly fruitdealer went to the dark side due to the corruption of LoL.
"Because I am BossToss" -MC ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ノ raise your dongers ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ノ I'm sure that all of my fellow class mates viewed me as the Adonis of the Class of 2015 already. -Xenocider, EG, ieF 2013 Champion.
Al Bundy
Profile Joined April 2010
7257 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 20:56:12
August 27 2012 20:53 GMT
#94
Great article, unforgettable moments

That ZvT on Kulas Ravine vs TOP was extremely cool indeed.
o choro é livre
XpNc
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Spain64 Posts
August 27 2012 20:53 GMT
#95
I will never forget the FD final, not only was it the first GSL with an incredible prize pool.
The fruit jokes, the odds of zergs winning, the horrid maps! This is a classic.
The Final Boss
Profile Joined February 2011
United States1839 Posts
August 27 2012 20:54 GMT
#96
On August 28 2012 04:20 Fionn wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 28 2012 04:17 courtpanda wrote:
is this final edit because startale lol disbanded?


This has been getting worked on for a long while. It's a great article.

Just pretty funny timing that FruitDealer's team disbands the day it's released. Oh well, time for FruitDealer comeback!

Who wouldn't be excited if FruitDealer would return? Loved reading this, just like the other Final Edits. Thanks, guys! Keep it up!
Louuster
Profile Joined November 2010
Canada2869 Posts
August 27 2012 20:54 GMT
#97
Still the best SC2 related video made to this day
Kim Taek Yong fighting~
CoMMoDuS
Profile Joined February 2010
Germany507 Posts
August 27 2012 20:55 GMT
#98
Still my favourite GSL, everything he did was Cool (hahaha) and new, and he was the only hope for zerg at the time.
There is no unemployment amongst overlords-Artosis
Amui
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Canada10567 Posts
August 27 2012 20:57 GMT
#99
I love final edits, I think I've read almost every one. Really gives us an idea of where we came from.
Porouscloud - NA LoL
FataLe
Profile Joined November 2010
New Zealand4497 Posts
August 27 2012 21:01 GMT
#100
On August 28 2012 04:17 courtpanda wrote:
is this final edit because startale lol disbanded?

i read this and my heart pounded. wtf my favourite team disbanded? wtf chit.
Then I read lol. lol.

Amazing article, expected something like this sooner (after FD's exit from sc2) but this is still great none the less.
The first GSL will always be the most memorable and emotional for me, even being a Toss player now, and back then I was moved that a Zerg player, managed to be the first GSL champion in a time where Zergs were having the hardest time.

Great times.
hi. big fan.
KimJongChill
Profile Joined January 2011
United States6429 Posts
August 27 2012 21:02 GMT
#101
On August 28 2012 05:38 NeMeSiS3 wrote:
Sorry what is a"Final Edit" like I've read them multiple times but what do they mean specifically? Like it's the last time anyone will write about them?



Yeah, I'd like to know this as well..FD is awesome and all but I don't quite understand the timing of this article...did something happen to him?
MMA: U realise MMA: Most of my army EgIdra: fuck off MMA: Killed my orbital MMA: LOL MMA: just saying MMA: u werent loss
fishjie
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States1519 Posts
August 27 2012 21:06 GMT
#102
fruitdealer is my hero and always will be. what he did in season 1 was nothing short of magical. what a legend.
tw!tch
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States563 Posts
August 27 2012 21:07 GMT
#103
Haha wow I was just thinking about FD the other day. In fact, my hedgehog's nickname is still (Wiki)cool just for him, man I loved his run.
testthewest
Profile Joined October 2011
Germany274 Posts
August 27 2012 21:08 GMT
#104
On August 28 2012 05:45 Waxangel wrote:
fruitdealer, smart enough that range 3 roaches are useless and not to be relied upon


It's quite funny, that a unit went from useless to enough to just mass and kill a toss within one rangehew more of firepower...

Even more funny, that at each state of the game, everyone was saying L2P, game is balanced...until a patch came confirming the opposite.
War is not about who is right, but who is left.
Bluerain
Profile Joined April 2010
United States348 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 21:14:06
August 27 2012 21:13 GMT
#105
not sure if i agree with some things in this article. sure he was a gambler sometimes but due to the map imbalances and the weaknesses of the zerg race, he was forced to cus he couldnt play a straight up reactive game although he played reactive as much as he could do feasibly.

also he prolly wasnt too stubborn to adapt. he was just too lazy to practice.

basically he won cus he was better and he stopped winning cus everyone else got better.
StanzA
Profile Joined January 2011
Canada478 Posts
August 27 2012 21:15 GMT
#106
aaaaa new final edit

And dude, I was watching the GSL1 FD highlights about a week ago and remembered just how inspiring his play was. Back then I was so frustrated as a zerg I had stopped laddering altogether, but FD's play convinced me to keep playing regardless. Sick writeup.
oz fighting FOREVER! ~ hemlock.695 stanza.295~ root4root
cythaze
Profile Joined June 2011
830 Posts
August 27 2012 21:16 GMT
#107
The perfect player to win gsl1 imo, anyone has news what FD is going to do now as ST LoL disbanded?
TheKefka
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Croatia11752 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 21:18:00
August 27 2012 21:17 GMT
#108
Great article.
I would like to emphasize one thing.When people look back at how bad the maps were,the first map that comes to everyones mind is Steppes of War.Even tho it was fairly attrocious it wasn't the worst map ever for ZvT imo.
Kulas Ravine was by far the most fuckt up map for a zerg to play on at that time against terran.It had the choke points of scrap station,the incredibly retarded cliff over the natural of Lost temple and rocks,rocks everywhere.That map was so bad I have no idea how he fruitdealer managed to hold a 100% winrate on it.That's by far the most impressive stat in his resume to me.
Cackle™
Badjas
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
Netherlands2038 Posts
August 27 2012 21:17 GMT
#109
Awesome Final Edits
A very good read
I <3 the internet, I <3 you
Torenhire
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States11681 Posts
August 27 2012 21:17 GMT
#110
On August 28 2012 06:02 KimJongChill wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 28 2012 05:38 NeMeSiS3 wrote:
Sorry what is a"Final Edit" like I've read them multiple times but what do they mean specifically? Like it's the last time anyone will write about them?



Yeah, I'd like to know this as well..FD is awesome and all but I don't quite understand the timing of this article...did something happen to him?


Final Edit is basically a Tier 2 SC Related Blog. I don't know the official 100% standard definition but that's my input on it. Look at some of the other Final Edits and you'll get the idea.
SirJolt: Well maybe if you weren't so big and stupid, it wouldn't have hit you.
ChiknAdobo
Profile Joined November 2010
United States208 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 21:21:22
August 27 2012 21:20 GMT
#111
This article made me feel all good inside

Edit: sweet 100th post this is even more special now!
ZERg
iiGreetings
Profile Joined March 2011
Canada563 Posts
August 27 2012 21:22 GMT
#112
Omg those days were fucking epic haha, really well done, lots of content! Never missed s beat and flowed do rythmicly.
Adapt and React I MKP, PartinG, EffOrt ♥
SuperEight
Profile Joined December 2011
United States333 Posts
August 27 2012 21:27 GMT
#113
Great write-up! I didn't play SC2 when FruitDealer was around, so it's cool to finally understand what made his play so amazing at the time.
To rest is to rust; to be active is to achieve.
SHOOG
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
United States1639 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 21:38:12
August 27 2012 21:36 GMT
#114
Great article! I sadly missed things like Fruitdealer laying the law down on everyone. I really enjoy watching those old games online even now. What a epic guy!
I can't help but laugh at those play styles! Things really have changed.
snively
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
United States1159 Posts
August 27 2012 21:39 GMT
#115
On August 28 2012 06:01 FataLe wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 28 2012 04:17 courtpanda wrote:
is this final edit because startale lol disbanded?

i read this and my heart pounded. wtf my favourite team disbanded? wtf chit.
Then I read lol. lol.

