MLG Spring Championship

Three is the Magic Number
Polt completes the Triple Crown

The Other Tales of Anaheim

Brackets and results at Liquipedia

VODs on Youtube

by Fionn

With less than stellar results at WCS America and Dreamhack: Stockholm following after he left the Korean team-house environment in favor of university life at UT Austin, it looked like CMStorm_Polt's time as a championship contender was finally over. While Polt was still one of the smartest players in the world with top class class micro to boot, the outside factors seemed overwhelming. KeSPA players were reaching their potential, GSL old timers were slipping down the totem poll or retiring, and the soon to be 24 year-old Polt seemed to be headed toward the valley where many a great player go to rest after their time at the top has ended.


Such assumptions couldn't have been further from the truth. At MLG Anahiem, Polt didn't seem anything like a washed-up part timer, but instead looked every bit the cunning and decisive player he had been in his championship days. With a thrilling 3 - 2 victory over former TSL teammate Quantic.HyuN, Polt won the MLG Spring Championship, and also the fourth ever StarCraft II player to win a major tournament in Korea, Europe, and North America. That put him in very exclusive company, alongside only MMA, Life and Mvp. Not just that, but the first place prize of $10,000 pushed Polt past MarineKing to take second place in all-time prize winnings for Terran players.

An Easy Start, then NaNiwa

Starting out the open bracket tournament, Polt had a few easy rounds against foreigners, including a 2 - 0 victory over EG's new signing, the fifteen-year-old Xenocider. Staying on course, Polt faced his first big test in the fourth round, matching up with another EG member in the form of Suppy. Faltering for the first time in the tournament, Polt dropped the second map, putting him one loss away suffering his third open bracket loss to an American Zerg, having already lost to Mill.Goswser and Liquid`Sheth in previous MLGs. However, a few hellions slipping by Suppy's defenses was all Polt needed to clinch the game in the third set, avoiding another perilous trip to the losers' bracket and allowing him to enter the final bracket from the winners' side for the very first time.

In the winners' quarter-final on day two of the tournament, Polt faced Alliance.NaNiwa, the last foreigner remaining in the winner's bracket. While Polt entered as the favorite due to his historically strong TvP and Naniwa's continuous mentions of his PvT being weak, it was a dangerous match for Polt nonetheless. Naniwa was a famously streaky player with a history of strong performances at marathon LANs, only falling to Leenock in the finals of the previous DH: Stockholm. Polt had played in that tournament as well, not even making it to the Ro16 before getting eliminated by foreign Protosses Grubby and HuK.

There would be no upset, as Polt emerged victorious in his match with Naniwa, capitalizing on a failed immortal bust in the first game and following it up with an equally impressive victory on the second map, advancing to the semifinals of winners side. Dropping manner mules and giving a thumbs down to Naniwa, the disappointment from early eliminations in WCS and at Dreamhack were slowly washing away. Still, having not faced a Korean in the competition, Polt still had much to prove if he was to be considered a championship contender.

Oh Dear, NaNiwa again

It didn't take long for Polt to offer up that proof, as his next match was an emphatic victory against key STX Soul player Dear. Taking a dominating first set with great positioning and drop play, he followed that up in game two with a strategy that revolved around building six hellbats at a time, walking in a straight line to Dear's natural and continuing to rally in troops until everything had been incinerated by the bats out of hell. There couldn't have been any clearer confirmation that Polt was still on his game as he headed into the day three of the tournament.

Making it to the top four of a tournament for the first time since NASL of last year, Polt was dealt a return match against NaNiwa with a ticket to the grand finals on the line. Having ended his previous match with manner mules and some vigorous thumbs downs, fans eagerly awaited to see how the situation might escalate when the two faced off once more with so much on the line. While Polt took a more diplomatic stance in the interviews prior to their second meeting, Naniwa was as unfiltered as always, asking why Polt had to be "such a bitch" and setting the tone for the series.


Polt began the Bo7 with a 2 - 0 extended series advantage, but Naniwa was able to take one map in impressive fashion, taking advantage of Polt's decision to sacrifice to units to snipe a nexus by launching a massive counter-attack that slaughtered Polt's weakened army. Fortunately for Polt, he was able to take the next two maps as Naniwa seemed off of his game, making errors ranging from small positioning errors to crucial colossus giveaways while performing a colossus all-in. With the 4 - 1 series victory in hand, Polt gave an interview, waved the American flag, and headed to the finals.

