The fourth and final day of the KeSPA Cup Group Stages was also the day with the most intrigue surrounding it. Classic and Patience were in direct competition for the final KR spot at BlizzCon; Maru’s up-and-down form over the year was difficult to read; while Nerchio’s year-long campaign against Korea was about to kick off in earnest.
In the end though, the group played out much like the others we’ve seen previously. We saw Patience crush through the group with ease, taking out Maru 2-1 before following up with a clean 2-0 over Nerchio, making it 5/7 for protoss in the competition.
With the stakes ramped up, Classic failed to deliver. Patience advancing meant that Classic needed to place 2nd to keep his BlizzCon dreams alive, but the two-time starleague champion looked off his game. His year-long struggles in PvZ came back to haunt him for one final time, looking powerless against a dominant Nerchio, before falling to Maru in the losers’ match.
It fell to that latter pair to define the storyline of the group. Would it be Nerchio, the dominant force of EU, to take the final win and advance to the Ro.8, making it 2/4 for WCS? Or would it be Maru, the pride of Jin Air, who would emerge victorious?
Eventually, Maru came out on top in a tight series. Game 1 was a particular highlight, with Maru taking first blood on a mined-out King Sejong Station, before Nerchio struck back with a strong defence on Frost. Map 3 though was a perfect showcase for the talents we’ve seen Maru display over the years. Excellent abuse of Galactic Process’ terrain allowed him to siege Nerchio’s third with a small tank / marine force. The Polish zerg managed to push back, breaking down the rocks and catching Maru overcommitting, but the strong economy that the terran had built up behind the harassment allowed him to roll through the zerg’s fourth with his next attack. Mules rained down from the sky, as Nerchio tapped out.
KeSPA Cup will continue on Sunday with four quarterfinals. Stats and Maru will face off in a rematch of their 2015 SSL semifinal; Neeb will take on an unexpected challenger in Pet; while TY and Zest will play out Round 2 of their GSL title bout from earlier in the year. Patience and Trap will round out the evening with a PvP.
Nice writeup. Shame nerchio didnt make it, the babyrager in me want to blame the map pool but in reality Nerchio couldve won vs patience had he played slightly better.
Nerchio played very well as far as I am concerned. Yes, he talks trash often and some people dont like him for it (reminds me a bit of Idra), but the games he played were good. I wish him luck in next games.
Group D it was, and close for Nerchio. I wasn't surprised that much that he 2-0ed Classic. Since the beginning of sc2, top foreigners were always fighting back top Koreans. Even last year 2015, I've seen Snute beating both GSL champion Rain (2-0) and SSL champion Classic (2-1) and winning as 1st place in group in IEM. And Koreans called him Snutegod at that time.
In the WoL, top foreigners like Stephano showed winning a lot against Koreans, but problem was after Kespa pros transitioned to sc2 since 2013, foreigners were start struggling hard at winning a single premier offline events vs those Kespa Koreans. (I totally left this scene 2012-2014 so only watched few VODs later how foreigners performed well against Koreans)
Sen and Lilbow. only 2 premier tournaments they won against Koreans since 2013 until now. Even those tournaments were where all the best Korean players at that time didn't participate.
Beating Koreans is not a big deal, they have to win a Cup in premier offline where every top Korean pros attend to prove they can fight equally to Koreans. Will Neeb do it 1st time for foreigners? We also have blizzcon left. And in WESG only 2 Koreans are available, and new patch coming, so foreigners might have good chance there.
It's funny to see how Maru 1-base all-in Protosses, cause he knows he'll lose to them in late mid-late game.
On September 30 2016 23:06 thecrazymunchkin wrote: Just to check; can anyone see the embedded liquipedia brackets? Something in the HTML's going wrong and I can't figure it out
I don't think Nerchio has anything to be ashamed of. Beating Classic 2:0 is an impressive feat, so is taking a game in a series vs Maru. And even the games he lost were so head to head till the final moments. All in all he's still going home with valuable experience.
Well done Nerchio, creating a great emotional story for everyone to follow and fuzz about. And then showing impressive games against one of the best. I remember Flash in BW just making fun of foreign zergs. Good stuff!
I love it when Nerchio Shit talks before matches and then doesn`t deliver... no BM When he doesn`t do it he performs better maybe putting to much pressure on himself.. Sad story would have love to see him crush'em all
On September 30 2016 23:26 WhosQuany wrote: I love it when Nerchio Shit talks before matches and then doesn`t deliver... no BM When he doesn`t do it he performs better maybe putting to much pressure on himself.. Sad story would have love to see him crush'em all
I wish people would stop complaining about players who have the bollocks to put their character forward. It's a sign of quality entertainment. People love to hate someone. I for one think we need more competitors who are not afraid to speak their mind.
