by Zealously

Days since Woongjin Stars' last title: 2,142 (GGPlay, Daum OSL)

Soukey's road to the finals: 2-1 Maru, 0-2 Flash, 2-1 Maru, 2-0 Yoda, 2-0 Flying, 3-2 Parting, 4-3 sOs

What's on the line: The honor of the Zerg race, the hopes and dreams of Woongjin Stars, and the ever-elusive title of "best player in the world."


History Lesson: Terran is Cruel

The Zerg race appeared to maintain its dominance in StarCraft II after the release of HotS as Life won MLG and Leenock won Dreamhack. However, Korea has recently become an increasingly perilous place for the members of the Swarm. This is mostly due to the feats of just one, incredibly dangerous player: STX SouL's INnoVation. Every Zerg who once put the fear of the swarm into the hearts of men has been crushed under his boot heel. Jaedong, Leenock, effOrt, HyuN, Symbol, Life, and RorO: all terminated with extreme prejudice. Only Symbol's unorthodox, hyper-aggressive play managed to even take maps off Innovation in the GSL. Who can stop this xenophobic madman?

Outside the GSL, only one Zerg has managed to stand up to Innovation's reign of TvZ terror. That Zerg is Woongjin Stars' Soulkey. First garnering attention in 2010 with an impressive Dream League (the 'minor league' for Proleague) record, Soulkey was heralded as the next in a long line of great Zergs. However, he just didn't have the time to live up to his potential in Brood War, unable to step out of the shadow of his more accomplished teammate/rival ZerO whose 2011 ABC Mart MSL silver dwarfed any of Soulkey's achievements.

Now, having attained great power in StarCraft II, Soulkey can look back at ZerO's second place finish in Brood War and feel a strange sense of déjà vu. As ZerO headed into the MSL finals against Flash two years ago, StarCraft fans were cautiously optimistic about the Woongjin Zerg's chances. Flash was the master of macro and unmatched in long games, but of all the Zergs in the world, ZerO looked like the one who might beat Flash at his own game.

Alas, Flash is now known as God, and compared to that, ZerO is... zero. The Ultimate Weapon utterly demolished ZerO in a completely one-sided 3-0 stomping, and ZerO never made another finals after that. Having seen his teammate reduced to rubble by a heartless Terran machine, Soulkey knows the horrors that might await him. Can Soulkey stop history from repeating itself?

There is some reason to be optimistic. Soulkey has proven himself capable of fighting on even ground with his opponent, as he took a win against Innovation some weeks ago in the Proleague, in a prolonged macro game setting both players prefer. Utilizing banelings and backdoor attacks to great effect, Soulkey was able to keep the economy of an unsuspecting Innovation under control, and eventually wrung a GG out of his tenacious opponent.

In the Proleague rematch just a few days ago, Innovation struck back and took the win in another close game, putting their head-to-head record in HotS at 1-1. Innovation made some adjustments, didn't take too much damage from Soulkey's attacks on his economy, and wore him down with his trademark stream of marines, mines, and medivacs. On the back of those games, the two look evenly matched and fairly comfortable against the other's style in both games. Of all the Zergs in the world, Soulkey looks like the one who could be called Innovation's equal, with a real chance of beating him in a best of seven series.

Or maybe that's just fool's gold. ZerO, too, played one incredible game against Flash leading up to the MSL finals, giving fans hope that God could be beat at his own game. As the ending 0 - 3 scoreline showed, what happens in Proleague doesn't always matter come the finals.


Styles Make Fights

But until hope is disproved, stifled, and utterly snuffed out, we must entertain the possibility that Soulkey will win. As he seeks to solve the puzzle that is Innovation, he will have to think about the best way to approach the match.

