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Code S RO4 Preview: Dark vs Classic

Forum Index > SC2 General
24 CommentsPost a Reply
1 2 Next All

Code S RO4 Preview: Dark vs Classic

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
April 2nd, 2019 07:44 GMT

Code S Semifinals: Dark vs. Classic

Wednesday, Apr 03 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00)

by Wax
[image loading]

2019 Global StarCraft II League: Code S Season 1


It's a pity that we spent so much of 2018 wishing for a Serral vs Maru rivalry that never materialized while the two greatest frenemies in StarCraft II were beating the crap out of each other. Former SK Telecom teammates Classic and Dark faced in five major playoff matches in 2018, and they made no effort to hide their disdain for each other. Said Serral, of Maru: "Well personally, I hate the rivalry narrative. Personally, I’m not a fan of it and I try to dodge it, but I guess that’s what people want." Said Classic, of Dark: "You know, if you keep running into someone, you should feel happy to see them. I'm not glad at all. Every time I run into him, I hate to see his face."

It all started back in 2016 when Dark was having a peculiarly selfish season, winning barely over 50% of his games for SKT in Proleague while he casually won championships and beat up on his teammates in individual leagues. That included crushing Classic in two SSL tournaments, and the relationship has only soured ever since. The two have continued to face each other in high stakes matches over the years, and their trash-talk has evolved along the way. What started as Dark gently poking at Classic for being a 'grandfather' turned into Classic calling Dark a bad human being for lying about buying teammates a meal after a team-kill, which escalated into Dark spending all of 2018 telling Classic to **** off to the army already.

Hajinsun recorded the latest salvo between the two as they headed into this semifinal match.

Hajin: Who do you think will reach the semifinals?
Dark: I think Rogue will advance, but I'm going to be cheering for Classic.
Hajin: Do you mean ZvP is better for you?
Dark: No, I haven't lost to Classic in the semifinals ever. (Dark lost their LATEST head-to-head match in the Super Tournament II semifinals)


To which Classic responded:

Classic: I think Dark is far below Rogue, so from my point of view, I've already reached the finals.

All this makes you wonder why I called these two players 'frenemies' earlier when it seems like they're just straight-up deadly foes. First off, it's hard for Korean pros to so vocally trash each other unless they have some friendship beneath it. Second, if Classic truly despised Dark, he would have brought up Dark's ballooning body weight, a topic more sensitive than match-fixing. So go on and look to soO-FanTaSy or TY-SpeCial for your fanfic friendships—there will be no love lost between Classic and Dark, no matter the outcome, and no matter the means of attaining victory in this match.

[image loading]


Alright, here's the part where we read off of Aligulac.com so you don't have to. Dark leads Classic 10-4 in all-time offline matches (30-20 map score), with Dark leading 3-2 in their high-stakes series from 2018 (WESG, Super Tournaments, Code S, the works!). Dark seems to have the statistical edge in recent form, with a 15–3 ZvP match record (46–26 map score) during the WCS 2019 cycle, while Classic trails with a 9–4 record in PvZ matches (20–14 map score).

Now here's the part where we talk about why none of that may matter. Sure, Dark seems to have the edge in terms of stats, but so did Rogue when he faced Classic in the RO8. However, Classic still managed to defeat Rogue by bringing five completely differently builds in every single game, which nudged him to a narrow 3-2 victory. Some of his galaxy-brain strategies backfired completely, like an Archon-Immortal drop with proxied Shield Batteries where the Batteries were discovered and destroyed before they could achieve anything. And yeah, he was also totally destroyed by Rogue in the late-game when he tried to safely snowball a mid-game advantage. But some of his stratagems caught Rogue completely off guard, like a delayed three-Templar drop which crippled the Zerg economy at a crucial timing. And, of course, we had to gawk in awe/horror at Classic's game one cannon rush, where he looked like the opponent Zergs fear most: Has with an actual ounce of finesse.

