EPTThe Fox and the Hound
Man has a tendency to search for patterns. Whether they are there or not, our desire to organize our lives into easily digestible chunks of information ends up dictating how we perceive the world. It's called "apophenia"—it manifests itself in many ways—and it's a concept everyone is aware of even though the word may not be part of one's vocabulary. Our minds have become so accustomed to finding patterns that it's impossible to escape it. Yet even within our fabricated arrangements, there is bias.
One of the most prominent is our desire to group things in three—the Holy trinity, the rule of thirds, three strikes, the three-peat. It is only natural then, that in a game so obsessed with numbers, statistics, and rankings, that we've followed this tendency in how we rate our players. We have the triple crown (a premier title on three continents) and the golden mouse (three OSLs back in BW), for example. Very few players have ever achieved these milestones, and many of the players that have are counted among the greatest players of all time. This semifinal thus serves as an examination of our biases.
The Fox
For Rain, the quest for his Three would cement his place as one of the greatest. Even though esports is becoming more globalized over time, Korea remains the pinnacle of competition for Starcraft. What he could attain in the coming weeks will likely never be repeated: the triple Starleague crown.
Once upon a time, there was only GSL. Then, the OSL made two cameos. Now, SPOTV's Starcraft II Starleague has taken its place. These three Starleagues are and were considered the most difficult tournaments in the game; it is only natural that we we have hallowed the man that might conquer them all. With only two OSL champions so far—Rain and Maru—the list of candidates is evidently low. Maru is still some ways short; Rain is only two best of 7 series away. With no other OSLs on the horizon, these two men may be the only candidates to ever claim this feat.
This is my destiny.
However, where would we rank such an achievement compared to other mulit-time champions? NesTea triumphed over the GSL thrice, Life has won three GOMTV leagues among other titles, and TaeJa has won 5 DreamHacks. Does his achievement, spread out over three different leagues with essentially the same player pool and format, amount to more? Or would we weigh them as much as NesTea's three titles early in the history of SC2? More than likely, we will find a special name for it, and the legend will grow from there. It will be Rain's crowning achievement, should it happen, three years after his first title. At one point it seemed like it would never happen, but after finally ruling Code S last season, it now looks inevitable. Yet a familiar foe is his final hurdle to the final.
It has now become canon that Rain's return to prominence coincided with a growing wit and flexibility. Unfortunately, his PvP remains an Achilles's heel. Even though the predictable protoss now incorporates as many proxy oracles—especially on 4 player maps—as standard macro games, his mirror matchup has not benefited from his expanding repertoire of openings. The Rain of old manifests itself against his own race, as he prefers to play his standard, reactive style of protoss. He has lost a best of 7 against this opponent before, and the games went more or less as expected.
It seems, then, that a small part of the fox remains tamed, and it could be what prevents him from making history.
The Hound
For herO, his Three has done little to prove that he belongs in the pantheon of the greatest. He is the only three-time IEM champion, and he finally claimed his first Korean title this year. Yet the formula of his achievement does not even have a name, much less the respect that he had hoped it would receive.
It is difficult to fault those that doubt the stature of his titles, but at the same time, herO must feel aggrieved. He beat all that was put before him, including Rain in San Jose, and one can only beat who he's allowed to face. It is true that the brackets were weaker than Korean leagues, but we've come to understand that weekenders and weeklies both present their own unique challenges. INnoVation, for example, had failed at every foreign LAN until gamescom; just like Rain until Homestory Cup XI or Zest until IEM WC 2015. Many greater players had failed at the task herO had mastered, and yet we still look at his trophy cabinet with suspicion. herO's situation is the reverse: majesty overseas and misery at home.
All of that was supposed to change with KeSPA Cup Season 2, but his detractors parroted the same concerns—it was just another weekender and not a prepared league. herO had finally prevailed in Korea, but has more to do to convince his critics. TaeJa eventually swayed public opinion by beating all of the best in players at foreign tournaments, but he will forever be haunted by the spectre of his failure in Korea. herO knows that only a Code S or SSL title will finally earn him the respect he deserves, and he has failed at this point before.
After today, I will no longer be looking up.
Fortunately, all three of his IEM titles were won at the grave of another protoss, and he gets to play that matchup now. Even though his greatest heartbreak (against sOs at IEM WC) occurred the same way, it must give him some confidence knowing that he must now play this matchup with his tournament on the line. herO's doggedness with blink stalkers has become a symbol of his play, and his PvPs have become emblematic of his tendency to live and die by his control. He commits without hesitation where others would balk, and he embraces both shame and glory with his smile. Yet we have never questioned his ambition—only his refusal to scout—and we know that all the WCS points in the world mean nothing if his prize remains beyond his arm's reach.
Will herO forever have to chase his rabbit? It is now tantalizingly close, yet the arena of the semi finals has broken him twice already. Now, the fox stands in his way.
This series is just as meaningful for both, and it could determine who ends the year as the face of protoss for 2015. The two aces have naturally faced each other many times before, and herO leads their head-to-head 14-11 in maps. Stylistically, both players can be somewhat predictable, but herO has proven, 2gate aside, that he is quite adept at handling builds like proxy oracle. herO should try his best to turn this into a battle of blink skirmishes, while Rain should try to drag things beyond the useful life of stalkers. herO's third IEM title at Rain's expense mostly followed that script, and their approach to PvP has changed little during that time. It seems, then, that the patterns suggest the hound.
Rain 3 - 4 herO
