EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Sigrun/GOM_Finals.jpg)
It's time...
banner by Sigrun
Four months ago there were two players who were on top of the Starcraft world. The only players who stood a remote chance against them were each other. Each time they clashed lances the result was cataclysmic. Their story started in the MSL, where the great Lee Jae Dong defeated the younger Lee Young Ho 3-1. Their battles would not end with a single confrontation; their rivalry was far too epic for the likes of that to happen. The day after the MSL quarter-final the two fought in the OSL quarter-final; where Lee Young Ho took the victory 2-1. Then three days after the conclusion of the OSL quarter-final they were at it again in the GSI - where Lee Young Ho once against walked away with a 2-1 victory.
After three intense bouts the score was Flash 2-1 up over Jaedong in terms of series victories. However, the two were locked at 5-5 overall. The fans debated, roared and wrote articles arguing that one was greater than the other. That Flash was better than Jaedong, that Jaedong was better than Flash. After falling to the OSL curse, Flash fought to keep himself together in the MSL to fight his bitter rival in the finals - but was stopped short by the monster ForGG. Jaedong too fell to ForGG, and the fans were left disappointed and wanting more.
Neither Jaedong or Flash is playing at their prime anymore. 'power overwhelming' is off and the two can take mortal shots at each other and determine a true champion between them. With the Jaedong-Flash rivalry defining the first part of 2008, this is the new Boxer-Yellow which should draw ridiculously sized crowds with the promise of being one of the best finals in a very long time.
GOMTV present to you the final that you've been dreaming of for months.
This is; Flash vs Jaedong
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/GomTV_Classic/GOMPoster.png)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Plexa/JDFlash2.png)
While measuring ELO ratings across generations of Starcraft gamers often leads to confusing results, comparing the ELO rating of both Flash and Jaedong yields interesting results. Marked on the graph are the approximate positions of the EVER 2007 OSL final, Jaedong vs Flash from the MSL and Jaedong vs Flash from the OSL. Both gamers have an incredibly high elo which shows just how strong each of these gamers are; but the interesting thing is that Jaedong spiked as Flash was climbing, and then fell into a lull while Flash rocketed to the top. Following June both players obviously suffered a decline in winrate. Flash struggled in the MSL, dropping numerous games to ForGG and Lomo as well as rookies like Hero in the Proleauge. While Jaedong took a huge blow from ForGG in the MSL finals after he looked like he could come back and put god mode back on.
The Power Rank also reflects the fact that both of these gamers are incredibly talented. Even through Steves harshest criticisms, Jaedong still reigns strong in at number 2 and Flash assumes position number 3. KeSPA reflects another #1 vs #2 match. The bottom line is that both of these gamers are so ridiculously talented that they make the vast majority of their opponents looks like scrubs in floundering in the water. Despite the recent decline of both gamers as indicated by the graph, Jaedong reigns as #1 elo currently while Flash brings up #2.
The GOMTV Classic final is a clash between the two greatest gamers of 2008 and a dream final in every possible way. This is the clash of two gods of Starcraft - and there is no possible way that this final will fail to live up to expectations. With both gamers eager to show that their recent falter is nothing more than an anomaly in their otherwise perfect reign - this series will decide which of the two will go the distance and become the most dominant figure in Starcraft for the half-year.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Plexa/img_mainlogo.gif)
With the help of lilsusie, Gretech have given Teamliquid this announcement regarding the final:
The Averatech-Intel Classic finals are finally coming up this Sunday and it is one of the most anticipated matches of the year because of the finalists:
Jaedong and 
Flash.As we all know, Flash and Jaedong are the top 2 Kespa ranked players. With Flash’s win percentage at 66.8% and Jaedong’s at 67.5%, they will finally meet at the Averatec-Intel Classic finals to prove who the best Starcraft Player truly is. The Korean fans have nicknamed this final as the “LissangDaechup" which means “The Two Mr.Lee’s big match” in Korean.
Now, while Flash is a little bit better at head-to-head matches, Jaedong can still boast about how he had won against Flash at a best-of-five, which is going to be the same format as the Averatec-Intel Classic finals. It's going to be a close call and hard to say who will win the game.
