It's easy being the young, rising underdog. You play with nothing to lose. There's no pressure, no crushing expectations, and no voice of doubt in the back of your head. It's easy to play fast and free under these conditions. After winning the Club Day MSL last fall, Bisu said he was affected greatly by nerves in Game 1 (he lost a shuttle and two reavers by flying them into Jangbi's dragoons). Perhaps we've looked at the favorite-underdog dynamic wrong. Experience might not be as big an asset as it seems -- which makes the accomplishments of repeat winners like Iloveoov, Nada, Savior, Bisu, and Jaedong even more impressive. Once you're the favorite, things change. Expectation changes. Pressure changes.
I'm The Man now.
That's why this MSL win was so big for Calm. After a tournament of upsetting big names as an underdog, he went into this final as the favorite, and he performed as a true favorite should -- by winning convincingly. It's a good omen for STX, because next season, Calm will no longer be the underdog. He'll be that guy who upset Jaedong and took the MSL by storm. He'll be expected to win. Judging by how he responded in the finals, the future looks bright for this young Zerg.
Let's take a look at Calm's MSL run.
You're looking at one of the best and most dominant MSL performances in a long time. Calm went 13-2 and never faced an elimination game, his two losses coming in 3-1 victories. In comparison, Bisu went 11-2 in his first GomTV MSL run, and Savior had three or more losses in all of his MSL wins. Of course, this is no guarantee that Calm will have more successful careers than those two players -- it's just a testament to how great he played during the past few months.
You could say the stars aligned for Calm to face Kwanro in the finals instead of Bisu or Iris or Flash, but don't forget that Calm eliminated two of the best ZvZ players on the planet. Jaedong apologists could claim that Calm would never have won had LJD had the same practice time, but you can say that about a lot of other players who lost. Remember when Savior lost to Bisu? Just about everyone was talking about how Savior had to play a ZvT OSL Finals just days earlier.
In the end, nobody remembers what could have been or what-ifs from the fallen, only what happens from here on out. Kim Yoon Hwan is at a crossroads. Down one path lies the career of Mind and Luxury -- largely successful but ultimately unfulfilled. Let's hope he chooses the other one, and joins the small fraternity of multiple league winners.
Redemption for Calm and STX
It's true -- not many people cared about this final. There was no big name, no hyped bonjwa candidate, and the matchup was ZvZ. But this final was huge to the STX fans that watched their team and its ace Calm struggle through Proleague playoffs. It provided a source of joy and redemption for this kid that shouldered most of the blame in losing to Great and Jangbi in those two ace matches.
Here's what Ideas, STX superfan, had to say about Calm's win:
Ideas wrote: Calm's MSL run is still a bit surreal to me. I’ve been a Calm fan since I first got into progaming in early 2008, as he was on Hwasin and July’s team and Zerg was my favorite race. When Calm reached the Ro16 of the Avalon MSL, I was stoked. This was the first time he got past the Ro32 of a Starleague, and on top of that, two other STX players (Hwasin and Kal) also made it to the Ro16. It was looking good for my team.
STX was in the playoffs vs none other than KHAN; a team I and most of the rest of TL didn’t think would take more than 3 sets off of STX. I felt like total shit when Calm lost to JangBi’s +1 speed zealot rush, and not just because my STX winning PL thread turned into a huge instant fail at that moment. The entire season of the teams progress: becoming a top tier team, rookies such as hero and shuttle blossoming, the Zerg lineup becoming the most fierce in the league, going 10-1 in Round 5, all was dashed away in that single game. STX’s terrific season was to be immediately forgotten about in the history books. Calm stated that he couldn’t sleep at night thinking about his ace match loses, and I have to admit that for a short time neither could I.
Reading the Ro8 preview for the MSL, I just felt bad. EffOrt was the huge favorite over Calm, and no one gave Calm a chance. EffOrt was simply displaying much better results than Calm at the time, even though Calm was also doing very well. Calm’s victory over EffOrt was one of my proudest moments as a fan. He managed to beat the second best ZvZer in the world in his worst match-up, and he didn’t even drop a game. I knew at that moment that even if it was still disputed at the time, Calm was going to be known as “second best Zerg” very soon. It was just too bad that he had to now face Jaedong in the semis. [Editor's Note: Too bad... for Jaedong fans!]
