Best Games of February 2019

Compiled and written by Ej, Elentos, and Durn

With the first half of IEM Katowice falling in February and the second half concluding in March, we've decided to go with the incredibly pedantic choice of limiting this edition of Best Games of the Month to strictly the month of February. Forget the fact that we've already made exceptions in the past—the guy who compiled that previous list didn't understand the value of strict formalism for its own sake.

Anyway, we hope you enjoy these games! You've probably all seen the marquee games from IEM Katowice already, but we've lived up to our hipster reputation and dug around for all the other amazing games you might have missed. They might not all have the pomp and circumstance of a $400,000 event (we did include a few games from IEM), but they damn sure contain some fine StarCraft II.

The REAL Greatest Rivalry of SC2 Continues
Zest vs Impact on Black Baroque - WardiTV TLMC Tournament #4 - Group Stage

Zest vs Impact, aka the greatest rivalry in the world, got another one of its infamous bouts during the Team Liquid Map Contest tournament. In one corner, we had Zest, a two time GSL champion, IEM champion, and champion of many other things in general. In the other corner we had Impact, a player who has never made it beyond the Code S RO16.

Going by resumes, this match should have been ridiculously one-sided in Zest's favor. But if that's how it played out, this wouldn't be the greatest rivalry in the world. Zest has developed a strange dual-identity, especially when playing the PvZ match-up. In online matches, he tap dances over the faces of the best Zergs Korea has to offer. But once it's time to play them in live matches, he falls flat on his face and looks like a player who doesn't belong on the same stage. The only constant is that when he plays Impact—online or live—things get ridiculous.

Here I Am, Rock You Like a Hurricane 100 Cyclones
GuMiho vs Reynor on Kairos Junction - IEM Katowice 2019 - Open Bracket 3 - Losers' round 4

When GuMiho plays, it's always time to pay attention. It's not necessarily because you're going to learn anything that will make you better at StarCraft. GuMiho plays his own brand of StarCraft II, one that works for him and no one else on the planet. None of the elite Terran players in the world are as bizarre and unique as GuMiho, the only Terran who possesses a style that may be truly inimitable.

Yes, you could also build a ton of Cyclones against Zerg and say you're playing GuMiho-style, but you wouldn't have captured its true spirit. You wouldn't be anywhere near as scrappy and wild, hitting timings that most players don't even realize exist. You wouldn't be able to mix-up your offensive and defensive tempo in seemingly random fashion, utterly confusing your opponent. For those reasons, GuMiho has a reputation as quite possibly the single most entertaining player in StarCraft II. And for those reasons, you should watch this game.

Thank You, Next Protoss
herO vs TY on Cyber Forest - Olimoleague #145 - Finals

TvP is a match-up that causes a lot of friction in the StarCraft II community. Insults and accusations are thrown around. "Protoss is unbeatable" say some, while others respond "Terrans should just stop whining." Very few people seem actually happy with its state. From TY's various streams, it's been reported that his TvP winrate in practice is well below 50%. That's a rather big weakness for a player the community has consistently rated as a top-two Terran in LotV.

However, TY's weaknesses in practice doesn't seem to show up often in tournament play, especially in this best of five where he gave herO a proper thrashing. We're fine spoiling this particular match—it's one that's awesome because of the winner's virtuoso performance, not because of the tension of close games. On Cyber Forest, TY opted for a mass-tank style, reminiscent of his incredible GSL semifinal against Neeb last year. Whether this is something he will use in a big GSL match remains to be seen. At the very least, we got to see TY methodically destroy herO in the Olimoleague weekly final with this style.

The "We Really Watch EVERYTHING" Match of the Month
KeeN vs Patience on King's Cove - Olimoleague #145 - Ro16

Some games improve in context. This game is a story of redemption, and everyone loves a good redemption arc. You see, three days before this game was played, KeeN had been eliminated from GSL Code S. Playing Dear and Trust, he won no maps, which is at the very least forgivable considering those are skilled Protoss players. However, it is the way KeeN was swept that was irksome. The entire process seemed hopeless. Not because of some great imbalance. Bluntly put, KeeN's play was inept. The level he showed up with to play in the GSL RO32 was unfit for the competition. Was it just a bad day, or had KeeN lost his touch? It appears to be the former, as this performance is on an entirely different level of the KeeN that showed up to play GSL. At the very least, it's certainly much better entertainment.

Terran vs Terran: Still the Best Mirror Match-up
KeeN vs HeRoMaRinE on Kairos Junction - VOD - IEM Katowice 2019 - Open Bracket 1 - Quarterfinals

Non-Korean Terrans lead a rough life. While the other races have been led to glory by a foreigner before, the Terran race is consistently over-shadowed by their Korean counterparts. SpeCial keeps finding a way to step on the BlizzCon stage, but the semi-finals seem like an insurmountable career obstacle. uThermal shows up in the IEM Katowice group stage every year to remind everyone that he can beat your Code S heroes, only to suffer excruciating, last-second elimination.

In the wake of their performances, HeRoMaRinE is overlooked a surprising amount of the time. There's nothing too flashy to be found in his play, which is probably the reason why most of his games are not remembered (his BlizzCon series vs sOs did win the Korean community's 'worst game of the year'). But he has a better claim than anyone to be called the best European Terran, and when he's in his comfort zone, he can play games as great as this one.

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

SortOf vs HateMe on Cyber Forest - 2019 WCS Winter EU - Ro32

One of the biggest positive surprises of WCS Winter EU so far is the story of HateMe, an Austrian Zerg. With no real resumé to speak of, HateMe went into the tournament expected to be one of those guys who goes 0-2, 0-4 in the RO32. But he wasn't that. He challenged established names in the European scene and took a fair amount of wins, even eliminating uThermal. And yet, just a few minutes into this game, it didn't look like he would ever get the chance to play uThermal in the next round.

SortOf opted for a hidden expansion to the top right of Cyber Forest. Namshar had attempted a similar play against Serral to the bottom left the day before, but was found out instantly due to fortunate overlord pathing on Serral's part. HateMe is not Serral, and so he didn't actually locate this secret expansion until very late into the game, playing as though he did not even consider it a possibility. Eventually, both players decided muta tech would be a good option, HateMe still unaware of SortOf's advantage. At this point, surely the game was as good as over? Dear readers, let me tell you this: the foreigner is always half full.

More recommended games from February

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

aLive vs herO - Full Series - VOD
Classic vs TRUE on Kairos Junction - VOD
Dark vs Dear on King's Cove - VOD
Lambo vs Trap on Year Zero - VOD
Lambo vs Leenock on Year Zero - VOD
Scarlett vs herO on Port Aleksander - VOD
SpeCial vs Cham on New Repugnancy - VOD
Zest vs Rogue - Full Series - VOD

Best Games of January 2019

The Best Games of 2018: Year End List

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