With soO already through, Stats and Ryung dueled for the right to face him in the finals.
Stats opened game 1 with an oracle and a quick third. The oracle died to an increasingly commonly placed widow mine, prompting Ryung to bunker push on Stats’ third and cancel the nexus. After that the game stabilized, with Stats building a 20 supply lead while staying active on the map with adepts and phoenixes. Stats transitioned into colossi as he established his fourth while Ryung steadily built his liberator count. Stats sieged Ryung’s third while killing half of Ryung’s workers with adepts. Ryung responded with a number of attacks, finally finding purchase by killing Stats’ third. Ryung continued to push, killing the natural and the main. Having finally cleaned the attack up, Stats found himself with a huge supply lead. After a period of posturing, a flurry of engagements cemented Stats’ position and ended the game.
In game 2 Ryung went for the same bunker push. It was unsuccessful, but simultaneous liberator and mine attacks killed 15 workers. Stats stabilized, though, building up an adept/phoenix army and ending the game with a two pronged attack.
Game 3 took place on Cactus Valley. Stats’ pylon rush set Ryung back and despite losing his oracle to a widow mine, Stats safely took his third. After a period of harassment by Ryung, the two players fought at each other’s bases, with Ryung loses a lot of workers while doing minimal damage to Stats. Stats kept the pressured up as he leveraged a four base economy into colossi. A devastating attack in Stat’s main snowballed when Ryung followed it by killing Stats’ colossi and sniping two bases. In a last ditch effort Stats set up an isolated base. Ryung found it and killed it, though, to win his first game.
Stats again went with oracles on Newkirk. While the first did minimal damage, the second gave Stats an 18 worker lead. Ryung responded with an attack on Stats’ third, but Stats cleaned it up with easy. Stats controlled the pace of the game from there on out, taking minimal damage from harass, out-expanding Ryung while adding colossi and stalkers to his adepts/phoenix force. One fight in the middle of the map and it was over, putting Stats up 3-1 and one game from advancing.
Stats opened with the en vogue proxy oracle/pylon rush into void ray all in on Proxima Station which Ryung held. Stats went for blink and upgrades of one forge as Ryung took his third while building the typical bio mine composition. Stats attempted to come back by moving out onto the map and harassing with a warp prism, but Ryung thwarted his efforts with ease. With Ryung sieging Stats’ third, Stats finally began to kill SCVs. The move had little impact, though, as Ryung was too entrenched. After killing Stats’ third and fourth, Ryung darted into the main. Despite setting up his liberators at the top of the ramp, Stats broke the position. Barely mining, he immediately countered. Ryung had a 30 army supply advantage, though, and quickly mopped up Stats’ army to put the score at 3-2.
Needing only one more win, Stats opened with a proxy oracle that killed a mine, marine and a number of workers. Ryung clawed back into the game by killing two oracles. A mine drop killed 10 workers in the main, but his other drop was wiped out with no losses on Stats’ part. A failed attack on Ryung’s third erased Stats’ 20 supply lead. Unable to do damage, Stats took a fourth and moved into colossi. Ryung countered by getting ranged liberators and taking up a defensive position. With both players nearly maxed and the map split, Ryung started to add in ghosts and vikings while Stats went for tempests, blink dark templars and storm. Ryung killed all of Stats’ stalkers and trimmed the tempest count when they finally fought, but Stats held onto his sixth base. Both players rebuilt with Ryung beginning to build nukes. Seeking to avoid Stats’ deathball, Ryung incited a basetrade. Ryung reset Stats’ tech, but Stats killed Ryung’s mining bases. The final fight took place by Stats’ fourth, but his ultimate army was too much and Ryung tapped out.
Having defeated Ryung by a 4-2 score, Stats will play soO on March 25th in the 2017 GSL Season 1 Finals.
I have such mixed feelings on Stats winning. If he had lost, I would have probably met him at the Ting finals coming up. But I'm so glad one of my favorite players is in the finals of a major tournament again. This one is yours Stats!!
It was enjoyable, but kinda... desperate. How can Stats always win even though he looks infinitely behind? And then he did it again in TB's Kings a couple of hours later. Twice! At this point, you don't want to do any damage to him, because that apparently just makes him stronger.
On March 19 2017 05:37 opisska wrote: It was enjoyable, but kinda... desperate. How can Stats always win even though he looks infinitely behind? And then he did it again in TB's Kings a couple of hours later. Twice! At this point, you don't want to do any damage to him, because that apparently just makes him stronger.
On March 19 2017 05:37 opisska wrote: It was enjoyable, but kinda... desperate. How can Stats always win even though he looks infinitely behind? And then he did it again in TB's Kings a couple of hours later. Twice! At this point, you don't want to do any damage to him, because that apparently just makes him stronger.
same as SoO man, he always got behind, but somehow he still win, I don't know!
SIIIICK games BOIS!!!! SIIICK,,,sooo good,,,i lost my shit at game 6~~ Ryung too thirsty for the base trade in the end i thought... he played the perfect positional game until that last push... sad for him,.,, but grats to THE PALINDROMIC PROTOSS!!!
On March 19 2017 05:37 opisska wrote: It was enjoyable, but kinda... desperate. How can Stats always win even though he looks infinitely behind? And then he did it again in TB's Kings a couple of hours later. Twice! At this point, you don't want to do any damage to him, because that apparently just makes him stronger.
Did you see that sort of famous proleague match between Maru and Myungsik? I know there was an article on tl talking about it a bit after it happened. Anyway I kind of look at some of these games in the same way. The game appears one way, but if you actually look at the way each player is developing his base and workers and all that, you can see that there is much more to it. They were really great games though. There were definitely points where Ryung didn't capitalize on leads hard enough and Stats caught up by making bold choices. In some also Stats took efficient fights against ryung's army, which more than made up for losing workers or early oracles. That game two though was just nuts. Just masterful play out of Stats.
very sad stats was the only player i didnt care about. and sadly since he is a gross protoss (unlike the brilliant and brave SOS) he will probably destroy soo in the finals as well as spiritually and mentally. there is no justice in this world
Really love what this match represents. If Stats wins he never became a Kong, he's just another great. The by far most consistent Protoss at the moment. If SoO finally wins that means he would pass on the Kong line to Stats by winning this very match. SoO's curse would end and a new Kong birthed.
It's not the only curse he's battling, I promise that on the finals night Artosis will make sure to make us remember the Artosis curse. Not by mentioning it himself, but by hyping up SoO more than any other player. Artosis will build him up, but with the unwanted effect of him falling even harder.
SoO has quite the legacy, but I'm not convinced he has what it takes to take down Stats. I see a lot of sky toss happening and I see SoO doing what he always does vs this, not get ANY spell caster and just try to brute force it like always and I don't think that works. He will crank out a bunch of units though
EPT
Stats and 
Ryung dueled for the right to face him in the finals.
soO on March 25th in the 2017 GSL Season 1 Finals.
. 
Go soO!