Amazing article, expected something like this sooner (after FD's exit from sc2) but this is still great none the less.
The first GSL will always be the most memorable and emotional for me, even being a Toss player now, and back then I was moved that a Zerg player, managed to be the first GSL champion in a time where Zergs were having the hardest time.

Great times.


lol, lol. lol.
My religion is Starcraft
Mojumbo
Profile Joined May 2011
Canada11 Posts
August 27 2012 21:39 GMT
#116
The "Tragic Hero" bit made me tear up T_T Especially that video! I miss the days of Fruit Dealer dominance, it was truly inspirational at the time
Epic Win.
Nevertras
Profile Joined October 2011
United States27 Posts
August 27 2012 21:41 GMT
#117
FruitDealer's first season is what got me into GSL in the first place. It was a magical run that can't ever really be replicated. I will never forget "FIFTEEN ULTRALISKS!" Still gives me nerd chills like no other. Squirtle's royal run is the only other season that had a similar feel for me, but... man, fifteen ultralisks. That army erasure on Metalopolis is pretty burned into memory too.

I tuned into his every game. I was sad to see the decline and this article makes it clearer for me as to what happened, but I'll never forget the rugged beauty that was the wild west of Season One. Sheriff FruitDealer is always going to be my hero.
KoBlades
Profile Joined April 2011
Austria248 Posts
August 27 2012 21:43 GMT
#118
I love final edits! such great articles, like art
"What do you know about fear?" -"Everything."
whereismymind
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United Kingdom717 Posts
August 27 2012 21:46 GMT
#119
This guy was beast. So sad he couldn't focus more to continue his glorious days.
one day.. i'll lose my mind
nkr
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Sweden5451 Posts
August 27 2012 21:49 GMT
#120
long live the first gsl champ!
ESPORTS ILLUMINATI
MCDayC
Profile Joined March 2011
United Kingdom14464 Posts
August 27 2012 21:53 GMT
#121
When I saw this article the first thing I clicked on was the liquipedia, and I was very confused why a not very in depth liquipedia article was being linked on the frontpage of TL. I felt stupid once I realised thta I had to click on Cool's face.
VERY FRAGILE, LIKE A BABY PANDA EGG
rckY
Profile Joined June 2011
Germany116 Posts
August 27 2012 21:58 GMT
#122
He shall not be forgotten! You made me choose zerg, sir :D
CosmicHippo
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States547 Posts
August 27 2012 22:07 GMT
#123
Will forever be a legend in Starcraft 2 history. GG
Yeah i've got your zerg riiiight here! *gulps beer*
Davoud
Profile Joined August 2010
Sweden38 Posts
August 27 2012 22:11 GMT
#124
Lovely article, thank you so much
Gorlin
Profile Joined November 2010
United States2753 Posts
August 27 2012 22:12 GMT
#125
Loved it, great job.
JacobShock
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Denmark2485 Posts
August 27 2012 22:13 GMT
#126
him and Dimaga, the reason I picked Zerg.
"Right on" - Morrow
Nachbar
Profile Joined October 2010
United States8 Posts
August 27 2012 22:18 GMT
#127
Did he die or something? Whats up with this?
Indrium
Profile Joined November 2010
United States2236 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 22:29:46
August 27 2012 22:28 GMT
#128
Loved it. Thank you.

I once said that I'd always support FD because of his amazing story. Still true.

I also associate the song "Secrets" with him now, because of the TL music video.
Danzo
Profile Joined March 2011
2820 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 22:31:59
August 27 2012 22:29 GMT
#129
Funny because I remember a quick game of him going 7RR, but that was probably one game.
Awesome write up :D
Getting too old for this..
Jojo131
Profile Joined January 2011
Brazil1631 Posts
August 27 2012 22:31 GMT
#130
Is the StarTale disbanding thing just for the LoL team, or the SC2 team as well?
Burns
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States2300 Posts
August 27 2012 22:32 GMT
#131
What a well written article, you not only talked about fruitedealers play but the era in which he played. Players are talked about all the time, but what often fails to be said is the enviornment in which fruitdealer played, and with out that any commentary is useless.

Aside from that, I just remember watching fruitdealer play, and he would constantly be one step ahead of his opponent. It felt as if he was much better at thinking about the game than other players in a time frame when most players were winning with superior mechanics.
What do you mean you heard me during the night, these are quiet pants!
kochanfe
Profile Joined July 2011
Micronesia1338 Posts
August 27 2012 22:34 GMT
#132
In the VERY beginning FruitDealer and IdrA were actually just A LOT better than EVERYONE else.
"The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long." - Lao Tzu
Turgid
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States1623 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-27 22:39:46
August 27 2012 22:36 GMT
#133
Oh man, I remember GSL 1 so clearly. A truly epic run and this article brings to light why: because FruitDealer could have lost horribly at any moment but he was too badass to go out like that. Every single game he played in that GSL was ridiculously tense. It made it all the more awesome when a certain then-unaccomplished Terran 2-0ed him in the Ro32 of GSL2.

edit: Dudes, go back and look at the brackets for GSL 1 and 2. How many of those matchups from Ro32 onward do you remember perfectly? I remember so many, it's crazy. I'm sure it would be kind of embarrassing to watch any of those games nowadays but at the time everything seemed so huge and epic. Boxer versus Loner! TheWind versus Maka! TheWind versus Maka was more exciting then than Nestea versus MC.

Also... A certain Kyumer(IMKyumer, if I'm not mistaken) was in GSL2. That's ChRh, man!
(╬ ಠ益ಠ)
thezanursic
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
5478 Posts
August 27 2012 22:36 GMT
#134
If he wasn't the first GSL winner everybody would have forgotten already at this point.
http://i45.tinypic.com/9j2cdc.jpg Let it be so!
Cele
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Germany4016 Posts
August 27 2012 22:42 GMT
#135
On August 28 2012 07:34 kochanfe wrote:
In the VERY beginning FruitDealer and IdrA were actually just A LOT better than EVERYONE else.


nah Idra was just pretended to be by his fanboys and Tastosis.
Broodwar for life!
Turgid
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States1623 Posts
August 27 2012 22:44 GMT
#136
On August 28 2012 07:42 Cele wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 28 2012 07:34 kochanfe wrote:
In the VERY beginning FruitDealer and IdrA were actually just A LOT better than EVERYONE else.


nah Idra was just pretended to be by his fanboys and Tastosis.


Think what you want man, he won King of the Beta over some truly baller players.
(╬ ಠ益ಠ)
Fishriot
Profile Joined May 2010
United States621 Posts
August 27 2012 22:45 GMT
#137
Great read!
Pugsly
Profile Joined February 2011
United States50 Posts
August 27 2012 22:47 GMT
#138
One of the best write-ups that I have read in a long time. Much respect for FruitDealer.
Thank You Based God
Dismay
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States1180 Posts
August 27 2012 22:56 GMT
#139
I miss FruitDealer. ;_; Come back to us.
In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same.
Esjihn
Profile Joined April 2010
United States164 Posts
August 27 2012 22:57 GMT
#140
JUST Ate a granny smith apple gg
Moar Tanks, Less Skanks!
achan1058
Profile Joined February 2012
1091 Posts
August 27 2012 23:13 GMT
#141
On August 28 2012 07:57 Esjihn wrote:
JUST Ate a granny smith apple gg

Reading the article bring nostalgia and sadness to my heart. It is a pity that he faded away like that, while some of his opponents back in those days (like Taeja) are being hyped as the next new thing in progaming.
chris5180
Profile Joined July 2012
198 Posts
August 27 2012 23:25 GMT
#142
very nice article!!! i am tempted to go eat an apple
babylon
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
8765 Posts
August 27 2012 23:26 GMT
#143
Thanks for the read!

