The Best Games of Jan, Feb, Mar 2015

by The_Templar

Okay, so we totally dropped the ball on this one. After a relatively regular 2014, Best Games has had some trouble getting off the ground due to time constraints. However, the passionate The_Templar has stepped up to become the new Best Games apprentice. It's the same old format with a new sense of humor (well, I think it's humor), but everyone knows you're just here for the VOD list anyway.

If you want to see the list of every great game since HotS was released, go and check out the Best Games/VODs of HoTS thread if you haven't already.

Note: Some of these games aren't so great as they are hilarious.

Guilty vs TY on King Sejong Station - VOD

It’s rare for a game to be remembered solely because of the winner. Many players are defined by how they compete over a large selection of matches, meaning it is still rarer for someone to be defined by a single game, as a complete unknown in nearly every other way. However, a single player with zero results to speak of managed to make himself a part of history in just twenty minutes. Guilty was this player, and he placed himself in the history books in his first ever offline, televised match in a crucial fourth set against KT. Samsung was down 1-2 at the time and KT looked to be in prime position to comfortably take the match.

Instead of playing his part as a sacrificial lamb, Guilty decided to completely reverse his role in the game and make TY look the inexperienced player falling to a veteran. Despite having an identical mirrored gas first build, TY accomplished little with his delayed reaper while immediately suffering three worker losses from Guilty’s. As both players started expanding, TY tried to redeem himself with a relatively normal tank/marine attack, which was easily thwarted by Guilty’s similar army. The KT Terran nervously backed up and tried the back door path, but Guilty was two steps ahead of him, having cleared the rocks out at the start, and the Samsung player easily cleaned up TY’s attack.

Having already exceeded expectations up to this point, the momentum had shifted to Guilty. Despite having an economic deficiency and inferior macro overall, a glorious opportunity to crush TY and take the game had arisen for the Samsung rookie, and he eagerly attempted to seize it. Guilty managed to slowly wrest away control of TY’s natural expansion, but overextended at a critical moment and was forced back by a clutch SCV pull. Due to his inferior macro, Guilty had only managed to draw an even battle, but he quickly moved to rectify the situation. His next move was similar to TY's in the earlier stages of the game, as he put pressure on the backdoor into TY's natural expansion. However, unlike the previous edition of this battle, Guilty out-multitasked TY and killed twenty workers on two fronts while easily deflecting TY’s counter-drop.

With increasing confidence that was atypical of a Proleague newbie, Guilty began to take more aggressive actions. Having remembered to macro at home during his previous attack, the Samsung Terran had a huge force of units remaining, and immediately attempted to doom drop TY’s main. While this didn’t work out, TY wasn’t able to take any advantage of the failed drop, and Guilty simply busted TY’s front.

As the manner MULEs fell from the sky, one could easily mistake Guilty for someone that had played countless games and tasted victory endless times. Thus far, there has only been one.

ForGG vs MarineLorD on King Sejong Station - VOD

When the matchups for WCS Challenger were announced last season, the few Koreans seemed to have drawn favorable opponents, as they dodged each other as well as the most renowned foreigners. While most of the other matchups had some potential for exciting games, most expected a relatively normal, one-sided affair between the two Millennium Terrans, ForGG and MarineLorD. This match in particular was overlooked, especially with Nerchio vs Naniwa as well as other high-profile matches happening on the same day.

Although many predicted one-sided early game TvT tedium, the second game could only be described as chaotic. After a relatively quiet start, ForGG boldly dropped two tanks and eight marines, reinforced by auto-turrets, in MarineLorD’s unprepared main base. However, the French Terran managed to minimize the damage and grab some worker kills with a banshee at the same time. ForGG tried to cause more damage with a banshee and hellions, but was met with sufficient resistance each time and failed to take anything more away. From there, a rarely-seen mech vs mech battle started.