Innovation's playstyle revolves around heavy harassment and intense aggression, growing ever more deadly as the game goes on. For every base you take, Innovation has a drop ready, and for every attack stopped, there is another wave coming. Life, Soulkey, and Symbol all had single games where they looked like they were just as fast as Innovation, able to match his constant aggression as they built up their economies... ...but only for around sixteen minutes. Things fell apart almost instantly as they tried to transition to hive, with the smallest break in unit production, the slightest investment in anything outside the hyper-mobile muta-ling-bane allowing Innovation to start knocking the dominoes down.



Although Soulkey's macro play and multitasking on defense is stellar and matched perhaps only by one or two other Zergs, his most potent weapon is not his speed, his defense, nor his ability to play a straight-up game with Innovation. No, Soulkey's answer doesn't lie in playing for late-game, but in the phases before that. There, intelligent builds, lethal backstabs and great ling control can give Soulkey the edge.

Symbol, arguably a weaker player than Soulkey in more or less every aspect except creativity, was able to take two games off Innovation in the semis with roach-bane and ling-bane busts that simply killed Innovation off before he could get his desired three-base economy going. Soulkey and his teammates have no doubt analyzed what Symbol did right and what he did wrong, and we should expect nothing less one very well-executed all-in at the minimum. Cheese and aggression are already staples of best of seven series, but they are also the best options Soulkey has for stopping Innovation from getting away with his Flash-level greed.

While the Woongjin Zerg should no doubt mix in greedy plays to vary things up—and as a championship class player, he will certainly be confident enough to try and fight fire with fire in at least a couple of games—he has to make sure he remains the aggressor. Soulkey might be nicknamed the "Iron Wall" in Korea, and he may show a strong preference for macro play in most of his games—but this is not the match to fall on familiar habits. Once he's forced on the defensive by Innovation, it will become nearly impossible to break out onto the map and fight back. In the blink of an eye, there'll be marauders in his base, mines unaccounted for, and marines scouring the map for hidden bases.

Barring a veritable ZvT revolution brought about by the great minds at Woongjin Stars, this is the reality for Soulkey. If he knows where his opportunities lie and abuses Innovation's greed and apparent early-game weakness, this GSL is Soulkey's for the taking. He has shown that he has what it takes by being one of the anchors on the most dominant team in Proleague. He has shown that he has what it takes by reaching the playoff rounds three seasons in a row against brutal opposition. He has shown it in his gameplay, by being one of the most impressive players of the winningest race in GSL history.

In 2011, a Woongjin Zerg faced off against a near-perfect Terran with all the hype in the world behind him. The Zerg fell woefully short, unable to match the overpowering might of The Man Called God. However, history doesn't have to be a portent for Soulkey—it can be the foundation upon which he builds his legacy. He knows everything he needs to know, he has learned all his lessons, and he has all the tools he needs to beat Innovation. The past can't be re-written for Woongjing Stars, but the future is here for the taking.

by stuchiu

Days since STX Soul’s last title: 1,030 (Calm, Avalon MSL)

Road to the finals: 1-2 Rain, 2-0 Hyun, 2-0 Rain, 2-1 Flash, 2-0 Life, 3-0 Roro, 4-2 Symbol

What’s on the line: Reclaiming the GSL title for the Terran, the utter destruction of Zerg, and the fulfillment of MajOr's prophecy.


"The Terran Kingdom had become fully infested. The likes of Life and Roro defiled the throne that once belonged to Mvp, and his castles were laid to waste by Leenock and Soulkey. No corner of the realm was left untainted, not even MKP’s silver stool which was taken by the tunneler, Symbol. But from the ashes of defeat rose a champion to bring a new dawn. Reborn under the waters of Yongsan and anointed on the Korean ladder, Bogus became Innovation.

And before he descended upon the studios of Gangnam, he gave his last sermon. ‘Warn them. Warn them all to flee now, for not a Zerg shall survive my fury. If they surrender, they may leave in peace to the lands of Europe and America. If they stay, I will have no mercy.

