CJ_herO defeated KT_Flash 4-2 to win the SanDisk SHOUTcraft Invitational and take the $4500 first place prize. herO had lost to Flash earlier in the group stages of the eight-man tournament, but showed superior form to get his revenge in the finals.
Flash jumped ahead to an early 2-0 lead in the series, taking advantage of an unscouted third base on Frost while punishing herO for taking a greedy third of his own on Overgrowth.
The tables started to turn in game three as herO was able to hold off Flash's "1-1-1" style all-in on Habitation Station. After that, Flash seemed to run out of ideas as he was determined to go for SCV pull all-in after SCV pull all-in. herO had just the answer for the attacks with a finely tuned build that allowed him to get plenty of colossi while establishing a strong economy, and he shut down Flash's attacks over and over again.
With the victory, herO claims his first major online tournament victory (non-qualifier) alongside his $4800 prize. It may also provide an important momentum swing for herO, helping him out of a Proleague and GSL slump that has been afflicting him for the last few weeks.
Many were pegging Zest to be the out and out favorite at the onset of the tournament, but the defending GSL champ was eliminated in the semi-finals in a close 4-3 series by herO. More surprising than Zest's elimination was Flash's excellent play right up to the finals, as he went on his most convincing individual league run since MLG Dallas 2013.
The tournament was also notable for the great quality of games throughout. A brief list of the best games goes: Flash vs Life g2 (Group Stage), Flash vs Bbyong g3 (ro4), herO vs Zest g7 (ro4), Bbyong vs Zest g2 (Group Stage), Bbyong vs Zest g3 (3rd place decider) and Flash vs herO g1 (Finals). The VODs can be found on Youtube.
Congrats herO! Great online tournament. Thanks TotalBiscuit for hosting, Artosis for co-casting, Crank for his efforts and casting and Sandisk for sponsoring.
On June 09 2014 12:51 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: With the victory, herO claims his first major online tournament victory (non-qualifier) alongside his $4800 prize.
It says $4800 here, but it says $4500 earlier or am I missing something...?
Also, really impressed with herO, but we can tell it was all a fluke because Innovation was supposed to take first, then have the momentum to beat Zest and Soulkey to beat his group. But it's nice to see herO is still capable of playing really well.
IMO one of the best tournaments I've ever seen. Certainly the best online tourney. Good job TB - I hope the numbers worked out and we can get more of these!
Flash vs Bbyong was basically the best thing, so many wonderful games! Thanks so much TB and Sandisk for making this possible, really made that weekend incredible, with both that and HSC! So much amazing Starcraft.
I wasn't able to catch much of this tournament, but I will definitely check out the VODs because what I saw was awesome! Big thanks to TB and SanDisk for making a tournament like this happen :D
On June 10 2014 02:08 The_Templar wrote: Flash played so well when I was watching him, and that was every game except after game 2 of the finals. :\ How badly did he collapse?
He only collapsed in game 6 of the final. herO just suddenly increased his skill mid-tournament mid-series, pretty impressive to watch.
On June 10 2014 07:10 Xinzoe wrote: only vods no replays?
No plans to release replays. Last time we did it less than 100 people downloaded the pack and players would much prefer their replays not be released, so since there is so little benefit to it, we won't bother with it.
On June 09 2014 23:44 Pandemona wrote: Flash ;_; This was supposed to be your first major tournament (online) win
Oh well, good showing though.
Minus the silly SCV pull after SCV pull failures.
They were only silly and failures because herO has a counter build to scv pulls and Flash couldn't adapt!
I think this is a key point. I don't see him winning any tournament if he can't adapt mid-series...
...unless he prepares 7 different crazy builds or cheeses and gets away with them... #believe
There are not even 7 different viable builds (or rather sort of builds) in TvP to begin with.
well then he should stop playing like mindless innovation
it's still the best way to play TvP for most ppl. Solid build order into a good pull is probably the highest winrate strat in tvp.
This is nonsense.
SCV pull punishes some builds well, but it's pretty terrible against others.
It's not nonsense, lol. From a wholly winrate perspective, Terran has two choices after third bases are built; take a calculated risk and SCV pull hoping win the game outright, or play lategame TvP. Lategame TvP is extremely difficult at the best of times, and theres likely low winrates for the vast majority, pros included. Flash must've considered lategame TvP against herO a bad idea, and thought that SCV pulling was the way to go. Hardly nonsense.
On June 10 2014 07:10 Xinzoe wrote: only vods no replays?
No plans to release replays. Last time we did it less than 100 people downloaded the pack and players would much prefer their replays not be released, so since there is so little benefit to it, we won't bother with it.
I'm sure there would be much more than 100 people for this replay pack, but well if players don't want.
On June 09 2014 23:44 Pandemona wrote: Flash ;_; This was supposed to be your first major tournament (online) win
Oh well, good showing though.
Minus the silly SCV pull after SCV pull failures.
They were only silly and failures because herO has a counter build to scv pulls and Flash couldn't adapt!
I think this is a key point. I don't see him winning any tournament if he can't adapt mid-series...
...unless he prepares 7 different crazy builds or cheeses and gets away with them... #believe
There are not even 7 different viable builds (or rather sort of builds) in TvP to begin with.
well then he should stop playing like mindless innovation
it's still the best way to play TvP for most ppl. Solid build order into a good pull is probably the highest winrate strat in tvp.
This is nonsense.
SCV pull punishes some builds well, but it's pretty terrible against others.
It's not nonsense, lol. From a wholly winrate perspective, Terran has two choices after third bases are built; take a calculated risk and SCV pull hoping win the game outright, or play lategame TvP. Lategame TvP is extremely difficult at the best of times, and theres likely low winrates for the vast majority, pros included. Flash must've considered lategame TvP against herO a bad idea, and thought that SCV pulling was the way to go. Hardly nonsense.
I wouldn't call it throwing the finals, he just didn't want to get caught in late game TvP in 4 & 5, and Game 6 I think was just a major tilt job. But it wasn't a "throw"
On June 10 2014 07:10 Xinzoe wrote: only vods no replays?
No plans to release replays. Last time we did it less than 100 people downloaded the pack and players would much prefer their replays not be released, so since there is so little benefit to it, we won't bother with it.
im pretty sure there are lots of newbs here wanting to steal some builds
On June 10 2014 07:10 Xinzoe wrote: only vods no replays?
No plans to release replays. Last time we did it less than 100 people downloaded the pack and players would much prefer their replays not be released, so since there is so little benefit to it, we won't bother with it.
Although that's unfornate, I didn't really expect them to be released. But TB, do you really believe only 100 people would download the replays of such a stacked tournament? Not that it's gonna change anything...
By the way, thanks for amazing event! I've barely watched any Starcraft 2 as of late, but as soon as I saw Artosis's post on facebook about it and saw the line up... I just couldn't not watch it!
EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Waxangel/sandisk.jpg)
CJ_herO defeated 
KT_Flash 4-2 to win the SanDisk SHOUTcraft Invitational and take the $4500 first place prize. herO had lost to Flash earlier in the group stages of the eight-man tournament, but showed superior form to get his revenge in the finals.
