ForGG opened with a fascinatingly greedy build, which got him three bases and double Engineering Bays off one Barracks, and somehow still kept him safe from attack. It didn't end up affecting the game directly, but it was a very precisely measured and executed build order worth noting.
The game went to a half-map macro game as they tend to do on Daybreak, and it was pretty incredible. Both players played extremely well, going back and forth as they displayed some very good mechanics. In the end, Leenock was just even more amazing than ForGG, showing extraordinary hive unit micro and movement to take the game. If we had a fault to point out on ForGG's side, he did not constantly harass with drops in the late game like TvZ masters Mvp and MMA tend to do, although Leenock's constant aggression may have factored into his inability to do so.
ForGG went for an two base shield + siege tanks timing attack, which Leenock stopped beautifully with pure +1 armor speedlings while taking a second expansion. The timing attack put ForGG very far behind, as he couldn't catch up to Leenock's upgrades and tech. Leenock built up for a while, and crushed ForGG with mass Muta-Bane-Ling when ForGG tried to move out and take his third.
MC went for one-gate expand while Supernova went for a 1/1/1 variation that slipped in three Hellions from a factory that was floated a short distance. The factory float allowed Supernova to send his Hellions without being detected by the sensor tower or Protoss units outside his base, and he was able to slip them into MC's base past a narrowly missed force-field. Supernova killed off 12 Probes with the Hellions and Banshee, putting MC too far behind economically to deal with the follow-up 1/1/1 push, and lost without putting up much of a fight.
Supernova went for a wall-off and a bunker at his natural to fake an expand, but actually went for Cloaked Banshees instead. MC went for a one gate expand into four-gate pressure, which promptly died to the Banshees.
Supernova did a surprising amount of damage with some early Bunker pressure, which put him into a good position going into the mid-game. It looked like he had secured a commanding lead after he denied Leenock's third base with Marine-Tank-Medivac, but Leenock came roaring back with one great engagement where his Muta-Doubleling caught Supernova out of siege mode. Leenock closed superbly from that point, continuing to build on his lead until he could finish off his opponent.
Leenock was forced to cancel some drones to get up a faster pool against a Supernova's Bunker pressure, which once more did a nice amount of damage. Supernova followed with a standard Hellion FE into a fairly quick double Medivac elevator for Hellions and stim Marines. This worked out very well against Leenock's build which had him getting upgraded Zerglings only while teching to Infestors. Without Banelings, he was forced to make quite a few Zerglings to fend off the elevator, and he lost a number of drones as well.
From there on out Supernova played a great expansion denial game to keep Leenock on three bases or less whenever possible, though Leenock did a great job at building a fearsome Ultra-Infestor army in the meanwhile. Leenock made one really great move to use a burrowed Infestor to see when Supernova's tanks were unsieged, upon which he moved in and massacred him. However, he overextended way too far after that victory, and lost too many troops trying to push into Supernova's base. Supernova turtled up, regained his composure, and finished the starvation job to collect the win.
After regular FE opens, a bit of mid-game action saw Leenock trading poorly with his Muta-ling against Supernova's Marine-Medivac as the two players contested map control. These poor trades saw Leenock go into the mid-game with a slight disadvantage, as Supernova took his third base faster than his Zerg opponent.
However, Leenock still went up to four bases without incident, and built up a huge muta-bane-ling army as well. Supernova also built up a formidable deathball off of his three bases, and began to move out. Leenock decided to backdoor Supernova instead of fighting him head on, and did a fair amount of economic damage. However, he expended a large amount of Banelings to do so, and failed to finish off any of the floating Orbital Commands with his Mutalisks. Supernova simply took care of the backdoor attack, wiped out Leenock's third and fourth bases uncontested, and re-established his economy without much trouble.
Leenock had been going up to Brood Lords in the meanwhile, but it didn't matter as he was down to two nearly mined out bases. Supernova realized the situation and played it almost cruelly slow, chipping away bit by bit until he starved Leenock to death.
A risky early third Orbital paid off big time for ForGG, as he was able to put together a truly ridiculous bio-ball. He then turned MC into a Dragoon, and bludgeoned him with Marauders until blue goo spilled from the cracks.
