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The supernovamaniac/blahman3344 combo is back. We’re still trying to write better analysis, but practice makes everything better (just like translations).
Prequel:
1998
supernovamaniac starts playing starcraft, but cannot beat his dad’s infinite field of cannons. T_T
2001
![[image loading]](http://dailynewschannels.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/google7.jpg)
StarCraft begins to gain attention in Korea. With many players emerging and fans cheering on, two people gained the most attention: BoxeR and YellOw. At the 2001 Coca-Cola finals, YellOw was defeated by BoxeR. Thus, the history began.
![[image loading]](http://pds12.egloos.com/pds/200812/14/03/f0078103_49441bb1ad761.jpg)
Though YellOw won 8 leagues to this date, every one of them have been considered as an ‘event league.’ He achieved 2nd place in Coca-Cola Starleague 2001, 2002 KPGA Tour (before it was renamed to MSL), 2nd KPGA tour of the same year, 2003 Olympus Starleague, and 2003 TG Sambo MSL. 5 2nd place finishes. 0 first place finish. Thus, the Kkongline was borm.
For those of you who don’t know what Kkongline is, here’s the definition from Wikipedia:
“Players who play exceptionally well but never won a final” (There is one exception to this, which will be dealt later)
Though these players do not share the exact same virus with YellOw (no one can currently carry-on the curse of 2. Only YellOw himself can carry the curse), they are pretty close.
These are the current Kkongline members:
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/issue/1278575400_1.jpg)
1. YellOw: The leader, the founder, the captain. 5 2nd place wins in individual leagues. Beat Bisu (KeSPA 2nd place at the time) on Heartbreak Ridge, 2nd game for YellOW after he joined the match, rushed at 2:22 PM to win the match. 2nd most OSL wins (A match, so called). Received a train ticket for the 22nd, 2nd car 22nd seat.
There are many more interesting facts, but those will be skipped for now.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/alffla/NATESTORKbanner.jpg)
2. Stork. The Commander. One of Taek-Bang-Lee-Ssang members, and the current leader of the TBLS age. Yet, he has won 2nd place three times. He lost once to each of the other TBLS member, including crushing losses to Flash and Jaedong in OSL. Though he did win Incruit Starleague 2008, Stork is still considered the true heir of the Kkongline.
![[image loading]](http://pds16.egloos.com/pds/200908/08/22/d0006722_4a7cd5ffba0de.jpg)
3. Fantasy. The terrorist. The royal road contender who eliminated many top players. However, he was stopped by Stork in the finals. Many fans believed this to be Fantasy’s induction into the Kkongline. Though he did make the finals again in Batoo OSL, he was reverse swept by Jaedong. This was believed to be his first task as the new Kkongline member, as he could’ve easily BBS’d his way to his victory.
4. Jangbi. The Almighty. One of the ‘6 dragons.’ Despite his amazing Proleague matches (and his amazing storms), he didn’t do well in the individual leagues. He finally made the finals in ClubDay MSL when he defeated Stork and Kal consecutively to reach the finals. However, he was destroyed by an in-shape Bisu 1-3 (but then again, Bisu’s one loss was attributed to his own failure moreso than Jangbi’s skill). His silver-streak continued when he met Luxury in the Lost Saga MSL and lost 1-3.
So “What does the legacy of the Kkong have to do with anything?” you may ask.
Well, let’s look back at what happened in Bacchus OSL 2010
It’s been a wild ride. Everyone said that Flash’s domination was so huge that they were assuming StarCraft has reached its limit. Flash is God. Flash is unbeatable.
Yet, during the Round of 16, Flash gets knocked out from his group, thanks to Kal, Hyuk, and small sabotage from Paralyze.
Jaedong, who was confident that he’ll do great in this season and feed Hiya some Magikarp Bread, was humiliated when he had to play Hiya’s drum and get eliminated from Round of 16.
No Flash-Jaedong in Round of 8. Last 2 times they were in Round of 16, one of the knocked the other out (and by that I mean Flash killed Jaedong two times). They were untouchable. Yet, now we have Flash-Jaedong-less OSL.
With those two players gone, few other players were favored to win.
1. Stork - His games were amazing for past few weeks, and he’s been keeping it up
2. Fantasy - Removing Stork from the picture, Fantasy has the greatest potential to win this OSL with his terrorist vultures
3. Kal - Protoss of the year, and removed Flash from the OSL
Unfortunately, Kal couldn’t teamkill and was dropped out of OSL at Round of 8.
After few weeks of intense battles, drinking Bacchus, and chanting ‘SONG BYONG GU’ we have our final match of the season.
![[image loading]](http://imgnews.naver.com/image/236/2011/01/26/1296038680_1.jpg)
The re-match of Incruit OnGamenet Starleague. More importantly,
![[image loading]](http://www.aspshop.net/upload/upimg4/Executive-Silver-Plated-Mouse--30454.jpg)
What’s at stake. This isn’t actually the “Silver Mouse” but its the closest thing we could find. Cut us some slack. TT
<Maps>
![[image loading]](http://i53.tinypic.com/1zqvrl3.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i53.tinypic.com/1zqvrl3.jpg)
Let’s talk about stats.