I wish people would stop complaining about players who have the bollocks to put their character forward. It's a sign of quality entertainment. People love to hate someone. I for one think we need more competitors who are not afraid to speak their mind.
On September 30 2016 23:26 WhosQuany wrote: I love it when Nerchio Shit talks before matches and then doesn`t deliver... no BM When he doesn`t do it he performs better maybe putting to much pressure on himself.. Sad story would have love to see him crush'em all
I wish people would stop complaining about players who have the bollocks to put their character forward. It's a sign of quality entertainment. People love to hate someone. I for one think we need more competitors who are not afraid to speak their mind.
When your character revolves around saying "this guy is overrated" and then getting beat up by that same guy, then yeah you're going to get some flak for it. There's no such thing as 0 risk banter.
Honestly as a hardcore maru fan I don't even have an issue with nerchio's comments. Nerchio is legit good either way. However let's not be crying when banter explodes in your face: that's how good trash talk works in the first place.
Let's be fair either way, nerchio had a really nice showing. just, he isn't as good as MARU (but he gets easier tournies sorry had to be said)
On September 30 2016 23:26 WhosQuany wrote: I love it when Nerchio Shit talks before matches and then doesn`t deliver... no BM When he doesn`t do it he performs better maybe putting to much pressure on himself.. Sad story would have love to see him crush'em all
I wish people would stop complaining about players who have the bollocks to put their character forward. It's a sign of quality entertainment. People love to hate someone. I for one think we need more competitors who are not afraid to speak their mind.
On September 30 2016 23:26 WhosQuany wrote: I love it when Nerchio Shit talks before matches and then doesn`t deliver... no BM When he doesn`t do it he performs better maybe putting to much pressure on himself.. Sad story would have love to see him crush'em all
I wish people would stop complaining about players who have the bollocks to put their character forward. It's a sign of quality entertainment. People love to hate someone. I for one think we need more competitors who are not afraid to speak their mind.
On September 30 2016 23:26 WhosQuany wrote: I love it when Nerchio Shit talks before matches and then doesn`t deliver... no BM When he doesn`t do it he performs better maybe putting to much pressure on himself.. Sad story would have love to see him crush'em all
I wish people would stop complaining about players who have the bollocks to put their character forward. It's a sign of quality entertainment. People love to hate someone. I for one think we need more competitors who are not afraid to speak their mind.
On September 30 2016 23:26 WhosQuany wrote: I love it when Nerchio Shit talks before matches and then doesn`t deliver... no BM When he doesn`t do it he performs better maybe putting to much pressure on himself.. Sad story would have love to see him crush'em all
I wish people would stop complaining about players who have the bollocks to put their character forward. It's a sign of quality entertainment. People love to hate someone. I for one think we need more competitors who are not afraid to speak their mind.
On September 30 2016 23:26 WhosQuany wrote: I love it when Nerchio Shit talks before matches and then doesn`t deliver... no BM When he doesn`t do it he performs better maybe putting to much pressure on himself.. Sad story would have love to see him crush'em all
I wish people would stop complaining about players who have the bollocks to put their character forward. It's a sign of quality entertainment. People love to hate someone. I for one think we need more competitors who are not afraid to speak their mind.
Exactly! We need someone like the Undertaker or Goldberg.
Not a wrestling fan, but I don't find them particularly entertaining as talkers (Undertaker is just badass with his looks and aura alone). IMO the best shit talker is Triple H. Stone Cold and The Rock are pretty funny too (but they're good guys).
On September 30 2016 23:26 WhosQuany wrote: I love it when Nerchio Shit talks before matches and then doesn`t deliver... no BM When he doesn`t do it he performs better maybe putting to much pressure on himself.. Sad story would have love to see him crush'em all
I wish people would stop complaining about players who have the bollocks to put their character forward. It's a sign of quality entertainment. People love to hate someone. I for one think we need more competitors who are not afraid to speak their mind.
Impressive showing by nerchio. Weak performance by classic. At least in the series I've seen I still have to watch the vods from the last two series. I guess the "foreigners have caught up" meme is somewhat true although it might have also something to do with the korean scene declining.
Edit: also LotV seems to be more volatile than HotS so this is also good for foreigners
On September 30 2016 23:26 WhosQuany wrote: I love it when Nerchio Shit talks before matches and then doesn`t deliver... no BM When he doesn`t do it he performs better maybe putting to much pressure on himself.. Sad story would have love to see him crush'em all
I wish people would stop complaining about players who have the bollocks to put their character forward. It's a sign of quality entertainment. People love to hate someone. I for one think we need more competitors who are not afraid to speak their mind.
tbh It blows my mind that more people don't shit talk. It's literally one of the easiest ways to build attention for your brand (in this case as a pro player, its you.)
that being said, I'm soooo sad Nerchio didn't make it but he played really fucking well and there's no doubt he can compete on top tier level.
