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Classic: A Success Story - Road to BlizzCon 2018 (#16)

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Classic: A Success Story - Road to BlizzCon 2018 (#16)

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
Graphics by3StrakGames
October 25th, 2018 14:36 GMT
Photo: ESL
Classic
Kim Doh Woo
The Gosu Crew

A Success Story

by hexhaven


One of the peculiarities of the human mind is the way it searches for patterns wherever it can find them. Based on these patterns, whether real or imagined, the mind organizes items and concepts into discrete groups for easier handling. Concepts that share traits, even minor ones, are treated as more similar than they truly are.

In terms of StarCraft II, we tend to divide professional players into three different categories. The smallest and arguably the most well known is the group where we put the championship-level players. This includes players who have proven themselves and their abilities beyond any shadow of doubt. They’ve won tournaments time and again, their performances have dazzled us with their brilliance, and even though their form at any given time might not lead to victory (there are competing players in this category, after all), we instinctively know that they’re still capable of going all the way. Players like Mvp and INnoVation don’t need to prove themselves at this point, they’ve already done enough.

The second group is a slightly larger pool of players. Those who are still great at what they do, but for some reason seem to lack the final finishing touch. A championship run from any of them wouldn’t be a resounding surprise, but these players usually would not be among the favorites entering a tournament. Reaching a finals, they’d normally be the underdog. They still have their fans, they still have the skills to play among the highest level of competition, but they tend to be overshadowed by players in the first group, the ones we consider the 'real' champions.

The third and largest group is what’s left. Professional level players who, for some reason or another, seem to lack the skill and ability to make deep runs in tournaments. The players who sometimes fail to qualify, and usually act as fodder for the better players to overcome. This is a harsh, unforgiving grouping, but so is the game, and performing well enough to make it to one of the other two groups sometimes feels like a Herculean task.

In truth, there's some wiggle room between these three categories. The glue, if you will. Because you also have the players who are outliers, the exceptions who don’t fall neatly into any of the aforementioned groups. Leading this pack is the former SKT Protoss Classic. He’s a championship-level player, his trophies insist on this, but it feels like a fact that’s easily overlooked. There’s just something about Classic that defies putting him into one of those three simple categories. Whether that’s due to us, as fans and viewers, or whether it’s because of some intrinsic feature Classic possesses is hard to say.

All throughout the year, it seems like we’ve underestimated both Classic’s accomplishments and his chances to build upon them. At times this has been for a good reason. Classic has arguably had one of the most contradictory years of his professional career. He’s lacked true standout moments in all three seasons of the GSL. His IEM Katowice run was overshadowed by Rogue’s phenomenal 4-0 sweep in the grand finals. His WESG run was really more a story of Serral taking the bronze medal than anything else.


Rank


#2
Korean Standings

WCS Points


7675

2018 Season Stats*


79–31 (71.82%) vs. Terran
55–27 (67.07%) vs. Protoss
82–45 (64.57%) vs. Zerg
*Via Aligulac.com. Matches between 2017-11-15 and 2018-10-16.


For much of 2018, just like 2017, Classic’s story has not been his own. He’s struggled against others, as all players sometimes do, but he’s been framed not as himself, but as an opponent to others. In the first season of GSL he was just an obstacle for Stats while the Splyce player made a run to the finals. In the second season he was faced by Maru in the semifinals, but the Terran’s potential back-to-back championship eclipsed Classic’s run. In the third season Reynor’s GSL performance was the big story in Ro32 Group A, overshadowing Classic’s failure to make it to the Ro16.

It was the final premier event before the Global Finals where Classic was able to turn his uneven year around. Going into the tournament the big story was all about who would be able to grab the remaining available WCS points. For some players the points were absolutely crucial, the last chance to qualify for the biggest tournament of the year. For Classic, it was a chance to nab another premier title under his belt.

Classic started his run by taking down FanTaSy in a clean 3-0 sweep. His next two opponents, Creator and Dark, proved more difficult. Against the Zerg especially Classic had to claw his way back to the series from a 0-2 situation. As seems to be so often the case, Dark was unable to close out the semifinals series, and Classic entered the grand finals, facing off against none other than the Trickster God sOs .