Bacchus OSL TvP: 6-14
Stork’s PvT: 5-1
Fantasy’s TvP: 1-0
Map stats (for OSL):
Aztec TvP: 5-1
Gladiator TvP: 2-5
Pathfinder TvP: 3-4
Icarus TvP: 1-0
Though Stork has whooping PvT record this season, his only loss was on Icarus to Hiya, whom he beat later in the series 2-1. Fantasy, who only played one TvP this season, won in Gladiator which seems heavily Protoss-favored based on the records.
Extra analysis on Aztec and Icarus:
Aztec TvP: 13-28
Icarus TvP: 18-15
(Overall Stats)
Though Icarus’s record is somewhat balanced, Aztec is heavily Protoss-favored.
supernovamaniac’s thoughts:
Set 1 - Gladiator:
Stats do say that this is Protoss favored map. I was very surprised to see this actually for few reasons. I believed that having many ridges around the map itself plus expos near the ridges would give Terran some advantage due to sieged tanks. I guess that’s not the situation however, as Protoss is leading Terran 5:2 on this map.
After reanalyzing the map, I realized that I missed the most important feature of the map.
Although the ridges go around the map connecting every bases and such, the path through the middle virtually takes you anywhere you want in an instant. It’s easy for zealots to take one route while the goons take the other route, and then sandwich the Terran forces instantly.
Anyways, taking one of the ridges will give you an advantage, as you can ‘almost’ safely take an expo at 12, 3, 6, and 9. I said ‘almost’ because the path to the expo is low-ground, meaning the units can go around through the center easily.
To be honest, I think Set 1 have one of the better matches of the series. Though Protoss is favored on this map, the uniqueness allows so many different ways to fight. The person who utilizes this the most will win the match.
And the person who would play better with that style, in my opinion, is Stork. Sure, Fantasy has the vulture terror, but that will only kill probes, not the entire army.
However, it’s still anyone’s game. I say Stork, but we’ll have to see what happens.
Set 2 - Aztec:
Aztec has a large center area, just good enough for any decent/large Protoss army to have a good fight with slight concave. However, I would rather emphasize on the structure of the ridges, walls, and ramps.
This is definitely carrier map. First of all, if you haven’t seen Kal vs Flash, watch it now. Even as Flash, the master of anti-carrier, tried to finish Kal off with mass goliath, he wasn’t able to (the fact that he didn’t have +2 attack range didn’t help either, since Flash couldn’t melt away Kal’s interceptors).
It’s really easy for carriers to attack one place and then runaway without getting severely damaged. Take 4 main and the natural for example. If Terran takes the natural expo but does not places units on 6, then it is a really easy way for carriers to eat away the command center, as well as anything else in the way (also notice how the gas is placed really close to the wall). When goliath arrive, the carriers can just runaway left, or even better, stay in the gray area so that Terran cannot attack (of course, without scan).
This applies to pretty much every base on this map, except for the 3 expansions that are located off-ramp.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Stork goes Reaver-Carrier on this map to finish off Fantasy.
However, I also believe this is one of the maps where Fantasy will bring out his teacher’s specialized build (oov). This is one map that if Fantasy wins, he will have a huge advantage, both statistically and psychologically.
Still, I see Stork taking Set 2.
Set 3 - Pathfinder:
This is an interesting map. While the map has a center that allows players for huge fights, it also has an outside ring that players can go around, while taking expos. Think of it as Outsider SE without any mineral wall, and with very close air distances.
The center is huge, but not huge enough for Protoss to have a good 200/200 fight straight on. However, the Y-shaped center allows Protoss players to flank from the both sides to the one small path. Flanking the units from the back might be a good idea, but those might get caught when the additional units come out (such as zealot tries to get to the tanks by going around the map, but the additional vultures wipe out the zealots, or the Terran sandwich might fail when additional dragoons/zealots come out from Protoss’s main).
Key point in this map will be position and the strategy. Position for the reasons above, and the strategy because of the really close air distances. Carrier will be useful early on since the distances between the bases are really close, but it will be hard to use them late game since the map is very open.
This map will be purely based on the player’s skills. Better player will win this map. At this rate, I would say that the better player is Stork, so I’m guessing that he will take Set 3. This is however anyone’s game. Reaver vs Vulture terror.
Set 4 - Icarus:
If we happen to end up in Icarus, Fantasy should have an advantage on this map. The incorporation of the bridges make it slightly Terran favored, plus the small areas, including the center, makes it hard for Protoss to flank if they are not prepared. Timing pushes can be deadly if not scouted properly.
The path to the third expos have a long, somewhat narrow bridge leading up to the ramp. Unless Protoss micros properly or has massive amounts, it might be hard for Protoss to take down Terran’s 3rd. Likewise, the small bridge makes it perfect for killing off Protoss’s 3rd, if the terrain is used properly.
