Last night was a battle of two philosophies. On one side was Curious, who alternated between the two strategies of mutas into three base roach-infestor and roach infestor into three base. On the other was Symbol who opted for a different strategy on every map, and tried to throw Curious off in every game with a new and different game plan each time. This contrast in styles made the series incredibly dynamic as Symbol would take the initiative and it was up to Curious to come up with a new response each game as Symbol would never repeat the same strategy twice.
It all started game one with Curious opting for a standard muta ZvZ build into a third base and transitioning into roaches. Symbol went for a fast 1/1 on his roach-hydra and hit a strong timing that killed Curious’ third. From there, Curious tried a counter to get back into the game, but was stopped by a superior concave from Symbol. Both players macroed up to a third and fourth base. Symbol maxed out on roach-hydra while Curious went for roach-infestor, but Symbol’s push was too much as he killed Curious’ fourth and infestors, taking the game.
Curious fired back game two with some ling bane aggression that Symbol overreacted to. From there, Curious took the lead in tech and economy as Symbol went for mutas into mass roach while Curious went for roach hydra infestor. Symbol went for a massive multi-pronged attack that killed two of Curious’ bases, but didn’t have enough when Curious cleaned up his armies and counter attacked to victory.
Symbol’s third strategy was much more standard as both players went for roach-infestor, with Symbol also adding in hydras. It was normal until the late game where Curious opted for a large base trade. As Symbol moved out, a large detachment of roaches counter attacked, killing two of Symbol’s bases. Symbol realized his predicament and broke through Curious’ natural and then killed Curious’ third. In the end, Curious decided to attack Symbol's main army but faltered a flank as Symbol's infestors regenerated just enough energy to repel the attack. Without an army, Curious was forced to tap out.
In the third game on Daybreak, Curious was able to take the early advantage with an attack on Symbol’s third that left Curious with a superior economy, faster upgrades and larger supply. Curious tried to use his advantage to win the game, but Symbol was too strong on defense so Curious opted for the late game, constantly denying Symbol’s fourth and taking his tech up to broodlords. Curious made all the right moves in making sure Symbol could not make a comeback and eventually Symbol was slowly choked out until he was forced to give up the game.
From there, Symbol closed out the night with two unique strategies that blindsided Curious. In the fiftth game, Curious played normally, while Symbol went gasless. From there, Symbol got fast 1/1 upgrades while Curious got his third. Symbol then made a creep highway and busted Curious with a spine crawler queen roach push. The upgrades were too much for Curious to hold on, even with the faster reinforcements, and Symbol took the game. Game six followed suit. Curious tried for a large speedling attack in the early game, but Symbol was able to scout Curious’ natural and prepared accordingly with four spines and four queens. From there, it was a normal game with Curious going into roach infestor on three base. This time, Symbol went 1/1 with roach-hydra and once his third was finished, he attacked with spine crawlers, queens, roaches, and hydras and just barely broke Curious’ main force and take the game.
Going into this series, both Curious and Symbol were in very similar positions. Both players had at one point or another been considered one of if not the strongest Zergs in the world. Both players would never able to fulfill that potential with Symbol being stopped in the ro8 and Curious’ runs always being stopped in ro16. While both were able to break it past their barriers this season, only one could advance to the finals.
For Symbol, this is a special GSL. As the former ace of the disbanded TSL, he watched on the sidelines as his former teammate, Hyun, outpaced him last season with a GSL finals. This time Symbol was able to replicate Hyun's performance and has a chance to surpass it. Not only is it the last possible WoL that he will play, but it is also the chance for Symbol to finally break his runner-up curse and do what the other silver surfers could not do before him: finally win a championship.
Strengths - When times look the bleakest, Taeja usually pulls through - Might possibly have every Terran on planet Earth helping him prepare for this match - Has been to the semifinals before, and he has the tournament experience edge over Roro
Weaknesses - His wrists might actually explode in a Bo7 series against a Zerg - He is playing a race that hasn't had a GSL finalist besides Mvp in over a year - The vast majority want him to win, so that's never good
Ideal Winning Scenario: Just win. No one will care if it's four straight double proxy rax. It can be the ugliest, cheesiest, and most underhanded strategies ever performed, and it would still be okay if he can pull out a win.
