So ever since the last match ended in the final game of the Round of 16, there has been a lot of talk about just quitting the Super Tournament and not watching the rest of it. Some comments have sounded like:
Why should I watch? It's all terrans! Ew!
No MC, Nada, MVP or Nestea? The finals are going to suck hardcore!
Nestea lost? I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
I've watched the whole GSL Super Tournament and I'm actually pretty pumped for the ending of this tournament. Yes, of course, there is a chance that the next set of matches might royally suck and prove that the Super Tournament didn't have enough stars at the end, but I don't think that will be the case.
Let's first start by me saying this: out of the seven GSL finals (counting the World Championship), most can agree that they've all pretty much sucked. Yeah, Nestea vs. MarineKing in the second GSL went to seven games and could be considered a match-up worthy of a final, but besides that, what else have we seen?
GSL Uno: FruitDealer rolls over Rainbow in a 4-1. Not the worst final, but wasn't that great considering it was only the first season; but it didn't matter, right? Cause the finals after this could only look up! People were going to get better and the finals would be amazing. Right? Right...?
GSL Dos: As before mentioned, Nestea wins in seven games after deflecting a MarineKing all-in. It did go to seven games, but even then, a lot of people thought Nestea was by-and-far the better player between the two. MarineKing used a lot of tricky/cheesy builds while Nestea showed a lot more experience and mechanics in his game.
GSL Tres: Rain makes it to the finals by heavily cheesing some of the favorites and has to meet MC, who at the time, could not be touched by anyone. Rain got a singular victory, but the rest of the final wasn't close. MC crushed him.
GSL Cuatro: MarineKing and MVP meet for the first time. MarineKing, for some reason, goes away from the style that made him who he was, and got absolutely destroyed by MVP. Even the commentators wanted it to end when they saw how tilted MarineKing was.
GSL Cinco: MC vs. July? Holy shit, this is going to be awesome! Hyped to the moon, two great players finally going to step on the Grand Final stage and show us a classic, right? Nope. MC crushed July, to the bewilderment of fans who thought this was finally going to be the great final they had hoped for. The games weren't terrible, but was as one-sided as the rest had been.
GSL World Championship: MarineKing vs. MVP Part 2: Electric Boogaloo. Here's a fun fact: out of the seven finals, only two have gone past the fifth game. This is the second. The series? Not terrible, but not a classic either. MarineKing got a few wins off his aggressive style, but MVP proved in the end that he still had MarineKing's number and knew how to crush his style.
GSL Seis: Do we really need to discuss this, guys? Nestea, a guy who was stomping every nerd in the galaxy's face, against Inca, a master of PvP, who had no clue to play PvZ against someone as good as Nestea.
This will be the first final since the GSL 1 where The Big Three (MVP, Nestea, MC) won't win. A lot of people see this is as a bad thing. Those three, arguably, are the three most popular players in the GSL. A lot of people look at the eight left, look at their names, and go, 'Who the hell is this?' and don't even bother watching. I'm not going to guarantee that the matches coming up are going to be awesome or if the Grand Finals will finally live up to the name and give us amazing games, but I will tell you a bit about these eight who have made it to the top. They might not be the most star studded names, but they do all have a story to tell.
The Son of the Emperor
Meet the hottest player in the world, and no ladies, I'm not talking about his looks. Hailed as the Son of Boxer and called one of the best young terrans in the entire world, this guy has been on a mission ever since our very own Huk denied him entrance into Code S a month ago.
What has his record been since he got beaten by Huk? Twenty six victories and only four losses. In the past month, he's only dropped four games out of thirty. He has not lost a match in that time. The only people to take a game off him have been SjoW, Losira, Supernova and Lyn - all of which he then beat right after to win the series between them. He's taken down the likes of July, MarineKing, Idra (or Idra took down himself, same thing), SC, DongRaeGu, and even Losira in a 4-1 match to win the finals at MLG Columbus.
For those who didn't follow Brood War, MMA was on Boxer's team called SKT1, the biggest and most successful of all the proteams in BW. He never really made it as an A-teamer from what I remember, but he showed a lot of promise, switched over to SC2 and Boxer took him under his wing once again on a little team called Slayers.
Starting off with the names CchapSeungEu (I would have liked to see MLG Columbus chant this name) and JJob, MMA took off in the first GSTL, almost all-killing the ZeNex team before he got taken down by ZeNexNuclear in the final game; even though he lost and couldn't be the clutch player there, we would soon realize that would be the last time he would let someone knock out the Emperor's team.
From that point forth, he has only lost once in the last two GSTL's and that was to Bomber, who we all know has become one of the biggest monsters in the entire world. MMA has had to face off against the likes of MC, MVP, SC and Dongraegu in ace matches to win the match for his team. Each time, he took on those four aces of their team, and beat each and every one of them. The two most notable games, against MVP and DongRaeGu, were both ace matches in the finals of the GSTL. If he had lost, his team doesn't win the title. Both times, when it looked like MMA might fall to the aces of Incredible Miracle and MVP (the team, not the player), he came from behind in two amazing games and won for his team in amazing circumstances. If you haven't watched those VOD's, I recommend them highly.
I don't know if this guy can have a boring final. Even in MLG Columbus, against Losira, even though the final really only went two games, those two games were damn good. His play style is exciting and is becoming known for his drop ship play.
So, we need to ask, is he the real deal? Is he truly ready to enter the discussion of the best terran in the world? If he wins this tournament, we surely can add him to the mix. If he took MLG Columbus and then the Super Tournament only two weeks later, it would be absolutely amazing. After playing for three straight days in Columbus, he had to fly back and play against his own teammate, Ganzi, in the Round of 16 after only a day of rest. Was he feeling jetlagged? Maybe, but he didn't show it by picking apart his teammate (who beat MVP, by the way) and 2-0'ing him.
The Forgotten Son of the Emperor
Ryung must go, 'What about me?' when people talk about MMA. While MMA gets all the girls in the crowd, the parallels to Boxer, the invitations to MLG events, and the gigantic fanclub from the community, what does Ryung get? Nothing. Yeah, everyone knows this kid is good, but a lot of people already have MMA penciled into the semifinals over him. How can this guy beat the almighty Son of Boxer?
Yeah, his stats aren't as pretty as MMA, and he might not get his name chanted by a thousand people, but he's a damn good player. He's also wanted to play MMA for months. Ever since they both got into Code A, all Ryung has been talking about is getting his match against MMA. He's wanted this. Every time they would get close, though, one of them would lose and the match couldn't take place.
Finally, Ryung will get what he's wanted: a best of five series against MMA. Don't forget that Ryung actually got farther in the Code A tournament last season than his buddy MMA. He ended up losing to Bomber 3-1, but that's nothing to look down upon seeing as Bomber then went onto beat MVP 4-2 in the final. While MMA has always gotten the sweet glory of victory by winning in the ace match of the two past GSTL's, Ryung has always done the dirty work. He never got to be the one to seal the deal, but he's been put out in important times to snipe victories and get it to a place where MMA could come in and win it at the end.
Even if you don't like TvT, the story here is great. Both of these guys got recruited by Boxer, not just MMA. Ryung might be the forgotten one of the two, but MMA hasn't pulled so far ahead that Ryung can't overtake him. This is Ryung's chance to make a name for himself. People can talk about MMA and Alicia all they want, but maybe this guy is truly the diamond in the rough? Can he actually take down MMA and possibly be the first Slayers player to win a championship for Boxer? If he does, I'm sure no one will be forgetting him anymore.
The King of Silver
Is this the season? Is this finally, after seven seasons, the time for MarineKing to be a champion? Nestea is out. MVP is out. The two people that have made MarineKing's life a living hell are both gone. MC is gone. Nada is gone. July is gone. A lot of people would tell you that he should almost definitely win this championship. If not now, when? It won't be every season where all of the Big Three are eliminated before the quarterfinals.
He's shown some amazing domination this season. Out of the seven games he's played, he won six and only lost once to Revivial because of a lifted barracks that came at the worst time by letting Revival's strong aggressive early game attack flood into his base and basically end it. The other six games? All I can say is that MarineKing has had zero trouble. He's had such an easy time, that it became more interesting to know what kind of new ceremony he would be thinking up instead of wondering if he would beat his opponent.
Not to say Squirtle, Ace or Revival are bad players. They're not, but MarineKing has just looked unstoppable so far this tournament. It doesn't matter if there is a proxy pylon in his own base or if the other guy is trying to play a macro game, MKP has walked over them one-by-one to get to his place here in the quarterfinals.
Ever since he appeared out of nowhere in GSL2, you've seen his face every single GSL. Out of the six GSL's he has competed in, he has been in the finals three times. That's 50% of the time for all the people who don't like to do math. Do you know how hard that is? With how the game has changed over the past year for one guy, especially a young guy like him, to make the finals three times is a pretty out-of-this-world feat. Nestea, MC and MVP have only made it respectively twice.
But then we have to get to the downside of our king of marines. The guy is the total opposite of MMA when it comes to big matches. They are completely and utterly polar opposites when it comes to the spotlight moment. While MMA has won two GSTL's in a row for his team and won a title at MLG Columbus, MarineKing's team, PRIME, is embarrassingly the only team in GSTL history to never win a match. Yeah, even ZeNex has won more matches than PRIME.
First GSTL? Called in to save his team against TSL by beating Alive. Does not win.
Second GSTL? Called in to save his team against Startale by beating Rainbow? Does not win.
Third GSTL? Beats GunieaPig, gets to the ace match against MVP, and has to face their ace DongRaeGu. The result? DongRaeGu rolling over MarineKing, and MarineKing putting his head down on the table for seemingly forever while DoneRaeGu finished off the game by blowing up MarineKing's leftover buildings. As you already know, later on in that tournament, MMA faced DongRaeGu in a game to decide the entire tournament, and MMA won in a comeback fashion.
Then you can look at the three finals MarineKing has been in. The first chance, against Nestea, he got off to a big lead early and looked like he was going to win a championship in his first season. Nope. Nestea came back, MarineKing tilted, and then tried to all-in the seventh game that ended up with Nestea defending. Second chance? Against Nestea's teammate MVP. This was probably the lowest point of MKP's career as he got embarrassed. For some reason, MarineKing, tried to change his entire style for the final and just got hammered 4-0. If it wasn't for Inca (thanks Inca), MarineKing would currently have the honor of being in the most lopsided GSL final of all-time. Finally, he had a rematch against MVP at the World Championship, after finally showing some truly clutch play by coming back from a 0-2 whole to beat MC in the semifinals. It all looked like this was the time for him to win the championship. He was finally going to overcome the nerves of the spotlight and win!
Nope. Won two games off MVP, but that was it. MVP outplayed him for large parts of the series and it never really felt in doubt that he would take the series. MarineKing fought hard, but it wasn't enough to beat him.
Now we are here. The quarterfinals. MVP? Gone. Nestea? Gone. Everyone who has bested him in the finals is out. This should be his time, right? He's looked deadly so far and the two guys who have defeated him atop the mountain are gone. You have to ask, if he can't win here, will he ever win? There are new stars popping up at every turn and getting to the finals will just get more and more difficult. If he makes the final and loses? That would be four silver medals in the matter of one year in the span of eight tournaments. Even Yellow would feel sorry for this guy.
