EPTThis Part II will cover PvT and PvP.
Link to Part III which covers TvT and ZvZ
PvT:
Before LotV, PvT is a matchup has been all about how Terran could kill Protoss early before they reach the late game high tech army. It's not a matchup I was particularly fond of, watching bio ball either endless kiting Zealots or melting to Collusus and storms are not the peak of SC2 I was looking for. But it became a much better matchup when LotV came around, when Terran gained Cyclones and Liberators and Protoss's capital ships are actually viable, both races became much more evenly matched from early to late games, producing more dynamic and exciting games in my book.
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TY vs Zest, 2016 GSL S1 Finals G1, Dusk Tower.
(Game started at 46:25 first video, then continue in second video)
There was a bit of an interesting dynamic between the two before this game. Zest was on an invincible killing spree, he has won the last 10 PvT matches against the best Terrans in the world. However, somehow he had never beaten TY before in his career as he lost both of previous two encounters. Zest vowed for revenge when they finally meet at this GSL finals when he's at the height of his power.
There are enough up and downs in this game that it honestly felt like hours has passed when it finished. It features some of the most jaw-dropping multitasking and positional plays ever in TvP.
Legacy of this game(spoiler): + Show Spoiler +
This is the first truly great TvP of LotV. Paved the road for all the awesomeness to come.
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Maru vs Stats, 2019 GSL ST Ro.16 G4, Year Zero
The game itself is awesome enough, but it's even better when you consider the context. Maru was just fresh off winning 4 straight GSLs, one of the greatest tournament achievement in SC2 history. He's been known for playing bio his whole career, rarely ever go mech in any matchup. In this series against Stats, Maru lost the first game with his usual bio style, then he surprised everyone by pulling out the mech build in game 2, which was not just rare for him, it's extremely rare and considered not feasible against Protoss at all. What was Maru thinking?
Stats was caught completely off guard. He scouted it way too late and straight up lost G2 to the first Mech push. Maru went Mech again in G3, this time Stats scouted it early, and we ended up with an exciting action-packed game that's so refreshing to watch because of the unit combination. Stats still lost G3, but it's a much closer game than G2, and quite frankly a best game of the year contender already. No one is laughing now, this mech build seems legit. Maru went with mech again in G4, and everyone held their breath to see how would Stats respond this time after two straight loses and facing elimination. Then there it is, we got a 35 minute epic game that features flexible tech switch, never ending micro battle, and the most intense back and forth tug of war fights we've ever seen in TvP, or any matchup in that matter.
Legacy of this game(spoiler): + Show Spoiler +
Aside from the amazing quality of the game itself, this game and the whole series is almost a short synopsis of how Mech style works in SC2 TvP: Terran tried it as a surprise strategy for Protoss, caught them off guard in some exceptionally epic and entertaining games, but Protoss quickly figure out how to shut it down. Then we are back to bio TvP all day. I can't help but wondering "what could have been" if Mech is actually viable in SC2 TvP every time I watch this one-hit-wonder of a game.
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PartinG vs Innovation, 2020 GSL S2 Group B Match3, Deathaura
This is another extremely unique game of PvT that's unlike any other. It's already doesn't look like your typical PvT when Parting throwed down the proxy Robo, then it went completely off the rails when he proceeded to take the hidden expansion with rich gas geysers. It's almost funny to type out some of the stuff happned in this game. 5 minute Immortal drop harrassment? 6 minute Psi-storm drop? No natural expansion from Protoss until 10 minute mark? Mass archons and High Templar flanking mass Siege Tanks?
Usually, in this kind of sOs-eque crazy Protoss cheese games, you will have a cunning strategist, a dumbfounded opponent, and the game usually ends quickly when the strategy worked or gets defended. But what separates this game from the rest is how both players improvised on the unusual situation very decisively and confidently, making all the right counters to opponent's moves, somehow turning it into a stablized marco game, even featuring one of the greatest PvT engagements in SC2 history. That engagement by itself is already worth it to watch the whole game for. You really see both player's strongest traits shining in this chaos, it's a game that really highlight the "strategy“ in the RTS genre name.
Legacy of this game(spoiler): + Show Spoiler +
That engagement in the middle of the map where PartinG surrounds the "scariest Terran army ever"(according to Tasteless) with a 4 way flank and blanket Storms is, I repeat, one of the greatest PvT engagements in SC2 history. No one else use Storm flanks out of nowhere quite like PartinG.
