The first match of the night was between two of the most talented players around right now. There is Symbol, the Zerg formerly of TSL, who showed some great results throughout 2012. Despite having been hyped up by Artosis, things were looking good for him, though he didn’t manage to take first place in any of the tournaments he attended. Symbol does have a history of choking in the Ro8, doing so twice before. He has only made it past the quarterfinals on a single occasion, in Season 1 of the GSL last year where he arguably looked his strongest.
His opponent was Innovation, formerly known as Bogus. The relatively unknown Terran player has been on the rise since KeSPA switched to SC2, and in his first GSL appearance made it to the semifinals before getting knocked out. Now he is widely considered one of the best, if not the best Terran player in the world, combining flawless mechanics with meticulous micro. That is not to say that he always displays this form, as he is forced to practice for both Proleague as the ace of his team and the GSL.
Opening on Cloud Kingdom, the first game looked fairly normal, with both players taking three fast bases. However, Symbol decided to throw a match in the tinderbox and add on two macro hatches, bringing him up to five hatcheries off three bases. A huge roach baneling attack came barreling down the doors of Innovation’s natural, however the single siege tank and some hectic micro meant the attack was held at bay. Some economic damage was sustained, but not enough to end the game as Symbol took an extremely late fourth. Both players stabilized and Symbol teched to ultralisks, while Innovation took his fourth. Both players harassed each other, Innovation killing Symbol’s fourth while Symbol returned the favor at his opponent’s third. Innovation took fantastic engagements from here on out, and after denying Symbol’s last mining base one too many times took the game.
The second game on the Proleague map Neo Planet S, started similarly to the first, but Symbol instead chose for a ling baneling attack on the Terran’s third, attempting to slow the economy and production of Innovation. It was a success, and delayed Innovation’s 2-2 timing by more than a minute. Symbol had more than enough time to get out ultralisks, and cleaned up the push without any trouble. He proceeded to deny his opponent’s fourth base, while shutting down Innovation’s constant efforts at harass. While it briefly looked like Innovation had clawed his way back into a previously lost game, he failed to scout a fifth base at the gold expansion, and eventually Symbol’s broodlord-ultralisk-infestor army broke through Innovation’s defense, and Symbol tied up the series.
The first two games had both been master classes in how to play the modern TvZ matchup, however the third game on the gargantuan giant of a map Whirlwind proved to be anything but. Symbol channeled the spirit of his creator Nestea through his body and opened with the insanely greedy 3 hatch before pool. Despite it being scouted, his opponent was powerless to stop it having opened CC first himself. Innovation, must have been watching Naama’s games, as he decided for a banshee heavy style building one starport for medivacs and another solely for banshees. However, Symbol got an ample amount of static defense and took very few losses, responding by making a lot of banelings and right clicking them on Innovation’s third base. Symbol managed to bust down Innovation’s simcity at his natural, and forced the GG out of his opponent, putting himself on game away from the Ro4.
The next game was far more normal, as Symbol looked for the quick win with a roach bane bust. Innovation defended fairly handily and Symbol backed off, taking a third base. Innovation did likewise and pushed with a sizeable marine tank army, intending to doom drop in his opponent’s main. Unfortunately for him, Symbol had been following the force with two burrowed infestors and as soon as everything loaded up, the Zerg unburrowed his infestors and hit two huge fungals, completely wiping out the Terran army with very few losses. The two enemies took fourths, and Symbol went for his preferred ultralisk based composition. Once again the Azubu Zerg displayed the power of his right click, as he traded his army for Innovation’s fourth base, which was a huge blow to his opponent’s economy. Innovation double expanded in an attempt to catch up, while counter attacking and taking out Symbol’s fourth base in the process. The game stabilized yet again, Symbol adding broodlords to his infestor-ultralisk-zergling composition, which Innovation responded to with thors and vikings. Innovation’s trademark harass picked off Symbol’s fifth, and stalled the Zerg’s economy quite heavily. Innovation pushed out one final time, taking the top center base as he took out not one, but two of his opponent’s bases putting him on three. Symbol was forced into engaging the STX Terran and while it was close, Innovation’s beautiful micro ensued in Symbol’s loss.
The final game was on a newer map in the GSL map pool, Icarus. A lot of Zerg players had been trying out two base roach timings here, and with roaches being Symbol’s favorites unit it was unfair to expect him to do anything else. He opted for an extremely hard hitting roach nydus build, and despite Innovation pumping out marines and marauders he didn’t have the production to keep up with his opponent. Eventually his army and SCV count was whittled down too low, and while Innovation microed his heart out it wasn’t enough. Game, set and match in Symbol’s favor, advancing him to the Ro4 for the first time in around a year, where he could well end up going onto the final.
Breaking the Curse
Coming into this series, most would think Parting pretty much had this in the bag. Bar some kind of miracle play from Curious, surely Parting’s former teammate had no chance. After all, Curious was just some random Zerg who had always been loitering around the lower echelons of Code S and who had finally managed to break through. However looking at the up and coming Zerg’s recent results paints a different picture. Looking at his Code S run this season he has so far beaten TY, Leenock, MC and Gumiho. Some of the most talented players in the world were swept aside by Curious, and it just shows that he is to be taken seriously and Parting should not underestimate him.
On the other side of the ring we have the SoulToss TraitorToss himself, Parting. The inventor of the WonWonWon, the all-in he solely trained and practiced with constantly against Zerg. After refining it to perfection, Parting was widely seen as the greatest Protoss player in the world. Breezing through Zergs like an afternoon wind, it seemed the only player that could stop him was arch nemesis and former teammate Life. Alas, Parting is not looking as unbeatable in PvZ as he once was. His WonWonWon is not a 100% WinWinWin, as Zergs realize they just need to turtle in their natural behind an enormous wall of spines until they wear down the immortal sentry army. That is not to say that Parting relies on this as a crux, his late game control is excellent and should be respected and even feared by a lot of Zerg players.