The Villain
Every good story needs a villain. A guy that is the foil to the heroes. Someone who most people want to see get their comeuppance at the end. Luckily for this tournament, we have one. Meet TheBest.
He's not in Code S. He's not even in Code A. I'm not even sure if he's in Code B. He could be in Code C or D by now at the rate he was going before this tournament. With an amazing record of 16-24, TheBest has made it to the Round of Eight. Out of the eight games he's played so far, in the Live Report threads, only one of his games has been recommended and that was the game against Min where he all-inned, should have lost twelve different times, but Min for some reason forgot how to play the game and lost.
This guy shouldn't be here. I don't know how he got here. Tastosis don't know how he got here. Wolf and his Dark Templar casters don't know how he got here. Most people are still wondering how the hell this guy even qualified for the tournament. Also, what a perfect ID for the villain of this tournament. Who names himself TheBest? Not even Best. He went as far as to go to make his ID tell everyone in the whole freaking world that he is TheBest. A guy does not lack in confidence when he makes up a name like that.
Every time you look at him, he's smirking. Not smiling, but smirking. That cocky and arrogant smirk. If I had to guess on what he is thinking during the times in the booth where he is smirking, it would probably go something like:
YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T GOING TO ALL-IN YOU? HAHA, TEAMLIQUID. I JUST TOOK OUT TESTER. HAHA, I JUST TOOK OUT MIN. I WILL TAKE OUT EVERY SINGLE PLAYER YOU LOVE BY ALL-INNING THEM EVERY SINGLE GAME UNTIL I REIGN SUPREME! I WILL DEFEAT WHATEVER PRECIOUS HERO IN THE FINALS, WIN THE BIGGEST PRIZE IN GSL HISTORY, AND LAUGH IN ALL YOUR FACES! I WILL THEN RETIRE FROM ESPORTS AND BUY A GIGANTIC BOAT. I WILL THEN LAUGH ALL DAY ON MY BOAT WITH CHOYA WHILE WE THINK ABOUT HOW I ALL-INNED SEVEN STRAIGHT GAMES IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP TO BECOME CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Ha. Ha.
Or maybe, just maybe, he is just smirking naturally and not thinking any of that, but I think it's more fun thinking he and Choya are on a mission to all-in every single player in the GSL until they win the championship and destroy esports forever.
Realistically, he shouldn't make the finals. Tester and Min are good players, but next up he has MarineKing. Can he really all-in MarineKing for five straight games and hope to win three times? Even if he does somehow, in a miracle fashion, accomplish that, he would then have to face Ryung or MMA in another five game series. It just doesn't seem very likely he will advance from the quarterfinals, but I thought he wouldn't even win a single game this tournament, so can you really bet against him?
If he does make the finals, I can assure you that there will have not been a better villain yet in SC2. Who wouldn't root against him? The guy has all-inned his way into this position and I just can't see him getting there without using the same tactics. Rain from GSL3? Yeah, he did cheese his way to the top, but he also has shown he can play solid games. TheBest? Before this tournament, most people didn't even know he existed.
To put him over the top as the ultimate villain, he really needs a mustache that he can twirl, though. That really would make him the best antagonist.
The Real Optimus Prime?
Remember Polt? Yeah, he used to be not so good. I remember a lot of people saying he would drop out of Code S, Code A, and then into an abyss of nothing that is Code B and beyond. But Polt didn't like this story and changed how it went. Remember that GSL when Polt called out Jinro by saying he thought Jinro got lucky by getting into the two straight semifinals? That is when people turned on Polt and wanted him to get crushed. Luckily to the fans on TeamLiquid, Polt did get crushed embarrassingly and then had to fight his way back into Code S.
Here's a fun fact: ever since Polt got crushed by Jinro, his record has been 35-12. Yes, PoltPrime has gone 35-12 ever since Jinro destroyed him on that faithful night in the GSL. He's beaten people such as TheSTC, Supernova, MC and Losira in that timeframe. A lot of people might not have realized it, but Polt is really good.
Maybe Polt has been sucking the talent from Jinro's body ever since their encounter and that's why their two records have been radically different ever since that game. All I know is that ever since Jinro pushed his face into the sand, he's gotten up, brushed himself off and kicked some ass.
No longer is he a joke. He's a legitimate contender to win this whole tournament. Remember when MarineKing talked about how he was going to change his name to OptimusPrime when he finally won his first title, naming himself that as the clear best player on Prime? Well, maybe that title isn't MarineKing's to have anymore. MarineKing has had his chance at the glory. Who is to say that Polt isn't the one destined to be the champion for Prime?
Polt has used MarineKing's medivac/marine aggressive style lately, and guess what, he might be just as good as his teammate and friend in that category. He defeated one of the best zergs in Losira, then beat Huk in TvP and then beat his own teammate and friend, Maka, to make it to the quarterfinals. He's faced every race so far and has looked strong in each one.
Can you imagine a MarineKing vs. Polt final? Yeah, yeah, TvT haters gonna hate, but I think it would be a great final. What if MarineKing loss? A guy who has made the finals by that point four times got beat by his own teammate. Would Polt change his ID to OptimusPrime? How would MarineKing, who has been the ace for his team forever (well, BitByBit gave him a run for his money), react to someone else from his team capturing a title first? What a great story that could be and it's definitely possible.
Oh, and he also went to and graduated from one of the best colleges in the world at Seoul National University while also playing Starcraft 2 professionally. Now that he has finished school and can focus all time on gaming, how good can he truly get? Being one of the smartest players in the tournament, what kind of builds will he show us in his match against Alicia? Does he have anything special up his sleeve if he faces MarineKing in the final?
P.S: He has the third highest ELO currently in Korea. Only behind two guys named Nestea an Bomber.
The Chosen One
If you love protoss and hate the other two races, well, here's your hero: Alicia. Starting the tournament by beating arguably the best Toss in the world MC and then going on to beat Byun and Leenock, this guy is someone worthy to wear the crown for Protoss. Artosis' man crush has shown he has some sick PvT, maybe the best in the world, and has a winning percentage in all his other match-ups.
When he first appeared on the scene, no one really knew anything else except his name. Alicia? A lot of people thought he was actually a girl progamer that Boxer recruited. Sadly, for the guys who wanted Tossgirl 2.0, they got a kid who looks like he should be John's younger brother.
Alicia, out of all the Slayers people, currently has the best claim to say he's the best player. Unlike Ryung and MMA, he's actually in Code S and he did that a season ago. He took down MVP in the Up-and-Down matches and made a name for himself. Instead of being the guy with the girl name, he became one of the biggest rising stars in GSL with his strong timing pushes.
His quarterfinal match is against Polt and I'm telling you right now, this series will be great. This is the series I'm most excited about by far out of the four quarterfinals. Polt has shown some of the best TvP in the entire world and Alicia has shown that he might have some of the deadliest PvT in the world. They might not be the two biggest names in the world if you haven't followed for a while, but I think these two will be around for a long time to come. He's beaten MVP, MarineKing and Nada, but can he take down Polt? I'm really excited to find out and so should you!
There is also the possible storyline that he might face one of his Slayers teammates in the final. Can you imagine an Alicia vs. MMA/Ryung final? Those would be great final matches. Just think about Boxer in the crowd with Ga-yeon and the rest of Slayers, watching his two proud recruits battling it out to be the first one from his team to win a singles GSL title. Boxer coming up on stage and handing one of his students his very first championship like he once got a decade ago in the OSL for Brood War. Alicia, very well, could do this feat.
The Underling
Who the hell is this guy? Really, ZeNexLine? He qualified once for GSL 2, beat a guy named Sage, and then quickly got destroyed by Leenock. After that, he vanished, until he popped up at the first season of Code A. He got 2-0'd by YuGiOh in the first round and then vanished once more. After a season where he was out of sight, he qualified once more for the third season of Code A by beating Slayers Taeja in the final round. Again, for the third straight time, he got 2-0'ed out of the tournament by Hyperdub.
Amazingly, due to some of the foreigners declining their invites to the Super Tournament, this guy, whose only victory in GSL history was against a guy who has never been seen again since GSL 2, was invited to compete.
Seriously, who the fuck was this guy? No one expected anything from him. Against Jinro, a guy who had made the semifinals twice, who was this kid? He had been embarrassed all the other times he was in the booth, so why would this be any different?
Then, just like that, he 2-0'd Jinro and sent him packing. A lot of people appointed the win to Jinro slumping and some mistakes he made. At that time, it was just that Line got lucky to be playing a player not at his best and he would be taken out in the next round without problem.
Guess what happens next? He faces his teammate, and Code S participant, Kyrix and 2-1's him in the Round of 32. Well, uh, that was surprising. Maybe Line just knew Kyrix really well and could plan for him? Yeah, that had to be it. No way in hell this random dude who got 2-0'd every time he made the GSL was anything special. Look, he plays Nada next. Nada, the guy who ALWAYS makes the quarterfinals, is going to run over this nerd like breakfast and face Nestea. Right?
Right?
Wrong. Line lost the fist game, but the next two games, well, outplayed Nada. His mutalisk control was some of the best seen in the GSL and made some great decisions to beat one of the best players in the entire tournament. With that win, I think we can finally start saying that this guy might actually be something good. If you're a zerg fan, this is your hero. The true underdog story for the ages, really. SanZenith from GSL 5 has nothing on Line.
If it wasn't for the likes of TT1, Idra and White Ra declining, Line would not have been in this tournament. If they had come with some of the other foreigners, we might have never seen Line again. He still has to qualify through the Code A qualifiers after this tournament and that isn't an easy feat.
So, he's taken down a foreign hero, his own teammate, and the man with the most titles in Brood War history. What's next? Can he really get to the finals? Can he win the whole thing? Could this kid, who no one thought was anything, be the one to win the biggest prize so far in SC2 history?
Hey, this isn't a movie, but we could see an ending worthy of one.
The Overlooked
How many terrans are left? Six? Well, hey, look at that, this Top guy has a 48-27 record against terran. His overall record percentage is 64%. If you forgot, he was our first ever Code A champion by beating Byun in a great TvT final. If you never watched that series, it's a great watch that I highly recommend.
So why is he so overlooked? Is it because his team also has two great terrans in Nada and Supernova? Is it because there are already so many freaking terrans that TOP gets lost in the shuffle? Whatever it is, TOP is often overlooked when people talk about the best terrans in the world.
Showing consistent play in every GSL tournament he's been in, TOP is making a case to be called oGs best terran. He started the tournament beating August and Choya, not the greatest of challenges, but then had to meet the man himself in the Round of 16: Professor Tea; The God of Zerg; Defending GSL Champion himself, Nestea. A lot of people wrote off TOP even before the match started.
Tastosis were talking about how Nestea was going to grab a third title before MC or MVP. It was all looking like Nestea, after beating Bomber, was going to have a walk to the finals if he could just beat Nada in the next round.
Well, TOP didn't like such talk and bunker rushed Nestea in the first game. Nestea couldn't defend it and got taken out. After that, the second game was another overwhelming advantage for TOP until burrowed banelings turned the tide and Nestea made one of the best comebacks in GSL history. After that, you had to think TOP was done, right? The guy looked shaken. I wouldn't have been shocked if he had just left the booth altogether and went home after what just happened.
