EPT![[image loading]](http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww316/Slugbreath/GanZi_who.jpg)
I got an text message on my phone back in May 19th. It was from my friend and fellow StarCraft-player SmiLeSE. The message was short but the meaning of it simple:
”GanZi är ny favvospelare.”
This roughly translates, from the barbaric language that is swedish, into:
”GanZi is my new favourite progamer”.
Like probably a lot of you would have, I asked myself the question ”GanZi? GanZi who?”.
Looking at his current statistics on TLPD reveals a not too impressive win ratio of 38.15%, yet after have watched a few of GanZi’s games, I am inclined to agree with my friend in his statement that GanZi is, indeed, a fun gamer to watch.
So what makes GanZi stand out? That is the question I am going to try and answer in this text.
A brief background
As far as I can tell (ergo: according to TLPD), GanZi first made his debut on the proscene back in 2006 where he, during the 2006 Spring MST Offline Preliminaries, played against
SaferZerg and lost.While I am not sure if this is the first game that GanZi played or not at prolevel (since the TLPD isn't always complete), losing to SaferZerg is no real shame for somebody new to the scene. After all, Safer has been around since 2001.
Ever since then GanZi has been showing up at tournaments and playing games against various opponents, even taking a win now and then from famous players like
Jaedong, 
Much (more on that later) and the 
Emperor himself.He also managed to impress Nal_rA, which is quite and endorsement to say the least.
But all of this is something that you could find out by simply just looking at the TLPD. It doesn’t answer why I like GanZi’s playstyle. So let’s take a look at it.
Style of play
GanZi is a macro player that has been seen running around the map with Vultures every now and then (even though he is no
Tornado Terran by far) or even taking a page out of Fantasy's book.But what I think really sets GanZi apart from many players is his ability to every now and then do something out of the ordinary. In Averatec-Intel Classic Season 1, the tournament that made me and my friend discover GanZi in the first place, GanZi went on a rampage producing game after game with rather strange tactics defeating both Kwanro and Much before eventually being eliminated by BackHo.
In fact, GanZi’s games through out the tournament were probably among the most fun to watch since they had a plethora of rather weird but brilliant moves.
Sure, some of them were rather cheesy like when he floated a Barracks into Kwanro’s main and pumped firebats from it and thus rendering the Sunken Colony at the choke point completely useless.
![[image loading]](http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww316/Slugbreath/landed_barracks.jpg)
GanZi landing a Barracks in Kwanro’s main
While other moves were nothing less than a stroke of genious, such as building a hidden expansion on the wrong side of the mineral line, causing the scouting probe to completely miss the fact that GanZi was mining there.
![[image loading]](http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww316/Slugbreath/hidden_CC.jpg)
GanZi’s very hidden expansion on Othello
The list can go on with stunts like SCV:s taking out a Hatchery, blocking the path of a Vulture by building a Supply Depot in front of it and midgame landing of Barracks in or near the opponent’s main.
In fact, his ingenuity is what I think sets him aside from most progamers and is the key reason to why I like to see him play.
Weaknesses
So if ingenuity is his, according to me, main strength, what are his weaknesses?
Well, it boils down to three things:
1. Dropship use
GanZi’s dropship use has been far from outstanding. More than often he doesn’t use them at all and when he does, his drops are largely unsuccessful. Sure, there are exceptions but often his dropships don't do much damage.
2. Target firing/execution
Releated to his lack of good dropship control is his not too good target firing and execution of wacky ideas.
In many occasions he has done something interesting, such as landing a Barracks in the perimeter of his opponent’s base and producing a Marine, only to then not use it for anything properly.
![[image loading]](http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww316/Slugbreath/bad_decision.jpg)
GanZi landing a Barracks in Much’s base and attacking the Robotics Facility rather than the Probes.
Thus although he often has fun ideas, it’s not always he puts them into good use; the most well-known example probably being his double Barracks proxy against Kwanro.
3. Economy
GanZi has had a tendency to fall behind economically in many matches, not expanding at the rate he needs to keep up and also having SCVs participating in what Tasteless called “a group nap”. This is especially true for games earlier in his career and is something that has vastly improved by now.
Much
I wouldn't go so far as declaring Much as GanZi's rival, but I will say that the times they have faced eachother have been interesting games. To date, GanZi and Much have faced six times (again, according to TLPD) and they have each won three of the games.
Does this mean that they are equally matched when it comes to facing each other? No, of course that doesn’t have to be the case. Basic statistics show us that unless we can get more observations on the matter, it’s highly difficult to draw any conclusions of who is the better player.
What I can say for sure, however, is that the four games I have watched between the two of them have all been highly entertaining.
GanZi’s victories over Much can to a rather high degree be appointed to two facts:
1. Much’s Scarabs
For some reason, Much’s Reaver shots never seem to work against GanZi. In fact, they failed so often that GOMTV commentator Tasteless has started to call a bad scarab attack for a ”Much Scarab”.
2. GanZi’s mines
GanZi has had some seriously good mines against Much. Now, mine placement is one of GanZi’s strengths, don’t get me wrong on that, but Much has been very careless on the battlefield against GanZi and pointlessly lost many troops to mines.
Nevertheless, I am always looking forward to more games between the two. Now that Much will be playing for ACE, we’ll see how it will affect the results.
Emotion
As opposed to many players, GanZi does seem to show emotion when he wins or loses. He’s not like some progamers who you can’t tell if they just won or lost by looking at them. GanZi shows emotion when he plays.
Call it a good or a bad thing if you wish, it is, however the case that GanZi does show emotion when he plays.
![[image loading]](http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww316/Slugbreath/tongue.jpg)
GanZi sighing and sticking his tongue out after his proxy factory was spotted by a marine produced from a proxy barracks!
So why do I like GanZi so much?
These days it’s not something special when a player becomes a
macro monster. In fact, the game has become very mechanical and macro oriented. Which the exceptions of the occasional cheese and the sporadic game played by the Emperor himself, innovative play and thinking outside of the box is not that common anymore.That’s why I like GanZi and players like him. He might not always succeed with his plans, but if he does or not doesn’t really matter 'cause the game has already become more exciting than it would have otherwise and I will pick that over pure mechanical perfection any day.
Tasteless once said: “And you can see GanZi knows he’s not SlayerS_`BoxeR` junior just yet.”
He might not be, but StarCraft still needs players who think outside the box. StarCraft needs GanZi.
/Slugbreath