On the surface, Dark fits a similar profile as Rogue: an incredible macro player who also possesses an incredible killer-instinct regarding when to go for cheese rushes. Rogue's downfall against Classic may have been his reluctance to go for cheeses at all, which allowed Classic to throw his macro-busting tactics against Rogue in game after game. While Classic could outsmart yet another defensive Zerg, he may fall to a player who is just as devious as him (I will peddle this theory about beating Classic until Zergs stop losing to his Glaive-Adept timings because they started pressing the "R" key 8 seconds too late).


It's all in good fun until someone actually has to go to the army.

Prediction

While Classic expressed some concerns about having shown too many of his build orders against Rogue, I get the feeling that the sane scientist will find a way to develop mix-ups and mind-games based on the information Dark gleaned from the series vs Rogue. Dark could potentially take this series by playing it safe and defensive (Classic only won 3-2 vs Rogue, after all), but I'd like to see him play a mix of macro and all-in strategies to maximize his chance of victory. Also, I'd like to note that Dark dropped a map to a proxy FOUR-GATE RUSH against South Africa's Drager at WESG. I don't know how that matters in terms of this match, but I didn't have anywhere else to fit it. Anyway...

Dark 4 - 1 Classic



Credits and acknowledgements

Writer: Wax
Images: AfreecaTV, SpoTV Games
Statistics: Aligulac.com
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TL+ Member
Ej_
Profile Blog Joined January 2013
47656 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-02 07:58:06
April 02 2019 07:57 GMT
#2
Ah, so the anti-20hatch super-secret PvZ build that Lambo gave Drager was


Proxy 4gate zealot LOL

The semis are bo7 btw
"Technically the dictionary has zero authority on the meaning or words" - Rodya
Anc13nt
Profile Blog Joined October 2017
1557 Posts
April 02 2019 07:59 GMT
#3
I think the semifinal is Bo7. I personally predict 4-3 win for Dark but I think it will be a close one. Classic's PvZ is underrated imo.
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33339 Posts
April 02 2019 08:00 GMT
#4
On April 02 2019 16:57 Ej_ wrote:
The semis are bo7 btw


SHHHH
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Kimb3r
Profile Joined April 2010
Germany744 Posts
April 02 2019 08:22 GMT
#5
I think Dark will take this 4-2..
Maru | Dark | Zest | Reynor | Scarlett
INFINITY_TxK
Profile Joined April 2019
4 Posts
April 02 2019 08:26 GMT
#6
Dark will win this!
pvsnp
Profile Joined January 2017
7676 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-02 08:29:21
April 02 2019 08:27 GMT
#7
Dark 4-2 Classic is a nice safe prediction.

That being said I'd prefer if Classic won here (and in the finals too), even though I'm a bigger fan of Dark. The guy deserves to get a bone thrown his way before retirement.
Denominator of the Universe
TL+ Member
DBooN
Profile Joined May 2011
Germany2727 Posts
April 02 2019 08:38 GMT
#8
Classic has this.
Veluvian
Profile Joined December 2011
Bulgaria256 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-02 09:02:14
April 02 2019 08:58 GMT
#9
I don't like the way this article was written on its start, this is not a reality TV show and such a detailed information about the relations between Dark and Classic are not necessary in order to give an appropriate preview before the match.
But the predictions are right, Dark is a clean favorite, rather they haven't played for a long time together and builds, patches and strategies changed a lot through years (from the period when Dark dominated). In fact Dark is another player with curses like Rogue. And last time Classic met Dark in a semi-final for the Super Tournament 2 and the protoss made an amazing comeback. So this makes the whole event even more unpredictable.
Anyway, I love both players (those are my favorite players from their races) and whoever wins I will be happy that I'm gonna watch a favorite player in the finals.
Oz; MMA; Rain; sOs; Classic, Soulkey, TY, Dark
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6887 Posts
April 02 2019 09:17 GMT
#10
I believe in Classic

Rogue Serral Dark is a patchzerg anyway
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
ShAd_1337
Profile Joined January 2016
Germany1042 Posts
April 02 2019 10:36 GMT
#11
ma boi dark will reach his first gsl finals
I like Dark
Kimb3r
Profile Joined April 2010
Germany744 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-02 11:47:14
April 02 2019 11:41 GMT
#12
Anyone knows how Dark's health status is? Does he use Twitter or some Korean version of it?
Maru | Dark | Zest | Reynor | Scarlett
TheOneAboveU
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Germany3367 Posts
April 02 2019 12:15 GMT
#13
Let's go Dark!