At the beginning of this year, Flash proved to be an amazing talent by winning the GOMTV Star Invitational and received prize money of $20,000. If he wins Sunday’s match, he will receive yet another $70,000 from GOMTV as his prize. His performance at GOMTV has always been top-notch so now the question is: Can Flash win this GOMTV Starcraft Classic Final and bring home the prize again? Or will Jaedong repossess his pride from Flash and reclaim his #1 Ranking position?
Flash stated, “I was unsatisfied in the first half of this year. However, I just got a great chance now because of the GOMTV finals. I’m also excited that I can have matches against Jaedong who I really wanted to meet at the finals and we can show an even performance” to which Jaedong replied, “I will win the GOMTV finals against Flash, who is one of best, to overcome my latest failures to win in the Proleague, and to maintain Kespa’s #1 rank as the player with the most-wins".
This is definitely a match you can't miss! The Averatech-Intel Classic finals will be live-broadcasted at KST (GMT+9) 18:00, Sunday, August 10 by our very own Nick "Tasteless" Plott. You can also enjoy the show at Sindorim Technomart for free. GOMTV will also live-broadcast for a day on Saturday, Aug. 9, a day before the finals, with highlights of the Averatech-Intel Classic 2008 season 1, and special VODs of Flash & Jaedong.
In addition, for those of you who want to try imitating Tasteless or discover your underlying talent in casting, GOMTV is offering clean sources of the previous matches. Mind you, this is still in production so it might be buggy, but give it a shot.
http://www.gomtv.net/cast/
- Gretech
If you think you've got what it takes to cast the finals; check out the casting facilities offered by GOM and let the public adore you. There will be even greater information about this unique and wonderful service very soon so stay tuned for that. For all the information you could ever want about GOMCast check out this thread.
The folks over at GOM raised an interesting point: "It's going to be a close call and hard to say who will win the game." So, without further interruptions let's try sort out this matchup and see which of the two players will walk away with the title...
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/Ticon_small.gif)
![[image loading]](http://teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/Zicon_small.gif)
Despite highly suspect balance of TvZ here, Blue Storm is an excellent map to open the series with. Indeed, Blue Storm is the oldest map in the map pool and has been around for at least 3 seasons now (thats a full year) which means this map has become formulaic and predictable. A predictable map in the finals between two brilliant players makes for extraordinary games. There are two options really, if Flash decides that Zerg is too strong on this map, he can cheese game one and the map will be more than happy to accommodate this choice. On the other hand he could pursue a macro game and attempt to take it to Jaedong.
Jaedong on the other hand is a monster on this map, and in many ways has defined some of the greatest moments of his career. Jaedong has a few options, he could try for a two hatch mutalisk (unlikely) or he could try and play it nice and standard. The latter is most definitely the most likely choice. As with most games on this map, I expect Jaedong to get a fast hive and abuse his defiler control to the limit and run around the map destroy Flash wherever he may tread.
It's within the capacity of Both gamers to take this map, but ultimately there must be a winner. Jaedong has everything going for him - experience, style and is probably in the better shape too. Flash on the other hand has to fight the balance and try to overcome Jaedong - a tough task even for ForGG. Honestly, the first set will likely go to Jaedong and hence will take the 1-0 advantage and move onto.. less friendly territory...
Once the battle departs from Blue Storm, things start to get worse for the Swarm and the balance rapidly deteriorates. Flash should be pleased that the following maps are in his favor, and indeed Othello has a strong Terran record against Zerg which is just what Flash will need if he is 0-1 down. That being said, Othello is not unplayable as Zerg - there have been many strong victories here. For instance, Jaedong vs Hwasin here is an example of how Jaedong can transcend balance and dominate regardless of the statistics.
GOM has dealt Flash an 'alleviate the symptoms' card in giving him Othello. If Flash takes the map, as he should, then we've got an epic series on our hands. Else I expect Jaedong to be the far superior opponent and we'll have ourselves a boring final. Thus, Othello is the map to check to see if we've got a great series on our hands or not. I expect Flash to win this game, and hence tie it all up 1-1.