Patience has be the official dark horse of WCS 2016, easily the most underrated Protoss this year.
On October 01 2016 03:57 stardog wrote: Now a bunch of Koreans are shittalking Nerchio on his twitter. Wayyyy over the top.
As much as I want Nerchio to win, and I still have confidence he can go toe to toe with many top Koreans, I don't think this is over the top. Nerchio declared a statement and couldn't deliver. There's nothing wrong with his competitors heckling him for not delivering.
And I don't think that Nerchio will be triggered by their comments. Besides, they are just trying to mindfuck Nerchio, which I suspect would happen if MC was in a similar position. Nerchio seems to have a strong fortitude that gives him the will to continue training regardless of what his opponents are trying to do.
On October 01 2016 03:57 stardog wrote: Now a bunch of Koreans are shittalking Nerchio on his twitter. Wayyyy over the top.
Interesting. I did not see a single Korean there.
EDIT: OK, 3 Koreans. All the rest is international community. Sorry, but I think that Nerchio is not interesting enough for Koreans.
Some others were blocked.
On October 01 2016 04:22 Jett.Jack.Alvir wrote: As much as I want Nerchio to win, and I still have confidence he can go toe to toe with many top Koreans, I don't think this is over the top. Nerchio declared a statement and couldn't deliver. There's nothing wrong with his competitors heckling him for not delivering.
It's not what they do but how they do it. There is taunting, banter or trolling and there are ugly, hateful comments and disrespect.
On October 01 2016 04:22 Jett.Jack.Alvir wrote: And I don't think that Nerchio will be triggered by their comments. Besides, they are just trying to mindfuck Nerchio, which I suspect would happen if MC was in a similar position. Nerchio seems to have a strong fortitude that gives him the will to continue training regardless of what his opponents are trying to do.
Yeah you're probably right. I just don't like what I saw today, overload of negative emotions got to me.
I remember when Patience used to stream, he is so fast with his APM. I cheered for him when he finally got a team. Will be interesting to se further ahead of the Kespa Cup. When is the actual date for the next round?
On October 01 2016 06:22 Wallenberg wrote: I remember when Patience used to stream, he is so fast with his APM. I cheered for him when he finally got a team. Will be interesting to se further ahead of the Kespa Cup. When is the actual date for the next round?
On October 01 2016 03:57 stardog wrote: Now a bunch of Koreans are shittalking Nerchio on his twitter. Wayyyy over the top.
Why? If you wanna shit talk on Korea then when you fail to back it up that will happen.
Why - I wrote in my previous post.
On October 01 2016 04:41 stardog wrote: It's not what they do but how they do it. There is taunting, banter or trolling and there are ugly, hateful comments and disrespect.
On October 01 2016 03:08 FrostedMiniWheats wrote: So...much...Protoss D:
Might even be an all-Toss semis. Maru has the best chance of changing that.
Mvp be with him.
Definitely TY has a better chance. His TvP style is quite solid. Maru's TvP style on the other hand is like "go full retard, hope he will mess up". If Patience have held his creazy pushes, Stats will do it as well.
So sad Nerchio didn't make it but I think he still showed us some amazing games he can be proud of. I was on the edge of my seat all the time. The matches were much more entertaining and closer than most of GSL this year. It felt like Maru was having a really hard time and I'd love to see a bo7 between them. Waiting for Blzzcon!
On October 01 2016 03:08 FrostedMiniWheats wrote: So...much...Protoss D:
Might even be an all-Toss semis. Maru has the best chance of changing that.
Mvp be with him.
Definitely TY has a better chance. His TvP style is quite solid. Maru's TvP style on the other hand is like "go full retard, hope he will mess up". If Patience have held his creazy pushes, Stats will do it as well.
On October 01 2016 18:47 Zephyp wrote: Looking forward to the matches, but again a tournament with so much protoss and so little zerg.
It's true that there are a lot of Protoss, but considering the previous two Korean tournaments were won by a Zerg and a Terran, I'm hoping to see a Protoss victor here.
On October 01 2016 18:40 Daswollvieh wrote: Just saw the games. I´m sad that Nerchio is out, but he could´ve made it through just as well.
Very happy though to see Nerchio playing Code S level. There is no skill difference between him and Korean top Zergs.
