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GSL Code S Ro4 Foreigner Special: Liquid`Jinro
By Lovedrop
![[image loading]](/staff/Lovedrop/gsl4/ro4f/banner4.jpg)
Images courtesy of playxp
By Lovedrop
Images courtesy of playxp
Liquid`Jinro = Red | MarineKingPrime.WE = Blue
T2 Game 1 - Scrap Station T12
+ Show Spoiler [Show Recap] +
MK builds his barracks on the low ground foregoing gas, while Jinro's starting build is a lot more standard with gas at 13. MK only starts his gas after he has enough minerals for his command center, and slowly walls up the path between his main and natural. Jinro's factory/starport is hidden at the right of his base, while setting up for a blue flame hellion drop. Jinro drops the hellions off in the main base, while reuniting his medivac with his marines out front. The hellions grab a few SCV kills, and MK does a sloppy job defending, trapping his units in a narrow passage. Jinro also harasses the expansion, but does not deal as much damage as stim kicks in to clean up the drop.
![[image loading]](/staff/Lovedrop/gsl4/ro4f/g1b1.jpg)
Single file ? This isn't elementary school.
A banshee glides in after the hellions to continue the damage while Jinro simultaneously expands. Jinro's first two banshees rack up over 20 kills, but his subsequent banshees do not put up the same amount of success. MK loads up two medivacs full of marines and heads towards Jinro's natural, but the drop is spotted and is quickly nullified. Jinro gets ready to push across the middle passageway with tanks and marines, setting up right outside MK's ramp. MK loads up a large amount of units in six medivacs and doom drops Jinro's main. The turret rings take out a few loaded medivacs, but the units that survived wreak havoc on Jinro's production facilities. Jinro denies MK the expansion at 5 o'clock and cleans up the natural before pulling back. MK once again loads up a huge amount of units to drop on Jinro's high ground ledge, but a marine at the watchtower caught a glimpse of the medivac fleet and Jinro had no problem defending.
Jinro floats a CC to the island while grabbing the 10 o'clock third, and once again denies MK the gold. As MK floats his main CC to another expansion, a cloaked banshee is tearing his army apart, and an engagement at the watchtower leaves MK with very little units. MK makes a cute move trying to shut down Jinro's expansion, but with triple the amount of food, Jinro calmly finished off the game to take the important first game. [28:42]
![[image loading]](/staff/Lovedrop/gsl4/ro4f/g1b2.jpg)
Doom drop.
Single file ? This isn't elementary school.
A banshee glides in after the hellions to continue the damage while Jinro simultaneously expands. Jinro's first two banshees rack up over 20 kills, but his subsequent banshees do not put up the same amount of success. MK loads up two medivacs full of marines and heads towards Jinro's natural, but the drop is spotted and is quickly nullified. Jinro gets ready to push across the middle passageway with tanks and marines, setting up right outside MK's ramp. MK loads up a large amount of units in six medivacs and doom drops Jinro's main. The turret rings take out a few loaded medivacs, but the units that survived wreak havoc on Jinro's production facilities. Jinro denies MK the expansion at 5 o'clock and cleans up the natural before pulling back. MK once again loads up a huge amount of units to drop on Jinro's high ground ledge, but a marine at the watchtower caught a glimpse of the medivac fleet and Jinro had no problem defending.
Jinro floats a CC to the island while grabbing the 10 o'clock third, and once again denies MK the gold. As MK floats his main CC to another expansion, a cloaked banshee is tearing his army apart, and an engagement at the watchtower leaves MK with very little units. MK makes a cute move trying to shut down Jinro's expansion, but with triple the amount of food, Jinro calmly finished off the game to take the important first game. [28:42]
Doom drop.
T1 Game 2 - Steppes of War T7
+ Show Spoiler [Show Recap] +
Both players open similarly to game 1, with MK going fast CC and a more standard opening for Jinro. Jinro attaches a tech lab to his factory and a reactor to his barracks, prompting a tank/marine push with a hovering barracks to scout. MK's bunker wall is shattered and he is now making a banshee. Jinro slow pushes up the ramp with his tanks, forcing MK back. As Jinro walks up the ramp however, his marines lagged behind and as his tanks took the brunt of the damage, Jinro is forced back down.
