by stuchiu HomeStory Cup X - Parting Snatches the Championship Out of God's Hands
Going into Championship Sunday, many were hoping and praying for a reunion match between Flash and Jaedong. Ever since the KeSPA transfer, fans had eagerly anticipated the impending showdown between these two BW legends. Despite hundreds of individual high-profile matches, they had never met on-stage in any way: Jaedong's initial reign of terror occurred when Flash was still struggling to adjust and by the time the latter finally came into his own, Jaedong had long departed to the states. Sadly, it was not to be as PartinG eliminated Jaedong 3-0 in the Round of 8.
What we did get was even better.
In one of the most intense finals of the year, God battled the Train to decide who would become the first non-Liquid player to win HomeStory Cup since 2012. PartinG struck first with two blink all-ins on Catallena and King Sejong Station, displaying a level of blink stalker micro that most pro-players can only dream of.
In Game 3 the brazen protoss tried to get cute with colossus drops, reminiscent of Classic's shenanigans versus Polt at Blizzcon, and was promptly punished. Flash swiftly counterattacked as PartinG attempted to transition into DTs, shutting his opponent down. Still, PartinG fought to the bitter end. Despite his huge deficit, he made you believe he could actually steal the game from Flash.
That set the tone of the series. Flash was a wild bonfire, constantly trying to incinerate PartinG with dauntingly strong aggression and attacks. Each time PartinG barely held on with insane micro and battle sense. Perfect forcefields, perfect probe pulls, perfect unit targeting, perfect blinks, perfect warp-in compositions, PartinG was forced to pull out every ounce of skill to fight off what felt like overwhelming armies.
The series became a matter of trading wins. Parting took game 4 with a pitch perfect transition into late game PvT, diverting Flash's attacks along the way. The next game was Flash's turn to look superhuman as he sequentially sniffed out all of Parting’s tricks (early MSC harass accompanied with zealot/stalker, a proxy nexus planted on the opposite side of the map, a desperate 5 gate attack on effectively 1 base) and smashed them mercilessly into the ground. In the 6th game on Deadwing, Flash hit a massive SCV pull timing that Parting barely held the first time...and the second time...and the third time. He stubbornly refused to die until the sheer weight of Flash’s supply train finally pushed him over the cliff.
Once more, PartinG found himself going from a near secured up win to a tenuous final game. It was a do or die situation for PartinG, one he was intimately familiar with by now. Both the GSL Global Championship and MSI Beat started out the same way, but rapidly turned around as Zest and Solar got their bearings. It looked like kismet had written the script already as PartinG’s proxy oracle was scouted very early by Flash and he effortlessly held it off. PartinG tried to transition into San’s Blink Stalker Oracle contain but Flash took the low ground too quickly, leaving PartinG in a terrible position.
Desperate to find any way back into the game, PartinG expanded to the gold while constantly putting on pressure with his oracle/stalker force. PartinG’s constant harassment slowly paid dividends. His oracles and stalkers ravaged and held back Flash’s army; each time they engaged, Flash was baited into constantly stimming his army with few dividends. Even then Flash retained the stronger standing force with mass bio, a few mines and medivacs against PartinG’s pure gateway units. He had even snuck out a WM drop to Parting’s gold, putting Parting on a timer to attack him before he was starved out. With no choice, PartinG attacked and pulled off the impossible. With incredible forcefield and blink control, he killed Flash’s bio/medivac army and pushed his way up into the production.
It was the grand culmination of HSC X and the rivalry the two players had built from their Proleague encounters. Although they weren't frequent opponents, most of their meetings were memorable. From PartinG sniping Flash
To the latter symbolically kicking PartinG out of the stadium
The two developed an admirable camaraderie along with an intense enmity rooted in skill. With Parting’s participation in Proleague up for question, this could be the final hallmark of one of the great rivalries and as fitting an end as any. In terms of personal accomplishments, HSC X marks Parting's 4th Premier Championship and the first championship he's won this year. It is also the second finals he's been in since joining YoeFW.