It's rather symbolic that Katrina be the third set, seeing as Flash vs Jaedong has been defined to this point by this map. When we think of Flash vs Jaedong from Bacchus we think of the Metal build used by Flash to overcome Jaedong. When we think Jaedong/Flash in the MSL we think of the one game that Flash won (on Katrina). And then in GSI Katrina was the map which scared Jaedong into cheesing Flash. It's the perfect battle ground for these two warriors.
Flash always comes prepared on Katrina, while Jaedong knows that Flash is a deadly weapon here. This is a difficult game to call as Jaedong can execute some brilliant moves on this map and hence crush Flash and just as easily Flash can play a great solid and sound game and crush Jaedong like an ant. If the game goes long, expect Flash to be laughing all the way to the bank with a lovely big bag of money as he should win and go 2-1 up. However, if the game is short, Jaedong is likely to have taken the game by some kind of cheese, I just can't see him beating Flash in a long encounter on this map. For those reasons, I beleive Flash should be able to walk 2-1 up.
Colosseum is GOM's way of saying to Flash - "Just make sure you win at least one game so we can get to a fifth game by abusing the imbalance on Colosseum". And that's exactly what's going to happen. Flash is going to walk all over Jaedong in a sad, brutal and explosive way. The balance on this map is fairly poor, and Jaedong has shown signs of struggling on this map - even his win against Hwasin was slightly unorthodox which just goes to show his lack of confidence here. He's also just come fresh off a loss to ForGG in the MSL Final on this map.
This is not a position Jaedong wants to be in. He does not want to be 1-2 down facing elimination at the hands of Colosseum. Flash should easily take this game (unless Jaedong executes a brilliant cheese) and that forces Jaedong to win Katrina (or Othello) to stay alive in the series. I don't see that happening unfortunately. Thus i beleive Flash will take this set and the series 3-1.
Okay, but what if Jaedong wins Katrina? or Othello? or Colosseum? and we manage to get to a glorious game 5. Well, then everything looks beautiful for Jaedong. Blue Storm is just the map Jaedong would want for the 5th set. His style works so awesome on this map that it makes me smile with sick joy each time he devours an opponent. With everything ties up at this point, Jaedong can waltz in with the confidence of knowing the map is his for the taking. Flash, conversely, must play the game of his life to overcome the barriers presented to him in the map.
Flash could cheese, but he's a young kid. Young kids just don't cheese. And if they do, it's never a brilliant move of similar magnitude to Boxer's immortal cheese vs iloveoov in EVER 2004. Thats the kind of cheese it's going to take for Flash to win this game. Alternatively, he can play a flawless TvZ and dominate Jaedong's slightly imperfect ZvT. Because realistically, Jaedong's ZvT isn't perfect right now and that means if Flash plays perfection he can win. However, Flash hasn't played at that level in a long time.
Blue Storm should be the final nail in the coffin for Flash and the series will fall to Jaedong if it gets here. Hence, either Flash takes this 3-1 or Jaedong takes it 3-2.
After a grueling season, the GOMTV Classic rewards us well with the final of our dreams. Things could not have come up any better for the emerging league - and this final will be amazing. Flash and Jaedong represent the newest generation of Terran and Zerg and is the rivalry which has define a new era of Starcraft. Just like Boxer-Yellow and July-Oov before it, this rivalry will go down in history as one of the greatest ever. The GOMTV Classic will be the divisor between the two; the winner will be hailed as the greater of the two for the rest of their careers while the loser will be forced into a lifetime of regret about losing the most important final of his life.
This is a miraculous event and you would be bat-shit insane to miss such a great event.
So join Tasteless and GOMTV at 10/08 18:00 KST for an evening of awesome Starcraft!! And don't forget that a mere 9 hours after the GOM Final starts Teamliquid's very own Teamliquid Attack! will air
So once you're down satisfying yourself watching some of the finest Korea can offer, tune in and watch the hilarity and brilliance that is Teamliquid Attack! TL:A starts at 3:00am KST and 1pm EST so be sure to account for that when you watch the GOM final. Plexa
for a math major im pretty shitty at adding numbers haha