The first game, as always, set the tone for the series. sOs took an aggressive stance from the start, and whittled away at Classic’s economy enough to secure himself a lead going into the midgame. With a better economy usually comes a better army, and sOs took full advantage of this, adding immortals to his composition. The Jin Air Protoss made a decisive attack, and Classic’s scattered army was unable to repel the stronger force.

In the second game sOs mixed things up, and took the map in less than three minutes with a flashy cannon rush. Classic was wholly unprepared and was swiftly defeated. The third game was almost a repeat of the first one, with sOs jockeying for early advantage over Classic. His strategy proved fruitful, and sOs had the lead again going into the midgame, allowing him to outplay Classic.

sOs was up 3-0 over Classic in a Bo7 grand finals series. One more win would secure the Jin Air Protoss his title, leaving Classic in the dust. One more win would make the story all about how sOs clutched his Global Finals spot at the last possible moment. After the three maps the Super Tournament finals had its first small break, and while it’s impossible to say what was going through Classic’s mind, the break seemed to work miracles.

The next four games of the series turned it all around. Classic didn’t resort to flashy cheese or oddball timings. He put his head down, got to work, and simply showed sOs how to win. Classic opened standard, played standard, aiming for the macro game over a quick victory, stymieing sOs’ tricks over and over again. The most memorable part about Classic’s slowly snowballing reverse sweep was simply how bog standard it was. The former SKT Protoss outplayed and out-harassed sOs on every map, building up better army compositions, taking better engagements. It was textbook StarCraft II, and it worked beautifully.

As is always the case in professional StarCraft II, the best way to focus attention back on to yourself is to win a championship. For Classic this took roughly three years, but his GSL Super Tournament 2 victory over sOs is the definite proof we need that Classic should be grouped together with the other championship level players, the ones who should always be considered potential winners. Not only did he win, but the end result was a reverse sweep against one of the most unpredictable players of all time.

Entering the Global Finals, Classic is finally, for the first time in years, able to write his own story again. He’s not a side act, he's a favorite to win. The WCS title would be a fitting achievement to crown his already brilliant career, and not the surprise many would make it out to be. While other players will no doubt take the spotlight as they always have, Classic is not out to become a part of their story. He is out to take them all down and write the defining chapter of his own tale—the story of a GSL, SSL, and WCS World Champion.







Writer: hexhaven
Editors: Zealously, Olli
Photos: Carlton Beener, Blizzard, ESL, Leimmia, Bart Oerbekke, Helena Kristiansson
Graphics: 3StrakGames
Statistics: Aligulac
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TL+ Member
CynicalDeath
Profile Joined January 2012
Italy3384 Posts
October 25 2018 15:20 GMT
#2
go Classic!
ModeratorSC2 LP Admin - My Life for Aiur - Let the Metal flow - @Cynical_Death
Olli
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
Austria24417 Posts
October 25 2018 15:21 GMT
#3
That's a wrap! Thanks for following our Road to BlizzCon this year. More coverage of the Global Finals to come, of course.
Administrator"Declaring anything a disaster because aLive popped up out of nowhere is just downright silly."
Gosucrew
Profile Joined April 2011
United States76 Posts
October 25 2018 15:25 GMT
#4
Very enjoyable read. Thank you.
Terra1
Profile Joined June 2018
Philippines312 Posts
October 25 2018 15:27 GMT
#5
On October 26 2018 00:21 Olli wrote:
That's a wrap! Thanks for following our Road to BlizzCon this year. More coverage of the Global Finals to come, of course.


Great read. I hope that you guys make predictions to who among the 16 players will make it to the Ro8.
Fango
Profile Joined July 2016
United Kingdom8987 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-10-25 15:36:21
October 25 2018 15:29 GMT
#6
Classic is definitely an underappreciated player in the community. He's almost always playing good but never seems to stand out. Even his victories in GSL and SSL were overshadowed by other events (actually I don't think they were outshined, but people just didn't give him much credit for them).

