EPTRorO, Breaking the Cycle
Samsung_RorO's Brood War legacy was as the player who was never properly rated. That wasn't so much the fans' fault as his own, as his inconsistent play made him do the overrated/underrated dance more than any other player. He would play brilliantly for stretches, draw everyone's attention, and then tank miserably. Then, after most fans had passed him off as lucky, he'd roar back with another winning streak. This led to his reputation as the 'destroyer of fantasy proleague teams,' as his point value (derived from his performance in the previous round) never accurately reflected his actual level of play.While RorO's form varied from game to game, week to week, and month to month, he actually evened out as a reliable player in the scope of a year long Proleague season. He never had trouble earning starts in the Proleague, and he was quickly scooped up by Samsung KHAN 2011 when his former team WeMADE Fox folded. He played just well enough in individual leagues to reach the Ro16, but got never any further. Almost poetically, he ended his Brood War career with a win-loss record just barely shy of being perfectly even, with a 49% win rate.
So far, all the evidence pointed to RorO repeating the exact same pattern in his StarCraft II career. He somehow slugged his way through the brutal WCS qualifiers to become one of the seven players to represent Korea, only to get promptly eliminated 0 – 4 at the Global Finals. He tore through Code A and B in an impressive debut run, but was eliminated from the Code S Ro32 by Hack when he made the laughable mistake of forgetting about the six ultralisks he had in a Nydus Worm.
His Proleague season has been typically RorO as well. His WCS and GSL credentials led many to believe he would be one of the top players in the first all-SC2 Proleague, but he disappointed heavily by going 4 – 4 in the first round. He then promptly turned it around in rounds 2 and 3, where he recorded a 12 – 6 record and destroyed several StarCraft II fantasy teams as well.
All that changed in the final Wings of Liberty season of the GSL. RorO's run up to the Code S finals confounds because we've never seen him do anything like it in his five year career. So far, RorO has taken down Keen, Mvp, BBoongBBoong, Life, MC, and TaeJa in his Code S run. RorO might have had some good stretches in his Brood War career, but they were built on wins over players like HyuK, Stats, and Action – not exactly championship contenders. For good measure, RorO even took down Flash and Jaedong in the Proleague matches in between his GSL appearances. Considering that he had a combined 1 – 14 record against the two in the Brood War days, you could tell that it was strange times indeed for a player long locked into the middle-class.
History tells us that RorO will have to come down to earth. Every time he's risen up before, it's always ended with a fall. It's fitting that RorO's destiny will be decided in a Zerg vs. Zerg. Not ZvP or ZvT where RorO has consistently shown strength for all of his brief StarCraft II career. No, it's the match-up where he's most recently started to play well, going on an exciting yet worrisome streak of wins. Of all the match-ups in StarCraft II, the Zerg mirror may be the most volatile, the one where win streaks are the most misleading, and the one where any top player can beat another on a given day. It's the one where RorO's recent strength may most easily be proven to be fools gold.
However, there's the chance that RorO has finally learned how to break the cycle he has been caught in for the last five years. Already, StarCraft II has proved to be a huge opportunity to ex-Brood War players who found that their talents were more suited to the sequel. Even outside earlier converts like Mvp, Nestea, and MC, there have been more recent players who have benefited greatly. Neither Rain nor Innovation were outstanding players in Brood War, but they quickly rose to the upper echelons of StarCraft II. While those two were thwarted just short of the GSL title at the Ro4, RorO has picked up where they left off, and made it one more step of the way.
But forget about elephants, this is about a man trying to change his destiny. Five years is a long time to be tied down in mediocrity, and chances like this may never come again in a lifetime. All the signs of the past say RorO is doomed to suffer his most ruinous collapse yet. Yet, RorO has picked up so much speed in the last two months, that he might be able to break free of the cycle once and for all.
Symbol: From the Ashes
From the very day he broke out onto the scene,
Azubu.Symbol has been all about the extremes. Best Zerg in the world, fastest rising player in the world, championship contender – turning to worst choker in the world and “mediocre player” in a heartbeat. From his reverse all-kill of LG-IM in GSTL to the now legendary reverse sweep at the hands of Seed in the GSL quarterfinals, Symbol has always been a little bit up-and-down.But from his fall in 2012’s Season 3, a new player has risen from the ashes of the former TSL Zerg. And the new Symbol is much different from the old one. There have been noticeable changes in his style – the player who once planted vast forests of spine crawlers, the natural habitat of brood lords and infestors – now all about aggression, controlling the pace of the game, and bringing the fight to the opponent with a ling/ultra heavy style.
Once upon a time, Symbol might have been better off playing safe and aiming for the late-game with brood Lords, infestors and 8 hatches, various changes both to the metagame and the game itself have put Wings of Liberty in a place where it fits the Azubu Zerg much better. Not only this, but Symbol has honed his skills, perfected his abilities while he was away from the spotlight.
After his loss to Seed in Season 3, Symbol stated, he could not bring himself to practice. He couldn’t play and he couldn’t think about anything but how close he was to the semifinals. It cannot be denied that this showed for a long time after; Symbol was not the same player – not the same Zerg that inspired awe from casters, players and fans alike for a short period before his momentum was stopped so harshly by his LG-IM opponent.
