GSL Season Three
Code S

Innovation wins GSL
Finals Recap

Brackets and standings on Liquipedia

by destructicon

If you haven't read it, our Finals Preview is available here, detailing both players' road to the finals.

More than two years have passed since last a terran bore the crown of GSL champion, two years since the memorable final between Mvp and Squirtle. As the dust had settled on the last GSL of the year; the armies of Aiur were mere smothering husks in space, the swarm that had defiled Mvp's golden throne and MKP's silver stool had been usurped by another, greater Kong. In the end, the man called machine stood tall and proud having finally cleansed the Terran kingdoms and fulfilled MajOr's prophecy.

It was no easy feat for INnoVation, his story is far more journeyed and, it arguably begins on the fateful day when his victory was snatched away from him by his greatest rival, Soulkey. It wasn't just the title he lost, the manner in which he lost made INnoVation seem mortal for the first time. It dispelled his aura of invincibility. And though INnoVation would go on to win the first WCS Season Final of the year, the damage was already done. Slowly more and more chinks in his armor were discovered. Slowly they became cracks and you could feel as the machine slowly but surely got bogged down.

His decision to join a foreign team also didn't help. Time after time INnoVation failed to reproduce his incredible results and failed to live up to the standard that he himself had set. It was as if INnoVation had traded in the last of his power for easy spoils and thus lost his focus, unable to secure victory in either foreign nor Korean tournaments.

INnoVation thus decided it was time to sit back and refocus. He left Acer to join SKT1. He had done something no other Korean till now had done, making the conscious choice to be the best, to forsake easy foreign money in favor of the supreme glory that of defeating the elite of Korea and winning a GSL. His results started to pick up again, and although his aura of domination was long gone, his killer efficiency had not dulled and INnoVation meticulously made his way back to the top of the pyramid, going trough the likes of ParalyzE, MyuNgSiK, PartinG, Stats, DRG and Cure. And here again, INnoVation would face the best zerg in the world.

This time however INnoVation would not be denied. All the desolating defeats and all the hearbreaking losses had finally changed him. He was less predictable and became willing to change it up, to play it safe when the situation called for it and to be cheesy when an opening presented itself. He became safer: much more willing to scout and asses his situation while less prone to overextend. Most of all his composure under pressure had improved. He would no longer falter and fall with everything on the line.

INnoVation's final victory would not be complete without soO. Despite not sporting a gold of his own, soO is, without a doubt, the best Zerg in the world. Perhaps the best player, period. Succeeding Soulkey as the paragon of consistency and pulling off a feat no one else ever has by reaching 4 consecutive finals has made soO the indisputable king of Zerg. A king, albeit without a golden crown. The mental fortitude that soO displays time after time, season after season, to pick his shattered self up, to rebuild himself and to somehow look better is a testament to his strength, and in the ultimate GSL finals of the year it was also a representation of Innovation's journey. From being destroyed, through the long process of rebuilding, to the place where he was first defeated. In Innovation's case, the story would not repeat itself. For soO, it was a painful reenacting of what had already happened three times before.

The Games

Game 1
The GSL finals began on Catallena. Knowing of INnoVation's traditional weakness in the early game, soO decided to exploit it via a roach/ling/bane all-in. The attack wasn't enough to kill INnoVation outright but it severely disrupted his economy and netted the SKT1 Zerg a substantial lead. To his credit, INnoVation made the best of a bad situation by laying siege to soO's main with a strategy harkening back to the early days of Wings. But in the end, soO managed to hold on long enough to transform his economic advantage into a tech and army advantage substantial enough to end the siege and force INnoVation to tap out.

Game 2
The next map was Nimbus and, due to the relative safety provided by the architecture, INnoVation decided to go for his customary triple CC double engi bay style. soO on the other hand decided that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", loading up another roach/ling/bane attack. This time soO's attack was much stronger and he promptly crushed INnoVation, extending his lead to a quick 2-0.

