To the deafening roars of a passionate Toronto crowd, Soul_Dear scored a 4 – 0 sweep against Woongjin_Soulkey to win the WCS Season 3 championship. Though Soulkey put up a stronger resistance than was reflected in the scoreline, there was no doubt who was the better player as Dear clinically dissected Soulkey in four different ways. From base races to all-out late game engagements, Dear proved he had the full, championship caliber PvZ skill-set.
Even as Dear came in as the defending champion of the notoriously difficult WCS Korea region, some still wondered about how he would perform against some of the more illustrious, battle-hardened players coming to Canada. A loss to Oz in the group stage of the tournament was worrisome early on, but a 3 – 0 against MC, 3 – 1 against Maru, and finally a 4 – 0 against Soulkey dispelled all of the doubts. While Dear only ventured as far as to say he was the best player in the world for one day, many viewers at home will be saying he is the best in the world, period.
Game One - Derelict Watcher: Dear took game one with solid aggressive play, pestering Soulkey from the start and keeping him off balance. After an early zealot-stalker-msc attack took out several of Soulkey's drones, Dear settled back to take a fast third before plotting his next move. Going with a largely blink-stalker army against Soulkey's roach-hydra, Dear found a way to outmaneuver Soulkey and snipe his vital fourth base before teleporting out with his mothership core. Dear then followed almost immediately after with a warp prism full of zealots into Dear's main, dealing even more damage while deftly holding off Soulkey's counter-attack with good micro.
After building up from an advantageous 3-base vs. 3-base situation, Dear finally went for the death blow with a large army of blink stalkers, colossi, and hallucinated colossi. Even with vipers on the battlefield, Soulkey was unable to deal with the sheer power of mass +3 blink stalkers and surrendered the first game.
Game Two - Whirlwind: Dear went for more aggression to start the second game, sending in more early gateway units to harass Soulkey's expansion and following with an oracle. However, Soulkey's defense was much better this time around, and he built up a solid 3-base economy while Dear was stuck on two bases for quite some time.
Colossus tech allowed Dear to take his third against Soulkey's roach-hydra army, but at that point it seemed like Soulkey was more than ready for the late game on his four base economy. Things seemed to get even worse when Dear tried to raze one of Soulkey's bases, with Soulkey more than happy to sack Dear's third in a 1 for 1 trade.
Soulkey's swarm-host transition threatened Dear with a slow and painful death, but Dear managed to stay in the game. Sending zealots and warp-prisms to harass Soulkey and keep him occupied, he built up a powerful deathball of stalkers, colossi, templar, and void rays.
One brilliant engagement was all Dear needed to conclusively swing the game, goading Soulkey's swarm host-hydra-corruptor-infestor army into a head on fight. With perfect use of spells, Dear melted Soulkey's late game army into a bloody puddle, forcing yet another GG.
Game Three - Frost: After dropping two games where he lost in head on ground battles, Soulkey opted for a different approach in game three with mutalisk tech. Things appeared to be going well for the Woongjin Zerg as his spire went long unscouted despite a phoenix opener from Dear, who almost started producing colossi before he discovered Soulkey's plan to go for air.
Dear decided to attack with a large number of zealot and stalkers before Soulkey could get his mutalisk harass going, and successfully cut through Soulkey's mutalisk and zergling numbers with an efficient engagement. Adding in more troops from a forward pylon, Dear continued to push forward, triggering Soulkey to go for the base trade instead.
Unfortunately for Soulkey, Dear was very well prepared for this scenario, putting up a large number of cannons at his natural while mutalisks and lings ransacked his third base. Meanwhile, Soulkey was far less prepared on his end and took catastrophic damage while his mutalisks were being stalled. When it became clear that the base trade had gone horribly wrong, Soulkey GG'd out once more.
Game Four - Akilon Wastes: To close out the series, Dear got some help from a tactic that had contributed greatly to his WCS Korea victory as well. A very ordinary zealot-phoenix attack ended up getting some extraordinary results, as Soulkey missed the very same forward pylon that Dear had snuck in to defeat soO back in Korea. Two rounds of zealots supported by air ravaged Soulkey's third base, sending the Woongjin Zerg reeling.
Though Soulkey managed to work his way back into semi-decent shape with a roach-hydra-viper army, he was still outmatched by Dear's colossus-stalker deathball when it came knocking. After a bloody final engagement, Soulkey gave the final GG to crown Dear the WCS Season 3 champion.
Man Dear is really impressive, he can play any style he wants it seems and is very impressive attacking being the aggressor or defending the aggression from the opponent. I think after the GSL Korea championship and the season 3 championship he has to be the favorite going into BlizzCon at the moment, I don't think there is anyone playing better right now that is in the top16. Hero of the Fall it is! Dear congrats and good luck at Blizzcon :D
On October 28 2013 12:43 Shellshock wrote: Congrats Dear! awesome performance this weekend. Maru vs Dear was the series of the tournament!
