Best Games of the Month: July 2019 Edition

Compiled and written by Elentos and probably some other guys, but mostly Elentos

TL.net is back with another list to catch everyone up on the best StarCraft II matches from the previous month.

After all, SC2 games are a lot like cake. They both come in so many different varieties—chocolate, ice cream, even cheese—and each type is delightful in its own way. But unlike cake, you'll never feel a sense of deep shame and regret because you binged on an entire tray of GSL Code S at 2:00 AM in the morning.

Alright, that was a really terrible comparison. Just forget that you wasted any time reading the intro and watch these games.

• TY vs Maru on Acropolis
2019 GSL Code S Season 3 - Ro32 Group E

Maru vs TY. Two barracks, proxied on TY's side of the map. Battlecruisers. That's the recipe for not one, not two, but THREE TvT matches to have been featured on TL.net's best games lists since 2018. For the September edition, we had a game from the GSL finals on Lost and Found. In December, a Blueshift game from the BJ Destruction Match series caught our eye. And this time, the site for the inevitable was Acropolis, (arguably the worst proxy map out of the 3) in the game that would decide the victor of Group E in the Code S Ro32.

While TY somehow managed to be caught off guard by Maru's shenanigans in game 1 of the series, in game 3 he had none of it, and so they went back to a more conventional TvT. Conventional in that it started a noticeable trend (on streams and in online cups, for instance) of Terrans trying to snipe stimpack with auto turrets. TY's success in that endeavor was actually quite important, because having stim much faster than Maru allowed him to put on a lot of pressure on the Jin Air ace who had pulled ahead in workers.

Eventually, things stabilized, and we entered the late game asking ourselves what would win out: TY's economy, or Maru's efficiency? Back in September, it had been Maru's efficiency that broke TY's back. This time, TY took full control of the late game, making better use of not just the fleet he called in, but also his marines as they sniped unit after unit. By the end of this game, there was little reason to doubt Maru's assessment of who the best TvT player in the world is.

• Impact vs TYon Acropolis
2019 GSL Code S Season 3 - Ro32 Group E

While TY was the eventual winner of Group E, his path was full of hardship. His 2-0 scoreline over Impact really didn't do the Team LP Zerg justice, especially given how closely contested this particular game was.

TY recently said he's been having a lot of trouble against Zerg players, claiming on his stream that playing bio against Dark, Rogue and Serral was an exercise in futility. With that comment in mind, it wasn't surprising that TY opted for mech play in this game. However, no one could have expected that TY would open command center first, go for an even greedier third command center, and then rush to BC's against one of the cheesiest Zergs in the GSL. Oh well, he got away with it—so what do we know? But before you go call Terran OP, we have to say that Impact's aggressive antics made things very dicey for TY, resulting in a highly entertaining game.

• Reynor vs Serral on Thunderbird
2019 WCS Summer - Grand Finals

In Reynor's first ever major finals at WCS Montreal 2018, he immediately took Serral to the brink of defeat. He was up 3-2 against the Finnish Phenom, and was on the verge of closing the series out on Cerulean Fall. Many fans will remember what happened next: Reynor threw away his massive, late-game lead, which sparked Serral's comeback to win his fourth consecutive Circuit title.

But that was just a temporary setback. Starting 2019 by becoming the champion of WCS Winter Europe, it was clear that Reynor was Serral's greatest threat in WCS. Serral retaliated at WCS Spring in dominant fashion, but Reynor quickly returned the favor by snatching the championship away from Serral at WCS Summer. While we all wait to see if someone can take the WCS crown away from the Zergs at WCS Fall, let's look back at the best game from their WCS Summer series.

On Thunderbird, the stage was set for Serral to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series, but Reynor had other ideas. Both players started their hives before the 10 minute mark (if this was a soO game we would still be waiting for the hive today), comfortable to take things to the late game. The game seems to slip away from Reynor when the two Zergs at decide to kill each other's 5th bases at the same time, as the Finn ends up doing a lot more damage. Down over 3000 minerals in the bank, things look worrisome for Reynor. But this time, it was his turn to conjure an impossible win out of nowhere. And so he attacked Serral with one final, absolutely gargantuan force...

