The yearly tradition continues. For the 4th year in a row, MLG have held their largest event of the year at Anaheim, and for the 4th year in a row, a new champion has taken the crown. IM.Trap, the former STX_Soul Protoss fought his way through the loser’s bracket to take home the gold. Just barely making it to MLG by winning the Korean qualifier, Trap has proven that he was worth his place and then some. With brilliant micro, excellent planning, and a mindset of steel, the Korean slowly pushed through the competition, taking out 2 past Anaheim champions (DongRaeGu and Polt) in the process. The IM Protoss made the victory over the latter look almost easy, with two back to back 2-0s in Grand Finals, displaying wonderful play and an ability to switch between Colossi and Templar heavy compositions. In his PvZs, Trap showed a willingness to draw out the game, using a classic macro heavy style to slowly build up a deathball and steamroll his opponents. However, in his set against Scarlett, he also showed that he was not averse to cheesing it up, utilizing a strong timing push to neutralize the Canadian Zerg. For Trap, it was his first MLG appearance and his first MLG victory (And IM's 2nd, with Mvp taking 1st place at Anaheim in 2011).
viOLet is the New Black
Trap’s was not the only story of success at the event though. Perhaps one of the happiest stories was the successful return of viOLet. A former MLG and IEM champion, viOLet had fallen off since his visa fiasco in 2013, performing poorly in tournaments and looking unable to adapt to the current meta. However, things are on the up and up for the new American immigrant. After topping his Ro32 group in WCS, viOLet showed a strong performance at RedBull Battlegrounds North America. But he truly came into the fore this weekend. Topping his pool with a 6-1 set record, ViOLet set the stage for a spectacular performance. In the championship bracket, he would handily defeat Ragnarok 2-0, before being bested by his housemate Polt in an 0-2 loss. Though he would be taken down by Trap 2-1 to be left with 3rd place, this was viOLet’s best placement in over a year and a half. His play, as well as his demeanor, looked energized all weekend, though only time will tell if it will be sustainable.
The Open Bracket Returns
This Anaheim saw the return of the Open Bracket. Over 200 people entered, among them Life, Leenock, Choya, Thorzain, NonY, HerO, Bomber, Jaedong, HyuN, Revival, Suppy, State, Harstem, Alicia and about a dozen others. Even Destiny came over from EVE to throw his hat into the mix. With a slew of old school fan favorites, current top Koreans, and MLG stalwarts, the competition was harsh, fierce and full of incredible matches. RedBull.Bomber would find his way to the championship bracket after defeating Jaedong, Leenock and Keen. The newly minted D.Seed surprised everyone by revealing that he did indeed still play Stacraft, reaching LR 3 of the championship bracket, netting himself 9th place and 125 WCS points. Life didn’t surprise anyone at all with an impressive run in open bracket, taking down Thorzain, Choya and Alicia. However, he did have an uncharacteristic early exit being bested by Scarlett 2-1.
Scarlett Fever
MLG wouldn't be the same without a strong foreigner performance, and this go around, the honor was all Acer.Scarlett’s. The Canadian Zerg, coming off of months of practice in Korea has finally been reappearing at foreign events. Kicking off the summer spree with a Ro4 finish at HSC IX, Scarlett has capitalized on the hype by finishing 1st at RedBull Battle Grounds North America. At MLG she would make the best run of her career. After taking 4th in her group, she would start her Championship Bracket in LR 3, playing against ST.Life. Defeating Life in style with two completely different types of play (a slow death push on Frost and a baneling/speedling all-in on Overgrowth), she would move on to face DongRaeGu in the next round. After falling to a Zergling heavy play on Habitation, she would shock everyone by choosing Protoss for game 2. As everyone waited for her to switch at the last second, Scarlett was slowly reviewing the build in her head. A map dependent all-in that she had planned to use at Anaheim (only against certain greedy Zergs), the 1-gas, 7-gate all-in took DRG by surprise. After opening 3 hatch, he was taken aback by the sudden influx of Zealots and Stalkers. Though he held for longer than expected, after a long back and forth and with impressive micro and perfectly positioned Zealot warp-ins, Scarlett would take the game and then the set. After another win over Ragnarok, she found herself playing against Trap for a spot in LB Finals. Starting the set off with a loss to early gateway pressure on Overgrowth, the Acer Zerg would tie it up after a macro game on Alterzim. Sadly, indecision would spell her end on Frost, as she tossed away an early lead by not committing to an attack for some time, allowing the Protoss to destroy her economy and build his own deathball for the win.