When Calm beat Jaedong in the semifinals, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Calm showed that his ZvZ was no fluke, and that he had just turned his worst match-up into his best one. Not only did I believe that Calm was the second best Zerg in the world, but I also got a small bit of hope that one day Calm may even take over the throne from Jaedong as the best Zerg in the world. It is unfortunate that this MSL (or at least the finals) was so poorly thought of by the general public.
Calm winning the MSL is by far the StarCraft highlight of the year for me. His title is so important to me because it is the manifestation of STX’s long years of practice, growth, and hard work. Calm is the 1st homegrown player from STX to win a Starleague, and although it is long overdue, I have a feeling it is only the beginning.
Ridiculously, Kwanro opens 4-pool, and Calm 12-hatches (eventually cancelling it). Kwanro sends two drones along with his lings to make sunkens. It's kind of ridiculous how someone can lose with these starting builds... but it actually happens.
Kwanro gets two offensive sunkens down but wastes far too much time chasing drones instead of killing Calm's sunken. Calm's drones, lings, and one sunken hold, and Calm looks ahead. Calm does some nice ling harass, scoring drone kills, while teching to spire off one hatch. Kwanro has two bases but no lair, opting to get spores. Kwanro attempts a ling break, gets into Calm's main, but is driven off by a sunken and freshly spawned mutalisks.
Calm takes his own natural, harasses more, and does a good job of positioning his mutas in places that can hit Kwanro's freshly spawned lings or mining drones outside of spore range. Kwanro does a suicidal ling counter that fails to do any real damage, and Calm is firmly in the lead. Kwanro gets to spire, but Calm is too far ahead. Calm finally seals the game a few minutes later by using lings to take out a critical spore in Kwanro's main and handily winning the air fight.
Kwanro opens 9-pool while Calm opens 12-gas-pool. Kwanro goes speed while Calm goes lair, and due to the scouting advantage (Kwanro scouted correctly with his overlord), Calm is forced to put down a sunken. Calm's spire is faster, but he has two less drones. Calm slips out two lings and they get a ridiculous three drone kills, and Calm looks ahead -- until he takes four direct scourge hits and loses the air battle despite having far more mutas. Despite a lower drone count, Kwanro wins because Calm fails badly at anti-scourge micro. Calm's desperation spores can't stop Kwanro's next zergling attack.
Both players open 12-pool and expand to their naturals. Calm opts for earlier lair and later lings while Kwanro goes for faster lings and speed. Kwarno tries to surround a morphing egg, but Calm times his ling attack the egg hatches and wins the first ling fight. Calm's spire is significantly faster as well, forcing Kwanro to do a desperation ground attack that fails badly and puts him further behind. Calm's ling counter arrives at Kwanro's nat and deals a ton of damage, killing drones, a sunken, and many lings. Calm's mutas arrive shortly after and finish the game.
Kwanro opens 9-pool while Calm opens 12-pool expo. Calm cancels his hatch and gets a sunken in his main while getting lair. Kwanro runs right in, taking many sunken hits and killing only one drone. Kwanro gets speed and feints a few times, massing drones back home. Kwanro then attacks, trading equal count ling armies. Calm uses his drone advantage to lay a second hatch along with his spire, which is only slightly behind. Kwanro gets a second hatch too, but is behind in drone count.
This time, Calm is the one who catches Kwanro's mutas with scourge, winning the first air fight and then retreating before Kwanro could spawn scourges. Calm solidifies his advantage, taking his natural and using his mutas defensively. Calm's natural hatch (his third) and second gas are morphing, and thus Kwanro is forced to attack. Calm micros adequately against scourge, and wins the fight with several mutas left over. With a second gas fully mining, Calm's next attack ends it.
Game One should have been over once you saw the builds, but somehow Calm won with very nice drone defense against Kwanro's mistakes. Game Two was the exact opposite -- Calm had the decisive early game advantage, but immediately handed it back with some truly horrendous anti-scourge micro. Game Three was a classic case of overaggression by Kwanro without the superior ling micro to back it up. While seemingly deficient in muta-scourge micro, Calm makes up for it with intelligent decision making, smart builds, and excellent zergling control.