A lot of people would have tilted and folded. After giving up such a big lead, there is zero chance that he could win. Nestea is freaking Nestea. The guy is the best player in the world. He just won against a terran on Crossfire! Freaking Crossfire! No way TOP is winning this.
And then TOP won. He played safe, smart and overwhelmed Nestea until he couldn't fight anymore. Now, TOP is getting a lot of crap for knocking out the favorite of the tournament and one of the most loved players in Korea, but he played well. I think a lot of people don't think TOP is any good and thought he got lucky. Maybe TOP did get lucky, but he is surely not a bad player. Look at his record. Look at the games he's played.
Can he win the championship? Yeah he can. In a tournament that could come down to TvT, this is the guy that can deliver you a crushing victory. He'll have to beat the last zerg hope in Line next round, and I think he should be favored, but after seeing what he did to Nada, TOP will have to play as well as he did against Nestea to take down the gigantic underdog.
One thing is for sure: if he wins the championship, pretty sure no one will overlook this guy anymore.
You have a guy looking for his first title after three silvers. An unknown who has appeared from nowhere to take down one of the most legendary players in Starcraft history. A kid who has the whole hope for protoss on his shoulders. A guy who studies at a top Korean university and plays Starcraft 2 professionally at the same time. Someone who is overlooked and wants to prove his win against Nestea wasn't a fluke. A villain who will smirk arrogantly while all-inning you over and over. A rising star who hasn't lost a match in a month, who everyone praises and fawns over, while a guy on the same team wants to prove that he isn't just as good, but better.
They might not be the biggest names, but they are who they are. They're your final eight.
So ever since the last match ended in the final game of the Round of 16, there has been a lot of talk about just quitting the Super Tournament and not watching the rest of it
people always cry when their favorite player(s) get knocked out
this has happened plenty of times in past GSLs and MLG Columbus produced the very same reaction when foreigners were getting eliminated by Koreans.
I just hope the GSL finals actually produces a good series.
However, I think more should be done to 'protect' the best players, like what happens with MLG with the pool play and double elimination. Right now there's so many upsets in the GSL it completely devalues the suprise when an MC/Nestea/MVP is eliminated and it means we consistantly get crappy finals/semi finals.
I don't mind seeing upsets or good new players come through, but it would be a lot more epic/exciting to me if when we hit the Ro8 it was 6 of the worlds top 10 players and 2 outsiders, instead of 2 top players and 6 outsiders.
Fortunately we've not had a GSL yet where someone who really isn't top quality wins it (in spite of many finalists).
There is obviously a middle ground between the Gretorp situation and the mess GSL has of almost all the good players getting knocked out early every season.
Even the MLG format while not perfect at least creates great finals with MMA/Losira, Naniwa/Kiwi, Huk/Kiwi, Idra/Select etc.. There's never been an MLG which didn't end with two of the top players there meeting and this far outweighs the Gretorp issue. Plus it's not just the finals, we get to see Idra/MC, Idra/Thorzain, MMA/Idra, MC/Losira, Losira/MMA, MC/Thorzain, MC/Naniwa, Naniwa/Losira.
Almost all the combinations of top players meeting each other happens at an MLG. That's great it's exciting. I would love to see a GSL where we Nestea/MC, MC/MVP, Nestea/MKP, Nestea/Bomber and other combinations of that all in one season, but it never happens. We probably get one matchup like that per season in a Bo3/5/7.
Certainly I have no issue with a guy like Bomber, MMA etc.. coming through if they're good enough but it's not enjoyable that every GSL the Ro8 is full of people who've got there through nothing more than a mix of luck, cheese and a very favourable draw, it's so anti climatic and really cheapens the achievement of the guys like Bomber/MMA when they do make it far in Code S because so did Inca, Rain, Anypro, Hongun and many others who are nothing special.
On June 10 2011 03:28 Wolf wrote: I love this writeup. Great job, man. Gotta say, you should've called Alicia "The Chosen One"!
Since you went four days of solo casting, I will do it as a thank you. :p
I was actually going to put in the 'Daughter of Ga-Yeon' since he has a girl's name and he always mentions how much she supports him, but I believe Alicia fans would eat me alive.
Iiinteresting, I half want to vote TheBest just for giggles and because he might get TheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBestTheBest....
...of them.
(Yeah, I know, I'm goin to hell for that reference)
Before I read this I only saw the super tournament as another tournament were some good players play and that's it. I didn't really want to watch it as it would consume my "precious" time.
But now I have something to look forward to. Drama, things at stake, underdogs, villains, favourites... This is what makes SC2 tournaments so enjoyable!
Good read. I think the GSL will still be interesting, and all the players in it now (or at least most..) are still very solid so I don't see why people should get pissed other than one reason. Maka lost. I was really hoping to see him in the top 8, but I have always felt Polt was underrated and that he was a solid player, so it's not the worst situation but still.
It also looks like MKP is set up for a second place finish. This may be the first GSL where we have an unexpected winner. MVP Nestea and MC all winning with MKP being close a few times wasn't much of a surprise after watching the first few GSLs, but now there is a really good chance that a player like TOP can win the whole thing (even though I'm not a big fan of his).
Great write up - I'm also looking forward to the round of 8 and beyond. This is gonna be an amazing tournament, BECAUSE all the super-favorites have been knocked out by now! =)
Very fun read, and well written. Thanks a lot for taking the time to write it, always either gets me into the games again or just gets me more stoked! I really hope MarineKing will win. Just because of getting so close before, and introducing such a unique playstyle. He will have to earn it but I would be happy when he does.
Sick write up, and I'm pretty stoked for the rest of the super tournament. Wish there were less Terrans but at least we're starting to see a variety in styles in TvT
Nice write up, and congrats on the spot light! Even though Nada and NesTea are out I still have hope that MMA, MKP and the lone protoss and zerg can still make the rest of the tournament worth watching.
I'm with the Slayers people. They seriously seem to be on another level when it comes to development and practice regime. Alicia or MMA to win! HWaAITING!~~
GSL Super Tournament sucks so hard that even an article like this can't make me feel anything about it. I'd prefer watching ZvZ semis in PDPOP MSL again rather than watching this.
Even though it seems that this is MKP's time to get a chip, I want one of the SlayerS guys to win. I personally can't wait for the Alicia vs Polt match. A great TvP player facing against a PvT specialist.
Amazing amazing amazing. Please write more and more articles, I love it! :D
I want MKP to win it all. I feel it'll either be MKP/MMA vs TOP/Alicia.
If Polt beats Alicia then Top will be Polt, but I feel if Alicia beats Polt then he will beat Top and get to the finals. Either way I hope it's a TvT or a TvP in the finals. (sorry Line...)
GSL Tres: Rain makes it to the finals by heavily cheesing some of the favorites and has to meet MC, who at the time, could not be touched by anyone. Rain got a singular victory, but the rest of the final wasn't close. MC crushed him.
I actually dont think Rain gets nearly enough credit for this final... Game 1 was close, game 2 was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY close with the strangest come from behind win ever (that is, until Inca beat Rain last month lol). Game 3 and 4 kinda meh, but first two games were good, and game 4 DID have some tension with MC losing all his probes.
great writeup! Didnt know Polt was on such a tear, sort of had stopped caring about his results ever since he got beat by jinro(no offense to jinro, it just happened at that time). But seeing him being 35-12 I'm now genuinely excited for his games against Alicia, and as you said OP it might possibly be the best of all in that round.
Again, great writeup. Made me look forward all the more to the upcoming rounds.
I was a little depressed when Nestea got eliminated, kinda lost all interest for the ro8. But reading this got me hyped for it again, so thanks for that
Gonna cheer for Alicia, he's by far my favorite korean protoss player
great write up. i was really betting on nada making another round of 8. would like to see marineking beat one of the slayers guys for his first championship. Some really nice storylines here.
GSL Tres: Rain makes it to the finals by heavily cheesing some of the favorites and has to meet MC, who at the time, could not be touched by anyone. Rain got a singular victory, but the rest of the final wasn't close. MC crushed him.
I actually dont think Rain gets nearly enough credit for this final... Game 1 was close, game 2 was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY close with the strangest come from behind win ever (that is, until Inca beat Rain last month lol). Game 3 and 4 kinda meh, but first two games were good, and game 4 DID have some tension with MC losing all his probes.
Thanks Jinro. I should rewatch the series. I haven't seen it in a few months, but I never feeling worried that Rain was going to win. Maybe it was because I didn't buy into Rain, but I'm going to go rewatch the games and see how close it was.
Also I'm really glad this article is getting people to want to watch the Super Tournament. I got into Starcraft through the players a few years ago and not the game. Players personalities like FBH, Savior, Reach and all the storylines that went on really got me interested. Then I got more into the game after that. I think every tournament and match-up has a story, but you just have to look for it.
I think it is still very far up in the air for who's gonna win. There are a few major deciding factors.
1) MMA's inconsistent plays. I'm sure all of you agree that at times, MMA plays like he really deserves to stay in Code A. This is usually when he doesn't feel the pressure and what not. But then at other times, he literally goes into god mode. MMA will come out ahead against MKP if he goes into his god mode imo, but he won't even get past Ryung if he doesn't.
2) Alicia vs Polt. Alicia is the best PvT out there, BUT Polt is undefeated against Protoss afaik, being the one to consistently take out MC. Being only a Bo3, this could really go either way, and I'm really excited to see this match. If Alicia goes thru, there is going to be another factor after that...
3) Tops vs Line. If Line goes thru, I think Alicia will have a difficult time beating him seeing how bad his PvZ is. But Top managed to take down Nestea, so logically he should be able to take down Line. If this is the case, I'm pretty sure Alicia would decimate Tops, then go on and take out MKP or MMA in the finals. But Tops vs Line is a Bo3, so anything can happen.
So this is going to come down to how tonight's games pan out. Really excited!
TheBest vs Line in the finals; and it'll be the most epic macro-intensive finals we've ever seen with TheBest winning 4-3 after an 8 hour long set of games all cast by Wolf
GSL Tres: Rain makes it to the finals by heavily cheesing some of the favorites and has to meet MC, who at the time, could not be touched by anyone. Rain got a singular victory, but the rest of the final wasn't close. MC crushed him.
I actually dont think Rain gets nearly enough credit for this final... Game 1 was close, game 2 was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY close with the strangest come from behind win ever (that is, until Inca beat Rain last month lol). Game 3 and 4 kinda meh, but first two games were good, and game 4 DID have some tension with MC losing all his probes.
I REALLY agree with this. People always say Rain can't play a macro game, but he can! Set 2 on Lost Temple vs MC was VERY EPIC. I remember how many people were saying wow, that was one of the most epic matches I ever saw. But it seems all the hate has made them forget it.
That game on Lost Temple showed a lot of promise for SC2; there was a shit ton of harass and action everywhere with smart use of the map's "imba" terrain. It was long, and very fun to watch. Not to mention MC making a miracle hold against Rain's push at the beginning.