Despite losing to Trap, Scarlett's run was filled with Korean championship contenders and GSL Champions. It was quietly one of the strongest foreigner vs Korean performances we had ever seen in a single tournament, and it bolsters Scarlett's reputation as perhaps the only legitimate foreign hope. She did turn to the dark side of her most hated Protoss race, but I think we can all forgive her for that one.
peanuts' last words: "Yo, West Coast got lucky at crew battle. Mango and Lucky carried y'all. We win 9 times out of 10. REMATCH AT BIG HOUSE 4. "
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
By that logic, only Snute and Scarlett are fighting about best foreigner. Vortix has never the opportunity here he never visits a tournament (this year) because of his study.
It was a great tournament, not the best finals but Trap's run to it was pretty great, and a ton of the matches were very entertaining. So yeah there were advertisements and yeah there were some technical issues, but I thought it was still a great return to SC2 for MLG overall.
This is not surprising after having fallen asleep during the finals. That's KeSPA for y'all. It's good to see an IM player doing something relevant, it feels like it's been a while. Remember LG-IEM?
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
By that logic, only Snute and Scarlett are fighting about best foreigner. Vortix has never the opportunity here he never visits a tournament (this year) because of his study.
I think that's pretty clearly the best foreigner order, though: 1) Scarlett, 2) Snute, 3) Vortix. Four is maybe Harstem?
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
By that logic, only Snute and Scarlett are fighting about best foreigner. Vortix has never the opportunity here he never visits a tournament (this year) because of his study.
I think that's pretty clearly the best foreigner order, though: 1) Scarlett, 2) Snute, 3) Vortix. Four is maybe Harstem?
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
By that logic, only Snute and Scarlett are fighting about best foreigner. Vortix has never the opportunity here he never visits a tournament (this year) because of his study.
I think that's pretty clearly the best foreigner order, though: 1) Scarlett, 2) Snute, 3) Vortix. Four is maybe Harstem?
Welmu is definitely a contender for top 3...
Scoobers is top 3, therefore welmu can only be top 4 in my book
The scarletoss vs DRG on frost was actually like Chang vs lendl in rolland garros when chang served underhand in 5th set, opponent is so mind blown he's eliminated already
Polt won his group and everything bar the grand final and only terran making any impact on the event gets hardly a meantion in this right up seems a little unfair.
On June 23 2014 19:03 lightertripod wrote: Polt won his group and everything bar the grand final and only terran making any impact on the event gets hardly a meantion in this right up seems a little unfair.
The only surprise about Polt was the fact that he lost to Trap 2-0 twice, other than that it was pure Polt awesomeness. Some great games on day 1 and 2, can't wait for day 3 VODs :D edit: twice in grand finals, was it 2-0 in pool play too?
On June 23 2014 19:03 lightertripod wrote: Polt won his group and everything bar the grand final and only terran making any impact on the event gets hardly a meantion in this right up seems a little unfair.
The only surprise about Polt was the fact that he lost to Trap 2-0 twice, other than that it was pure Polt awesomeness. Some great games on day 1 and 2, can't wait for day 3 VODs :D
MLG has a stupid format. Open bracket into pool play is dumb. And then all pool players qualify for the championship bracket anyways is even dumber.
MLG need to do away with the pools and just run a open bracket and seed the players based on some random power ranking they choose until Round of 64 then begin a losers bracket to the finals.
Gratz to Trap. He looked kinda iffy but that makes for better games. Watching one sided stomps is boring anyways.
Really wanna see this DRG vs Scarlett series everyone is talking about. Last I heard she was really good at ZvZ so to switch to Protoss is weird
On June 23 2014 18:42 Dumbledore wrote: Disappointing that the text about the final is more about scarlett han the winner :/
It's just following the theme of the tournament. I haven't seen a crowd so underwhelmed after a final in a long time. Maybe if trap hadn't been set up to lose to America's darling terran people would have been hyped
Really happy for Trap, he caught my eye since last year when he was a regular performer in Proleague for STX Souls, extremely solid play with exceptional PvZ. I was extremely sad and disappointed when I saw that his move to IM seemed to have dulled his skills, but my faith in him is now restored. Trap fighting, IM fighting!