It's kinda hard to say with just kespa cup, but he put up a very good showing indeed. The problem now is that Koreans will consider him an even greater threat in Blizzcon thus it'll be even harder to win. No surprise effect. Classic genuinely looked sad / lost after his loss. Thank you for displaying such high level play Nerchio .
Patience beating fan favorites (Maru and to a lesser extent Nerchio since he's in a "love it or hate it" state with the public with his online trolls) as I expected haha. After actually seeing him play (I couldn't watch much of his GSL/SSL games) he looks fucking good o_o. He isn't yet a "big" name protoss but he sure plays like one, if only for being able to beat Maru & Nerchio relatively easily. It's amazing that he qualified for Blizzcon, he earned it being in the same group as his direct competitor Classic.
On October 01 2016 18:40 Daswollvieh wrote: Just saw the games. I´m sad that Nerchio is out, but he could´ve made it through just as well.
Very happy though to see Nerchio playing Code S level. There is no skill difference between him and Korean top Zergs.
It's kinda hard to say with just kespa cup, but he put up a very good showing indeed. The problem now is that Koreans will consider him an even greater threat in Blizzcon thus it'll be even harder to win. No surprise effect. Classic genuinely looked sad / lost after his loss. Thank you for displaying such high level play Nerchio .
Patience beating fan favorites (Maru and to a lesser extent Nerchio since he's in a "love it or hate it" state with the public with his online trolls) as I expected haha. After actually seeing him play (I couldn't watch much of his GSL/SSL games) he looks fucking good o_o. He isn't yet a "big" name protoss but he sure plays like one, if only for being able to beat Maru & Nerchio relatively easily. It's amazing that he qualified for Blizzcon, he earned it being in the same group as his direct competitor Classic.
Not only that, Patience also cancelled all BlizzCon hopes of sOs, who was playing pretty well lately in PvP.
On September 30 2016 23:26 WhosQuany wrote: I love it when Nerchio Shit talks before matches and then doesn`t deliver... no BM When he doesn`t do it he performs better maybe putting to much pressure on himself.. Sad story would have love to see him crush'em all
I wish people would stop complaining about players who have the bollocks to put their character forward. It's a sign of quality entertainment. People love to hate someone. I for one think we need more competitors who are not afraid to speak their mind.
depends. there are people i love to hate. nerchio, lilbow, naniwa, marinelord... I don't want them to win, but they are interesting and they're making the community much more lively and split groups of people. it's great to have those guys around. On the ther hand (notice, this is my personal flavor) i have people i don't like at all and that are just freaking me out and whenever i see them i turn off and simple skip the game, because their attitude, voice or whatever else annoys and angers me to death like scarlett or mc.
Soooo I only have time to watch one serie live, should I check Maru, Neeb or TY? I love Maru but I love good games more, I have the feeling TY v Zest could be a safer choice.
On October 01 2016 09:30 .vale. wrote: Considering the KT/SKT/JAGW disbanding rumors recently, I was not surprised. Good lord.
What the fuck ?
It's been a hard week...
Hey Silvana.
Why ? You meann there is other stuff lke that that happened this week ?
Unreliable romurs of KT disbanding, SKT too and not sponsoring PL next year. Fortunately the KT disband rumors are likely 99% fake judging by what Stats said in his kespa cup interview
The rumors tho fueled a sense of doom about the future of the Korean scene and that is not completely dispelled. Lots of arguments and blaming in the rumors thread...
You know this time of the year (aka post Proleague), when we are waiting for announcements and speculating, is typically tough >.<
Also Zest is playing like shit since over a month already
On October 01 2016 09:30 .vale. wrote: Considering the KT/SKT/JAGW disbanding rumors recently, I was not surprised. Good lord.
What the fuck ?
It's been a hard week...
Hey Silvana.
Why ? You meann there is other stuff lke that that happened this week ?
Unreliable romurs of KT disbanding, SKT too and not sponsoring PL next year. Fortunately the KT disband rumors are likely 99% fake judging by what Stats said in his kespa cup interview
The rumors tho fueled a sense of doom about the future of the Korean scene and that is not completely dispelled. Lots of arguments and blaming in the rumors thread...
You know this time of the year (aka post Proleague), when we are waiting for announcements and speculating, is typically tough >.<
Also Zest is playing like shit since over a month already
Oh yeah ok. The usual stuff. Yeah Zest is out of form lately. Not bad but not himself. I missed the interview i took midgame i'll watch it again when vods are out. Need to watch the first 2 games.
EPT
Classic and 
Maru’s up-and-down form over the year was difficult to read; while 
Nerchio’s year-long campaign against Korea was about to kick off in earnest.
We also have blizzcon left. And in WESG only 2 Koreans are available, and new patch coming, so foreigners might have good chance there.
