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United States7488 Posts
pachi: the best thing since sliced bread (or ninjas)Incruit the Next Daum?courtesy of cjentus.com GGPlay
In the quarterfinals against Flash, GGPlay started his first game by gaining a massive economy advantage my expanding all over the map and crushing Flash with the odd combination of Ultralisks and Mutalisks. After falling to Flash in the second game he had his back up against the wall with the Zerg graveyard of Plasma as his last hope of advancing. However, a failed proxy cheese by Flash puts the last of the Zerg hope into the Incruit semifinals and leaves the young Terran hero stunned in his seat at the turnaround of the final game.
Fantasy took the first game from Mind in the quarterfinals by defending against a quick one base vulture drop. With a superior economy at that point, a win was almost too easy. Some very nasty contain from Mind pushes their match to a third game. Starting with mirror builds in game three, superior micro by fantasy puts him to a slight advantage early. He presses his advantages until he is able to steamroll over Mind and continues his walk down the royal road into the semifinals.
Semifinal One: Battle Report
Game 1
Plasma
GGPlay spawns at the upper left corner and Fantasy begins the game in the middle position. A spawning pool goes down first for GGPlay into a fast Lair before expanding. Fantasy works toward a proxy factory in the middle of the map. As his factory is complete, GGPlay lays down his first expansion at 12 and begins a spire.
The initial Vulture is held out of the main by a sunken colony, but it discovers the expansion. An engineering bay second factory is constructed in the center and they begin to pump Goliaths. The Goliaths start to remove the eggs blocking the path to GGPlay’s base while some are pulled back to defend the factories from Mutalisk attacks. The Mutalisks attempt harassing Fantasy’s main as well, but there are too many turrets placed there for them to be effective.
The Goliaths move into GGPlay’s territory accompanied by a siege-capable tank. The Mutalisks return to fend off the invasion, but the massive amounts of Goliaths tear them to shreds and Terran victory is inevitable.
Once again GGPlay spawns in the upper left corner, though Fantasy begins at the bottom this time. GGPlay begins the game with a twelve hatch at his natural. It is followed immediately by spawning pool and extractor. Fantasy begins walling off his choke point with a barracks and supply depot, then going straight for factory tech. GGPlay opts for a third base.
The first Vulture roams outward as Fantasy simultaneously expands and begins construction of a starport. The first Dropship gets a couple Vultures into GGPlay’s base, but does little damage before all the Vultures, as well as the Dropship are destroyed.
A Valkyrie picks of an Overlord, before being repelled by a large amount of Hydralisks. A combination of Mutalisks and Hydralisks looks to press into Fantasy’s natural. They are easily defended against by Goliaths, Valkyries and Siege Tanks. GGPlay shakes his head in disappointment as he quickly pulls out to minimize losses.
As Fantasy moves his own forces out, GGPlay gathers his for a drop in Fantasy’s main. The drop is doing considerable damage, but Fantasy continues marching his own metal army into GGPlay’s natural expansion. Fantasy deals with the threat in his main, but it isn’t long before similar pressure is knocking on the door of his own natural expansion.
Meanwhile, Fantasy has removed GGPlay’s natural expansion and is pressing into the main. Fantasy is able to stave off attacks while he advances, but the versatility of the Terran metal attack force tears into GGPlay too quickly and efficiently he types out for the second game in a row.
GGPlay and Fantasy spawn at cross positions, Zerg at bottom left and Terran at top right. GGPlay starts things off with a triple hatch. Fantasy goes for his own expansion just after the completion of his barracks and scouting of GGPlay’s build order.
Lings make an early trek across the map, but there is sufficient Terran infantry and the Zerglings think against the early aggression. GGPlay sneaks a couple Zerglings into Fantasy’s base, but they don’t last long before being removed. Fantasy’s military moves out and the Zerg return home with Mutalisks on the way.