Mass recall can work for Protoss’s favor, but that’s if the Protoss can land a recall. Due to the terrain, there are limited areas where Protoss can safely recall for each base. Arbiter stasis is good, but due to small fighting ground, a well casted stasis can work against Protoss as it becomes a wall between zealots and sieged tanks.
If Stork has something up his sleeve, we should see it here. Otherwise, Fantasy takes Set 4.
Set 5 - Gladiator
If we end up in Set 5, then both players will have to brace themselves. It’s the final match. There’s no turning back. One failed cheese will send you back to the Kkongline, but succeeding with the cheese will give you one way ticket to heaven.
Though same analysis applies from the Set 1 analysis, it’s likely that we’ll see interesting timing builds by both players (most likely Fantasy however, since oov gives Fantasy all these amazing builds).
This fight will not be easy. Both players will not back down until completely crushed and demolished.
blahman’s thoughts:
Gladiator: This map is favored towards Protoss, and for a good reason. The map is laid out with a lot on high-ground ridges, but it also has a lot of connecting paths that meet in the middle. This means that a Terran can’t just straight-up push, because the Protoss army has many round-about routes to travel to avoid the Terran army. Knowing Stork’s PvT prowess, he will probably abuse this and give Fantasy a run for his money. My prediction is that Stork will take both games on Gladiator (should it get to game 5).
Aztec:Neither Stork nor Fantasy played many PvTs/TvPs on Aztec, so I can’t really make a judgement off that. Instead, I will just go with the stats (and some map analysis) and say that Stork will win on Aztec. The middle is big enough so that the Protoss army can get a decent concave on the Terran army, and it’s pretty hard for Terran to expand past their 4th base, should it ever get to that point.
Pathfinder: A more balanced PvT/TvP map, but still somewhat favored towards Protoss. Again, with this map, there are round-about routes to avoid the Terran army, but this time they’re much narrower, and a lot more manageable for the Terran. However, due to the close air-distances, this will make drop play highly-encouraged for both players. I imagine that Stork will do a reaver build on this map, as he has had success with it before.
Icarus: If Fantasy had a map where he should have an advantage, it would be Icarus. With a lean towards terran-favored, Icarus seems like it would be the map where Fantasy could win. Icarus has a lot of small bridges and a relatively small center, so it’s a decent for a defensive Terran to play. Also, timing pushes would be very deadly as there is little room for the Protoss to maneuver around if they are unprepared. Ultimately, I think Fantasy will take this.
supernovamaniac’s score guess: Fantasy 2 - 3 Stork. I see Stork losing one of Set 1 or Set 3, and Set 4. Though I expect Stork 3-1, Fantasy has a good advantage on Set 4 with Icarus. Either way, I see Stork taking the gold this time around.
blahman’s outcome prediction: Looking at current performances, and the map ordering, Stork will take this either 3-0 or 3-2.
![[image loading]](http://pds17.egloos.com/pds/201004/14/46/a0033146_4bc58899d0ba4.jpg)
You know you want to lose~
Who will join YellOw as the true successor of the Kkongline? Who will use his opponent as the sacrifice to get out of the Kkongline?
Poll: Who will win?
Stork 3 : 1 Fantasy (163)
26%
Fantasy 3 : 2 Stork (146)
23%
Stork 3 : 2 Fantasy (127)
20%
Fantasy 3 : 0 Stork (81)
13%
Stork 3 : 0 Fantasy (68)
11%
Fantasy 3 : 1 Stork (48)
8%
633 total votes
Fantasy 3 : 2 Stork (146)
Stork 3 : 2 Fantasy (127)
Fantasy 3 : 0 Stork (81)
Stork 3 : 0 Fantasy (68)
Fantasy 3 : 1 Stork (48)
633 total votes
Your vote: Who will win?
(Vote): Fantasy 3 : 0 Stork
(Vote): Fantasy 3 : 1 Stork
(Vote): Fantasy 3 : 2 Stork
(Vote): Stork 3 : 0 Fantasy
(Vote): Stork 3 : 1 Fantasy
(Vote): Stork 3 : 2 Fantasy
Bacchus OnGamenet StarLeague 2010 Finals
![[image loading]](http://img1.fomos.kr/board/photo/1296038428_1.jpg)
By.Fantasy vs
Stork[gm]
Live English Commentary by Sayle. Live English Translation by supernovamaniac
Saturday 29th, 18:00 KST
Channel: OGN
Streams will be provided on the day of. Please check the LR thread
![[image loading]](http://img1.fomos.kr/board/photo/1296038428_1.jpg)
![Terran (T)](https://tl.net/tlpd/images/Ticon_small.png)
![Protoss (P)](https://tl.net/tlpd/images/Picon_small.png)
Live English Commentary by Sayle. Live English Translation by supernovamaniac
Saturday 29th, 18:00 KST
Channel: OGN
Streams will be provided on the day of. Please check the LR thread
P.S. And yes. YellOw will be there to crown his successor.