But Symbol had willpower. He brought himself back from the pit of the despair, from the ashes of his failed “Become the best Zerg in the world”-campaign, and he has come back to form, and gone beyond what he was back then. The quarterfinal against Innovation showed this, proving without a doubt that he was not only still a creative Zerg, but more than capable of executing strategies on a very high level against very high level opponents. Innovation, too, is a player who excels at aggression – he was all about bringing the fight to the opponent and finding the crack in the armor, but Symbol did not break. Six months ago, he might have. I would go as far as to say that he probably would have. But Symbol went beyond not cracking, and fought back. He held on, stuck to the plan, executed well and sealed the deal with roach aggression in game five. After losing to Seed's cannon rush in game five of the Season 3 quarter-finals, Symbol proved that he, too, has the killer instincts required at the highest level.
Not too long ago, Snute stomped Symbol in the Homestory Cup VI finals, sending the GSL finalist home with a second place finish after a final where he could not even take a game off the Norwegian Zerg. Coming into his GSL semifinal against Startale’s Curious, Symbol was the underdog based on how abysmal his ZvZ had looked lately – statistically and gameplay-wise. Defying all expectations, Symbol emerged victorious and made a statement about his current form. He beat Curious, the player with the best statistical record in ZvZ in the entire world, with convincing victories in a series that ended 4 - 2. He utilized creep highways and various other unconventional strategies to varying (but mostly great) success, and he never looked like he was about to lose control of the series or let it slip out of his grip. No, Symbol stayed calm on the big stage in the most important match of his life, and he played the way he plays best – aggressively, unpredictably and to all of his strengths and all of his opponent’s weaknesses, and it has brought him here.
Last season, it was Symbol’s teammate HyuN who was in the finals, in the very same match-up against a player who was, to put it best, solid. Hyun lost that series 3 - 4 to Sniper, in a battle that saw both players driven into the ground with exhaustion. Hyun could very well have won last season against a very high caliber ZvZ-player. As stated by Symbol himself, he and Hyun are still friends despite no longer being on the same team. Symbol practiced with Hyun before his final, and Hyun will doubtlessly have returned the favor. Both players are incredibly strong and creative, and if any duo of players can prepare for a mirror match-up finals, it is these two.
Symbol is now in his first GSL final. Some would say it’s long overdue while others would say that he only got there by a fluke. He’s up against Roro, who many would agree is the favorite in this match. But Symbol has the experience advantage, having been in more elimination matches than the Samsung Zerg, and he has played in front of big live audiences before. Roro is not an easy opponent, as evidenced by his strong winrates across all match-ups, against top opposition, but Symbol is not the Zerg that lost to Seed after looking unbeatable for the first half of the series – no longer the Zerg that will be frightened by circumstances or brought off balance by external factors. What I saw in Symbol against Curious was a new player, with all the advantages of gameplay strength and good practice partners still intact, but with renewed confidence and an improved mentality.
Symbol is no longer the Zerg laid low, overshadowed by other players and considered somewhat mediocre with only flashes of brilliance sometimes showing in his play. No, tonight – all eyes are on Symbol. Like a phoenix, he has risen from the ashes and reached his first GSL final. Tonight is the most important night of Symbol’s career, and it will either be the night when he soars higher than ever before, or the night when he falls again. Looking at the confidence, composure, and intelligence he has shown this season, I know he won't fall again.
Tale of the Tape and Predictions
Azubu.SymbolCareer ZvZ: 95 wins, 93 losses (50.53%)
2013 ZvZ: 7 - 10 (41.18%)
Path to Finals
Ro32: 0 - 2 Life, 2 - 0 ByuL, 2 - 1 Creator
Ro16: 0 - 2 Squirtle, 2 - 1 MarineKing, 2 - 0 Squirtle
Ro8: 3 - 2 Innovation
Ro4: 4 - 2 Curious
Samsung_RorOCareer ZvZ: 29 wins, 16 losses (64.44%)
2013 ZvZ: 11 - 5 (68.75%)
Path to Finals
Ro32: 1 -2 MarineKing, 2 - 0 Mvp, 2 - 0 Keen
Ro16: 2 - 1 BBoongBBoong, 2 - 0 Life
Ro8: 3 - 2 MC
Ro4: 4 - 1 TaeJa
TeamLiquid Writer Predictions
Fionn: Symbol 4 - 2 RorO
Kollin: Symbol 4 - 2 RorO
monk: RorO 4 - 3 Symbol
Stuchiu: RorO 4 - 2 Symbol
Waxangel: Symbol 4 - 1 RorO
Zealously: Symbol 4 - 3 RorO
ThisIsGame Expert Predictions - Source: ThisIsGame
Director Chae: Symbol 4 - 3 RorO
Engine: RorO 4 - 1 Symbol
Gisado: RorO 4 - 1 Symbol
Artosis: RorO 4 - 2 Symbol
Khaldor: Symbol 4 - 2 RorO
Wolf: Symbol 4 - 2 RorO
John Nelson (MLG commissioner): Symbol 4 - 2 RorO
Hellspawn (DreamHack/Rakaka.se): Symbol 4 - 2 RorO
Kaoru (Team Acer/IronSquid): Symbol 4 - 2 RorO
Slasher (Gamespot): Symbol 4 - 2 RorO
Kiyo (ESFI): RorO 4 - 2 Symbol
Assorted odds and voting
Online betting odds: RorO 1.556, Symbol 2.530
PlayXP Toto odds: RorO 2.07, Symbol 1.84
Aligulac.com: RorO 64.91% - 35.09% Symbol
Liquibet: RorO 1794 - 1692 Symbol
GomTV poll: RorO 42.7% - 57.3 Symbol
ZvZ-hater, no passion
