EPTSymbol vs. RorO: Recap
It all came down to this. The final Wings of Liberty GSL finals. Samsung KHAN's RorO had reached the finals on the back of solid play across all three match-up, taking out one former champion after another, earning the respect if not the love of GSL fans everywhere. On the other hand, the KeSPA diehards stood firmly in his corner, championing him as the one who would fulfill a prophecy long foretold. Azubu's Symbol had officially completed his comeback, reaching the final he had seemed destined to reach seasons ago, defeating two other late-blooming hopefuls in Innovation and Curious along the way. Outside the GSL, Symbol had reached many finals before. All of those journeys had ended in runner-up finishes for Symbol, but a Code S championship would exorcise all of his silvery demons.
In the end, the last Code S Wings of Liberty finals ended up being a repeat of the one that came before it. The player from the shadows toppled the (ex-)TSL Zerg, proving that while he may have been less hyped and less liked, he was undeniably better. While many people supported Symbol in their hearts, the numbers showed that RorO was a superior Zerg vs. Zerg player to Symbol in both the long and short term views of their careers. This manifested early on an early 3 - 0 lead for RorO, which proved to be insurmountable. Though Symbol showed grit and perseverance to come back 2 - 3, RorO closed him out in the sixth set. Like his close friend and former teammate HyuN, Symbol finally bit the dust on Cloud Kingdom, the victim of one fatal mistake after a hard fought battle.
Going into this finals, it was clear that it was the least hyped finals in a long time. HotS was looming, fan's tolerance for Zerg had long run thin, and people simply did not feel compelled to watch. Even the ever-enthusiastic casting archon Tastosis could not ignore these facts. But in the end, Symbol and Roro converted some skeptics and proved doubters wrong. They delivered a finals much better than many that had come before it. It was not a storybook ending to the Wings of Liberty era of the GSL, but it was one that paid homage to its roots. A talented but unfulfilled Zerg player from Brood War made the switch, realized his talent, and finally won the glory he had been seeking for years.
Game One: Akilon Flats
Both players opened hatch first, with Symbol going into pool before gas whereas Roro elected to take his gas before the pool. Past the slightly different openings, the game played out mostly the same for the next couple of minutes, with both players going into ling/baneling and adding on their spires shortly after. Both players attempted to poke around with their mutalisks and lings, but they both transitioned into the standard roach/infestor armies after failing to deal any significant damage.
From that point on, the game played out like a standard ZvZ, as both battled with roach-hydra-infestor armies while constantly trying to get ahead economically with extra bases. Symbol gain an edge by mixing in his signature ZvZ nydus worm play, but Roro was on top of his game and denied all attempts.
With neither player able to take an advantage at the muta-ling nor roach-infestor phases of the game, they both moved up to the highly confusing infestor-brood lord late game. Both sides threw down dozens upon dozens of broodlings to wear each other down, without it being clear who was getting the better of the other. Almost forty minutes into the game, with the map being split almost evenly in half, Roro finally managed to land the money fungals that allowed him to severely damage and eventually kill Symbol's brood lords, forcing the GG. (Symbol 0 - 1 RorO)
Game Two: Icarus
Game two started out mirroring game one, with both players opening up hatch first, following up with spawning pools and extractors on the backdoor rich gas geysers. Symbol started up his ling speed and threw down his roach warren slightly earlier than Roro, who was originally planning to go for quick a fast lair but cancelled it upon seeing Symbol's more aggressive opening.
The Samsung Zerg was able to defend the subsequent attack from Symbol with a combination of an evo chamber wall, good transfuses and roaches of his own. RorO's successful defense allowed him to build a huge army of well upgraded roaches that struck while Symbol was cutting corners attempting to catch up, forcing the GG and sending him up 2 - 0. (Symbol 0 - 2 RorO)
Game Three: Bel'shir Vestige
Symbol decided that going hatch first had not worked out the way he'd wanted it to, and switched things up by going pool-hatch instead of hatch first, whereas Roro stuck to what had worked for him in the two previous games. Both players went up to four gases quickly and went up to Lair – Roro at five minutes, Symbol two minutes later. From there, Symbol went into roach/hydra and Roro into roach/infestor with a twist – he kept his opponent completely in the dark about his ambitious tech path.