A series of blunders decided this game, with the last and worst one deciding it for good. First, ForGG put on very risky MM pressure after fast expanding, and immediately donated a significant early game army to MC's force-fields and Zealots. Then, MC managed to lose his fast third Nexus to a drop because none of his troops were in position. Finally, ForGG tried to attack into a Templar equipped MC with just a couple of Ghosts and ended up hopscotching from storm to storm. ForGG never had a chance after that failed attack, and lost soon after to mass Gateway units.
Leenock tried a cute offensive Hatchery at the Protoss natural before MC could get his Nexus up, but he thwarted this cheese with excellent micro that mopped up every unit that came out of the Hatchery. With a relatively fast +1 and a good economy, MC was able to four-gate Leenock to death before he could recover from the failed cheese.
Leenock died to the ol' seven-gate all-in. MC used his usual awesome MC force-fields, and that was it.
Notes and Comments:
The Runner-up Curse Continues: No one REALLY puts that much stock into jinxes. Even the "Every GSL final blows" jinx was conclusively put to rest in November and December of last year. But yikes, the second place curse is still going pretty strong. With the exception of Mvp (who else, but the strongest player in the world to resist the curse?) in GSL Oct-Nov, every single GSL runner-up had a significantly worse result in the following season. I hope you enjoyed your meteoric rise while it lasted, Leenock! Might as well learn to deal with defeat and disappointment while you're still young. And DRG, you better watch out.
The Room Grew: It was easier to make grandiose claims back in May, when the game wasn't even a year old and people kinda sucked. Now that people have actually devoted some serious time to playing the game... Let's say the Room has struck back against the Elephant.
It makes a lot of sense, though, as the Elephant's original claim was that it would be the superior work ethic of Brood War pros that would prove to be the difference, and not so much a gap in natural talent. As any industry gains steam and becomes more competitive, those who want to survive will surely up their effort. Though we hear rumors and stories about relatively lackadaisical practice regimens at certain pro-houses, we've seen precise execution and crisp play from top Code S pros that can only come from very dedicated practice.
The story's not over by any means, but it's an interesting turn in the plot. ForGG has been poached, but there's plenty to look forward to ahead. How will Hyun do in Code A? How about the BW pros who are supposedly switching in forty days' time? The nature of the Elephant might change, but it certainly won't die.
He's Back?: Personally, I'm happier about the return of the Protoss President than if zombie Abraham Lincoln rose from the dead and ran as the Republican candidate. His consistency has been worrisome as of late, and it's still a problem. But he's got his swagger back, and he's once more bullying himself to wins where he makes his opponents look foolish. Starcraft is just so better when a player with the charisma of MC is around. I'm glad he's back in winning form, even if he's not yet a GSL title contender.
It's fun when pro-gamers post in live report threads: Thanks Morrow and TT1 for your comments!
Code S, Group C Preview
By: WaxAngel
The group with IdrA.
Time for a bold prediction: Either EG.IdrA or FXOLucky will make it through this group.
Well, it would have been 100% bold a few months ago. However, with IMNesTea's mini-slump as of late, it's become a much more reasonable guess at the results of Group C. Nestea's always been relatively beatable at ZvT, but seeing the myth of his ZvZ invincibility dispelled played a large part in his mystique shattering as a whole. Not only did he lose to Leenock and BboongbbongPrime, but he lost to a foreigner as well (in Liquid`HayprO), the shame of all Korean shames. Now that Nestea is going up again two Zergs and his eternal bane in IMMvp, there's a very realistic chance that he will get his second glimpse of Code A.
Let's put it this way. Though Nestea's ZvZ aura is gone, Mvp being invincible TvZ still holds for now. That leaves three players coin flipping playing ZvZ for second place. Even if we give Nestea a considerable amount of past credit, it's not that outlandish to give either of the other guys a chance.
(To go off on a semi-related tangent, I wonder how much credit we're supposed to give players for their past performances. There's something of a fallacy in regular sports where we give declining veterans too much credit for their past prowess. Even if they're rubbish 90% of the time, everyone rushes to claim that they 'still have it' when they make a good play every once in a blue moon. I'm not claiming that Nestea is anywhere near that state yet, but our nostalgia for his prime performances is certainly clouding my ability to judge him in the very present. I feel that I'm either over, or under-compensating for his recent dip in form.)