As much as I want a Terran to win. It was very frustrating to see Maru refuse to make ghosts. As such he didn't deserve to win. I think Maru's TvT was by far more impressive than his TvP.
On October 28 2013 13:16 awesomoecalypse wrote: Soulkey absolutely dismantled Trap, so for Dear to destroy him like that really shows Dear's skill.
Trap plays differently. Please don't compare players like that.
Of course Trap and Dear have different styles, but still, beating Trap the way he did shows Soulkey is quite solid as ZvP--its not like it was considered a weak matchup for him before playing Dear.
On October 28 2013 12:43 Shellshock wrote: Congrats Dear! awesome performance this weekend. Maru vs Dear was the series of the tournament!
As much as I want a Terran to win. It was very frustrating to see Maru refuse to make ghosts. As such he didn't deserve to win. I think Maru's TvT was by far more impressive than his TvP.
It's simply a style of play, it's exactly how I play my TvP. You forego ghosts and instead use a ton of multi pronged attacks with constant pressure. You can't afford ghosts if you want to do this style. You also have to go light on the vikings too. Goal is to have your units super spread out and be efficient in small numbers and just pick the opponent apart. And he damn well near did it successfully vs Dear too.
On October 28 2013 12:43 Shellshock wrote: Congrats Dear! awesome performance this weekend. Maru vs Dear was the series of the tournament!
As much as I want a Terran to win. It was very frustrating to see Maru refuse to make ghosts. As such he didn't deserve to win. I think Maru's TvT was by far more impressive than his TvP.
It's simply a style of play, it's exactly how I play my TvP. You forego ghosts and instead use a ton of multi pronged attacks with constant pressure. You can't afford ghosts if you want to do this style. You also have to go light on the vikings too. Goal is to have your units super spread out and be efficient in small numbers and just pick the opponent apart. And he damn well near did it successfully vs Dear too.
Defending that style is so fucking hard. In the entire world, only Dear and maybe Rain could have survived what Maru was doing in those games.
On October 28 2013 13:16 awesomoecalypse wrote: Soulkey absolutely dismantled Trap, so for Dear to destroy him like that really shows Dear's skill.
Trap plays differently. Please don't compare players like that.
Of course Trap and Dear have different styles, but still, beating Trap the way he did shows Soulkey is quite solid as ZvP--its not like it was considered a weak matchup for him before playing Dear.
If anything I'd say Trap played the match-up weak and SK forced his hand. Not optimal. Not taking anything awy from SK because people know I love the guy, but these matches were pretty darn easy for me predict.
The best play of the entire weekend was Maru vs Dear game 1 was a craaazy sequence, where Maru was trying to drop Dear's main--Dear got off a feedback which nearly killed the Medivac, and then followed it up with a storm right on top of it, with a Phoenix chasing right behind. Maru boosted ahead just long enough to drop a marauder before the Phoenix could nab the Medivac, and then the Phoenix picked up the Marauder before it could kill probes.
The highspeed decision-making by both players during that sequence really showed how well they were playing. If anyone has a gif or vod, that would be amazing.
On October 28 2013 12:43 Shellshock wrote: Congrats Dear! awesome performance this weekend. Maru vs Dear was the series of the tournament!
As much as I want a Terran to win. It was very frustrating to see Maru refuse to make ghosts. As such he didn't deserve to win. I think Maru's TvT was by far more impressive than his TvP.
It's simply a style of play, it's exactly how I play my TvP. You forego ghosts and instead use a ton of multi pronged attacks with constant pressure. You can't afford ghosts if you want to do this style. You also have to go light on the vikings too. Goal is to have your units super spread out and be efficient in small numbers and just pick the opponent apart. And he damn well near did it successfully vs Dear too.
Defending that style is so fucking hard. In the entire world, only Dear and maybe Rain could have survived what Maru was doing in those games.
This is so true ! and maru style looks like how mkp plays it ..
Dear showed that he could survive and wont crack on the hyperaggressive drop-happy ghostless style ..
i still yet have to see if Dear can survive top tier ghost utilizers like taeja and jakji
Dear then followed almost immediately after with a warp prism full of zealots into Dear's main, dealing even more damage while deftly holding off Soulkey's counter-attack with good micro.
On October 28 2013 13:39 awesomoecalypse wrote: The best play of the entire weekend was Maru vs Dear game 1 was a craaazy sequence, where Maru was trying to drop Dear's main--Dear got off a feedback which nearly killed the Medivac, and then followed it up with a storm right on top of it, with a Phoenix chasing right behind. Maru boosted ahead just long enough to drop a marauder before the Phoenix could nab the Medivac, and then the Phoenix picked up the Marauder before it could kill probes.
