While Code-A was all about generational change this May, the upper ranks of Code-S became a bastion of the old guard. From the player with the most years on his frame, Nestea, to the one with the most championships, Nada, old school reigned supreme. Even Inca is a hardened veteran, having played Starcraft II since GomTV's very first tournaments (not to mention being in the "Old Generation" team, oGs). Ah well. The youngsters can wait for another month, they've got all the time the world. For now, they should just sit back, and watch as their elders show them what real Starcraft is all about.
He wants it: Though it's strange to call the winner of $89,000 dollars unfortunate, that's exactly what Nestea is concerning the timing of his GSL championship. Despite winning under more difficult circumstances, he could not capture the same degree of glory as FruitDealer from just a season ago. FD had the significant boost of being the very first champion, and fulfilling the "underdog race finally wins!" story before people truly realized the folly of playing Zerg. Though Nestea has remained unchallenged as the best Zerg in the world since then, his championship made SC II fans take his victories for granted. His pleas to balance Zerg went unnoticed, while his few losses caused people to write him off as old and outdated.
Now, in these tumultuous times, when cries of Protoss imbalance echo through the halls of Starcraft II, Nestea finds himself in a most curious spot. He can bring hope to the tortured Zerg masses, be a savior to those who have only now recognized the suffering he has born for them, and begun to appreciate the magnitude of his achievements (apologies to those of you who have kept the faith all along). If Nestea wins in Zerg's darkest hour, he will show that Zerg is not only playable, but in the hands of a great king, can destroy all who stand in it's way (also destroy any chance of Blizzard buffing Zerg in the next two patch cycles). Or will this merely be the final flash of hope before the lightbulb bursts?
In group play, only an equally formidable beast could dare tackle Jinro, the fearsome gorilla-terran Jinro, but Nestea managed to pull it off...twice. Nestea then defeated FruidDealer in the RO16, where Nestea proved that he was no usurper, but the rightful Zerg king all along.
His ZvP? Against Anypro, Nestea showed that he could perform a wide variety of plays, from an ultra creative attack, a perfect read and abuse of stargate openings, and even ling baneling into broodlords. His executed these strategies with near perfect precision, proving that he is without a doubt, the true Zerg #1.
Oh, ConfusedCrib, did you forget a match? Anyone see that thing against SC?
On May 11 2011 12:41 Day[9] wrote: Nestea vs scfou game 5 on crossfire! Seriously the best game ever made
Yeah, that game. There's only one thing I can say about our Zerg friend. It reminds me of a movie:
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee." (Ezekiel 25:17)
"Do I look like a noob?" "No!" "Then why'd you try to cheese me like a noob?"
He wants it: oGs Inca. Though he has been here from the very beginning, this man is not a household name. Inca has never had the chance to really shine, securing mid-table finishes with almost meticulous precision. Some may say that repetition means validation, and thus Inca has been scientifically proven to be mediocre. How easily we forget how good Inca was in GSL Open 1, where FruitDealer had to resort to the cheesiest of tactics (a 6 pool and a baneling bust) in the RO8. We all know how Starcraft II is: some players get lucky breaks, others get none at all.
It took may have required a bit of dark-side embracing, but Inca finally got his breaks, and now he is just four steps away from his first championship. Already, he can imagine the sweet taste of victory in his mouth, like the lemon-sweetness of a cold summer brew (*ducks*). Though oGsMC will surely be advising Inca on how to best destroy his opponent, in the end it will be the bitterness and patience of a thousand one year that leads him to victory.
Inca immediately showed his scorn for the past, his and that of others, by taking out former silver medalist Rain twice to make it out of his group. This victory alone did not convince many, with a tame response of "meh" and "he beat a cheese factory" being prevalent. After he defeated talented players ST_Virus and TSL_Killer without dropping a single set, people started to suspect that this player might be a different Incan altogether. Finally, Inca wasn't afraid to re-inter even one of e-Sport's most sacred bodies, oGs NAda back into the ground, in order to seal his place in the finals.