The Mutalisks get in some successful harassment as GGPlay expands to the upper left main. Lurkers outside Fantasy’s base keep his forces from being able to launch a counterstrike. The Marine and Medic army is eventually able to slip by and the Lurkers pull back. Mutalisks continue harassment in the Terran main base.
Scourge intercept a Dropship headed for the Zerg main while armies clash in the center of the map. Terran inches closer as Defilers come out. GGPlay makes a bit of a Terran sandwich as Fantasy moves in. There are losses for both side, but Fantasy is forced to retreat, though launches an attack at the Zerg expansions in the upper left of the map.
The next Dropship takes out GGPlay’s Ultralisk cavern. The drop is dealt with shortly after and battles surge on in the middle of the map. The next drop is not so lucky as it runs into a pair of Scourge. GGPlay tries to expand to the bottom right, though is unsuccessful. As he continues to repel Terran advances with dark swarms.
Ultralisks finally make an appearance and GGPlay is making some advances of his own. He forces a liftoff at Fantasy’s expansion and then cleans up with a steady flow of Ultralisks, forcing Fantasy to concede the game.
GGPlay starts at the top, Fantasy at the bottom. GGPlay takes his natural and morphs a spawning pool and third hatchery in his main. Fantasy walls off his ramp and constructs a factory. The first Vulture goes out prior to the machine shop add-on. Fantasy follows that with an expansion and starport as he did in the second game.
The first Dropship delivers a Vulture shipment to GGPlay’s natural. Some small damage and evacuation is in order before GGPlay again removes all the Vultures and the Dropship. Mutalisks arrive at Fantasy’s expansion just in time to be greeted by some Goliaths and a Valkyrie. As the green and blue smoke clears, the last surviving pair of Mutalisks escape with their lives, though much of the Terran force has been taken down in the battle as well.
Fantasy does a good job holding off Zergling harassment at his natural and Mutalisk harassment in his main. Goliaths begin moving north, accompanied by a couple Siege Tanks for some long distance assault. The natural is being overrun by Goliaths as flocks of Mutalisks come to the rescue. There are too many Goliaths and Fantasy takes the base, the set and the match.
Watch these games on Team Liquid’s YouTube Channel!
NOTE: Fantasy's play is not like any TvZ I have seen in professional matches. His innovative mech play is taken into deep analysis by Day[9] here. Read his writeup and you will be blown away by Day's analysis and the awe-inspiring play of Fantasy in this series.
Fantasy kept GGPlay from sneaking into another OSL finals. He also maintains his prospect of a Royal Road victory as he is only one match away from the title. There has not been a Royal Roader since Jaedong’s victory over Stork last fall. Will fall be the season of Royal Roaders? Will Fantasy walk the same road as Jaedong and meet and defeat Protoss’ silver medalist in the finals? He will have plenty of time to practice his TvP as he will be up against either Best or Stork in the finals, both among the very top Protoss players in Starcraft.
Best and Stork have met in the OSL before. Back during Bacchus Stork came out on top during their quarterfinal match two games to one. In fact, that match was the last time Best lost a game in PvP. Stork went on to finish second in that OSL. Then in Ever OSL next season, Best took Stork down in the group stage, going on to finish second in the tournament. Both of these Protosses are looking to break past the silver medal and take home a title, but they must first get past the other.
Best is currently on a 15 game win streak against Protoss. Stork has won seven of his last ten games against Protoss, which is quite good. His competitors in those games have been top class players as well. It’s hard to bet against Best, not only does his alias suggest that he is going to win, but looking at statistics it is difficult to argue against what would likely be a victory for the SKT Protoss player. The last time these players met in a series it was very close and best nearly pulled out the win then. It was Best’s first Starleague and since then Best has grown by leaps and bounds.
If Best wins, he will face a teammate in the finals for the second season in a row (former teammate last season). SKT T1 seems to want to claim the OSL as their tournament. If Stork wins he will have beaten a SKT player in the quarterfinals, the semifinals and then be going to face yet another player from the same team in the finals. Can Stork take down SKT or will they figure him out first?
