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Down, But Never Out - herO - Road to BlizzCon 2019

Forum Index > SC2 General
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Down, But Never Out - herO - Road to BlizzCon 2019

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
October 18th, 2019 11:46 GMT

Road to BlizzCon 2019: herO (#7 WCS Korea)

Down, But Never Out

by Wax

As we head into the Global Finals, we inevitably end up sorting the players in a variety of arbitrary categories. The favorites. The contenders. The underdogs. The no-chance-in-hell's.

I get the feeling that many StarCraft II fans are going to place herO into the underdog bucket, but my personal designation for him is slightly different. As I see it, herO is the 'wild card' of the tournament, which isn't to say he's not an underdog. Wild cards are generally underdogs as well, but not all underdogs get to be wild-cards.

More info: 2019 World Championship Series Global Finals

Two series played a major role in my coming to this conclusion (extremely scientific, I know). The first is herO vs Trap from the IEM Katowice round-of-12. Now, if you skipped it at the time just because it was a Protoss vs Protoss that ended 3-0, I highly recommend you go back and watch it now. Not because the games were any 'good' in the conventional sense, but because they're utterly incomprehensible. Twice, Trap blew games that seemed borderline-unloseable—a one base and two upgrade level advantage in game one, and a twenty-two worker difference in game two. herO achieved this both times by seemingly saying "f*** it," determining the one move that gave him a 1% chance at winning the game, and somehow hitting on that 1%.



The second series is more recent: herO vs Dream from GSL Super Tournament II on Disco Bloodbath from Super Tournament 2. While the score says it was an uninteresting 3-0 stomp for herO, soO happened to be re-streaming the match on AfreecaTV with Stats providing commentary (among other progamers). The running trend of the night seemed to be Stats not knowing what the hell herO was doing, be it a greedy Adept shade-in, cutting Probes for a semi 'all-in' off three bases, or going Phoenix-Colossus in 2019. While Stats struggled to understand what was going on, he ultimately appreciated the fact that herO was getting the wins. Stats mentioned he wanted to learn herO's unpredictable style but just couldn't bring himself to do it. "Maybe I'm the one who doesn't understand the game," he mused.

If I had to distill all of that into one defining strength for herO, it wouldn't be that he's aggressive or unpredictable—it would be that he's decisive. Honestly, he always has been, even if it's been overshadowed by his other attributes in the past. Indeed, herO was great at a lot of things during his peak years in 2014-2015, back when he was regularly winning tournaments or earning a place on the medal stand. If you go back and watch some matches where he gets to show off his Blink-Stalker micro (say, this match against Jaedong on King Sejong Station), you'll wonder why the Korean government lets this war criminal walk free. Likewise, his micro was impeccable on Immortal-Sentry all-ins—PartinG may have been the public marketing face of the "Soul Train," but herO was arguably the player who rode it to more tournament success. On the other hand, herO wasn't just about all-ins—he was an excellent macro player player as well. He may not have been on the level of a peak Rain or Zest—tough contemporaries to be compared to—but he was certainly good enough to out-macro other top players in championship-winning tournament runs.

But through the lens of the present, ahead of the 2019 Global Finals, it's the comebacks, the base-trades, and the weird games that are standing out to me the most. Of all the players in StarCraft II history who have been considered 'good,' herO might be unmatched in the frequency and speed at which he arrives at the decision to just throw his entire army at his opponent's base. And I don't mean this as an insult. herO always seems to be a half-beat ahead of his opponent in this specific kind of decision making, his army already marching across the map before his opponent has fully processed that "F2-A-move" is one of herO's options.

herO's decisive attacks don't always end up being the right decision, and sometimes his execution in a desperation attack or all-in is poor (like when he famously forgot the elimination condition of StarCraft II against Polt). In a similar vein, warping in four Dark Templars and hoping to find no detection isn't a high win-rate plan. But more often than not, herO's games suggest that 'stabilizing' from behind is an overrated aspiration (or reserved for the factions that have MULEs), and that giving yourself a chance to go for a game-winning move is better than waiting for an opportunity that may never come. After all, a victory grabbed from the whirling maw of chaos is still another victory in the end.