GSL1 games are godawful now that you look back on them, but goddamn if it's not one of the most exciting seasons to watch still. Craziness waiting behind every bush (especially from FD). He had that playstyle where you're kept watching on the edge of your seat because you don't know if he's going to drop dead in the next few seconds or come out with an overwhelming advantage. Played with fire, he did. I do so miss him and his insanity in the GSL.
Balgrog
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States1221 Posts
August 27 2012 23:33 GMT
#144
I LOVE these final edits. This brought me back to when I still had a 24/7 raging hard on for SC2, I still have it, but mostly a chub. Fruit dealer was the man, hope he comes back now that he has a) hopefully to poor to drink to much and b) now that the LoL team is gone he will come back to a real game!
The only way to attack structure is with chaos.
Bswhunter
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Australia954 Posts
August 27 2012 23:34 GMT
#145
Fuck yeah first SC2 final edit!
I vaguely remeber watching the first GSL finals. Definitely something else
Stop browsing and do whatever it is you're supposed to do. TL will still be here when you get back
digmouse
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
China6329 Posts
August 27 2012 23:40 GMT
#146
I miss him
TranslatorIf you want to ask anything about Chinese esports, send me a PM or follow me @nerddigmouse.
Wounded31
Profile Joined October 2011
124 Posts
August 27 2012 23:56 GMT
#147
Great write-up!
MKP!
MasterKang
Profile Joined August 2011
United States1373 Posts
August 27 2012 23:58 GMT
#148
thanks for keeping his legacy alive
Players: MMA, Boxer, Ryung, Life, TaeJa, Squirtle, Brown, Dark,
Trasko
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Sweden983 Posts
August 27 2012 23:59 GMT
#149
amazing article! :D
Jaedong <3
beesinyoface
Profile Joined May 2012
2450 Posts
August 28 2012 00:11 GMT
#150
Some great information here, really well done. Thanks!
aaaaa
Zion9
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Romania347 Posts
August 28 2012 00:33 GMT
#151
Amazing!!!
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ SlayerS_MMA| Taeja | ThorZain and Naama Fan!!
Sumahi
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Guam5609 Posts
August 28 2012 00:40 GMT
#152
Love the article. I didn't follow the first GSL Open Season and so I didn't get to watch this as it was unfolding. Instead I saw Fruitdealer as an already legendary hero, who was slowly starting to fade away. Thank you so much for establishing the historical context that made Fruitdealer's run so incredible.
Startale <3, ST_July <3, HongUn <3, Savior <3, Gretorp <3, Nada <3, Rainbow <3, Ret <3, Squirtle <3, Bomber <3
LastLemming
Profile Joined June 2011
United States38 Posts
August 28 2012 00:44 GMT
#153
Wow thats awesome good job
ErrorNA
Profile Joined November 2010
United States86 Posts
August 28 2012 00:46 GMT
#154
This is perfect. a forum where someone can finally feel the same thing i do everytime i watch the GSL highlights video.
instruMENTAL013
Profile Joined July 2011
United States10 Posts
August 28 2012 00:50 GMT
#155
A great article, made me reminisce of the early days of sc2. Would like to know more about where Cool is now. Does he still play? or did he give up on e-sports permanently?
Chester Cheetah "Oh God there is no fucking drummer better than Neil Peart!"
ZeromuS
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Canada13389 Posts
August 28 2012 00:55 GMT
#156
Great Final edit. Reminding me of GSL season 1, spectacular stuff.
StrategyRTS forever | @ZeromuS_plays | www.twitch.tv/Zeromus_
Antithesis
Profile Joined August 2010
Germany1154 Posts
August 28 2012 01:06 GMT
#157
Awesome, seems like a great read.

Don't have the time to read it entirely right now, but I'll do so in some days on a flight.

Also relevant: Eating a pear right now.
Mutation complete.
MythZero
Profile Joined February 2011
Korea (South)102 Posts
August 28 2012 01:25 GMT
#158
Isn't this the guy who ran to LoL after saying sc2 is boring in an interview?

bye, never return again ^^

User was warned for this post
ChuCky.Ca
Profile Joined July 2011
Canada2497 Posts
August 28 2012 01:39 GMT
#159
On August 28 2012 10:25 MythZero wrote:
Isn't this the guy who ran to LoL after saying sc2 is boring in an interview?

bye, never return again ^^

well he might since there LoL team just got shut down ha
Most Skilled Current esport Games Scbw>Sc2>Cs1.6>Dota2>Hon>Loopin Louie The Drinking Game>LoL
CPTBadAss
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States594 Posts
August 28 2012 01:45 GMT
#160
Holy shit, did we just see the return of Final Edits? I'm so excited!!
I'll keep on struggling, 'cause that's the measure of a man | "That was the plan: To give him some hope, and then crush him" -Stephano
SpaceFighting
Profile Joined January 2010
New Zealand690 Posts
August 28 2012 01:46 GMT
#161
very nice write up, read every word, fruit dealer <3
kuz pro
sluggaslamoo
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Australia4494 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-28 02:00:58
August 28 2012 01:57 GMT
#162
Great writeup, but the word "eco cheese" or "econ cheese" is one of the silliest words to ever be mentioned in starcraft, and was widely abused during Flash's reign. Please don't use that word, the correct term should be "greed", e.g "greedy play" or "being extremely greedy".

"Omfg Flash is terrible, he wouldn't have beaten Jaedong if he didn't econ cheese" *facepalm

Very nice writeup again though, enjoyed every minute reading it.
Come play Android Netrunner - http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=409008
Supert0fu
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
United States499 Posts
August 28 2012 02:04 GMT
#163
Lovely article
SeeiSee
Profile Joined March 2011
United States12 Posts
August 28 2012 02:05 GMT
#164
Probably one of the most eye opening articles out there. I can't even imagine the uproar when FD won those games. I know even though I was playing back then, I didn't know anything about this. Though I feel this was probably the best thing to ever happen to the zerg race (in terms of learning and play)
Do you see what I see?
Stanlot
Profile Joined December 2010
United States5742 Posts
August 28 2012 02:08 GMT
#165
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEqxpaJR2ak

I miss this guy :[
MC: "Sentry Forcefield Forcefield Marauder... cage Marauder die die"
ItsMeDomLee
Profile Joined November 2010
Canada2732 Posts
August 28 2012 02:15 GMT
#166
All hail the true Zerg king!
Altern
Profile Joined September 2010
United States1053 Posts
August 28 2012 02:29 GMT
#167
On August 28 2012 11:08 Stanlot wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEqxpaJR2ak

I miss this guy :[

Haha FruitDealer's a boss.
Carmac creamed his pants at that moment hahaha
Rah
Profile Joined February 2010
United States973 Posts
August 28 2012 02:47 GMT
#168
On August 28 2012 11:08 Stanlot wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEqxpaJR2ak

I miss this guy :[


Interviews like this one need to be thrown out whenever clowns start talking about Koreans have no personality. I love how a lot of Koreans seemed like they took lessons from WWE when they first came overseas to compete. Nada and MC come to mind easily. Need more of this.
Streaming on twitch. http://www.twitch.tv/rahsun86
Turgid
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States1623 Posts
August 28 2012 02:54 GMT
#169
On August 28 2012 10:57 sluggaslamoo wrote:
Great writeup, but the word "eco cheese" or "econ cheese" is one of the silliest words to ever be mentioned in starcraft, and was widely abused during Flash's reign. Please don't use that word, the correct term should be "greed", e.g "greedy play" or "being extremely greedy".