The highspeed decision-making by both players during that sequence really showed how well they were playing. If anyone has a gif or vod, that would be amazing.
I had my mouth open all the time that happened. And this is why i watch sc2 pro games.
On October 28 2013 12:43 Shellshock wrote: Congrats Dear! awesome performance this weekend. Maru vs Dear was the series of the tournament!
As much as I want a Terran to win. It was very frustrating to see Maru refuse to make ghosts. As such he didn't deserve to win. I think Maru's TvT was by far more impressive than his TvP.
It's simply a style of play, it's exactly how I play my TvP. You forego ghosts and instead use a ton of multi pronged attacks with constant pressure. You can't afford ghosts if you want to do this style. You also have to go light on the vikings too. Goal is to have your units super spread out and be efficient in small numbers and just pick the opponent apart. And he damn well near did it successfully vs Dear too.
Defending that style is so fucking hard. In the entire world, only Dear and maybe Rain could have survived what Maru was doing in those games.
This is so true ! and maru style looks like how mkp plays it ..
Dear showed that he could survive and wont crack on the hyperaggressive drop-happy ghostless style ..
i still yet have to see if Dear can survive top tier ghost utilizers like taeja and jakji
I guess we'll find out in a few weeks because Dear is playing TaeJa in the first round of Blizzcon. I know Blizzcon is supposed to be stacked but it's still hard to believe some of the first round matches are only happening in the Ro16
On October 28 2013 13:16 awesomoecalypse wrote: Soulkey absolutely dismantled Trap, so for Dear to destroy him like that really shows Dear's skill.
Trap plays differently. Please don't compare players like that.
Of course Trap and Dear have different styles, but still, beating Trap the way he did shows Soulkey is quite solid as ZvP--its not like it was considered a weak matchup for him before playing Dear.
Trap and Dear do have different styles, but they are also different calibres of players. No disrespect to Trap who is a quality player, but Dear is on a whole other level at the moment (and in general really).
Trap is a player that's been getting more solid, but is still primarily a superb PvZer and decent player all-around, whereas Dear is just a fucking badass.
On October 28 2013 13:16 awesomoecalypse wrote: Soulkey absolutely dismantled Trap, so for Dear to destroy him like that really shows Dear's skill.
Trap plays differently. Please don't compare players like that.
Of course Trap and Dear have different styles, but still, beating Trap the way he did shows Soulkey is quite solid as ZvP--its not like it was considered a weak matchup for him before playing Dear.
Trap and Dear do have different styles, but they are also different calibres of players. No disrespect to Trap who is a quality player, but Dear is on a whole other level at the moment (and in general really).
Trap is a player that's been getting more solid, but is still primarily a superb PvZer and decent player all-around, whereas Dear is just a fucking badass.
Trap's openings were horrendous against a player like SK's caliber. I don't know what he was thinking. He got no return in what he did.
On October 28 2013 13:39 awesomoecalypse wrote: The best play of the entire weekend was Maru vs Dear game 1 was a craaazy sequence, where Maru was trying to drop Dear's main--Dear got off a feedback which nearly killed the Medivac, and then followed it up with a storm right on top of it, with a Phoenix chasing right behind. Maru boosted ahead just long enough to drop a marauder before the Phoenix could nab the Medivac, and then the Phoenix picked up the Marauder before it could kill probes.
The highspeed decision-making by both players during that sequence really showed how well they were playing. If anyone has a gif or vod, that would be amazing.
Dear has all the momentum in the world going into Blizzcon now. If he wins Blizzcon he will be the undisputed best StarCraft player in the world.
Maru and Soulkey are probably the best players at their respective races but Dear has them figured out. The crazy thing though is that Dear could easily fall out of Global Finals in a PvP.
After this weekend's crazy games, I can't wait for Blizzcon.
On October 28 2013 14:49 Radicalness wrote: Dear has all the momentum in the world going into Blizzcon now. If he wins Blizzcon he will be the undisputed best StarCraft player in the world.
Maru and Soulkey are probably the best players at their respective races but Dear has them figured out. The crazy thing though is that Dear could easily fall out of Global Finals in a PvP.
After this weekend's crazy games, I can't wait for Blizzcon.
The fact that Dear is on an unsponsored team and thus probably has no salary is sickening. This guy is so good and actually plays a style of PvP that I can get behind.
Dear is my favorite protoss now. MC was ever since he won GSL 3 but this guy is on another level. Has it all. Can play aggressive, micro and great mind games like MC but his decision making is stronger as in he makes so few mistakes his play seems perfect. He seems equally strong in all match ups and is comfortable wherever game goes in distance. I don't think any protoss, or maybe anyone, could have survived marus sick drops in three locations like he did time after time. I never jumped on a another protoss hype train when partinG and others made their runs but am now.