'Widow mines will split open the earth, releasing the fiery bats of hell. The skies will grow black with the shadows of the medivacs, and they shall see no light but the harsh exhaust of afterburners. Mules will rain from the heavens, and they shall be deafened by the sound of concussive shells. The GSL will be cleansed of the Zerg, and the Terran will reign supreme once more.' And I wept, for I knew his words to be true."



So it was said and so it has come to pass. It has been 19 months since we had a new Terran finalist. It has been 13 months since Mvp won the last GSL for Terran. It has been 8 months since a Terran was even in the finals of GSL. Since then, Zergs have gone on a rampage and the Terran race has been looking for a new hero to save them from their oppression. But who was left that could stand up to the Zerg menace? Mvp was slain by Life and was exiled to Europe. Taeja’s wrists were too injured to carry the burden. The OSL Champions Flash and Fantasy did not yet have the strength in this new world. No, it fell upon to INnoVation, the unlikeliest of heroes. There was nothing particularly interesting about him or his history. Just another good Terran player from one of the less popular Kespa teams. It was easy to overlook him in favor of the champions like Flash, Bisu, Stork and Jaedong. But step by step, game by game, it became clear. They are the past and Innovation is the future.

There were eight other players who stood above all the rest before this season started: Flash, Parting, Rain, Life, Symbol, Roro, Soulkey, and Leenock. Innovation's path has included 5 of them: Rain, Flash, Life, Roro, and Symbol. Never has a path to the GSL finals looked so hard, and been walked so easily. RorO was the defending champion. Symbol was the paragon of consistency. Rain was the world’s strongest macro Protoss. Flash was the living legend of Brood War. Life was the Prodigy that won his first GSL at 15, and took five tournaments in under five months. They are all lying broken in the dust.

Rain gave Innovation a scratch in the Ro32, but Innovation easily rallied and crushed Rain in the rematch to eliminate the SKT ace to move onto the Ro16. The Ro16's Group B, the group of death, ended up being Group Bogus as he mangled both Life and Flash and crushed their dreams. He drubbed both finalists from the last GSL, RorO and Symbol, on his way to the finals, barely breaking a sweat. Only 3 players are left on that list: Leenock, Parting and Soulkey. Innovation butchered Leenock at MLG before the season started. Parting... well you can't have 'em all. Now, Soulkey awaits in the finals. We often call the GSL champion the best player in the world, on the merit of winning the best tournament in the world, not necessarily beating the best players. If Innovation beats Soulkey on Saturday, he will be the #1 player because he ran over numbers two through seven with a steamroller.


Innovation is now 21 - 3 in TvZ. Only two players have even dented him. Symbol took advantage of the only weakness he could find, and used some desperate all-ins to catch Innovation off guard and stole two games. But only Soulkey has gone for blow for blow with Innovation’s speed and multitasking and won. In their two Proleague meetings, Soulkey took the first game in a tightly contested firefight on Whirlwind by out multi-tasking Innovation on both offense and defense. he second time they met it became an even larger brawl as Innovation and Soulkey once more took the game long as they fought on all fronts. That time Innovation proved to be the better player, with Soulkey flinching first. That was all Innovation needed to force the game to snowball out of control, cleaning up Soulkey in a matter of minutes.

It's true that Innovation does not have a gravitas of a Flash, the charisma of a Bisu or the outward intensity of Jaedong. However, he doesn't need any of that. Gameplay speak louder than any words. He came into SC2 with raw strength, a bull in a China shop running roughshod over his competition in Code A. Since then, he has smoothed out roughness, refined his mechanics, honed his instincts and he has become a well oiled war machine. Constantly producing, constantly marching, constantly attacking, dominating every corner of the map. There has never been a weapon more optimized for beating Zerg. Now Innovation stands alone at the top for the Terran race just as Soulkey stands at the top for Zerg. Between the heavens and earth, only Innovation and Soulkey are left, but only one can remain standing come Saturday.