ForGG’s tendency to make an exorbitant number of hellions immediately came into play, as he successfully busted MarineLorD’s thin tank line with landed vikings and hellions, resetting the tank count as well as killing 22 workers. Instead of securing his third base immediately, he made more hellions, as well as tanks and air units, while MarineLorD slowly secured his third base. However, there was a relative calm in the game, interrupted on occasion by noncommittal attacks until MarineLorD went for control of the center base on ForGG’s side of the map. ForGG swatted it aside and tried to go for the throat, but MarineLorD still had some measure of control and ForGG critically overextended into his tank line. All conventional rules of TvT and Starcraft itself started getting thrown out of the window as both players blindly sent huge packs of units across the map. Neither player seemed content with the other having even a single undisturbed base, and attacks occurred in every corner of the map. ForGG’s unsuccessful attacks on MarineLorD’s natural eventually left him thirty supply behind, and MarineLorD seemed to be dealing with the endless chaos of the game.

With little besides his main base, his army and barely a dozen workers left, ForGG mounted one last-ditch attack on MarineLorD’s bases and began to reduce him to rubble. ForGG’s tank line proved to be more than enough to keep MarineLorD back, and he enjoyed a worker barbecue with some of the French Terran’s last workers. At a crucial point in the game, neither player had more than six workers and both found it impossible to mine more than a few minerals, ForGG's three thor backbone kept his army safe from any desperation banshees. At that point, it was almost impossible for either player to afford repairs or any units except hellions, as there were almost no workers left on the map. From that point, MarineLorD grasped at straws before finally admitting defeat.

Dark vs TY on Deadwing - VOD

Before the recent patch, almost all end-game scenarios involving Zerg were thought of as extremely boring affairs with mass late-game tech causing stalemates. Unfortunately, this is fairly accurate for most TvZs that make it past 25 minutes; the matchup has a long history of infestor/brood lord and swarmhosts vs mech, with most exciting games ending before the final tier of tech is even reached. However, we do get to occasionally enjoy a rare treat that is not only fast-paced and extremely tense, but also goes the distance. Since the last really great endgame TvZ was back in November with TaeJa vs soO, it was a relief to see three stellar TvZ players and Dark, who had proved his mettle against Terran in longer games multiple times, facing off in group D of the S2SL. The very first game of the group brought everything that the quality of the players promised.

The initial stages of the game were not without inactivity. TY abused the terrain of Deadwing with a tank drop, but Dark was more than ready for this and took little damage. Despite the Terran constantly threatening him on the edge of creep, Dark comfortably worked his way up to 90 drones and hive tech. TY was no slouch, however, and kept Dark’s baneling count low while getting all the tech and workers he needed. Constant favorable engagements encouraged TY to make his way to Dark’s third base, but by that point Dark had ultralisks ready and chased him all the way back to the area outside his fourth base. However, this was an overextension, as he couldn’t do more than forcing a lift on TY’s new fifth base while losing one of his outer expansions.

Despite being in control of Dark's bases with mostly effective drops, TY had difficulty defeating the Zerg army army with the tech he had, and another attempt at an attack while taking additional bases was pushed back. The advantage of directly engaging with Dark’s army was that TY could afford to mercilessly terrorize Dark’s 6-7 base spread while battling, but the KT Terran’s expansions on both remaining corners of the map were left open to zergling run-bys that were potentially even more dangerous than his drops. Both players had finally assembled all of the tech units they could possibly want, but they both had difficulty keeping bases beyond their fifth base, slowly turning a massive economic war into a scramble for the corner bases.

Even though he was getting the worse end of most of the battles, TY seemed to have edge with an uncontested, hidden expansion in the corner and an army with superior mobility. However, Dark’s late-game capabilities shone through. His main army was rarely in a bad position to deal with TY’s army and the balance he maintained between zerglings, infestors, and ultralisks while retaining most of his air units was almost always perfect. While TY didn’t make any glaring mistakes, he barely found more than a few opportunities to deal damage to Dark's army without sustaining far more to his own, and his economy couldn’t support inefficient trades. A last ditch-effort on Dark’s seventh base spelled the end of the game for TY.

Despite how close this game was as well as the one following it, the eventual score was 2-0, with neither player advancing, and this well-played match was overshadowed by the two eventual finalists in the same group.

Maru vs herO on Merry Go Round - VOD

We often know the best players for a particular nuance in their play that sets them apart from everyone else. Even so, games between two well-defined and stable players where these nuances are both a significant factor in the match and well-appreciated are often the exception rather than the norm; either style or skill usually ends up blotting out the other. Maru vs herO in the GSL, however, was the source of two electrifying and stylish games which both highlighted Maru’s tendencies towards heavy aggression and fast-paced play pitted against herO’s signature blink stalkers.