![[image loading]](/staff/Lovedrop/gsl4/ro4f/g2b1.jpg)
The tanks had sieged and blocked the ramp, thus the marines were stuck behind.
MK floats his CC to the gold, and sneaks a banshee into Jinro's base. Jinro's viking is halfway across the map, and has to track back to the main. MK drags a handful of SCVs to bust down the ramp, losing a few units but easily breaking down Jinro's contain. Jinro's expansion has not started yet. MK checks the other gold to make sure he isn't being fooled himself, and contains Jinro outside of his own natural. Jinro attempts to crawl his way back into the game by sniping medivacs with his viking superiority. Still unaware of the gold expansion, Jinro begins banshee production, given he already has air superiority. Seconds later, MK spreads out his units for a wider arc, and simply overran the little amount of units of Jinro and ties up the game. [17:47]
![[image loading]](/staff/Lovedrop/gsl4/ro4f/g2b2.jpg)
That's a lot of units.
The tanks had sieged and blocked the ramp, thus the marines were stuck behind.
MK floats his CC to the gold, and sneaks a banshee into Jinro's base. Jinro's viking is halfway across the map, and has to track back to the main. MK drags a handful of SCVs to bust down the ramp, losing a few units but easily breaking down Jinro's contain. Jinro's expansion has not started yet. MK checks the other gold to make sure he isn't being fooled himself, and contains Jinro outside of his own natural. Jinro attempts to crawl his way back into the game by sniping medivacs with his viking superiority. Still unaware of the gold expansion, Jinro begins banshee production, given he already has air superiority. Seconds later, MK spreads out his units for a wider arc, and simply overran the little amount of units of Jinro and ties up the game. [17:47]
That's a lot of units.
T5 Game 3 - Jungle Basin T11
+ Show Spoiler [Show Recap] +
MarineKing starts his barracks behind his center expo, confusing Jinro's scout as he sees absolutely nothing inside MK's base. Jinro spots the second gas going up, and spreads his marines across the map to check for any proxy buildings. Unbeknown to Jinro, MK begins a starport right outside the rocks of Jinro's back door expansion. Jinro looks to be aggressive with his three marines, and does surprisingly well as he picks off 2 marines, 2 SCVs, a hellion and a supply depot. MK has banshees and cloak underway, and the first banshee takes less than 5 seconds to begin working on the SCVs at Jinro's natural. Jinro could not get the turret to go up before losing all his SCVs at the natural, scoring the banshees 15 kills, with marines included. Another banshee joins the fray, and cloaked banshees just hover around Jinro's base, picking off as many SCVs as they can.
![[image loading]](/staff/Lovedrop/gsl4/ro4f/g3b1.jpg)
Hero banshee.
Back at his own base, MK has already started his expansion. SCV count is 25 for MK and 19 for Jinro. Jinro stabilizes and gets his expansion going, and now MK breaks down the backdoor rocks with an army consisting of tanks and marines. Jinro is forced to bring SCVs, further reducing his worker count. Jinro's own banshee and siege mode finally gets rid of the threat, but now MK is leading by 15 workers, and a total of 27 food. MK once again tries to punish Jinro's lack of units, but this time did minimal damage before he is forced to retreat. Jinro's hero banshee continues to help him get back into this game, scoring 9 SCV kills at the other end before he is chased down. MK takes the center expansion, and gears up for a huge push to the front of Jinro's base. MK's marines overwhelm the bunker and with Jinro's tanks set up at the natural, MK stims in for a 2-1 lead in the series. [16:44]
![[image loading]](/staff/Lovedrop/gsl4/ro4f/g3b2.jpg)
Storm the front!
Hero banshee.
Back at his own base, MK has already started his expansion. SCV count is 25 for MK and 19 for Jinro. Jinro stabilizes and gets his expansion going, and now MK breaks down the backdoor rocks with an army consisting of tanks and marines. Jinro is forced to bring SCVs, further reducing his worker count. Jinro's own banshee and siege mode finally gets rid of the threat, but now MK is leading by 15 workers, and a total of 27 food. MK once again tries to punish Jinro's lack of units, but this time did minimal damage before he is forced to retreat. Jinro's hero banshee continues to help him get back into this game, scoring 9 SCV kills at the other end before he is chased down. MK takes the center expansion, and gears up for a huge push to the front of Jinro's base. MK's marines overwhelm the bunker and with Jinro's tanks set up at the natural, MK stims in for a 2-1 lead in the series. [16:44]
Storm the front!