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
By that logic, only Snute and Scarlett are fighting about best foreigner. Vortix has never the opportunity here he never visits a tournament (this year) because of his study.
Yep. "Best foreigner" is a title that does not have any official definition. But I guess part time players are not being taken into consideration. Are you a Vortix fan?
Also: are any statistics available of viewer count?
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
By that logic, only Snute and Scarlett are fighting about best foreigner. Vortix has never the opportunity here he never visits a tournament (this year) because of his study.
Don't forget Tiger Woods who never really had the opportunity to show off his starcraft skills neither because he never got invited to a tournament..
On June 23 2014 22:24 Ctone23 wrote: Great tournament, but was disappointed in the lack of loser bracket games/NA players. I would have loved to see Scarlett beat Life,
Both of the games Scarlett won vs Life were actually broadcasted.
On June 23 2014 22:24 Ctone23 wrote: Great tournament, but was disappointed in the lack of loser bracket games/NA players. I would have loved to see Scarlett beat Life,
Both of the games Scarlett won vs Life were actually broadcasted.
Really? I didn't see it on A or B stream? I guess I just missed it?
On June 23 2014 22:24 Ctone23 wrote: Great tournament, but was disappointed in the lack of loser bracket games/NA players. I would have loved to see Scarlett beat Life,
Both of the games Scarlett won vs Life were actually broadcasted.
Really? I didn't see it on A or B stream? I guess I just missed it?
On June 23 2014 22:24 Ctone23 wrote: Great tournament, but was disappointed in the lack of loser bracket games/NA players. I would have loved to see Scarlett beat Life,
Both of the games Scarlett won vs Life were actually broadcasted.
Really? I didn't see it on A or B stream? I guess I just missed it?
On June 23 2014 19:36 Orcasgt24 wrote: MLG has a stupid format. Open bracket into pool play is dumb. And then all pool players qualify for the championship bracket anyways is even dumber.
MLG need to do away with the pools and just run a open bracket and seed the players based on some random power ranking they choose until Round of 64 then begin a losers bracket to the finals.
Gratz to Trap. He looked kinda iffy but that makes for better games. Watching one sided stomps is boring anyways.
Really wanna see this DRG vs Scarlett series everyone is talking about. Last I heard she was really good at ZvZ so to switch to Protoss is weird
First of all: happy birthday good sir.
Second: I wouldn't call it stupid, but smart. I myself had major trouble figuring out how the whole tournament structure was organised. With that out of the way; I have to admit I think it was overly complicated. So I'd rather dumb down the bracket designers a little, just to allow a little more transparency. Considering there are not that many MLG tournaments anymore, there is not much room for us to get used to these brackets. That might also be a reason that I'm probably being a bit harsh, because the system seemed fair.
To me it was not clear whether the finalists started with a clean slate, regardless of whether they faced off earlier.
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
By that logic, only Snute and Scarlett are fighting about best foreigner. Vortix has never the opportunity here he never visits a tournament (this year) because of his study.
I think that's pretty clearly the best foreigner order, though: 1) Scarlett, 2) Snute, 3) Vortix. Four is maybe Harstem?
Welmu is definitely a contender for top 3...
I was just about to mention this... I would say he is better than Vortix, and maybe Snute as well.
On June 24 2014 00:27 Shinespark wrote: Protoss is so easy Scarlett can just choose protoss and win versus a GSL champion, no problem
im pretty sure its the same for all races. doesnt matter if u win 200 GSLs, you will lose to an unscouted all-in. plus most progamers have excellent offrace anyway
On June 23 2014 19:36 Orcasgt24 wrote: MLG has a stupid format. Open bracket into pool play is dumb. And then all pool players qualify for the championship bracket anyways is even dumber.
MLG need to do away with the pools and just run a open bracket and seed the players based on some random power ranking they choose until Round of 64 then begin a losers bracket to the finals.
Gratz to Trap. He looked kinda iffy but that makes for better games. Watching one sided stomps is boring anyways.
Really wanna see this DRG vs Scarlett series everyone is talking about. Last I heard she was really good at ZvZ so to switch to Protoss is weird
Last time they had 128 players double elimination bracket, it's not like they run pool play always. But they had qualifiers this time, so it's pretty logic that guys who played and won in qualifiers have advantage over open bracket guys.