Yet despite the amazing finals the glory of the weekend is not theirs alone. In the most massive Homestory Cup to date the casters, Take and his entire crew, the club and everyone there made the experience an unforgettable one from beginning to end. No other tournament gives as much insightful and hilarious casting or such a strong sense of casual fun as Homestory does. Without further ado here are the HSC X Awards:
Best Games: Flash vs Parting, MC vs Taeja Best Host who should have been at Blizzcon: Incontrol Most entertaining player: PartinG Breakout player turned caster duo: Miniraiser/Kane Best observer turned caster: Funka Best caster turned observer: Rotterdam Most missed caster: Nathanias Favorite person to exist: White-Ra Best driver: Armin Best Restaurant: Mcdonalds Best 6 time EPS Champion: Hasuobs Best Song: Hey Kappa Kappa Hey Best Indiegogo campaign not including Waxangel: this one
This was an amazing Homestory Cup! A great way to celebrate the 10th one! :D Thank you Take and the rest of the crew who worked tirelessly, as I had a great weekend watching :D
I only saw the last day, but it seems like this event was a massive success. I do kind of miss the in-house feel of previous HSCs, but this was still fun none the less.
ooooops, didnt see the link above for the VODS- TY
and veery Nice job with HSC - X !!! Loved it!!
Just curious as to what happened, The rebroadcast of day 1 and day 2 or day 2 and day 3 just like froze half way through? Server crash or something? You all were probably having too much fun to notice Im jealous, wish I couldve gone
This Homestory cup was amazing. It`s been more than a year since I watched games where I was literally in utter disbelief. I think everyone and their brothers was saying ``omg`` as Parting beat flashes MMM army with gateway units. The casting was amazing, the games were amazing, the camaraderie could be felt across the internetz, and to top it all off... 60k+ viewers. One to remember for sure.
So many games of the finals came down to literally the last minute. Disappointed Flash didn't win but I'm still amazed how good the games were. I definitely feel like Parting deserved that victory.
Hello everyone! I have been lurking on TL for way too long, and the phenomenal HSC X compelled me to register and comment.
I disagree with the casters' and the OP's commentary on the final game. But before I ostensibly downplay Parting's victory in game 7, I just want to say that PartinG is my favorite player. He he has a funny and entertaining personality, and incredible unit control. His builds are creative, and his execution of them is unparalleled. He constantly keeps his opponents guessing, and they never know whether he is going to 1 or 2-base all-in, or take a greedy third and play a macro game (or cancel the third and all-in :p). I think that PartinG's superior game theory is what has given him more tournament success than players with (IMO) better mechanics like Rain or Zest.
So as much as I respect PartinG's play, I think that Flash lost game 7 far more than PartinG won it. That might not make for the best headline, but I think it's true. Flash made a horrible mistake by engaging and chasing PartinG's army towards the end of the game; he should have positioned his army defensively and bunkered up while dropping with one Medivac. As the OP even acknowledges, PartinG was on a timer thanks to the WM drop and the fact that he had no tech. Flash did have the superior army on paper, and I think that his excitement got the best of him, as severely overstimmed his army, especially considering that most of his army was running headlong into forcefields.
What should Flash have done? Retreated with his main army prior to his Medivacs running out of energy, which were then useless in a straight-up fight and would have been better suited for a drop. A single drop in Parting's main would have been a game changer, and exploited his difficulty of defending two far-away bases. Even if Flash didn't drop, he would've won if he just retreated before running out of energy, or if he never chased after PartinG's army in the first place, or if he stimmed more conservatively. Flash should have known he just needed to buy time (i.e, he should've known that PartinG didn't have another base somewhere and/or more tech, and/or reliable detection). Because, why else would PartinG have tried to engage with such a weak army, if he didn't need to end the game immediately?
I also thought PartinG engaged with his zealots too early. He should have FF'd more conservatively and continued blink microing while keeping his zealots at the back. As it turned out, they evaporated with few dividends. Otherwise, PartinG's micro was excellent.
