Best Games of January 2019

Compiled and written by Ej, Elentos, and Durn

It feels like just yesterday when we released The Best Games of 2018, but here we are again, kicking off another year of compiling the best competitive StarCraft II games.

We know people are busy catching up on the flood of WCS and GSL matches that have been played in the last few weeks, but these games from January are well worth your time.

A Farewell to ByuN
ByuN vs Dark on Stasis
VOD - ONPOONG Ultimate Battle #20 - Game 6

On December 21, ByuN surprised the StarCraft II world by announcing his retirement. 2017 and 2018 hadn't been kind to the former Global Champion but it seemed like he still had enough left in the tank for one more run.

This isn't the first time we're losing the enigmatic ByuN for an extended period of time and perhaps we'll see him again. For the time being, he's left us with a fitting farewell match. In Ultimate Battle, facing off against an old friend in Dark, ByuN reminded us why he was once both beloved and feared. ByuN delivered Dark his single most crushing defeat in Ultimate Series, taking him down by a score of 8-3. On his way out, the man with the puppy even outdid INnoVation at his peak in 2017. Game six on Stasis is by far the standout performance from both players for the entire match.

Goodbye, NEXExcrement. Goodbye, GhostKingPrime. Goodbye, speaknow. Goodbye, ByuN.

Welcome Back, PartinG
PartinG vs TY on Para Site
VOD - Master's Coliseum #4 - Semifinals

From a goodbye to a beloved player, we move on to a welcome back. PartinG has actually been 'back' for over a year now, but we're still waiting to see the return of the brash, arrogant player who dominated the PvT match-up with an iron fist.

Enter TY, someone who experienced first hand many years of bullying by PartinG. Despite having some trouble in the match-up for a while, TY still entered the series as the favorite against a still-rusty PartinG. Then, PartinG pulled out the fast Tempests, and everything went a little bit crazy.

TY's class in positioning, strategy and tactics shone through and it looked like he could take the game despite PartinG's antics. But then, the PartinG of old made his glorious return. As we all know, the old PartinG never let up until he won (or got disconnected). And so, at least for a game, it seemed like the proper time to say "Welcome back, PartinG".

The Re-Return of Cyclone Mech
Solar vs uThermal on Para Site
VOD - OSC Championship 6 - Losers Round 7

Towards the end of the 2016 WCS season the Dream and INnoVation of now defunct KeSPA team SK Telecom T1 decided to #MechSKTGreatAgain with a new style of factory-based Terran, focused on upgraded Cyclones. Of course, with Patch 3.8.0, the cyclone was changed radically and the SKT mech was replaced with what is now known as Battle Mech. When Blizzard announced that the Cyclone would return to its pre-3.8.0 functionality, many people accepted this as a big hit to mech. Then came HomeStory Cup 18, and with it uThermal. Quite possibly the first high level player to realize that not only was Battlecruiser harass a viable TvZ opening, but also that SKT mech was very strong again. For this very reason, uThermal can be considered a certified mechxpert­™. His mastery of the style not only brought him some success already, it also leads to pretty fun games. But even among them, this particular game stands out simply because neither player was willing to accept defeat.

MCanning Disrupts WCS Americas
SpeCial vs MCanning on Port Aleksander
VOD - 2019 WCS Winter Americas - Ro32

This is quite possibly one of the least expected entries into the Best Games series ever. After all, nobody expected SpeCial vs MCanning to be anything but a bop. The Greatest Protoss Player in Recorded and Unrecorded History is well-known throughout the scene for his stream and his love for Disruptors. But never has he put together a tournament performance quite like the one he brought to Group A of WCS Winter: Americas. His wins over his Zerg opponents were certainly impressive, but this was his masterpiece. He took a game off of SpeCial, who has made it to the BlizzCon playoffs in consecutive years and who is generally seen as the one sitting at the apex of foreign Terrans. Not only that, but MCanning did it his way.

An Early Best Game of the Year Candidate
Dark vs Stats on Port Aleksander
VOD - ONPOONG Ultimate Battle #16 - Game 8

You will see this game again on the year-end Best Games of 2019 list, and probably very high up. That may seem a little strange to say about a game that happened on the very first day of the new year, but it's true nonetheless. This game brought us back some wonderful memories. Indeed, one might look at it as the new (and maybe improved?) 2.0 version of an infamous game from quite a while ago. This game had us collectively thinking back to one particular game from SSL in 2017, between these same players. None other than the game that ended up TL's game of the year in 2017. It's not quite the same game, there are some key differences. But it's still an incredible game by two of the finest players of their respective races and at the respective match-up. And the final minutes are simply absurd.

The "Has Award" for games that don't make sense but happened anyway so we will have to live with them

NO KEYBOARDS???
SuperNova vs Zest on King's Cove
VOD - QCL: NO KEYBOARD - Round 1

Have you ever wondered what it would look like if progamers played with mouse-only? Well you're in luck! Crank has started a new online tournament to answer exactly that question. And this is the single most bizarre game the event has produced so far. Zest, found himself down 0-1 against a player he would probably have little trouble against were he allowed to use his keyboard. But since he's wasn't allowed to do that, he consulted the Great Book instead and proxied 2 Robos for Immortals. Since Immortals don't do too well against Battlecruisers, he then added two Stargates for Voidray support. But on 25 Probes, that lacked a bit of impact, so Zest added a Fleet Beacon. And then the game ended in a base trade, because of course it did.

More recommended games from January

For all you fans who can't get enough StarCraft II.

ByuN vs Dark on Para Site - VOD
Classic vs TY on Cerulean Fall - VOD
Classic vs Zest on Blueshift - VOD
Dark vs FanTaSy on Port Aleksander - VOD
Dark vs TY on Para Site - VOD
INnoVation vs soO on Cyber Forest - VOD
PsiArc vs Hunta on Blueshift - VOD
Trap vs Rogue on Automaton - VOD
Trap vs Rogue on Port Aleksander - VOD

The Best Games of 2018: Year End List

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