"Omfg Flash is terrible, he wouldn't have beaten Jaedong if he didn't econ cheese" *facepalm

Very nice writeup again though, enjoyed every minute reading it.

Hey man, it shares all the features of a regular cheese, except it aims for late game dominance Nothing wrong with being cheesy, nobody thinks Flash is bad for bunker rushing or 14ccing or Jaedong is bad for 4pooling or any number of actual SC2 examples. If anything a proxy rax is just as greedy as having no defense, only it's greedy for blood instead of minerals.
(╬ ಠ益ಠ)
Ritchie
Profile Joined July 2012
Canada206 Posts
August 28 2012 03:02 GMT
#170
Really nice write-up :D. He was such a great player!
After all, we just want to be happy, don't we?
InfusedTT.DaZe
Profile Joined August 2010
Romania693 Posts
August 28 2012 03:05 GMT
#171
amazing article!
"Echoes of past events nudge the tiller on my present course, I await its reflection in the future"
mrRoflpwn
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States2618 Posts
August 28 2012 03:15 GMT
#172
Wow interesting read indeed.
Also surprised that startale LoL disbanded? Anyone know why?
Long live the Boss Toss!
VirgilSC2
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United States6151 Posts
August 28 2012 03:18 GMT
#173
Doesn't quite give me the same chills as I get every time I read God of the Battlefield.....but I guess that's because I was never a huge fan of Kim Won Ki.

Still great job, wonderfully written piece.
Clarity Gaming #1 Fan | Avid MTG Grinder | @VirgilSC2
Gofarman
Profile Joined June 2010
Canada645 Posts
August 28 2012 03:25 GMT
#174
Great work, this is the kind of perspective that could easily be applied to BW games aswell.

HINT- Terrans, watch some flash and L2P mech.
AnomalySC2
Profile Joined August 2012
United States2073 Posts
August 28 2012 04:04 GMT
#175
On August 28 2012 12:25 Gofarman wrote:
Great work, this is the kind of perspective that could easily be applied to BW games aswell.

HINT- Terrans, watch some flash and L2P mech.


If only mech was good in sc2.
kjwcj
Profile Joined November 2011
Australia1064 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-28 04:10:51
August 28 2012 04:09 GMT
#176
Fruitdealer's story is still the most compelling in Korean SC2 to date in my opinion, it's fitting that he should be the first SC2 gamer to have an FE written about him.

GMarshal, you've done him proud, nice work ^^
Writer
Wunder
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United Kingdom2950 Posts
August 28 2012 04:15 GMT
#177
Absolutely fantastic - soundtrack was amazing, and I stopped halfway to watch the highlight video again. A truly great story and one that will be remembered throughout Starcraft 2's history. We will look back and reminisce, at what was.
Writer@joonjoewong
Hemula
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Russian Federation1849 Posts
August 28 2012 04:25 GMT
#178
On August 28 2012 11:47 Rah wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 28 2012 11:08 Stanlot wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEqxpaJR2ak

I miss this guy :[


Interviews like this one need to be thrown out whenever clowns start talking about Koreans have no personality. I love how a lot of Koreans seemed like they took lessons from WWE when they first came overseas to compete. Nada and MC come to mind easily. Need more of this.

Still remember watching it live. Fruitdealer is such a boss.
snowbird
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
Germany2044 Posts
August 28 2012 04:26 GMT
#179
Great final edit!

All VODs of the early Fruitdealer days are free btw (2012 Open Season 1 - 2011 GSTL March), so check them out if you want:
http://www.gomtv.net/league/index.gom
@riotsnowbird
Vertig0
Profile Joined March 2009
United States196 Posts
August 28 2012 04:30 GMT
#180
I love this article! It makes me happy that other people still love FruitDealer too. Maybe he'll come back for HotS?
#1 Fruitdealer fan!
Majynx
Profile Joined October 2010
United States1431 Posts
August 28 2012 04:30 GMT
#181
Great article. Brings back good memories of the first GSL tournament. FruitDealer was the zerg hope and easily became a fan favorite....Wouldn't mind seeing him back in SC2 if he ever has the drive to do it again.
RaiKageRyu
Profile Joined August 2009
Canada4773 Posts
August 28 2012 04:34 GMT
#182
*standing ovation*



Someone call down the Thunder?
TimKim0713
Profile Joined June 2012
Korea (South)221 Posts
August 28 2012 04:55 GMT
#183
Nice work
KiNGxXx
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
7928 Posts
August 28 2012 05:01 GMT
#184
Amazing job guys! Will never forget him!
MKP|Maru|TaeJa|Mvp|Polt|INnoVation|GuMiho|Bomber|GoOdy|TeamTerran
slytown
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Korea (South)1411 Posts
August 28 2012 05:05 GMT
#185
Sick writeup. Please keep doing these.
The best Flash meme ever: http://imgur.com/zquoK
Jaeger
Profile Joined December 2009
United States1150 Posts
August 28 2012 05:06 GMT
#186
Great write up although I have to disagree with this part:

Six pooling today is just shy of suicide against any competent player, especially on a large map, yet somehow Inca lost.


Even as recently as the final day of WCS Korea we've seen this is not the case.
https://www.dotabuff.com/players/8137911
Lysanias
Profile Joined March 2011
Netherlands8351 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-28 05:11:32
August 28 2012 05:09 GMT
#187
Fantastic article. Love the added bonus of some sound tracks. And reading this brings back the memories of that first GSL (wich was rather shit ) Non the less Fruitdealer holding that trophy gave me the chills, good to see him being remembered in this way.
fishjie
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States1519 Posts
August 28 2012 05:18 GMT
#188
ROFL thank you for linking that fruit dealer interview.

"FUCK YOU"

what a champion
TerranTechie
Profile Joined August 2012
24 Posts
August 28 2012 05:58 GMT
#189
Zerg was not felt, but known to be underpowered


Fruitdealer was a very innovative and talented player, but statements about everyone KNOWING zerg was underpowered is just ridiculous. The only people who thought they KNEW this were whiney zerg players. Zerg was underrepresented in GSL in the early days because every Korean SC2 pro wanted to be Boxer. If many of the nerfs that happened to other races due to zerg whining in the early days of SC2 were not made, and the maps developed just as they have, the game would still have balanced out fine. Every early opening like the LiveForever rax before depot reaper harrassment would be shut down today by 2 roaches, then zergs would proceed to hit 60 drones for free.

Zerg players kept getting better (like all other players) and look at the game today. Zerg is "KNOWN" to be op (not really but cwutididthar) after countless nerfs to other races with every patch and subtle zerg buffs. As we saw in that series, terran players in those days were staying on one base for years and Fruitdealer enjoyed his success because he found a way to establish a superb economy vs a terran player on one base.

In fact, I think it is pretty easy to see that in GSL season 2 and 3 (the worst seasons of GSL by far imo) the bitbybit scv/marine all-ins were a direct response to how Fruitdealer changed zvt metagame and made hatch first so common. At that time, Terrans felt that hatch first was outrageously greedy and the zerg should not be able to defend it in any situation, so rather than attempting to do greedy macro builds themselves, they tried to simply end the game with what they saw as a direct counter.