Rofl, no wonder, the Min vs TheBest match I saw was from April >.> (where Min + Show Spoiler +
won a close match
)
Damn it TheBest! lol, would have been even more epic if Min made it through (and because there would actually be another non-terran player)
Omg can't believe Nestea lost T_T
Anyways, good writeup, and I agree, I always looked at Polt as a very meh player back then but now he is really owning.
Oh, and he also goes to university at one of the best colleges in the world at Seoul National University. If a guy, who has to split his time between going to school and Starcraft, can be this good, how would he look if he spent all his time at the game? Being one of the smartest players in the tournament, what kind of builds we show us for the next round?
He graduated, thats what his whole schpiel was before our rematch; that now he has graduated and can focus full time on gaming so he wont lose :p
Looking forward to Polt vs Alicia quite a lot, and TOP vs Line as well.... Actually heck, looking forward to it all.
Ah thanks for clearing up Jinro, no wonder he's doing so much better now!
BTW for my Economy project my group is making it an analysis of eSports on the global economy, it's ok for us to use a picture of you to represent Sweden right?
Terran is back....and they still get high tournament rankings by doing allins/cheese. Nothing has changed since rain got owned. I pray to whatever high entity watches starcraft that either alicia or line takes this. Terran is just too much bullshit to root for anyone (maybe MMA).
If either Alicia or Line make it to the Finals, they will win. In a GSL Final where there was a Terran and another race, terran always lost. So all I can do is hope and cheer for those two beacons of light in a dark GSL (kinda like fruitdealer).
On June 10 2011 04:17 Liquid`Jinro wrote: He graduated, thats what his whole schpiel was before our rematch; that now he has graduated and can focus full time on gaming so he wont lose :p
That explains why Polt's been beasting as of late.
Oh, and he also goes to university at one of the best colleges in the world at Seoul National University. If a guy, who has to split his time between going to school and Starcraft, can be this good, how would he look if he spent all his time at the game? Being one of the smartest players in the tournament, what kind of builds we show us for the next round?
He graduated, thats what his whole schpiel was before our rematch; that now he has graduated and can focus full time on gaming so he wont lose :p
Looking forward to Polt vs Alicia quite a lot, and TOP vs Line as well.... Actually heck, looking forward to it all.
Im as big a fan of GSL as anyone and buy a pass to every event, but you're delusional if you honestly believe the games produced will be even remotely entertaining. We have maybe 3 solid people left, the rest are matchup players (see polt), or people on a level more like oGsInca-ish.
Our best hope is that the zerg and the protoss both make the Round of 4. Im really not going out of my way to watch the rest of the games. I think this is MKPs only chance to win a GSL title and prove artosis wrong so I wouldnt mind that
On June 10 2011 04:28 hunts wrote: sigh... so sad nestea got cheesed out Now I don't really have much of a reason to watch the rest of the super tournament :/
It wasn't cheese, terran has to be aggressive against zerg early on to stand a chance.
On June 10 2011 04:24 Jayrod wrote: Im as big a fan of GSL as anyone and buy a pass to every event, but you're delusional if you honestly believe the games produced will be even remotely entertaining. We have maybe 3 solid people left, the rest are matchup players (see polt), or people on a level more like oGsInca-ish.
Our best hope is that the zerg and the protoss both make the Round of 4. Im really not going out of my way to watch the rest of the games. I think this is MKPs only chance to win a GSL title and prove artosis wrong so I wouldnt mind that
Alicia has bad PvZ, but theres only 1 Z left. Nobody knows anything about Line's ZvP and his ZvZ Ive heard isnt amazing, but his next match is a Terran, and his final might be as well should he win.
TOP is good at all matchups.
Ryung and MMA have fantastic TvT, and MMA is a beast at the other MUs as well.
TheBest... Honestly didnt manage to see a single one of his games this season so I cant comment, I have no idea what he played like :O
Polt has a TvP which is his best matchup up next, should be good games. There could be a couple of unfortunate final combinations I m sure, but theres a LOT of competitive ones as well.
On June 10 2011 04:28 hunts wrote: sigh... so sad nestea got cheesed out Now I don't really have much of a reason to watch the rest of the super tournament :/
Maybe zerg users would be happier if terran players made a gentlemans agreement to not pressure them before the 15 minute mark? Apparently any attack before that is cheese.
I feel sorry for TheBest, he's definitely the villain of the piece but he outexpanded Jjun in round 1, went for two 1rax fe's into ghost timings vs Tester, and when he 1rax fe'd vs Min he promptly got baneling busted xD
He's still done more than his fair share of all ins, but there's been an obvious effort to at least broaden the scope of his play hehe.
Great write up though Fionn! I agree that Alicia vs Polt is likely to be the best match up of the quarterfinals, but each have their own interesting storyline, and there's a number of exciting possibilities for the finals still =)
MKP due to his consistency in getting to the finals, I think he is due for a victory in that department. Than we have MMA who I think will finally get the credit he deserves rather than just being the clutch Team league player he is known for.
People should stop being surprised with upsets. It is clear that although players demonstrate a huge amount of skill in their wins, and the ability to execute difficult to perform strategies, no one has managed to not die to 1 base all ins, 2 base all ins, hidden tech, proxy buildings. Also, no one has managed to play at a consistent level.
The only consistency is that the players who do all the all ins, can do well at GSL. Why can't any of the foreigners do the same thing to these koreans. Korean zergs lose to bunker pressure and random hellions all the time. Korean Terrans get baneling busted all the time. It is a shame foreigners don't all in the koreans more often. Surely, it doesn't require much skill to perform a baneling bust or a bunker rush.
Amazing write up, My brain hurt when i had to try and pick who I wanted to win. I really want MKP to win his first finals, However I feel it would be awesome for MMA to win MLG and GSL in the same month.
On June 10 2011 04:28 hunts wrote: sigh... so sad nestea got cheesed out Now I don't really have much of a reason to watch the rest of the super tournament :/
Maybe zerg users would be happier if terran players made a gentlemans agreement to not pressure them before the 15 minute mark? Apparently any attack before that is cheese.
This is getting pretty annoying from some people - don't know why pressure is viewed as cheese, the point is to make your opponent uncomfortable :| Especially if you let a zerg get too comfortable and drone you you'll be looking at a rough midgame. Terran has powerful openers and it's good that they are being utilised.
On topic: Great writeup, really well constructed :D Hoping either MKP or MMA go on to win the whole thing - Though I wouldn't complain about Alicia winning.
On June 10 2011 04:24 Jayrod wrote: Im as big a fan of GSL as anyone and buy a pass to every event, but you're delusional if you honestly believe the games produced will be even remotely entertaining. We have maybe 3 solid people left, the rest are matchup players (see polt), or people on a level more like oGsInca-ish.
Our best hope is that the zerg and the protoss both make the Round of 4. Im really not going out of my way to watch the rest of the games. I think this is MKPs only chance to win a GSL title and prove artosis wrong so I wouldnt mind that
Alicia has bad PvZ, but theres only 1 Z left. Nobody knows anything about Line's ZvP and his ZvZ Ive heard isnt amazing, but his next match is a Terran, and his final might be as well should he win.
TOP is good at all matchups.
Ryung and MMA have fantastic TvT, and MMA is a beast at the other MUs as well.
TheBest... Honestly didnt manage to see a single one of his games this season so I cant comment, I have no idea what he played like :O
Polt has a TvP which is his best matchup up next, should be good games. There could be a couple of unfortunate final combinations I m sure, but theres a LOT of competitive ones as well.
On June 10 2011 04:28 hunts wrote: sigh... so sad nestea got cheesed out Now I don't really have much of a reason to watch the rest of the super tournament :/
Maybe zerg users would be happier if terran players made a gentlemans agreement to not pressure them before the 15 minute mark? Apparently any attack before that is cheese.
My information is obviously through the filter of the GSL presentation, but TheBest has been dubbed TheWorst of the fOu group in casts. Polt's got this deep via TvP... he got this deep probably similar to inca's PvZ dodging last GSL.
I'd personally like to see more of MMA before dubbing him the "real deal" because I really feel like Bomber's probably better overall.
Im just having alot of trouble getting excited about the rest of the tournament having Code B players or other players that we wouldnt expect to see past ro16 in the normal GSL seasons.
On June 10 2011 04:24 Jayrod wrote: Im as big a fan of GSL as anyone and buy a pass to every event, but you're delusional if you honestly believe the games produced will be even remotely entertaining. We have maybe 3 solid people left, the rest are matchup players (see polt), or people on a level more like oGsInca-ish.
Our best hope is that the zerg and the protoss both make the Round of 4. Im really not going out of my way to watch the rest of the games. I think this is MKPs only chance to win a GSL title and prove artosis wrong so I wouldnt mind that
Alicia has bad PvZ, but theres only 1 Z left. Nobody knows anything about Line's ZvP and his ZvZ Ive heard isnt amazing, but his next match is a Terran, and his final might be as well should he win.
TOP is good at all matchups.
Ryung and MMA have fantastic TvT, and MMA is a beast at the other MUs as well.
TheBest... Honestly didnt manage to see a single one of his games this season so I cant comment, I have no idea what he played like :O
Polt has a TvP which is his best matchup up next, should be good games. There could be a couple of unfortunate final combinations I m sure, but theres a LOT of competitive ones as well.
On June 10 2011 04:28 hunts wrote: sigh... so sad nestea got cheesed out Now I don't really have much of a reason to watch the rest of the super tournament :/
Maybe zerg users would be happier if terran players made a gentlemans agreement to not pressure them before the 15 minute mark? Apparently any attack before that is cheese.
My information is obviously through the filter of the GSL presentation, but TheBest has been dubbed TheWorst of the fOu group in casts. Polt's got this deep via TvP... he got this deep probably similar to inca's PvZ dodging last GSL.
I'd personally like to see more of MMA before dubbing him the "real deal" because I really feel like Bomber's probably better overall.
Im just having alot of trouble getting excited about the rest of the tournament having Code B players or other players that we wouldnt expect to see past ro16 in the normal GSL seasons.
I just want to point out, Polt has played ALL 3 match ups (Losira 2-1, Huk 2-0, Maka 2-1). Polt's worst match is TvT, but he can make a definite (and deserved) run to the semis.
Great writeup. Sad face about the racial imbalance (I dont mean the game, just the fact its 6/8 terrans ). I feel like this is the biggest chance for MKP to succeed.
Good luck to Line too, I suppose. He's already proven himself as a good player, but it would be nice if "the guy that beat Jinro" (and Nada) could make it even further.
[QUOTE]On June 10 2011 04:29 Liquid`Jinro wrote: [QUOTE]On June 10 2011 04:24 Jayrod wrote: [QUOTE]On June 10 2011 04:28 hunts wrote: sigh... so sad nestea got cheesed out Now I don't really have much of a reason to watch the rest of the super tournament :/[/QUOTE] Maybe zerg users would be happier if terran players made a gentlemans agreement to not pressure them before the 15 minute mark? Apparently any attack before that is cheese.[/QUOTE] So true haha, Zergs need to stop QQ. In my definition cheese is only proxy rax, 6-7-8-9 pools, cannon rush, proxy gates are all-ins
On June 10 2011 04:29 Liquid`Jinro wrote: Alicia has bad PvZ, but theres only 1 Z left.