• Classic vs Creator on Acropolis
2019 GSL Code S Season 3 - Ro32 Group F

In a somewhat ironic twist, Creator and KeeN ended up in group F of the GSL Code S together. Both of these players have some days where you can't help but admire their level of play. And then they have a lot of days that are... let's just say 'not very good.' Shocking all but the most delusional dedicated fans (a total of 32 Liquibet votes were cast between Creator and KeeN, as opposed to the 812 for the other two players), group F was actually a good day for the duo. KeeN ended up winning the group, and while Creator ultimately wasn't as fortunate, one cannot help but feel he played a key part in KeeN's success.

The last time Creator blew everyone away with a stellar performance was the 2nd Super Tournament of 2018. Remarkable play saw him defeat TY (who admittedly has a beyond poor record when it comes to that tournament series) but fall to Classic in a tightly contested series. Perhaps revenge for that day was on the cards, because Creator came out guns blazing in this series. If we consider Disruptor shots and Archon attacks guns, anyway. And to make it all better the game ended with a DT base race.

• Zest vs Cure on Acropolis
Olimoleague 2019 June Finals - Grand Final

Flying under the radar for the greater public, Cure may actually be considered the shining star of online competition for July. Recording in a 75% winrate in maps and 87.5% in series, Cure propelled himself to the top 10 of Aligulac in a ByuN-esque fashion. That kind of performance definitely warrants some hope for his loyal fans, who have been desperate for another good run. After GSL Code S semifinals in 2014 and 2016, Cure somehow missed the wake up call in 2018, but maybe he's here to make amends.

His opponent in this best of 7 was none other than Zest, himself a very respectable online competitor (while still having some struggles to consistently bring that level of play to offline events). As one of the two standout games of the series (the other being game 1 on Thunderbird), this duel featured a style of TvP that's a bit less common in GSL. While Cure tried to pressure Zest off the back of an army advantage, his game-plan didn't hinge entirely on killing Zest in the mid-game. This gave Zest just enough breathing room to develop his tech and stabilize, turning the tables on Cure. Other Terrans may have exclaimed "this is why you go all-in!" as Zest marched toward Cure to deliver a game-ending blow. To which, we imagine Cure replied "Relax. I've got this."

The "Has GuMiho Award" for games that are soooo scrappy you can't help but love them

• MaNa vs SpeCial on New Repugnancy
2019 WCS Summer - Ro16

Over 26,000 resources lost in a game just over 14 minutes long. Peak worker count 45. Stimpack starting when storm is almost finished. Casters losing the ability to talk because the game is too hype. Do these things sound enticing to you? Then this is the game you're looking for, friends.

Everything started with SpeCial deciding to do a fake proxy. Upon realizing this, MaNa responded with a pretty real proxy. At this point, everyone already knew this wasn't going to be a normal match.

While SpeCial ended up contained and struggling to even take his own natural, he kept MaNa's economy in check with crucial liberator harass. SpeCial then judged that he might make a killing move, going for a big marine-tank push with combat shields. However, a double immortal drop from MaNa denied the upgrade, giving him the breathing room to go for storm. And with that, the last sensible decision was made—from there on out, there would be only madness.

More recommended games from July

But wait, there's MORE!!!

Armani vs FanTaSY - Full Series - VOD
Cure vs Hurricane on Thunderbird - VOD
Dream vs soO on Cyber Forest - VOD
INnoVation vs KeeN on Thunderbird - VOD
Maru vs Reynor - Full Series - VOD
Maru vs Neeb on New Repugnancy - VOD
Scarlett vs ShoWTimE on Thunderbird - VOD

Best Games of June 2019

Best Games of April and May 2019

Best Games of March 2019

Best Games of February 2019

Best Games of January 2019

The Best Games of 2018: Year End List

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