At least, i'm ok that they don't have extended series, better to be forced to win 2 bo3.
Trap 6-0 Polt, real champion. What a legend.
Now, if Classic wins GSL, holy trinity of STX SouL Protosses will win premier at some point of their careers.
On June 23 2014 19:36 Orcasgt24 wrote: MLG has a stupid format. Open bracket into pool play is dumb. And then all pool players qualify for the championship bracket anyways is even dumber.
MLG need to do away with the pools and just run a open bracket and seed the players based on some random power ranking they choose until Round of 64 then begin a losers bracket to the finals.
Gratz to Trap. He looked kinda iffy but that makes for better games. Watching one sided stomps is boring anyways.
Really wanna see this DRG vs Scarlett series everyone is talking about. Last I heard she was really good at ZvZ so to switch to Protoss is weird
Last time they had 128 players double elimination bracket, it's not like they run pool play always. But they had qualifiers this time, so it's pretty logic that guys who played and won in qualifiers have advantage over open bracket guys.
At least, i'm ok that they don't have extended series, better to be forced to win 2 bo3.
Trap 6-0 Polt, real champion. What a legend.
Now, if Classic wins GSL, holy trinity of STX SouL Protosses will win premier at some point of their careers.
While I agree with you and am not trying to start an argument, I will point out that there was only one available spot for a Korean compared to 6 spots from an NA only "open" qualifier, 4 spots from invite only qualifiers (foreigners only), and one spot from a European qualifier. So most of the best players in the open bracket didn't have much of a chance to qualify for pools, and the Korean qualifier winner who had the advantage of starting in pools won the tournament.
On June 23 2014 19:36 Orcasgt24 wrote: MLG has a stupid format. Open bracket into pool play is dumb. And then all pool players qualify for the championship bracket anyways is even dumber.
MLG need to do away with the pools and just run a open bracket and seed the players based on some random power ranking they choose until Round of 64 then begin a losers bracket to the finals.
Gratz to Trap. He looked kinda iffy but that makes for better games. Watching one sided stomps is boring anyways.
Really wanna see this DRG vs Scarlett series everyone is talking about. Last I heard she was really good at ZvZ so to switch to Protoss is weird
Last time they had 128 players double elimination bracket, it's not like they run pool play always. But they had qualifiers this time, so it's pretty logic that guys who played and won in qualifiers have advantage over open bracket guys.
At least, i'm ok that they don't have extended series, better to be forced to win 2 bo3.
Trap 6-0 Polt, real champion. What a legend.
Now, if Classic wins GSL, holy trinity of STX SouL Protosses will win premier at some point of their careers.
While I agree with you and am not trying to start an argument, I will point out that there was only one available spot for a Korean compared to 6 spots from an NA only "open" qualifier, 4 spots from invite only qualifiers (foreigners only), and one spot from a European qualifier. So most of the best players in the open bracket didn't have much of a chance to qualify for pools, and the Korean qualifier winner who had the advantage of starting in pools won the tournament.
Well, i guess, if i were Sundance/Adam, i would do a favour to my crowd first and then get stacked open bracket, knowing that hardcore Koreans will deliver anyway. + Considering that NA qualifiers winners are Polt and viOlet.
Still, i was betting on Trap and Polt to meet in finals before tournament, so it wasn't something really new :D Hope, that it wasn't best perfomance from viOlet and he's not going to flop in WCS AM Ro16 though.
On June 24 2014 03:16 Yorkie wrote: Hundreds of players in the event, more than half the recap is about a player who got fifth/sixth. Well played Trap!
Catering to your audience happens in any sport or competition though
You gotta be impressed by Trap's play against Polt. Some games it is just a pure beatdown, and in the rest (especially the final game on waystation) he somehow miraculously came out on top anyways. Even though I play Terran and I was cheering for Polt you gotta admit the better player (at least on that day) won.
Since people keep complaining that Scarlett gets mentioned so much: It is not because of her result (although that is worth mentioning as well). But to have the wits and the guts to switch races on main stage against someone like DRG - that is truly remarkable. And a huge (!) upset - which is usually mentioned in a recap.