Why do people think this? Is it because he lost the Losira last season 0-2 to the same two base roach ling pressure?
Statistically he is 7-4 (which is statistically his weakest, but by a slime margin) in his sets against zerg which you cannot say is bad, he just took out Leenock who might not be NesTier (see what I did there) but definitely an excellent zerg who defeated aLive and Clide to get the Ro16 (both Code S terrans, and statistically that is Leenock's weakest matchup).
Maybe it's because he makes some funky decisions but wins because he has superior control and wins fights with FF and blink micro?
I don't see him going down to Polt easily, and if he does manage to make it to the Ro4 I think he will be the favourite against either Top or Line, just because both those players do not have any notable success against Protoss relative to Polt.
Overall you can't really say much because it's only 11 games (where he has defeated the likes of Nestea, Losira, Zenio, to name a few) but you can't say its bad.
OP only remembers what he wants to remember. No Nestea was not really considered better than Marineking at that time. It was kind of the best terran vs the best zerg. However previosuly to marineking terran did not really know how to play vs zerg, and marineking kind of revoulitioned this match up.
Rain cheesing several of the best players? Several = NEstea??? Mc crushing Rain ? You dont think the game on LT was on close.
I hope MKP can do it this time, if nothing else than for his work ethic. In interviews, he'll talk about how he'd practice a specific build against a specific opponent hundreds of times. I don't know how much his opponents are practicing, but MKP strikes me as incredibly diligent.
On June 10 2011 05:13 Hider wrote: OP only remembers what he wants to remember. No Nestea was not really considered better than Marineking at that time. It was kind of the best terran vs the best zerg. However previosuly to marineking terran did not really know how to play vs zerg, and marineking kind of revoulitioned this match up.
Rain cheesing several of the best players? Several = NEstea??? Mc crushing Rain ? You dont think the game on LT was on close.
A lot of people thought MarineKing as a very cheesy/all-in kinda guy. I mean, even now, there are people who all think his style is cheesy. Please don't think I dislike MarineKing or anything; he's actually one of my favorite players to watch and one of the reasons I got so much into the SC2 scene.
And yeah, I tried not to be biased, but sorry if some of my own opinions slipped through. Like I said earlier to Jinro, I will go rewatch the MC/Rain series soon.
Wow sick article. If you add more italics and fancy banners, you might one day end up on TL staff :D
I for one really hope MKP takes it this time, it'd be sooo sad if he was knocked out late yet again. Though TehBest taking the msost prestigious tournament this far with his all-in antics could hold some entertainment value as well.
"Or maybe, just maybe, he is just smirking naturally and not thinking any of that, but I think it's more fun thinking he and Choya are on a mission to all-in every single player in the GSL until they win the championship and destroy esports forever. "
God bless you. Great write-up and MarineKing has to have this one, MMA won't be easy though.
Signed, Slardar.
*Edit* Jesus Christ that was a great read after hearing much talk of "abandoning" this tournament after NesTea got knocked out. Tons of story lines everywhere, Fionn you have done an exceptional job explaining them all. Have you considered writing staff for TL? Have Mods considered this worthy to be a front page article? (I don't mean just highlighted.)
I never thought I would say this. Polt seems like he's gonna be the dark horse of the tournament. He doesn't have impressive micro/macro or even multi-tasking of other terrans on the list. His wins are uninspiring and simple. But it may be just him understanding the match-ups so well that nets him his impressive stats. Looking forward to his games to dissect his plays.
I give Alicia a VERY big chance of winning, he has shown that his PvT is Amazing. Tho he can work abit more on his unit controll and maybe start developing more differnt strategys because his DT expand has become so eazy to read. Goodluck aye marineking is obv the best TvT imho
I also want to say that despite the great write-up, the only way I think people we be remotely happy is if Alicia survives his side of the bracket and faces MMA or MKP in the finals. I have a feeling Polt can take out Alicia though.
Please please please, can you put names and race icons for each player? I have no idea who these players are or which races these people play except for MMA. I'm sure there are many people like me who don't follow the korean scene and don't know who some of these players are.
He wansn't a favorite to win the tournament (season 1 nestea was horrible.) It was more of a 'okay you came back, cool.'
Then he started defeating one of the more 'favorites' of the tournament, notably Zenio who was on a roll at the time(tastosis thought he would definately go to the finals). He came back very, very solid. Understanding the game so much better than most players at that time.
Threre were much more MKP fans (after his impressive style/series vs Kyrix) and expected him to win, but Nestea reigned supreme and he has shown spectacular results since then.
On June 10 2011 05:35 TheBB wrote: Sure they are good players, but I want some variation in my SC2. A TvTvTvTvTv............... doesn't really get my blood boiling.
(Actually, it kind of does, but in the wrong way.)
/this
while there are some terrans i actually like, i don't think i will watch the matches. A few TvTs are ok, but this is just too much to be entertaining.
Right now only MMA, MKP, and Alicia have any sort of shot at winning this. Hard to get excited when 5 out of 8 of the players stand no chance. This has nothing to do with people upset their favorite player got eliminated. It has to do with the fact that the round of 8 doesn't contain the best players in the world, and people want to see the best players in the world play each other.
There is obviously a middle ground between the Gretorp situation and the mess GSL has of almost all the good players getting knocked out early every season.
On June 10 2011 05:55 MiX wrote: Right now only MMA, MKP, and Alicia have any sort of shot at winning this. Hard to get excited when 5 out of 8 of the players stand no chance. This has nothing to do with people upset their favorite player got eliminated. It has to do with the fact that the round of 8 doesn't contain the best players in the world, and people want to see the best players in the world play each other.
This is why the world championship was so good, it had the 4 best players in the world in the ro4.
I think its open between MKP and MMA to win this. But I want to discuss what is going on in my mind, and im sure everyone elses. Seriously, Terran has been ripping every tournament up to shreds. They need to get nerfed now. Its sickening.
Ill just quote the Rolling Stones: You can't always get what you want (all the superstars in top 8) But if you try sometimes you might find You get what you need (very good grand finals?)
I'm rooting for Alicia, but MMA is probably the strongest player right now.
And man, MKP really needs a title. I really try to root for him, but i just cannot see him taking it. If he gets to the finals and looses again, i'm gonna cry with him to make him feel better.
On June 10 2011 03:28 Wolf wrote: I love this writeup. Great job, man. Gotta say, you should've called Alicia "The Chosen One"!
Since you went four days of solo casting, I will do it as a thank you. :p
I was actually going to put in the 'Daughter of Ga-Yeon' since he has a girl's name and he always mentions how much she supports him, but I believe Alicia fans would eat me alive.
I read your name and went, wtf how if hes a writer how doesn't he have a special icon, hit home and seen and the article wasn't even writen by TL :p I was suprised.
On June 10 2011 03:15 Fionn wrote: If you love protoss and hate the other two races, well, here's your hero: Alicia.
Protoss is actually my least favorite race, considering what we have to watch - mostly gimmicky players relying on openers / timed pushes. Even the Protoss hero, MC, has occasionally boring games due to his unforgiving style (mostly PvZ build order executions)
Then came Alicia, showing us a PvT style we've never seen before - Alicia v T quickly became my favorite matchup. The only Toss from the RO16 taking this one down would make for a pretty epic story... even better if his opponent is MMA (actually, anyone on that side but TheBest would be great)
There are comments on Alicia's weak PvZ, I understand, but it's only weak relative to his other matchups. In reality, whose PvZ is better than his other than MC? I highly doubt Line could take Alicia if he ran into him.
Also wanted to add, Ryung actually has a good chance at taking this, much better than people might think. He's a TvT specialist, and he's only got Terran to face until the final. He also plays good macro games (SlayerS team, duh), so I can't say I'd be disappointed if he made it through.
Overall, this isn't a bad final 8 at all - only one truly undeserving player (TheBest), one somewhat unproven (Line), two great players (Ryung, Top), and the rest tip-top tier (I'd personally argue against Polt, but the TLPD says otherwise).
It's the best top 8 we've had since the first Code S season, IMO.
Excellent hype writeup, I especially love the part about TOP. I was rooting for MMA but now I think I want TOP to take it, the dude's been fighting so hard since he topped Code A.
As awesome as Nestea and Nada are, their play last night was far from perfect. Line and TOP definitely deserved their victories, and I'm actually excited to see how these two underdogs will perform next round. Perhaps Line vs TOP will be a better series than the hypothetical Nestea vs Nada series.
And I'm very interested to see more play out of Line. Up until his defeat of Nada, there was no way to know that he would be this good. Looking back, however, I think he may really be one of the most underrated dark horses of the tournament. Indeed, he did get knocked out of several GSLs. However, he was also consistent enough to pull his way back through several GSL qualifiers, which are arguably as difficult as the GSLs themselves. Also, beating an up-and-coming Taeja during one of these qualifiers could be a sign of his skill.
There is obviously a middle ground between the Gretorp situation and the mess GSL has of almost all the good players getting knocked out early every season.
What is this Gretorp situation? thanks.
I'm really curious as well, could someone elaborate please?
On June 10 2011 05:55 MiX wrote: Right now only MMA, MKP, and Alicia have any sort of shot at winning this. Hard to get excited when 5 out of 8 of the players stand no chance. This has nothing to do with people upset their favorite player got eliminated. It has to do with the fact that the round of 8 doesn't contain the best players in the world, and people want to see the best players in the world play each other.
I think you meant to say that the Round of 8 doesn't contain the most popular players in the world.
5 of the 8 players are in the Top 10 of Korean ELO (and 6 of the 8 if you want to extend to Top 12). It is just simple facts the most of the best players in Korea are Terrans - MVP, MKP, MMA, etc. Whereas the other 2 races only really have 2 decent players a piece (MC and Alicia) (Nestea and Losira).
The only players that do not belong are TheBest and Line from what we've seen in the past - I'd go so far to say Ryung doesn't belong either.
On June 10 2011 05:55 MiX wrote: Right now only MMA, MKP, and Alicia have any sort of shot at winning this. Hard to get excited when 5 out of 8 of the players stand no chance. This has nothing to do with people upset their favorite player got eliminated. It has to do with the fact that the round of 8 doesn't contain the best players in the world, and people want to see the best players in the world play each other.
This is why the world championship was so good, it had the 4 best players in the world in the ro4.
Excellent writeup, you should totally apply for TL writer positions!
Only thing I wanna note is please spoiler that top portion in italics. To be honest I wanted to watch the vods but came upon this thread and got completely spoiled by those italics so i just decided to read the whole thing then haha.
As much as all these guys might be good, I hate watching TvT. It's the most boring drawn out match ever. It was in BW and it still is now. I'll only watch the finals prob.
Very nicely written, now I hope these gets published every ro8 in GSL since they build up a nice storyline and hype. I for one don't care if the three gods (nestea, mvp, mc) are still in it, the players in ro8 are sick good to make it that far and I just hope gsl provides a nice finals for once.
A small typo, Edit: forgot to give props to the writeup, awesome read! :3
A lot of people would have tilted and folded. After giving up such a big lead, there is zero chance that he could win. Nestea is freaking Nestea. The guy is the best player in the world. He just won against a zerg on Crossfire! Freaking Crossfire! No way TOP is winning this."
