Chapter X

CJ's Finest

by banjoetheredskin

herO walked slowly back to Nestea's Stronghold. It was the third time that week he had gone out for a late afternoon stroll. Over the past couple years he discovered that there was something cathartic about these walks. The sun gradually declining in the sky, a soft breeze pressing gently against his perfectly coiffed hair, and the muted, rhythmic scratching of his shoes against the pavement harmonized to create an atmosphere perfect for reflection. Despite attempting to match the calmness of his environment, the recent strife among the Protoss council was especially troublesome, now that it seemed multiple big personalities were trying to undermine herO’s authority. He couldn’t help but be plagued by flashbacks to his most painful losses, scathing criticism from the day’s debates pervading his thoughts.

“You think you can still call yourself the strongest Protoss? Your reaction to invisibility is tragically slow for someone who uses it in every battle against a Terran,” Classic jeered. “You may be known for your blink abilities, but we’ve all seen you get too big for your boots.”

herO knew Classic was right. But they all know I’m the best 'standard' fighter—that commands as much respect as any of the others deserve!

But the acerbic voice kept streaming out of that distinctive jawline floating around in herO’s head. “You still fail to notice enemy ambushes within your own base, and cannot succeed with them either! What kind of hubris must you have to assert your superiority over us, when your flaws are so well-known that they’ve prevented you from winning when it really matters? You’re as blind to your decline as to the corners of your own bases in battle!”

herO scraped his feet to a halt and collapsed into a squat, head in his hands. Classic’s homely face morphed into the image of sOs holding the scepter of the king. Even then he had him beaten. In a matter of seconds it seemed, a hoard of storm clouds rolled together in the sky above him. Thunder roared and a slow trickle of raindrops turned into a deluge. herO looked up to the heavens, as if expecting an explanation for this bizarre weather, or maybe consolation for the sting of his peers’ words, but saw only a brooding grey. Feeling more hopeless than ever, he fell back on his rear, dejectedly absorbing the rain.

“herO!” a voice shouted from the distance. “herO, come on, we need to talk!” It was CJ's eldest consultant, Park. Still in a daze, herO rolled over and stood up, then stumbled over toward Park. He offered herO a spot under his umbrella, wrapping an arm around the Protoss’ shoulder. The rest of the trip back to the stronghold was a blur for herO, and he almost passed out as soon as he reached the Zerg Council halls.

“Wake up herO. We must have a discussion,” Coach Park said sternly. herO rubbed his eyes open and looked up. ByuL stood next to Park, arms crossed. His face was twisted in a way that made it hard to tell if he was upset or deep in thought. Perhaps it was both.

“herO, Life was defeated. The scepter has gone missing. The other clans have already sent men after it. It is imperative that we get a stake in this race as well. However, I can’t have two men gone. It’s too dangerous to have both you and ByuL out there with only Bbyong to defend the keep.”

ByuL nodded in agreement, but his expression remained hard. “We need to figure out which one of us will seek the scepter, and who will stay behind. Elder Park thinks right now it might be better if I go out there.” Maintaining his humility, ByuL kept his face stern and his tone grave.

herO looked puzzled at first, biting back the anger and resentment from even his elder's and clan brother's doubt in his supremacy. He stood pensively for a few moments and the cacophony of flashbacks returned. “So how exactly do you win so many battles against Zerg without remembering to tighten your defense?” sOs scoffed. “Did you really think Flash wouldn’t sit back for an entire war and wait for his one attack?” Stats snarled. Upset by the biting reminder, herO tried to hone in on his positive moments. The victories in foreign lands. The joy he felt when he learned that Zest finally disappeared. But it was of no use. Tears rushed down his cheeks when the images in his mind morphed into Rain. “You only needed to defeat me to win the war of clans!” he grinned. herO’s teeth gritted against each other, his stomach churned, and his spine trembled. He sank into a chair and jerked his legs violently, pulling them into his chest, and thrust his head in his hands, resuming the position he held outside earlier.

Finally gathering himself, herO rubbed the corners of his eyes. He bent his arms upward and let his wrists go limp, then began to shake his hands pivotally, as if he were warming them up before a fight. Turning his head up slightly more directly at Coach Park and ByuL and suppressing the nervous habit, he whispered, “No. I will go.” Elder Park and ByuL withdrew, exchanging glances of doubt.