Mark your calendars for what is sure to be an intense match on October 24 between two Protoss powerhouses. Plexa will be back next week with the epic PvP results and a preview at the Incruit OSL finals.
-semioldguy
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GrandInquisitor
New York City13113 Posts
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pictures are awesome! good job..
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fantasy looks like Best (kinda somewhat sort of) and boxer
Fantasy likes that quick starport like boxer
Fantasy is gonna be the next revolutionist for Terran with Valk useage
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SOOO much makeup on the dudes!
Sweet write-up though. Those games were awesome, Fantasy had seriously the sickest builds... They were so strong and he just slowly mowed over GGPlay every game. Valks are getting more and more legitimate at high level play... So cool to see that games like this still show that Starcraft is ever-changing for more than 10 years. Pwnage.
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fucking so fucking...
excited.
for.
best vs stork.
holy shit.
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July is on STX, not SKT. Unless you meant that he *was* on SKT...
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Best vs Stork omg
Impossible to tell whos gonna win, DAMN SCHOOL! 
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On October 18 2008 10:10 GrandInquisitor wrote:good report! now send me my shirt  it looks kinda like this: + Show Spoiler +
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United States7488 Posts
On October 18 2008 10:29 vAltyR wrote:
July is on STX, not SKT. Unless you meant that he *was* on SKT...
There were at one point teammates, which is what I intended. Updated to clarify. He began the last OSL while still on SKT though if I recall correctly.
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best vs stork is going to be one of the most highly anticipated pvp bo5 in a while
last time was probably bisu/stork?
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i'ma be pissing my pants during best vs stork
=O
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Kingdom vs oov, SPRIS MSL.
EDIT: 'cept fantasy is more Boxer than oov. :-/
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Two players I don't like, but I guess BeSt has the advantage. He's on a roll with a 15 game winning streak with Protoss and that's not easy... Stork maybe good, but BeSt has been getting beter. Stork might get better too, but BeSt improved a lot. BeSt would win... something like... I don't know...
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FANTASY FOR ROYAL ROAD!!!'
comon you can do it
dont let me down T.T
too bad both best and stork are monsters at pvt : /
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Great report n_n I love the in-depth look at Best vs Stork towards the end.
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fantasy is more boxer than oov? is that because they both wear glasses?
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BeSt will win against Stork (83% vs 65% in PvP), but things might happen, Storky may win or something.
If its Fantasy vs BeSt, I hope Fantasy wins for his Royal Road, but BeSt might be dubbed the next Stork for getting his 2nd consecutive Silver.
If its Fantasy vs Stork, Fantasy can win eyes closed, we all know that Stork's desire for Silver >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Legend of Fall.
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Fantasy needs to get the Best glasses.
Nice writeup semioldguy.
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I'm really nervous about how BeSt will play vs Stork. There is so much on the line:
1. chance for OSL gold,
2. new generation vs (kinda) old generation,
3. title of Protoss king / title of greatest PvP ever
Rumor also has it that both BeSt and Stork have romantic interests the same Wonder Girl. They have agreed that the loser must concede his courtship.
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Well, if there is one protoss that can beat best in bo5 that gotta be  Stork.
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How is this the next Daum?
I wasn't really paying much attention to Starcraft then, [though I went back and watched the games I missed] can anyone highlight the similar trends between these two starleagues...?
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United States3824 Posts
Fantasy has made the dark archon very unhappy because its the only BW unit left not used in proleague. Let's see some mind control stork!
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United States7488 Posts
The answer would be "no, it's not the next Daum" the reference being to GGPlay unexpectedly getting past each elimination match and going on to win.
In both this and Daum GGPlay was up against a strong Terran in the Quarterfinals. Hwasin in Daum, a known Zerg-killer; and Flash in Incruit, considered by many to be the top Terran (at least a few weeks ago before they played).
