Standard LR rules apply: No balance whining, no KeSPA vs. GomTV inciting, no excessive derailing ESPECIALLY when games are on. This is not a thread for you to argue with other people.
Dear God. How can I best express the epicness that this match is surely to be? Much ado has been made over GSL Finals less worthy than this semi finals match. Let's start with the single most staggering fact about these two players. Neither player has almost ever performed "badly". They have this really sick ability to always have a stellar performance even at their worst - when injury (Mvp) or inexperience (Rain) might hinder them. Continue reading this litany to Rain & Mvp, fully knowing that these guys are two natural born winners, highly honed weapons, and successful trained killers.
"GSL's most wanted: goes by the moniker of "Mvp". Do not try to parley with this merciless killer, unless John the translator can mediate and translate for you." Mvp - WANTED
How can we forget what Mvp has done to our lone Ro8 foreign ranger Naniwa? Full of hope we were, arrayed around the giant television at TaKe's house. Socke, HasuObs, ReaL, Phoenix, Monchi, Dennis and me were watching the GSL Ro8 with hope and trepidation. Naniwa was on a roll, but Mvp made him look silly. Before I played SC2 competitively, I'd watch GSL and be full of criticism at the player's mistakes, like Naniwa's micro during the bunker rushes. When I first played against GSL-worthy players, I suddenly realized it's very different from the luxury of my computer seat, watching a full-vision stream or facing one of these ruffians on the street (or, in the game). Mvp's preparation and ruthless approach even gave him a victory over his favorite "free-win-ticket" PartinG, back then without a doubt a PvT specialist. In the meantime, there is this little voice in the opponent's head that says, "You're losing to a guy with wrist injuries, wtf!". Step one to playing against Mvp would be to have 0 care or sympathy. Though deserving of sympathy outside of the game, Mvp has shown that it does not matter or that he does not let it get to him. That's the hallmark of tenacity and iron will power.
What can we expect from Mvp in this match?
Who can really predict what Mvp will do against Rain? All right, we can narrow it down. I doubt we'll see a full fledged Factory style. Everything else is open. We may even see late-game Battlecruisers if the situation merits it. Rain doesn't attack a lot in PvT, rather preferring to strangle out his opponent and force a favorable engagement on his own terms. Mvp, being the smart player he is, must definitely recognize this and slip some tricks up his sleeve. I wouldn't be surprised to see at least one game going late with Nuclear Missles or Battlecruisers, another with a 2-base viking/scv attack and the remainder of the games being greedy macro being disguised as all-in strategies. Throwing up a bunker in Protoss' territory, then turning tail and going for 3 Orbitals. I almost have to assume that Mvp will do at least 1 one-base allin, such as marine/SCV pull. It is unlikely that Rain has faced this very much yet in his short SC2 career, and there are a lot of specifics to dealing with that.
"Have you seen this killer? Call KeSPA IMMEDIATELY. Do not engage or approach. Suspect is armed and highly dangerous, and has sick map awareness." Rain - WANTED
"Rain" can be recognized by his excellent ability to switch up strategies in Best-of-3+series, executes his build orders with a precision and - despite his short tenure in SC2 - is already revolutionizing every PvX match-up. It's not big things, right? He's not going to go Carriers rush or figure out a new way to cannon Terrans or such. He has unbelievably solid, stable builds with a great map awareness and reaction time, and gets to this later stage of the game where he is so dangerous, patient and calculative. His ingenious openers allow him to get to that point.
If I'm quite honest, I don't quite know how he does it. He's been improving every time we've seen him play, and his mentality seems powerful. He already has such impeccable attention to detail, and I know the reader is probably wearying of my sycophantic writing, but it has to be said! I don't think there's a Protoss in the world who has shown this level of play yet, and not a Protoss in the world doesn't look at SKT1Rain and says: that guy is freaking good.
What can we expect from Rain in this match?
It's going to be hard to guess. He has done openers ranging from DT's, Colossi and Charge/HT in this match-up, and the potential list of new builds he might use is vast. Rain doesn't seem to throw in a hardcore cheese every now and then - you could say that it would be rare or unlikely to see Rain put all his eggs into one basket. He uses openers that could sometimes lead to a cheese but he only uses them to inflict damage. Expect Rain to pick his fights with the utmost care. I've attempted to copy Rain's builds and transitions, with some success, but the way that man engages his opponent and how he picks his fights is hard to copy, for this you can only rely on your own well trained instincts. Rain played from slightly behind or ahead against Liquid`HerO in the Ro8 and always squeezed out a very convincing win. I doubt we'll see Nexus first or Proxy gates from Rain. Another thing that really weighs heavily here is his upcoming study of IMmvp. There can be no doubt that Rain will base his play on the upcoming maps using a mindmap of Mvp's mind, based off the last few months' worth of games that Mvp has played. There are plenty of replays and VOD's to find, and they will tell Rain this: You don't know what you can expect from Mvp with a certainty. The guy can go triple Orbital, 2 rax scv allin and everything in between. Therefore I expect Rain to come up with some solid builds that contain a sting. In order to keep control of the Best of 5, Rain will need to apply pressure on Mvp like we are normally only used to seeing in PvZ. He can't just sit back and let Mvp's little plans envelop him. For this reason I am completely stoked to see this match and I couldn't have wished for a better semi-finals than Rain vs Mvp.