Craziest Winning Scenario: Reveals that his wrists haven't actually been injured for the last few months, and he's actually been wearing twenty pound weights on them to make him stronger. He takes off the wrist bands, unleashes the power of every Terran to ever play in Mokdong, and beats Roro 4-0 to make the finals in stunning fashion.
Strengths - Has a 73% win rate against Terran - His wrists, by my information, are not exploding like his opponent's - He plays the race that has won three straight GSL championships
Weaknesses - He did lose to MarineKing this season, so he isn't unbeatable in ZvT - Getting this far in a tournament is an entirely new experience for him - Might kill e-sports if the final WoL final is a ZvZ
Ideal Winning Scenario: Destroys Taeja. With how well he's been playing lately, Roro makes no doubt that he is KeSPA's strongest disciple, killing the final non-Zerg in Code S history in a blowout. It wouldn't be pretty to watch, and it might kill interest in the finals, but it would make Roro head into the finals looking like a killer.
Craziest Winning Scenario: Goes down 0-3, comes back to win the final four games, and TeamLiquid has to be shut down for a few hours due to to the amount of people that need to be banned from the LR thread.
The Hope of a Nation
Taeja is the final living Terran in Wings of Liberty. The prolific players of his race, Mvp, MarineKing, Polt, and others, have all but uninstalled Wings from their computers, fully moving onto Heart of the Swarm and giving everything they have into the new game. A few of them still might have one more night of Up and Down matches to look forward to in Wings of Liberty, but all eyes are on the March 12th release date of Heart of the Swarm.
The only Terran left who can put his name beside his GSL brethren is Taeja, the player who most believed would have gotten to a GSL final sometime in 2012 after his dazzling summer where he won foreign tournaments left and right. Due to injuries, running into a prodigy named Life, and many close but heartbreaking losses, Taeja has never gotten into a Code S final. The farthest he has gotten was the fourth season of 2012, where he was steamrolled by eventual champion Life, losing 3-0 with no answer to his Zerg opponent. Now, in the final Wings season, Taeja has outlasted every single Terran and Protoss, getting to the semifinals for a second time.
Following in the footsteps of Mvp in season two of last season, Taeja has been able to push through his wrist problems and put on one of the best performances of his career. However, you can't compare him to the Taeja of the past summer, killing everyone he was put up against, and even all-killing one of the strongest teams in the world, LG-IM, in the IPL TAC finals. To be brutally honest, Taeja has somewhat lucked his way into the semifinals, getting through by the skin of his teeth in every round he's been in so far. He won 2-1 against Noblesse in the final match of the night in the Ro32, and he had to do the same thing in the Ro16, sneaking out a victory against DongRaeGu to get into the knockout rounds.
The Taeja of old seemed to appear against Soulkey in the quarterfinals, playing a masterful first two games and taking a commanding lead. But things fell apart after those two wins as Taeja was walloped on the next two maps, with the momentum going entirely to Soulkey's side. With the situation turning grim, it looked like it was finally time for Taeja to bow out, giving us a Zerg-only semifinals. Taeja was not down for the count though; pulling out one of his best performances in months, Taeja took the final game against Soulkey. The climactic moment came when Soulkey rolled an army of banes to take out one of Taeja's remaining mining bases, putting all his effort into knocking the building out. With a sliver of life left, Taeja held onto this base, securing enough mining to build up a final army and roll the weakened Soulkey.
That moment has symbolized the entire tournament for Taeja. He's not been at his best, but he's been good enough and gotten enough breaks along the way to make it into the semifinals. With how strong Zerg is recently and his wrists clearly not in the best shape, no one would have really been too surprised if Taeja had dropped in the first round, getting some downtime to rest his limbs and prepare for the slew of Heart of the Swarm tournaments he'll be sure participate in. Still, somehow, he's outlasted everyone, setting himself up as the last remaining non-Zerg in Wings Code S history. It hasn't been the prettiest run, but Taeja is still only four wins away from making his ultimate goal: the GSL grand finals.