On June 24 2014 03:16 Yorkie wrote: Hundreds of players in the event, more than half the recap is about a player who got fifth/sixth. Well played Trap!
On June 24 2014 03:16 Yorkie wrote: Hundreds of players in the event, more than half the recap is about a player who got fifth/sixth. Well played Trap!
I wouldn't have minded the entire write up being about her. I haven't been that excited to watch SC2 in quite a while.
On that first game on Frost, Trap started out pretty terrible. He was extremely sloppy and lost his MSC to a handful of marines, then was even more sloppy in losing another stalker for free. The announcers were constantly remarking about how awful his opening was, so I'm not sure about all of this "Trap played great" stuff. He then built an oracle and ended up winning.
Anyway, I was extremely distressed in particular by the game where polt scouted *perfectly* that Trap was doing a proxy, then scouted *perfectly* with his reaper, and actually FOUND the stargate itself. Then he proceeded to get stomped.
So a pro Terran, who is known for being good at TvP, scouts a super cheesy play perfectly and can't win? What is a Terran player who already hates TvP supposed to take from this? Does it not seem like "build oracle = you're ahead" under just about any circumstance at this point?
On June 24 2014 08:21 Iron_ wrote: On that first game on Frost, Trap started out pretty terrible. He was extremely sloppy and lost his MSC to a handful of marines, then was even more sloppy in losing another stalker for free. The announcers were constantly remarking about how awful his opening was, so I'm not sure about all of this "Trap played great" stuff. He then built an oracle and ended up winning.
Anyway, I was extremely distressed in particular by the game where polt scouted *perfectly* that Trap was doing a proxy, then scouted *perfectly* with his reaper, and actually FOUND the stargate itself. Then he proceeded to get stomped.
So a pro Terran, who is known for being good at TvP, scouts a super cheesy play perfectly and can't win? What is a Terran player who already hates TvP supposed to take from this? Does it not seem like "build oracle = you're ahead" under just about any circumstance at this point?
Planetary nexus is fundamentally broken so yeah it means the Protoss can't be counter-attacked.
On June 24 2014 08:21 Iron_ wrote: On that first game on Frost, Trap started out pretty terrible. He was extremely sloppy and lost his MSC to a handful of marines, then was even more sloppy in losing another stalker for free. The announcers were constantly remarking about how awful his opening was, so I'm not sure about all of this "Trap played great" stuff. He then built an oracle and ended up winning.
Anyway, I was extremely distressed in particular by the game where polt scouted *perfectly* that Trap was doing a proxy, then scouted *perfectly* with his reaper, and actually FOUND the stargate itself. Then he proceeded to get stomped.
So a pro Terran, who is known for being good at TvP, scouts a super cheesy play perfectly and can't win? What is a Terran player who already hates TvP supposed to take from this? Does it not seem like "build oracle = you're ahead" under just about any circumstance at this point?
He might have scouted it, but did he play it perfectly? Nah.
On June 24 2014 09:15 Plansix wrote: Clearly the answer is that balance whining makes your worse at SC2. This answer is Jaedong approved.
Also, no one plays perfectly. Not even Polt.
There are legit issues with TvP anyone with a brain can see, but enough of that in this thread. Congrats to Trap, I'm glad IM sent him even though they were focusing on pro league. IM won their match last night 3-0 to, good time to be a IM fan.
On June 24 2014 09:31 Kimb3r wrote: I said that Trap is going to win this.. another proove, that KeSPA Koreans play on another level than EU- or AM Koreans.
nvm that RorO and TY didn't even make the ro8 at the last DH. Or that Stork and Armani failed to get far at HSC. Or the failings of soO, Dear, and Stats at the last MLG.
Even Trap himself struggled against nearly everyone except Polt and had the big advantage of starting in the pools.
Meanwhile, WCS AM's Byul comes back home to Korea and immediately rockets to the upper echelon of the SPL rankings and into code S. Hmm...
On June 24 2014 09:39 kaykoose wrote: Polt was out played. And it pains me to say it. Congrats to Trap
I think it was more "outstyled" than outplayed. Either Trap's style naturally runs over Polt's, or he prepared specifically for Polt (in which case he deserves even more kudos). Polt played a fantastic series, and were it any other Protoss in that booth except Trap, I say he wins 9 times out of 10.
Grats to Polt, Trap, Bomber, and Scarlett on some fantastic runs.