Nice writeup, I was kinda disheartened at the fact that so many top names were already out, including Jinro who i think everyone here loves, but this writeup made it perfectly clear that these are some (and some not so) great players that are here to duke it out
Seriously who likes TheBestfou? This guy all ins every game and is the most boring player to watch. How does Polt have less votes than him?
Lol in all honesty if he makes it to the finals we are destined for a terrible finals yet again. Any other player but him, I feel, would deliver a pretty entertaining final.
To be honest out of all of this I can't wait for Ryung Vs MMA. Ryung has been wanting a televised match for SO LONG against MMA. Hes fed up of living in his shadow. I really wanna see how this goes down.
Edit - I'm an idiot, I posted twice, I tabbed off the page came back and was like oooo lets leave a post. Reads latest comments of shit thats me above TT.
Awesome writeup, but it's sad to see Polt at the bottom of the poll D: .
Polt's gonna go all the way!! His plays have been super impressive in my opinion, and it would be great to see him go all the way and take home the money :D.
On June 10 2011 05:42 nAgeDitto wrote: Line reminds me of nestea at open season 2.
He wansn't a favorite to win the tournament (season 1 nestea was horrible.) It was more of a 'okay you came back, cool.'
Then he started defeating one of the more 'favorites' of the tournament, notably Zenio who was on a roll at the time(tastosis thought he would definately go to the finals). He came back very, very solid. Understanding the game so much better than most players at that time.
Threre were much more MKP fans (after his impressive style/series vs Kyrix) and expected him to win, but Nestea reigned supreme and he has shown spectacular results since then.
Can we expect this from our 'underdog' Line too??
I dunno when it was Season 2 I expected NesTea to win, but this was my method of choice, I said to my friend the person to win this season would be NesTea because he had the coolest name.
On June 10 2011 06:58 mikyaJ wrote: Polt: the most underrated players in all of SC2
and lol he's even got the least votes in the poll
He knocked out Boxer and Jinro in some early GSLs and didn't do a whole lot in the rest of those seasons. He's easily a code S level player but people hate him for knocking out fan favorites.
Great writeup the best I have seen in a long while. I have never laughed so much during a analysis/hype thread before either, props man! If you have time I definitely thiink you should be on the TL writing team!
I'm actually a big Slayers fan, but at the same time, I can't help but feel for MarineKing. The guy is definitely deserving of a title just for making it to the finals so many damn times. Let's hope he doesn't choke this time.
Great writeup, Really good hype for this tournament. All the players that are in it right now(Excluding Thebest) have shown some amazing play and should provide a good finals. Go Alicia/MMA/Ryung!
Great writeup. If it's Alicia vs. MMA/Ryung in the finals I'd almost die of awesomeness. Or at least, a SlayerS player winning it all. SlayerS hwaiting!
On June 10 2011 05:42 nAgeDitto wrote: Line reminds me of nestea at open season 2.
He wansn't a favorite to win the tournament (season 1 nestea was horrible.) It was more of a 'okay you came back, cool.'
Then he started defeating one of the more 'favorites' of the tournament, notably Zenio who was on a roll at the time(tastosis thought he would definately go to the finals). He came back very, very solid. Understanding the game so much better than most players at that time.
Threre were much more MKP fans (after his impressive style/series vs Kyrix) and expected him to win, but Nestea reigned supreme and he has shown spectacular results since then.
Can we expect this from our 'underdog' Line too??
I dunno when it was Season 2 I expected NesTea to win, but this was my method of choice, I said to my friend the person to win this season would be NesTea because he had the coolest name.
The coolest name was babybyebye (killer's id at the time lol )
Great write up I would like to see Marineking win a finals for once. He such a great player he deserves a championship. If he can't do then Alicia would be good too biased I'm a protoss but he really is really good.
Good job on this. Read the whole thing and thought my eyes were going to start bleeding but it was very enjoyable. MMA or MKP lets gooo! Terran baby yeah.
MMA MKP and Alicia are all kinda popular/special in their own way, but the rest of the players are just.....there. Nothing is particularly special about them or their play style, aside from Thebest being freakin awful. I mean yea a newcomer like Line beat Jinro and Nada to make a name for himself, but none of those games were particularly memorable. The most memorable part of TOP vs Nestea were Nestea's own baneling mines, and not TOP's play. So while these guys may have had challenging roads into the Ro8, hardly any of them were actually interesting. I hope we get MMA or MKP in the finals vs Alicia.
Guys who write articles like this should instantly be placed into either TL staff or some type of position having to do with article quality, it really hits home with humour and it makes me feel like I want to watch GSL now.
The top 8 is fine imo. Sure MC, MVP and nestea are missing but we do have MKP, MMA, Alicia. Only the best and line are a bit crap out of these imo and line isn't even that bad though he had a fairly easy path to ro8 so far (all his opponents played below level really).
Sc2 is just a little too fluky for tournaments with just bo3s. It's less macro and more tactical then sc1 making it so much easier to win games by cheese. Most tournament formats in sc2 just suck major balls, why don't the tournaments just have a pool with bo3s instead of bo1 to start out with? Or why isn't there some proper seeding at the tournaments? The ranking system for GSL sucks really as points gotten five GSLs ago count as strong as points gotten recently leading to retarded matchups early in the tournament like MC vs Alicia round 1 and to a lesser extent Bomber vs Nestea round 2.
The disapointing finals are a little bit the result of the flawed tournament format giving bad players too big a chance to get far based on gimmicky play. On the other hand you can't blame GSL too much for it, finals are dissapointing in lots of sports. There is often too much on the line for players leading to less spectacular play.
Sc2 tournaments just need to drastically improve their tournament formats, would really help the quality of competition making it easier for the top players to consistently do well. NASL is best setup of the big tournaments so far but it's a big too long perhaps.
I'm torn on this one, really want to see MKP take a gold, but at the same time gotta root for the only Toss hope in Alicia and then how can you not love the step-children of boxer in MMA/Ryung.
On June 10 2011 04:28 hunts wrote: sigh... so sad nestea got cheesed out Now I don't really have much of a reason to watch the rest of the super tournament :/
Maybe zerg users would be happier if terran players made a gentlemans agreement to not pressure them before the 15 minute mark? Apparently any attack before that is cheese.
If a terran doesn't let a zerg drone up to full saturation on 3 bases before attacking, it's cheese.
I'd love to see an MMA vs Alicia finals, but then again... wouldn't it be nice for MKP to finally win something? Looking forward to the rest of the games!
This is an awesome write, up so many people were dissapointed after proffesor Tea and Nada got knocked out yesterday in huge upsets in my oppinion, i was still excited for the rest of the tournament (especially because alicia got through) but not nearly as excited as i would have been if Tea and Nada had made it through, this write up has gotten me super pumped all over again.
This should be put as a frontpage write up! i know its already spotlighted but i mean right smack dab in the middle with a nice picture, such good hype for the rest of the GSL. I know its alot of terrans but TVT is by far the best mirror matchup in my oppinion so at least its not just a bunch of zergs or protoss's PVP and zvz are both quick matchups alot of the time, i really hope Alicia can make it to the finals.
Will alicia have to face MKP before the finals if they both win?
Either Polt or MKP. I think Prime team badly needs this win and I'd love to see either player take the finals. I imagine that if MKP beats MMA he'd be past his biggest hurdle
I really hope MKP can win this time around... and when he does, I just might have to cry... then GOM will make a new documentary on him... this time finally as a champion... and I'll have to cry again
I think it's time for MKP to take the championship, then we can get the happy ending to the MKP documentary they made.
Also, Ryung is seriously overlooked considering his reputation in the team league was as a Terran sniper. MMA's been clutch and Ryung did fail to beat MVP in the team league, leaving the glory to MMA. So this should be an interesting series.
I can't wait to see Alicia - Polt though. That should be the great.
I really hope MKP wins this one, although he gets silver every 2 seasons, gsl 1= no gsl 2= silver gsl3 = ro8 gsl january =silver gsl march= ro32 gsl wc =silver gsl may =ro 32 gsl supert tournament = silver time perhaps?
Great article, really entertaining. btw, 4 = Cuatro
A SlayerS vs SlayerS finals would be really awesome. SlayerS has yet to win a big single player tournament in Korea. I think MKP is cool, but maybe he should lose so he can go to Dreamhack
I like that writeup and hype. People need to get over their favorites' losses and have a look at the other people making a name for themselves (well... except in theBest's case, I think x) ). The game's still quite new, hence the possibility to have swings.
Sure, a 90% P/Z tournament would wield less interest for me, as a Terran player with a spectator preference for T too, still I wouldn't say "Oh my favorite race is underrepresented, this Ro8 is total crap and should be ignored".
Fionn, thank you for making this post. It is probably the best SC2 write-up I have read to date, and hopefully it will convince people who perhaps haven't been watching every GSL match like I have to make sure and tune in for the closing match-ups.
Great job, you managed to hype me up after the depression I fell into after watching Nestea vs Top
It was Nestea's fault that last game, so I can't blame Top. Wanted a MarineKingxNestea finals but now I would like a MMAxAlicia finals.
I want MarineKing in the finals but I wanted him to lose.(Yes I'm cruel ) However, no one I want to from the other bracket to win now that Nestea is gone. Not an Alicia fan yet, he's good but hasn't had the magic to capture me.
So rooting for MMA all the way now. Him winning MLG and then returning within a day to beat Ganzi sealed the deal. An All Slayers final would once again bring more prestige and fame to the house of SlayerS!
You can't blame people for not caring. Aside from Terran players who might want to watch I can't see anyone else who would care (Except for a few Protoss players and Alicia and the same for Line).
The whole Terrans in GSL thing is getting extremely boring, don't get me wrong I'll always watch future seasons and I hope either MKP or Alicia wins now, but I won't be watching anymore of this season.
On June 10 2011 11:01 schmutttt wrote: 7/8 are Terran.
You can't blame people for not caring. Aside from Terran players who might want to watch I can't see anyone else who would care (Except for a few Protoss players and Alicia).
The whole Terrans in GSL thing is getting extremely boring, don't get me wrong I'll always watch future seasons and I hope either MKP or Alicia wins now, but I won't be watching anymore of this season.
Amen, brother.
I'm getting sick and tired of seeing so many terrans in Ro8 and onward.
Very nice write up, was lolling a lot, especially in the thebestfou part. I would like mkp to win in a finals, poor guy. But as a protoss, it would be nice if alicia wins one. Line actually played quite well against nada, never engaging his army, walking around it and counter attacking, but I dont think if nada was playing his best yesterday.
Prime has never one a single match in the gstl.. :o didnt know that.
On June 10 2011 11:01 schmutttt wrote: 7/8 are Terran.
You can't blame people for not caring. Aside from Terran players who might want to watch I can't see anyone else who would care (Except for a few Protoss players and Alicia).
The whole Terrans in GSL thing is getting extremely boring, don't get me wrong I'll always watch future seasons and I hope either MKP or Alicia wins now, but I won't be watching anymore of this season.
It seems you didn't watch everything closely before. It 6 Terrans, not 7. You forgot Line.
On June 10 2011 11:01 schmutttt wrote: 7/8 are Terran.