The first game would not see a Soul Train, instead it would be an insanely long macro game which ended up in the rarely seen ‘super lategame’. The openers from both players were nothing too strange, Curious wanting to put the pressure on early with a fast pool which Parting neatly defended. Both players went up to three bases, and the game seemed to be progressing nicely along. That is until a significant amount of the mutalisks Curious had been building, which were unscouted from Parting, flew into his base and began annihilating the probe line. By some miracle Parting held them off with very few stalkers, so Curious backed off and transitioned into infestor-brood lord. Curious’ army was getting closer and closer to the perfect composition, as the number of infestors, brood lords and corruptors increased. Parting tried to harass, but Curious dealt with it excellently. Parting, accepting that he was going to have to fight Curious’ army head on, went into turtle mode. He began adding void rays and carriers to his composition, while constantly forcing small engagements with the infestor-brood lord ball. Curious constantly denied Parting the gas needed for the SKT Protoss to get his own ultimate army, and when the final engagement came it was swift and brutal. Parting’s carriers fell quickly to the corruptors, the high templars were swarmed by a sea of broodlings and the void rays were frozen by fungals and shot down by the infested remains of the Terran’s who previously inhabited Daybreak. A long macro game ended in a crushing defeat for Parting.
The second game showed that Parting didn’t seem to be all too confident in his play. Despite his experience in tournament situations, he seemed to choke very hard when it came to a crucial moment of decision. While both players with standard builds, Curious decided to start playing HotS and produce a large amount of mutalisks. Despite Parting’s seeing a coming dilemma, he reacted horribly. He first started a templar archive, before wavering on that decision and cancelling it for an extremely delayed fleet beacon. Needless to say the result was not pretty and slaughter of probes and stalkers alike ensued. To the shock of nearly everyone in the known universe, it put Curious in a position to sweep.
The final game was a saddening one, to say the least. Parting went for a fast third base and Curious scouted it with a small set of zerglings. Parting chose a seven gateway timing attack off the back of his third base, by some insane coincidence Curious chose the army composition that directly counters these kinds of pushes, hydra-ling. As Parting’s push came, so did the signature on his death warrant. While for a minute it looked shaky, Curious’ excellent control resulted in the push being destroyed, taking some drone losses in the process. The counter attack came and it was not pretty. The third base and the gateways located at it fell. The rocks to the natural fell. The wall at the front of the natural fell. Parting’s miniscule army fell, and as it did so did his hopes and dreams of winning the final WoL Code S, he typed GG and left the game. Curious had done the impossible, David swept Goliath. After this victory his status as one of the best Zergs in the world is assured, and from here it seems no foe can stop him. Whether he will go all the way and win Code S, or fall to his next opponent is hard to say, but people will not forget when the unknown, unrecognized StarTale Zerg got revenge for his teammate’s demise in the GSL. The Curse of ST had come full circle, with Squirtle and Parting, the two traitors, having been hyped up and then promptly obliterated. StarTale does not forgive, and it does not forget.
Strengths -Has plenty of experience in elimination rounds -In between Proleague and GSL, there are a lot of games for Taeja to study -GSL is probably his top priority
Weaknesses -Looked somewhat questionable against Zerg both in the Ro32 and the Ro16 -His wrists may still not be in good condition -Is at mental disadvantage after being crushed by Soulkey in the Ro32.
Ideal Winning Scenario: After losing to Soulkey and barely edging out the win against DRG, just winning this series would be a great accomplishment. With how he has looked in the match-up lately, a win in this series would go a long way to prove that Taeja's back to being a championship contender.
Craziest Winning Scenario: Beats Soulkey into the ground in 3 straight macro games, where he constantly goes on the offensive to pick the Woongjin Zerg apart with Soulkey helpless to stop him, reminding everyone of how good he can be.
Strengths -Has been showing great form in ZvT recently -Is up against a fan favorite, and those never do well -Beat TaeJa convincingly 3 weeks ago
Weaknesses -Predicted by Artosis to win -Doesn't have a lot of experience in the elimination rounds of tournaments -Has to split his time between Proleague and GSL
Ideal Winning Scenario: Crushes Taeja in convincing fashion with both heavy macro builds and quick, decisive early attacks, proving himself to be the best player on Woongjin Stars in the process.
Craziest Winning Scenario: Goes down 0-2 after looking very unconvincing, then flips a switch and dominates Taeja in 3 straight games, crushing Taeja's dreams and his spirit along with them.
Here we go again
With 2012 Season 5 being considered an enormous fluke and the swarm of complaints that followed the ZvZ final in Vegas, most people seem to have missed a player not named Innovation has quietly put together the impressive performance of reaching back-to-back quarterfinals. This player is Soulkey, and he has gotten to the Round of 8 not only once, but twice – and has knocked out a few fan favorites on his way there each time.
This goes fairly well with Soulkey's general theme. His play is unquestionably solid, he tends to stick to the standard side of the game and avoid going crazy like Zergs such as Leenock and Life. As a result, the games his path to the quarters has been riddled with strong performances, but very few memorable games. And while reaching the Round of 8 twice is no means easy, the semifinalists are the players people remember, and the Ro4 is considered a true feat.
And while Soulkey has, like every former Brood War pro, a group of loyal fans, reaching the semifinal is his goal for more than one reason. While Innovation and Flash share the spotlight for the KeSPA Terrans, Rain (and now Parting) for Protoss, there is only really Roro for Zerg. Though the Samsung Zerg has a better overall record than Soulkey, this is Soulkey's second quarterfinal to Roro's first. Adding a semifinal to that resumé is both very attractive, and quite realistic.
Although his ZvZ is statistically his best, Soulkey is very potent in the other two match-ups, as well. This tournament alone, he has beaten Noblesse, Marineking and the player he's matched up tonight: Taeja. Beating any of those three is a sign that you're pretty good at the match-up. Beating all three is a sign of understanding and consistency as well.
In the end, consistency would be a good word to use for describing Soulkey. While he regularly performs in Proleague, he is not the highest ranking player on Woongjin at the moment, and while other players have had both great highs and abysmal lows, his play has been consistently solid. With one victory over Taeja already in the bag, Soulkey will be brimming with confidence coming into a series where he is already favored.
Remember the last time a Terran with broken wrists played in GSL?
Few players have gone from mediocre to superace, best-in-the-world material back to mediocre again. Even fewer have gone from mediocre to championship contenders again. Curiously, one of the players that have made this journey did so with wrist/back injuries. And that guy also played Terran, and won 2012 GSL Season 2.