Although herO won the first game in a relatively low-economy and tense micro battle, Maru decided to force another one by starting out with a fast hellion drop. After taking relatively little damage, herO seemed to be ahead, although Maru was constantly poking around on the fringes of herO’s bases with medivacs. The first key moment in the game, however, came after herO had deflected enough aggression to take a third base and decided to move across the map. This persuaded Maru to pull SCVs on two bases later on, which successfully took down herO's third. However, excellent defense on two bases allowed the CJ Protoss to survive while getting storm and rebuilding his third base at a safer location.

Even though Maru had done some damage, he was beginning to mine out his second base, but instead of catching up he opted to bring herO down to his level through continued attacks. Even though herO only had three bases to defend, Maru endlessly seemed to find multiple locations to destroy vital high templars and probes with his drops while trading. This would have easily been enough against a player of a lesser caliber, but herO’s stalkers served as the lynchpin for the rest of his army, finding drops and army units alike to pick off even though he never had the opportunity to mount a normal attack. Eventually, though, his third would fall a second time, and as Maru was enjoying a full mining third base at this point, herO had little choice but to go all in with his probes.

Maru’s attacks had come at a cost, however, and due to herO’s fantastic blink stalker management he had no vikings, nor ghosts to deal with the high-tech Protoss army. His only choice was to base trade, and amidst the chaos managed to run most of his buildings to a random spot on the map while going after his opponent’s last buildings. While both players managed the base trade to the best of their abilities, Maru found himself with a massively inferior army against only a small number of buildings at herO’s previous third base. However, Maru proved to be a better decision maker on the fly. He split his units into two groups and sent one to destroy herO’s last buildings, and while herO had the foresight to make another pylon before elimination, chasing the Terran units down seemed like a greater priority than making another building, Maru’s second force snuck up to destroy the last pylon.

Rogue vs Shine on Expedition Lost - VOD

There are a lot of players out there that regularly dazzle us with stellar play or flashes of brilliance. There are, however, an uncountable ways to impress the average viewer, whether it's through creativity or simply mechanical. While these competitors have unmistakeable ability and are well praised, there is another form of player that we like to talk about. A rare person that plays however he wants does show up on occasion. Those such as sOs, Has, and Shine often lack a regard for anything that makes sense, and a major part of their fame is the often bizarre way in which their games turn out. Fans of these few often tune in just to see if they cause any ridiculous games, and they seldom disappoint. When Shine made a rare Proleague appearance against Rogue last month, we were given an interesting game, but it was a markedly different affair than we normally expect out of him.

Shine has a reputation for cheese, but the game started out as normally as it possibly could. Neither player tried anything out of the ordinary at first, and both comfortably reached saturation on two bases while getting roaches. However, this was Shine playing, and as both players started to take their thirds, he naturally made the first unexpected move by taking one of the center gold bases and breaking the rock tower between it and Rogue’s bases. Although Rogue saw these events unfold, he uncertainly removed the rocks before attacking with a spine crawler and three queens reinforcing his roach army. However, this turned out to be the wrong decision, and even with a shorter reinforcement distance and superior upgrades, Rogue took the worse end of the engagement and did no economic damage.

This turn of events left Shine with a modest 30 supply lead, and after controlling the central area for some time, he decided to make move to the low ground between Rogue’s natural and third despite having an economic lead. Due to some light harassment on Rogue’s third, Rogue’s forces were between bases and Shine’s attack on the third base forced him to run away. He chose to attack Shine’s gold instead of defending, leading to a base trade. In the chaos, Rogue took the corner base on Shine’s side of the map while Shine ran drones everywhere and built extractors. This seemed to be a better deal for the Samsung player, as Rogue was stretched out too far and bled away crucial roaches. However, Rogue had somehow managed to kill every single drone of Shine and made a desperate move on Shine’s last hatchery. Shine did his best to prevent the elimination, but was too far out of position to stop the roaches from running past his and eliminating him.

For many, it was a strange sight to see a player famous for cheese and abrupt games losing in a macro game because of an all-or-nothing move, but few Shine fans were surprised.

