A Success Story

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.

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.