Maybe that's the fundamental reason that herO has often been fond of cheesing and going all-in: not just because the strategies themselves are so strong (they certainly are), but because they guarantee you at least one timing to seize the initiative and try to end the game on your own terms. It's as if he's always thinking 'You never know if your opponent is going to suck—why don't I go ask him with my army?' It's probably not a coincidence that herO's strongest year in Legacy of the Void was 2017, when "dive straight into the teeth of the opponent's defense" was a bigger part of the Protoss ethos.


(Starts at 18:40)


At the risk of committing StarCraft heresy, herO is ever so slightly reminiscent of Boxer in his twilight years. Even when the progaming pioneer's mechanics had been surpassed by many of his peers, Boxer still had two big things going for him: his ability to create strategies and his decisiveness. Be it through a massive drop or leave-no-defenders-behind attack, Boxer rarely seemed to go down as a passive participant in the game.

It's clear that herO hasn't aged quite as gracefully as some of his peers at the Global Finals. Whether it's due to balance patches, shifts in the meta, declining mechanics, or just straight-up lack of motivation, herO is not the same all-around player he used to be. Some of his losses this year have been brutal to watch—his matches against Rogue and Dark in particular—with none of his tricks seemingly able to faze his opponents at all. However, if I had to attach the cliche of "anything is possible in a game as unpredictable as StarCraft" upon just one of the underdogs at the Global Finals, it wouldn't be SpeCial with his finely-tuned strategies or Reynor with his latent talent. It would have to be herO, a player with the audacity and decisiveness to alter the flow of any game.




Road to BlizzCon 2019

WCS Circuit
Serral - Reynor - Neeb - SpeCial - TIME - HeroMarine - Elazer - ShoWTimE

WCS Korea
Dark - Trap - Classic - Maru - soO - Rogue - herO - Stats



Credits and acknowledgements

Writer: Wax
Images: Bart Oerbekke via ESL
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TL+ Member
Fango
Profile Joined July 2016
United Kingdom8987 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-10-18 12:56:16
October 18 2019 12:20 GMT
#2
That one IEM run gave so many points for such a shitshow a run. Hopefully he can at least make blizzcon entertaining if he's in form. Given the quality of his games I have no clue how he even qualified
Zest, sOs, PartinG, Dark, and Maru are the real champs. ROOT_herO is overrated. Snute, Serral, and Scarlett are the foreigner GOATs
Howard_Kao
Profile Joined September 2018
China261 Posts
October 18 2019 12:22 GMT
#3
herO to me feels like patience but with a bit smarter decision make process, though both of them win a lot of games and they are both great, herO always give me the impression that his decisions are precise rather than patience's reckless
"You don't need a gsl champion, you don't need a esl champion. I feel like I'm just a normal man. I just practice very hard this time, like 15hrs everyday" Oliveira 2023
Ej_
Profile Blog Joined January 2013
47656 Posts
October 18 2019 12:25 GMT
#4
On October 18 2019 21:22 Howard_Kao wrote:
herO to me feels like patience but with a bit smarter decision make process, though both of them win a lot of games and they are both great, herO always give me the impression that his decisions are precise rather than patience's reckless

What a radical thing to compare herO, the player whose gameplay is completely reliant on his top tier unit control to Patience, a player who is infamous for his subpar unit control setting him back, despite above average decision making and strategy preperation.
"Technically the dictionary has zero authority on the meaning or words" - Rodya
Howard_Kao
Profile Joined September 2018
China261 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-10-18 12:26:19
October 18 2019 12:25 GMT
#5
Deleted
"You don't need a gsl champion, you don't need a esl champion. I feel like I'm just a normal man. I just practice very hard this time, like 15hrs everyday" Oliveira 2023
BisuDagger
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Bisutopia19234 Posts
October 18 2019 12:25 GMT
#6
herO in Blizzcon just doesn't make sense. He really had a pretty mediocre year and hasn't had too many clean victories over top tier opponents. I think he's lucky to be here and will go as far as bracket luck takes him.
ModeratorFormer Afreeca Starleague Caster: http://afreeca.tv/ASL2ENG2
Dave4
Profile Joined August 2018
494 Posts
October 18 2019 12:40 GMT
#7
I dunno, not hyped for hero, he is just a bit too meh for me. But I hope he does well.
Shuffleblade
Profile Joined February 2012
Sweden1903 Posts
October 18 2019 12:55 GMT
#8
On October 18 2019 20:46 TL.net ESPORTS wrote:

I get the feeling that many StarCraft II fans are going to place <a href="(Wiki)HerO(jOin)" class="picon" title="[More info on Liquipedia]">herO</a> into the underdog bucket, but my personal designation for him is slightly different. As I see it, herO is the 'wild card' of the tournament, which isn't to say he's not an underdog. Wild cards are generally underdogs as well, but not all underdogs get to be wild-cards.