TLDR: It's little balance statements like this TeamLiquid....Other than these little balance statements, however, this was a fantastic article.
Mothership Core. Good idea Blizz. Kappa
Turgid
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States1623 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-28 06:14:40
August 28 2012 06:14 GMT
#190
Dude, the game was absolutely not fair to Zerg at the time. They would die to absolutely anything and all of the maps were ridiculously tiny. There is no way it was a fair playing field and somehow nearly every pro zerg just HAPPENED to be whiny as hell.

If you think Zerg matchups were balanced on Kulas Ravine, you are delusional.
(╬ ಠ益ಠ)
AceLight
Profile Joined March 2012
New Zealand220 Posts
August 28 2012 06:21 GMT
#191
On August 28 2012 14:06 Jaeger wrote:
Great write up although I have to disagree with this part:

Show nested quote +
Six pooling today is just shy of suicide against any competent player, especially on a large map, yet somehow Inca lost.


Even as recently as the final day of WCS Korea we've seen this is not the case.


I laughed when I remembered when MKP held Line's 6pool with CC first.
X3GoldDot
Profile Joined August 2011
Malaysia3840 Posts
August 28 2012 06:37 GMT
#192
i love cool, wish he still played, he looked pretty good in IEM new york as well
prime/startale/[SexComaZerg, RoyalRoaderZerg, SirLifealot] ingame ID = GoodGame
Ketch
Profile Joined October 2010
Netherlands7285 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-28 07:06:35
August 28 2012 07:03 GMT
#193
Cool story bros! (Seriously ).

Only minor point, soundtrack is too short... needed to repeat song four times to read it all!

Oh, wow ... that VOD of the semifinal: Caster Nick aka EG.Tasteless and Commentator Daniel aka MYM.Artosis.... old times
Zerg.Zilla
Profile Joined February 2012
Hungary5029 Posts
August 28 2012 07:10 GMT
#194
Enjoyed this write up very much
Who could forget Fruitdealer...seriously who?Pure born champion...
(•_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■) ~Keep calm and inject Larva~
Azera
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
3800 Posts
August 28 2012 07:14 GMT
#195
Great article!
Check out some great music made by TLers - http://bit.ly/QXYhdb , by intrigue. http://bit.ly/RTjpOR , by ohsea.toc.
Kontys
Profile Joined October 2011
Finland659 Posts
August 28 2012 07:14 GMT
#196
Of all the games played in the first year, FruitDealer's games are definitely the best vintage label. He was ingenious to the point that you would want to watch the next game just to see what kind of crazy he would pull off next.

A variety of strategy, and such a variety of tactic. FruitDealer and NesTea are the two names you'll hear when people ask how an earth this game was such a popular watch, so soon after release.
TwilightRain
Profile Joined March 2011
Germany351 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-28 07:16:45
August 28 2012 07:16 GMT
#197
Great article. Fruitdealer was definitely a great inspiration for many struggling Zergs of that time, including me.

Btw, am I the only one who will forever be thinking of GSL Open Season 1 and Fruitdealer's run when hearing this song?

(pls ignore the video track xD, there was nothing better on youtube)
Kontys
Profile Joined October 2011
Finland659 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-28 07:26:41
August 28 2012 07:25 GMT
#198
On August 28 2012 14:58 TerranTechie wrote:
Show nested quote +
Zerg was not felt, but known to be underpowered


Fruitdealer was a very innovative and talented player, but statements about everyone KNOWING zerg was underpowered is just ridiculous. The only people who thought they KNEW this were whiney zerg players. Zerg was underrepresented in GSL in the early days because every Korean SC2 pro wanted to be Boxer. If many of the nerfs that happened to other races due to zerg whining in the early days of SC2 were not made, and the maps developed just as they have, the game would still have balanced out fine. Every early opening like the LiveForever rax before depot reaper harrassment would be shut down today by 2 roaches, then zergs would proceed to hit 60 drones for free.

Zerg players kept getting better (like all other players) and look at the game today. Zerg is "KNOWN" to be op (not really but cwutididthar) after countless nerfs to other races with every patch and subtle zerg buffs. As we saw in that series, terran players in those days were staying on one base for years and Fruitdealer enjoyed his success because he found a way to establish a superb economy vs a terran player on one base.

In fact, I think it is pretty easy to see that in GSL season 2 and 3 (the worst seasons of GSL by far imo) the bitbybit scv/marine all-ins were a direct response to how Fruitdealer changed zvt metagame and made hatch first so common. At that time, Terrans felt that hatch first was outrageously greedy and the zerg should not be able to defend it in any situation, so rather than attempting to do greedy macro builds themselves, they tried to simply end the game with what they saw as a direct counter.

TLDR: It's little balance statements like this TeamLiquid....Other than these little balance statements, however, this was a fantastic article.


Dude.. no. Look at the maps. The distance from your own natural to your opponent's is no longer than the distance to your third. The player who can macro a better army in a timely fashion off of 2 bases is going to win. Add siege tanks to the mix and you know why FD was alone vs 15 terrans in the top 16.
BigFan
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
TLADT24920 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-28 07:25:54
August 28 2012 07:25 GMT
#199
Amazing Writeup! Reminds a lot like God of the battlefield writeup and Saviour with his delay tactics, cutting reinforcements, different strats and such
Former BW EiC"Watch Bakemonogatari or I will kill you." -Toad, April 18th, 2017
Ketch
Profile Joined October 2010
Netherlands7285 Posts
August 28 2012 07:37 GMT
#200
On August 28 2012 16:16 TwilightRain wrote:
Great article. Fruitdealer was definitely a great inspiration for many struggling Zergs of that time, including me.

Btw, am I the only one who will forever be thinking of GSL Open Season 1 and Fruitdealer's run when hearing this song?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnRbNasFAw
(pls ignore the video track xD, there was nothing better on youtube)


Haha, there is a link to this song in a better version in the article :D
Lomm
Profile Joined March 2012
Sweden33 Posts
August 28 2012 07:39 GMT
#201
This is one of the best articles I've read on the Internet all time, all genres counted

two thumbs up, I love this game!
Google before you tweet is the new think before you speak
TerranTechie
Profile Joined August 2012
24 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-28 08:00:41
August 28 2012 07:54 GMT
#202
Dude.. no. Look at the maps. The distance from your own natural to your opponent's is no longer than the distance to your third. The player who can macro a better army in a timely fashion off of 2 bases is going to win. Add siege tanks to the mix and you know why FD was alone vs 15 terrans in the top 16.


Dude, the game was absolutely not fair to Zerg at the time. They would die to absolutely anything and all of the maps were ridiculously tiny. There is no way it was a fair playing field and somehow nearly every pro zerg just HAPPENED to be whiny as hell.

If you think Zerg matchups were balanced on Kulas Ravine, you are delusional.


I don't think either of you read the part of my post where I said "and the maps had developed just as they have now." I'm not saying the game was balanced on Steppes of War. I'm not an idiot. I'm saying it is a shame that Blizzard did not simply allow the maps to develop to being more balanced (even favored for zerg on many tournament maps today), but chose to also nerf Terran into oblivion with each patch and buff zerg along the way.

I love Starcraft 2, and I find that slight imbalances can be overcome by superior play, however look at the general consensus on balance today in SC2. People talk about terran being weak and zerg being overpowered everywhere except here on TeamLiquid where Terran discussion is shot down by the vocal majority zerg players that don't even play the game anymore.