“herO, you are weak. The Protoss have lost confidence in you. Your meditative and introspective ways are increasingly ineffective. Just look at what happened today,” Park chided. ByuL once again nodded affirmatively.

herO kicked off his sheets and stood up, flicking his hair in hesitation. “Don’t tell me how to lead the Protoss council, and don’t you dare tell me that my mentality has taken a toll. I suffered the most excruciating defeat of all, and look at all I’ve done since then. If you don’t think I’m cut out for this, then I don’t see how you can say that ByuL is. It’s not like he’s converted his great potential to any laudable success.”

Coach Park turned away. He began to pace the room, as ByuL stood statue-like, head down and arms still folded. “I think you two ought to settle this yourselves.” With that he walked out, quietly shutting the door behind him.

ByuL straightened his back and stared directly at herO. “What the hell is your problem? I don’t need to take that shit from you. You remember what I’ve done to you with only a handful of my creatures. It’s terribly ironic that someone who has lost out on so much gold is still such a greedy person.”

herO flared his nostrils, clenching his fists. He spun around and yanked open a drawer in his nightstand. He whipped out a comb and began to drag it through his hair briskly. Calmed, he retorted, “Says the guy who has never even won a battle abroad, even in the weakest lands of the world.”

ByuL hissed and opened the door. “If you really think you’re more fit to go after the scepter than I am, you’re going to have to convince Elder Park to let you go, after I’m gone.” He stepped out and began to close the door. “Bastard!” herO shouted as he rushed in pursuit. herO swung the door back open and stayed on ByuL’s heels as he ran. They sped past the bureaus of the Council men, weaved through even the kitchen, and entered the atrium. “Let’s settle this like men,” ByuL shouted as he made his way to the tower that sat atop the Zerg Council. Ascending the stairs, ByuL began to slow down a bit, winded by the unexpected exercise. herO closed the distance and jumped up the last few steps leading to the small room.

“So you say I can’t handle a Protoss? Need I remind you who wets the bed at the sight of a few measly zerglings?” ByuL challenged.

I win three wars in Ayem and they say I can’t win one in Glostalea?

ByuL cocked his head to one side and shrugged his shoulders to make an intimidating popping sound.

I defeated soO's protege and shut down SKT's advancement and they say I haven't proven my worth?

As he shoved the sleeves of his fleece pullover up past his elbows, his frustrated glare narrowed into a death stare, the underbite of his jaw creating an intensely pursed expression.

If I have the scepter, I can extinguish all doubt within the Protoss council that I am their rightful leader, no, everyone’s leader! I can be king!

That expression, or perhaps it was his resting face by now, bore a hole straight through his teammate. herO saw how incensed ByuL was, and began to wonder how he would beat someone so full of rage.

But then more thunder rumbled outside, and he too began to feel a surge of energy. Classic’s shouts echoed, and sOs’ menacing grin once again flashed before his eyes. Fomented by the nagging regrets of his past shortcomings, herO felt transformed.

This isn’t about the pride of representing CJ, nor should it be. Elder Park’s and ByuL’s apologies will just leave a nice aftertaste. Nobody can say I’m not the strongest if it requires bowing down before me. I will take the throne, for I am the strongest Protoss.

“Alright,” herO said. “But you forgot about something” He chucked the comb he was still holding from earlier. It cocked ByuL on the forehead, causing him to reel back. He clutched his right brow, leaning back on a table in the center of the room. He checked his hand for blood, furiously cursing. Just as he straightened up and locked his attention back onto herO, herO spun around and kicked on the doorknob with all his might. It rattled and fell to the ground. He grabbed a chair from nearby and jumped outside. He slammed the door shut, wedging it with the chair, and took off. As he made his way down the stairs, herO grinned at the sound of ByuL’s futile thuds against the stuck door. There were no Zerg creatures nearby that could free him. Shoving the front door open, his jog quickly turned into a near sprint.

The roaring of the storm overhead drowned out ByuL’s final cries in vain. In the dark and misty horizon, a small white spot bobbed up and down for a few seconds, then swiftly vanished.

Stats are from Aligulac.com.

Looking at herO’s breakdown of WCS points, it’s easy to see how his gargantuan total was accumulated. His 5000 points gathered from the Korean individual leagues alone is more than half the players in attendance this week. That success back home has been herO’s major breakthrough this year. The dichotomy between his foreign incursions and gleeful looting of IEM swag and his record in Korea in years past—a single quarterfinal appearance in early 2014—was somewhat surprising for such a reputed player.