Of course, it's all too easy to critique someone's play after the fact. PartinG had an amazing tournament run, and Flash played really well too. But I was surprised to see such a tactical blunder from Flash, a player known for his efficiency and decision-making.
Perhaps Flash succumbed to the same loss of focus when he smelled blood (and money) that PartinG described to Smix in the earlier interview...
Anyway, thanks for reading. The tournament was fantastic, and I don't think that the conclusion takes anything away from that. If anything, it made for a dramatic and unpredictable climax.
and if it wasn't because I love Flash so god damn much it would have been a fantastic ending aswell =) Damn those last 2 minutes of game 7 hurt me so much
On November 17 2014 16:01 Synthesizer wrote: So as much as I respect X's play, I think that Y lost game Z far more than X won it.
Literally every LR thread ever.
TBH there are times when this is absolutely true, like blatant mistakes or ragequits or bad manner. Otherwise people just want to see high quality games where they can't disprove either player's play, so that they can feel like their favorite player won or lost while overcoming the greatest possible adversity.
That's basic spectating psychology, if a fan favorite plays poorly and loses the entire basis of that fanaticism collapses and you have people who are insecure about their emotional stake in their chosen favorite player who will do anything to defend that through defamation of character; if the fan favorite plays well and loses at least there is some comradery associated with it where fans don't feel cheated.
Sure there are also the vitriolic few who will just defame players because they love that sense of escapism but we shouldn't even acknowledge them.
On November 17 2014 16:56 Jj_82 wrote: Awesome tourney! Best production! OP should mention the developed level of play from Flash though. Man, he really climbed up to the top now!
Yeah Flash's progression is incredible, he just doesn't stop getting better every month, the way he improve his game sense and decision making make sme speechless.
For Parting, I'm very happy, the Startale Parting is back and that's really really good news, and it's an improved version, the way he dealt with Jaedong SH play was just ridiculous, I don't know if the old Parting could have played like this.
He left SKT T1 and that's for the best, it gave him the boost he needed.
Edit : and for f's sake can we stop talking about Jaedong like if he was some top tier player? If he had met Flash it would have had the same result as when he met Parting : a clean 3-0 swept...
On November 17 2014 17:41 MapleLeafSirup wrote: Parting most entertaining player? His micro is awesome to watch, I agree, but his playstyle is extremely boring.
Let me guess, you're a digrunted Zerg?
Calling Parting boring is a bit harsh considering he even managed to make a deadwing swarmhost game entertaining
An awesome tournament to watch overall, with an incredible finals (poor FlaSh ). Makes PartinG for an incredible relevancy 3 years after his first prime I'd say (even though he didn't win that much, but was a terror, especially in PvT). He and MMA are quite unique for that.
On November 17 2014 17:41 MapleLeafSirup wrote: Parting most entertaining player? His micro is awesome to watch, I agree, but his playstyle is extremely boring.
Extremely boring? Come on, he's no sOs but he is far, very far from being your standard defensive Protoss a la Rain lol
On November 17 2014 16:30 Frankenberry wrote: Fantastic tournament + Show Spoiler +
and if it wasn't because I love Flash so god damn much it would have been a fantastic ending aswell =) Damn those last 2 minutes of game 7 hurt me so much
On November 17 2014 18:58 Drake wrote: "most useless community (win)game ever : armwrestling with incontrol xD i mean come on this fitness coach from bulgaria had what ? 1.2 seconds ? ^^
I think the security guy maybe could have given him a run for his money. Unfortunately that didn't happen; maybe next time.
absolutely sick finals. the caster hype was the realest i've ever heard in SC2. you could feel as the series went on they started to realize they were watching something pretty special, and there was no need to force any excitement because they were already excited
This has been an amazing tournament with a perfect finals. The hype of Jaedong vs Flash was real, but I think it wouldn't have met the expectations as Jaedong is far from Flash's level nowadays. PartinG's play has been really impressive throughout the whole tournament and because of that I think he deserved the victory, even if Flash seemed unstoppable.