Hopefully someone understands what I'm trying to say. Yes, the maps were imba against zerg. So why change balance AND maps?

Edit: I should add that I don't find the game incredibly imbalanced in any way at this point. I think infestor/broodlord is much too difficult for either race to deal with and the late game raven transition that everyone is trying on the pro lvl cannot even be safely reached on most maps. However, elite Korean terrans have taught us that with superior mechanics, this can still be overcome in most games.

I guess what I'm trying to say is look at how many terran units and tactics are barely even used nowadays b/c of Blizzard's knee-jerk reaction to any effective harrassment from T. Reaper? Obsolete. Blue flame hellions? Niche. Banshees? Just now coming back as early game meta thanks to ForGG and MarineKing. Thors? Destroyed and only used vs zerg in small numbers. Ravens? Terrans are trying....

Every ingenious tactic like Fruitdealers' that Terran players invented was immediately nerfed to the ground.

User was warned for this post
Mothership Core. Good idea Blizz. Kappa
iCheeseUcry
Profile Joined February 2012
United States18 Posts
August 28 2012 08:00 GMT
#203
I thought I knew everything about gsl1. this article is awesome. Love FD always.
X3GoldDot
Profile Joined August 2011
Malaysia3840 Posts
August 28 2012 08:33 GMT
#204
On August 28 2012 16:54 TerranTechie wrote:
Show nested quote +
Dude.. no. Look at the maps. The distance from your own natural to your opponent's is no longer than the distance to your third. The player who can macro a better army in a timely fashion off of 2 bases is going to win. Add siege tanks to the mix and you know why FD was alone vs 15 terrans in the top 16.


Show nested quote +
Dude, the game was absolutely not fair to Zerg at the time. They would die to absolutely anything and all of the maps were ridiculously tiny. There is no way it was a fair playing field and somehow nearly every pro zerg just HAPPENED to be whiny as hell.

If you think Zerg matchups were balanced on Kulas Ravine, you are delusional.


I don't think either of you read the part of my post where I said "and the maps had developed just as they have now." I'm not saying the game was balanced on Steppes of War. I'm not an idiot. I'm saying it is a shame that Blizzard did not simply allow the maps to develop to being more balanced (even favored for zerg on many tournament maps today), but chose to also nerf Terran into oblivion with each patch and buff zerg along the way.

I love Starcraft 2, and I find that slight imbalances can be overcome by superior play, however look at the general consensus on balance today in SC2. People talk about terran being weak and zerg being overpowered everywhere except here on TeamLiquid where Terran discussion is shot down by the vocal majority zerg players that don't even play the game anymore.

Hopefully someone understands what I'm trying to say. Yes, the maps were imba against zerg. So why change balance AND maps?

Edit: I should add that I don't find the game incredibly imbalanced in any way at this point. I think infestor/broodlord is much too difficult for either race to deal with and the late game raven transition that everyone is trying on the pro lvl cannot even be safely reached on most maps. However, elite Korean terrans have taught us that with superior mechanics, this can still be overcome in most games.

I guess what I'm trying to say is look at how many terran units and tactics are barely even used nowadays b/c of Blizzard's knee-jerk reaction to any effective harrassment from T. Reaper? Obsolete. Blue flame hellions? Niche. Banshees? Just now coming back as early game meta thanks to ForGG and MarineKing. Thors? Destroyed and only used vs zerg in small numbers. Ravens? Terrans are trying....

Every ingenious tactic like Fruitdealers' that Terran players invented was immediately nerfed to the ground.


qq more, blizzard knows what theyre doing, zerg had to bare for 8 months before the game was balanced, and zerg as of now aint even killing terrans as bad as terrans used to kill zerg in 2010 and terrans are making even more of a bitch of it.
prime/startale/[SexComaZerg, RoyalRoaderZerg, SirLifealot] ingame ID = GoodGame
utyske
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Denmark185 Posts
August 28 2012 08:50 GMT
#205
Great read, I may go home and watch me some early GSL games.
He's not the fastest zergling in the control group - Day9
Shagg
Profile Joined September 2010
Finland825 Posts
August 28 2012 09:13 GMT
#206
Holy shizzle SICK article! Was a great read, thanks.
"You're a pro or you're a noob. That's life"
mrjpark
Profile Joined March 2011
United States276 Posts
August 28 2012 09:32 GMT
#207
On August 28 2012 04:16 Sliver wrote:
You forgot to include his greatest enemy..

[image loading]


JINRO?!
Shinta)
Profile Joined July 2010
United States1716 Posts
August 28 2012 10:08 GMT
#208
lol, honestly this guy isn't an inspiration at all.. he's a disgrace. He took the GSL money spent most of it on worthless things. He misused the first team salaries to be issued in SC2. Not to mention he lied to everyone and eventually not only hurt coach Lee, but also hurt the pride of the ST coach, and disbanded the first Korean SC2 counsel.
If he weren't in eSports, it probably would have had a much less shameful start.
Suteki Da Ne 素敵だね Isn't it Wonderful
Laeryken
Profile Joined September 2011
United States12 Posts
August 28 2012 10:30 GMT
#209
That was so beautiful. I am sincerely moved by the end.
Day[9] is a pretty good dancer, but Rob is better!
fuzzy_panda
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
New Zealand1681 Posts
August 28 2012 10:30 GMT
#210
I will miss the dealer of fruit :D
GeeseHoward
Profile Joined November 2010
United States78 Posts
August 28 2012 11:08 GMT
#211
To be quite honest, he was amazing in season one... at the time. As a zerg I cheer for him but in retrospect he's probably one of the worst GSL champions we ever had. I don't think this write up actually does any real justice to him or his opponents he played. His july-isk style did work but in macro games he got insanely lucky with the ultra bug. I kinda wish GSL did it different. Where the huge payouts came a year into the game instead of their 3 huge pots right as the game was release.
[quote][/quote]
dellesh1ruH
Profile Joined August 2009
Denmark509 Posts
August 28 2012 11:20 GMT
#212
Really an interesting article! Great reading too.
Pain is temporary, Glory is forever!
dully
Profile Joined November 2010
United States4 Posts
August 28 2012 12:01 GMT
#213
In a time long past, when foreigners roamed the Korean scene, and Zerg was not felt, but known to be underpowered

[citation needed]

Maps were good for terran, but I'm a bit tired of this argument. Terran didn't even win anything in 2010. First 3 GSLs went to 2 Zergs and a Protoss. It wasn't until GSL January of 2011 the Fauxer, the king of marines, was unleased. That's when when Terran started getting out of whack with micro and maintained good winrates despite nerfs.

Know your history.
executorx
Profile Joined July 2012
Germany81 Posts
August 28 2012 13:14 GMT
#214
nice article
INnoVation > ALL!
nokz88
Profile Joined October 2010
Brazil1253 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-28 14:18:59
August 28 2012 14:16 GMT
#215
On August 28 2012 21:01 dully wrote:
Show nested quote +
In a time long past, when foreigners roamed the Korean scene, and Zerg was not felt, but known to be underpowered

[citation needed]

Maps were good for terran, but I'm a bit tired of this argument. Terran didn't even win anything in 2010. First 3 GSLs went to 2 Zergs and a Protoss. It wasn't until GSL January of 2011 the Fauxer, the king of marines, was unleased. That's when when Terran started getting out of whack with micro and maintained good winrates despite nerfs.

Know your history.


Wh.. wha.. what is this? I don't even...

The legendary debut of marine splitting, Foxer vs Kyrix, GSL Open season 2, Nov 2010

... and GSL Jan 2011 was won by Mvp.
And Terran maintained good winrates in 2010, despite not winning GSL.