And yet another name pops up basicly out of nowhere and wins a big tourney. SC2 is just too easy. At the highest level of competition, all that determines match outcomes is luck. There will never be periods of dominance in sc2 as flash or jaedong had in bw, because sc2 is just too easy and random.
On October 28 2013 16:27 gOst wrote: And yet another name pops up basicly out of nowhere and wins a big tourney. SC2 is just too easy. At the highest level of competition, all that determines match outcomes is luck. There will never be periods of dominance in sc2 as flash or jaedong had in bw, because sc2 is just too easy and random.
Lets go gOst! Win the next WCS then... i'll be your coach: You don't have to know build orders... you only need luck cos it is so easy!
On October 28 2013 16:09 BananaJunkie wrote: i´m kinda sad about this showing even though i set the "hide spoiler"... well no need to watch the whole day 3 now...
The games were all fantastic. Honestly, if you want to see some great games watch maru vs dear. If you play protoss, watch dear v soulkey for the sheer brilliance and amazing play from Dear.
On October 28 2013 16:09 BananaJunkie wrote: i´m kinda sad about this showing even though i set the "hide spoiler"... well no need to watch the whole day 3 now...
The games were all fantastic. Honestly, if you want to see some great games watch maru vs dear. If you play protoss, watch dear v soulkey for the sheer brilliance and amazing play from Dear.
Other good series today: soulkey vs trap
Thanks mate! i´ll look into it - I saw a game at day 2.. i think it was Hero vs Vortix game 1. What a comeback from Hero!
On October 28 2013 16:09 BananaJunkie wrote: i´m kinda sad about this showing even though i set the "hide spoiler"... well no need to watch the whole day 3 now...
The games were all fantastic. Honestly, if you want to see some great games watch maru vs dear. If you play protoss, watch dear v soulkey for the sheer brilliance and amazing play from Dear.
Other good series today: soulkey vs trap
Thanks mate! i´ll look into it - I saw a game at day 2.. i think it was Hero vs Vortix game 1. What a comeback from Hero!
Yeah. And after Soulkey basically demolished Trap it's even more impressive for Dear to take it all in such a convincing fashion.
But w/e - that guy's a freakin Vampire.. First time in my life seeing a Protoss holds every ridiculousness thrown at him - and - when Protoss is in his hands - Aiur doesn't fall.. Believe that the best matches were played vs HerO where Dear was on ropes muuultiple times, as well as the Maru games, and from the finals - G2.. In fact - the finals were really "ridiculous" where seemed like noone defended but both players were attacking each-other all the time.. Dear's a freakin beast.. If he was the Commander at Aiur back when the Overmind attacked - the Overmind would've gone back to char with a bruised eye..
If he plays like he played last night - then I really doubt that anyone else could win Blizzcon
I'm watching the series between Dear and Maru, and I cant help but see similarities of 18 months ago when Parting and MKP were dueling off *happy sigh* such a great Game 1!
Dear just accomplished what everyone thought Innovation would do in Season 1 ? (Back to back WCS KR + Global) Except the hype was like 1/1000th what it was for Innovation ?
Perfect Play by Dear! He seems to be on fire recently. His serie against soulkey was so clean and perfect. Very cool to see a protoss win a tournament, I was worried god protosses have disapeared from the scene, here is the guy protoss were waiting for!
It will also shut down some QQ for some time which is great.
EDIT :
Final 16 for WCS wtih 8T, 6P and 2Z looks a little bit disbalanced
As far as I recall has every WCS season Grandfinals been a clean 4-0 for the winner? Wcs season 1 : Innovation 4-0 sOs Wcs season 2 : Bomber 4-0 Jaedong Wcs season 3 : Dear 4-0 SK
I hope the Grand grand finals at blizzcon wont be like this.
Other then that. Happy for Dear. He played so solid.
On October 28 2013 18:51 Ragnarork wrote: So wait wait wait !
Dear just accomplished what everyone thought Innovation would do in Season 1 ? (Back to back WCS KR + Global) Except the hype was like 1/1000th what it was for Innovation ?
I wonder whether Dear will be a consistently good player, or will end up like innovation, i.e. a player that's good for a few months but then gets figured out and has a hard time getting anywhere.
Either way, Blizzcon is looking promising with this level of play.
On October 28 2013 16:27 gOst wrote: And yet another name pops up basicly out of nowhere and wins a big tourney. SC2 is just too easy. At the highest level of competition, all that determines match outcomes is luck. There will never be periods of dominance in sc2 as flash or jaedong had in bw, because sc2 is just too easy and random.
User was warned for this post
It's quite funny that the guy got warned for basically having an opinion. Though Dear might not come out of nowhere, he did not have any sc2 success besides being part of innovation winning proleague.
I was also stating all the time that he's a fluke, but I guess the outcome of this tournament proved me wrong. But a warning for this is simply wrong.
