sOs vs MyuNgSiK - Paragons of Chaos

Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos.
— Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Surprising strategies, simple mistakes, the unexpected dynamics of action and reaction: many things give rise to chaos in a game of StarCraft. For the viewer, things often get interesting as we tend to get to see things we’ve never seen before: entertaining turns of events, impressive moves and quick on-the-fly thinking. For most players, chaos is the great enemy. Pros tend to structure the game into different phases, determine standard unit compositions and know the details of every battleground; the human mind likes to order things, which makes it comfortable and secure. Where we differ, is the way how we react to the death of any order. Do we get over-strained? Do we retreat into a safe posture and wait things out? Or do we climb the ladder of chaos and thrive, where others wither away?

While most of us would elect the first two answers, these two semifinalists would beg to differ: They are just the kind of players who wouldn’t back away from a crazy scenario. Where others feel insecure and uncertain, they feel alive. MyuNgSiK and sOs do not fear chaos: they are its paragons. One of them will arrive at the GSL finals as chaos’ champion.

The Chaos Apprentice

MyuNgSiK played his last PvPs against former colleague (and new rival of sorts) Stats in the Proleague semifinal. While he won the first duel, showcasing his strength in the preparation-based format, he lost the second meeting on the all-kill day. Here he played the same upgrade-less style Classic already tried against Stats and was beaten by the same counter: a huge adept attack into the main base, which forced MyuNgSiK’s army to split up and be out-flanked. Both SKT Protosses lacked an answer and were forced to concede. But did Stats reveal a glaring weakness in the standard SKT style, or did his opponents just execute poorly?

It’s hard to say with SK Telecom T1 these days. INnoVation and Dream tried something similar with the hellion-cyclone composition they stubbornly adhered to, no matter which adversary they were facing. Will MyuNgSiK imitate his team mates and show up as an inflexible, predictable player? Or will he concentrate on the unique approach which enabled him to reach the semifinals in the first place? Going back to his strength, a mixture of specific preparation and the willingness to turn a game into havoc, will certainly improve his odds against his more highly regarded opponent. MyuNgSiK is in the form of his life right now, especially in the PvP match-up. If there was ever a time when he could truly challenge sOs, it is tonight.

Chaos Incarnate

In no way will it be an easy path to victory. 2016 hasn’t been sOs’ grandest year so far, but now that his BlizzCon participation is on the line—now that every victory really counts—he’s recaptured the form every adversary fears. It’s hard to describe, really: whenever sOs is in this shape it doesn’t matter what he does in the game, or how he executes his build. No matter how crazy or insane it looks at some point during the action, all the small parts join together to reveal the grand mosaic of his brilliance. And even though these parts might be frustrating to watch—even more to play against—the result is pure beauty.

The decisions sOs makes in-game, the way he controls his units and thinks through his moves truly showcase why strategy in general and StarCraft in particular, are a form of art. This Protoss player will force situations his opponent hasn’t even thought about, and in return also isn’t fazed by the unexpected. This is why sOs is the maestro of chaos. He manages to never look out of control of the situation; instead, it seems as if he’d navigate uncertainty as if it were a symphony.

If MyuNgSiK wants to win this series, he somehow has to throw sOs off his game. He needs to strip him of this comfortable armor, this shield around his mentality that just lets him keep up the flow, that keeps away any doubts about his decisions. It's a dangerous game, as the Jin Air player is a master of this practice himself: After all he just destroyed his old victim herO again in the quarterfinals, reviving his trauma of Katowice in 2014 and at the same time reminding his next opponent of what he’s capable of.

Predictions

Both players have a strong attitude of simply not-giving-a-fuck about how they win a game. But there is a very important, maybe critical difference between the two adversaries. MyuNgSiK has not shown that he can keep his head clear in a high-pressure situation such as this. He has thrown games away through poor decision-making in the past and even though he has gotten better at this side of professional play, he’s not the experienced, battle-hardened killer sOs is. sOs is the guy who won two Grand Finals for 100.000$, the guy who’d cheese your grandmother if it gave him a psychological advantage. Additionally it’s extremely hard to prepare for sOs, invalidating one of MyuNgSiK’s greatest strengths. sOs has tasted blood once more, and if he continues to stay in shape he’ll win the chaos gods’ favour and be his champion.

sOs 4 - 2 MyuNgSiK

sOs to advance into the Grand Finals of GSL!