Game 3
For the following game on King Sejong Station, INnoVation decided enough was enough. He to a much more defensive style, getting a quick starport and starting early tank production to preempt roach attacks. soO once more tried the same all-in as last time, but upon realizing that INnoVation was well entrenched he decided to back off and macro up. INnoVation saw a timing and hit it beautifully, striking soO's natural from the destructible rock path before bane speed could finish.
soO decided that counter-attacking was his best course of action, but INnoVation was prepared for such an eventuality and had rallied ample reinforcements to his natural. With both his bases and his army in tatters soO was forced to concede the third game of the night.

Game 4
On Foxtrot Labs both players decided to spice it up a notch, INnoVation chose to roll out the cheddar via proxy 2 rax while soO went for an early gas and pool. It looked like soO had the upper hand in terms of how the builds matched up against each other, but INnoVation's superior building positioning and multi-tasking allowed him to set up a forward position at the entrance of soO's natural, denying it for a very long time while macroing back home. INnoVation knew he just needed to defend against one big, last-ditch attack from soO and he'd take the game. The SKT1 Terran set up appropriately, easily deflecting the attack and then cleaning up the map with his hellions to tie up the series at 2-2.

Game 5
Having tasted the sweet success of cheese, INnoVation decided to take a page out of soO's book and do it all over again, this time on Merry Go Round. Despite not getting the perfect BO counter, it looked like soO would have a better defense this time, having deflected much of the initial pressure from INnoVation's 11/11 opening. However, the SKT1 terran never relented in his aggression, forcing soO to make lings instead of drones while setting up his triple CC economy back home. The lead INnoVation took turned out to be almost insurmountable for soO, overwhelming the Zerg with waves of bio units that streamed across the map. soO fought tooth and nail to make something happen, but when down 70 supply against a Terran with a superior economy and better upgrades there is very little one can do. GG, 3-2 in favor of Innovation.

Game 6
On the ropes and having suffered three defeats in a row, soO decided to take his chances again with a roach/ling/bane attack on Deadwing. INnoVation chose to conserve his lead by going for a defensive build again, getting an early starport and banshee. INnoVation's scan also spotted the roach warren, prompting the SKT1 terran to hunker down. Having realized his plans were foiled, soO switched into full macro mode, getting his 4th, droning and switching to ling upgrades. The game evolved into the standard macro TvZ. Both players went blow for blow, making good moves, gaining leads only to lose them a couple of moments later. However throughout it all, INnoVation's trademark macro shone the brightest. His production never ceased, constantly churning out battalions of marines. His micro never faltered, always holding on by a thread in the most dire of circumstances. His multi-tasking never relented, constantly finding holes in soO's defense to do damage to his economy. The game was made closer by soO's masterful engagements, but once INnoVation's 3/3 finished and his 4th had landed the tide swung irreversibly in favor of the Terran. For all his efforts, soO was powerless to stop the flood of Terran units. INnoVation's rally push had finally gone all the way, and secured him the victory he so desired.

---

“...and though Mvp was the last and most valiant defender of the Terran Kingdom, his era was coming to an end. Though already long past broken, he kept his vigil for one year longer than anyone thought possible, but the foul Zerg youth named Life finally cut him down and ended the glorious Terran Kingdom. The Terran was vanquished, Zerg had triumphed. The Zerg era had begun. But from the ashes of defeat would rise a new champion. Reborn under the waters of Yongsan and anointed upun the Korean ladder, Innovation would rise to retake the GSL.”
- MajOr 3:16

He had finally done it, though probably not in the matter he imagined. In a sense INnoVation had to taste bitter defeat, to feel what it is like to be mortal, before he could become extraordinary again. While his win came a year later than expected, it probably tastes sweeter then he could have ever imagined.

Writers: destructicon
Editors: CosmicSpiral, Zealously
Graphics: shiroiusagi.
Photo: GOMeXP.