On October 28 2013 16:27 gOst wrote: And yet another name pops up basicly out of nowhere and wins a big tourney.
Ok, so being the solid protoss for the Proleague champion team is nowhere, being a rising rookie even back in BW is only lucky and not following SC2 gives you a legit position to criticise it. Ok.
On October 28 2013 16:27 gOst wrote: And yet another name pops up basicly out of nowhere and wins a big tourney. SC2 is just too easy. At the highest level of competition, all that determines match outcomes is luck. There will never be periods of dominance in sc2 as flash or jaedong had in bw, because sc2 is just too easy and random.
User was warned for this post
It's quite funny that the guy got warned for basically having an opinion. Though Dear might not come out of nowhere, he did not have any sc2 success besides being part of innovation winning proleague.
I was also stating all the time that he's a fluke, but I guess the outcome of this tournament proved me wrong. But a warning for this is simply wrong.
Actually I'm pretty sure there's a rule against bullshit on TL. Bashing the game and spewing out a pile of bullshit isn't something you should do on this web site.
OT: Dear is insane. He looked a little shaky in the group stages but once the bracket stage came along, he looked almost unstoppable. His series against Maru was incredible and he definitely showcased all of his strenghts in full this tournament. Very impressed.
On October 28 2013 19:11 klup wrote: Perfect Play by Dear! He seems to be on fire recently. His serie against soulkey was so clean and perfect. Very cool to see a protoss win a tournament, I was worried god protosses have disapeared from the scene, here is the guy protoss were waiting for!
It will also shut down some QQ for some time which is great.
Not surprised to be honest, but still happy! Not only for Dear but also for team SouL, such a victory is important when you´ve lost your main sponsor. Plus, although I am not a protossplayer, I feel like this is quite fair considering that there were only two protosschampions in the history of SC2. At the most important tournaments...
Really sad i missed the RO4! Impressed Dear won both the korean finals last weekend and then the combined finals this weekend! Also happy to see such a great crowd! Swedish and canadian crowds are the sickest!
I hate to play against protoss on ladder too but can't say anything negative about Dear victory. His victory was clean and he show a very solid play with a lot of different strategies so it was very fun to watch and he is very talented!
I hope that blizzcon will be less one sided and that someone can confront Dear and oppose him some kind of resistance! Maybe bomber scv train will do the trick who knows! He is clearly one of the favourite for the blizzcon now
On October 28 2013 20:08 elmerpogs wrote: Let's just face it, there is no long player dominance in SC2.Period.
The game hasn't been out longer than 6 months and you want "long player dominance"? Broodwar had 10 years for "long player dominance", just give it the time already
On October 28 2013 12:43 Shellshock wrote: Congrats Dear! awesome performance this weekend. Maru vs Dear was the series of the tournament!
As much as I want a Terran to win. It was very frustrating to see Maru refuse to make ghosts. As such he didn't deserve to win. I think Maru's TvT was by far more impressive than his TvP.
It's simply a style of play, it's exactly how I play my TvP. You forego ghosts and instead use a ton of multi pronged attacks with constant pressure. You can't afford ghosts if you want to do this style. You also have to go light on the vikings too. Goal is to have your units super spread out and be efficient in small numbers and just pick the opponent apart. And he damn well near did it successfully vs Dear too.
Defending that style is so fucking hard. In the entire world, only Dear and maybe Rain could have survived what Maru was doing in those games.
This is so true ! and maru style looks like how mkp plays it ..
Dear showed that he could survive and wont crack on the hyperaggressive drop-happy ghostless style ..
i still yet have to see if Dear can survive top tier ghost utilizers like taeja and jakji
I guess we'll find out in a few weeks because Dear is playing TaeJa in the first round of Blizzcon. I know Blizzcon is supposed to be stacked but it's still hard to believe some of the first round matches are only happening in the Ro16
Yeah I'm a bit surprised that they're not going for groups, gsl style or otherwise. I guess it's in order to show every match, but I would have loved to see at least two matches from most of these players.
I really dislike most Protoss players (to much coin flip and gimmicky stuff) but Dear was quite entertaining to watch. I hope he stays at the top for a long time! Congratulations !
Dear vs Maru g1 is what I want to see more in SC2. It's a 20-minute back and forth game where Maru hit 200 supply for 1 second and Dear never did. It was reminiscent of most BW games where never side could hit the supply cap because of non-stop battles. 200/200 battles in SC2 are so boring.
On October 28 2013 16:27 gOst wrote: And yet another name pops up basicly out of nowhere and wins a big tourney. SC2 is just too easy. At the highest level of competition, all that determines match outcomes is luck. There will never be periods of dominance in sc2 as flash or jaedong had in bw, because sc2 is just too easy and random.