Coming into this series, there are a lot of parallels to be drawn between Liquid`Taeja and LG-IMMvp. Both had a period of utter and complete dominance, where you could line up top players from all three races and they'd beat each one to the ground and then move on to the championship. Of course, Mvp's period of dominance was longer and actually took place in Korea, not just on foreign soil, but one cannot argue against the fact that Taeja had a monstrous stretch last summer. Not only did he win three major/premier tournaments over the course of 3 months against top opposition, he had another job on the side: carrying Team Liquid through IPL TAC 3.
As is now well-known, Taeja's stretch of dominance ended as Life crushed him 3-0 in his first GSL semifinal. He crashed and burned in the following season, not at all looking like the player that tore through team after team just a few months earlier. Not much later, we were made aware of Taeja's wrists being in worrying condition, and as his play gradually became more inconsistent, he disappeared from EG-TL's Proleague roster for a while, in preparation for his GSL matches.
Whatever he did to his wrists while he wasn't playing in Proleague, it worked. On his way to the quarterfinals, he took out Nestea, Noblesse, Bomber and one of the world's best ZvTers, DongRaeGu. Even if he isn't radiating dominance like he did last summer, he is still a dangerous opponent. He has the entire ”Good Terran” package – his macro and micro are very good, he doesn't kill himself with aggression like some other players would, and he has generally solid decision making and mentality, meaning he doesn't tilt as easily as someone like Marineking.
All in all, Taeja's greatest asset in this series will be something not immediately visible to the naked eye – preparation. When Taeja disappeared from Proleague to rest his wrists in preparation for GSL, there could no longer be any doubt which tournament is his top priority. He has known that Soulkey would be his opponent for two weeks, and he should come to the studio well-prepared tomorrow. With Soulkey juggling GSL and Proleague, well-planned builds could prove Taeja's greatest ally. But with Woongjin Stars performing very well without having to rely on Soulkey, Taeja will have to bring more than just intelligent strategy; he'll have to bring better play than we've seen from him in a long time.
Overall thoughts and predictions
This match will either end up being very, very close – in which case I will give the edge to Taeja due to his superior experience and the fact that he prioritizes GSL over anything else, or it will be utter and complete dominance. I don't think Taeja has what it takes to dominate Soulkey, because even though he looked quite good in the Ro16, it was mistakes from DongRaeGu that allowed him to eventually edge out the final win. Taeja is good, make no mistake – but Soulkey is equally so.
Taeja could show up in beast mode, but I think it's far more likely that an early win from Soulkey will spiral the series out of control. Comeback stories are great, but this time the Woongjin Stars Zerg is the favorite.
Strengths -Has an enormous repertoire of builds and creative all-ins that can bring anyone down -There is no Protoss more experienced in the elimination rounds of the GSL than MC -His PvZ is very potent, both in the earlier stages and in the late-game
Weaknesses -His level of play tends to fluctuate -Was dominated by another Zerg, Curious, in the Ro16. -Doesn't have as good hair as RorO
Ideal Winning Scenario: Gets his revenge on RorO by winning one game with a potent all-in, one with superior late-game control and a third won however he wants, preferably with a ceremony on top.
Craziest Winning Scenario: MC brings out the craziest all-ins ever witnessed against Zerg, proving to RorO that anti-fans alone won't get him past the Boss Toss. Oh, and a ceremony to seal the deal and send the Samsung Zerg into a slump much like that of Symbol in Season 3.
Strengths -Beat MC 2-0 the last time they met -Becomes better for every person that roots against him -Has been looking better and better across all match-ups recently
Weaknesses -Hasn't actually run into a good Protoss player recently -Is up against MC, someone with an uncanny knack for winning when he shouldn't. -Fairly inexperienced
Ideal Winning Scenario: With 2 Zergs already in the Round of 8, RorO advances by showing us the best ZvP play yet, bringing new and innovative strategies to the table that catch MC completely off guard, repeating their last meeting.
Craziest Winning Scenario: MC all-ins RorO three times, and RorO stops each attempts in their tracks, ending the series in less than an hour to advance to the semifinals in convincing fashion.
How to win
There came a time when people gave up on trying to predict MC. He would show up at tournaments after being knocked out of the last, and kill everyone to bring home some money. Then, at the next tournament, he would repeat the process of getting stomped again. It seems to be the curse of the multiple GSL-champions, to hint at incredible brilliance and dominate the opposition in new and creative ways one tournament, only to look helpless the next.
Next to Mvp, MC is the only player to fluctuate from championship-caliber to abysmal on a regular basis. First he looked completely dominant in the Ro32, stomping Curious and Leenock to advance to the round of 16 without dropping a map. Picking Curious again in the group nominations, MC then ended being the one to get stomped in the second group stage, as Curious destroyed him and made him look a lot less dominant in the process.
MC's loss to Curious sums him up as well as anything could. On a good day, when he has preparation time behind him (and isn't jetlagged), he'll beat more or less anyone in a BoX no matter the match-up. But it's hard to know if it's the good MC that will show up, or the MC that looked helpless against Seed in the Season 3 finals. Or the MC that got himself thrown out of Code S the season after his last finals appearance.
Knowing MC, I fully expect him to bring out, at the very least, one two-base all-in. Min Chul has become predictable in the sense that you can almost always expect him to go for some kind of heavy aggression. But that usually doesn't help, since attacks are usually timed and controlled well enough for it not to matter.
MC is a smart guy, despite his silly ceremonies and (sometimes) laid back attitude. Simply expecting MC to go for all-ins and prepare with safe, defensive builds won't cut it either. The SK Protoss is ridiculously experienced – he has been in every possible situation against all kinds of players and won from most of them. He might flip a switch and go for hardcore macro builds every game in this series to close it out with a proxy 2-gate, or go for a carrier rush. The point is, when you're facing MC you will never really know, and that alone will be enough to intimidate a lot of players.
Considering the histories of MC and RorO, this could either be a match decided by great plays and small details that eventually end the series in the favor of one player. It could also, if MC's recent tournament history is anything to go by, be a disaster for either player. With the preparation time they've both had, such an outcome is unlikely – they both have something to prove and they both doubtlessly take this match very seriously.