This is all because of the aforementioned ZvMVP, one of the only remaining truly imba match-ups. Leenock and DongRaeGu, the absolute BEST ZvT players in the world are the only two that seem capable of challenging him in a multi-game series, and even those two are just barely breaking even. It's obvious that no one in this group stands a chance.
That said, I actually think IdrA is capable of taking what might appear to be a lead against Mvp in the Lair phase, and maybe even take a game if he's very precise about executing a lair-phase finishing attack. Foreigner Zergs can be really good at ZvT during that stage of the game, with all-around good macro and good Muta-ling-bane control as well. IdrA is one of the best among those foreigner Zergs.
However, much like his foreigner Zerg peers, IdrA always seems to fall apart once he reaches Hive, losing Brood Lords for free, losing his Infestors because they ran in together with his melee troops, and letting his Ultras run into terrible meat-grinder traps. Even if IdrA vastly improved that aspect of his game in Korea, Mvp is still the worst possible opponent. Mvp is simply a master of dragging his TvZ games out and making his Zerg opponent rue their lives as they wonder why their high-tech units are so worthless. Ragequit after a hail of snipes? I couldn't blame him.
I would love it if FXOLucky could pull off yet another couple of early game busts to score the upset, but I assume MVP will be prepared for that much. I don't deny that Lucky loves his busts in ZvT, but it's not like he's a one dimensional player. He can play a pretty good standard game as well, but he just doesn't mind picking up the easy win when he thinks his opponents are susceptible. Even then, he's not really on an Mvp level.
That brings us back to the ZvZ. Like I said before, the match-up is extremely volatile. So is the situation with the players. Nestea's historically the best but faltering lately. IdrA is up and down as well, but he actually looked very good against Nestea in the MLG Global Invitational, and could have even have won had he been a bit more decisive. Lucky practiced hard after his sweep against Stephano, but we've yet to see what kind of results that training yielded.
IdrA: "Zerg versus Terran is horribly imbalanced, but I coin-flipped correctly twice so I got through."
Lucky: "I prepared hard and did my best, so I think I got good results. I'll try to show you good games in the future."
Nestea: "It's tough to beat Mvp even in practice, but I'm always confident in my ZvZ. My only goal this season is to win another championship."
We could be reading any of these interviews at the end of the day.
Idra or Lucky getting through isn't at all a bold prediction. They both have a greater chance against MVP than Nestea does, and Idra is perfectly capable of beating Nestea (Can't speak to Luckys vs Z, although I do think it is pretty terrible from what I remember.)
Gentlemen, I believe it is in these dark days, when the wave upon wave of Koreans advance upon foreigners, that the foreign community is at its best. We must all rally behind Greg Fields, no matter whether you are a Liquidian, or an Evil Genius.
There are rumours of fierce warriors coming from other lands to fight for the enemy. The war has to be won now, for I fear if it lasts another season, we may be too later.
Doesn't MVP think zerg has a lategame advantage over terran? Could be his terran bias but I'm inclined to take anything MVP says as truth. Kind of weird if Idra thinks terran has the advantage since he hasn't regularly played Korean terrans in a while.
On January 11 2012 04:54 fourColo wrote: Doesn't MVP think zerg has a lategame advantage over terran? Could be his terran bias but I'm inclined to take anything MVP says as truth. Kind of weird if Idra thinks terran has the advantage since he hasn't regularly played Korean terrans in a while.
Even when 1-1-1 was dominant everywhere and all Protoss players who had ever reached Ro4 except HongUn were dropping out of GSL entirely, MVP said in an interview that he felt Terran had problems against Protoss.
Obviously, it was translated, and could mean a couple of different things, but suffice to say I doubt we should take MVP's word on balance as gospel just yet.
MVP and Idra make it out of the group. If all goes according to how it SHOULD it should be something like MVP>Idra Nestea>Lucky MVP>Nestea Idra>Lucky Nestea??Idra
I also think there's a chance (very slim but existent) that idra beats MVP first.
I want IdrA to win so much~! He really deserves it. If HayprO can beat NesTea in a Bo3, then I certainly hope IdrA can pull it off. I think his vZ has inmproved considerably.