Maru vs Stats on King Sejong Station - VOD

As a spectator, I enjoy the occasional throwback to the early days of Starcraft, where expanding was a choice and 1-base builds were often prevalent, as much as anyone else does. Weird one- or two-base tech games, however, never seem to happen when we expect them to. It often seems that slightly off-beat standard openings from renowned macro players lead to strange, scrappy games just as often as wildly abnormal builds. An example of this is last year’s TaeJa vs Zest, where a few simple deviations—Zest’s choice to immortal bust, TaeJa’s to pressure early—eventually led to one of the most tenacious and hard-fought games of the year. Even so, one of the last places you’d expect to see a super-low-economy game play out might be Maru vs Stats in the semifinals of a major Korean tournament.

From the start, both players were thinking aggressively. While Stats chose a slightly more popular proxy oracle, Maru opted for a TvT-esque build with a fast cloaked banshee. The clash of both aggressive builds seemed to be a poor start for Maru, as the first oracle decimated half of Maru’s worker line, but the banshee almost made up for it in worker kills. Despite this, Stats was knocking on his front door with stalkers and oracles soon after the game calmed down and Maru didn’t seem to have enough to hold. This ended up being where the real game began, as Maru tried to hold on to as much as he could while doing his best to keep Stats' income equal to his own. For one of the first times since the early days of WoL, banshees became the key unit for the entire game as Maru dodged detection, staved off potentially game winning attacks, and prevented Stats from improving his economy.

Even with these banshees, however, Stats kept battering down the Terran base with endless stalkers and never let Maru take his natural expansion for too long. Maru tried tanks, but a few phoenixes, made from the proxy starport, coupled with the stalker warp-ins nullified the tanks and Maru remained locked in a constant battle between his main and natural ramps. Somehow, Maru’s nearly exhausted main base combined with bursts of mining whenever he could land his natural CC provided just enough to let him produce the bare minimum required. The clock was ticking, however, so he made one last ditch attempt after catching Stats’ army without detection. Stats finally scraped up an immortal and another oracle, however, and busted Maru’s last defenses.

Full List of Jan, Feb, Mar 2015 Games

January

January 5: Proleague
Flash vs Dark - VOD

January 10: Olimoleague
HerO vs SalvatioN - VOD

January 13: Proleague
TY vs Guilty - VOD

January 19: Proleague
Losira vs Armani - VOD

January 20: Proleague
Zest vs Creator - VOD

January 20: Proleague
Dream vs Leenock - VOD

January 23: WCS Europe Challenger
Lilbow vs ShoWTimE - VOD

January 24: WCS Europe Challenger
ForGG vs MarineLorD - VOD

January 29: IEM Taipei
HyuN vs herO - VOD

January 31: IEM Taipei
PartinG vs Classic - VOD

January 31: IEM Taipei
herO vs Maru - VOD


February

February 1: IEM Taipei
PartinG vs Life - VOD

February 1: IEM Taipei
Life vs Maru - VOD

February 5: S2SL RO16
TY vs Dark - VOD

February 5: S2SL RO16
TY vs Dark - VOD

February 11: GSL RO16
MMA vs Dark - VOD

February 11: GSL RO16
Terminator vs Dark - VOD

February 27: GSL RO16
Maru vs herO - VOD


March

March 2: Proleague
Rogue vs Shine - VOD

March 3: Proleague
Flash vs ByuL - VOD

March 5: S2SL RO4
Maru vs Stats - VOD

March 5: S2SL RO4
Life vs Dream - VOD

March 5: S2SL RO4
Life vs Dream - VOD

March 6: GSL RO8
INnoVation vs Life - VOD

March 6: GSL RO8
Rogue vs herO - VOD

March 10: Proleague
Trap vs Hack - VOD

March 12: IEM Katowice
INnoVation vs Life - VOD

March 14: IEM Katowice
Maru vs Dark - VOD

March 14: IEM Katowice
Trap vs Dark - VOD

March 14: IEM Katowice
Bbyong vs Zest - VOD

March 15: IEM Katowice
Zest vs Trap - VOD

March 21: S2SL Grand Finals
Maru vs Dream - VOD

March 22: GSL Grand Finals
PartinG vs Life - VOD

March 31: Proleague
Maru vs INnoVation - VOD

March 31: Proleague
BrAvO vs Life - VOD

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Grand List Compiler: lichter and The_Templar.
Photos: ESL