Inca's play is in part so great because of his unpredictability; he cheeses as often as he plays standard, and it's anyone's guess as to what he's going to do after starting gate-core (if he begins that normally at all). Cheese gets a bad rap in some circles, but all but the most unusual champions have known the value of a well planned cheese strategy. As one of the finest purveyors of cheese in the land, Nestea should find Inca to be an interesting challenge.
We are not denying the fact that Inca is definitely the underdog this season, with his lack of PvZs this season, and the somewhat lacking name-value in his opponents. I'm sure many people think that Inca will suffer the fate of another famous Incan: King Atahualpa, who met his end at the hands of outside invaders, outmatched by their savagery and hunger for gold.
From his photoshops, you can tell what graphics guy HawaiianPig thinks about each player's respective chances.
But, with how unpredictable Inca is, anyone who counts him out is a fool. He is a solid, consistent player who has kept himself in the top-flight of Korean SC II for near a year now, and he will be preparing for this match like he has never prepared before. Nestea is a fluid player with a rigid base; something that Inca can definitely exploit. The right combination of creativity, deception, and good old fashioned luck might see Inca win his first gold medal.
"The underdog often starts and wins the fight, and occasionally the upper dog deserves to win." - Edgar Watson Howe
Also, don't forget to checkout the Live Report Thread, where the pre-game show is pretty HOT.
Here are some predictions from the TL staff. Oh come on, not all of us hate SC II.
[Antoine], Starcraft II watching machine. - Nestea, 4-1 + Show Spoiler +
I've sort of been rooting for Inca to this point. People forget that he was one of the favorites in the first season before FruitDealer 6pooled him out of the quarterfinals. However, his ZvP has always been so far behind his other matchups that he has no hope of beating NesTea this weekend. He might steal a game on Crossfire, but the worst-case scenario for NesTea is 4-1.
Ares[Effort], Aspiring... something. Nestea 4-3 + Show Spoiler +
I feel like both these players are going to bring some new and exciting strategies!
confusedcrib, SC II narrative finder. - Inca, 4-2 + Show Spoiler +
While most everyone is counting on Nestea taking this series easily, only losing to cheesy plays, I think that Inca's unconventional play will make it closer than expected. After watching Inca open with a failed cheese, and then go high temps to recover from a 40 food deficit, I believe Inca knows how to make big plays happen.
His teammate, oGsMC debuted the gas first- 4 warp gate void ray all in, the single most creative cheese I've seen thus far out of protoss, and Inca has shown that he is working closely with MC for these matches. oGs Inca can play a solid enough macro game to survive until a death ball is up and he knows his cheeses and how to recover when they don't go as planned.
I think that Nestea's play has developed enough to take out the standard death ball play (as demonstrated by his matches from AnyPro), but can it deal with unconventional ones? If anyone can win, it's Nestea, but Inca has some very clever play and solid macro, and has a legitimate chance of taking the series. If Inca wins, it's not going to come down to the ace match, he'll need confidence going into every game to come out ahead, I can see him winning.
While this may be a chance for Inca to show us whether his PvZ has improved at all recently, it's rather doubtful it's anywhere near the level required to beat nestea. I think he may have some creative builds that could catch nestea off guard, but there's no way he's taking the whole series.
Inca isn't good at PvZ. NesTea understands ZvP and is going to use funny new builds to humiliate and destroy him. He will probably mess one up and lose in hilarious fashion because thats how finals go.
Jesus Christ, look at their stats vs each other's race. 80+% vs 0%? Narrowly averts a 4-0 prediction, because even the most outmatched contenders can bring something fresh to the table for at least one game in the final. Don't worry Inca, if you hang in there for a few years, you'll get an entirely PvP bracket one season! Also, zerg will never get patched.
And so it goes. Check in tonight to watch the finals @Gomtv.net
On May 14 2011 06:20 Waxangel wrote: "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee." (Ezekiel 25:17)
"Do I look like a noob?" "No!" "Then why'd you try to cheese me like a noob?"