User was warned for this post
It's quite funny that the guy got warned for basically having an opinion. Though Dear might not come out of nowhere, he did not have any sc2 success besides being part of innovation winning proleague.
I was also stating all the time that he's a fluke, but I guess the outcome of this tournament proved me wrong. But a warning for this is simply wrong.
Wong place to complain about this stuff, take it to website feedback.
I do love the people saying there is no player dominance. A little search on TLPD will show you otherwise. Jaedon has been getting top 2 for a long time and now a top 8? Dear did well in pro league, does well in GSTL, won GSL, and now won this. Soulkey has been a top 8 of every freaking tournament since December.... I guess that isn't consistent.
On October 28 2013 16:27 gOst wrote: And yet another name pops up basicly out of nowhere and wins a big tourney. SC2 is just too easy. At the highest level of competition, all that determines match outcomes is luck. There will never be periods of dominance in sc2 as flash or jaedong had in bw, because sc2 is just too easy and random.
User was warned for this post
It's quite funny that the guy got warned for basically having an opinion. Though Dear might not come out of nowhere, he did not have any sc2 success besides being part of innovation winning proleague.
I was also stating all the time that he's a fluke, but I guess the outcome of this tournament proved me wrong. But a warning for this is simply wrong.
Wong place to complain about this stuff, take it to website feedback.
Nah, I'm not really blaming a mod, since a warning is not too hard . I don't want to start a discussion since it's not such a huge thing.
Dear played the best protoss of the Starcraft 2 short history. Rain, Parting, sOs, Trap, Naniwa, MC are not at his level right now.
More than that, he played with "standard" builds. Nothing too fancy, nothing that you can put a nickname on it, but solid. Not solid like Rain "i-already-know-what-you'll-do-and-even-where-are-your-observers", but unpredictably solid.
The strenght of his play is his decision making. Who would go for a storm drop with that pressure on game 1 vs maru? The guy was barely alive and even so manage to kill two mineral lines worth of scv.
With that decision making Dear was able to play protoss reactively. Who plays Protoss reactively? Artosis and his guests on some episode about Protoss were talking how Protoss "can be played with a reactive, solid style like zerg and terran can". That's not true anymore. Dear raised the Protoss skill cap.
an interesting fact that a lot of people probably missed is that dear said soulkey helped him prepare for wcs korea, so after hearing that, these results are more expected
so sad I couldn't watch it, but to much going on and body needed sleep T.T . Congrats Dear ! Dear and Trap really seems to have come up with a few Protoss tricks.
The scary part about the 8 Terrans for Blizzcon is that they got their spots early on when Hellbats were still a thing, which also affected the Zergs. So Blizzcon finals can't tell much about the current state of the game.
oh yeah. Canadian audience is not epic ... they are legendary !
On October 28 2013 17:24 SorrowShine wrote: Final 16 for WCS wtih 8T, 6P and 2Z looks a little bit disbalanced
And Zerg players are whiners when they say Terran is broken and Protoss is just too "1 A " to play
Yes, because they are short sighted statements which clearly show those zerg players are just jumping on the idra "I lose so opponent imba" bandwagon, instead of having played all races and understanding the game from each side. Have you ever even played protoss? Good luck winning with 1A, because really, 1A just loses the game instantly if you're playing against half decent players.
The top 16 is such a small sample size too. And plenty of zergs have been performing very well in all kinds of tournaments. The WCS ranking, besides having a small sample size of only 16 players, is also the result of a year of starcraft. Only a few months ago, things like 4m really started to get figured out by zerg players (helped by the overseer buff). You can't argue that zerg is weak right now just because of the wcs ranking.
There is also still potential for a 3rd zerg player and a few other zergs were very close. JD and soulkey have, imo a far greater chance to win blizzcon than at least a handful of the other T and P players. If top zergs like life, leenock, drg hadn't had such problems adapting to hots initially I'm sure at least 1 or 2 of them would have been up there in the top 16. Only recently did we see life win IEM NY, drg's excellent performance against innovation in code s, etc...
On October 28 2013 16:27 gOst wrote: And yet another name pops up basicly out of nowhere and wins a big tourney. SC2 is just too easy. At the highest level of competition, all that determines match outcomes is luck. There will never be periods of dominance in sc2 as flash or jaedong had in bw, because sc2 is just too easy and random.
User was warned for this post
It's quite funny that the guy got warned for basically having an opinion. Though Dear might not come out of nowhere, he did not have any sc2 success besides being part of innovation winning proleague.
I was also stating all the time that he's a fluke, but I guess the outcome of this tournament proved me wrong. But a warning for this is simply wrong.