I just realized this article doesn't even mention Smix despite her amazing translation of PartinG's winner interview. That was an incredible performance, worthy of the skill displayed by the players in the finals
Flash showed really incredible TvT performance. If Flash and Taeja could fusion it would be the ultimate terran weapon with 3 perfect matchups :D . Also Parting deserve so much the win, being able to brain Flash to the point he looses the last game that he have simply won is just brillant.
On November 18 2014 00:08 OtherWorld wrote: I just realized this article doesn't even mention Smix despite her amazing translation of PartinG's winner interview. That was an incredible performance, worthy of the skill displayed by the players in the finals
That was very stunning indeed. I already felt bad for her, but then she didn't even seem to bother that much :D
On November 18 2014 00:08 OtherWorld wrote: I just realized this article doesn't even mention Smix despite her amazing translation of PartinG's winner interview. That was an incredible performance, worthy of the skill displayed by the players in the finals
Well, it would be the "Smix Award for being awesome as always".
If she got it each time, she'd fill her house with these. So...
On November 18 2014 00:43 vult wrote: Hey Kappa Kappa Hey was probably the most embarrassing and horrible things to ever happen. I was face palming at the sight of it.
On November 18 2014 00:43 vult wrote: Hey Kappa Kappa Hey was probably the most embarrassing and horrible things to ever happen. I was face palming at the sight of it.
On November 18 2014 00:43 vult wrote: Hey Kappa Kappa Hey was probably the most embarrassing and horrible things to ever happen. I was face palming at the sight of it.
On November 18 2014 00:43 vult wrote: Hey Kappa Kappa Hey was probably the most embarrassing and horrible things to ever happen. I was face palming at the sight of it.
Parting is a boss.
Ya no kidding. Twitch memes are ruining esports.
You seem like very stiff fellows. Loosen up a bit, it's just a little lighthearted song about a harmless meme. People who have to condemn silly humor are usually bothered by something else and have to express their discontentment by harshly judging something. It's not about twitch memes, the next silly joke or anything, they're just mad at something.
I think the song and the lyrics were hilarious. Really liked it, glad they included that in the HSC
On November 18 2014 00:43 vult wrote: Hey Kappa Kappa Hey was probably the most embarrassing and horrible things to ever happen. I was face palming at the sight of it.
Parting is a boss.
Ya no kidding. Twitch memes are ruining esports.
R3Z did a tight job imo :D.
I don't think people who don't watch TakeTV or aren't able to understand the german shows can appreciate the whole backstory and why it was so funny.
On November 18 2014 00:43 vult wrote: Hey Kappa Kappa Hey was probably the most embarrassing and horrible things to ever happen. I was face palming at the sight of it.
Parting is a boss.
Ya no kidding. Twitch memes are ruining esports.
You seem like very stiff fellows. Loosen up a bit, it's just a little lighthearted song about a harmless meme. People who have to condemn silly humor are usually bothered by something else and have to express their discontentment by harshly judging something. It's not about twitch memes, the next silly joke or anything, they're just mad at something.
I think the song and the lyrics were hilarious. Really liked it, glad they included that in the HSC
Ya that sounds like me alright. Though I said twitch memes are ruining esports as more of a joke than anything else.
Would've loved to see more of Stephano, i think he wasn't on camera once after his group games. Very entertaining tournament though, loved it, thanks to Take and his crew!
I caught up late to the vods, mostly shitty games and one-sided blowouts that I watched... but then what an incredible finals, one of the best I've seen, and a mindblowing game 7!!! I think everyone was just in shock after that impossible comeback from Parting, he is literally the only person in the world who could've come back to win HSC from that horrible position. Truly a special talent and I am very glad he's left Kespa to conquer the foreign scene. What a statement he's already made in one of his first tournaments since leaving SKT1.
EPT
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