This match is not only to prevent another ZvZ final, it's for every Terran who has ever stepped foot in Mokdong Studios in the past two and a half years. From the big names like Mvp and MarineKing, to the cockroaches who would never die like Virus and Ensnare. Supernova, Polt, Rainbow, Nada, Boxer, TOP, and the list goes on and on of the Terran players who've had monumental triumphs in Mokdong, and Taeja will be carrying their combined wills into his semifinal against Roro.
Win or lose, this is it. Taeja is the last surviving member of his race, and he is fighting to stave off extinction. He's battered, dirty and has had to win some ugly games, but so far, he's been able to make it through the swarm of Zergs. He is not your stereotypical hero, but Liquid's ace is the only man who can stop Zerg from winning it's fourth straight GSL title in a row. Hopefully, for his sake, every Terran lends him their power tonight against a very powerful foe, his opponent, Samsung Khan's Roro.
KeSPA's Greatest Assassin
Let's be real here, friends. If Roro goes on to crush Taeja like a lot of people expect, then the finals will be Roro vs. Symbol. An enticing Ro32 match-up, and it might very well be a great Bo7 if it happens, but it would go down as another ZvZ final, probably with the same amount of hype that Sniper and Hyun did back in Las Vegas. It's not that ZvZ is an awful match-up, seeing as it has become much more exciting since the first two years of the game's existence. But with the amount that we've seen lately in the past five months, it's rivaling on overdosing the audience.
Roro was a solid player in Brood War, but nowhere near star status. He ended his career with a record slightly below .500, being a player that would make a name for himself by upsetting players people perceived better than him. Picked on many an anti-team in fantasy Brood War, Roro would continually screw over people who picked against him, getting wins when not expected and sending fantasy teams into a nose dive.
Since moving to StarCraft 2, he's been an entirely new player. No longer is he the guy who surprises people by getting wins against people better than him, but the guy that people are surprised at when he actually loses to less players. He has solidified himself as one of, if not the best, Zerg on the KeSPA side. He is not only Samsung's ace in Proleague, he's one of the few KeSPA players to have two Code S seasons under his belt. There is an argument that maybe Soulkey is better than Roro, but with how well he's playing this tournament, and with a winning percentage of 65%, you'd have a strong argument that Roro is the strongest KeSPA player there is.
In the three Code S seasons KeSPA has participated in, there has been a single KeSPA player to make it to the semifinals all three times. Rain made it the first time, barely missing the finals after a war against Mvp, losing in a classic 3-2 series. Innovation followed suit in Las Vegas, making the semifinals and then losing to Hyun. And after a Terran and Protoss had their shots, it's now time for the KeSPA Zerg to have his chance, going up against Taeja. If the pattern continues to hold true, Taeja will beat Roro and then lose in the finals to Symbol, like the past two players who beat a KeSPA player in the semifinals.
Roro is not the sentimental favorite here. Unlike Taeja and his comrades at EG-TL, he's been actual monster unleashed lately, helping Khan get closer to that coveted playoff spot and playing out of his mind in all competitions. With a 73% win rate against Terran, he has no problem against the race he'll be playing in the semifinals. He did drop two series to MarineKing and Hack in the GSL before, but Roro has improved drastically since, and both of those matches could have gone Roro's way if he didn't mess up.
Many believed that it would be Taeja's Proleague teammate Jaedong, or possibly one of the Woongjin Zergs to be the first Zerg to win a major Korean SC2 championship, but all the cards are lining up for Roro to do it. He's never been in better condition, and he gets to play his best match-up against a wounded player. Once disregarded as a player who simply busted fantasy teams, Roro is on the verge of being KeSPA's first GSL champion and the last in Wings of Liberty history.
Overall thoughts and prediction
Everything points to Roro winning. The Zerg dominance in the last few seasons of Wings of Liberty coupled with Taeja's games this tournament make it seem like this is Roro's series to lose. Taeja did surprise by taking out Soulkey in the last round, but that still came down to a very close fifth map. Roro's strongest match-up is against Terran, and while Taeja was once known for his unbeatable record against Zerg, this is not the same Taeja that everyone thought would become champion in the summer of 2012.