Fast forward to 2015, and all such complaints have been wholly banished. herO’s campaign to earn a second crack at the Global Finals began almost as soon as the previous one ended, picking up his customary IEM trophy in San Jose, coming back from a 1-3 deficit to beat Rain. It was what followed that showed us a new side to the CJ Entus ace. His KeSPA Cup victory in Season 1 marked his first trophy on Korean soil, while his strong performances in individual leagues throughout the year was capped by his teamkill of ByuL in the SSL Season 3 Grand Finals. Three finishes in the second group stages; two semifinal spots and his eventual triumphant championship add up to the most consistent set of starleague results of any player in the world.

With the notable exception of his finals victory over ByuL, he’s never mixed it up during the year; never adjusted to the opposition. Last year, we would have suggested that that inflexibility might be his downfall; this year, the mounting body of evidence suggests otherwise. For better or for worse, herO will always play like herO, offering up his standard tried and tested routines and challenging his opponent to try and match it. We’ll soon find out if his best is good enough.

WCS Points:

Top 5 Games

1. herO vs Curious, GSL Season 1 - KSS

One of the great shames of the post-swarm host PvZ landscape is that it marked an end to one of the most enthralling subplots in Starcraft 2. herO’s battles against the late game zerg composition were well documented—and his clashes at IEMs with Snute provided us with encounters between the best late game ZvP players in the world. Snute may have taken the opening two rounds at IEM Toronto, but it was clear towards the end that herO had pieced together the necessary tools to come out on top in the matchup. Nowhere was this more obvious than in this set against Curious in the GSL. herO reeled off an effortless counter to his opponent’s siege setup, harassing on multiple fronts with warp prism harass, while defending flawlessly at home. With the changes to the unit later in the year, this will likely remain the definitive P vs swarm host game.

2. herO vs HyuN, IEM Taipei 2015 - Expedition Lost

Basetrades always hold a special place in our heart on a list of best games. It’s the knowledge that both of the players have likely spent years of practice training for this specific match; training to execute their gameplan to perfection on the night; training that subsequently goes flying out the window when their two armies cross paths and don’t stop to turn back. There’s something about the chaos of the unknown that enthralls; the knowledge that the game could potentially come down to the finest of lines, and that was certainly true here. herO and HyuN played hide-and-seek around the map in a tense whack-a-mole race, planting structures as they went in a desperate ploy to delay, until it came down to the very last pair remaining.

3. herO vs Bbyong, IEM Katowice 2015 – Secret Spring

herO’s series against his terran teammate at the IEM World Championships might be more memorable for Bbyong’s prepared strategies perfectly exposing herO’s predictable proclivities, but this aggressive game on Secret Spring was the exception to that general trend. herO’s endless one-base all in may have been an anachronistic throwback to the early days of Wings of Liberty, but allied with herO’s precise blink control, it was hardly any less effective four years on. Macro games may be the ideal that the vast majority of players strive towards, but that doesn’t make a well executed dirty cheese any less of a guilty pleasure.

4. herO vs PartinG, SSL 2015 Season 2 – Cactus Valley

PvP as a matchup is rather unfairly derided for two things: the coinflippy nature of the ultra-aggressive early game, and the torpor of the deathball-focused late game. In between those two extremes though lies a mid game that, at its best, is represented by this game between herO and PartinG. Constant skirmishes between the two left PartinG the worse for wear, before sniping herO’s observers gave him one last shot at glory…

5. herO vs SoulKey KeSPA Cup Season 1 – Expedition Lost

Stalker sentry vs roach hydra. Since the swarm host nerf, it’s been a battle we’ve seen time and time again. That said, it’s still utterly captivating when someone of the calibre of herO executes it to such finely tuned precision. There’s a reason that the CJ ace has become known as the Blink Man in his native land, and here is yet another demonstration of just how well earned that moniker is. However, it takes two to tango, and without SoulKey’s resilient play here, herO’s excellence wouldn’t have shone nearly as brightly. We may have seen many games develop similarly, but there are few this year which have played out as beautifully.

herO vs Soulkey

KeSPA Cup - Cactus Valley LE

by: Gemini

By mid 2015 herO had already proven himself an extremely potent protoss player. It was nearly solidified that he was the best protoss in the world at that point, except that he had lacked a Korean title. KeSPA Cup would finally fill that hole for him as he showed with amazing skill exactly how to play the PvZ match up. No matter the situation, it seemed like herO had an answer and he did it in the most standard and straight up way. Whether it was him controlling the pace of the game, or having to react to something crazy from the opposition, the wins just kept falling in his favor.