In the end, this series will be decided by MC's killer instincts. He knows how to win, just like his fellow GSL veteran Mvp. He isn't afraid to do anything no matter how boring or abusive it might seem. If he is on the top of his game, if his instincts are right, MC is a terrifying opponent to have to play against.
Let's get ready to RorOll
Who is RorO? The narrow-minded folk think that he is just another KeSPA Zerg come to the Round of 8 on the back of ”Zerg imba”, ”winfestor” and ”gglords”. To others, he is the result of the KeSPA practice regiment, that has honed his skills and turned him from a slightly below-average Brood War Zerg to a top Zerg in Starcraft II. A few people know the truth, though: RorO is the person you do not want to bet against. Ever.
All jokes aside, RorO has made a habit of upsetting every tournament he comes into. He sent Life to the Final Match in the Round of 16, eventually resulting in the two-time GSL champion being eliminated, but not before eliminating Keen and Mvp on his way there. This, more than anything, is what RorO does. He could be consistently mediocre over the course of an entire tournament, but once people start counting him out he bounces back and goes into beast mode. I'm not even going to say that he wins because people count him out, he just does.
And that puts RorO in a strange position for this match. Somehow, RorO's recent strong performances and (unusual) consistency has made him the favorite in this series. This, in turn, puts everyone else in a strange place. Given the fact that MC has a history of coming back when people count him out, that makes him some kind of reverse-favorite, which means that RorO will probably do better because he'd be both the favorite and underdog at the same time.
To look at the less abstract aspects, RorO has been doing really well lately. Samsung KHAN was performing way below expectations throughout round 1 in Proleague, and they looked to continue that trend in Round 2. But suddenly, something changed and the entire team went from abysmal to really freaking good. RorO, who had been slumping up to that point, became the solid ace that Samsung needed, and all of his match-ups became better along with it.
Right now, RorO is coming in at above a 60% winrate in all three match-ups, with his ZvP the weakest (at 60%). Although he had a streak of losses, where even Bisu managed to beat him, he recently took down Stats and Rain to show that he isn't without hope in the match-up. Though his confidence may lie in solid macro and late-game decision making, he has a decent enough early game. Against an opponent like MC, who is known for his deadly timing attacks and relentless aggression, it is quite likely that RorO has been practicing his defense against Stork and Jangbi.
I think a lot of this match will come down to nerves for RorO. He can be a stone-cold killer in the ace match one day, but he can also completely lose confidence another. He looked very confident in the Round of 16, which is a good sign – his highest level of play might be higher than that of MC at the moment, but it will all come down to if he can keep his calm when he goes into his first GSL quarterfinal.
Overall thoughts and predictions
With the risk of becoming repetitive, this match will come down to confidence and what form the players show tonight. They can both play at an incredibly high level – MC has shown us that he can bring himself back to championship caliber play on a regular basis, but he can crash and burn when things don't go his way, as well. RorO is much the same – if he keeps his nerves in check, he is the favorite in this match with how good he has looked lately.
But the problem with a match with two players like this is the unpredictability: it can end up 3-0 in either player's favor or 3-2 after 3 hours of intense games. I'm going to give MC the edge based on his experience alone – he made DongRaeGu look silly the last time he faced a Zerg in the elimination rounds, and if he can bring himself to that level of play, he can knock out RorO just as well.
Sad to see Innovation lose, but at least it was a good series. Hopefully Artosis' curse hits Soulkey too, I think its our only chance to avoid an all zergs final.
On February 22 2013 09:03 SidianTheBard wrote: I'm hoping for Taeja and MC to get through. I swear if we get another final 4 all zerg GSL........
I do actually agree with the predictions though. I think Soulkey and MC will take it, although yes, I'm rooting for Taeja.
I do not believe there has ever been an all zerg Ro4, ever.
It's not a matter of belief it's a matter of fact. There has never been an all zerg Ro4 in GSL. People are just making up things to make themselves feel more imbalanced against or something.
"Craziest Winning Scenario: MC brings out the craziest all-ins ever witnessed against Zerg, proving to RorO that anti-fans alone won't get him past the Boss Toss. Oh, and a ceremony to seal the deal and send the Samsung Zerg into a slump much like that of Symbol in Season 3."
Symbol does have a history of choking in the Ro8, doing so twice before. He has only made it past the quarterfinals on a single occasion, in Season 1 of the GSL last year where he arguably looked his strongest.
Erm, Symbol's debut in Code S was in season 3 last year. He's never made it past the quarterfinals till now. Two straight Ro.8's, a Ro16, and then we're at this season.
On February 22 2013 09:29 TommyP wrote: "Craziest Winning Scenario: MC brings out the craziest all-ins ever witnessed against Zerg, proving to RorO that anti-fans alone won't get him past the Boss Toss. Oh, and a ceremony to seal the deal and send the Samsung Zerg into a slump much like that of Symbol in Season 3."
that was DRG.
I was thinking about Seed - Symbol since that was also Ro8, but DRGs case was very similar.
Symbol does have a history of choking in the Ro8, doing so twice before. He has only made it past the quarterfinals on a single occasion, in Season 1 of the GSL last year where he arguably looked his strongest.
Erm, Symbol's debut in Code S was in season 3 last year. He's never made it past the quarterfinals till now. Two straight Ro.8's, a Ro16, and then we're at this season.
I was going to say something about this line too but I'm not a big Symbol fan so I wasn't too sure. But season 1 last year had alive and gumiho in the semis. Symbol's first "invincible" season was Season 3 where he had his soul stolen by Seed.
Symbol does have a history of choking in the Ro8, doing so twice before. He has only made it past the quarterfinals on a single occasion, in Season 1 of the GSL last year where he arguably looked his strongest.
Erm, Symbol's debut in Code S was in season 3 last year. He's never made it past the quarterfinals till now. Two straight Ro.8's, a Ro16, and then we're at this season.
I was about to post about this, I have no idea where the writer got that information but It's completely wrong, Symbol didn't even play in Code S in that season.
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
Not really. That's actually just a very uninteresting ro4 for the final GSL before the expansion. Completely justified.
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
What? I generally don't like watching ZvZ. How is that making a jackass of myself?
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
What? I generally don't like watching ZvZ. How is that making a jackass of myself?
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
What? I generally don't like watching ZvZ. How is that making a jackass of myself?