T7 Game 4 - Xel'Naga Caverns T1
+ Show Spoiler [Show Recap] +
Both players go for the fast expand, with Jinro grabbing two gas and 1/1/1 behind it, while MK with his traditional mass marines 3 barracks. MK surprises everyone by taking down the rocks and expands to the gold. The quick combat shield enables MK to take both watchtowers after playing cat and mouse with Jinro's marines.
![[image loading]](/staff/Lovedrop/gsl4/ro4f/g4b1.jpg)
Surprise!
Jinro begins cloaked banshees and picks off 8 SCVs between MK's natural and main. Jinro's 2nd banshee finally scouts the gold base, and once reaching a sizable amount of tanks, pushes up along the left side to force MK to lift his gold orbital. MK circles around the right side, hoping to counterattack, but is met by bunkers and a few leftover tanks. MK is now maxed on MMM army and gets ready to break Jinro's advancing siege push. MK suicides all the SCVs that had abandoned the gold from the north while stimming in with his army from the right! MK suffers disastrous casualties but is able to clean up every single unit of Jinros. However, since he sacrificed so many SCVs, the food count is now in favor of Jinro.
![[image loading]](/staff/Lovedrop/gsl4/ro4f/g4b2.jpg)
Many SCVs were harmed in the process of this screenshot.
Jinro takes out the rocks at his own gold, getting ready to grab his third, while MK fails at his attempt to use the bottom tunnel to deal damage. After faking a retreat, MK dashes in again and this time deals a sufficient blow, forcing Jinro to pull back for a second time. After Jinro has moved out with his siege tanks, MK snipes Jinro's planetary fortress at the gold, dealing a severe blow to Jinro's economy. A successful flank at the left watchtower decimated Jinro's army, while MK's ability to dance his army around the map makes it extremely difficult for Jinro to have an advantageous engagement.
![[image loading]](/staff/Lovedrop/gsl4/ro4f/g4b3.jpg)
Successful flank.
MK catches Jinro out of position once again to pick off the CC in construction. With no real economy at his disposal, Jinro marches out for one last push. Jinro takes out MK's expansion at 11 o'clock, and MK dispatches a small counterattack force to clean up Jinro's base. With Jinro sieged at his natural, MK buffers his army with more sacrificial peons and overwhelms Jinro, triumphantly making his return to the finals. [25:17]
![[image loading]](/staff/Lovedrop/gsl4/ro4f/g4b4.jpg)
Last Stand.
Surprise!
Jinro begins cloaked banshees and picks off 8 SCVs between MK's natural and main. Jinro's 2nd banshee finally scouts the gold base, and once reaching a sizable amount of tanks, pushes up along the left side to force MK to lift his gold orbital. MK circles around the right side, hoping to counterattack, but is met by bunkers and a few leftover tanks. MK is now maxed on MMM army and gets ready to break Jinro's advancing siege push. MK suicides all the SCVs that had abandoned the gold from the north while stimming in with his army from the right! MK suffers disastrous casualties but is able to clean up every single unit of Jinros. However, since he sacrificed so many SCVs, the food count is now in favor of Jinro.
Many SCVs were harmed in the process of this screenshot.
Jinro takes out the rocks at his own gold, getting ready to grab his third, while MK fails at his attempt to use the bottom tunnel to deal damage. After faking a retreat, MK dashes in again and this time deals a sufficient blow, forcing Jinro to pull back for a second time. After Jinro has moved out with his siege tanks, MK snipes Jinro's planetary fortress at the gold, dealing a severe blow to Jinro's economy. A successful flank at the left watchtower decimated Jinro's army, while MK's ability to dance his army around the map makes it extremely difficult for Jinro to have an advantageous engagement.
Successful flank.
MK catches Jinro out of position once again to pick off the CC in construction. With no real economy at his disposal, Jinro marches out for one last push. Jinro takes out MK's expansion at 11 o'clock, and MK dispatches a small counterattack force to clean up Jinro's base. With Jinro sieged at his natural, MK buffers his army with more sacrificial peons and overwhelms Jinro, triumphantly making his return to the finals. [25:17]
Last Stand.