The Finals: TSL Reunion

In his first major final since ThorZain used Swedish magic to beat him at last year's Dreamhack: Stockholm, Polt faced off against close friend and former teammate Quantic.HyuN in a Team SCV Life reunion grand finals. Hyun, while having one more loss than Polt did the entire tournament, was entering the final as the favorite, having dominated the WCS American champion and EG-TL ace Liquid`HerO in the semi-finals, taking a 4 - 1 win in an extended Bo7 series. With his hit list consisting of ST_Sound, Starleague players ROOT.YugiOh and SKT_soO, and then HerO on top of that, Hyun undoubtedly had the harder path to the finals, impressively winning in all of his match-ups.

The best-of-five finals themselves ended up being a rough and tumble brawl, starting with a classic match on Akilon Wastes to begin. Both players were on point as the game headed to the late-game, keeping up with their macro and engaging in fights all over the map. With mass spore crawlers covering his bases, HyuN sealed off Polt's attempts to harass and put himself in a position to overwhelm Polt with head-on, brute force.


Hyun seemed to be on the verge of victory, marching across the map with an ultimate ground army of ultras, transfusing queens, and infestors. The timing looked dangerous, coming just before Polt could completely switch to an air Terran army. Plowing through a massive minefield, Hyun was able to get into the Terran natural and up the ramp into the main. However, two seeker missiles wiped out the infestor force of Hyun, giving him no way to combat the growing air force. Slowly killing off the ultras with the attacks of the battlecruisers, Polt was able to clean up the Zerg force and emerge with an invincible force dominating both the air and the ground. With yamato cannons zapping everything in sight, HyuN surrendered the game and braced himself for the rest of the series.

The next two games saw both players hit successful timing attacks to win a game a piece. Massing up roaches and banes on the second map, Hyun caught Polt moving his army across the map and crushed him with an overflowing amount of units, destroying his army, third base, and then the natural before Polt finally tapped out. Game three was one of the strangest of the tournament and possibly the year, as Polt banked up 2,000 minerals before investing it into a mass hellbat timing attack backed by siege tanks and marauders. With no air threat to take out the core units of Polt's army, it was game over when he pushed across the map, burning through everything Hyun threw at him. That put Polt at a 2 - 1 advantage, and one game away from winning his first championship in over a year.

The fourth game of the series was one that would have haunted Polt if he had lost the championship, as he went up early with good drops and a snipe on HyuN's third base. Building up a tank army to thwart Hyun's usual composition of roaches and banelings, Polt unwisely marched out of his base with what he thought was the superior army. While he might have been right, he was caught completely out of position out by Hyun's roach and baneling army, having his tanks picked off before they could siege up. Even though HyuN had committed a major error by forgetting baneling speed, Polt's error in positioning more than cancelled it out. With only bio left, Polt was unable to hold against even slow moving banelings and surrendered the series tying point.

The score tied 2 - 2, the expectation were high for an epic, fifth and final match to decide who would walk out the Spring champion. Well, while Polt had provided plenty of entertainment in and outside the game, he couldn't deliver on every point. He made some hellions and reapers, found a hole in Hyun's wall, and then killed off 25+ workers. That move effectively won the game for Polt, and he powered up on economy and production while easily denying HyuN's attempts to even take a third base. Using mines to control his space, drops to smash expansions, and finally a strong push into the natural and main, Polt captured his long sought for MLG championship, and his first one in America.

The Meaning of Three

Not only did Polt finish his three-continent grand slam, but it was also his third championship on his third different team—something that only HuK has done in his career—having won the Super Tournament on Prime, Assembly Winter on TSL, and now the MLG Spring Championship on CMStorm. Additionally this is the third consecutive year where Polt has won a major championship, as he's been hoisting trophies since the Super Tournament in 2011.

Now, with a major title under his belt in 2013, Polt will enter WCS America Season II as one of the big favorites to take the entire tournament. On summer vacation from his courses at the University of Texas, Polt can be expected to be at the same level he was at MLG when he plays in the upcoming WCS tournament. For one of the greatest players in StarCraft II history, there will be no stopping.

Writers: Fionn
Graphics: MLG
Editor: Waxangel.