Good thing you aren't in charge of judging who has talent & who doesn't. I view the MLG experience as a learning curve. He wasn't a favorite back then and he was just getting his feet wet in SC2 individual leagues at the time. New experience. Nothing out of the ordinary and he continued to get better. Besides that, a lot of you were focusing your attention on Bogus. If you only focus on one player you miss what the other guys are doing as they improve. There's a very good reason why STX beat Woongjin in the final and just look at the amount of depth on both teams at the time. Riding one to two players in PL is very hard based on the format.
In this day and age you have to go from tournament to tournament and ask, "What have you done for me lately?" That's just how it is and then you match-up their play styles and go from there.
This whole legend of the fall is becoming eerily real with each passing year. Anyway, congratulations to Dear, its always great seeing hardworking players finally reaping the fruit of their labor.
On October 28 2013 16:27 gOst wrote: And yet another name pops up basicly out of nowhere and wins a big tourney. SC2 is just too easy. At the highest level of competition, all that determines match outcomes is luck. There will never be periods of dominance in sc2 as flash or jaedong had in bw, because sc2 is just too easy and random.
User was warned for this post
It's quite funny that the guy got warned for basically having an opinion. Though Dear might not come out of nowhere, he did not have any sc2 success besides being part of innovation winning proleague.
I was also stating all the time that he's a fluke, but I guess the outcome of this tournament proved me wrong. But a warning for this is simply wrong.
Good thing you aren't in charge of judging who has talent & who doesn't. I view the MLG experience as a learning curve. He wasn't a favorite back then and he was just getting his feet wet in SC2 individual leagues at the time. New experience. Nothing out of the ordinary and he continued to get better.
You mean when he only got 5th place in MLG through the 128 player open bracket?
Yeah, it's OK to be a scrub and lose to noobs like Polt I guess. We all did it at some point, nothing to be ashamed of.
I listened to the final match on my phone and all I hear was moaning and groaning about how strong Soulkey is and how this and that--followed by screaming and cheers and excitement and then followed by "Dear has taken the supply lead!"
Even without seeing the game with my eyes, my heard felt the excitement of that room.
... and three 4-0s, which tend to show how mental shape matters in those tournaments. In each of them a player was on godly fire (InnovatioN, Bomber, Dear all played insanely well in their respective season finals) and left no chance to their opponent in the finals, each time after a close semifinal (Inno Mvp was pretty damn good, Taeja Bomber pretty close, and Maru Dear... man my jaw is still dropping). Looks like once they had gotten to the finals, they felt like it was their trophy once the first game was in the bag and never let go of it.
On October 29 2013 09:09 [PkF] Wire wrote: ... and three 4-0s, which tend to show how mental shape matters in those tournaments. In each of them a player was on godly fire (InnovatioN, Bomber, Dear all played insanely well in their respective season finals) and left no chance to their opponent in the finals, each time after a close semifinal (Inno Mvp was pretty damn good, Taeja Bomber pretty close, and Maru Dear... man my jaw is still dropping). Looks like once they had gotten to the finals, they felt like it was their trophy once the first game was in the bag and never let go of it.
To be fair, Dear vs Soulkey didn't look super onesided. Soulkey played well, just not well enough. It wasn't like Inno vs sOs where it felt like a stomp in all 4 games (including the tempest one).
On October 29 2013 09:09 [PkF] Wire wrote: ... and three 4-0s, which tend to show how mental shape matters in those tournaments. In each of them a player was on godly fire (InnovatioN, Bomber, Dear all played insanely well in their respective season finals) and left no chance to their opponent in the finals, each time after a close semifinal (Inno Mvp was pretty damn good, Taeja Bomber pretty close, and Maru Dear... man my jaw is still dropping). Looks like once they had gotten to the finals, they felt like it was their trophy once the first game was in the bag and never let go of it.
To be fair, Dear vs Soulkey didn't look super onesided. Soulkey played well, just not well enough. It wasn't like Inno vs sOs where it felt like a stomp in all 4 games (including the tempest one).
:O That fourth game was actually much much closer than most people realized. sOs almost won through starving Innovation because Innovation couldn't take the 5th he wanted and he mined out all 3 of his bases and I think he only had the 10 o'clock or something. Even though the tempests are weak on their own, sOs played that game so well and made a strategy that would've been unviable almost viable. From all of the SCII games I've watched, that game was definitely one of the most jaw dropping and amazing games to watch. I became an instant sOs fan right after that game.
On October 29 2013 09:09 [PkF] Wire wrote: ... and three 4-0s, which tend to show how mental shape matters in those tournaments. In each of them a player was on godly fire (InnovatioN, Bomber, Dear all played insanely well in their respective season finals) and left no chance to their opponent in the finals, each time after a close semifinal (Inno Mvp was pretty damn good, Taeja Bomber pretty close, and Maru Dear... man my jaw is still dropping). Looks like once they had gotten to the finals, they felt like it was their trophy once the first game was in the bag and never let go of it.