Calm dispelled any doubts about his status as STX's 2010 Proleague Ace.
Calm and the STX Coach looked so happy after the match, as did the rest of STX's players. The collapse Calm had in the Proleague playoffs could be psycologically crushing -- remember these are just teenage kids playing -- but he bounced back with a vengeance. That alone speaks volumes about Calm's will and resiliency, especially as a player that didn't get much hype as one of the new rising Zergs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIEt29TUdnY#t=13m32s "Champion Story" Mini-Music Video of Calm's MSL Run
It's a pity Calm's run had so much ZvZ and he wasn't able to showcase his "better" matchups. Even so, he played a creative, intelligent style that made even ZvZ entertaining. Check out Calm's Post Game Interview translated by ghostWriter.
Ideas wrote: Most importantly though, Calm’s MSL run is truly an entertaining one. His games in the Ro32 were excellent, entertaining strategic plays. His adaption and cleverness vs ForGG proved to be one of the most entertaining 2-0 sweeps in recent memory, and his ZvZ had evolved into the most intelligent on the scene. I’ve always loved STX for the style that each player brings with them, and right now, Calm has more than any other player on the planet, and I sure as hell can’t wait to see him play in the next season.
As much as this win meant to Calm, it means just as much to STX. In the 2010 Proleague Playoffs, when STX again sends out Calm for the ace match, he'll be better, smarter, and wiser. Next season they will have a true, homegrown ace with an individual league title under his belt. With one of the deepest lineups out there, that's exactly what STX needs to make a run at the title.
Congratulations Calm and good luck next season!
Thank you everyone for reading and commenting on my reports this season, even though the Avalon MSL could have been so much more exciting if the brackets worked out better. I was really cheering for Kwanro, but I can't really complain because the clearly superior player won.
I was dreading doing this recap lol effffff. I guess it could've been worse, I might have been covering GomTV1 MSL, because there'd just be no finals recap haha.
I can't wait to see what Calm does this season. I know he did great last season and was overshadowed by Jaedong, but I'll actually be wanting to watch his games now. :D
Nice write-up!!! I am a huge fan of Calm's and it's SO great to see his hard work finally pay off. And you're right....despite me dreading another ZvZ match-up ala OSL finals, his ZvZ matches were actually interesting and fun to watch.
nice write up, as always. gotta love reading these.
calm is pretty solid in all of his MUs, but his MSL run would've been better had there been protosses as well. was it july that went through an MSL avoiding his worst MU (i remember there was someone who did)? i hope calm's run won't be looked down upon because of this. he probably would've beaten the protosses as well if they had been there. it's just that if his run was all zvz and zvt, people might claim that "he got lucky he didnt have to play P" along the way
Great writeup - Calm deserved this MSL esp with such an impressive run, in my mind I wanted Kwanro to win just so he could finally get somewhere, but whatever. Calm's proved his worth to STX and to the Zerg swarm, and I hope to see him wreckin up PL next season as the STX ace.
Just poking fun at him. I'm excited to see someone step up to challenge Jaedong. Sure will be a bit more interesting to see epic ZvZs instead of pure JD superiority. It's nice to have someone around who can make JD even stronger.
Calm champion somehow sounds so much better than kwanro kwanrolling people to become champion. Kwanro did well, but he used his all in tactic in game one, and after he lost that I think thats what shut the deal and gave calm the gold. Gratz to calm and hope he does much better next season except against jangbi and stork of course. =)
excellent writeup, like your whole Avalon MSL coverage! all this Calm in the future talk just gets me so hyped, can't wait to get the new season going, although i still feel the players don't have much of a vacation at all with all these odd events in the september.. the new map tests are cool though!
Well I have a feeling this is going to be the last season of broodwar in history, so I hope Calm does even better next season (like win OSL and MSL and PL!)
Great to see Calm succeed but i really wanted Kwanro to win >.<. Maybe next season STX will be able to stand up shoulder to shoulder vs the other teams and win.