(yeah, I write this every time... ready to, you know, be disappointed once more.)
Moderatoralias TripleM | @TL_TripleM | Big Dark Energy!
kajtarp
Profile Joined April 2011
Hungary473 Posts
April 02 2019 12:50 GMT
#14
On April 02 2019 17:27 pvsnp wrote:
Dark 4-2 Classic is a nice safe prediction.

That being said I'd prefer if Classic won here (and in the finals too), even though I'm a bigger fan of Dark. The guy deserves to get a bone thrown his way before retirement.


What bone? He won Starleague before and a Code S off soO ...
Why so serious?
Sweetfrost
Profile Joined October 2010
Sweden211 Posts
April 02 2019 13:28 GMT
#15
I wish for Dark to win this match just to avoid a possible PvP grand final. But if I knew for a fact that Maru was going to win his match I'd support Classic. It would be cool to see him win one last title before heading of to the army.
Before practice, we ate Kimchi soup made my MMA. His cooking has made me so depressed that I think we may lose GSTL." -Miya
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany15918 Posts
April 02 2019 13:31 GMT
#16
On April 02 2019 21:50 kajtarp wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 02 2019 17:27 pvsnp wrote:
Dark 4-2 Classic is a nice safe prediction.

That being said I'd prefer if Classic won here (and in the finals too), even though I'm a bigger fan of Dark. The guy deserves to get a bone thrown his way before retirement.


What bone? He won Starleague before and a Code S off soO ...

yeah, meanwhile Dark has a single premier tournament win out of 18 ro4 finishes.
Nobody deserves to win this season more than him
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
DBooN
Profile Joined May 2011
Germany2727 Posts
April 02 2019 13:41 GMT
#17
On April 02 2019 22:31 Charoisaur wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 02 2019 21:50 kajtarp wrote:
On April 02 2019 17:27 pvsnp wrote:
Dark 4-2 Classic is a nice safe prediction.

That being said I'd prefer if Classic won here (and in the finals too), even though I'm a bigger fan of Dark. The guy deserves to get a bone thrown his way before retirement.


What bone? He won Starleague before and a Code S off soO ...

yeah, meanwhile Dark has a single premier tournament win out of 18 ro4 finishes.
Nobody deserves to win this season more than him

Better pray Maru beats Trap if you want Dark winning.
BisuDagger
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Bisutopia19229 Posts
April 02 2019 14:49 GMT
#18
Dark looked really scary versus bunny. It felt like his drone production could never be slowed. However, Classic is looking extremely resilient. Players tend to tilt when losing a game after starting with 1 or 2 wins. I think if Classic takes the series to an ace match he will win.
ModeratorFormer Afreeca Starleague Caster: http://afreeca.tv/ASL2ENG2
FrostedMiniWheats
Profile Joined August 2010
United States30730 Posts
April 02 2019 14:59 GMT
#19
Dark 4-0
NesTea | Mvp | MC | Leenock | Losira | Gumiho | DRG | Taeja | Jinro | Stephano | Thorzain | Sen | Idra |Polt | Bomber | Symbol | Squirtle | Fantasy | Jaedong | Maru | sOs | Seed | ByuN | ByuL | Neeb| Scarlett | Rogue | IM forever
tagliatelle
Profile Joined August 2018
Canada69 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-02 19:00:26
April 02 2019 19:00 GMT
#20
That promo photo is ridiculous. Dark looks like that frat boy who gained 30 pounds in beer weight and what is with that sweater on Maru? It could fit two of him and it's a turtleneck to boot?

Trap and Classic lookin' fine tho
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