EPT
Ah, we of so little faith! Nal_rA not only whupped on everyone yesterday, he did it as only he can!
1. Jinsu (Z) ("Jang Jin-su") > [Soul]TheWind (Z) ("Bak Sang-ik") - Neo Bifrost
2. Nal_rA (P) ("Kang Min") > [Soul]TheWind (Z) - Avant Garde II
3. Nal_rA (P) < Jinsu (Z) - Gaema Gowon
4. Jinsu (Z) < [Soul]TheWind (Z) - Avant Garde II
5. Nal_rA (P) > [Soul]TheWind - Gaema Gowon
6. Nal_rA (P) > Jinsu - Neo Bifrost
And so, Nal_rA takes the mini-tournament with a final record of 3-1 and willnow face Kingdom (P) (who beat out IntoTheRainbow and Zeus last week) next week to decide the winner of the Challenge League and the seed spot in the next OGN Starleague.
Garimto's gonna be history. But, we have a new player in town and he may just be even BETTER. Bow down mortals before the awesome fury and majestic magic of RA!!!
[GAME NOTES]
- The match next week between Kingdom and Nal_rA should be great. Nal_rA is undefeated PvP in OGN play and we all know what he's capable of, but Kingdom is the next Reach and won't be beaten easily. GL to both. It also means that it's virtually official: we'll have at least one Protoss player in the next OGN Starleague.
- Kang's first match PvZ v TheWind on Avant Garde is classic Nal_rA: hidden gate hardcore zealot rush to soften up opponent's main and expos, then a wtf-is-he-doing?! 180 transformation to 3 shuttle/mass reaver/archons/corsairs to just frustrate the bejezzus out of the opponent, then a final 6-7 gate mass lot/goon/temp whirlwind to wipe out everything in sight. It was a long game, but like the OGN commentators said, Nal_rA had the whole match planned from start to finish - and there was nothing TheWind could do about it. TheWind played fantastic (anyone else would've been toast after the first hidden gate zealot rush), but Nal_rA was just downright nasty. Like a cat toying with a mouse before killing it and eating it whole. Watch this game, if you can. It was a "statement game" by Kang: THIS is how the Protoss race needs to be played - multi-dimensionally!
- Nal_rA did not lose a single expo yesterday in any of his matches (well, unless you count a lone nexus just warping in without anything else around it that got caught by patrolling mutas), giving further weight to the rumor in Korea that you just cannot drop on this guy. For example, in his match v TheWind on AG II, he peppered his 6 island expo with no less than NINE cannons and also had two temps, just in case. TheWind sent a cloud of mutas (at least a dozen) to take it out, but took one look at the D arrayed against him and turned tail. TheWind tried a mass hydra push against Kang's 3 expo later on in that game - and got stopped dead by cannons and temp storms. What was worse for Bak in that exchange - his retreating hydras got sandwiched between the temp/cannons and Kang's mass reavers which had snuck up behind and got turned into so much mush. Just incredible watching all this.
- The only loss by Kang came on Gaema Gowon v Jinsu when Nal_rA got stuck at the deadly 5 oclock position. Kang's overcome the 5 position on this map before, but really, the stats are lethal for it: the record for players starting at the 5 on GG in official OGN play now stands at 4 - 25. 2 of the 4 wins came against Zeus last week when he just blew. I'm really not sure what it is about the 5, but players seem to think there may be a slight (which in pro terms can mean a lot...) disadvantage there. The statistics seem to support this view...
- After watching the devastation wrought by Nal_rA on TheWind in AG II, it was pretty obvious Jinsu was scared shitless of a hidden ANYTHING by Nal_rA: Jinsu's initial scouting ovies, instead of their usual flight paths, were zig-zagging and stopping and checking in the WEIRDEST places. Funny as hell to watch.
- When asked about his thoughts on the well-known disadvantages of playing toss on Gaema Gowon PvZ, Nal_rA's reply: "What imbalance? Isn't it the same for all races on that map?" Spoken like a champion.
- Nal_rA (@8) won the final and deciding match v Jinsu (@2) on Neo Bifrost, a grossly biased Zerg map (at least v P) and a map on which a certain soon-to-be-Korean-pro player from the Netherlands told me P cannot beat Z with forward gates [EDIT: Nazgul now tells me, in very spirited words, that he actually said the OPPOSITE - that you NEED forward gates to win on Neo Bifrost. I, uh, believe him...
]. Well, Nal_rA did it with a forward gate zealot/probe/cannon rush. Sets it up with lots and cannons taking care of Jinsu's second hatch, and finishes with a 3 cannon rush on the hill overlooking Jinsu's main min patch. It was GG for Jinsu almost as soon as the cannons starting pounding his drones. To his credit, Jinsu desperately tried to control the situation, but couldn't even reverse ling rush on the Protoss main because of (is anyone surprised?) cannon defense.- To be fair to Nazgu - uh, I mean, a certain soon-to-be-Korean-pro Dutchman, (and this was pointed out by OGN), the forward gate BO employed by Nal_rA on Neo Bifrost was very unique and wasn't really as much of a gamble as it first seemed. Most forward gate strats on Neo Bifrost are do-or-die affairs: if it doesn't work, you're toast. But not this. Very safe, all things considered. The highlight moment came when Nal_rA PERFECTLY timed his SECOND probe (the 1st was long camped out in front of Jinsu's main and busy warping in pylon/gate/forge/cannon) to cross the middle bridge just as Jinsu's scouting ovie was crossing it - making it look like it was the 1st probe and not the 2nd (and thus signaling a standard Protoss BO at home)!!! I mean, this is ART, folks, ART. The fake worked perfectly and the OGN commentators were laughing their heads off when the camera showed the placid everything-is-normal expression on Jinsu's face, like they were saying "poor bastard, doesn't even know what's coming!" They were right.
- As if it's not obvious, Nal_rA is said to have have practiced intensely on all the maps in preparation. He came prepared with a plan for each and every one and man did it ever show.
- Nal_rA's had various nicknames for his style, like "Splash Protoss" (likes using units with splash damage/effect), "Field of Flowers" Protoss (he covers everything with cannons) and even just "Dynamic Protoss" (for being so, uh, dynamic...). But, after the spanking Nal_rA put on the two Zerg gosus, Mr. Eum Jae-gyung of OGN came up with another one: "Evil Toss." Evil is right...
- The two Zerg players were hamming it up apparently prior to the games, jokingly trash talking about how they were gonna beat up on the lone Protoss player. Now, Kang is a soft-spoken kind of fellow, who'll crack a wan smile every now and then, but otherwise barely shows any emotions on screen. However, when OGN cajoled Kang to respond to the playful ribbing of the others with a comment on the upcoming matches, he coolly makes this simple statement: "I doubt I'll lose." Like I said, spoken like a champion.
, and everything that can be done, has been done. Bah to them. 
Nal_ra roXX