What i really liked about this finals was the coach. I normally don't give a shit for the emotions the players show or anyone show (losers cry, winners cry, everyone cries...)... Really, it's just nice to make fun of it but that’s it for me.
But for some reason the STX Coach looked so damn happy as calm won, it was such a joy to look at him.
Sorry Hot Bid, but I don't agree with your premise. Calm beat a bunch of past it terrans and a few shit zerg players? Big whoop. He played some games for a rather arbitrary amount of time, which ended up gaining him a title, but wasn't really ever truly tested.
Then i suppose there is the question of his victory over Jaedong... I think Calm played well versus Jaedong. He deserved to win those games. You can't however simply dismiss Jaedong incredible schedule by saying "Oh well.. people said that when Savior lost". Jaedong was focusing on the proleague first, and the quest for his golden mouse second and perhaps as a direct result lost a Bo5 against a good zerg. Regardless, the fact remains that Calm, unlike Bisu in GomS1 (who you're drawing comparisons with) has not been truly tested by the MSL!
Calm is, as you said, at a crossroads. He won a MSL, albeit one that is widely regarded to be one of the worst in recent history. From here, he can go onto doing great things, or become another GGPlay.
On September 08 2009 15:50 Alethios wrote: Sorry Hot Bid, but I don't agree with your premise. Calm beat a bunch of past it terrans and a few shit zerg players? Big whoop. He played some games for a rather arbitrary amount of time, which ended up gaining him a title, but wasn't really ever truly tested.
Then i suppose there is the question of his victory over Jaedong... I think Calm played well versus Jaedong. He deserved to win those games. You can't however simply dismiss Jaedong incredible schedule by saying "Oh well.. people said that when Savior lost". Jaedong was focusing on the proleague first, and the quest for his golden mouse second and perhaps as a direct result lost a Bo5 against a good zerg. Regardless, the fact remains that Calm, unlike Bisu in GomS1 (who you're drawing comparisons with) has not been truly tested by the MSL!
Calm is, as you said, at a crossroads. He won a MSL, albeit one that is widely regarded to be one of the worst in recent history. From here, he can go onto doing great things, or become another GGPlay.
A final that is regarded to be bad mostly by people that didn't watch the games.
Both Effort and Jaedong were on top of their game when Calm met them, and claiming that somehow JD's schedule hindered his play... well, it seems rather silly to me. It's ZvZ, Jaedong's best matchup, and one that isn't very varied / strategically complex - it's lings, mutas and scourge, and that's it. Jaedong played his zerg the way he always does, and I doubt more practice would've changed anything.
And claiming Calm's victory to be less relevant because he only beat zergs and a couple weaker terrans doesn't make sense either. MSL, OSL and Blizzcon all had ZvZ finals, because Zerg was so goddamn good this season / on these maps. So by facing the two strongest zergs (at the time) Calm actually had the toughest competition, in the matchup that was his worst before the MSL.
Of course Calm has a lot more to prove. But he won this MSL fair and sqare, against good opponents and with convincing games. Diminishing that is just wrong.
On September 08 2009 15:50 Alethios wrote: Sorry Hot Bid, but I don't agree with your premise. Calm beat a bunch of past it terrans and a few shit zerg players? Big whoop. He played some games for a rather arbitrary amount of time, which ended up gaining him a title, but wasn't really ever truly tested.
Then i suppose there is the question of his victory over Jaedong... I think Calm played well versus Jaedong. He deserved to win those games. You can't however simply dismiss Jaedong incredible schedule by saying "Oh well.. people said that when Savior lost". Jaedong was focusing on the proleague first, and the quest for his golden mouse second and perhaps as a direct result lost a Bo5 against a good zerg. Regardless, the fact remains that Calm, unlike Bisu in GomS1 (who you're drawing comparisons with) has not been truly tested by the MSL!
Calm is, as you said, at a crossroads. He won a MSL, albeit one that is widely regarded to be one of the worst in recent history. From here, he can go onto doing great things, or become another GGPlay.
A final that is regarded to be bad mostly by people that didn't watch the games.
