GSL Code S runner-up Classic claimed a quick consolation prize in the GSL Super Tournament, defeating GuMiho 4-1 in the finals. The victory marks Classic's second straight Super Tournament victory after he won Super Tournament #2 in 2018, and awards him 10,000,000 KRW in prize money.
GuMiho had made an impressive finals run as one of only two Terran players in the tournament, and seemed the favorite to win after he defeated top Protoss Stats in the quarterfinals. Though GuMiho was able to seize a mid-game advantage at several points during the finals, Classic capitalized on disastrous attacks from GuMiho to start off with a 3-0 lead. GuMiho recovered a point with BattleCruiser-Mech in game four, but Classic closed the series out in game five with a gutsy, all-out attack as GuMiho transitioned to liberators.
Though Classic's ability to travel abroad remains questionable (due to mandatory military service), he now stands at #2 in the WCS Korea rankings for Global Finals qualification.
Classic's victory capped off an unusual tournament that was one of the most Protoss-friendly in history, starting off as 9-Protoss: 2-Terran: 5-Zerg before turning into a 7-Protoss, 1-Terran tournament in the quarterfinals. Whether or not this represents a long-term trend remains to be seen, with Code S Season 2 scheduled to kick off with a more even 12P, 9T, 11Z mix of players. The viability of Mech vs Protoss may also be something to watch for in upcoming tournaments, with Maru and GuMiho deploying it to mixed success in the Super Tournament.
The GSL will resume with Code S Season 2 on Monday, Apr 29 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00).
I'm happy for any success Classic has in his final year as a pro before military. I'm sure he would have done well at Katowice too had he been allowed to go.
Very happy for Classic, these good results mean a lot since it's his last year. It would be disastrous if he couldn't go to BlizzCon though, since right now it's looking like he'll be a stable top 3 minimum in terms of WCS points by the end of the year.
On April 22 2019 04:47 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: GuMiho had made an impressive finals run as one of only two Terran players in the tournament, and seemed the favorite to win after he defeated top Protoss Stats in the quarterfinals.
Did people really put Gumi as the favourite? Making the finals was basically free at that point, but Classic should have been the overwhelming favourite to win once Stats/Maru/soO were out.
On April 22 2019 04:50 Elentos wrote: OLD MAN TITLE DEFENSE SUCCESSFUL
I'm happy for any success Classic has in his final year as a pro before military. I'm sure he would have done well at Katowice too had he been allowed to go.
Could have probably won. He would have been the best player there if he turned up with his form from GSL.
Congrats Classic! He played great and it was fun to watch his games =) Surprising Gumi pulled it this far, never thought he would be able to take out Stats.
On April 22 2019 04:50 Elentos wrote: OLD MAN TITLE DEFENSE SUCCESSFUL
I'm happy for any success Classic has in his final year as a pro before military. I'm sure he would have done well at Katowice too had he been allowed to go.
Could have probably won. He would have been the best player there if he turned up with his form from GSL.
I dunno Katowice was a bit strange. A bit of a bizarro world deal where a lot of players underperformed and others overperformed (looking at you champ) compared to before and after Katowice. But I'm sure Classic could have done well since he's working so hard to go out with as many wins as possible.
On April 22 2019 04:47 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: GuMiho had made an impressive finals run as one of only two Terran players in the tournament, and seemed the favorite to win after he defeated top Protoss Stats in the quarterfinals.
Did people really put Gumi as the favourite? Making the finals was basically free at that point, but Classic should have been the overwhelming favourite to win once Stats/Maru/soO were out.
I think some people tunnel-visioned the fact that GuMiho won 3-0 against Stats and that it would guarantee a victory against any other Protoss since Stats is generally considered the best P. What really needs to be seen is that while GuMi played mech against Stats like Maru did, it wasn't identical. Classic has always been a PvT monster with his gatewayman style, which seems to not work on Maru (as most things don't), but it sure did dissect GuMiho with his brand of MechvP.
On April 22 2019 05:05 Shuffleblade wrote: Congrats Classic! He played great and it was fun to watch his games =) Surprising Gumi pulled it this far, never thought he would be able to take out Stats.
On April 22 2019 05:05 Shuffleblade wrote: Congrats Classic! He played great and it was fun to watch his games =) Surprising Gumi pulled it this far, never thought he would be able to take out Stats.