The only think that comes to my mind when I think of Inca is: Cheese. I remember alot of Proxy Stargate Builds etc... I hate all Protoss, so I'm rooting for NesTea.
Is anyone planing on live streaming this? i am not a huge fan of paying 8$ to watch starcraft with 2 koreans yelling at eachother every time a probe leaves the mineral line in the back ground. lol
Very clever writeup, stimulating I'm so sure something weird will happen tomorrow, I don't know why but I feel the OGS house will figure out some power build that Nestea will never have seen. I'm pumped for the finals <3
"The path of the righteous zerg is beset on all sides by the inequities of the protoss and the tyranny of evil terran. Blessed is he, who in the name of larva and drones, Overlords the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his banelings keeper and the finder of lost zerglings. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious fungles those who would attempt to stim and psi storm my hydralisk. And you will know my name is Nestea when I lay my Broodlords upon thee." (Ezekiel 25:17)
I think nestea can take it but whit the amount of dubious builds to put it that way inca has and being pvz and crossfire in the pool i cant say im really sure how this will go but id love to se nestea become the 2nd two time winner :D
On May 14 2011 07:20 Xliest wrote: Is anyone planing on live streaming this? i am not a huge fan of paying 8$ to watch starcraft with 2 koreans yelling at eachother every time a probe leaves the mineral line in the back ground. lol
not sure whitch gsl you have watced but when i pay to se the gsl i get two americans cracking the dryest jokes in history of man while doing some casting on the side (love those guys)
On May 14 2011 07:20 Xliest wrote: Is anyone planing on live streaming this? i am not a huge fan of paying 8$ to watch starcraft with 2 koreans yelling at eachother every time a probe leaves the mineral line in the back ground. lol
I don't understand your question on 2 lvls.
One, GSL livestream is free, there's no $8 fee.
Two, it's hosted by Tastosis. They are both american, there's no Koreans yelling at all.
Then I look at your post count and understand that you're either trolling, first time coming to this site, or you're high.
4-3 or 4-2 for NesTea. InCa might be able to pull out something out of his sleeves or just straight up macro on some the more favored maps such as <Crossfire SE>.
On <Xel'Naga Caverns> InCa will most likely do something in the early game to mess up NesTea enough for him to take the game, same goes for <Crossfire SE> and <Dual Sight>. But after seeing that comeback against NaDa on <Crevasse> InCa sure is looking good at catching up in macro aswell.
But what do I know, I only have a measly 64% on liquibet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯?
lol, yes i am new to the world of sc2 (and not that good at the game itself) but i may have been thinking of somthing else when posting about the $8 fee. thanx for not completely flaming me out, ill be up at midnight tonight to watch it...
The article should mention the most hilarious fact about these finals: Inca shouldn't even be there. Rain handed him that last win on a silver platter. "Oh hi Inca, I'm in ur base destroying everything and the game is won at this point for me. But, I'm a let you wipe out all my SCVs with ONE dt even though I have 6 scans saved up. Oh, I'll let you destroy my other orbital with ONE stalker. Then I'll waste energy calling down supplies and be supply blocked anyway and not be able to build a raven. LULZ"
But yeah, the series probably won't be lopsided, Inca is a tricky player with tricky builds. It could really go either way.
On May 14 2011 07:59 fishjie wrote: But yeah, the series probably won't be lopsided, Inca is a tricky player with tricky builds. It could really go either way.
Tricky as in cheesing every game after losing the first game in a straight up macro fight.
On May 14 2011 07:50 Xliest wrote: lol, yes i am new to the world of sc2 (and not that good at the game itself) but i may have been thinking of somthing else when posting about the $8 fee. thanx for not completely flaming me out, ill be up at midnight tonight to watch it...
It's totally worth it. Check out the LR thread, too.
Fair warning: Nestea will make the game look bad by how one-sidedly he slaps Inca.