Both Effort and Jaedong were on top of their game when Calm met them, and claiming that somehow JD's schedule hindered his play... well, it seems rather silly to me. It's ZvZ, Jaedong's best matchup, and one that isn't very varied / strategically complex - it's lings, mutas and scourge, and that's it. Jaedong played his zerg the way he always does, and I doubt more practice would've changed anything.
And claiming Calm's victory to be less relevant because he only beat zergs and a couple weaker terrans doesn't make sense either. MSL, OSL and Blizzcon all had ZvZ finals, because Zerg was so goddamn good this season / on these maps. So by facing the two strongest zergs (at the time) Calm actually had the toughest competition, in the matchup that was his worst before the MSL.
Of course Calm has a lot more to prove. But he won this MSL fair and sqare, against good opponents and with convincing games. Diminishing that is just wrong.
In essence, you claim the following:
-The MSL final wasn't bad. You didn't say however, that the MSL wasn't. -Effort and Jaedong were at the absolute peak of their games, and Calm beat them both. -This is significant because ZvZ is the hardest matchup at the moment for Zergs because they stomp the other races.
Firstly, the final. Calm versus Kwanro, who you neglect to mention, entirely with good reason. Kwanro (love or hate him), has not won a ZvZ this season against anybody but Zero and great. Furthermore, he is completely absent from the power rank (or even the CBNC catergory), despite being in a MSL final. Hardly the record of a serious contender to the MSL crown.
Now look at this month's power rank. Effort, slipped down to 10 because "The CJ Zerg didn't really put much of himself into playing these few weeks, and it shows." Jaedong, whos best matchup has admittedly traditionally been ZvZ was instead losing to players like Hyuk, Orion and Effort. Hardly the performance of a ZvZ bonjwa who our valiant hero Calm beat, against the odds. Again, look at the power rank "For most players, a week like that would have meant only one thing, a beginning of a long, excruciatingly bad slump". I'm not trying to make excuses for Jaedong. but It's you trying to make excuses for Calm.
Now this idea of the ZvZ being damned tough. Full credit to Calm. He pulled off some great plays throughout the tournament. He turned his weakness into a relative strength and anybody deserves credit for that. Firstly, It further diminishes his wins against the Terrans early on, leaving only his ZvZ matches to speak well of him, but they don't. He won them, he often won them convincingly, but, in my opinion, he has yet to prove anything significant.
I admired Calm's games this season, I eagerly await to see where he goes from here, but I don't see any evidence to suggest that this MSL should be regarded as an amazing achievement on par with, for example, Bisu's win in Gom S1, or most other starleagues for that matter, as Hot Bid suggests.
If it would have been *all* PvP or *all* TvT... People would react pretty *diffrent*.
Calm has not *that* much to proof. He was one of the top 3 Zergs during the PL season?... He was a legitimate candidate for a title, not a top favorite (only flash/jaedong/bisu and fantasy are favorite everytime they enter) but for sure not as big of an underdog as people say.
Well he earned it ok, but keep it real except for JD his way to the title looks more like an MSL Qualification group. So yeah comparing him to bisus 11-2 facing players like Nal_ra, Iris, Hwasin and Savoir in his prime is pathetic. Look at that grid its kind of funny he could train ZvZ for the whole time Sea and ForGG are no threat even without train so 2 Month of ZvZ. He is not responsible for such a grid but until he wins a real OSL or MSL hes a firecracker and not a big shot. He can make me choke on those words but he still has to proof it. Good article even though the season suckt ^^
"-Effort and Jaedong were at the absolute peak of their games, and Calm beat them both."
Well, I guess if you call a tremendous training schedule for proleague and two major individual leagues, personal problems / FA disaster 'absolute peak of his game'...
On September 08 2009 23:24 Dagobert wrote: "-Effort and Jaedong were at the absolute peak of their games, and Calm beat them both."
Well, I guess if you call a tremendous training schedule for proleague and two major individual leagues, personal problems / FA disaster 'absolute peak of his game'...
yes, being in the proleague finals and the semi-finals of two major individual leagues (not to mention quarter-finals of the third) does show that Jaedong is on peak form at the moment. Also, going 7 - 1 in his next 8 ZvZs after Calm beat him, to sweep the OSL finals and qualify for WCG, shows that Jaedong's ZvZ is as sharp as ever.
