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SuperNova to the Very End

Forum Index > SC2 General
59 CommentsPost a Reply
1 2 3 Next All

SuperNova to the Very End

Text bystuchiu
Graphics byshiroiusagi
August 31st, 2015 17:41 GMT





Today marked SuperNova’s official retirement from pro SC2.






While he was never accounted among the greats of SC2 pros, his career was a successful one. He had 13 Code S appearances, has reached the playoffs three times and played as the ace for nearly every team he ever joined. But those are just his results, what made SuperNova great was that he was an outlier.

In SC2, we as players, as spectators, as fans, as a scene are outliers. In the grand scheme of things we are a niche culture, a subculture of eSports and gaming as a whole. Despite or because of that, we as a community want to, need to seek validation from the larger audiences. So it becomes natural to try to regress back to the mean, to try to emulate the successes of other games, to try to achieve the success of other larger scenes like LoL, Dota2 or CS:GO.

And just like the scene as a whole, pros naturally regress to the standard in their quest to seek success. It is a natural step. As a game gets figured out, the best paths are written down, refined and then passed around. This is especially true for the Terran race as most of its history has been defined by standard builds and compositions. It is a clear road sign to success, one nearly every player follows. Nearly.

If we are outliers, then SuperNova was an outlier among outliers. In an earlier article I talked about his incredible use of preparation. He was among the few handful of players to ever take preparation to that height. On that alone he could be accounted as one of the unique players of the game. But more than that from 2011 to now, if you hid every pro gamers name in every VoD, I could still point out nearly every important game SuperNova had ever played.

This was a man who took strange builds, strange compositions and unique attack patterns to untold levels (the only Terran even crazier than him was Gumiho). He played marine/tank/banshee against Protoss in WoL. He played mass hellions against Protoss in WoL. He played hellbat bio/thor against Zerg an year before it became a standard build (pre transformation-servos removal). He played Hellbat Bio against Protoss in the early stages of HotS. He went for Mech builds against both Zerg and Protoss in the early stages of HotS when both were considered completely unviable.

And the way he constructed attacks was a thing of beauty. With the first attack, he could completely control the entire flow of a game against anyone when he was playing at his best. Even the greatest players in their days, players like: MC, Losira, Leenock, Trap, MMA, Mvp, DRG, Innovation, Soulkey.

With a career that lasted 4 years, in a game that naturally forces players to go along a standard path, with a race that punishes those who play unique, SuperNova went against the grain. He stuck to his guns and in his games you got a strong sense of individuality. You could nearly see him yelling in his games, “This is who I am, this is where I stand.” In a scene where players scramble to copy and refine the current standards of the game, SuperNova held his ground.

There is something beautiful about that. In a world where people are pressured to conform to a natural ideal of normal or standard, but in this one instance, in this microcosm we saw one man hold to himself to the very end.

He never won a Premier Championship. He spent most of his years getting knocked out early in Code S. He will never have a tangible object of his achievements he can hold. Yet his games were intense, entertaining, complete with varied unit compositions, builds and on his best days he could compete with and win against the very best.

Against the natural inclinations of human nature and society, against practicality, against the very nature of SC2 itself, SuperNova played by his own rules from beginning to end. And that is his legacy. Years from now SuperNova can say to himself without a shadow of a lie that he stayed true to himself. That he was SuperNova to the very end. And we were lucky to be witness to that.


Writer: stuchiu
Graphics: shiroiusagi
Photo Credit: Helena Kristiansson
Editor: stuchiu
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Moderator
Dickbutt
Profile Joined May 2015
Korea (North)129 Posts
August 31 2015 17:59 GMT
#2
BibleThump I love you SuperNova

User was warned for this post
스타일, 스타트, 스베누!
Hanibal
Profile Joined April 2011
France8 Posts
August 31 2015 17:59 GMT
#3
Nice write-up & tribute to Supernova.

It was moving to watch his last stream today. He was such a cool guy and original terran. Best of luck in the future Supernova, you'll be missed!
"You weep like a woman for what you could not defend as a man."
tekrebel
Profile Joined June 2012
56 Posts
August 31 2015 18:05 GMT
#4
stuchiu! Why you no link his best games? Like Supernova v Soulkey
LemonyTang
Profile Joined March 2011
United Kingdom428 Posts
August 31 2015 18:09 GMT
#5
Well played SuperNova, one of the best Terrans to watch.
Mvp #1
im a roc
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States745 Posts
August 31 2015 18:10 GMT
#6
Beautiful write up, thank you.
Beware The Proxy Pool Rush
mythandier
Profile Joined January 2011
United States828 Posts
August 31 2015 18:18 GMT
#7
Great write-up as usual.