As Trap is a Kespa pro and Polt was one of the largest threats he would likely face, I wouldn't be shocked he had studied up on how Polt likes to play. It would be a very Kespa thing to do.
Oh man the balance whine even seeping in here is brilliant. Always brings a smile to my face seeing people rage so hard.
Gratz to Trap well deserved. Polt was looking unstoppable until the finals then was just picked a part by Trap. Just fun to watch, crowd killed the hype pretty hard at the end there though I expected better from Anaheim. New laws should be implemented all live events must be played in Canada(Preferably Toronto...)
On June 24 2014 09:31 Kimb3r wrote: I said that Trap is going to win this.. another proove, that KeSPA Koreans play on another level than EU- or AM Koreans.
nvm that RorO and TY didn't even make the ro8 at the last DH. Or that Stork and Armani failed to get far at HSC. Or the failings of soO, Dear, and Stats at the last MLG.
Even Trap himself struggled against nearly everyone except Polt and had the big advantage of starting in the pools.
Meanwhile, WCS AM's Byul comes back home to Korea and immediately rockets to the upper echelon of the SPL rankings and into code S. Hmm...
Or SKT stars Rain & Classic knocked out by Polt himself at IEM. But he is right *this* time.
On June 24 2014 13:15 Shinta) wrote: Crazy... 2-1ing everyone except for Polt, whom he 6-0'd...... Wtf? XD
Sometimes, you just have a guy's number. We had a whole thread devoted to it a few weeks ago. I would say most of the people Trap loses to would get smacked by Polt in a tournament match. But once in a while, mindgames simply favor the otherwise-underdog player.
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
By that logic, only Snute and Scarlett are fighting about best foreigner. Vortix has never the opportunity here he never visits a tournament (this year) because of his study.
I think that's pretty clearly the best foreigner order, though: 1) Scarlett, 2) Snute, 3) Vortix. Four is maybe Harstem?
What about Huk? He's consistently one of the top-ranked foreigners in every tournament he enters.
On June 24 2014 09:31 Kimb3r wrote: I said that Trap is going to win this.. another proove, that KeSPA Koreans play on another level than EU- or AM Koreans.
nvm that RorO and TY didn't even make the ro8 at the last DH. Or that Stork and Armani failed to get far at HSC. Or the failings of soO, Dear, and Stats at the last MLG.
Even Trap himself struggled against nearly everyone except Polt and had the big advantage of starting in the pools.
Meanwhile, WCS AM's Byul comes back home to Korea and immediately rockets to the upper echelon of the SPL rankings and into code S. Hmm...
Byul is 3-3 in SPL, that is not quite "rocketing the upper echenlon of SPL rankings". And his run in code S was not especially impressive. If I follow your logic, it would mean that a WCS AM runner up is just worth a 1-4-last-of-his-group-elimination in Code S Ro32
Anyway, this whole discussion is pointless until all these players regularily compete in the same tournaments. The rest is just personal opinions and tastes. I just find it sad that some people fail to see how high the skill is in SPL atm, the level of play displayed by Zest, soO, herO, Maru and such is just so crazy. Come on guys the Vods are free on youtube, no one should miss them
So twitch never shut down the guy taking money for restreaming MLG. That's pretty shameless. They'll ban you in minutes for streaming an unreleased game.
On June 24 2014 03:16 Yorkie wrote: Hundreds of players in the event, more than half the recap is about a player who got fifth/sixth. Well played Trap!
That's strange, I see no mention of Stardust or Ragnarok. It seems some of that salt may have gotten in your eyes.
Anyway Trap was the best player and deserved to win, Polt and Violet did better than I expected and Scarlett probably salvaged a lot of face for the tournament with her impressive run and race switching shenanigans.
On June 24 2014 09:31 Kimb3r wrote: I said that Trap is going to win this.. another proove, that KeSPA Koreans play on another level than EU- or AM Koreans.
nvm that RorO and TY didn't even make the ro8 at the last DH. Or that Stork and Armani failed to get far at HSC. Or the failings of soO, Dear, and Stats at the last MLG.
Even Trap himself struggled against nearly everyone except Polt and had the big advantage of starting in the pools.
Meanwhile, WCS AM's Byul comes back home to Korea and immediately rockets to the upper echelon of the SPL rankings and into code S. Hmm...