Roro managed to successfully hide his infestors until Symbol – utilizing a creep highway to get his units and spine crawlers over to the third of his opponent, came knocking. Once he saw the attack coming, he rained fungal growths all over Symbol's army and proceeded to wipe the floor with the Azubu Zerg. A few minutes later, RorO collected his forces and marched on Symbol's third to collect his third victory in a row. (Symbol 0 - 3 RorO)
Game Four: Whirlwind
Match point. Symbol knew that he was down 0 - 3 and that he had no more room for screwups, but he seemed remarkably calm for someone who looked like he was about to lose his first GSL final 0 - 4.
Both players opened up hatch first on the most macro-friendly map in the map pool, following up with spawning pools and going up to four gases each. Roro managed to sneak two lings into Symbol's base that gave him information on everything (which was not much) that was going on inside Symbol's base, surviving inside the base for a long time before finally being killed off. The players continued to mirror each other as they both threw down double evo chambers, lairs and roach warrens at roughly the same time, even expanding to their respective thirds simultaneously.
Roro then elected to go into the infestor tech that had almost single-handedly won him the last game, whereas Symbol decided to get tricky with a nydus network and burrow tech. At the same time, Symbol made sure his presence was felt out on the map as he denied creep spread from Roro by killing off a queen and even managing to take down his opponent's third base.
While Symbol dealt RorO a painful blow by killing the third base, his truly big break came immediately after. As Roro's forces were occupied trying to resecure the expansion, Symbol was able to get a nydus worm up inside RorO's main. Moments later, Symbol's units were flooding Roro's base, taking down the lair and crippling the Samsung Zerg's economy. Symbol, having finally gotten himself into a good enough position, proceeded to throw down to more manner nyduses to put the final nail in the coffin and force the GG, bringing the series to 1 - 3. (Symbol 1 - 3 RorO)
Game Five: Neo Planet S
Game five of the series started off just as standard as the previous four, with Symbol going pool first and Roro going for hatch first. Roro followed up with quicker ling speed and a roach warren, with Symbol also adding on a baneling nest. Around the six-minute mark, Roro moved across the map to put on some ling/roach aggression, but Symbol was able to deflect the attack with clutch transfuses and good surrounds, following up by taking out Roro's reinforcing lings with banelings.
It was then Symbol's time to put on aggression, moving across the map with lings and banes and morphing yet more outside the natural of Roro. He was able to get past the evo/roach wall and take out some larvae alongside a queen. Soon after, Symbol's reinforcements joined the battle, breaking down the wall and flooding Roro's natural, taking out every drone and forcing the GG, putting the series at 2 - 3. (Symbol 2 - 3 RorO)
Game Six: Cloud Kingdom
Coming into game six, Symbol was looking like he might pull off a comeback á la Squirtle in Season 2 of 2012. With everything on the line, both players decided to play it standard once more as they opened up hatch first, with Roro taking the quicker gas and Symbol the quicker pool. Both players played the game out mostly the same after that point, going up to three bases with equal tech and upgrades while trading minor blows with zerglings and roaches.
Symbol, having scouted Roro's infestation pit, knew that the Samsung Zerg was upgrading his pathogen glands and had infestors about to pop out. In a candidate for one of the best plays of the year, Symbol cleverly contaminated the infestation pit right before the upgrade finished, and so the infestors popped out without the extra energy. Soon after, Symbol went for a ling runby on Roro's fourth, killing it before it could be cancelled.
Roro was put in a rough spot, but he was able to even up the game once his hydralisks were out. His troops pushed Symbol all the way back across the map, even taking out the Azubu Zerg's third and fourth bases in the process. However, Symbol was quick to strike back, catching and killing several of RorO's burrowed infestors in the middle of the map. On equal supply, Symbol went for another attack to deny Roro's fourth base, succeeding and forcing a cancel. .
After a constant back and forth where neither player was able to take a lead that stuck, Symbol finally made a mistake that would have lasting and dire consequences. Symbol split his forces – or perhaps it was RorO that split Symbol's forces – and a portion of his hydras and roaches attacked into Roro's natural while the rest of his army fought and died against Roro's bigger army in the middle of the map. Roro cleaned up both the main army of Symbol and the attack in the natural that did all too little, and proceeded to counterattack immediately.
Even without being able to see the 80 supply difference, Symbol knew he was in serious trouble. But there was little he could do with low-energy infestors as a roach/hydra army marched into his third, took it down and proceeded to knock down the natural. With no economy and no army, the former-TSL Zerg surrendered the series to Roro, ending the final Wings of Liberty GSL. (Symbol 2 - 4 RorO)