The truth is that most everyone wants a TvZ final. The spectators want a TvZ final. Symbol, the other finalist, wants a TvZ final. Heck, I'm sure even GOM is crossing their fingers of a ZvT final. Through the lifetime of Wings of Liberty and Mokdong studios, Terran and Zerg have dominated. Zerg have five champions and Terran have four. Terrans, with Mvp at the head, were the kings of 2011. Zerg took over in 2012 by the hands of Life, DongRaeGu and Sniper. No offense to Protoss, but a TvZ final to close out Wings of Liberty would be the perfect ending to this chapter in StarCraft 2. Taeja vs. Symbol might not be the Nestea vs. Mvp that people were hoping for, but it would still be the two races that defined this expansion.
But sadly, Roro is too good right now. Zerg is too good. Taeja, if he wasn't having problems with his wrists, could take this series, but the odds are against him. Making it worse, with the new Bo7 format implemented, that means more stress on his wrists, making him possibly have to go through a three hour marathon of games against one of the strongest players in the world.
A TvZ final is what the consensus wants, but this might just be another fantasy that Roro destroys. Maybe if the spirits of Mvp, Nada, Boxer, iloveoov, and Flash all inhabit Taeja's body in tonight's game he has a chance, but that might be asking for too much. Taeja has done amazingly to get to this point through grit and determination, but this very well may be his, and Terran's, final stand.
Taeja must win! Nobody wants to see another ZvZ when there is a chance for a TvZ. Foreign views will probably be cut in half if it's a ZvZ because so many people are getting sick of that crap.
Taeja needs to win this whole GSL, he deserves it, terran deserves it, it's their expansion, they should go out with a bang.
The only good thing about Roro winning would be I could then go to bed early on GSL Finals night because I wouldn't have to stay up watching the boring shit that is ZvZ.
- Might possibly have every Terran on planet Earth helping him prepare for this match
- Craziest Winning Scenario: Goes down 0-3, comes back to win the final four games, and TeamLiquid has to be shut down for a few hours due to to the amount of people that need to be banned from the LR thread.
" Just win. No one will care if it's four straight double proxy rax" lol. Go go Taeja. You got this.
Craziest Winning Scenario: Goes down 0-3, comes back to win the final four games, and TeamLiquid has to be shut down for a few hours due to to the amount of people that need to be banned from the LR thread.
I have good news to every non-zerg in our audience.
I noticed that the preview was written by our good friend Fionn. Now this isn't that I dislike Fionn everything, but he is a cursed man and he picked Roro to win. The only way we can doom Roro more is to have Artosis pick him tonight as well.
But Fionn knows about his curse and knows the world doesn't want a TvZ final, so this leads us to another possibility. Is Fionn picking Roro to win, knowing of his curse, so that Taeja wins so that we get a TvZ final? These are The Real Meta Games of Esports (tm).
GOOOOOOOOOO TAEJA. FOR THE DOMINION, FOR AUIR, FOR EVERYONE WHO'S NOT A ZERG. The power of Boxer compels you, the power of Nada compels you, THE POWER OF MVP COMPELS YOU!
Reveals that his wrists haven't actually been injured for the last few months, and he's actually been wearing twenty pound weights on them to make him stronger. He takes off the wrist bands, unleashes the power of every Terran to ever play in Mokdong, and beats Roro 4-0 to make the finals in stunning fashion.
"Reveals that his wrists haven't actually been injured for the last few months, and he's actually been wearing twenty pound weights on them to make him stronger. He takes off the wrist bands, unleashes the power of every Terran to ever play in Mokdong, and beats Roro 4-0 to make the finals in stunning fashion."
LOL. I can totally see that happening. MAKE IT HAPPEN TAEJA!
Craziest Winning Scenario: Goes down 0-3, comes back to win the final four games, and TeamLiquid has to be shut down for a few hours due to to the amount of people that need to be banned from the LR thread.
Craziest Winning Scenario: Goes down 0-3, comes back to win the final four games, and TeamLiquid has to be shut down for a few hours due to to the amount of people that need to be banned from the LR thread.
Craziest Winning Scenario: Goes down 0-3, comes back to win the final four games, and TeamLiquid has to be shut down for a few hours due to to the amount of people that need to be banned from the LR thread.
Craziest Winning Scenario: Goes down 0-3, comes back to win the final four games, and TeamLiquid has to be shut down for a few hours due to to the amount of people that need to be banned from the LR thread.