Prediction:
I think Rain will win both GSL and OSL, therefore I see him winning against Mvp. Having said that, Mvp could be his toughest hurdle yet, despite his self-professed and understandable weakness in the PvZ match-up (he might face ST`Life in the finals). I thought Rain would beat HerO 3-1, and he did 3-0. I didn't think Rain would beat TaeJa, and he beat him 2-0. My gut says Rain 3-1 Mvp, so he'll probably win 3-0. I don't know how, I can't support it with arguments or logic, but there you have it.
Rain 3-0 MVP
TaeJa vs. Life
TaeJa and Life are both young and cheeky players, who haven't learned enough yet to be scared of things. This is working out well for them, because presently they are both on a meteoric rise in the scene. TaeJa is the name we've been hearing so solidly the last few months, and his story is just beautiful. Joining a foreign team but not getting cursed? That's news worthy. The "friend's team" of the foreign scene, Liquid, must be proud both to see TaeJa's stellar progress as well as having had the prescience of TaeJa going super saiyan. Winning 3 tournaments in the last 3 months, it doesn't look like TaeJa's reign will end here. TaeJa's greatest skill is making insignificant armies significant and coming out on top of impossible fights (Antiga Shipyard vs IMFirst at MLG?). That was yesterday, and I think tomorrow he'll be beating Colossi with Reapers. He's solid, methodical, usually patient and really just gets the game.
Life feels a lot like a Zerg incarnation of 'MKP of a few months back' to me. The enjoyment of the game is dripping off him and crazy and zany strategies are part and parcel of his play. This is both a strength and a weakness, for a crazy player will never get the kind of stability that a player like TaeJa pursues. Hold the strategy, and Life is not going to look as impressive - may even look silly. The greatest thing Life has going for him is that he probably does not worry about that consequence, that outcome. If momentum is on Life's side, surprisingly nothing may stop him.
Both Life and TaeJa will be taking a very keen eye to their adversary's Ro8 games - but both will also realize that their counterpart is doing the same thing. Since Life probably has a 100 allins & strategies, it shouldn't be hard for him to change many of the parts of his play. TaeJa will not have that luxury, partly because of how his race works and partly because TaeJa thrives on stability. Normally, presently, I'd vote on TaeJa winning against almost anyone in the world except maybe SKT1Rain. However, I believe the study material of the Ro8 will work in the young Zerg's favor. Therefore I predict a heartbreaking defeat for TaeJa and a tantalizing victory for Life who will win with a 3:2 score. Mule dropping & Zergling dances guaranteed to be included.
oh really? ick i've heard so much stuff about this, lol originally 11th, then 10th, now 11th again!? zzz
actually, announcement makes no sense, lol. the only player in those days in WCS asia is by.rain, and it would be better for him to play on the 10th, not 11th?
oh really? ick i've heard so much stuff about this, lol originally 11th, then 10th, now 11th again!? zzz
actually, announcement makes no sense, lol. the only player in those days in WCS asia is by.rain, and it would be better for him to play on the 10th, not 11th?
ORIGINALLY it was 11th, then tastosis said it was on 10th,then that announcement popped up and said it was 11th, then wolfdor comfirmed it was on the 10th again, not 11th. so i take it that it will be on 10th, not 11th
EPT
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By.Rain vs. ![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/teams/icons/89.png){kind=icon}
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Mvp![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/oNpi1.png)
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/RpNkj.png)
Life![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/thumb/3/30/Writers_Icon.png/15px-Writers_Icon.png){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/qaV8z.png)
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/e/ea/Gomtv_ico.jpg)
GOMTV | ![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/0/0c/Vlc_ico.png)
GOMstreamer![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/aUkFA.png)
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![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Waxangel/GSL/S4_2012/rainvsmvp.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Waxangel/GSL/S4_2012/taejavslife.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/EChys.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A4cxn6XCAAEc3QL.jpg:large)