It's probably his playstyle more than anything. For sure he's the most well-rounded protoss we have, but somehow gets outshined in most individual areas.
Zest, sOs, PartinG, Dark, and Maru are the real champs. ROOT_herO is overrated. Snute, Serral, and Scarlett are the foreigner GOATs
Terra1
Profile Joined June 2018
Philippines312 Posts
October 25 2018 15:31 GMT
#7
Go ChinToss! Show to them what you can do!

But other than that, what are the odds that Classic can beat the Zerg players in his group? I know he lost to Rogue in IEM badly, but can he win with the other 2 foreigners? Special and Nerchio are good too. And PvZ wise, is Classic's PvZ a bit better than Zest? It's these 2 Protosses who are good with the other 2 races but dies a lot in PvZ.
spoonmaster
Profile Joined May 2012
United States347 Posts
October 25 2018 15:36 GMT
#8
The man that embodies Protoss! He always seems to go deep at Blizzcon but never results, it's time!
Tempest
Profile Joined October 2015
United States147 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-10-25 15:54:33
October 25 2018 15:50 GMT
#9
On October 26 2018 00:31 Terra1 wrote:
Go ChinToss! Show to them what you can do!

But other than that, what are the odds that Classic can beat the Zerg players in his group? I know he lost to Rogue in IEM badly, but can he win with the other 2 foreigners? Special and Nerchio are good too. And PvZ wise, is Classic's PvZ a bit better than Zest? It's these 2 Protosses who are good with the other 2 races but dies a lot in PvZ.


Classic's PvZ, while technically his worst matchup, is much better than Zest's PvZ. their PvP is probably equal with a slight edge to classic imo, even tho zest has like 2% better winrate. Classics PvT is best PvT.

It sounds odd, but in their CURRENT form, I just think of classic as a better version of zest lol. Even if the results aren't necessarily there to prove my point, its what I think.

EDIT: The only zergs I think Classic doesn't have at least a 50% chance of beating are Dark and Serral. Darks ZvP is STRONG. Lambo and Nerchio could win against him, but I would be at least mildly surprised if it happened.
Quick, think of some pithy cliche and toss it here
yubo56
Profile Joined May 2014
688 Posts
October 25 2018 16:00 GMT
#10
but his GSL Super Tournament 2 victory over sOs is the definite proof we need that Classic should be grouped together with the other championship level players


Strongly disagree. Everybody knows classic is a championship level player, proof has abounded forever, he's just in the unfortunate situation where proof alone cannot elevate him to be "dominant" in the public's eyes. It's the TL final edit "Style will set you free," without some defining characteristic of your play you're just "favored." https://www.teamliquid.net/forum/final-edits/56669-style-will-set-you-free

Definitely feel like Classic is still one of the most versatile protosses out there. He can aggress like herO and sOs but can defend like Stats and Zest. It's very hard to identify what makes him a good player, which is what makes it hard to identify with him and cheer for him. Maybe it's because he's constantly evolving his playstyle.

Anyways I am rooting for gosucrew/ex-SKT boys Classic/Dark, even if they only ever teamkill each other
Jung Yoon Jong fighting, even after retirement! Feel better soon.
Kurao
Profile Joined April 2018
215 Posts
October 25 2018 16:07 GMT
#11
Classic has definitely been overshadowed by the fact that his PvZ is the matchup which often ends his tournament life, but recently it has looked much more solid compared to the rest of the year at least.

A Maru vs Classic finals would be pretty amazing to be honest, would be close imo

Thanks to all the TL writers for the Road to BlizzCon articles by the way, been a pleasure to read! ^^^
hexhaven
Profile Joined July 2014
Finland931 Posts
October 25 2018 16:18 GMT
#12
On October 26 2018 01:00 yubo56 wrote:
Show nested quote +
but his GSL Super Tournament 2 victory over sOs is the definite proof we need that Classic should be grouped together with the other championship level players


Strongly disagree. Everybody knows classic is a championship level player, proof has abounded forever, he's just in the unfortunate situation where proof alone cannot elevate him to be "dominant" in the public's eyes. It's the TL final edit "Style will set you free," without some defining characteristic of your play you're just "favored." https://www.teamliquid.net/forum/final-edits/56669-style-will-set-you-free

Definitely feel like Classic is still one of the most versatile protosses out there. He can aggress like herO and sOs but can defend like Stats and Zest. It's very hard to identify what makes him a good player, which is what makes it hard to identify with him and cheer for him. Maybe it's because he's constantly evolving his playstyle.