On September 08 2009 15:28 benjammin wrote: hmm, jd's gomtv msl wasn't more dominant? 13-3 versus much stronger opponents
This makes absolutely no sense, Calm had to go through the strongest opponent ever in his prime and the hottest player in the game. How can you talk up Jaedong and then pretend beating Jaedong isn't harder than whatever JD did? It's physically impossible.
If Jaedong is the best then beating JD is the most impressive thing you can do. That's pretty much the end of the line it's not like there's a special hidden boss afterwards.
On September 08 2009 15:48 TwoToneTerran wrote: Not really, Jaedong didn't have to play Jaedong.
That right there proves it. No matter how much of a run Jaedong has. Unless he plays Bisu and Flash back to back to win, he wouldn't have had a better run, because there's no way he's getting credit for defeating any zerg.
On September 08 2009 23:24 Dagobert wrote: "-Effort and Jaedong were at the absolute peak of their games, and Calm beat them both."
Well, I guess if you call a tremendous training schedule for proleague and two major individual leagues, personal problems / FA disaster 'absolute peak of his game'...
yes, being in the proleague finals and the semi-finals of two major individual leagues (not to mention quarter-finals of the third) does show that Jaedong is on peak form at the moment. Also, going 7 - 1 in his next 8 ZvZs after Calm beat him, to sweep the OSL finals and qualify for WCG, shows that Jaedong's ZvZ is as sharp as ever.
Exactly, JD just won an OSL in dominant fashion if you somehow missed it, and was playing well enough to make 2 finals and 1 semifinal. Apparently his practice schedule didn't hurt his ability to be the #1 ranked player in the world, win a title, and continue to dominate his best matchup (ZvZ) at the exact same time that Calm was beating the hell out of him for an MSL title.
Blaming JD's practice schedule and nerves is stupid and completely ignores his actual gameplay. He won an OSL, is highly celebrated for this, and you still pretend he "wasn't in top form" despite rolling to a 3-0 victory and getting 3rd-1st in every major tourney? That's pretty dishonest.
On September 08 2009 15:50 Alethios wrote: Sorry Hot Bid, but I don't agree with your premise. Calm beat a bunch of past it terrans and a few shit zerg players? Big whoop. He played some games for a rather arbitrary amount of time, which ended up gaining him a title, but wasn't really ever truly tested.
Then i suppose there is the question of his victory over Jaedong... I think Calm played well versus Jaedong. He deserved to win those games. You can't however simply dismiss Jaedong incredible schedule by saying "Oh well.. people said that when Savior lost". Jaedong was focusing on the proleague first, and the quest for his golden mouse second and perhaps as a direct result lost a Bo5 against a good zerg. Regardless, the fact remains that Calm, unlike Bisu in GomS1 (who you're drawing comparisons with) has not been truly tested by the MSL!
Calm is, as you said, at a crossroads. He won a MSL, albeit one that is widely regarded to be one of the worst in recent history. From here, he can go onto doing great things, or become another GGPlay.
A final that is regarded to be bad mostly by people that didn't watch the games.
Both Effort and Jaedong were on top of their game when Calm met them, and claiming that somehow JD's schedule hindered his play... well, it seems rather silly to me. It's ZvZ, Jaedong's best matchup, and one that isn't very varied / strategically complex - it's lings, mutas and scourge, and that's it. Jaedong played his zerg the way he always does, and I doubt more practice would've changed anything.
And claiming Calm's victory to be less relevant because he only beat zergs and a couple weaker terrans doesn't make sense either. MSL, OSL and Blizzcon all had ZvZ finals, because Zerg was so goddamn good this season / on these maps. So by facing the two strongest zergs (at the time) Calm actually had the toughest competition, in the matchup that was his worst before the MSL.
Of course Calm has a lot more to prove. But he won this MSL fair and sqare, against good opponents and with convincing games. Diminishing that is just wrong.
In essence, you claim the following:
-The MSL final wasn't bad. You didn't say however, that the MSL wasn't. -Effort and Jaedong were at the absolute peak of their games, and Calm beat them both. -This is significant because ZvZ is the hardest matchup at the moment for Zergs because they stomp the other races.