Taeja's current win rate vs Z is like 68%. Really annoyed that the write up makes a big deal of Roros zvt but doesn't even mention that Taejas tvz is also his best match up. Look at his history with tvz in the GSL since season 2 of last year he has only last 2 matches in a tvz. One to soulkey and one to life. During that time period he beat DRG 3 times, Leenock 2 times, Violet, Nestea and Soulkey. I realize that some of those are before his injury but when his injury has at most caused him to lose ONE match in tvz (the first series vs soulkey) and he has still had some big wins after the injury it still holds some weight. On top of that his last matches in tvz vs DRG and Soulkey really showed him playing much more like his former self. This will be a much closer series than what some people think.
This prediction has crossed over from realism into cynicism. Not that I can blame the writers after all we've seen. But 4-1 Roro? The facts give Taeja a much better chance than that:
Taeja overcame a heavily favoured zerg opponent in Soulkey last round. Soulkey has a similar zvt and overall skill level to Roro, which is to say, monstrous. Soulkey also had a further advantage in having smashed Taeja 2-0 earlier this GSL.
Taeja's tvz is also monstrous. If he wins this, I think it will be fair to say it's the best in the world. He has a 68% win in korea and 75% abroad. That averages to about 72% which is very close to Roro.
Roro lost to MKP earlier this GSL, which gives Taeja a roadmap to beat Roro. In both games, Roro lost to early timing attacks he wasn't prepared for. If Taeja has taken notes, he can exploit this weakness.
Roro has shown a strong tendency to go for early aggression and all-ins. In the ro32 he 9/10-pooled no less than 3 times. These are easily defended by a savvy terran and can put the zerg far behind.
We've been talking about Taeja's wrists every round but frankly there's no evidence it's been a factor. His APM has stayed well over 300 whenever I've seen it.
I still think Roro is favoured here just because he's a zerg but it's going to very close. I'll give him 4-3 but it's like 55-45...Taeja can definitely take this "upset." And that is not just the fan of e-sports in me talking.
Taeja fighting! He deserves this Code S title, its the Code S that should have been his after the summer of Taeja. I hope that every Terran on the planet WAS giving him whatever he needed to help him win, I think every non-pro terran should be watching him play tonight and pouring the thoughts of every sick marine split, every perfect drop, every crushing 11/11, every super-slick skyterran switch that they've ever achieved and sending it Taejas way because dear god this kid deserves a title and dear god again, the last thing anyone (except roro) wants to see is Symbol vs Roro.
at least Fionn wrote the predictions today (curse, anyone?). Go Taeja :D
Nice prediction, hoping the curse helps us out here ^_^
YES! Fionn predicted Roro 4-1!
TAEJAAAAAAAAAAAAAA :D
Profile # TaeJa needs to go Super Saiyan. Pleaseeee!
Edit: Oh yeah, both Fionn and Artosis think he's going to lose. So... uh... the curse(s) better exist.
I saw the prediction and I smiled, even Fionn is what he can to help esports.
Hopefully the stars align for a TvZ final to send off WoL GSL
*searching for author searching for author* Yes! Combined with Artosis just picking RorO on SotG, eSports shall live!
Did fionn pick roro on purpose 0.o Aw well, Taeja fighting!!!! May the gods (flash, MVP, iloveoov, boxer) be ever in your favour!
You guys do realize that relying on the Fionn CurseTM will trigger the even stronger Fionn AntiCurseTM provided that a critical mass of people (and liquibets) rely on it. This also happens if Fionn tries to ReverseCurseTM someone to victory.
Did fionn pick roro on purpose 0.o Aw well, Taeja fighting!!!! May the gods (flash, MVP, iloveoov, boxer) be ever in your favour!
You guys do realize that relying on the Fionn CurseTM will trigger the even stronger Fionn AntiCurseTM provided that a critical mass of people (and liquibets) rely on it. This also happens if Fionn tries to ReverseCurseTM someone to victory.
lol, i dunno man, that Fionn/Artosis Curse is pretty damn reliable. I don't know if Fionn wrote all the predictions, but TL predictions are 0-5 in the most recent code S matches.
On March 01 2013 15:07 jaebigdong wrote: I can only suspect that Fionn is well aware of his track record in predictions and predicted 4-1 for Roro over Taeja on purpose.