Oddly enough some of my fondest memories stem from the fact that I could always count for SN to be streaming late at night (Central US Time) when virtually no other Terran streamers were online. His consistent presence both in the pro-gaming as well as live-streaming scenes will be missed.
KtJ
Profile Joined October 2014
United States3514 Posts
August 31 2015 18:19 GMT
#8
"This who i am this is where i stand" Beautiful
"I thought I destroyed my CC but it seemed like the only thing I destroyed was Idra's mentality."
FrostedMiniWheats
Profile Joined August 2010
United States30730 Posts
August 31 2015 18:33 GMT
#9
On September 01 2015 03:05 tekrebel wrote:
stuchiu! Why you no link his best games? Like Supernova v Soulkey


Here you go:
+ Show Spoiler +






There was also these two incredible games against DRG:

+ Show Spoiler +








this classic vs Life:
+ Show Spoiler +





and the final match of the GSTL

+ Show Spoiler +



NesTea | Mvp | MC | Leenock | Losira | Gumiho | DRG | Taeja | Jinro | Stephano | Thorzain | Sen | Idra |Polt | Bomber | Symbol | Squirtle | Fantasy | Jaedong | Maru | sOs | Seed | ByuN | ByuL | Neeb| Scarlett | Rogue | IM forever
ZerOCoolSC2
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
9005 Posts
August 31 2015 18:34 GMT
#10
Enjoyed his streams. He's been around for a long time. Good luck in his new challenges.
munch
Profile Joined July 2014
Mute City2363 Posts
August 31 2015 18:49 GMT
#11
On September 01 2015 03:33 FrostedMiniWheats wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 01 2015 03:05 tekrebel wrote:
stuchiu! Why you no link his best games? Like Supernova v Soulkey


Here you go:
+ Show Spoiler +


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtou-GXfvHo



There was also these two incredible games against DRG:

+ Show Spoiler +


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G10hYnipfiM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDrYAggJ2pM



this classic vs Life:
+ Show Spoiler +


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHflLCzn_7Q


and the final match of the GSTL

+ Show Spoiler +

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ST5QCTJlA



The mule handshake to end that final GSTL match is one of my favourite little moments of SC2.
WriterForm is temporary, MMA is permanent || http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/508630-article-archive
Cricketer12
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
United States13989 Posts
August 31 2015 18:52 GMT
#12
His OSL run was pretty awesome back in 2013, lot of fun watching his ro16 group
Chain 1 Arthalion Chain 2 Urgula Chain 3 Mululu Chain 4 Lukias
Archile
Profile Joined June 2011
United States403 Posts
August 31 2015 18:55 GMT
#13
This is pretty sad, I've always been a huge supernova fan.

This also means that the only 2 remaining players from oGs are SKT Billowy and Mill.ForGG

spooky
Just a bad player trying to be a little less bad
DooMDash
Profile Joined May 2010
United States1015 Posts
August 31 2015 18:58 GMT
#14
I loved his stream in LotV, sad.
S1 3500+ Master T. S2 1600+ Master T.
Taf the Ghost
Profile Joined December 2010
United States11751 Posts
August 31 2015 19:01 GMT
#15
I think stuchiu has a future career writing eulogies. That was very well done.

Best of luck to Supernova in all he does in life. He was always a treat to watch.
Ragnarork
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
France9034 Posts
August 31 2015 19:07 GMT
#16
I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit sad after reading this article. This was a terran player I really liked, and I thought he'd be a fixture of the scene for a very long time, I just couldn't see him move on....

Best of luck in whatever you do next SuNo!
LiquipediaWanderer
Philozovic
Profile Joined August 2012
France1677 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-08-31 19:19:15
August 31 2015 19:18 GMT
#17
Inno vs Supernova was one of the best game I've ever seen

Almost the second one to ever get Nestea award
INnoVation is the absolute best | I wept for i knew his words to be true
Jampackedeon
Profile Joined November 2010
United States2053 Posts
August 31 2015 19:18 GMT
#18
I always enjoyed Supernova, I've drifted away from the scene (and Twitch in general) due to responsibilities at work but having watched dozens of his games I can honestly say I'll really miss his play and the stubborn longevity of his play in the professional SC2 scene.

Best of luck in wherever life takes you next buddy!
LaughNgamez
Profile Joined April 2015
Canada525 Posts
August 31 2015 19:20 GMT
#19
I'll miss SuperNova so much. Even though I was only a fan for a short time he was/is my favorite player.
(◕‿◕✿) Hopefully one day a decent caster http://www.youtube.com/LaughNgamez (◠‿◠✿)
Finnz
Profile Joined September 2011
United Kingdom260 Posts
August 31 2015 19:22 GMT
#20
Brilliant writeup, a legend of the scene that will be missed in a major way. One of my favourite terrans, gone but not forgotten . GL Supernova
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