TLAF-Liquid`Jinro Post Semifinals Interview
Tough loss. What's your take on what happened vs. MarineKing?
Hm, well I was definitely outplayed in the last game, in the Jungle Basin game I just messed up really hard because I got overenthusiastic when my marines were killing his depot :D . In the Steppes game, I got a bit overeager to end it too, and then his good defense bit me in the ass. Game 1 went according to plan, except for him getting siege tanks - didn't expect that.
MarineKing plays a very unique style. How did you do against it in practice?
Decently, but I think to beat him I'd need more prep time, as he plays this style everyday whereas most other Terrans don't play in that style, so I don't know this specific matchup (his style vs a more normal terran style) as well as he does.
Looking back on your Code S run, what are you especially proud of? What do you regret?
Winning TvP with mech on TV was a very nice feeling. I regret losing games I should have won, such as vs Check and the first match against MarineKing, which led to team mates getting knocked out. I also regret not setting my goal as winning the tournament and nothing else (I had a goal of making it back to the semis), as during the semis I didn't feel nearly as nervous as during any other game, which isn't good - it indicates I didn't want the win enough.
In a previous interview, you said you felt you needed to prove last season's run wasn't a fluke. You made it back to the semifinals, where you finished before. Do you consider that progress?
I think I played a lot tougher opponents this time, and even in the games where I lost (ie vs MarineKing), I was at least for the most part playing pretty well. So yes, progress in that regard.
Do you feel player and fan opinion about you has changed in Korea?
The reception to me losing seem to have been a lot better than last time I lost, i.e. no "overrated" posts at all from what I've seen but I have no idea how I'm supposed to tell if people are see me differently apart from that. The oGs guys treat me like they've always done. Lots of people ask for autographs, but that's not new.
We've heard you've been feeling under the weather lately. Are you going to take a break or rest up before the next Code S tournament? How long do you have?
Well, as soon as the games vs MKP ended I noticed a pretty serious throat-pain, and everything just got worse from there - fever etc. I actually thought it was all caused by not getting any sleep, so I even went to the gym when I got back. Not such a good idea as it turns out, now I'm sick AND sore. I don't know when the next GSL starts, I didn't plan to take any real time off but since I'm sick there's no choice really.
What are your goals for the next GSL?
To win and only to win. Both this and the last GSL my goals weren't victory focused enough - for GSL 1, I wanted code S and when I played the semis I was kinda expecting to lose. For GSL 2, I wanted to prove my last run wasn't a fluke so once I got to the semis, I wasn't really expecting to lose but I was a bit too... satisfied I guess.
You felt different before these matches?
For every other GSL game, aside from last Semis, I've been nauseatingly nervous. Every time I'd have something to drink after the first game, my arm would shake - especially if I'd just won. But this semis, nothing. While its good in that I didn't make the kind of mistakes I sometimes do when nervous, like miss depots etc, I don't think its good from the standpoint of being mentally sharp, on edge. So my goal for next season is to get into the semis, feel terrible and win them then get into the finals and feel the same way and win those too.
How will you prepare differently next season?
I want to work on my overall game and mechanics for the next GSL. Both MarineKing and MVP are extremely active ladder players, and I think their ability to just beat opponents with standard, strong play saves them a lot of mental strength in the earlier rounds of GSLs, whereas I usually spend a lot of time and effort preparing new things from the first round to the last, energy that could be better saved for the later rounds I think.
Any shout-outs you want to give?
Thanks to TOP for the game 1 build/strategy, and to TOP, Ensnare, Hyperdub, Supernova (ex-Woongjin Stars progamer SaiR, now in oGs) and NEXSkit for their help in practicing. Thanks to Nazgul for, as always watching a ton of my games and offering his advice. Thanks to our sponsors, TheLittleAppFactory, as always, and to Matt in particular for his support.
Any last words for your fans?
Thanks for watching and supporting, hopefully I'll see you at the finals next GSL.
Thanks for the interview, feel better!
Thanks.
GSL Code S Foreigner Special Conclusion
This is the last Foreigner Special news post for this season. We hope you enjoyed this feature, and we'll be back next season to cover the Code S matches of Jinro and Idra, as well as hopefully the Code A matches of other international players in Korea.