To be fair, Dear vs Soulkey didn't look super onesided. Soulkey played well, just not well enough. It wasn't like Inno vs sOs where it felt like a stomp in all 4 games (including the tempest one).
:O That fourth game was actually much much closer than most people realized. sOs almost won through starving Innovation because Innovation couldn't take the 5th he wanted and he mined out all 3 of his bases and I think he only had the 10 o'clock or something. Even though the tempests are weak on their own, sOs played that game so well and made a strategy that would've been unviable almost viable. From all of the SCII games I've watched, that game was definitely one of the most jaw dropping and amazing games to watch. I became an instant sOs fan right after that game.
Completely disagree. At no point was Innovation even struggling. I don't think it was impressive in the slightest, Inno had complete control and I felt the casters were just trying to hype it up. And I'd say I'm right up there in having some of the better game sense than the vast majority of players out there...
On October 29 2013 09:09 [PkF] Wire wrote: ... and three 4-0s, which tend to show how mental shape matters in those tournaments. In each of them a player was on godly fire (InnovatioN, Bomber, Dear all played insanely well in their respective season finals) and left no chance to their opponent in the finals, each time after a close semifinal (Inno Mvp was pretty damn good, Taeja Bomber pretty close, and Maru Dear... man my jaw is still dropping). Looks like once they had gotten to the finals, they felt like it was their trophy once the first game was in the bag and never let go of it.
SK did not play that poorly though the first 3 games. Dear just fucking beast moded.
Very happy for Dear, and for SouL. Now that Innovation is gone from their team they can focus on other things as well as giving their players more playtime. Dear, I hope, will help them garner a new sponsor, especially if he wins Blizzcon.
On October 28 2013 18:51 Ragnarork wrote: So wait wait wait !
Dear just accomplished what everyone thought Innovation would do in Season 1 ? (Back to back WCS KR + Global) Except the hype was like 1/1000th what it was for Innovation ?
That guy flies under the radar for sure !
Congratz Dear !
Well the hype at Blizzcon will surely make up for that. I really don't think anyone can still underestimate Dear. In fact, most probably see him as a big favorite to win the Grand Finals now.
On October 28 2013 18:51 Ragnarork wrote: So wait wait wait !
Dear just accomplished what everyone thought Innovation would do in Season 1 ? (Back to back WCS KR + Global) Except the hype was like 1/1000th what it was for Innovation ?
That guy flies under the radar for sure !
Congratz Dear !
Well the hype at Blizzcon will surely make up for that. I really don't think anyone can still underestimate Dear. In fact, most probably see him as a big favorite to win the Grand Finals now.
Ye he showed the strongest protoss play ever in SC2.
^ i dont know about that. what about when MC had more winnings than top 10 protoss combined behind him? Hard to compare different eras and Dear is my favorite protoss today without a doubt but MC owned like no other 2010 and 2011. Can't wait to see how Dear handles taejas ghosts.
On October 31 2013 03:58 tdt wrote: ^ i dont know about that. what about when MC had more winnings than top 10 protoss combined behind him? Hard to compare different eras but Dear is my favorite protoss today without a doubt. Can't wait to see how he handles taejas ghosts.
MC has been consistent across a long period, but the period during which he was considered a dominant player in Korea (end of 2010 through spring of 2011) was a time when you just needed to be a competent player with clean builds and good micro to win practically all of your games. It's very hard to compare because there was just nowhere near the level of complexity to the game that there is right now.
I will say one thing for Dear: he seems to combine in one package two elements that before haven't really been found together on a single top Protoss player. You had risky aggressive players with great micro and flashes of genius like MC and PartinG, and you had solid defensive Protoss that rely on strong builds, prepared timings and unbeatable compositions like Rain and Creator, Dear seems to have both the great fundamentals AND the insane micro; maybe HerO is the closest but Dear seems to be more consistent (though probably a little less creative).
EPT
Soul_Dear scored a 4 – 0 sweep against 
Woongjin_Soulkey to win the WCS Season 3 championship. Though Soulkey put up a stronger resistance than was reflected in the scoreline, there was no doubt who was the better player as Dear clinically dissected Soulkey in four different ways. From base races to all-out late game engagements, Dear proved he had the full, championship caliber PvZ skill-set.
Maru, and finally a 4 – 0 against 
GG!
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/pRrrfXU.png)
I view the MLG experience as a learning curve. He wasn't a favorite back then and he was just getting his feet wet in SC2 individual leagues at the time. New experience. Nothing out of the ordinary and he continued to get better. Besides that, a lot of you were focusing your attention on Bogus. If you only focus on one player you miss what the other guys are doing as they improve. There's a very good reason why STX beat Woongjin in the final and just look at the amount of depth on both teams at the time. Riding one to two players in PL is very hard based on the format. 
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/uU2KMnh.png)