Anyways I am rooting for gosucrew/ex-SKT boys Classic/Dark, even if they only ever teamkill each other


Mizenhauer even wrote an article about the community's collective and selective amnesia when it comes to Classic:
https://www.teamliquid.net/forum/starcraft-2/528996-delusions-of-mediocrity-a-classic-tale

I'd argue that the ST2 victory is precisely what Classic needed in order for the community to rank him as one of the favorites to take BlizzCon. He would've been one of the serious contenders even without the win, but it's a very tangible example how good Classic still is.
WriterI shoot events. | http://www.jussi.co/esports
otherbarry
Profile Joined June 2017
7 Posts
October 25 2018 16:29 GMT
#13
On October 26 2018 00:21 Olli wrote:
That's a wrap! Thanks for following our Road to BlizzCon this year. More coverage of the Global Finals to come, of course.


Great, thank you for all the articles. I have really enjoyed reading them all
Shuffleblade
Profile Joined February 2012
Sweden1903 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-10-25 16:58:53
October 25 2018 16:57 GMT
#14
On October 26 2018 00:29 Fango wrote:
Classic is definitely an underappreciated player in the community. He's almost always playing good but never seems to stand out. Even his victories in GSL and SSL were overshadowed by other events (actually I don't think they were outshined, but people just didn't give him much credit for them).

It's probably his playstyle more than anything. For sure he's the most well-rounded protoss we have, but somehow gets outshined in most individual areas.

Classic is definitely one of the top champions of SC2 in my opinion and I do not think his playstyle lacks personality. Actually I think Classics play is reminiscent of herO(join)s play when he was on his A game and with that I mean that it has flair. I don't really know how to describe it better than that, Classic has something magical about his play, its not all the time but often it shines through. I have a hard time to point out exactly what it is that makes me think this way but I believe the devil is in the details, I just feel that Classic is one of the most meticulous players. He also does some really bold plays from time to time, not sOs level crazy but still ballsy enough for me to go bananas!
Maru, Bomber, TY, Dear, Classic, DeParture and Rogue!
Rodya
Profile Joined January 2018
546 Posts
October 25 2018 17:12 GMT
#15
Classic will get out of his group second. I feel bad for whoever has to face him in ro8. Then again the other options wont be much better.
Banned for saying "zerg players are by far the biggest whiners in sc2 history" despite the fact that this forum is full of such posts about Terrans. Foreigner Elitists in control!
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
October 25 2018 17:25 GMT
#16
Thanks to everyone for the articles, they have been great all year long to keep up the hype!
And now only a few hours left before the start of the best time of the year.
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
Musicus
Profile Joined August 2011
Germany23576 Posts
October 25 2018 17:29 GMT
#17
The forever understimated, low key sometimes best player in the world. Maybe he can join the GOAT discussion finally if he wins this.
Maru and Serral are probably top 5.
Minase
Profile Joined December 2012
35 Posts
October 25 2018 17:44 GMT
#18
What got me cheering for this guy was that very often in his early games there were odd things happening, scrappy games. You could see that his play was not as fluid as other protosess, yet he still somehow managed to win. After his switch in 2013 he went 13-2 as P in proleague (rounds 4-6) which was hilarious to watch.
Argonauta
Profile Joined July 2016
Spain4948 Posts
October 25 2018 18:27 GMT
#19
Thanks Team Liquid for your nice writing!
Rogue | Maru | Scarlett | Trap
TL+ Member
Darkn3ssFallz
Profile Joined April 2013
Australia114 Posts
October 25 2018 21:10 GMT
#20
gogo Classic!
Classic #1
[SKT1.Rain] is the Postman Protoss, because by.Sun or by.Rain he delivers.
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