How can you say Taeja will only take 1 game after Taeja has beaten Soulkey and DRG to get here.
At this point, I suspect Fionn just writes whatever the hell he wants because the players are just going to do the opposite of what they say, and what makes sense, anyway.
at least Fionn wrote the predictions today (curse, anyone?). Go Taeja :D
Nice prediction, hoping the curse helps us out here ^_^
YES! Fionn predicted Roro 4-1!
TAEJAAAAAAAAAAAAAA :D
Profile # TaeJa needs to go Super Saiyan. Pleaseeee!
Edit: Oh yeah, both Fionn and Artosis think he's going to lose. So... uh... the curse(s) better exist.
I saw the prediction and I smiled, even Fionn is what he can to help esports.
Hopefully the stars align for a TvZ final to send off WoL GSL
*searching for author searching for author* Yes! Combined with Artosis just picking RorO on SotG, eSports shall live!
Did fionn pick roro on purpose 0.o Aw well, Taeja fighting!!!! May the gods (flash, MVP, iloveoov, boxer) be ever in your favour!
You guys do realize that relying on the Fionn CurseTM will trigger the even stronger Fionn AntiCurseTM provided that a critical mass of people (and liquibets) rely on it. This also happens if Fionn tries to ReverseCurseTM someone to victory.
lol, i dunno man, that Fionn/Artosis Curse is pretty damn reliable. I don't know if Fionn wrote all the predictions, but TL predictions are 0-5 in the most recent code S matches.
On March 01 2013 15:07 jaebigdong wrote: I can only suspect that Fionn is well aware of his track record in predictions and predicted 4-1 for Roro over Taeja on purpose.
How can you say Taeja will only take 1 game after Taeja has beaten Soulkey and DRG to get here.
At this point, I suspect Fionn just writes whatever the hell he wants because the players are just going to do the opposite of what they say, and what makes sense, anyway.
Fionn realizes his curse, he's doing what he can for WoL.
After all, he did lose to MKP earlier in this GSL and let's be honest - MKP played pretty awful this GSL
Adding to this, Roro's most recent ZvT wins come against MVP, who was arguably playing even worse than MKP and a 1 game win against Flash on Akilon Flats.
No one will care if it's four straight double proxy rax. It can be the ugliest, cheesiest, and most underhanded strategies ever performed, and it would still be okay if he can pull out a win.
This is so true that it hurts...it genuinely sums up the state of the TvZ for the end of wings of liberty.
I think I can speak for every human right in their mind that we all want Taeja to win. He's been my inspiration to switch to Terran and has the potential to follow Mvp's legacy of winning a GSL despite having injured wrists. Head says Roro, but heart screams Taeja! TAEJA HWAITING~
best of 7 makes it impossible for Teaja. roro has 73%win vs. terran, there more games, the less chance of winning for T... Too bad, he could have done it in a best of 5 i think Imba Z 8) As i t comes down, P was the only race that never had a IMBA perriod in Wol... lets hope the time of IMBA determening the results have come to pass.... really doubt it though... 8)
On March 01 2013 16:02 sebvolc wrote: best of 7 makes it impossible for Teaja. roro has 73%win vs. terran, there more games, the less chance of winning for T... Too bad, he could have done it in a best of 5 i think Imba Z 8) As i t comes down, P was the only race that never had a IMBA perriod in Wol... lets hope the time of IMBA determening the results have come to pass.... really doubt it though... 8)
You do realize Taeja has a 68% win rate vs zerg. So the difference is extremely minimal. Taeja has way more games though so his is a much more accurate win rate. On top of that statistical analysis says that Taeja is actually a heavy favorite. http://aligulac.com/predict/match/?bo=7&ps=6,80 Also that analysis has Taeja has the best Zerg Sniper right now.
I feel like people are really under hyping Taeja because of his wrists even though we really haven't seen it affect his play all that much if at all.
Taeja, I believe in you. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Khan fan and all and I even somewhat enjoy ZvZ but for the love of esports please Taeja... PLEASE DO THIS!
