Congrats to herO and happy Major Korean Tier 1 tittle to protosses. FINALLY!!! 5 YEARS waiting!
I watch GSL almost from the very beginning from 2010-11. I always catch almost all of the matches or at least 90-95% of them. For a first time I missed the whole tournament and watched straight the final and protoss win after all to break the curse
Never been a huge fan of herO's gameplay but I've always adored his personality and friendly attitude. In my oppinion there is no total winner for best stalker micro control among Parting and herO. I also do remember with smile when herO defeated Byul for his previous big SSL title and for my surprise those were macro games.
I'm very impressed by herO's progress. My overall conclusion is that protosses adapt much slower and harder after military service than terrans. herO is an exceptions. I'll start calling him the ExceptionalToSS, hehe.
In first 2 games I haven't seen such PvT domination for a LOOONG time, probably since 2018 may be when Classic before his military period really smashed terrains (except Maru). Every move was the right move from herO. When I see his quick reaction from mines attack, then I say to myself: Okay, this guy deserves playing in a final match. After those 2 games both players became a bit sloppy, probably herO became nervious, but he still believed in his builds and his approach of the game. I was shocked I didn't see any colossus, then I saw some shockingly sloppy game with disruptors, but also perfected high templars gameplay.
Congrats to herO. But again the match-up on its second part seemed very close despite the final result. I really hope SC2 lives longer. Believing to be as competitive as in the past is a bit utopic, cause many top players do not play anymore or they are in the military, but I hope for more for less dominations and more balanced wins by different players. And protosses too. Usually protosses conlcude certain eras. Like JangBi did in Kespa Broodwar. Hope this does not happen again.

Curufinwe Feanor

Brazil91 Posts

August 03 2022 11:23 GMT

#14

"He showed that the series of our life is within us somewhere—a moment where we overcome the obstacles and become something greater."

Goosebumps!!

[PkF] Wire

France24237 Posts

August 03 2022 15:04 GMT

#15

Terrific write-up. Congrats herO !

mariarandall

2 Posts

August 03 2022 15:09 GMT

#16

--- Nuked ---

covetousrat

2109 Posts

August 03 2022 15:49 GMT

#17

First GSL Protoss champion in 5 years and the Bisu of SC2 for revolutionize PvZ.

SwordSCII

17 Posts

August 03 2022 16:50 GMT

#18

Congrats to herO! I absolutely loved how he played during his games, the gateway style is so cool. Great writeup

Kitai

United States878 Posts

August 03 2022 18:41 GMT

#19

Hard to imagine a more impressive result. First Protoss to win GSL in 5 years, dominating a 4-time GSL champion and the best terran in the world, and doing it after a military service leave. Any one of those alone are jaw-dropping, but all 3 combined? What an astounding feat!

WombaT

Northern Ireland26218 Posts

August 03 2022 21:09 GMT

#20

Terrific write up for a terrific run

Captain Peabody

United States3126 Posts

August 04 2022 00:29 GMT

#21

wooooooo! Still happy about this.

Thanks to TL for the write-up!

Fanatic-Templar

Canada5819 Posts

August 04 2022 00:31 GMT

#22

You don't see a lot of 4-1 finals this good.

-KG-

Denmark1218 Posts

August 04 2022 11:09 GMT

#23

The curse has been broken - ALL HAIL THE KING OF PROTOSS!

Congrats to HerO - such great games and a very deserved GSL trophy!

kajtarp

Hungary485 Posts

August 05 2022 06:45 GMT

#24

Impressive win from herO. Coming back as an old fart in progaming terms after a 2 year long hiatus, and winning GSL in such short time when your race is struggling in general is a bigger and more impressive victory for me, than Maru's 4 consecutive GSL wins. I hope he won't lose motivation now because he achieved what he wanted, and would keep going far in upcoming tournaments.

Khabra

Poland40 Posts

August 07 2022 08:00 GMT

#25

The last time I was so much excited and happy about a sc2 series was when Classic sniped Rouge's lair with dts at blizzcon finals. I feel like terran had been considered so superior to protoss at least when two really good players meet for a match that matters, especially in gsl, and also in a longer macro game. With this particular win against not just a terran, but Maru, this style, herO made some breakthrough and lifted the fallen protoss nature. Thank You herO!

FataLe

New Zealand4518 Posts

August 08 2022 06:46 GMT

#26

It was the way he has come back too. bringing his own style and flair, so innovative!! well done!

egrimm

Poland1199 Posts

August 08 2022 09:14 GMT

#27

Obviously when finally Protoss wins a GSL since 5y, it is the only GSL finals I have missed to date T_T
On more serious note:
Wow! Extraordinary feat from her0! Not only it is long overdue Protoss victory but also long overdue meta shakeup in Protoss play in general. The style showcased by her0 is so refreshing, active, aggressive, all over the map and just freaking fun to watch. And on top of that the win comes just after the long military service break. Let's hope he keeps this up because frankly speaking after sOs, Stats and Zest leaving the scene it was getting harder and harder for me to keep being hyped about protoss players and StarCraft in general.
her0 is THE hero I was waiting for the longest time!