Does this mean Classic is stronger than Stats?
he is moar consistent.but i d give him the best protoss title currently not sure what the fuck is wrong with stats tho
On April 22 2019 04:47 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: GuMiho had made an impressive finals run as one of only two Terran players in the tournament, and seemed the favorite to win after he defeated top Protoss Stats in the quarterfinals.
Did people really put Gumi as the favourite? Making the finals was basically free at that point, but Classic should have been the overwhelming favourite to win once Stats/Maru/soO were out.
I think some people tunnel-visioned the fact that GuMiho won 3-0 against Stats and that it would guarantee a victory against any other Protoss since Stats is generally considered the best P. What really needs to be seen is that while GuMi played mech against Stats like Maru did, it wasn't identical. Classic has always been a PvT monster with his gatewayman style, which seems to not work on Maru (as most things don't), but it sure did dissect GuMiho with his brand of MechvP.
The series went really different from how I thought it would.
I favoured Classic because I figured Gumiho had maybe shown his hand vs Stats and Parting, and Classic might have enough info to work with to counter Gumiho’s style and builds directly
Instead Gumi’s builds actually still seemed to work really well in some of the games anyway and he mixed it up well but between Classic playing really well and Gumiho giving him enough room and making mistakes Classic deservedly took the title.
I am happy for Classic, I support him in his struggle against retirement and I'd be glad to see him at BlizzCon once more.
However, am I the only one not exactly impressed by his play? At the moment he seems very solid, he is consistent and throws very few; he was outstanding in Code S, preparing well for his opponents with tailored builds(he eliminated both Dark and Rogue on top of that). On the other hand, he lost against Maru because he clearly was the inferior player mechanically and today he found himself up 2-0(instead of down 0-2) because of evident missplays on Gumiho's side right while he was pushing for almost granted victories.
On April 22 2019 04:47 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: GuMiho had made an impressive finals run as one of only two Terran players in the tournament, and seemed the favorite to win after he defeated top Protoss Stats in the quarterfinals.
Did people really put Gumi as the favourite? Making the finals was basically free at that point, but Classic should have been the overwhelming favourite to win once Stats/Maru/soO were out.
Well, Gumiho almost had it. First two games he was ahead quite a bit at some times. Of course its tough after being behind 0 to 3.
I agree with the sentiment that Classic's play looked very unimpressive in the finals, it really came down to gumiho's major unforced errors and lack of micro much more than his good performance.
On April 22 2019 14:07 fishjie wrote: i was booing all the way
really sad that gumigod was defeated at the final stage
all my favorite players were defeated, maru, soo, sos, and gumiho. was happy that gumigod made it that far
I have already moved on when both Rogue and Maru defeated in ro. 8, suddenly changed allegiance to Guminho to look forward for the rest of the matches.
As much as I was rooting for Gumiho, the better player won that match.
I'd be interested to see an in-depth comparison between how Classic and Stats approached the games, and why Classic had such an easy time compared to Stats.
On April 22 2019 04:47 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: GuMiho had made an impressive finals run as one of only two Terran players in the tournament, and seemed the favorite to win after he defeated top Protoss Stats in the quarterfinals.
Did people really put Gumi as the favourite? Making the finals was basically free at that point, but Classic should have been the overwhelming favourite to win once Stats/Maru/soO were out.
I think some people tunnel-visioned the fact that GuMiho won 3-0 against Stats and that it would guarantee a victory against any other Protoss since Stats is generally considered the best P. What really needs to be seen is that while GuMi played mech against Stats like Maru did, it wasn't identical. Classic has always been a PvT monster with his gatewayman style, which seems to not work on Maru (as most things don't), but it sure did dissect GuMiho with his brand of MechvP.
I don't think GuMiho played mech in any way similar to Maru.
Maru used a hellion/cyclone core to constantly defend harass while doing his own harass. On this pivot he went into his late game with mass BC.
GuMiho on the other hand played ultra-defensive eventually getting up to Thors + BCs. This I believe is the weakness the slow army core. Without cyclone hellion Classic was just free to dance around the much scarier army and deal economic damage.
Maru on the other hand flipped that idea on its head countering with his own mobility taxing the protoss army as a result.
I don't even know if any other Terran can pull that off given how much constant multi-tasking it requires.
EPT