If Nestea does not shape up I see Idra taking the group, even with the coinflipping of ZvZ Idra tends to flip the right coins. If Nestea is back I see MvP and Nestea getting out of the group for sure. It is gonna be a good day for sure ^^
Good writeup but I again find these predictions laughable. Maybe not overall, but expecting Nestea to lose not one ZvZ series but TWO series in a single night? No chance. That said, I'd love to see Idra make his way out of this group and I respect you for making bold claims, therefore: well played.
That may just be the saddest/cutest picture of Elly ever. Now don't ever make her cry again
I think these group C predictions are crazy. I don't think Lucky has any chance at all. IdrA has a chance against Nestea, but the stars, moon, and planets must all come into alignment.
Why do people think Idra has a chance? All IM has to do is win the opening matches. Then, let NesTea beat MVP and then he can dispose of whoever wins the loser's matchup. People exaggerate nestea's slight slump, he can school anyone, particularly in ZvZ
Mvp > NesTea Mvp ~ IdrA Mvp > Lucky (i honestly have no idea what lucky's tvz looks like so don't take much heed on this one) Idra > NesTea Idra > Lucky (could go either way though) Lucky > NesTea
God damn Nestea is unbelievably underrated now. Can't wait to watch him stomp through this group. IdrA and Lucky do not have better ZvT than him either. Though I still doubt he'll beat MVP.
I don't see Idra having a chance AT ALL to pass through this group. His ZvZ isn't that good (well his ZvP might be worse) and nestea is still a zvz god. Idra's ZvT is awesome but beating MPV? no way. Finally he could best lucky but since he needs to beat one of the IM guys there is jsut no way he'll pass this group. I would be very upset if anyone else then MVP and Nestea go through, despite Nestea's little slump.
Are you people fucking high? Nestea may be slumping but his zvz is still above average and should still be more than enough to beat the other two zergs. Yesh, those Artosis jokes must have really turned you all sour against him.
If MVP didn't have wrist issues this would be no brainer, but I'm really not so sure to be honest. I think the IM guys are going to disappoint. I think Lucky & Idra.
I think the tipping point for forgg in g1 vs leenock was losing his ghosts (his brood/infestor counter)... to infestors. Anyway, hope IdrA has good games vs MVP. Could be epic!
id like to point out that diamaga also beat nestea in the tournament immediately following the korea v world team tourney. EDIT: he was actually the first person to beat nestea ZvZ in a televised match (according to Liquipedia)
To predict Lucky will beat Idra AND Nestea, and also in the same breath to say "just because people were good once doesn't mean anything" is sort of ridiculous. I guess on TL it's sacrilege not to worship anyone who's Korean, but I think it's hard to make a firm prediction about a player's performance when they haven't proved themselves before.
To me, past performance is the only real starting point we have to predict future games. What else would you use? Idra has won an MLG, the MLG online tourney, an IPL season, an IEM tournament, and the ASUS ROG. Nestea has won three GSL tournaments.
Lucky has won nothing. But no, I agree, of course he'll easily beat the other two, I mean, he's Korean.
I've got to say, I was on GOM last night and no one had picked supernova to advance. He was around 5% while the other three were in the 30's. I logged in to vote for him because I feel like a lot of people dont know how good supernova is. He showed it in his matches and I hope he gets some more recognition because of it.
I think that the time spent with the highest concentration of high-level terrans (Boxer, Ganzi. MMA etc.) will give IdrA what he needs to defeat MVP. Also, if anyone is going to help IdrA beat MVP, it would be someone who already has (MMA). I really like IdrA's chances of getting out
Good write up. I still think the most likely players to advance are MVP and Nestea. MVP will not drop a match and Nestea's former zvz dominance will shine through once more. I do hope I'm wrong though. Everyone wants Idra to make it further in the GSL.
I am thinking MVP advances first, and lucky second. However, before I can be sure of the results I'm going to need Fionn's predictions so I can liquibet the opposite.
Nestea dropping out is certainly not unthinkable, but I haven't been impressed by the ZvZ of Idra or Lucky. Certainly, they're on a much lower level than Leenock and BboongBboong. I expect this group to play out in largely predictable fashion.
Regardless of whether or not Idra makes it through his group, I'm making the bolder prediction that Idra beats MVP. Waxangel underestimates his ZvT and the month of Korean training and MMA.