According to Inca itw, the 0-4 record against zerg was 3 six pool and a cannons rush fail. It'll be pretty interesting to see if he will be able to surprise everyone and beat Nestea. Can't wait, 6 hours left !
Obviously, Nestea is not helping Zerg world wild winning again a GSL but I've to say that he is Fu#$ing good! Unfortunatly, we will not see Zerg buffed in the next couple of patchs but who cares?
Nestea shows us the path and if he can be so good, may be, we can too =)
In my opinion, Zergs are not so weak... =) One thing sux... one missed micro and this is over and Nestea isn't miss micro =)
Excellent writeup. It's Nestea's game to lose. If he was a less seasoned or experienced player, that'd worry me, but he's Nestea. These are the times where his seniority actually means something.
Here are some predictions from the TL staff. Oh come on, not all of us hate SC II.
I think Nestea will win, but he won't roll Inca as hard as everyone thinks. If Inca has shown one thing so far, it's that he is good at preparing specific builds to counter his opponents in boX series.
Unfortunately, Nestea already crushed a Protoss with much better PvZ than Inca (Anypro) so he's gonna have his work cut out for him. On Inca's side is the fact that noone really knows anything about his PvZ style, so he's kind of an unknown entity.
This is the first GSL season I've followed closely start to finish, so I'm more excited than ever for its Finals. Also I think the matchup (PvZ) is really interesting right now, and both these players are good enough to show some next level strats.
On May 14 2011 13:58 Wyrd wrote: What do zergs want more, a GSL victory or a patch?
We won't get patch anyway. Nestea already made it to the finals. Now he may as well win it. Besides I think the state of ZvT is so perfect that any patching to make ZvP interesting will ruin ZvT
On May 14 2011 10:09 BlueLagoon wrote: Nestea 4 - 2 Inca
Obviously, Nestea is not helping Zerg world wild winning again a GSL but I've to say that he is Fu#$ing good! Unfortunatly, we will not see Zerg buffed in the next couple of patchs but who cares?
Nestea, if you are truly a GOD, you would sacrifice this series for the greater good of the rest of your humble Zerg disciples, so that the powers that be would buff us. or nerf the others.
Please think of the little people! Even if you lose (intentionally, we know) we will still <3 you!
Inca said in his interview that those 4 losses were due to 6 pools or dumb losses that he can easily fix. I think Inca might actually win and shock most people. I'm thinking Inca if he wins will win 4-1 or 4-2. If Inca wins at all he'll win completely most likely.
Rather new to the scene but my first memory of GSL is Inca's cannon rush of Metalopolis in S1 or S2 lasst year (and his grin after that worked)...I love macro games but wouldn't mind some crazy protoss cheese today either.
Way too much balance whine for a hype thread OP. You guys ban people in LR threads for that kind of incessant whining, maybe you should talk to the editorial staff and give them a heads up that this isn't the 5 rax reaper patch. A mark of shame on an otherwise good article.
That zero percent against Zerg does not give me confidence lol, Inca had somewhat easy brackets FOR HIM through the tournament, Nestea will finally stop him. Fan of both players, but Nestea seems like the most likely victor here.
It would have been great if SC could have met Neastea in the finals because that series was EPIC, but Inca earned his place there and will have a chance for revenge in the super tournament.
This was as dominant as MC vs July, just the other direction. I couldn't believe how ineffective Neastea made Inca's builds look. Wow.
On May 14 2011 06:27 Waxangel wrote: zerg needs to stop winning tournaments if they want to get buffed
Why would you buff the race which wins the tournaments? Why would you purposely lose a tournament only to get a buff?
it's a joke about how zergs always bitch about how underpowered they are, and the only reason they're winning tourneys is because zerg players are just so inherently better than everyone else, so despite their shitty race they still beat people.
Inca just got outclassed and the fact is that, OGS does not have a good Zerg player that are on the same level with Nestea. Not only that, Inca matchup between Zerg has been pathethic with 0% win rate and he did not encounter any Zerg in his match brackets. Nestea is better prepared as he encountered anyproprime.we in the semi-finals. We could have had a better final if Nada made it through. What a dissapointing final, way worst than the MarineKing vs IMmVp Final GSL Jan.