I for one would love it if Taeja and MC made it but it is annoying how so many make up statistics/results just to try to make their hate for one matchup and/or race more acceptable/legit. Stop crying and let the best player win.
Didn't really like the write-up of the Innovation-Symbol series. I don't think the writer is a fan of Zerg's and it shows. The last game had a rarely used strat and it was just described as a 'nydus build'. Little bit more detail would be nice.
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
What? I generally don't like watching ZvZ. How is that making a jackass of myself?
I for one would love it if Taeja and MC made it but it is annoying how so many make up statistics/results just to try to make their hate for one matchup and/or race more acceptable/legit. Stop crying and let the best player win.
I made a mistake about there being an all zerg semis in the past. It's simply a fact that most people don't want to watch a bunch of ZvZ. Yeah, obviously whoever plays the best is going to win, but that doesn't make it interesting to watch.
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
Stop making a jackass out of yourself. People are sick and fuckign tired of zvz tourney after tourney. Hopefully Taeja and MC can do it, if not time for a new game.
Best case scenario...MC and Taeja advance. Less chances for another dreaded ZvZ finals :/ Mah boi PartinG let me down t.t cmon MC you gotta at least advance to semis for me. Make protoss proud
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
What? I generally don't like watching ZvZ. How is that making a jackass of myself?
There has never been an all Zerg semi-final.
And actually, 2 is the most amount of Zerg we've ever had in the semis. Compared to Terran having 3+ on five occasions, and Protoss doing it twice.
Is it just me or does it feel like every write up and caster seems to just write off Taeja? It has felt like he is starting to get back in form. He started appearing in PL again which means his wrists have been feeling better and his ro16 performance was damn good but was overshadowed by Innovation. Assuming his wrists are started to improve I wouldn't be surprised to see him have improved a lot from the ro32 match and take it. Really hoping he does because a 3 zerg ro4 isn't the way to end WoL.
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
What? I generally don't like watching ZvZ. How is that making a jackass of myself?
There has never been an all Zerg semi-final.
Homestory Cup was an all zerg semis 2 months ago. He never specifically mentioned GSL. We've also had
IEM Bucharest ZvZ finals last GSL ZvZ finals MLG fall ZvZ finals Ironsquid 3 Z's in the semis ZvZ finals IPL 5 ZvZ finals Blizzad Cup mass ZvZ besides Parting
I'm sure theres a couple I missed. Its been a mess. It's boring and unfair to the other races and the viewers. Time for a new start before even more viewers leave. I'm sure his opinion is in the majority.
On February 22 2013 10:40 bourne117 wrote: Is it just me or does it feel like every write up and caster seems to just write off Taeja? It has felt like he is starting to get back in form. He started appearing in PL again which means his wrists have been feeling better and his ro16 performance was damn good but was overshadowed by Innovation. Assuming his wrists are started to improve I wouldn't be surprised to see him have improved a lot from the ro32 match and take it. Really hoping he does because a 3 zerg ro4 isn't the way to end WoL.
I totally agree. I also find it sad that the writers downplay Taeja stating that Dongraegu only lost because of the mistakes he made. Yea, lets completely ignore Taeja's effort and strong play in that series (sarcasm). I know TL writers shouldn't be biased or anything, but give the guy a break.
On February 22 2013 10:59 dcemuser wrote: Even ignoring the state of balance in WoL, I'd still say Soulkey and RorO are the favorites here.
Considering the state of balance in WoL, if they lose, it will be a massive upset.
The game isn't that grossly imbalanced, to call it a massive upset. I do think MC has an edge over Roro, but that's obviously not me saying he'll win. People like to pretend they can predict the future, I will make no such claim
I totally agree. I also find it sad that the writers downplay Taeja stating that Dongraegu only lost because of the mistakes he made. Yea, lets completely ignore Taeja's effort and strong play in that series (sarcasm). I know TL writers shouldn't be biased or anything, but give the guy a break.
It took them like 3 months of MC beating everyone for them to acknowledge he's no longer in a slumb, after his fall to code B. I don't see their habbits changing too much. Also took a chunk of time for them to conclude MMA was better than MVP, despite performing better for a number of months, including beating MVP a few times.
edit - those last 2 examples obviously aren't recent, but they tend to downplay things.
I'm so disappointed in the results so far. I think it's a >50% chance to get a ZvZvZvZ semi, which will remove any interest I have in this GSL season. Which makes it yet another GSL season where I don't care for the outcome. (same as S5 2012)
On February 22 2013 10:40 bourne117 wrote: Is it just me or does it feel like every write up and caster seems to just write off Taeja? It has felt like he is starting to get back in form. He started appearing in PL again which means his wrists have been feeling better and his ro16 performance was damn good but was overshadowed by Innovation. Assuming his wrists are started to improve I wouldn't be surprised to see him have improved a lot from the ro32 match and take it. Really hoping he does because a 3 zerg ro4 isn't the way to end WoL.
I totally agree. I also find it sad that the writers downplay Taeja stating that Dongraegu only lost because of the mistakes he made. Yea, lets completely ignore Taeja's effort and strong play in that series (sarcasm). I know TL writers shouldn't be biased or anything, but give the guy a break.
Exactly. On top of that you kept hearing tastetosis saying Innovation was flash like in the ro16 and Taeja pushed him to his very limit. Yet they say nothing about Tajeas play. I seriously think Taeja is really starting to recover from his injury and if that's true then he will be a serious force. The summer of Taeja is still the most dominant string of performances I have seen out of a player in SC2.
On February 22 2013 10:40 bourne117 wrote: Is it just me or does it feel like every write up and caster seems to just write off Taeja? It has felt like he is starting to get back in form. He started appearing in PL again which means his wrists have been feeling better and his ro16 performance was damn good but was overshadowed by Innovation. Assuming his wrists are started to improve I wouldn't be surprised to see him have improved a lot from the ro32 match and take it. Really hoping he does because a 3 zerg ro4 isn't the way to end WoL.
I totally agree. I also find it sad that the writers downplay Taeja stating that Dongraegu only lost because of the mistakes he made. Yea, lets completely ignore Taeja's effort and strong play in that series (sarcasm). I know TL writers shouldn't be biased or anything, but give the guy a break.