On January 11 2012 07:15 Darkhoarse wrote: I've got to say, I was on GOM last night and no one had picked supernova to advance. He was around 5% while the other three were in the 30's. I logged in to vote for him because I feel like a lot of people dont know how good supernova is. He showed it in his matches and I hope he gets some more recognition because of it.
people said sen would beat jjaki too...in the GSL where nestea doesn't mess around(unless its huk), I don't see him losing to idra and he always loses to MVP in the third match...mvp and nestea to advance..but upsets do happen..*looking at you supernova*
On January 11 2012 07:34 Noktix wrote: Damn people are quick to write others off. Nestea loses a couple games and he is slumping. Really boggles my mind that this is the logic being used.
I understand Nestea hasn't looked his best but not predicting him to get out of this group is insane
you don't understand...if nestea goes 2 seasons without winning a championship..(second place at blizzcon and mlg invitational doesn't count apparently)..he's slumping
On January 11 2012 07:05 polysciguy wrote: id like to point out that diamaga also beat nestea in the tournament immediately following the korea v world team tourney. EDIT: he was actually the first person to beat nestea ZvZ in a televised match (according to Liquipedia)
wasn't that like...1 year ago where people were still doing scv all-ins and 4gates?
On January 11 2012 07:24 Golbat wrote: I think that the time spent with the highest concentration of high-level terrans (Boxer, Ganzi. MMA etc.) will give IdrA what he needs to defeat MVP. Also, if anyone is going to help IdrA beat MVP, it would be someone who already has (MMA). I really like IdrA's chances of getting out
On January 11 2012 07:34 Noktix wrote: Damn people are quick to write others off. Nestea loses a couple games and he is slumping. Really boggles my mind that this is the logic being used.
I understand Nestea hasn't looked his best but not predicting him to get out of this group is insane
you don't understand...if nestea goes 2 seasons without winning a championship..(second place at blizzcon and mlg invitational doesn't count apparently)..he's slumping
On January 11 2012 07:05 polysciguy wrote: id like to point out that diamaga also beat nestea in the tournament immediately following the korea v world team tourney. EDIT: he was actually the first person to beat nestea ZvZ in a televised match (according to Liquipedia)
wasn't that like...1 year ago where people were still doing scv all-ins and 4gates?
He's been doing badly for a lot longer than two months
Well, Idra isn't getting through this group, not by a longshot. Nestea will prove his worth once more and come out on top, whilst MVP grabs second place. Anywho, some awesome TvZ-action I'm sure of!
<3 IdrA I really hope that he does well tomorrow Im a huge fan. I reckon that IdrA and MVP will go through to the Ro16. With Nestea coming third and lucky last. Luckys ZvZ just isn't good enough imo
MVP is going to advance, no question. Nestea's fabulous play has been faltering, so that leaves one question. Lucky or IdrA. This is a rare occasion where my head and heart agree, IdrA fighting!!!!!
On January 11 2012 07:24 Golbat wrote: I think that the time spent with the highest concentration of high-level terrans (Boxer, Ganzi. MMA etc.) will give IdrA what he needs to defeat MVP. Also, if anyone is going to help IdrA beat MVP, it would be someone who already has (MMA). I really like IdrA's chances of getting out
Surely you know how ridiculous this post is. IdrA is not good enough to beat Mvp or NesTea, and you actually think he'll beat both of them?
Have you seen IdrA play in the past month? He streamed a little around christmas, but after that, once a few days ago for like 2 hours. How do you know how good he is? How do you know he hasn't gotten much better since living in a house with some of the best Korean Terrans in the world? The ridiculous post here is the one simply dismissing one of the best foreigners in the world. He has nearly beaten Nestea before in a somewhat similar circumstance in the global invitational, who's to say he can't do it again, but instead of almost winning this time, actually pull it off?
I am willing to bet there will be a significant number of americans waking up to watch GSL just because IdrA is playing again. Anyone who says IdrA isnt good enough to play is daft. He has been streaming rigorously, and you all have yet to see what he can really do. He never streams what he is capable of doing. In fact I bet he only plays ladder just to make sure his mechanics stay in tact. If there was ever a foreigner to take the GSL, it would be IdrA or Naniwa ( and I dont particularly care for Naniwa). Good Luck IdrA, I will be watching/rooting for you!