Know your history.
in a state of trance
rastaban
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States2294 Posts
August 28 2012 14:47 GMT
#216
On August 28 2012 13:09 kjwcj wrote:
Fruitdealer's story is still the most compelling in Korean SC2 to date in my opinion, it's fitting that he should be the first SC2 gamer to have an FE written about him.

GMarshal, you've done him proud, nice work ^^


Many of my favorite SC2 moments were from this run, despite all the great ones to come later. Great write up, thanks for the nostalgia!
Tyler: "...damn it, that's StarCraft. Opening doors is what we do. Being the first to find food is the greatest pleasure a player can have!"
Mawi
Profile Joined August 2010
Sweden4365 Posts
August 28 2012 14:49 GMT
#217
FruitDealer had the best games ive ever seen, can't get those feeling anymore in any other tournies huge respect to that man
Forever Mirin Zyzz Son of Zeus Brother of Hercules Father of the Aesthetics
shz
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Germany2687 Posts
August 28 2012 14:57 GMT
#218
Yay, a new FE. Great writing!
Liquipedia
Finrod1
Profile Joined December 2010
Germany3997 Posts
August 28 2012 17:12 GMT
#219
Grea great article, was a pleasure reading it!
MistSC2
Profile Joined February 2012
Sweden583 Posts
August 28 2012 17:38 GMT
#220
Super sick write up! Thanks alot for this
Maru, TY, Clem <3
UndoneJin
Profile Joined February 2011
United States438 Posts
August 28 2012 18:26 GMT
#221
This kind of article needs to be the future of e-Sports and SC2 coverage, very interesting read for anyone who has followed the pro scene.

Fruitdealer comeback incoming
I've been lost since the day I was born ----- You're gonna carry that weight
KernelPanic
Profile Joined April 2010
91 Posts
August 28 2012 18:41 GMT
#222
Thank you so much for this special. This brought back a lot of good memories.
Gihi
Profile Joined September 2011
384 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-28 20:09:21
August 28 2012 20:08 GMT
#223
Got me into sc2! The first pro game I ever watched a vod of was of him vs TOP ^^

Also, as people stated before, one of the best articles I have ever read, anywhere.
Talin
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Montenegro10532 Posts
August 28 2012 21:07 GMT
#224
Probably one of (if not the) most memorable SC2 players to date.
Garhf
Profile Joined August 2010
49 Posts
August 28 2012 21:51 GMT
#225
brings tears to my eyes, especially those mutalisk transfuses, surprise ultralisks, and baneling busts. Real exciting stuff to watch.
Mr Showtime
Profile Joined April 2011
United States1353 Posts
August 28 2012 22:44 GMT
#226
Amazing article. Well done
achan1058
Profile Joined February 2012
1091 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-29 02:08:48
August 29 2012 02:06 GMT
#227
On August 28 2012 18:32 mrjpark wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 28 2012 04:16 Sliver wrote:
You forgot to include his greatest enemy..

[image loading]


JINRO?!

I think he means the booze, not the player.
On August 28 2012 21:01 dully wrote:
Show nested quote +
In a time long past, when foreigners roamed the Korean scene, and Zerg was not felt, but known to be underpowered

[citation needed]

Maps were good for terran, but I'm a bit tired of this argument. Terran didn't even win anything in 2010. First 3 GSLs went to 2 Zergs and a Protoss. It wasn't until GSL January of 2011 the Fauxer, the king of marines, was unleased. That's when when Terran started getting out of whack with micro and maintained good winrates despite nerfs.

Know your history.

I recommend you to read this article:
http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=188583

Terran made it to every single GSL finals until March.
Adron
Profile Joined February 2010
Netherlands839 Posts
August 29 2012 02:18 GMT
#228
Tese kinds of articles are quite simply, the reason why TL iwas and is the best. Incredibly well written, and a great analyses.
fer
Profile Joined November 2010
Canada375 Posts
August 29 2012 04:04 GMT
#229
On August 28 2012 21:01 dully wrote:
Show nested quote +
In a time long past, when foreigners roamed the Korean scene, and Zerg was not felt, but known to be underpowered

[citation needed]

Maps were good for terran, but I'm a bit tired of this argument. Terran didn't even win anything in 2010. First 3 GSLs went to 2 Zergs and a Protoss. It wasn't until GSL January of 2011 the Fauxer, the king of marines, was unleased. That's when when Terran started getting out of whack with micro and maintained good winrates despite nerfs.

Know your history.



Fauxer was the noob in January. It was all about IMMvp back then. He was crushing everything, and crushed MKP 4-0 as well.
WellPlayed.org <3
v1p3r52
Profile Joined December 2010
New Zealand182 Posts
August 29 2012 05:38 GMT
#230
This is an awesome read, god that reminded me of those maps from season 1, such bad maps now that you look at it. It would be so funny to see scrap station in the GSL now.
GohgamX
Profile Joined April 2011
Canada1096 Posts
August 29 2012 15:12 GMT
#231
On August 29 2012 14:38 v1p3r52 wrote:
This is an awesome read, god that reminded me of those maps from season 1, such bad maps now that you look at it. It would be so funny to see scrap station in the GSL now.


I was thinking the same thing! The maps and balance back then... So funny. How far we've come from those really fast bunker build times
Time is a great teacher, unfortunate that it kills all its pupils ...
danl9rm
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States3111 Posts
August 29 2012 16:44 GMT
#232
Watching that video at the end again.. after so long.. reminded me that when fruitdealer won and was winning that first GSL... I was more excited about sc2 than I ever had been before or since.

Goodbye fruitdealer. You were good to me.
"Science has so well established that the preborn baby in the womb is a living human being that most pro-choice activists have conceded the point. ..since the abortion proponents have lost the science argument, they are now advocating an existential one."
danl9rm
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States3111 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-29 16:54:55
August 29 2012 16:54 GMT
#233
On August 28 2012 20:08 GeeseHoward wrote:
To be quite honest, he was amazing in season one... at the time. As a zerg I cheer for him but in retrospect he's probably one of the worst GSL champions we ever had. I don't think this write up actually does any real justice to him or his opponents he played. His july-isk style did work but in macro games he got insanely lucky with the ultra bug. I kinda wish GSL did it different. Where the huge payouts came a year into the game instead of their 3 huge pots right as the game was release.


Why does this insanely ridiculous comment come up every time?

By your logic, Isaac Newton was an idiot, Jesse Owens was slow, and Wilt Chamberlain was bad at basketball. Ya, figure that out.
"Science has so well established that the preborn baby in the womb is a living human being that most pro-choice activists have conceded the point. ..since the abortion proponents have lost the science argument, they are now advocating an existential one."
ANGELIAS1234
Profile Joined September 2011
United States46 Posts
August 29 2012 17:15 GMT
#234
wish he was still playing tho miss watching him =(
sixfour
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
England11061 Posts
August 29 2012 20:39 GMT
#235
next in the retrospective series - bitbybitprime, a glorious 40 minutes of domination
p: stats, horang2, free, jangbi z: soulkey, zero, shine, hydra t: leta, hiya, sea
Targe
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
United Kingdom14103 Posts
August 29 2012 20:42 GMT
#236
Excellent article, brilliantly done!

On August 30 2012 05:39 sixfour wrote:
next in the retrospective series - bitbybitprime, a glorious 40 minutes of domination


Hahaha
11/5/14 CATACLYSM | The South West's worst Falco main
VisceraEyes
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States21170 Posts
August 29 2012 21:48 GMT
#237
GM FINAL EDIT

WAT

5/5 - I was literally wondering what happened to FruitDealer the other day (I'm REALLY departed from the scene) for SPECIFICALLY THE REASONS OUTLINED IN THIS ARTICLE.