Exactly. On top of that you kept hearing tastetosis saying Innovation was flash like in the ro16 and Taeja pushed him to his very limit. Yet they say nothing about Tajeas play. I seriously think Taeja is really starting to recover from his injury and if that's true then he will be a serious force. The summer of Taeja is still the most dominant string of performances I have seen out of a player in SC2.
I'm rooting for TaeJa and MC but I kinda wish we get Roro and Soulkey. Think about it, all the stories we will be able to tell about the last season of WoL in a few years. Remember when WoL ended and we had ZvZvZvZ in GSL ? Aaahhh.. Those were the days...
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
What? I generally don't like watching ZvZ. How is that making a jackass of myself?
There has never been an all Zerg semi-final.
Homestory Cup was an all zerg semis 2 months ago. He never specifically mentioned GSL. We've also had
IEM Bucharest ZvZ finals last GSL ZvZ finals MLG fall ZvZ finals Ironsquid 3 Z's in the semis ZvZ finals IPL 5 ZvZ finals Blizzad Cup mass ZvZ besides Parting
I'm sure theres a couple I missed. Its been a mess. It's boring and unfair to the other races and the viewers. Time for a new start before even more viewers leave. I'm sure his opinion is in the majority.
So because we once had a all zerg semis people can complain about "not another all zerg semis" like we've only had all zerg semis.
Sure there's an oversaturation of ZvZ, no use denying that. The original "stop making jackasses of yourself" thing was about every second ZvZ whine basically saying about all zerg semi finals we've only had once.
"Unfair to the other races" is a pretty funny point though. I'm sure some zergs are still feeling their time in the limelight is only fair.
Getting a touch sick of all the complaining about zerg, specifically for the GSL, when this is the first Code S zerg have been number 1 in the race count. Sorry for ranting, I just wish people would stop falsifying reports to make themselves feel better.
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
What? I generally don't like watching ZvZ. How is that making a jackass of myself?
There has never been an all Zerg semi-final.
And actually, 2 is the most amount of Zerg we've ever had in the semis. Compared to Terran having 3+ on five occasions, and Protoss doing it twice.
I think people are being slightly overdramatic.
uh maybe people are not only taking recent GSL results into account?!
Zerg dominated pretty much any of the other tournaments and events as well....
Would much rather have soulkey than roro. Soulkey's play has shown me that zerg can actually be interesting to watch and fun to cheer for, while I am one of the 'narrow minded' naysayers that call RoRo a kespa zerg coming in on top of the imbalances, until I'm proven wrong.
Hoping for both MCs to advance! (soulkey is also an MC)
On February 22 2013 12:41 Random_0 wrote: I still have no idea why Parting didn't try going to his signature immortal sentry build even once in his series loss. =(
Past teammates? The fact that Curious has faced it hundreds of times over practicing with him? The fact that Life knows how to shut it down pretty effectively and probably taught Curious? Lots of good reasons why.
My passion has waned a bit for this season since INnoVation lost. It's up to Taeja now to keep the hope alive. Otherwise I don't really care what happens, never mind if it happens to end up being a freaking zvzvzvz...
Don't estimate the man with the broken wrists... Taeja's just gonna mind game the shit of soul key. MC is in the same house as a few pretty great zerg players - Nestea, if he doesn't give zergbong advice, Losira and also another protoss champion in Seed. And then there is god of terran with the broken wrists himself, Mvp. it's hard not to get better, even for MC. Sure, he struggled a bit but he's going to so crush Roro. He watched those Parting/Curious games and he'll be looking to avoid Parting's lackluster performance. BossToss wants this, and when he wants something he usually gets it.
On February 22 2013 11:17 bourne117 wrote: Exactly. On top of that you kept hearing tastetosis saying Innovation was flash like in the ro16 and Taeja pushed him to his very limit. Yet they say nothing about Tajeas play. I seriously think Taeja is really starting to recover from his injury and if that's true then he will be a serious force. The summer of Taeja is still the most dominant string of performances I have seen out of a player in SC2.
You must not have watched that much SC2 then.
I have though to be fair I didn't watch the very early parts of SC2 in korea so never saw MVP at his prime. Regardless I would still say the way Taeja was dominating his opponents during his run would trump it for a couple reasons. First he did it at a time when the game was much more figured out and the level of play at increased drastically. Second he did it when most races were very even and equally crushed the very best of each race. MVP was dominant during a time of Terran dominance. (please not I am obviously not including BW only referring to SC2)
Dammit it Taeja, why does GSL happen on school nights? TT I'm just going to sleep now, then wake up at 4 so I can do both my homework and watch GSL at the same time.
Roro was never a below-average zerg in BL. He had an incredibly disproportionate number of games against absolute top-tier players and still hovered at almost exactly a 50% winrate. He was also leaned on way too heavily in proleague due to his poor team and thus had no time to practice for solo leagues.
On another team with a better environment and better ace options, he would have been a Stats or a Light.
The Curse of ST had come full circle, with Squirtle and Parting, the two traitors, having been hyped up and then promptly obliterated. StarTale does not forgive, and it does not forget.
On February 22 2013 12:41 Random_0 wrote: I still have no idea why Parting didn't try going to his signature immortal sentry build even once in his series loss. =(
because he invented it using Curious as main practice partner back in ST and Curious was most likely well prepared for it
On February 22 2013 10:03 GolemMadness wrote: I want Soulkey and Roro to win, but I also don't want another all zerg semi-finals. -_-; If only Bogus and Parting had made it...
God damn it, stop it with the "another all zerg sem-finals" "not a 4 zerg semi again". You're making jackasses out of yourselves.
What? I generally don't like watching ZvZ. How is that making a jackass of myself?
There has never been an all Zerg semi-final.
Homestory Cup was an all zerg semis 2 months ago. He never specifically mentioned GSL. We've also had
IEM Bucharest ZvZ finals last GSL ZvZ finals MLG fall ZvZ finals Ironsquid 3 Z's in the semis ZvZ finals IPL 5 ZvZ finals Blizzad Cup mass ZvZ besides Parting
I'm sure theres a couple I missed. Its been a mess. It's boring and unfair to the other races and the viewers. Time for a new start before even more viewers leave. I'm sure his opinion is in the majority.
So because we once had a all zerg semis people can complain about "not another all zerg semis" like we've only had all zerg semis.