On January 11 2012 07:24 Golbat wrote: I think that the time spent with the highest concentration of high-level terrans (Boxer, Ganzi. MMA etc.) will give IdrA what he needs to defeat MVP. Also, if anyone is going to help IdrA beat MVP, it would be someone who already has (MMA). I really like IdrA's chances of getting out
Surely you know how ridiculous this post is. IdrA is not good enough to beat Mvp or NesTea, and you actually think he'll beat both of them?
Have you seen IdrA play in the past month? He streamed a little around christmas, but after that, once a few days ago for like 2 hours. How do you know how good he is? How do you know he hasn't gotten much better since living in a house with some of the best Korean Terrans in the world? The ridiculous post here is the one simply dismissing one of the best foreigners in the world. He has nearly beaten Nestea before in a somewhat similar circumstance in the global invitational, who's to say he can't do it again, but instead of almost winning this time, actually pull it off?
Unlike IdrA, NesTea actually won when they met in MLG. Who's to say he can't do it again? Additionally, the zerg lineup available to Mvp is much stronger than that IdrA is practicing with, so although IdrA can take advantage of Slayers' good terran players, Mvp can't be expected to lose for that reason alone. On that same note, Slayers does not have a very extensive zerg lineup (Min and Yugioh?), so I don't see what basis you have to say that IdrA's ZvZ is good enough to match NesTea, or even Lucky. Also, you can accuse me of dismissing "one of the best foreigners" as much as you want, but you're dismissing two of the best players in the world.
LOL I love the GTFO sign to the elephant. Honestly I really felt indifferent who went on yesterday ...I just really wanted forGG to lose to shut up all the BW-hype.
I gotta say I had a pretty big smile on my face when I woke up and saw that ForGG got last in that group. Hopefully it will knock some people off that bandwagon. Also, Grack is back and ready to kick some ass! as long as Lucky doesn't make it through tonight will be pretty good though.
Hmmm, unless IdrA practices massively against Slayers Coca, I don't see him beating Nestea or Lucky. Min and Golden r not there yet I think. I doubt he'll be regularly beating SlayerS Terrans, what more IMMvp.
So Idra either 3rd or 4th. Hope for the best though!
MVP definitely making it through with 1st in his group... I'd have to agree that Nestea and MVP make it through but I'd love to see Idra get to group stage 2.
So glad to see the elephant get told off last if only because of how damn annoying and rude the BW community is, hopefully our pros can keep standing strong against the new kids on the block.
It will be interesting to see how MVP plays tonight as I figure if he sticks with his standard style that there may be someone in the slayers braintrust who's broken it down and found a timing for Idra to hit.
Nestea even slumping is still Nestea, if he can beat MVP he'll advance for sure and even if not he still stands a decent chance.
I can see Lucky just living up to his name and with a good roll of the build order dice have a breakout preformance tonight and beat MVP/Nestea all in a single evening.
As for Idra (imo) it all comes down to if he's got some super detailed timing waiting for MVP, if he goes for his standard macro gameplan I don't see him standing a chance vs Snipe MVP and I'm not sure he can count on winning 2 ZvZ series versus players of that caliber (with that said though the made up quote is extremely hilarious and could very well come to pass).
In my opinion MVP has a great chance of easily holding the first seed in this group. What i feel it comes down to is between an Idra vs Nestea match up competition for second seed. Yes Nestea defeated Idra in MLG Providence but it was 2-1 and nail bitingly close, and Idra has been in the SlayerS house now. Honestly even though Lucky is improving i don't think he will be able to get into 1st or 2nd seed though we could look to him for some upset matches, like when Lucky took down Boxer, Ryung, and MMA in IPL 3. Some factors that comes down from the Idra vs Nestea match up is how great Idra's mentality can hold up, even if it has been improving you can clearly see when he is infuriated as his game play drops significantly.
ZvZ is of course a coin flip match up always so you never know
I am however going to overall give the advantage to Nestea mainly because he is an innovator for SC2 and possibly has some new ZvZ builds in store for Idra . My prediction 1.) IMMVP 2.) Nestea 3.) Idra 4.) Lucky
On January 11 2012 07:34 Noktix wrote: Damn people are quick to write others off. Nestea loses a couple games and he is slumping. Really boggles my mind that this is the logic being used.