Bravah sir.
if I had to describe his playstyle, it'd be a coked up rabbit with the attention of a goldfish injecting caffeine into himself directly through an IV drip. it's like a reel of random animated shorts where things just blow up randomly
Dracolich70
Profile Joined May 2011
Denmark3820 Posts
August 30 2012 00:28 GMT
#238
Thanks a lot for the trip down memory and explanatory lane.
LiangHao
Luepert
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United States1933 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-30 02:09:55
August 30 2012 02:03 GMT
#239
Fruitdealer. I didn't really see him play much since I didn't get into starcraft till January 2011, but I do remember thinking "WTF I though he was washed up" when he almost won IEM New York. Also he was super handsome in the awesome old TSL uniforms.
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


edit: Also one of the most hilarious moments I remember in my Starcraft history was watching an Artosis troll interview video and a guy was named TSLDrugdealer. I laughed for like 10 minutes and I remember it more than a year later.
esports
SoylentCreep
Profile Joined September 2010
Korea (South)176 Posts
August 30 2012 02:30 GMT
#240
FruitDealer made our Swarm life much more interesting. He was the guy, who against all the odds managed to prevail, despite such abominations as delta quadrant, kulas ravine, steppes of war etc. Never will the first GSL be forgotten.

Thank you so much for the in-depth analysis of early day strategies. FruitDealer, a worthy champion.
Sleet
Profile Joined January 2011
United States139 Posts
August 30 2012 04:40 GMT
#241
I switched from Toss to Zerg because of him. Long live the dealer of fruit and his ULTRALISKUUUUU
@SLeetscgames
j1nzo
Profile Joined February 2012
Germany367 Posts
August 30 2012 09:59 GMT
#242
i really enjoyed the open seasons! i feel like at that time we were like kids, getting gifts for christmas (e.g. a ds or a small remote controlled car). after two years of growing up (2010-2012) we are sort of like teenagers, not caring for those kinds of gifts anymore- now we want consoles and computers...
meaning going back, i don't really like the old games all that much anymore. after the readup i went back to actually watch
fd vs. top but i couldn't even finish the third set...

anyways i loooved watching fd in back in the days, as well as all the jokes that came with it^^
so thank you and best of luck for your future kim, won-ki.
♞ rest in peace Madiba ♞
Sumahi
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Guam5609 Posts
August 30 2012 11:15 GMT
#243
In my opinion, no GSL has had a story as inspiring as FD's in that first Open Season. So much nostalgia. Watching the highlights of that first season almost brought tears to my eyes.
Startale <3, ST_July <3, HongUn <3, Savior <3, Gretorp <3, Nada <3, Rainbow <3, Ret <3, Squirtle <3, Bomber <3
Zandar
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands1541 Posts
August 30 2012 11:57 GMT
#244
Wow, what a beautiful OP.

So sad that he left SC2, he was such an inspiration for zergs, especially at the start of SC2.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
tinaniur
Profile Joined July 2012
18 Posts
August 31 2012 00:32 GMT
#245
Cool post!
Haha
Thanks
shizaep
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Canada2920 Posts
October 09 2012 01:32 GMT
#246
It's a shame he retired from SC2, I think we all would have loved to see more crazy play from him. But... perhaps that was when he was best, when SC2 was young still.

Either way, he will always remain a hero and a beacon of hope in dark times for all of us zerg players out there.
You mean I just write stuff here and other people can see it?
gosublade
Profile Joined May 2011
632 Posts
October 31 2012 00:08 GMT
#247
I was really hoping a topic about picking orange and apple treed i would have a lot to add
Not even death can save you from me.
larryselina
Profile Joined February 2013
Australia9 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-04-10 05:17:01
April 08 2013 08:05 GMT
#248
--- Nuked ---
Antylamon
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1981 Posts
May 26 2013 21:36 GMT
#249
lol... I underestimated how long ago FD was relevant. I was completely fooled into thinking that this was a recent thread.
Zaxon
Profile Joined January 2011
Belgium209 Posts
May 26 2013 23:52 GMT
#250
HAHAHA i just read it all again. Man we really may never forget Fruitdealer.... this writeup is awsome and i gotta say he was awsome i still remember how i felt when i saw him play. i have never felt that feeling for a sport again. I even remember his real name :D
Ocbs
Profile Joined February 2012
France42 Posts
June 03 2013 21:18 GMT
#251
I've just read some names like oGs Inca and TOP, Scrap Station, Bitbybit....

I feel so old !
sanshenglunhui
Profile Joined July 2013
Angola1 Post
July 05 2013 01:18 GMT
#252
--- Nuked ---
wowguide
Profile Joined July 2013
3 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-07-09 07:48:30
July 09 2013 07:14 GMT
#253
--- Nuked ---
mgelinas
Profile Joined August 2013
Argentina3 Posts
August 27 2013 05:16 GMT
#254
--- Nuked ---
thietkelogo
Profile Joined August 2013
Vietnam1 Post
August 27 2013 16:53 GMT
#255
--- Nuked ---
Ressom
Profile Joined September 2013
Australia2 Posts
September 05 2013 02:15 GMT
#256
--- Nuked ---
zajeBEASTY
Profile Joined March 2011
Poland40 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-11-27 13:14:13
November 27 2013 13:13 GMT
#257
Great article, I have just read it now - its good to know so innovative player and see how the metagame and other things changed over last 3 years, long life for the FD!!!
http://www.duchprawdy.com/poemat.htm / http://www.valtorta.org/the_poem__freeonlinereadingoffer.asp - Poemat Boga-Człowieka / Poem of the Man-God
Normal
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 51m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 262
mcanning 10
StarCraft: Brood War
Zeus 289
Noble 31
Bale 5
Dota 2
ODPixel302
NeuroSwarm113
League of Legends
JimRising 826
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K922
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King115
Other Games
summit1g12624
WinterStarcraft332
Trikslyr37
SortOf1
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick3135
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH373
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Rush2252
• Lourlo1398
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
3h 51m
WardiTV European League
9h 51m
ShoWTimE vs sebesdes
Percival vs NightPhoenix
Shameless vs Nicoract
Krystianer vs Scarlett
ByuN vs uThermal
Harstem vs HeRoMaRinE
PiGosaur Monday
17h 51m
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
1d 9h
Replay Cast
1d 17h
The PondCast
2 days
WardiTV European League
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
Epic.LAN
3 days
CranKy Ducklings
4 days
[ Show More ]
Epic.LAN
4 days
CSO Contender
4 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
4 days
Bonyth vs Sziky
Dewalt vs Hawk
Hawk vs QiaoGege
Sziky vs Dewalt
Mihu vs Bonyth
Zhanhun vs QiaoGege
QiaoGege vs Fengzi
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Online Event
5 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
5 days
Bonyth vs Zhanhun
Dewalt vs Mihu
Hawk vs Sziky
Sziky vs QiaoGege
Mihu vs Hawk
Zhanhun vs Dewalt
Fengzi vs Bonyth
Liquipedia Results

Completed

2025 ACS Season 2: Qualifier
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL20 Non-Korean Championship
Championship of Russia 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters

Upcoming

CSL Xiamen Invitational
CSL Xiamen Invitational: ShowMatche
2025 ACS Season 2
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
K-Championship
RSL Revival: Season 2
SEL Season 2 Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
Underdog Cup #2
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.