On March 01 2013 16:02 sebvolc wrote: best of 7 makes it impossible for Teaja. roro has 73%win vs. terran, there more games, the less chance of winning for T... Too bad, he could have done it in a best of 5 i think Imba Z 8) As i t comes down, P was the only race that never had a IMBA perriod in Wol... lets hope the time of IMBA determening the results have come to pass.... really doubt it though... 8)
You do realize Taeja has a 68% win rate vs zerg. So the difference is extremely minimal. Taeja has way more games though so his is a much more accurate win rate. On top of that statistical analysis says that Taeja is actually a heavy favorite. http://aligulac.com/predict/match/?bo=7&ps=6,80 Also that analysis has Taeja has the best Zerg Sniper right now.
I feel like people are really under hyping Taeja because of his wrists even though we really haven't seen it affect his play all that much if at all.
That site is amazing. I have hope for Taeja now (I didn't want to look and see how brutal is was going to be for Taeja). I think everyone is saying Taeja will lose, because it is their greatest fear. I fear that he will lose, and I'm so worried he will. Last GSL finals was the worst finals I have ever seen, I don't know if I'll even watch them this time if Taeja isn't there.
On March 01 2013 16:02 sebvolc wrote: best of 7 makes it impossible for Teaja. roro has 73%win vs. terran, there more games, the less chance of winning for T... Too bad, he could have done it in a best of 5 i think Imba Z 8) As i t comes down, P was the only race that never had a IMBA perriod in Wol... lets hope the time of IMBA determening the results have come to pass.... really doubt it though... 8)
You do realize Taeja has a 68% win rate vs zerg. So the difference is extremely minimal. Taeja has way more games though so his is a much more accurate win rate. On top of that statistical analysis says that Taeja is actually a heavy favorite. http://aligulac.com/predict/match/?bo=7&ps=6,80 Also that analysis has Taeja has the best Zerg Sniper right now.
I feel like people are really under hyping Taeja because of his wrists even though we really haven't seen it affect his play all that much if at all.
It makes also a lot more games available for RorO to watch and prepare, which isn't a good thing for Taeja, knowing how good KeSPA players can be at preparing.
I am going to be honest, if Taeja loses, I am going to scream on the LR thread things along the line of "fuck this piece of shit game" and hope to be banned so that at least we will laugh a bit before a dreaded ZvZ final
Since Fionn wrote this, i assume he means well, lol.
tbh, statistically Taeja has the best WoL vZ ever. Taeja is the Mvp of his time. If he can take this, he will be regarded as the next Mvp - broken wrists, but still mind game the shit outta his opponents. And Fionn's right, but i don't think it's just Terran that will help him out. I bet even Symbol and Life are gonna help him out on this one. This is the perennial Kespa v. eSF match. No one on the eSF is gonna risk a Kespa v. eSF finals. + all them TvZ experts. Even BoxeR might give a helping hand to his former trainee. I think he's gonna win, but Taeja 4-3.
Well, well. Fionn breaking his curse in style, with a perfect score.
Everyone says imba imba imba (such as another infamous Terran GSL semifinalist), and there is of course some truth there, but the facts of the matter are Roro was just the better player tonight, regardless of balance. He came with good builds ready and Taeja couldn't hold them. He won with lings, banes, and roaches, not infestors or BL's.
If you look at who's in the finals now, they share a commonality, they're both players that weren't fancied against more famous opponents, but who outthought and outfoxed them by being prepared the best, scouting their opponent's weaknesses well, and coming ready with a strong repertoire of builds and unpredictable gameplay.
Everyone's groaning about another zvz finals, but at least both players have shown they deserve to be here and judging by the games they've shown this GSL, they're both going to come ready with some unpredictable builds, a high level of skill, and hopefully will make this as exciting a zvz as you are going to get.
On March 01 2013 20:10 Evil_Sheep wrote: Well, well. Fionn breaking his curse in style, with a perfect score.
Everyone says imba imba imba (such as another infamous Terran GSL semifinalist), and there is of course some truth there, but the facts of the matter are Roro was just the better player tonight, regardless of balance. He came with good builds ready and Taeja couldn't hold them. He won with lings, banes, and roaches, not infestors or BL's.
If you look at who's in the finals now, they share a commonality, they're both players that weren't fancied against more famous opponents, but who outthought and outfoxed them by being prepared the best, scouting their opponent's weaknesses well, and coming ready with a strong repertoire of builds and unpredictable gameplay.