Then in both GGPlay came up against an up-and-coming Terran star in the Semifinals. In Daum it was Flash and in Flash's first OSL. In Incruit he faced Fantasy in Fantasy's first OSL.
Back then he defeated flash to go on to win in the finals versus Iris. He quietly kept doing well in the Daum OSL and was not a high expectation to win at any point really, much like I think it was unlikely for GGPlay to win here in Incruit (and it turns out he won't be winning this OSL).
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On October 18 2008 14:39 cgrinker wrote:
Fantasy has made the dark archon very unhappy because its the only BW unit left not used in proleague. Let's see some mind control stork!
If it was GGPlay vs Stork finals we would see the Dark Archons
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United States17042 Posts
Can't wait for best vs stork.
Wonder how other pro zergs are going to try to counter the mech builds.
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very nice report 
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Korea (South)3086 Posts
Very thorough report. BeSt vs. Stork is going to be fucking epic. Does anyone think Fantasy's fist is disproportionately small in comparison to his face? Or is it just me?
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Stork vs SKT1
I bet on SKT1
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I loved the title of this report. Well, not only the title, but I think it is cleverly misleading, as it kinda makes you think GGPlay won the series.
Otherwise, I really enjoyed this semi-final. I think the "PvP Masters" one will be very good too.
And all the whiners who are anticipating a one-sided ugly rape by whichever Protoss that qualifies, are wrong. Fantasy really has a chance at walking the Road until the end.
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Germany / USA16648 Posts
BeSt vs Stork has the potential to be one of the best PvP series ever played, I'm so hyped
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The look on FLash's face when he lost game 3 was priceless. GGPlay looked bemused¬!
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god this was such a shit series. really disppointing and sad map lineupf
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I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about this one thing:
How unfair isn't it that the semifinals are one week apart?
I mean come on, Fantasy gets a WHOLE extra week to practise TvP solely.
He will have the builds for every map perfected in his head by the time the finals come around.
This is a huge advantage for whoever gets out of the first semifinal.
Why can't they play Semifinal 1 on a Friday and Semifinal 2 the next day, on Saturday?
Let's say the other semifinal wasn't PvP but PvZ or something, then at least he'd have to be prepared for two matchups, but he'd still had the advtantage of practising the maps and preparing for a likely winner of the other semifinal (if there ever is a favourite).
In this scenario, it's a 2 week window of full TvP practise, while Stork/BeSt are gonna have to keep hardcore-practisting PvP until they're through. Considering the surreal PvP caliber of both these players, there's no room to look ahead to the finals - it's gonna be nonstop PvP practise up until D-day.
But, back to the original trail of thoughts;
I'll admit, Stork's and BeSt's PvT styles are different, so Fantasy will have to adapt his builds/training a bit depending on who of them gets through, but when we get down to it, they're both protoss players.
- Therefore, I think we can all agree on the fact that Fantasy has a whole week to practise the general flow and structure of TvP on these maps, then another week to adapt this practise to the style of Stork or BeSt (heavy shuttle/reaver play or not for example)
7 extra days is a lot of time to perfectly prepare the timings of, for example, a 2fac rush and the positioning of vital tanks and mines in this push. Just as an example. That extra practise time could easily be converted into one free win on a particular map that he's had the extra time to practise meticulously.
This isn't meant as a random rant, I've actually been pretty annoyed by this for a long time, lately as well as in previous seasons. Just had to put it out there. Anyone sharing my feelings on this?
Or am I missing something even?
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United States7488 Posts
The one week gap has always been in my mind too as a potential advantage to the first player into the finals. I've looked into it though to see if there was a history of the gold going to the earlier or later finalist in past OSL's.
Ever 08: Best < July
Best was in the first semifinals, but still lost 0-3. I don't think it can be argued that there was a heavy favorite here. July also had the advatage of not having to prepare a matchup other than ZvP during elimination rounds.
