I've been saying for a while that the ongoing balancing process between Zerg and the other races must surely have been influenced by the high proportion of surprise-based or build-order losses zergs have experienced since retail, the end result being that if you fail to surprise a zerg, you're at a disadvantage.
Every time a Zerg on the ladder has collapsed in the face of fast banshees or sudden hellions or DTs or a hidden pylon or a cancelled expansion, that loss has counted in the 'zerg is too weak' column when assessing balance. The same is true for the other races, but to a lesser extent I think you'll agree (early-game Protoss and Terran units being somewhat more flexible and the potential for over-droning being that much greater).
Now, if the races are balanced in terms of win/loss ratios, but more of one race's losses are coming from 'getting surprised', then a player of that race who figures out enemy timings and what to look for stands to gain more than a player of another race who does the same, all other things being equal. And when I see Nestea reach the finals without dropping a game, pulling out massive economic leads before grabbing tech and units at the perfect moment, I have to wonder...
On July 26 2011 00:35 amd098 wrote: holy shit i fail for missing these matches gotta watch the vods now, IM gets thier 4fourth champion [nestea, mvp mvp nestea]... wow
it would be the 5th... if you include the one with nestea vs losira :D
The problem with ZvZ is larva management makes for some really awkward games, and the fact that roaches are simply the best ground unit in the matchup because Zerg has no true anti-armored unit. Everything ends up being some sort of timing attack.
But, if both players manage to defend the timing attacks you can get some really crazy, interesting games. In games like these literally every unit type gets used, except for possibly hydras.
"Ok guys, we got a zvz here. ZvZ is very very hard for zerg. I don't really expect zerg to come out on top in any situation and they will always struggle to stay ahead the whole game. Oh my god, the 2 zergs both fast expanded. This is super risky. They haven't scouted each other yet, but there could be an all-in coming soon. Ok, we have had 45 minutes of intense struggles, but it still appears the zerg is losing. And that's gg, zerg loses. My heart really goes out to that zerg player. It's a really tough matchup."
On July 26 2011 00:19 Cheerio wrote: wtf happened? Zergs, you are supposed to be UP race lol.
but its just cause nestea and losira are just like, so good thats why, herp de durr
...So the best player in the world and what could be the second best zerg in the world aren't supposed to be massively favored and subsequently win? Ok.
So it seems that the IM Zerg house has figured out the metagame a bit better than the rest of everybody. Good on them. I can't wait to watch the games later today, I wanted them to win!
I don't mind ZvZ at all, so i'm looking forward to seeing the finals. Especially with a team-kill ZvZ, i think some weird strategies and mindgames will play out.
On July 26 2011 00:19 Cheerio wrote: wtf happened? Zergs, you are supposed to be UP race lol.
but its just cause nestea and losira are just like, so good thats why, herp de durr
...So the best player in the world and what could be the second best zerg in the world aren't supposed to be massively favored and subsequently win? Ok.
All of this "Zerg is OP, UP" is getting tiring I agree. At this point, we have had winners from all the different races and the only conclusion we can come to is that "There are a lot of good terrans in korea". Nestea could just be on a completely different level. I think if anything, it tells you that we really don't know the balance of power right now. If you look at the # of terrans in GM league in korea, it matches up identically with the rest of the leagues so it's not really a suprise that terran is doing well there, but the question should be, why do koreans like terran so much compared to north americans liking protoss. I really think it has to do with the personality of the races and culture more than any sort of balance thing.
If you look at the top players in all the races these guys have potential to be in the finals. No one has really figured out yet how to take advantage of the interface yet. Terran's were starting to figure out the drop style harass, but it's not perfected yet. A nestea vs losira finals would be just as likely as a mvp vs bomber finals or an mc vs hongun finals.
Also i'm rooting for losira. This guy is so good. When he beat huk I thought "Man, how does anyone beat this guy". I'm rooting for losira to show us a new flavor of zvz.
My first reaction was "Crud... Might as well crown Nestea now". But we shall see I hope Losira puts up a good fight, because we all know Nestea is a beast in ZvZ
On July 26 2011 01:05 Loodah wrote: I think Byun is better than Losira. I hope he gets another chance to shine, he's an amazing macro terran that got spoiled by a lot of cheese.
What cheese ? he got outsmarted, don't follow atrosis fanboyism blindly, byun this or that, but the better player won.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/9374/theenergizerbyunny.png)