Byul is 3-3 in SPL, that is not quite "rocketing the upper echenlon of SPL rankings". And his run in code S was not especially impressive. If I follow your logic, it would mean that a WCS AM runner up is just worth a 1-4-last-of-his-group-elimination in Code S Ro32
Anyway, this whole discussion is pointless until all these players regularily compete in the same tournaments. The rest is just personal opinions and tastes. I just find it sad that some people fail to see how high the skill is in SPL atm, the level of play displayed by Zest, soO, herO, Maru and such is just so crazy. Come on guys the Vods are free on youtube, no one should miss them
That's just for round 4 so far, last round he was 6-1. Byul has consistently been near the top of the full ranking. I mean, sOs had a terrible round too and he's also way up there now. So perhaps you should take your own advice and tune into SPL more
With how much people seem to think code S automatically = god and how some tend to view AM/EU Koreans as a bunch of scrubs that just ran away from "real" competition, I would say going from code B to S in one season is still notable enough. Not to mention, he got the group of death in the ro32.
The point I'm making is that Byul probably isn't alone. Properly motivated, I'm sure a lot of the AM/EU Koreans could come back and have some degree of success in Korea. I don't believe it to be this exalted rank of elites outside of the very consistent top-tier. This would be Maru, Zest, herO, Rain, sOs, Soulkey, soO, PartinG, Bogus etc. Even then, there's no telling how well most of them would do in a foreign event (which is the source of this argument) outside of Bogus and herO who have already proven themselves. Wouldn't surprise me at all if you dropped Zest in the next DH and he got his ass kicked. It's just a different beast. A less prestigious beast, but still one that deserves its own type of merit.
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
She's been the best foreigner for ages now, does anyone else even come close?
Then again, all the other best foreigners are 'dead' (IdrA, Jinro, HuK, Naniwa, Stephano), her being the best foreigner is probably one of her more meaningless achievements.
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
She's been the best foreigner for ages now, does anyone else even come close?
Then again, all the other best foreigners are 'dead' (IdrA, Jinro, HuK, Naniwa, Stephano), her being the best foreigner is probably one of her more meaningless achievements.
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
She's been the best foreigner for ages now, does anyone else even come close?
Then again, all the other best foreigners are 'dead' (IdrA, Jinro, HuK, Naniwa, Stephano), her being the best foreigner is probably one of her more meaningless achievements.
Let's not exaggerate...it's not meaningless lol.
as long as it's high enough up the chain that they're making money nothing is meaningless
She's been the best foreigner for ages now, does anyone else even come close?
Then again, all the other best foreigners are 'dead' (IdrA, Jinro, HuK, Naniwa, Stephano), her being the best foreigner is probably one of her more meaningless achievements.
IMO Huk is the clear-cut #2 foreigner after Scarlett, but not close. He did beat all the foreigners in pool play and lost only to Koreans.
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
She's been the best foreigner for ages now, does anyone else even come close?
Then again, all the other best foreigners are 'dead' (IdrA, Jinro, HuK, Naniwa, Stephano), her being the best foreigner is probably one of her more meaningless achievements.
IdrA never was one. From Chaos Jinro emerged as best foreigner. NaNiwa was best foreigner after Stephano, I'm not sure I would call NaNiwa best foreigner after his 2nd place and MLG Providence and 1st at MLG Global Invitational - the Stephano already made some miracles. Jinro, HuK, Stephano, NaNiwa or Jinro, Huk, Stephano, NaNiwa, Stephano, NaNiwa
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
She's been the best foreigner for ages now, does anyone else even come close?
Then again, all the other best foreigners are 'dead' (IdrA, Jinro, HuK, Naniwa, Stephano), her being the best foreigner is probably one of her more meaningless achievements.
IdrA never was one. From Chaos Jinro emerged as best foreigner. NaNiwa was best foreigner after Stephano, I'm not sure I would call NaNiwa best foreigner after his 2nd place and MLG Providence and 1st at MLG Global Invitational - the Stephano already made some miracles. Jinro, HuK, Stephano, NaNiwa or Jinro, Huk, Stephano, NaNiwa, Stephano, NaNiwa
Could not watch at all recently. Grats to Trap ! I knew he was still up there. And I guess I need to watch Scarlett. She could get hired by a Kespa team.
wait wat... Scarlett switched to Imbatoss for one game and defeat DRG with that?! well... if that's not telling you anything, I don't know what would..