Sure there's an oversaturation of ZvZ, no use denying that. The original "stop making jackasses of yourself" thing was about every second ZvZ whine basically saying about all zerg semi finals we've only had once.
"Unfair to the other races" is a pretty funny point though. I'm sure some zergs are still feeling their time in the limelight is only fair.
Getting a touch sick of all the complaining about zerg, specifically for the GSL, when this is the first Code S zerg have been number 1 in the race count. Sorry for ranting, I just wish people would stop falsifying reports to make themselves feel better.
It wouldn't be a problem if ZvZ matchup were more interesting and less coin-flippy.
complaining incoming: Those games made me sick last night. I am so frustrated with the lack of variation Protoss gets in WoL. Its purely a turtle game and hiding behind a wall. I wish the Cybercore had a zealot speed upgrade so zergs would have to wall sometimes and prepare for a speedlot rush, or run by and get one of their hatches blown up. Or 20 phoenix coming in and harrassing you at every corner of your base and you have to run hydras back and forth on creep (like blink stalkers vs muta).
There is no variation. Toss has minor variations within a few builds, and don't go late game because some micro with a LOT of spines a few infestors and brood lords = instant win.
Anyhow - I am so happy to see WoL go - it could have been an amazing game, and I am so sad to see how horrible of a follow up we got to the greatest game ever: SC Brood War. Seems like such simple fixes such as a zealot speed upgrade at cyber core, a infestor split of fungal growth and the root part of the spell into 2 seperate spells, and the removal of the infestor energy upgrade would make the infestor a unit used in conjunction with armies like the High Templar is; rather than being an army all alone (basically.) I also do not agree with Brood Lords - broodlings that create a wall of free units keeping units like HT out of position or impossible to flee.
All these things were on exhibit and I just watched my TV in frustration as I saw dopey cheesy builds that zerg can utilize that no other race even has a similar option - take the games and now we will possibly have a all zerg round of 4 and a zvz finals.
anyhow curious did play really well and so did symbol - but I thought innovation played better and got the short end of blizzards stick (except when he didn't scout the gold base.)
On February 22 2013 15:29 mhael wrote: complaining incoming: Those games made me sick last night. I am so frustrated with the lack of variation Protoss gets in WoL. Its purely a turtle game and hiding behind a wall. I wish the Cybercore had a zealot speed upgrade so zergs would have to wall sometimes and prepare for a speedlot rush, or run by and get one of their hatches blown up. Or 20 phoenix coming in and harrassing you at every corner of your base and you have to run hydras back and forth on creep (like blink stalkers vs muta).
There is no variation. Toss has minor variations within a few builds, and don't go late game because some micro with a LOT of spines a few infestors and brood lords = instant win.
Anyhow - I am so happy to see WoL go - it could have been an amazing game, and I am so sad to see how horrible of a follow up we got to the greatest game ever: SC Brood War. Seems like such simple fixes such as a zealot speed upgrade at cyber core, a infestor split of fungal growth and the root part of the spell into 2 seperate spells, and the removal of the infestor energy upgrade would make the infestor a unit used in conjunction with armies like the High Templar is; rather than being an army all alone (basically.) I also do not agree with Brood Lords - broodlings that create a wall of free units keeping units like HT out of position or impossible to flee.
All these things were on exhibit and I just watched my TV in frustration as I saw dopey cheesy builds that zerg can utilize that no other race even has a similar option - take the games and now we will possibly have a all zerg round of 4 and a zvz finals.
anyhow curious did play really well and so did symbol - but I thought innovation played better and got the short end of blizzards stick (except when he didn't scout the gold base.)
On February 22 2013 15:29 mhael wrote: complaining incoming: Those games made me sick last night. I am so frustrated with the lack of variation Protoss gets in WoL. Its purely a turtle game and hiding behind a wall. I wish the Cybercore had a zealot speed upgrade so zergs would have to wall sometimes and prepare for a speedlot rush, or run by and get one of their hatches blown up. Or 20 phoenix coming in and harrassing you at every corner of your base and you have to run hydras back and forth on creep (like blink stalkers vs muta).
There is no variation. Toss has minor variations within a few builds, and don't go late game because some micro with a LOT of spines a few infestors and brood lords = instant win.
Anyhow - I am so happy to see WoL go - it could have been an amazing game, and I am so sad to see how horrible of a follow up we got to the greatest game ever: SC Brood War. Seems like such simple fixes such as a zealot speed upgrade at cyber core, a infestor split of fungal growth and the root part of the spell into 2 seperate spells, and the removal of the infestor energy upgrade would make the infestor a unit used in conjunction with armies like the High Templar is; rather than being an army all alone (basically.) I also do not agree with Brood Lords - broodlings that create a wall of free units keeping units like HT out of position or impossible to flee.
All these things were on exhibit and I just watched my TV in frustration as I saw dopey cheesy builds that zerg can utilize that no other race even has a similar option - take the games and now we will possibly have a all zerg round of 4 and a zvz finals.
anyhow curious did play really well and so did symbol - but I thought innovation played better and got the short end of blizzards stick (except when he didn't scout the gold base.)
Please don't ban me.
Well, yeah your going to get banned for that last line (not martyring so to speak, but the mods don't tolerate it anyway).
Besides that, if you just watch one night of GSL in isolation, especially one where Zerg wins, it might look like Protoss has that problem. If you'd watched the previous two nights of Code A, you'd have seen two separate Toss' doing very powerful Phoenix/Zealot attacks. Might be just a metagame thing, but adding zealot speed to this comp would be crazy.
BossToss! Hoping MC knocks out Roro! I'm not sure Taeja has it in him to win Soulkey tbh. Last time they met, Soulkey won and he has a great form and seems like he understands the game. Going to be an uphill battle for Taeja, definitely the underdog imo.
I'm steadily becoming a pretty big fan of Zealously's write-ups. Well done once again, m8.
The GSL ends for me tonight if 2 more dirty Z get through. I never thought I'd miss the days of gomTvT, but all these patchling fratricides make me want to turn on the GDM LCS, so help me.
My reaction after watching the unexpected outcome of game 5 b/w Symbol and Innovation was: what? What??? But, OK, I thought, we always knew Symbol was a solid player and his zvt has always been a strength.