I think this inherently comes down to the fact that oGs/TL don't have a fully world class Z in their roster. HayprO and Ret are good players, don't think any1 can argue against that. Same situation with Zenio/Cezanne/TheWind, but they don't have the true world class Zerg to practice with. They don't have a Losira or a NesTea. FrutiDealer and JunWi left, and their performance has somewhat fallen since. They should go find a new up-and-coming Zerg, or pay Jaedong to join oGs :D
On May 16 2011 22:52 Hassybaby wrote: I think this inherently comes down to the fact that oGs/TL don't have a fully world class Z in their roster. HayprO and Ret are good players, don't think any1 can argue against that. Same situation with Zenio/Cezanne/TheWind, but they don't have the true world class Zerg to practice with. They don't have a Losira or a NesTea. FrutiDealer and JunWi left, and their performance has somewhat fallen since. They should go find a new up-and-coming Zerg, or pay Jaedong to join oGs :D
there just arent that many world-class zergs.... nestea , losira , and... july? i would say zenio and fruitdealer and thewind are close after but who else?
On May 16 2011 22:52 Hassybaby wrote: I think this inherently comes down to the fact that oGs/TL don't have a fully world class Z in their roster. HayprO and Ret are good players, don't think any1 can argue against that. Same situation with Zenio/Cezanne/TheWind, but they don't have the true world class Zerg to practice with. They don't have a Losira or a NesTea. FrutiDealer and JunWi left, and their performance has somewhat fallen since. They should go find a new up-and-coming Zerg, or pay Jaedong to join oGs :D
there just arent that many world-class zergs.... nestea , losira , and... july? i would say zenio and fruitdealer and thewind are close after but who else?
Idra and Dimaga. Zenio, thewind and Fruit Dealer(As of now) definitely can't be considered top tier Zerg players...
On May 14 2011 06:27 Waxangel wrote: zerg needs to stop winning tournaments if they want to get buffed
Why would you buff the race which wins the tournaments? Why would you purposely lose a tournament only to get a buff?
it's a joke about how zergs always bitch about how underpowered they are, and the only reason they're winning tourneys is because zerg players are just so inherently better than everyone else, so despite their shitty race they still beat people.
It's the same person doing well with Zerg each time, while the rest of the Zergs struggle to get into the ro16. Nestea had an easy road to the finals both times and Inca's PvZ is HORRIBLE (I can't even stress how bad it is) so he got another free win in the finals.
Look at the number of good Zerg players in GSL (Nestea, Losira, maybe July?) versus CLIDE THE BEST PLAYER IN THE UNIVERSE, Bomber, MVP, Nada, MKP, SC, etc. for Terran and MC, Killer, Anypro, Alicia, etc. for toss.
Just saying, Nestea winning championships doesn't really mean anything, as almost every other Zerg is struggling to do anything in code S (4 Zergs in ro16 last season) right now. Could be that Zerg is underpowered, could be that, like in BW, Zergs are struggling to figure out the counters to what Terrans/Toss are doing right now.
There was a song during the intro ceremony that i would like. I started of slow and then yelled EAT ME ALIVE and went crazy! Yet, I can't find i anywhere..
EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/HawaiianPig/GSL/gslfinalsmay2011.jpg)
GSL May on Liquidpedia
NesTea vs 
Inca![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/HawaiianPig/GSL/gslintertitlehype.jpg)
Clide 2-0 ► Advances to Ro16![[image loading]](/staff/HawaiianPig/GSL/zergbongfiction.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/HawaiianPig/GSL/incan.jpg)
![[image loading]](/staff/HawaiianPig/GSL/gslintertitlepred.jpg)
korean protoss and bad should never be used in the same sentence yes we all no mc is slumping but thats how toss roll just look at bisu.