Firstly, the final. Calm versus Kwanro, who you neglect to mention, entirely with good reason. Kwanro (love or hate him), has not won a ZvZ this season against anybody but Zero and great. Furthermore, he is completely absent from the power rank (or even the CBNC catergory), despite being in a MSL final. Hardly the record of a serious contender to the MSL crown.
Now look at this month's power rank. Effort, slipped down to 10 because "The CJ Zerg didn't really put much of himself into playing these few weeks, and it shows." Jaedong, whos best matchup has admittedly traditionally been ZvZ was instead losing to players like Hyuk, Orion and Effort. Hardly the performance of a ZvZ bonjwa who our valiant hero Calm beat, against the odds. Again, look at the power rank "For most players, a week like that would have meant only one thing, a beginning of a long, excruciatingly bad slump". I'm not trying to make excuses for Jaedong. but It's you trying to make excuses for Calm.
Now this idea of the ZvZ being damned tough. Full credit to Calm. He pulled off some great plays throughout the tournament. He turned his weakness into a relative strength and anybody deserves credit for that. Firstly, It further diminishes his wins against the Terrans early on, leaving only his ZvZ matches to speak well of him, but they don't. He won them, he often won them convincingly, but, in my opinion, he has yet to prove anything significant.
I admired Calm's games this season, I eagerly await to see where he goes from here, but I don't see any evidence to suggest that this MSL should be regarded as an amazing achievement on par with, for example, Bisu's win in Gom S1, or most other starleagues for that matter, as Hot Bid suggests.
aaand
On September 08 2009 23:24 Dagobert wrote: "-Effort and Jaedong were at the absolute peak of their games, and Calm beat them both."
Well, I guess if you call a tremendous training schedule for proleague and two major individual leagues, personal problems / FA disaster 'absolute peak of his game'...
Ok, I did exaggerate a bit, but still... the FA thing came much later, and it didn't seem to hinder him in the OSL. While he did lose a few games, he was on top of the Power Rank for a reason - overall Jaedong was doing better than anyone else. Yes he lost a few games. Still, in a short span of time, he went to the semifinals in the MSL, he won OSL (and his golden mouse) and was in the Proleague finals. With results like those it's hard to argue that Jaedong was in any way slumping.
Yes, Effort did produce less spectacular results lately, but at the moment of the game he was still seen as the 2nd best zerg, with a ZvZ that rivals JD's.
I guess the win would have been more spectacular (and memorable) if it didn't happen in a time of such obvious zerg domination - but the way I see it, it's no less of an achievement than say... Stork's OSL or Bisu's last MSL - both of which took place in a time of protoss dominance, when the six dragons were tearing things up.
He managed to beat two of the best players of the moment in the only matchup that couldn't invoke some map imbalance. Sure, it would have been nice if he had met the likes of Bisu, Fantasy or Flash along the way, but you can't meet all the aces in one tournament.
It wasn't a perfect MSL, but there is no such thing. While this win doesn't suddenly mean he's S-class, it is no less relevant than any other MSL title of any other player.
On September 08 2009 15:48 TwoToneTerran wrote: Not really, Jaedong didn't have to play Jaedong.
That right there proves it. No matter how much of a run Jaedong has. Unless he plays Bisu and Flash back to back to win, he wouldn't have had a better run, because there's no way he's getting credit for defeating any zerg.
I'm just saying, the MSL is the trash tourney of the two most of the time. Calm had the hardest MSL run up till the finals even if it was all in one match up, because Jaedong's ZvZ is second to no match and Effort's ZvZ is probably only second to Flash's TvT and Bisu's PvP (In current form at the time). Since he couldn't play against Flash's TvT and Bisu's PvP as a Zerg, those were the two toughest match ups he could face.
That said, it's far from the most impressive starleague run. Flash's OSL was more dominant (well I guess not as much if you consider group stages, but his BoX matches phase was definitely more dominant) and more impressive, and Savior's was definitely the most impressive ever. But, as always, it's the MSL, so the weight is a lot less.