But then, Curious 3-0'd Parting. And I wondered: has the Earth been tilted on its axis? It's always been the case that SC2 results can be volatile, but if Curious can 3-0 Parting in a GSL quarterfinal, anything goes. Literally, anything. Coupled with the night's other upset, it is clear that from now on that, like quantum physics, any result is possible. For example, Curious could become GSL champion. Or Symbol. Or a foreigner. Or a foreigner could plough through a lineup of the best SC2 players in the world (who are they, exactly, now?), let's just say for old time's sake: Life, Parting, DRG, Leenock, Innovation, and while we’re being sentimental, let’s add Mvp, MC, and Nestea – on their way to royal roading the GSL. That's how much sense last night's results make.
Watching Curious play last night was like watching kid Goku suddenly transform into a Super Saiyan and one-punch his adversary in half. The question is where has this Curious been his whole career? Curious has remained a solid middle-tier zerg for well over a year, with a pronounced tendency of underperforming in high-pressure situations (namely code S round 2's.) Until this point, this GSL has looked no different. Curious looked solid but unremarkable through his first two rounds. There was little to indicate other than that Curious had strayed past his boundaries through immense good fortune and Parting would have to be the one to play the gatekeeper and send him back to his rightful place in the ro16.
Curious's hair changes from gold to black when he transforms into Super Saiyan Curious
Parting, the reigning World Champion and GSL finalist. A player who gained his fame for slapping down zergs left and right during a bleak year for non-zerg races where pvz was running at 35-40% before Blizzard had to nerf infestors in 3 different ways. Who owned their head-to-head matchup 3-0/6-2. Who was considered one of the best players not to win a GSL yet. Parting wasn't just a favourite to beat Curious, he was a favourite to take down the whole score.
This is Starcraft 2. We know upsets can happen. It would’ve been one thing for Curious to counterpunch, play good defense, sneak a win or two with some cute builds, force a game 5 and then steal the series with a weird all-in. For example, like Symbol. It’s quite another to totally, completely eviscerate your opponent in 3 straight games. It’s as if Stanislaw Wawrinkas suddenly showed up to a Wimbledon final and then destroyed Roger Federer in his prime in straight sets. It just makes no sense. Curious just levelled up to power level 1000000 from nothing. He had Parting on the defense from the first minute of the first game when he was threatening with early lings. Parting didn’t go for the soul train in any of his games because he was too preoccupied with trying to survive the whole time.
Who is this Curious who’s suddenly appeared in the code S semifinals because he’s not the Curious we know from this dimension. He’s from a distant, curious alien planet and it looks like he’s been training at 10000x gravity. And he looks very scary.
Although he had a streak of losses, where even Bisu managed to beat him, he recently took down Stats and Rain to show that he isn't without hope in the match-up.
It still makes me sad that this sentence is even true
But rooting for MC, I like to see good toss players win.
Did anyone else notice that all of the rematches this GSL had the original loser victorious this time around? I guess it's pretty common, too, now that I think about it. Curious vs MC Ro32: MC 2-0 Curious Ro16 Curious 2-0 MC
On February 23 2013 06:51 andrewlt wrote: You guys remind me of Gregg Easterbrook, aka TMQ on ESPN. You should make it your rallying cry.
haha he still writes those? I got turned off by his condescending rants and terrible editing (and that he has multiple wrong statistics every few paragraphs)
yesss at least Taeja made it. MC also making it would have guaranteed such a great final WoL GSL championship series, too bad. My protoss brethren have all fallen
On February 23 2013 06:00 Shellshock1122 wrote: Did anyone else notice that all of the rematches this GSL had the original loser victorious this time around? I guess it's pretty common, too, now that I think about it. Curious vs MC Ro32: MC 2-0 Curious Ro16 Curious 2-0 MC
I did notice that, this has been a GSL of underdogs rising up and curbstomping their former oppressors. There were some others too: Curious came in with a 0-3/2-6 record against Parting and 3-0'd him, something I still can't get over. Parting got sweet sweet revenge against Life after Life had blown up the soul train in the Blizzard Cup finals, picked him for the ro16 and 2-0'd him again, before Parting sent him home in the final set. And Squirtle picked Symbol for the ro16, 2-0'd him, and guess what came back to bite Squirtle?
The only exception was MC who fell just short of getting revenge against Roro who 2-0'd him last code A.
After all, Curious was just some random Zerg who had always been loitering around the lower echelons of Code S
but people will not forget when the unknown, unrecognized StarTale Zerg]
What????????? This isn't frickin Kingkong (not that he's on ST anymore) or Golden. Curious, the Gatekeeper himself, has been one of the most consistent, top zergs for over a year. I just don't even understand how you could say that.
EPT
INnoVation <Cloud Kingdom> 
Symbol
PartinG
The first game would not see a Soul Train, instead it would be an insanely long macro game which ended up in the rarely seen ‘super lategame’. The openers from both players were nothing too strange, Curious wanting to put the pressure on early with a fast pool which Parting neatly defended. Both players went up to three bases, and the game seemed to be progressing nicely along. That is until a significant amount of the mutalisks Curious had been building, which were unscouted from Parting, flew into his base and began annihilating the probe line. By some miracle Parting held them off with very few stalkers, so Curious backed off and transitioned into infestor-brood lord. Curious’ army was getting closer and closer to the perfect composition, as the number of infestors, brood lords and corruptors increased. Parting tried to harass, but Curious dealt with it excellently. Parting, accepting that he was going to have to fight Curious’ army head on, went into turtle mode. He began adding void rays and carriers to his composition, while constantly forcing small engagements with the infestor-brood lord ball. Curious constantly denied Parting the gas needed for the SKT Protoss to get his own ultimate army, and when the final engagement came it was swift and brutal. Parting’s carriers fell quickly to the corruptors, the high templars were swarmed by a sea of broodlings and the void rays were frozen by fungals and shot down by the infested remains of the Terran’s who previously inhabited Daybreak. A long macro game ended in a crushing defeat for Parting.![[image loading]](/staff/heyoka/gsl/TaeJaSoulkey.jpg)
![[image loading]](/staff/heyoka/gsl/MCRorO.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://images.wikia.com/dragonball/images/6/61/Son-goku.jpg)
Curious vs 
MC
INnoVation