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Classic vs Special, 2018 WCS Group D G1, Lost and Found
This is a game that defies all expectations. You would think this should be a easy win for Classic, the best PvT player in the world at the time. You would think that first Special push would be hard to stop because Classic didn't have enough chargelots. You would think Classic's Psi-storm drop would crash Special's army by surprise. You would think Special already won the game after a great engagement and doubling Classic's supply. None of that turned out to be true, and we are only just a little over half way point in the game. There are at least 5 more equally dramatic twists waiting for you. In a matchup where one successful engagement could snowball into a win so quickly, it's so rare to see a game that swings back and forth so violently and for so long. An instant classic!(heh).
Legacy of this game (spoiler): + Show Spoiler +
One of Special's greatest win against Korean players in his entire career.
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Maru vs herO, 2022 GSL S2 Finals G2, Curious Minds
This game is what happens when a unstoppable force meets ... another unstoppable force. Contrary to a lot of my other picks in the list, there's not a whole lot of multi-prong harrasments in this game. All their attention are on the front line, because every time Maru or herO moved out with their main army in this game, they went straight for the opponent's throat with an seemingly unstoppable army that could kill any other player. You are left wondering "how is he not dead?!" every time a push ends, and it happened both way, multiple times. They were able to just meet each other with the most crisp reaction time and flawless micro one could ever imagine.
Legacy of this game(spoiler): + Show Spoiler +
herO played one of the exceptional PvT I've ever seen in this final, displayed highest level of skill in micro/macro/multitasking/map preparation, whole series was extremely intense and entertaining despite the 4:1 one-sided score. Absolutely deserved this first Protoss GSL titles after 5 years drought, right after a recent return from military no less. One of the most inspiring game and series in 2022.
Honorable Mentions:
There are a few incredible PvTs that I think are just a liiiiittle short of the three games I listed here, the gap is so close that I would like to give them a shout out and also list my reasons for not including them.
TY vs Stats, 2017 IEM Katowice FInals G3, Abyssal Reef: All around extremely entertaining PvT on highest level (reason against: game ending fight happened too fast and a bit underwhelming)
TY vs Neeb, 2018 GSL S3 semifinals G4: comeback after comeback after comeback and then unbelievable ending! (reason against: both player made game-ending mistakes in the end)
Clem vs MaxPax, DH 2021 Fall: Europe, LB Semifinals, G3: The peak of TvP micro war on both side. Actions starts from first minute to very end, not a single second of down time. Both players played at such blindingly fast speed it honestly felt like AI against each other. It pains me to leave this one out of top 5 (reason against: highest supply count is only 160 for both players, only thing it lacks is some proper late game large scale battle)
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PvP:
Disruptor is a very controversial unit, but I will appreciate it if just for breaking up the boring Colossus vs Colossus PvP mid game meta. Now we have incredibly engaging Stalker/Disruptor wars to watch, which I much prefer. Together with the fact that Carriers and Tempest are actually viable in late games now, it's fair to say PvP is also at its best state in LotV for most viewers.
Neeb vs Trap 2017 KeSPA Cup Finals G4, Apotheosis
Many people will point to Neeb vs Stats on King Sejong Station as the signature PvP of this tournament, but I disagree personally. That game was indeed a textbook of how PvP in LotV should be played in early/mid/late game, but it felt more like two boxers throwing light jabs at each other all 12 rounds and one of them eventually won by points. In comparison, in this game between Neeb and Trap, both of them was throwing heavy knock-out punches at each other all game long.
PvP Stalker/Disruptor vs Stalker/Disruptor fights allows for such a small margin of error it rarely last more than a few minutes, one good Disruptor shot is often enough to win the game. But the Disruptor war in this game just went on forever with the tension never letting up, words cannot describe just how stressful and epic it feels watch it from start to finish. It's certainly not a game for the faint of heart. I need a cigarret after rewatching it every time, and I don't even smoke.
Legacy of this game(spoiler): + Show Spoiler +
Neeb won this game to finish off the impressive sweep over Trap in 2016 KeSPA Cup, completing one of the most dominant PvP runs in history, and became the first foreigner to win premier tournaments on Korea soil ever in SC2.
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Neeb vs Astrea, DH MastersSummer 2020 NA - Grand Finals, G1, Eternal Empire
SC2HL, the famous Youtube channel making shorter highlight videos for SC2 games, did their best and edit this 35-minute long game into a 29 minute highlight video. There's almost nothing to trim!
This is a game that's literally a highlight reel from start to finish. It's like both players made a deal with Blizzard to play a ultimate showmatch to display all that's great about SC2. But make no mistake, it's a serious competitive match in a premeire tournament grand finals between two of the best Protoss players. They both displayed the highest skills and played their hearts out to win, and it just somehow turned out to be the most impeccably fun, dramatic, hilarious and exhausting game to watch. Grab your popcorn before watching it for the first time.