I understand Nestea hasn't looked his best but not predicting him to get out of this group is insane
you don't understand...if nestea goes 2 seasons without winning a championship..(second place at blizzcon and mlg invitational doesn't count apparently)..he's slumping
On January 11 2012 07:05 polysciguy wrote: id like to point out that diamaga also beat nestea in the tournament immediately following the korea v world team tourney. EDIT: he was actually the first person to beat nestea ZvZ in a televised match (according to Liquipedia)
wasn't that like...1 year ago where people were still doing scv all-ins and 4gates?
i believe it was right before the super tournament
Well lately Idra showed some great results in ZvZ against koreans, so I think he diffently got potential in this group. And his ZvT is some one the best in the world, and I think he can diffently beat MVP if MVP lets him get to mutas.
And as far as Nestea goes, I'm not sure that he's actually slumping, he's just had a bad period for some time, after being outside of Korea. And he also won his last ZvZ in KSL, so he isnt completely slumping. I think Nestea might surprise in this group, and I think that what truly matters is how well Idra's ZvZ is, because his ZvT is AMAZING! And he might well beat MVP, and if Nestea isnt slumping anymore he should be able to do really well in the ZvZ, and maybe beat MVP, it isnt like MVP is completely unbeatable. Then I think we'll see some interresting games.
My dream would be that Idra and Nestea goes through, but I doubt it, but it's diffently possible.
I would love for IdrA to go undefeated in this group... it would silence so many idiots. Probably would also create a bunch too, though haha. My money goes to MVP and Lucky, no one gives this guy any credit!
I am really cheering for IdrA. Sucks the only "true" foreigner in this years tournament (yes sen is not korean, but he still looks like them!!) had to get the hardest group. I'm not only worried for the fact that he's with such good players, but his ZvZ sucks. Also a lot of the new maps in the GSL pool are hard to secure 3rd's on. He has a good 2 base muta play, but what im most worried about is if the korean zergs start cheesing with their 1 base ling/bling agressions.
MVP will probably take first place. As for 2nd, I really don't know. I'm sure all of them are really practicing hard but I hope to see NesTea make it through.
I didn't understand pretty well the Lucky decision, I mean, he threw all his bases while going to win... but (luckily =P) was able to win anyways at the end, but so risky and greedy gameplay there
Lucky and MVP in the final set for sure, but in Game 1 I can't help but think that MVP choked a little and failed to come up with what should have been a fairly obvious solution to a very solvable problem. He had plenty of time to realize that Lucky was totally out of money and had zero detection (apart from fungal), and could have walked out with a fairly assured win had he committed either to cloaked banshees, ghosts, or both. He had plenty of time to do so but instead just kept cranking out vikings and missile turrets, which weren't going to win it on their own.
A decent banshee fleet (6+) could target down the infestors first, at which point lucky has no response and he simply hits the remaining buildings. Ghosts could win any number of ways, the easiest of which would be to send 1-2 in and EMP the infestors, at which point you could just target them down then kill the crawlers. He also could have certainly incorporated nukes against that slow army; throw one down right on top of the army, then another in the direction that it commits to running away in, and Lucky either has to split up his forces (separating his infestors from the cover of his brood lords) or just lose everything.
I think MVP realized his error by the third game and when he saw Lucky putting together a similar composition, just went mass ghost. Safe to say nobody does mass ghosts quite like MVP
On January 11 2012 22:45 Waxangel wrote: Fuck, and we spent so much time digging this grave for Nestea.
Who is we? Players have slumps and bad games but 'people' are foolish to rule these greats out. That includes MC who is owning it up again recently let alone Nestea who's slump is/was way shorter.
On January 11 2012 21:59 chuiboy wrote: "Time for a bold prediction: Either EG.IdrA or FXOLucky will make it through this group." LOL The exact opposite happened. Very nice prediction.
Fionn's predictions are the kisses of death. Take a look at the day two predictions; they happened exactly opposite of what was predicted. Every single match. Whenever a prediction is made, assume that the opposite will surely happen.
EPT
FXOLeenock, 
oGsFin, 
oGsMC![[image loading]](/blogs/images/blackstar.gif)