After easily dispatching of Dear, his first zerg came in the form of Soulkey, someone who was known to pull some interesting tricks at the time. Game one on Cactus Valley—with herO in the top right and Soulkey spawning underneath him—showed just how good herO was at reacting and controlling the game. Probably knowing Soulkey’s tendencies, herO started with a nexus first into forge opening. Usually he would have gone for a much greedier nexus into gateway, which would have left him quite vulnerable to the 13 gas/13 pool build that Soulkey was throwing his way. However, with some good planning and reaction time, herO only let in two zerglings and denied the other two. This was of course still troublesome, but it could have definitely been much worse had the other two gotten in.

From that point it was extremely tricky for a protoss to know exactly how to follow up. Not only did he have to worry about keeping his probes alive from the zerglings, and killing them eventually, but he needed to keep whatever tech route he would choose hidden. Once the zerg finished speed it would become increasingly difficult, and so many protoss players would crumble whenever this happened. herO stayed very calm and dealt with the zerglings as best as he could. With some incredible multitasking and micro, he was able to keep all but one probe alive the entire time. herO also chose the smartest follow up that he possibly could. Instead of trying to hide a stargate or robo and risk the zerglings seeing it and falling even farther behind, he simply made sentries one at a time and started +1 attack while adding three extra gateways as late as possible. It was the right call since speedlings would almost certainly find anything he could ever try to hide. Even though the zerg had had all the time to drone, they had started with a less economical opening which meant that things were relatively even. It also meant that if Soulkey wanted to make a zergling flood to try and cancel the 3rd of herO, then he would be putting himself at risk if the attack failed. His low drone count left little margin for error. Knowing that herO had to expand and take it slow to get back into the game, Soulkey decided to play greedy.

That was when herO showed his true reactionary power. Knowing that Soulkey knew that he had to play defensive to get back into the game, herO used the 3rd base as a bait to keep Soulkey distracted from the attack that he was about to pull off. He took common knowledge and turned it on his head, thus going all in on two bases with the facade of a macro three base protoss.

The plan still needed some time to develop, however. herO had to use some other cute tricks while the nexus was still building to sell his idea better and to set himself up for a more successful attack. When the 3rd nexus was about 80% done, some zerglings came to scout the natural of herO. He saw them coming and made it look like he was preparing to go for an attack by moving down to meet them and then continuing on his way across the map, but then going back to his base shortly after. Due to the fact that Soulkey was on a relatively low drone count from the early pool, herO knew that any extra drones he could force Soulkey into cutting would only help him later on, even if it meant that Soulkey would have a larger army sooner. It cut down on the sustainability of the zerg before punishing him with the attack. Something else that the fake attack caused was a faster roach speed as well as burrow—all before getting any upgrades. Since the attack looked like it would be happening so early, it was safe to assume that it would be a roboless all in. The natural counter to that lack of mobile detection would have been burrow. That was not the case of course, and when the final fight arrived and herO was fighting with +2 blink stalkers vs 0/0 roach/ling, he was able to push engagements farther than he normally would have been able to.

herO then made sure to push the issue as soon as possible. What looked like a rather sloppy attack right before blink finished was actually a well calculated move. The surprise factor of his fake move-out would have soon lost effect, and if he had waited too long then Soulkey would have been in a much better place to defend. This was made possible mostly by the late upgrades of Soulkey allowing herO to push the engagements in a way that would have usually not been possible. When it looked like Soulkey was about to hold, +2 attack finished and herO backed off momentarily to start distracting with the warp prism that he had brought to help reinforce. Then, some more mind games came into play.

When someone is forced off in the way herO was after a fairly even trade in army supply and begins harassing with a warp prism, it usually means that they are backing off to do some damage control. It seemed as though herO needed to keep the zerg army back so that he could get his three base infrastructure set up, and the warp prism filled the role of distraction. herO had different plans, however. He started harassing with the warp prism while also bringing his army far back enough as to not be spotted by any of Soulkey’s units. herO was still putting 100% of his resources towards his army, but to Soulkey it looked like he was trying to do patch work and had started probing his fake 3rd base. Soulkey had had enough of the small warp prism harassment, and finally decided to counter attack in hopes of catching herO off guard while he was trying to build up his 3rd base and extra tech. Unluckily for Soulkey, herO had been waiting off to the side the whole time and struck just before Soulkey had gotten to the protoss base, forcing him to turn all the way back around.

herO had gained the choke point and split up the zerg army perfectly. With superior upgrades and tech, herO closed out game one after a brilliant display of reactionary, but still standard, play that set the pace for the series and showed a true mastery of the PvZ match up. After herO won the 2015 KeSPA Cup, there was little doubt about who the best protoss player in the world was. That dominance would continue for the rest of the year, and with the most recent SSL trophy added to his case, zergs attending BlizzCon should be watching out for the Smiling Assassin.

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