You can't blame people for not caring. Aside from Terran players who might want to watch I can't see anyone else who would care (Except for a few Protoss players and Alicia).
The whole Terrans in GSL thing is getting extremely boring, don't get me wrong I'll always watch future seasons and I hope either MKP or Alicia wins now, but I won't be watching anymore of this season.
It's 6/8 Terran there's a zerg named Line in it also.
On June 10 2011 11:01 schmutttt wrote: 7/8 are Terran.
You can't blame people for not caring. Aside from Terran players who might want to watch I can't see anyone else who would care (Except for a few Protoss players and Alicia).
The whole Terrans in GSL thing is getting extremely boring, don't get me wrong I'll always watch future seasons and I hope either MKP or Alicia wins now, but I won't be watching anymore of this season.
It seems you didn't watch everything closely before. It 6 Terrans, not 7. You forgot Line.
Edited.
Point still stands though, I'm not saying Terran IMBA or anything even remotely close to that, just 6 Terrans is kinda boring. I'm a Zerg player and if it was 6 Zergs I'd still get bored at the same matchup over and over.
Wow, I just want to say that everyone saying how great the article is and they'll be watching the rest of the tournament because of it is really awesome and makes me super happy I wrote it.. If you can go into any match with a solid story behind it, the match will be ten times more awesome due to the suspense and to see which story will end for the player.
Also, I really do think Choya and TheBest are evil. One of them talks himself repeatedly and laughs like a madman while the other just smirks like he's thinking up some evil plan to all-in you.
I would really like to see MarineKing's reaction after a win. They'd have to run him down in the parking lot to give him his trophy. Many cool stories, even if the finals are the usual disappointment, at least there will be a cool player story.
You should definitely apply for the TL SC2 writer position if you have the time. Really nice preview and kinda educates people who under rate players like Polt...
Brilliant brilliant brilliant writeup! I was captivated and read everything!
I laughed so hard at the villain description of TheBest. I want MKP to win but it'll be so funny to read the haters' comments if the unthinkable happens.
Awesome write up. Honestly, I would be happy with just about anyone winning this event. I don't really buy into the whole matchup luck thing either, although it is hilarious/ridiculous (take your pick) that MMA could TvT the entire road to the championship. Only Line could find himself in a similar position should he and Polt meet in the semi-finals; everyone else has played all the match ups. I'm picking MMA to win but am hoping for a MKP victory (one time...!)
On June 10 2011 04:29 Liquid`Jinro wrote: Alicia has bad PvZ, but theres only 1 Z left.
Why do people think this? Is it because he lost the Losira last season 0-2 to the same two base roach ling pressure?
Statistically he is 7-4 (which is statistically his weakest, but by a slime margin) in his sets against zerg which you cannot say is bad, he just took out Leenock who might not be NesTier (see what I did there) but definitely an excellent zerg who defeated aLive and Clide to get the Ro16 (both Code S terrans, and statistically that is Leenock's weakest matchup).
Maybe it's because he makes some funky decisions but wins because he has superior control and wins fights with FF and blink micro?
I don't see him going down to Polt easily, and if he does manage to make it to the Ro4 I think he will be the favourite against either Top or Line, just because both those players do not have any notable success against Protoss relative to Polt.
Overall you can't really say much because it's only 11 games (where he has defeated the likes of Nestea, Losira, Zenio, to name a few) but you can't say its bad.
Jinro is not "people." Someone who lives and plays professionally in the South Korean scene is not arbitrarily deciding who is good and who isn't; you can trust that he knows what he is talking about. Your point might have some merit but I'm more inclined to go with someone in the know than someone pulling statistics -_-
Well at least the Protoss and Zerg won't be knocking each other out until at least the semi finals. I'm really hoping this is the GSL that MarineKing wins. I'm concerned about his path though because his TvT doesn't seem as impressive compared to his other two matchups.
On June 10 2011 12:53 metzninja wrote: Awesome write up. Honestly, I would be happy with just about anyone winning this event. I don't really buy into the whole matchup luck thing either, although it is hilarious/ridiculous (take your pick) that MMA could TvT the entire road to the championship. Only Line could find himself in a similar position should he and Polt meet in the semi-finals; everyone else has played all the match ups. I'm picking MMA to win but am hoping for a MKP victory (one time...!)
On June 10 2011 04:29 Liquid`Jinro wrote: Alicia has bad PvZ, but theres only 1 Z left.
Why do people think this? Is it because he lost the Losira last season 0-2 to the same two base roach ling pressure?
Statistically he is 7-4 (which is statistically his weakest, but by a slime margin) in his sets against zerg which you cannot say is bad, he just took out Leenock who might not be NesTier (see what I did there) but definitely an excellent zerg who defeated aLive and Clide to get the Ro16 (both Code S terrans, and statistically that is Leenock's weakest matchup).
Maybe it's because he makes some funky decisions but wins because he has superior control and wins fights with FF and blink micro?
I don't see him going down to Polt easily, and if he does manage to make it to the Ro4 I think he will be the favourite against either Top or Line, just because both those players do not have any notable success against Protoss relative to Polt.
Overall you can't really say much because it's only 11 games (where he has defeated the likes of Nestea, Losira, Zenio, to name a few) but you can't say its bad.
Jinro is not "people." Someone who lives and plays professionally in the South Korean scene is not arbitrarily deciding who is good and who isn't; you can trust that he knows what he is talking about. Your point might have some merit but I'm more inclined to go with someone in the know than someone pulling statistics -_-
To be fair, he did some pretty good analysis along with pulling statistics. IdrA called Nestea bad and look what happened with that claim. I'd not saying Jinro is lying and I agree that Alicia's weakest matchup seems to be PvZ, but I'd like to know if Jinro has any firsthand knowledge or if he's just forming his opinion of Alicia's PvZ like most people are: by watching his matches.
Anyway, if TOP beats Line I could see Alicia in the finals, easily, if he can get past Polt.
Has everyone forgotten that it was LINE who had to forfeit to MKP because of health issues in the first round of GSL 3? Link to the GSL 3 group bracket
Nice to see him making a comeback after having to drop an event because of a health issue.
My money is being place on Alicia though ... but MMA could also take it. He might have the "MLG" effect on him similar to what Jinro had. Jinro wins MLG and it just completely changed his his confidence for the better --until his recent slump--
Haha great analogy of The Best. I want someone to wipe that fucking smirk off his face. Hopefully Alicia can win so he can buy the massive boat and cackle with Boxer as to how bad The Best is.
On June 10 2011 14:45 CrumpetGuvnor wrote: Haha great analogy of The Best. I want someone to wipe that fucking smirk off his face. Hopefully Alicia can win so he can buy the massive boat and cackle with Boxer as to how bad The Best is.
I wonder if he realizes he always makes that face. I can't even imagine the reaction if TheBest takes out MarineKing. I'm pretty sure MarineKing would collapse inside the booth and just stay under the desk for the rest of his life.
Around the time the US 2k8 Elections happened, I always wanted McCain to win... Because it would put Palin an old mans heartbeat away from becoming President.
I just wanted to see how fucked up the US would become if Palin ever became President, it was one of those things that no matter how many ways you tried to imagine it, no matter how many scenarios you think about you know none of them would ever hold a candle to watching the events unfold infront of your eyes.
On June 10 2011 15:07 Dommk wrote: Around the time the US 2k8 Elections happened, I always wanted McCain to win... Because it would put Palin an old mans heartbeat away from becoming President.
I just wanted to see how fucked up the US would become if Palin ever became President, it was one of those things that no matter how many ways you tried to imagine it, no matter how many scenarios you think about you know none of them would ever hold a candle to watching the events unfold infront of your eyes.
In a similar vein...I hope TheBest wins
In some weird, sadistic way, TheBest making the finals would be hilarious and cause quite a commotion. If he did, he would have to take out one of the most popular players in MarineKing and then a player from the most popular team in SC2.
Even if he somehow won straight up without cheese or all-inning every game, I don't he can shake the stigma unless he improve ten fold from the last time he played a few days ago.
On June 10 2011 15:35 Elite_Fury wrote: I wanna see MMA and Alicia duke it out in an epic 7 game series for 93k.
Whoever wins that hypothetical MMA vs Alicia finals, I think the real winner is SlayerS_BoxeR for having trained and nurtured these fine beasts of gaming.
I wouldn't really mind if Ryung took the title for Slayers either. He's been so overshadowed by MMA and Alicia, and he needs some love too. But the hypothetical semifinal of MMA vs. MarineKing is super enticing.
Remember when Ryung was called the terran sniper in GSTL. He was killing every big terran with beautiful play. Nothing fancy, just perfect. He could win today !
I voted MMA, but i think I would be happy whoever wins, as long as it is not thebest. Because that would mean it once again would be proven cheese works, it would just be a repeat of season 3 where rain made it to the finals.
I think I'm leaning towards a team kill final. Polt/MarineKing for the title of Optimus Prime and then MMA/Ryung vs. Alicia with Boxer in the background.
On June 10 2011 17:52 youngminii wrote: Everything was awesome but you really should have waited until 4 players to use 'Elite'
The title is a somewhat play on words. In America, we have something called March Madness, a gigantic tournament of the top sixty four colleges battling it out in basketball. When there is only eight teams left, that round is called the Elite Eight. The semifinals are Final Four. Even the Ro16 is called the Sweet Sixteen.
Really feels like Terran has such strong players right now if you look at relative skill levels within their race.
Some will cry imbalance but if we had 3-4 Zergs close to Nestea or 3-4 Toss close to MC (even though he seems to be mini-slumping), I doubt we would have such high Terran representation as we do.
On June 10 2011 17:52 youngminii wrote: Everything was awesome but you really should have waited until 4 players to use 'Elite'
The title is a somewhat play on words. In America, we have something called March Madness, a gigantic tournament of the top sixty four colleges battling it out in basketball. When there is only eight teams left, that round is called the Elite Eight. The semifinals are Final Four. Even the Ro16 is called the Sweet Sixteen.
Oh I see.
Pokemon > America
On topic: I'm so glad it's guaranteed that there will be a Protoss and a Zerg in the top 4.
He's had such an easy time, that it became more interesting to know what kind of new ceremony he would be thinking up instead of wondering if he would beat his opponent.
HAhahahahahaha This was my first hard lol. HAHAhahahahahahaha... oh man, hahaha... haha... haHAHAHAHA... ok enough.
About TheBESt
Tastosis don't know how he got here. Wolf and his Dark Templar casters don't know how he got here. Most people are still wondering how the hell this guy even qualified for the tournament.
I'll try to do this at my best without using the latin or portugues JAJA/AHEouihea Laugh.
"ROFLBBQLOLCOPTEROMFGWTFLORDOFTHERINGS!" He just can't win.
Gogogogo SlayerSMMA or MarineKingPrime.WE, they MUST win.
I personally agree with the OP, I think this will be the best final to date.
I actually don't think it will be a TvT. It's been said that although Alicia is a pretty solid player, his PvT is where he really shines, and if he took out the best Protoss in the world, how good must his vT be?
On the other hand, I think something that has been largely ignored just thanks to the fact that a lot of people write him off. Polt's GSL/GSTL PvT record happens to be at 100%. Will be an amazing match.