On June 25 2014 21:43 Mahtasooma wrote: wait wat... Scarlett switched to Imbatoss for one game and defeat DRG with that?! well... if that's not telling you anything, I don't know what would..
To be fair he could have panicked a bit and definitely was caught off guard. I can only imagine, I hope someone will ask him about that in some future interview.
On June 23 2014 18:06 boxerfred wrote: Scarlett confirmed best foreigner. Congrats to Trap!
She's been the best foreigner for ages now, does anyone else even come close?
Then again, all the other best foreigners are 'dead' (IdrA, Jinro, HuK, Naniwa, Stephano), her being the best foreigner is probably one of her more meaningless achievements.
IdrA never was one. From Chaos Jinro emerged as best foreigner. NaNiwa was best foreigner after Stephano, I'm not sure I would call NaNiwa best foreigner after his 2nd place and MLG Providence and 1st at MLG Global Invitational - the Stephano already made some miracles. Jinro, HuK, Stephano, NaNiwa or Jinro, Huk, Stephano, NaNiwa, Stephano, NaNiwa
Anyway Scarlett now.
So many terrans on the list (1).
I'm not sure if I agree with Idra not being a contender for best foreigner. Before saying anything I just want to say that yes, Jinro was a great player.
Jinro was definitely very good, two Ro4 finishes in the GSL is very good. However Idra was a very, very consistent player as well, more so than Jinro in my opinion. He was Code S level (Ro32+ in the GSL) for a very long time, in fact I'm not sure if he even dropped out from Code S since it first started to when he quit the GSL to focus on the foreign scene.
Idra won quite a few tournaments and had a lot of top finishes in 2010 up to 2012. I think it wouldn't be absurd to call him the best foreigner during that time-span though indeed he eventually fell off.
Also noteworthy is that the game was not Zerg-favored in early 2010, Idra lost at least one IEM to Terran imba. To play that consistently with the weaker race that zerg was in the early stage of SC2 is very impressive.
Sorry mang. I just don't agree with the statement that Idra was never the best foreigner. Though it's not something I'm going to argue about because "best" can actually be kind of subjective.
E: I often day-dream that Idra had sucked it up and stayed in Korea to play only in the GSL. I think that the Korean ladder as well as the overall level of play he would have been exposed to would have made him a better player. However wanting to focus more on the foreign scene is also a totally respectable decision.
It's just such a fucking shame that he retired. Sucks so hard lul
EPT
IM.Trap, the former STX_Soul Protoss fought his way through the loser’s bracket to take home the gold. Just barely making it to MLG by winning the Korean qualifier, Trap has proven that he was worth his place and then some. With brilliant micro, excellent planning, and a mindset of steel, the Korean slowly pushed through the competition, taking out 2 past Anaheim champions (DongRaeGu and Polt) in the process. The IM Protoss made the victory over the latter look almost easy, with two back to back 2-0s in Grand Finals, displaying wonderful play and an ability to switch between Colossi and Templar heavy compositions. In his PvZs, Trap showed a willingness to draw out the game, using a classic macro heavy style to slowly build up a deathball and steamroll his opponents. However, in his set against Scarlett, he also showed that he was not averse to cheesing it up, utilizing a strong timing push to neutralize the Canadian Zerg. For Trap, it was his first MLG appearance and his first MLG victory (And IM's 2nd, with Mvp taking 1st place at Anaheim in 2011).
viOLet. A former MLG and IEM champion, viOLet had fallen off since his visa fiasco in 2013, performing poorly in tournaments and looking unable to adapt to the current meta. However, things are on the up and up for the new American immigrant. After topping his Ro32 group in WCS, viOLet showed a strong performance at RedBull Battlegrounds North America. But he truly came into the fore this weekend. Topping his pool with a 6-1 set record, ViOLet set the stage for a spectacular performance. In the championship bracket, he would handily defeat Ragnarok 2-0, before being bested by his housemate Polt in an 0-2 loss. Though he would be taken down by Trap 2-1 to be left with 3rd place, this was viOLet’s best placement in over a year and a half. His play, as well as his demeanor, looked energized all weekend, though only time will tell if it will be sustainable.