Bacchus 08: Flash > Stork
Flash was the first semifinalist through. Though it is hard to argue that he wasn't going to win this finals. He was on fire at this point and I don't think anyone was going to stop him regardless of preparation time.
Ever 07: Jaedong > Stork
Jaedong was the first semifinalist through (seems Stork has a history of being the second to advance semifinalist). Again I think this was just a result of the better player winning.
Daum 07: Iris < GGPlay
Iris was the first semifinalist through, but lost to GGPlay 2-3. Though, like in Ever 08, GGPlay only had one matchup to play throughout all of the elimination rounds.
Shinhan 3: Nada < Savior
Savior was second through, but he was going to win this one. I don't think that can really be disputed.
Shinhan 2: Nada > Anytime
Nada won 3-2 and was the first semifinalist through. Nada picks up his golden mouse after a bit of a drought from him and denies the fall trophy to a Protoss player for the first time (at least the first time when Protoss bothered to make the finals)
Shinhan 1: Casy > ChOJJa
Casy was the first one through and had the advantage of playing TvZ, his best matchup, from the quarterfinals onward.
Shinhan 05: July < iloveoov
iloveoov was the second one through, and he played a TvT in the semifinals, which would have allowed for July to only be practicing ZvT for an entire extra week (like fantasy's current situation) but the God of War still didn't pull out the victory.
So1: Boxer < Anytime
Anytime as the second player through also had the PvT from the quarterfinals onward. We all wish Boxer would have won this one though, and he came so close to making that a reality.
Ever 2: July > Goodfriend
July was first through and also only had ZvT to play from the quarterfinals onward (I'm beginning to notice a trend here).
IOPS: Nada > July
Nada was the first one through and also only had to play TvZ from quarters onward.
Ever 1: iloveoov > Boxer
iloveoov was the first one through and showed that the student had become the master.
Gilette: July > Reach
July was the first one through. Though this time without all the same matchup throughout.
Hangame: Zeus < Nal_rA
Nal_rA was the second through. I'm not going to type anymore unnecessary descriptions here.
Mycube: Nal_rA < Kingdom
Kindom second through.
Olympus: Xellos > Yellow
Xellos was first through and would be playing TvZ in the finals regardless.
Panasonic: Nada > ChOJJa
Nada was first through.
SKY 2: Reach > Boxer
Reach was first through, and Boxer kept Elky from making the finals.
Any further back and they were having both semifinals on the same day as Best of 3 matches.
Results:
First semifinalist getting first: 11
Second semifinalist getting first: 7
The first semifinalist has more total victories, but I don't think it's a large enough margin, and looking at each starleague individually, I don't think it can be concluded that getting through first is a decisive advantage. After all these players are playing hours every day to stay in top form and a week should be more than adequate time to prepare for a series regardless.
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omgosh... best vs stork is gonna ownnnnnn
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God damn, continuing analysis? So glad I checked back in this thread! Keep it up s.o.g.
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lol god, i thought this article was a spoiler, so before i could divert my eyes, seeing GGplay's huge picture made me cry. But then i saw the games =). Nice write up.
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Awesome reply, although I still feel they should put the semifinals closer to each other. I dunno, just how I feel.
Thanks ever so much Semioldguy!
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Nice work Semioldguy.
I wasn't going to watch the VODs because I'm cramped for time this weekend, but your writeup got me excited enough to watch games 2 and 4 and they were totally worth it.
So thanks
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legend of the fall or royal road?
which is more crucial...
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Fantasy is obliged got this sraff....
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haha model pictures...
Fantasy looks like some progamer alrdy... dunno who 
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EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/pachi/banner/OSL_080730.png)
![[image loading]](/staff/semioldguy/GGPlay.jpg)
![[image loading]](/staff/semioldguy/fantasy.jpg)
BeSt![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/semioldguy/GGPlay.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/semioldguy/fantasy.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://scbw.ru/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/boxer1-218x300.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/Ticon.png)
Boxer![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/Picon.png)
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