Everyone's groaning about another zvz finals, but at least both players have shown they deserve to be here and judging by the games they've shown this GSL, they're both going to come ready with some unpredictable builds, a high level of skill, and hopefully will make this as exciting a zvz as you are going to get.
They both deserve to be there because they cheesed and all inned their Terran opponents? That is such a double standard that it's hilarious. When Terrans were doing that, people cried imbalanced, the builds were nerfed, and Terrans were called no skill noobs.
When Zergs do it, it's genius builds, genius reading of their opponents, and people consider it "innovative." It seems like Wings of Liberty really did a 180 since its release.
On March 01 2013 20:10 Evil_Sheep wrote: Well, well. Fionn breaking his curse in style, with a perfect score.
Everyone says imba imba imba (such as another infamous Terran GSL semifinalist), and there is of course some truth there, but the facts of the matter are Roro was just the better player tonight, regardless of balance. He came with good builds ready and Taeja couldn't hold them. He won with lings, banes, and roaches, not infestors or BL's.
If you look at who's in the finals now, they share a commonality, they're both players that weren't fancied against more famous opponents, but who outthought and outfoxed them by being prepared the best, scouting their opponent's weaknesses well, and coming ready with a strong repertoire of builds and unpredictable gameplay.
Everyone's groaning about another zvz finals, but at least both players have shown they deserve to be here and judging by the games they've shown this GSL, they're both going to come ready with some unpredictable builds, a high level of skill, and hopefully will make this as exciting a zvz as you are going to get.
They both deserve to be there because they cheesed and all inned their Terran opponents? That is such a double standard that it's hilarious. When Terrans were doing that, people cried imbalanced, the builds were nerfed, and Terrans were called no skill noobs.
When Zergs do it, it's genius builds, genius reading of their opponents, and people consider it "innovative." It seems like Wings of Liberty really did a 180 since its release.
well whenever a terran successfully 2raxes a zerg, it's pretty celebrated :D hehe
So hope Taeja takes it. I did not renew my GomTv subscription this time around, or watch many tournaments, due to all the ZvZ crap that we have been seeing lately. It would be nice to see a more balanced spread of wins - I fear HoTS may be mostly Protoss wins.
Its been said, I'll say it again ZvZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I guess go symbol? These kespa guys are so mechanically impressive and so intellectually boring its hard to get behind any of them except for the legends, even then... I guess I'm saying that symbol busted his ass and broke some new territory to get through curious and all Roro did was have probably have his entire team look over every inch of Taeja gameplay and tell him whats optimal. I know thats how they roll over there but it doesn't leave much room for respect beyond, God Damn the top players in Kespa have fast fingers...
On March 01 2013 14:56 Evil_Sheep wrote: This prediction has crossed over from realism into cynicism. Not that I can blame the writers after all we've seen. But 4-1 Roro? The facts give Taeja a much better chance than that:
Taeja overcame a heavily favoured zerg opponent in Soulkey last round. Soulkey has a similar zvt and overall skill level to Roro, which is to say, monstrous. Soulkey also had a further advantage in having smashed Taeja 2-0 earlier this GSL.
Taeja's tvz is also monstrous. If he wins this, I think it will be fair to say it's the best in the world. He has a 68% win in korea and 75% abroad. That averages to about 72% which is very close to Roro.
Roro lost to MKP earlier this GSL, which gives Taeja a roadmap to beat Roro. In both games, Roro lost to early timing attacks he wasn't prepared for. If Taeja has taken notes, he can exploit this weakness.
Roro has shown a strong tendency to go for early aggression and all-ins. In the ro32 he 9/10-pooled no less than 3 times. These are easily defended by a savvy terran and can put the zerg far behind.
We've been talking about Taeja's wrists every round but frankly there's no evidence it's been a factor. His APM has stayed well over 300 whenever I've seen it.
I still think Roro is favoured here just because he's a zerg but it's going to very close. I'll give him 4-3 but it's like 55-45...Taeja can definitely take this "upset." And that is not just the fan of e-sports in me talking.
EPT
Azubu_Symbol vs ![[image loading]](/staff/heyoka/gsl/TaeJaRorOHeader.jpg)
Liquid`TaeJa