On September 09 2009 17:56 thunk wrote: Geez. Forgg got the shaft. Mind and Lux were both remembered, and Mind was before ForGG.
How calm does next season will determine if he is just another Mind/Lux/ForGG (will never do anything great again), the next fantasy/JangBi (not quite super S-class but huge starleague contender (even though now jangbi sucks he was fucking awesome earlier this year)) or a new S-class player on the ranks of bisu/flash/jaedong.
ForGG was in the same situation a year ago and I just dont know wtf happened. How does a player go from that good to that bad so quickly? But I didn't forget him his MSL run was so fucking awesome, Sea, Kal, flash, AND Jaedong? GODDAMN
On September 09 2009 17:56 thunk wrote: Geez. Forgg got the shaft. Mind and Lux were both remembered, and Mind was before ForGG.
How calm does next season will determine if he is just another Mind/Lux/ForGG (will never do anything great again), the next fantasy/JangBi (not quite super S-class but huge starleague contender (even though now jangbi sucks he was fucking awesome earlier this year)) or a new S-class player on the ranks of bisu/flash/jaedong.
ForGG was in the same situation a year ago and I just dont know wtf happened. How does a player go from that good to that bad so quickly? But I didn't forget him his MSL run was so fucking awesome, Sea, Kal, flash, AND Jaedong? GODDAMN
Umm..... Doesn't becoming S Class like Jaedong, Bisu or Flash require mechanics to keep up with people when your strategy deserts you as it inevitably will in such a highly competitive sport. Does Calm have that? I think Effort has that. Calm still has to get that extra little bit better.
On September 09 2009 17:56 thunk wrote: Geez. Forgg got the shaft. Mind and Lux were both remembered, and Mind was before ForGG.
How calm does next season will determine if he is just another Mind/Lux/ForGG (will never do anything great again), the next fantasy/JangBi (not quite super S-class but huge starleague contender (even though now jangbi sucks he was fucking awesome earlier this year)) or a new S-class player on the ranks of bisu/flash/jaedong.
ForGG was in the same situation a year ago and I just dont know wtf happened. How does a player go from that good to that bad so quickly? But I didn't forget him his MSL run was so fucking awesome, Sea, Kal, flash, AND Jaedong? GODDAMN
Fantasy is pretty clearly super S-class, he's actually been a far more consistent player than Flash in big games for a long time now and is easily the most feared T player in the game. Otherwise I agree with your post etc. etc.
Is it really necessary to pour champagne(?) all over Calms head? Seriously, he has to walk around drenched in alcohol for a while until he gets back home. I'd have to knock someone out if it were me...
On September 10 2009 09:13 Grobyc wrote: Great write-up, but one question: + Show Spoiler +
Is it really necessary to pour champagne(?) all over Calms head? Seriously, he has to walk around drenched in alcohol for a while until he gets back home. I'd have to knock someone out if it were me...
it happens in every final ever lol
also the winner's team always throws him up into the air a few times (excluding july I think LOL) and he always gets a bouquet of flowers. its so cheesy lol.
hey guys. I'm new here (a WC3 freak :x). I just wanted to say that I'm amazed by the quality of articles here (including this one). I'm honored to be a part of this community. Go easy on me, I'm noob
Calm had nothing to practice but ZvZ for ages (ignoring the WCG games against best his last non ZvZ game was like 24 days before) while Jaedong had fantasy in the OSL the very next day, and only a few days after his proleague final matches. He even said himself he wasn't prepared for the matches. Not to take away from Calm's victory but would the same result really have happened if Jaedong had a similar schedule to Calm? Personally i don't think so.
EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/alffla/AvalonMSLFinal.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Hot_Bid/AvalonMSL/CalmWin.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Hot_Bid/AvalonMSL/CalmRun.png)
Calm 12-Hatch > ![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Hot_Bid/AvalonMSL/CalmChampagne.jpg)
Funny how you chose to do this write-up 
![[image loading]](http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/7043/kimyoonhwan4.png)
![[image loading]](http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/7409/kimyoonhwan5.png)
![[image loading]](http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/5742/kimyoonhwan6.png)
his MSL run was so fucking awesome, Sea, Kal, flash, AND Jaedong? GODDAMN