This passage in particular stood out to me, not all underdogs get to be wildcards! So true and well written.

In general I loved this article, it really hit the nail on the head for how I see herO. He plays in a way that is incredibly fun to watch and seems very fun to play as well.

Not a protoss fan but a herO fan!
Maru, Bomber, TY, Dear, Classic, DeParture and Rogue!
Fango
Profile Joined July 2016
United Kingdom8987 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-10-18 13:00:11
October 18 2019 12:58 GMT
#9
On October 18 2019 21:22 Howard_Kao wrote:
herO to me feels like patience but with a bit smarter decision make process, though both of them win a lot of games and they are both great, herO always give me the impression that his decisions are precise rather than patience's reckless

herO has insane unit control and mechanics. He's in a different league to Patience in terms of gameplay. To this day I don't know how Patience has managed to win so much.

On another note, no one talks about how herO had a sick good chance at winning blizzcon 2014 before he threw in the ro8.
Zest, sOs, PartinG, Dark, and Maru are the real champs. ROOT_herO is overrated. Snute, Serral, and Scarlett are the foreigner GOATs
lechatnoir
Profile Joined November 2016
386 Posts
October 18 2019 13:11 GMT
#10
Gotta love that smiling devil. Or hate him.

At least he'll probably do a lot better as "the odd one" at Blizzcon that, say, Drogo did a few years back.
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
October 18 2019 13:28 GMT
#11
herO has gotten quite a bit of praise from other players of late, which either means absolutely nothing or that he's goimg to crush a tournament almost out of nowhere (with little in between).
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6924 Posts
October 18 2019 13:29 GMT
#12
Loved the article! Actually made me go (re)watch stuff for the first time in my life, even knowing the results!

herO's games (like Has' games) are always really entertaining and I rather watch herO than Trap or Stats tbh ^^
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
starkiller123
Profile Joined January 2016
United States4030 Posts
October 18 2019 13:49 GMT
#13
That herO vs Trap series was hilarious
Xamo
Profile Joined April 2012
Spain880 Posts
October 18 2019 14:15 GMT
#14
Nice article!
herO is always entertaining. And right now, he may have the best chance among all Protoss in PvZ.
My life for Aiur. You got a piece of me, baby. IIIIIIiiiiiii.
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
October 18 2019 14:50 GMT
#15
On October 18 2019 22:28 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
herO has gotten quite a bit of praise from other players of late, which either means absolutely nothing or that he's goimg to crush a tournament almost out of nowhere (with little in between).


I would love for herO to crush Blizzcon, it would be the best underdog story for me
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
ZugzwangSC
Profile Joined October 2019
87 Posts
October 18 2019 16:15 GMT
#16
Gotta have a soft-spot for players with the potential to turn a game around when behind from behind. It makes for great theatre.
www.youtube.com/c/zugzwangstarcraft
DSh1
Profile Joined April 2017
292 Posts
October 18 2019 18:10 GMT
#17
CJEntus Ace!
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-10-18 18:40:59
October 18 2019 18:40 GMT
#18
As somewhat of a public service announcement, I notice that there's still 10 previews left and only 5 days before the first group, so if the TL staff is stretch a bit thin I could maybe whip out something? Obviously it won't be as good as what Wax and co write but I could give it a shot.

(I'm really not trying to steal anyone job, if everything is under control forget all of this and continue your great job)
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
Noa Greenini
Profile Joined April 2015
265 Posts
October 18 2019 18:57 GMT
#19
herO winning would be so fun
Noa Greenini looks like the superior LR poster - Charoisaur 04/05/2019 (Serral vs Showtime match)
texture13
Profile Joined July 2018
44 Posts
October 18 2019 19:08 GMT
#20
"soO happened to be re-streaming the match on AfreecaTV with Stats providing commentary (among other progamers)"

Oh man! Wish I could understand Korean. Who were the other progamers there?
1 2 Next All
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