And then we have the guy that came from nowhere and has been manhandling every Terran that the GSL can throw at him. Even outplaying NaDa.
On June 10 2011 04:20 Xacalite wrote: Terran is back....and they still get high tournament rankings by doing allins/cheese. Nothing has changed since rain got owned. I pray to whatever high entity watches starcraft that either alicia or line takes this. Terran is just too much bullshit to root for anyone (maybe MMA).
If either Alicia or Line make it to the Finals, they will win. In a GSL Final where there was a Terran and another race, terran always lost. So all I can do is hope and cheer for those two beacons of light in a dark GSL (kinda like fruitdealer).
Thanks for tainting an awesome writeup with meaningless and biased race discussion with no mention of the OP. gj
Excelent writeup. Even though I'm not as excited this tournament, reading this sure helps hyping it a little bit. As a zerg player, it'd be nice to see how far Line can go.
On June 10 2011 19:15 FILM wrote: I'm surprised this doesn't have more comments! Great article, really opened my eyes to new blood and a new perspective!
I think it's because of the lack of those awesome photoshop images that ppl do about the players, lol those are so funny. Maybe a kickass logo at the beginning.
Maybe that's why ppl don't want to read it completely, because it's simply awesome.
Really good writeup. My intrest in the super tournament was starting to dwindle following the exit of big names such as MVP, MC and Nestea. However this article has really made me fill a lot more hyped about the rest of the tournament, thanks!
Code A/S is really pissing me off. It just doesn't seem like a good judgement of skill. Some of the best players are still in A, while crap players are still in Code S.
YOu can just get unlucky and get in a death group and then get shot into Code A for a season.
Cudos on the detailed writeup! I personally hate TvT so I wont be watching much of the last round matchups. I would like to see MMA or Marineking take the championship as they deserve it in my eye.
If MKP finally goes and wins this shit Im gonna cry. No seriously, Im gonna fucking cry tears of joy, I will cry like a woman watching Titanic. I will then go into a big fucking mad cheerful joy of awesomeness! Please please please let this be MKP's time to shine, he has been battered and beaten so many times, do let him have this moment!
On June 11 2011 02:39 Rylaji wrote: If MKP finally goes and wins this shit Im gonna cry. No seriously, Im gonna fucking cry tears of joy, I will cry like a woman watching Titanic. I will then go into a big fucking mad cheerful joy of awesomeness! Please please please let this be MKP's time to shine, he has been battered and beaten so many times, do let him have this moment!
The op tries to stay unbiased for the sake of good writting but i believe its all about MMA. I haven't seen MKP play TvT with as much confort as MMA plays it.
I really want to see MKP keep going through this if for no other reason than laughing at his absurd BM when he's won games... nuking your own army? Gold. Pure Gold.
That was amazing, and i would have to put down MarineKing. Although i do want Alicia to win, i just think no one is left that can take out MK, so i guess that means he wins, right?
On June 11 2011 05:39 MaxField wrote: That was amazing, and i would have to put down MarineKing. Although i do want Alicia to win, i just think no one is left that can take out MK, so i guess that means he wins, right?
Alicia has only played MKP once (last Code S season), but he beat him pretty convincingly. If both were in the finals I wouldn't count Alicia out at all.
MMA's record against MKP is 1-3, but he's been playing extremely well lately. MKP had his free wins in the RO8 with TheBest, but from here on out it won't be easy at all, winning the tourny is far from guaranteed.
Also, I've gotta say, I loved watching TheBest get crushed. Nothing like a cheesy nerd gettin' stomped!
oGsTOP has been my favourite Terran since I watched him blast his way through Code A. While he makes many mistakes his macro is just immense, and is an inspiration for the way I want to play the game.
i think top is where he deserves to be, i'd love to see him get to semi or even to finals. when i first saw him play in gsl1, totally reminded me of young nada. this guy had awesome, awesome macro with great micro. i think as he matures, he will be one of the top terrans. along with leeknock - so unfortunate he split his broods -,.-, this guy is crazy too. both of these guys are so young! so much potential.
i hope mkp can win it but i'm bias-ly rooting for slayers members lol
Personally I was a bit disappointed after Nestea lose, also Alicia almost lose, so i wasn't sure i was going to watch this top 8 as most of them are terans. But as Alicia won i kinda regain interest. I'm hoping for Alicia- MMA finals , Slayers Powerhouse Fighting!
On June 11 2011 05:39 MaxField wrote: That was amazing, and i would have to put down MarineKing. Although i do want Alicia to win, i just think no one is left that can take out MK, so i guess that means he wins, right?
Alicia has only played MKP once (last Code S season), but he beat him pretty convincingly. If both were in the finals I wouldn't count Alicia out at all.
MMA's record against MKP is 1-3, but he's been playing extremely well lately. MKP had his free wins in the RO8 with TheBest, but from here on out it won't be easy at all, winning the tourny is far from guaranteed.
Also, I've gotta say, I loved watching TheBest get crushed. Nothing like a cheesy nerd gettin' stomped!
Don't think they were free wins. I have no doubt if MMA had faced Squirtle or Ace he might have been out. I prefer MarineKing to win this since he deserves it a lot more imo but considering all MMA has done this tournament is play TvT I'm sure he'll be more prepared.
it feels like i'm the only one who thinks that MKP is just a not that great player . thought that he was kinda cheesy in season 2 and has been so ever since. yeah he got his marines and he can micro them "woo" but... feels like he deserves the silver title to me.
Thanks again for all the kind words. Amazing that this article that I wrote on the spur of the moment got so many replies.
I'm pretty sure I'll try to write something for the semifinals or finals depending on if I have motivation. The first semifinal set already has a great storyline set to it that I somewhat touched on in this article.
You also have MarineKing, the guy who idolized Boxer and even started his career using his idol's name, against the guy who has learned the most from Boxer, has been taken under Boxer's wing, and is being called Boxer's Son. They are also, currently, two of the top four terrans in the world (Boxer and MVP excluded), so it'll be a great match.
MKP really showed up TheBest's openings.. he just brushed them aside and seems to know the perfect time to attack, even early on in the game. was really insightful to see
Polt's always been underrated (seriously, double SK Champions Trophy winner and people still don't respect him), and I'm happy to see him advance this far in the Super Tournament. Hopefully now that he's out of university he can concentrate on his mid-late game transition and truly beast it up.
On June 11 2011 10:40 rexob wrote: it feels like i'm the only one who thinks that MKP is just a not that great player
You should be.
All 3 times he placed second it was to the best player in the world at the time, nothing to be ashamed of. He's widely acknowledged as one of the best players and one of the most feared players by every Korean.
This time he's the best player left and should not lose.
On June 11 2011 10:40 rexob wrote: it feels like i'm the only one who thinks that MKP is just a not that great player
You should be.
All 3 times he placed second it was to the best player in the world at the time, nothing to be ashamed of. He's widely acknowledged as one of the best players and one of the most feared players by every Korean.
This time he's the best player left and should not lose.
I hope he does well, seeing him getting knocked 1st round in the last 2 GSL code-s is crushing my heart.
On June 11 2011 12:01 Zormaan wrote: I definitley won't be watching if we see only tvt's in RO4 and Finals
I don't know why people hate TvT so much, but I guess everyone has preferences.
Anyone who didn't know, GSL starts four hours earlier tonight - in about 20 minutes, so if you usually can't stay up and watch the games due to the time difference, this would be a great night to check it out. I think Polt vs. Alicia, the first match of the night, might produce some of the best matches we've seen the whole tournament.
On June 11 2011 12:01 Zormaan wrote: I definitley won't be watching if we see only tvt's in RO4 and Finals
I don't know why people hate TvT so much, but I guess everyone has preferences.
Anyone who didn't know, GSL starts four hours earlier tonight - in about 20 minutes, so if you usually can't stay up and watch the games due to the time difference, this would be a great night to check it out. I think Polt vs. Alicia, the first match of the night, might produce some of the best matches we've seen the whole tournament.
Also I don't know if I want to write a semifinals piece or not. There are some great storylines going on for the final four, but I don't know if I can write a semifinal piece and then have a grand final article sound redundant.
Poll: Should I write a semifinal piece on the Super Tournament?
Yes (40)
85%
Wait for the Grand Finals (7)
15%
47 total votes
Your vote: Should I write a semifinal piece on the Super Tournament?
On June 11 2011 19:25 Bubbas wrote: Gogogo Prime vs Prime final!
Polt vs MKP in Finals and then it would be first final teamkill in the GSL Finals I think. Then it won't be just for the grand prize of 100m won but also for the title of OptimusPrime! One shall stand one shall fall!
Someone really needs to ask MKP or Polt if the name Optimus still goes to the first Prime member to win a title.
MarineKing's name has become pretty synonymous with him now. I don't know if he would actually change it. Polt, on the other hand, could reach a whole new level of cool as Optimus.
On June 11 2011 10:40 rexob wrote: it feels like i'm the only one who thinks that MKP is just a not that great player . thought that he was kinda cheesy in season 2 and has been so ever since. yeah he got his marines and he can micro them "woo" but... feels like he deserves the silver title to me.
It's just you. Mkp is a top 5 player and a top 3 terran. Like it or not mkp is part of the top tier.
I hope MKP doesn't actually change his name when he wins (notice the strategic use of when). Realllllllllly hope he wins he deserves one I mean he's the most consistent player by far, he's just never been the BEST. Look at who's left, he's got a real shot.
Polt is heavily underrated, wouldn't be surprised to see him win, specially if it was something other than TvT, which i haven't really seen him play. I really think MMA will beat MKP, he's been looking insanely good lately, and even better since he won mlg. Kinda get the feeling i got when Jinro won mlg aswell, just this confidence boost can lead him to win the super tournament. When Jinro won he got ro4 twice in a row, which was really amazing considering he hadn't gone even close to that before.
I think the most interesting game will be TOP vs Polt, only sad it's double TvT which is way to common in gsl
Since I got a spark of inspiration, I'm currently writing an article on the semifinals for the GSL Super Tournament. I really hope you guys like it and it'll probably be out later in the day if I think it's good enough to post.
I mean, I just had to talk about my best buddy TheBest once last time before we never see him again in the GSL.
"Maybe Polt has been sucking the talent from Jinro's body ever since their encounter" Suck what? Polt is clearly the more talented one and the smarter one. Jinro used to be the luckier one.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://imageftw.com/uploads/20110609/SlayersMMA.png)
![[image loading]](http://imageftw.com/uploads/20110609/Ryung.png)
![[image loading]](http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/9845/marinekinng.png)
![[image loading]](http://imageftw.com/uploads/20110609/TheBest.png)
![[image loading]](http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/9946/polt.png)
![[image loading]](http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2368/alicia.png)
![[image loading]](http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8995/linek.png)
![[image loading]](http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/2936/topwi.png)
I was really hoping to see him in the top 8, but I have always felt Polt was underrated and that he was a solid player, so it's not the worst situation but still. 
This may be the first GSL where we have an unexpected winner. MVP Nestea and MC all winning with MKP being close a few times wasn't much of a surprise after watching the first few GSLs, but now there is a really good chance that a player like TOP can win the whole thing (even though I'm not a big fan of his).![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/vZh6D.jpg)
)
